“One hundred and seven years have passed since the previous hero was first summoned to this world.” Miyara began her story. She’d sat down next to Cobal, opposite of Mana as well. All of them now had tea and a plate with some fruitcake on it. “Lord Might, as he was dubbed by the kingdom, was the second time someone was summoned through the realm gate. The first time this ritual was done was so long ago that there are barely any records from that time. We don’t know who did the summoning, who was summoned or what happened. All we know is that someone attempted the ritual, succeeded, and then wrote down the way to do it. That book, with the ritual knowledge, was stored deep in the temple to Owlana, the goddess of knowledge and wisdom. It was recovered about a hundred years and a bit ago, when a young Blueyerd king had his men comb through the library for any useful magic that would help them against the feral invasion. That eventually led them to discover a path to this hidden temple. Although they were successful, it has since been lost again.”
She paused and looked at Cobal. “Young prince, how much have you been taught about the feral invasion?”
Cobal learned about this when he was young. “The feral invasion was a terrible incident in which a primal tribe used ancient magic to embed evil spirits in the animals living in the forest, causing them to swell and grow in power. As a result, they grew more hungry and started ravaging the kingdoms on the outskirts of the continent. Since the kingdom of Blueyerd was still young back then, and they already struggled keeping their neighbors from encroaching on their land, they grew quite desperate. As a result they ended up summoning the hero, Lord Might, into this world, who gathered a party of strong people from around the continent and put an end to the feral invasion.” He paused. “Then after the hero was done, he vanished, never to be seen again.”
Miyara nodded. “That’s more or less what I expected you to know.” She looked at Mana. “Now, I’m sure you’re well aware that recently there have been sightings of new feral beasts infused with dark magics. Whether the hero failed in completely eradicating the tribe that caused the feral incident, or someone else got hold of the magic that they used, we don’t know. What I do know, and have known for a very long time, is that this was going to happen. I also knew it was going to be the catalyst to summon another hero. And I also know that the hero would be the only one capable of saving Blueyerd, the continent of Palaria and perhaps even the entire world.” She looked from Mana to Cobal and back to Mana, waiting to see their reactions.
“So you can predict the future?” Cobal asked. He’d heard of people claiming such powers before, but often they were unable to prove it, nor were they able to predict anything of importance.
Miyara shook her head. “I’ve had one vision in my entire life. Besides that I don’t have any abilities to predict the future. This came to me in a dream when I was just a child.” She chuckled. “As you can see I’m far from a young child anymore.”
“Is there anything else important that we need to know about? What exactly did you see?” Cobal asked. He wondered why his family was never informed of this vision.
Miyara thought for a little bit. “I know that something bad is going to happen, but I know nothing about what this might be. I also know that a hero will be needed to deal with whatever is going to happen. I don’t know how, when or where, but I know that the hero’s presence will be absolutely vital for the world to carry on.”
“So no pressure,” Mana said grimly.
Miyara nodded. “No pressure.”
She motioned one of the two servers to come over and the young man came towards them.
“Get me the small chest that’s under my bed please, Jonathan.” 
The man nodded and quickly went upstairs to receive it. “Now, my recommendation for you, Lady Mana, is to go find the hermit sage Dionil. He is the one who taught the previous hero many things. Perhaps he’s willing to be your teacher as well.”
Mana nodded. “I am extremely grateful for the information you’re giving me. I’ve been wandering without direction so far and it’s really not helped my anxiety. I’ve had many sleepless nights since I came here.”
This might be the first time that Cobal had seen Mana be so open and honest about her health. They’d talked about it a little bit but she’d always been hesitant to share much. Her being so open to someone she just met was kind of strange to him and it made him feel a little bit annoyed.
“I have tea for that,” Miyara said, grinning. She got up from her chair. “Let me get you some of the leaves.”

By the time Miyara came back with a satchel filled with tea leaves, Jonathan had returned with the box she mentioned before. Miyara sat back down and opened the box, before rummaging through it for a little while until she found what she was looking for. “Ah, there it is.” She closed the box again, holding a small necklace. “This should be very helpful on your journey.”
Mana carefully took it from the old lady. “Thank you, what is this exactly?”
“It’s a magical item. As I’m sure your companion will tell you, there are many of these kinds of objects in our world. Might explained to me a long time ago that magic doesn’t exist in your realm.” She seemed to think to herself for a moment. “I don’t actually know if you’re from the same realm as he is.”
“We call our planet Earth, does that sound familiar?”
She thought for a while longer. “He spoke of a place called Asia, but I don’t believe I’ve heard the term Earth.”
“That’s my world, Asia is one of the continents. I’m from a different continent though.”
“How wonderful, so you’re both from the same place, yet far removed from each other at the same time. But I digress. This amulet will protect you against all sorts of magic. For example.” She fell quiet, then got up and walked over to Mana and whispered something in her ear.
Mana’s face seemed to tense up, but she nodded. “That should be very useful, thank you so much.”
“Don’t mention it, consider it a gift from the previous hero, he just isn’t here to give it to you in person.” She sat back down and also handed over the satchel with tea leaves.
