Through the Dark Sod [Part 1]

“A few gentle knocks should suffice… Or seven.”

Early morning for me, once again. This time, I stood at Valaque-, I mean, Quen’s door ready to learn a new skill. I think I needed a break from the extensive hours of studying as well. Studying can wait, Vapula basically told us last night to get ready for an attack. Such short notice too. I’ll need to think of a plan to not only protect myself but the others and Vapula. I’m not sure what everyone’s abilities are. They are likely more capable of defending themselves than myself. I only know the basics of self-defenses and I doubt that will be enough. Regardless, it will be beneficial for everyone if I learned something, that way I won’t be dead weight.

“Oh… Good morning Ryosuke.”

Quen yawned and rubbed her eyes, still in her nightgown. She was still asleep. I figured as much. I wasn’t sure when I should wake her, so I just waited for the sun to come up, but I guess that was still too early.

“Good morning, where do you want to start my lessons?”

“What? Right now?” She raised one eye in slight confusion.

“Yeah, you said come at any time.”

“Well, hah-hah. I didn’t think you’d come this early.” She giggled.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Do you want me to come back?”

“No, No! It’s fine. I was just surprised, is all…” She rubbed her eyes again, one eye with each hand.

“I uhm… What time is it? I still need to do my morning stretches.” She yawned.

“What do you do stretches for?”

“I do them every morning to stay flexIBAAAA!”

Quen fell over trying to stretch her leg upward, but must have lost her balance. I quickly knelt down to make sure she wasn’t hurt.

“Quen! Are you okay!?”

“Yeah, I’m okay… Oh! That’s so embarrassing!” She covered her face.

“Haha, probably better than what I can do!” I smiled to lighten the mood.

“Mmm, thanks, but I’ve been doing this forever! I shouldn’t be losing my balance like that.”

“I bet you are really good if you’ve been doing it forever. When did you first start?”

I grabbed both of her hands with mine to help her on her feet, but still had a face of embarrassment. I should boost her confidence. Don’t want her to doubt her teaching skills today.

“Um… My first dance lesson was when I was 3 or 4 years old. And stretched that day, so pretty much every day since.”

“Well, how about you show me a few stretches then? Show off your skills!“ I smiled.

“What? Really?!” Her eyes lighten brightly.

“Yeah, why not? How hard can they be? And it might be fun.”

“Okay! Come on in! Let me just get a few things ready!”

⧫⧫⧫

The only time I ever stretched was when I exercised with my Stanford friend +name?, who called herself a health nut. We exercised together about three to four times a week and almost every day in the summer. I really enjoyed exercising with her, it was a great way to get rid of extra energy I sometimes had. I even think it improved my overall brain functions. The stretches that I did before were easy. The ones Quen is having us do are insane! She said that we'll be practicing ones that were for beginners but I wasn’t sure about that.

“Okay, for this last one. We’re going to start by spreading our legs out to the sides. Stretch and reach your right arm to your left leg, hold for 30 seconds. Then we’re going to repeat on the other side for 30 seconds.” Quen said with a calm, smooth voice.

This was almost torturous. But I have to keep in mind: this is my first time doing this, so it’s going to be difficult! So I can make it! I yelled in my head.

“Breathe in… And out…” Quen sounded so relaxed. How does she do it?

“Great job, Ryosuke! Those were just the basics, I do pretty advanced stretches. But how do you feel?!”

“My muscles feel like they're on fire…” I said while rubbing my legs.

“Haha, that means you did everything right!“

We stretched in her room and she had a couple of rugs for us to stretch on, instead of the hard wooden floor. She had her hair up and was wearing an outfit that looked like it was made for exercising. She also let me wear a spare one she had. There was one thing that stood out about the outfit. The fabric. It felt similar to a synthetic fiber like polyester or something. This makes this world a bit more confusing. I can’t focus on this right now, so I’ll make a mental note about it for later.

“What are some stretches that you normally do?”

“Oh, let me show you!”

How is she even doing that?! I wondered to myself in amazement.

“That’s one… Then there's this one.”

She did the splits but on her stomach with her knees bent. Then bent her whole body backwards with hands touching the floor!

“Oh, and the one I tried to show you earlier!”

She was so incredibly fluid with her movements. Shifting to the next one with such ease! She’s like a cat! Now she looks like a bow and arrow, the way her leg is in the air! She then twirled back into a normal standing position to say something to me.

“So that’s just a few that I do. I know a lot of them, so I mix it up every morning, and do them for about an hour.”

“That’s so impressive, Quen.”

“Heh, thanks.” She was pretty happy now. That’s good.

“So, Ryosuke? Do you want to get a quick bite and then I can show you how to use Mana?”

“Yeah! Sounds like a good idea!”

⧫⧫⧫

We had a nice quick meal. Then she took us outside where she wanted to teach me. It was another nice day. The weather has been very consistent. Blue skies with the occasional cloud. I still wonder if it is just the average climate location, or if it's the summer season of this world.

“Okay, Ryosuke. The first lesson is to understand what Mana is!”

“Great! Let’s hear it!”

“Mana is the energetic force of mystical life and the creative power that extends throughout the universe!”

“Mmhm, okay. So, what does that mean?”

“It means, once you channel your inner Mana and concentrate it to create. You can do stuff like this!!”

Quen snapped her fingers and a glowing magenta flame came from the tip of her index finger.

“Whoa, that’s amazing!”

“Thanks, we’re not going to begin with learning that. We’ll start with the basics. Just like with stretching!”

A quick clap of her hand and a gust of wind came from her hands.

“Amazing.”

This is unbelievable. I’m from another world. So, I’m not even sure if I can do what she can do.

“You make it look so easy!”

“Don’t worry, take your time. I come from a long lineage of Mana manipulators, so don’t stress if you don’t get it on the first day!”

“Okay, I’ll do my best.”

“Do what you can to focus any energy you think you have into your hands and release it outward.”

“Right.”