“Where do we find this Dionil?” Cobal asked. There was something about this conversation and atmosphere that made him uncomfortable. He somehow felt like he was an outsider, shunned by everyone around. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling at all. He wondered if he did something wrong but he was hesitant to bring it up since he didn’t want to seem impolite either. There was just something off about this situation that he wasn’t used to at all. But he shrugged it off when Miyara responded.
“Dionil lives in the northeastern part of Blueyerd, at the heart of the Liriath Forest. That’s where he last presided at least. I don’t know if he’s moved since then, it’s been a while.”
“Are you sure he’s even still alive? I mean no disrespect, but if he’s been around as long as you, he must be about a hundred years old.” Mana said.
Miyara laughed. “Oh, sweet child, Dionil is of elven descent, he can live for several hundreds of years. I may be old and brittle by now, but he should still be young and spry.” She chuckled. “Maybe that’s exaggerating a little bit, but he’s definitely not going to look as old as I do.”
Cobal saw a hint of excitement at the mention of elves in Mana’s eyes.
“Does your world have elves as well?” He asked her.
She shook her head. “It’s strange though, we do have stories about elves and dwarves and kobolds and goblins and orcs and giants, but we don’t have any of them living in our world.”
Cobal thought about this for a while. “Maybe they’ve just hidden away?”
“It’s possible, but I very much doubt that. We have developed technology that lets us travel the entire world in days, and we’ve explored pretty much everything back and forth. But it is fun to hope, I suppose.”
Miyara nodded. “Even Might said that he was doubtful any elves lived in his world.”
Changing the subject, Cobal asked: “And how do we get back to the surface? Do we just swim up?” 
“There’s a spot near the back of the village where a cavern leads towards a stream that helps you swim up faster. It’ll still take some effort, but you both managed to swim down here, so swimming up should be no problem. It ends a little bit away from shore though, so you’ll have to swim back yourselves.” She got up. “Now, there’s some tension between Blueyerd and our people that I’m not the right person for solving, but if you do ever find yourselves in this part of the world again, don’t hesitate to visit again.”
Mana and Cobal both nodded. “Thank you so much for your help.” They got up, collected their things and were about to leave.
“Let me help you to the exit,’ Jonathan said from behind them.
They followed him through the town until they reached a cavern in the back. A singular guard was keeping watch over it, but they were allowed through.
“It’s a shame we can’t stay longer,’ Cobal said to Mana, “I would have loved to learn more about this place.”
Mana nodded. “Maybe in the future.” They thanked Jonathan for bringing them to the exit, then walked through the dimly lit cave. It ended in a strange waterfall that they had to swim through, until they reached a point where the water flowed outwards and upwards. Within maybe thirty seconds of swimming they reached the surface of the water, where the sun had almost vanished. Luckily for them, the ship captain and Cassandra were still looking for them. They motioned them over when they spotted them and quickly went on board the small boat.
“What the hell happened to you two, you were down there for ages!” Cassandra said.
“A lot happened, but we learned some important things.” He looked at the captain. “Now please get us to shore, I’m absolutely freezing.”
“Very well.” The captain nodded and started maneuvering the ship back towards the small pier. When they got there it was already very dark. Leaving the pier behind they could just hear the captain mutter, “strange royal folk.”
“Why don’t you stay in our house tonight,” Mana offered Cassandra. “It’s a lot closer to here and then you can go home in the morning.
Cassandra thought about it for a little while before agreeing. “Only if you tell me what you guys did down there. I’m extremely curious by now. I mean, you were on the bottom of the sea. What even is down there? How did you not drown? Did the strange device you made work as intended? I have so many questions.”
Cobal nodded. “In the morning though, it’s been a long day.” They made their way back to the house and after setting up some pillows for Cassandra to sleep on they all quickly found sleep, tired from the long day.

The hallways were clean and decorated with beautiful statues with pearls embedded in them. The pearls that signified worship to Aquana were everywhere. Several of the acolytes walked past them, all staring their direction as the guards led Cobal towards the center of the entrance hall. Here he had to wait for a moment before an elderly woman walked in from a door off to the side. “This way please,” she said to Cobal, before turning her back to him and slowly walking towards the large door in front of them. On the door was the same imagery of Aquana that they saw in the temple at the bottom of the sea, but in a perfect condition as opposed to disrepair. She knocked on the door and a moment later it opened up with a loud rumble. The doors led into a massive room that looked like a church hall. Rows of benches were placed facing towards an altar at the back of the room. Behind this altar stood a man that looked to be about Cobal’s age. He was wearing robes of the same blue color as the rest of the acolytes, but his looked more ornate and important. He also had a necklace with neatly polished pearls around his neck. At the center of this necklace was a large blue sapphire. He motioned Cobal to come forward until he was at around the edge of where the benches were. He motioned him to stop and stepped out from behind the altar to meet Cobal below the steps. He smiled and stood in front of Cobal, crossing his arms.
“My name is Kiiran Simalin, head priest of the sea floor church of Aquana. This temple, devoted to our fair lady, is under my protection.” He waved his hand towards one of the two tall windows. “This village of Arana is also my domain.” He looked Cobal up and down to judge him. “Speak, who are you and what brings you here.”
“Where is my companion?”
“That is not the question I asked.” Kiiran sighed. “Your companion is fine, now state your business.”
Cobal let out a sigh of relief. The priest seemed honest in his words, so Mana was probably okay. “My name is Cobal Blueyerd. I am the third son of the king of Blueyerd and currently me and my companion are on a journey to different places on the continent. At the request of my companion, we explored a story we heard about an underwater village. That is how we ended up in your temple, where your men seemed to have found us. We meant no harm nor disrespect and if our presence displeases you we will leave without question.” Cobal wasn’t happy about this, and he figured Mana wouldn’t be pleased with it either, but making sure Mana was safe was still his top priority, so that’s what he was considering.
Kiiran grabbed a large quarterstaff from next to the altar and tapped it on the ground twice. A moment later the door that Cobal came through opened up and the elderly woman that let them in looked through.
“Bring the girl here as well,” Kiiran said.
The woman nodded and closed the door again. They all waited for a while until after a few minutes the door opened again and Mana walked into the room. She walked all the way up until she was standing next to Cobal.
Cobal noticed that the people in the room seemed more excited about her than about him. As if they were in awe of her presence for some reason. She gave him a quick smile and then looked at Kiiran as well, awaiting what he was going to say.

“Lady Mana, hero of the realm, summoned one, Lord Might’s follower. I apologize for our rude treatment of yourself when you first appeared at our village entrance. We were unsure who you were and had to protect ourselves, I hope you understand.”
Mana nodded.
“As we talked about earlier, your appearance in this world was foretold many, many years ago. But I’m sure the person who foretold your appearance will tell you more about it when you visit them later.” He shifted his weight to his other foot and looked the two of them over. “Now, what brings you here to Arana?”
“I wish to speak with Miyara. I do not know who they are, but they should be able to help me in a certain way.”
Kiiran nodded. “Very well.” He looked at Cobal. “And you?”
Cobal cleared his throat. “I’m here as the representative of the Blueyerd royal family. My assignment is to help Lady Mana in any way she requires to learn about our world so that she may be of use in keeping our kingdom from collapsing.”
Kiiran squinted. “You know so very little about the ways of the world, young prince, yet you speak with the confidence of someone who is blissfully unaware of their lacking knowledge.”
“I beg your pardon.”
“In the brief moments that I talked to the Lady Mana, I learned about some things that I expected yet wished I was wrong about.” He had a stern, almost angry look towards Cobal. His tone of voice had changed from kind to harsh, and Cobal was unsure what he’d done wrong.
“The Lady speaks well of you though, which is why you are no longer in the cell. Know that Arana has no love for the Blueyerd royal family and that we wish you out of our home when you finish your business here, is that understood?”
Cobal nodded. “I am unsure how and why I might have offended you, and I apologize if I have. I will be here no longer than necessary.”
Kiiran nodded. “A sensible response, now go do what you must and be on your way.” And with that he turned around and walked behind the altar, going into a different room behind the main hall. Mana and Cobal were led back outside by the elderly woman who had let them into the room in the first place.
“Excuse me, but could you perhaps point us in the direction of Miyara, the seer?” Mana asked the old lady.
The old lady thought for a moment and nodded. She grabbed one of the nearby acolytes and whispered a few things to him. In a nervous voice the acolyte said. “Follow me, I’ll lead you there.”
Mana and Cobal followed the young man through a few streets until they reached what looked to be a restaurant. “Miyara is the owner of this establishment, if you ask for her here you should be fine.” The acolyte turned to face both of them, then looked at Mana. “Will that be all you require from me?”
Mana nodded. “Thank you for your help.”
He nodded in return and started making his way back to the temple, leaving Cobal and Mana in front of the restaurant.
Mana turned to Cobal. “Are you alright? You collapsed after they whacked you over the head.”
Cobal nodded. “I have a bit of a headache, but I’m fine otherwise. What was that all about?” He asked.
Mana hesitated. “I found some notes from the previous hero when I was staying in the palace. There was some information there about the people here, and how they’d predicted that long after Might disappeared, a new hero would appear. The one who supposedly predicted this, Miyara the seer, is someone who’s met with the previous hero.” Mana looked at the restaurant they were standing in front of. “I hope she can tell us a little bit more about all of this, since it’s also still very confusing and new to me.”
Cobal nodded. “I understand as much, although it surprises me those notes were available in the palace. You’d think someone else would have found them by now.” Something pushed into the back of his mind, doubt spreading. Mana wasn’t telling the truth. “And why am I not welcome here, do you know about that?”
Mana shook her head. “They told me that your family didn’t care much for them when they were still an island, but it seems strange to me that they would hold a grudge about that for so long.”
She looked nervous. Cobal sighed. “Let’s go inside for now.” They entered.

The interior of the restaurant was dim compared to the almost blinding outside. Different tables were set up with screens dividing them into small areas with a little bit of privacy. The furniture was made of soft wooden planks that gave off a calming kind of atmosphere. Dim lanterns were placed on the walls above the tables. The tables were lower than in normal restaurants that Cobal had seen, and instead of chairs there were groups of pillows to sit on. Two attendants, a man and a woman, were standing behind a small bar, cleaning different glasses and plates. The bar had several cups standing on it, ready for drinks to be served in. Behind them was a shelf that seemed to have several bottles of alcohol as well as pots and baskets filled with all kinds of leaves. The man put down what he was doing and walked up to Mana and Cobal when they entered. “Good afternoon, what can I do for you.” He looked them up and down. “I don’t mean to be rude, but you don’t seem to be from around here, am I right?”
Cobal nodded. “That’s correct, we only just arrived in your town.”
“We wish to speak with Miyara, if that’s possible.”
“I can ask if she has the time, what are your names?”
“My name is Mana, and this is Cobal.”
“Mana and Cobal, I’ll see if she has time for you. In the meantime, have a seat and Melissa will take your order.” He looked at the woman behind the counter, who nodded. He then went up the stairs that were to the side of the entrance and after a moment they could hear him yell. “Grandma, are you awake.” Followed by a very faint. “I am now.”
They each took a seat at a corner table and waited for the woman to come collect their order. There was a menu on the table and Mana thumbed through it. It mostly consisted of tea and different cakes. Mana looked at Cobal. “I don’t have any money on me.” 
“I’m sure we can work something out.” Cobal replied.
“What can I get you?” The woman asked.
“I’ll try this Honcha,” Mana said.
“Make that two then,” Cobal added.
“Very well, I’ll be back shortly.”
“What peculiar drink names,” Cobal remarked. “I’ve never heard of many of these before. The tea I know is very simple.”
Mana smiled. “I have my suspicions how they got a hold of these ideas.”
“I’m not sure I’m following,” Cobal replied, but before Mana could explain they heard footsteps coming down the stairs. The man they talked to earlier, who didn’t give his name yet, came back downstairs, followed by a very old, yet strong looking woman. Her gray hair was put in a bun and although she was walking with a cane, she looked to be more muscular than most people on the street. Without saying a word she barrelled towards their table and grabbed Mana’s hands.
“Oh sweet child, how long have I waited to meet you.” A smile across her face and tears in her eyes. “Welcome home,” she added.

It didn’t take much to find someone willing to sail them around for a day. With the right coin and a friendly smile it seemed most everything was possible in Ravadier. The people here were trusting and always ready to help. It felt very different from the royal capital. Cobal was still getting used to it, but it was a nice change of pace.
Mana had been staring out at the water surface, looking for something. He wasn’t sure what she expected to see, but his curiosity was slowly winning him over and he kind of hoped she was right and there was an underwater village here. That would be a sight to see. The wind had calmed down significantly and the pleasant breeze that accompanied the sunny day was a welcome addition. Fish were abundant wherever they went and quickly swam away when the small sailboat came near them. Eventually something caught Mana’s eye. “Stop around here if you will,” she asked the sailor, who slowly brought the boat to a halt. 
Mana then took a deep breath and focused for a little while before tracing something in the air. Glowing symbols appeared and the air seemed to cling around her face. She took a deep breath and fell over backwards into the water, startling both the captain and Cobal. 
A few moments passed before she came back up. She then took another deep breath and started looking under the water surface. Around her face was what seemed to be a bubble of sorts. She was able to bring some of the air with her under the water surface to look. She stayed close to the water surface though. After a little while of searching, she came back up again and climbed aboard the ship. Cobal lent her a hand in climbing up. She was lightly dressed for the occasion but her clothes were understandably drenched. 
“That was more difficult than I expected, but at least it worked,” she said.
“That trick you did with the air bubble?” Cobal asked.
She nodded. “I figured that if I could manipulate the way that air moved, then maybe I could make a bubble of air stick to my head, so I could dive underwater. It works in theory, but the problem I didn’t account for is that the air constantly wants to go back to above the water’s surface.”
“What do you mean?”
“Air is lighter than water. Even if I use magic to manipulate it, it’s natural properties stay the same. I can force the air bubble down with me and swim down like that, but the amount of energy that would cost is likely far above what I’m capable of. So for now it just works like a magical divers mask.”
“What’s that?”
Mana laughed. “You know glasses that are made for people with poor eyesight?”
Cobal nodded. “In my world they had glasses made of a different material that would fit onto your face, almost like they’re stuck to it. It would block the water from getting in your eyes and make it so you could look around underwater without getting salt water in your eyes.”
“That sounds very convenient, who came up with that?”
Mana shrugged. “I have no idea, it’s been around for a while.”
Changing the subject, Cobal asked. “Did you see anything down there?”
Mana sat up straight. “I did! Well, I think I did, it was hard to focus on both the magic and on what I was seeing, but I do believe there was something down there. She peered into the water until she found what she was looking for. “Do you see that? That light over there?”
Cobal followed her gaze until he faintly saw some sort of light at the sea bottom. If Mana hadn’t pointed it out to him he doubted he would have ever seen it. “I do, what is that?”
“I have no idea, but it’s definitely something.” She seemed to think for a second. “But how do we get down there?”
“It’s not super deep, so a good swimmer could probably get there,” the ship captain remarked.
Mana looked at Cobal who shook his head. “I can swim, but I wouldn’t say I excel at it.”
“Hmm.” She fell silent for a while. “Maybe I can learn some more tricks to get us down there.” Her eyes lit up. “Of course, that could work.” She looked at the captain. “Sail us back to shore please.”
The captain looked at Cobal who nodded.
“Very well then.” They made their way back to the shoreline and got off the boat at a small pier where they boarded in the first place. They thanked the captain, who said he’d be available for a while longer if the right coin was provided, and went on their way.

“Cobal, you’ve been walking through this town almost daily, correct?”
Cobal, surprised by Mana’s sudden interest, nodded. “I know my way around town by now.”
“Do you know any place that would sell large, waterproof jugs that aren’t too heavy? I’m also going to need some leather straps that could bind them to my back.”
“Does this have something to do with that diving mask you were speaking about?” Cobal asked, curious about the sudden surge of energy that Mana seemed to have gotten after their little boat trip. This was the first time since he’d met her that she seemed excited about something. 
“Yes and no. What I want to make is an oxygen tank. It’s something from my world.” She stared ahead for a while. “I have no idea how they work, but with magic available that might make the process a lot easier. When I make an air bubble around me, I need to focus on all the surface of the air, because that’s what causes friction with whatever is next to it. That can be more air, or water or anything. If the air is put into a container that only has a small opening, then all I need to do is keep that small surface area of air from leaking out and the rest of the hard work will be done for me. If we can then fashion some sort of pipe to it and breathe from this jug, we can extend our underwater stay for quite a while. And the weight of the jug might help in balancing out the light air, allowing us to swim down without too much trying to push us back up.”
Cobal didn’t understand half of what she was saying, but he understood that she basically wanted to bring a bucket of air with her. Cobal stood there for a little while until an idea popped up into his head.
“It’s worth trying at the very least.” He said to himself. “Follow me.” They headed towards the town to go and visit several shops. 
Procuring some leather strips and some jugs wasn’t hard. Finding someone who knew how to take those, and by adding some other materials to them to turn them into a usable air tank, as Mana had called it, was a bit more difficult.
Cobal had an idea though. He’d talked to most shopkeepers on his visits to town and he remembered something that the baker had told him. Apparently his eldest daughter spent most of her free time making strange contraptions in their shed. She was very good at crafting things, so Cobal hoped she could help.
“Sebastian, could I ask you something?” Cobal asked the baker. He’d learned the names of several of the shopkeepers at this point, including the baker.”
“Of course, what can I help you with?”
“We spoke the other day about your daughter, and how she’s good at making things. We happen to need something made and I was wondering if she would help us with that.”
“That’s up to her, but I can ask,” Sebastian replied.
“Please do.”
Sebastian left the counter for a couple minutes and came back with his daughter in tow.
“Go on then, see what you can do for them.” He said to her as she walked into the store.
“Hi,” she said to them. Before them stood a woman in her early twenties. She had dark brown hair bound in a tight ponytail and bright green eyes. She looked like she must train as much, if not more than Cobal and her muscles were well defined. She was a bit short of stature and looked up at both Mana and Cobal expectedly as if she were annoyed to be interrupted at all.
They both said hello back politely before Cobal asked. “We were wondering if you could help us with something?”
“And who are you?” She asked.
“This is Cobal, he’s been here for a little while,” Sebastian said.
“And you?” She asked Mana.
“Mana.”
She squinted. “Are you supposed to be that new hero?”
Mana nodded.
She started laughing. “That’s hilarious.” She looked at Cobal. “What do you want me to do then?”
“I’ve heard you’re quite good with creating things and designing new stuff.”
“That I am.”
“Could you come with us and help on a small project we’re working on?”
Mana held up the leather strips and the jug.
She looked them over. “Come with me.” She said.

Behind the bakery was a small yard with a wooden shed at the edge of it. The yard was mostly just unkempt grass with some chairs and a hammock. The shed looked like it had seen better days as well. A wooden box containing firewood leaned against the side of the building with a small roof covering it from the rain. On top of the firewood lay several wooden structures that didn’t look like much of anything to Cobal, but he assumed these were things that Cassandra had fashioned. The door to the shed was slightly ajar and creaked when Cassandra opened it. It didn’t quite open all the way so they had to step into the place sideways. Inside there was a surprising amount of space. For as dilapidated as the building looked, the inside was kept reasonably tidy. There were some tools strewn about and some materials in a bin in the corner, but overall it looked well organized. One a workbench, held aloft between some sort of mechanism, was what looked like four blades soldered onto a cogwheel, with a pin sticking out of it. “What’s that?” Cobal asked.
“It’s a lawnmower,” Mana remarked.
Both Cobal and Cassandra looked at her, surprised.
“What? We have them in my old world, they’re fairly common. Rapidly spinning blades built onto a motor to cut the grass quickly and neatly.”
“And I thought today was going to be boring,” Cassandra said. She put the contraption aside. “What can I do for you folks exactly?”
“Well if you can make spinning blades to cut grass then I don’t think what we’re about to ask is particularly difficult,” Cobal said. He nodded at Mana who put the jug and the leather material on the workbench.
“I would like you to fashion this in such a way that I can wear it on my back. It’s supposed to be an air tank of sorts for when I go underwater.”
Cassandra pondered for a moment. “What you ask is easy enough, but I don’t understand how you plan to keep the air in the jug when you go underwater. Do you want to fashion a lid of sorts?” She looked at the materials. “No, that wouldn’t work, you’d have no way to keep the air from flowing out. And if you put a pipe from it straight into your own face it would probably aggressively force the air into your lungs which is not ideal when you’re in a pressurized place.” She looked at Mana.
“Well, the plan is to use some air magic to keep the air from spilling out. I could probably come up with a more complicated concept that would work longer, but all I really need is for it to get to the seabed just off the coast and back. If I can take a few breaths of air from it that should probably already suffice.”
Cassandra nodded. “Then this should be doable. I’ll use some resin to seal off the opening so it’s a bit more covered. I won’t promise it’ll work for what you want, but I can make what you’re suggesting.” She grinned. “Give me a day and I’ll have it done.”
They thanked Cassandra and went back to the shore to find Finser, the sailor who helped them out the other day. After telling him they’d go out to sea again tomorrow they paid him and went back to their home.

Two days passed since Mana showed the first signs of being able to use magic and the weather had taken a turn for the worse. Cobal spent all morning setting up the screens that would be their only protection from the elements. Luckily the houses were built to last through these storms, but he couldn’t help but worry it would blow the whole thing down. The temperature had dropped significantly as well and although it wasn’t freezing, it was longer comfortably warm. He’d made them some tea as they watched the lightning strike in the distance. Mana had barely taken a break from her studies and practiced here and there, but it was taking a lot out of her. She’d decided to take today off. She called it a mental health break, although Cobal wasn’t quite sure what that meant exactly.
He himself had spent the morning training outside with his sword. The wind added some difficulty to his routine which was appreciated, but after about an hour it got more severe and it became difficult to keep training. Satisfied, he went back inside to wash up before beginning to prepare some lunch. On the recommendation of one of the vendors in town he’d procured enough food ahead of time. Apparently these kinds of storms come by every so often and they tend to not last much more than a day or two at most. Cobal didn’t like these kinds of days, he was very much an outside person. When he grew up in and around the palace he was allowed a little bit more freedom than his older brother, and he would often go with his other brother to explore the palace and the surrounding forest. Cryan, the middle child, had a penchant for getting into trouble and dragging Cobal along with him. Those were the good old days, but eventually Cryan started taking lessons and getting ready to be their brother’s right-hand man, and back-up in case the unthinkable happened. They also had a younger sister, but Cobal never got along with her well. In a sense, Mana reminded him of his sister. Quiet, bookish and not quite adjusted to the bustling lifestyle of a royal palace. She would have been the better person to go with Mana, he thought to himself. But she also probably wouldn’t have liked having to follow someone around like this. His older brother was kind but stern. Cobal didn’t dislike him by any means, but being taught to lead from a very young age had left his eldest brother distant. As if he didn’t want to get too close to his other siblings. It seems Cryan got closer to him eventually though and Cobal ended up making friends outside of his family. His sister didn’t leave her room much even nowadays. Cobal had often wondered what she was reading about all day and sometimes heard strange sounds coming from her room, but he’d never actually asked. His sister got along really well with their father, while the king was much more stern to his sons.
Cobal let out a deep sigh. Mana was in her room and after he knocked and brought her the lunch he’d just prepared he himself went to take a nap as well.

It was early evening when lightning struck nearby and Cobal woke up from his nap. The rain had picked up in intensity a lot but the wind had died down a little bit. The weather was still bad, but the screens weren’t rattling half as much as they were during the early afternoon. From his room he could smell fish being prepared. He stood up and shuffled his way out of his bedroom to find Mana preparing dinner.|
She looked at him. “You were taking so long, I figured I could make dinner for a change. That and I was hungry.” She smiled.
He smiled back at her and sat down on some of the pillows. He could see a trail of wet footsteps leading from one of the screens to the kitchen. She must have gone outside at some point, he thought to himself. Without having to wait long, freshly prepared fish was put in front of him.
“I’ve never been much of a cook, but I could fortunately manage to prepare something like this,” Mana said sheepishly. She sat down on another pile of pillows opposite of Cobal. They ate in silence for a while before Cobal spoke up.
“I know we’ve known each other for a little bit now, but you’ve not really talked about your life before you came here. I don’t mean to pry, but would you mind?”
She seemed to almost look him over, as if she was looking for something that wasn’t quite there before she let out a sigh. “I suppose I can tell you a little bit.” She put her plate to the side and reached for a comb. As she started fixing her hair up that had gotten wet from the rain earlier she said. “I know I’ve not talked much to people since I’ve got here, but you’re the first person to ask me about my life before coming here. It’s something I suppose those court wizards of yours never considered.”
“I’m not sure I follow?”
“Did anyone ever consider if I wanted to be summoned here? I was living a perfectly acceptable life before I suddenly appeared in front of a bunch of strange wizards and got told to be a hero.”
Cobal could read the frustration off of her face and was a little bit taken aback by the voracity in her tone of voice. “I suppose I didn’t.” He felt like he almost had to be a little bit defensive. “I didn’t summon you here, I was just sent to take care of your every need. It’s not like I had a choice in the matter.”
Mana’s expression softened a bit and Cobal could see that she heard whatever he was trying to say. He honestly felt a little bit bad. “I’m sorry, our situations aren’t comparable.”
She smiled. “They’re not, but I shouldn’t blame you for my misfortunes.” She grabbed some of the books from the pile next to her and put them in front of her. “You know, I was a teacher back in my normal world.”
“Oh? So you worked with all sorts of scholars.”
Mana started laughing.
“Did I say something weird?”
“No, I just forgot that your world doesn’t have schools in the way we do. You see, when kids grow up in my world, they go to school for quite a lot of years to learn about the world they live in. They study their language and sometimes the language of neighboring countries. They study math and geography and economics and arts, and they learn about the history of their country and other countries. And when they’re done learning they start working after that.” 
“So you’re telling me everyone goes to lectures in your world?” Cobal said, struggling to believe the claims this woman was making. “Are you trying to fool me or something?”
“No, it’s absolutely true. In my world we value the importance of knowledge very much, and the more that everyone has access to it, the more collective knowledge we have as a civilization.” She paused for a second. “Of course, that’s the optimistic way of looking at it. In reality this is still true, but things tend to be more complicated. Not every country agrees about the importance of school, or if women should be allowed to attend the schools. Some countries think it should be completely free, others think it’s a luxury. It’s a complicated world I live in, but I suppose your world has its complications too.”
“Free school sounds like something out of a fairy tale, that’s absolutely unheard of!”
“Then what if the most genius mind of a generation is born to a family that’s living in poverty?” Mana asked him. “Wouldn’t that be an enormous waste?”
Cobal hadn’t considered that. “Over here, only those with the funds and time to attend a private university are able to study. It’s a privilege for those who’ve earned it.”
“It’s fascinating how your world is so different from mine, yet so similar in other ways.”
She stood up and carefully opened up one of the screens to look outside. “It looks like the weather is actually going to clear up rather quickly.”
“How do you know?” Cobal asked. He didn’t disagree with her assessment, but he’d been speaking to the villagers and she’d been cooped up inside. 
“I can feel it in the wind.” She moved her hands above each other and a small whirlwind formed. “It’s strange, I hadn’t even heard of magic before until I came here and yet it took me so little time to learn something so amazing.”
“There was no magic at all in your world?”
Mana shook her head. “We had stories that had magic in them, but those were just stories. Magic didn’t exist as far as we were aware. Those were always my favorite stories though.”
“Maybe no one bothered to learn how it worked, or no one knew where to start?” Cobal asked.
“That’s possible, but I feel like we’d have figured it out if it existed. Besides, I reckon some of the authors of those magical stories had the creativity to figure out anything, so they would have figured out how to use magic for sure.”
Slightly changing the subject, Cobal asked “what can you do with magic now then?”
“I can move around the air a little bit. I’ve been focusing on air magic since it seems the most useful right now.”
“Why? Do you have something in mind?”
Mana fell silent, seemingly grasping for an appropriate answer. “I just think it’s the least dangerous thing to start with.” And that seemed to be the end of that conversation. This wasn’t the first time Mana cut a conversation short. Cobal mostly worried about that side of her. The previous hero was always described as a charismatic, loveable and friendly person.
Yet the woman who was to be the next hero seemed to be a lot closer to a nervous breakdown than a role model. Maybe that was just a result of being in a strange environment, but Cobal couldn’t help but feel her discomfort radiate from her. She did seem to be trying her best in her own way though, so he would just have to wait and see what would come of it.
After one night and one full day of terrible weather, the wind was already starting to slow and for a moment Cobal considered going for an evening run. He decided against it and just went for a short walk instead. “I’m heading out for a short walk, want to join me?”
Mana shook her head. “I’ll pass.”
“Alright, I will be back later then.”
“Take care.”

“How’s the young lady doing?” A voice asked from behind the fruit stall.
“Pardon?” Cobal replied. He’d gone out to buy some food and other necessities in the town for their stay.
“When you arrived, wasn’t there a pale young woman with you?” The shopkeeper asked him, handing him back his linen bag that was now filled with all sorts of tropical  fruits.
Cobal smiled. “She’s doing alright. She’s a bit of a bookworm so she’s spending most of her time reading the pile of books we brought along.” That was at least partially true, he thought to himself.
The shopkeeper shook his head and then smiled. “What a shame, she should be out here enjoying the sun.” He looked at the gray clouds that were roaming further south, over the ocean. “Assuming that lasts much longer.”
“Are you expecting rain?” Cobal asked.
The man let out a deep sigh and scratched his knee. “When you get as old as I am you can feel these things in your bones. A storm is coming somewhere in the next few days.”
Cobal hoisted his now heavy bag over one shoulder. “I’d best get going and convince her to come outside for a while then.” He waved the shopkeeper goodbye and made his way down the sandy road towards their house for the time being. He followed the strategically placed rocks that marked the path from the village to the small house they were staying in. The house was a small space with a beautiful exterior design. Mostly made of painted wooden planks, the reds and blacks stood out against the horizon of blues and yellows. The tide would come and go as the house stayed dry on the wooden pillars that held it up. A small set of stairs led to the door.
About a month had passed since the kingdom of Blueyerd attempted and, in a sense, succeeded in the summoning ritual. Cobal had read a little bit about the history of this ritual. Apparently when the kingdom was in peril in the past there was a sage who predicted that a hero from another world would be summoned to save them all. The court wizard then brought together the most talented mages in the kingdom and together they summoned the hero who became known as Lord Might. Lord Might traveled the continent and dealt with all sorts of threats to the kingdom of Blueyerd, as well as neighboring kingdoms. Eventually he vanished without a trace. As the years went on, other nations slowly realized that Blueyerd wasn’t the powerful nation they once were, and skirmishes started appearing all around the country’s border. In retaliation the kingdom summoned a hero. So all the most powerful mages got together and with the court wizard, who was there to guide the previous attempt as well, they summoned a new hero. This hero ended up being a young woman who was trembling in fear upon arrival. In a fit of optimism the court wizard proclaimed that she must have magical talents and dubbed her Lady Mana.
Most people seemed disappointed with the result, and it wasn’t long before the king ordered his third son, Cobal Blueyerd, to watch over the new hero as she would go around the country to get stronger and deal with the border skirmishes. 
Cobal suspected that if the Lady Mana didn’t have it in her to become a hero, they would just have to slowly disappear, pretending the ritual never happened.
Upon Lady Mana’s request, the two of them traveled to the southern peninsula of the country, where the ocean met the sand and the coastal town of Ravadier bustled with life. Contrary to what Cobal expected to happen, Mana retreated into their small house surrounded by the books they’d brought from the royal library as opposed to enjoying the ocean air and freedom. It had left him wondering why she requested to go here in the first place.

“Lady Mana, I’ve returned.” Cobal ascended the stairs that led to the raised abode. Made from palm wood, the building was a lot stronger than it seemed. With temperatures as mild as they were, the majority of the building was open to the ocean air, but with several screens that could be bolted into place they could create an indoor space of a size they wanted. For the time being, only their bedrooms were cordoned off by these screens. Lady Mana was sitting on the far edge of the building, her books surrounding her. She looked up at him and nodded to acknowledge his return, but didn’t say anything. Cobal let out a silent sigh and put his linen bag down in the kitchen area. She’d talked to him when it was necessary, but anything beyond that had yet to happen. He’d tried to engage her in small talk and she would give a polite short answer, but the conversation would die out as quickly as it began.
“That looks complicated, are you progressing through it alright?” He asked her as he sat down a little bit away from her. He took one of the mangoes he bought and started eating it. He offered her one as well but she declined. 
“It’s difficult to grasp in a lot of places because magic didn’t exist in my old world. I understand some of the theory, but then there are pages with information that just seem completely alien to me and I have to wonder if I even have the capability to use any of it.”Cobal thought for a second. “I had some magic studies in the royal palace as a child, but Diriak said I had absolutely no talent for it, so I was quickly sent to swordsmanship training on most days.” He chuckled.
Lady Mana nodded and gave a polite but ultimately fake smile. She went back to her book, scribbling something down onto paper once every so often. She seemed very organized at the very least.
After finishing his mango, Cobal cleaned his hands and retrieved the fishing rod he’d bought the day they arrived here. They were just far enough away from the shore that he could catch fresh seawater fish right from their house. As long as he had a bit of patience, that was. After putting the bait on the hook and getting everything ready he sent out the line and waited. The sound of the quiet waves was only interrupted now and then by the scribbling of pen on paper and the turning of pages next to him. It wasn’t the luxury of the royal palace by any means, but this life wasn’t too bad so far. He’d expected it to be a lot more difficult when his father picked him to do this.
There wasn’t any hostility between him and his father, but Cobal had realized at a very young age that his oldest brother was the only one who was important to his father. He was to live as a diplomat to some foreign country when the opportunity arose, so he’d been trained for that. The amount of freedom he was experiencing right now was something he’d not seen in his twenty five years as a prince. It was actually kind of refreshing.
While waiting for the fish to bite he thought back on the stories his grandfather used to tell him about the previous hero. Lord Might was one of the strongest people he’d ever seen. Apparently he was a fighter in his old world as well, and although the techniques he used were very different from what the royal army taught, he was a quick learner and evolved his way of fighting regularly. Cobal’s grandfather would tell him grand tales about how Lord Might would save entire villages with his raw strength. He could move boulders and punch wild beasts into submission. When the new hero seemed so different than the one in his stories Cobal was definitely a bit disappointed. But it was his job now to help her become the hero the kingdom needs and he was committed to making it work. It wasn’t like Lady Mana had been rude or mean to him in any way, she just wasn’t very talkative and didn’t seem interested in anything other than her books. She seemed like the nervous type, the type that normally didn’t last long in these parts. But they’d only just begun traveling, and he was far from giving up hope.

“You said that you had to study magic for a little bit as a child right?” Lady Mana asked.
“I have, Lady mana. Albeit unsuccessfully.”
She let out a deep sigh. “If you insist on addressing me like that, just call me Mana.” She turned around the book she had been studying and shoved it towards him. He put his fishing rod aside and had a look at it. It showed a magic circle with some words in the runic language.
“This means air, and this means flow. The one at the bottom means energy.” He started pointing out several symbols and explained what they all meant while Mana wrote them down. After a while she seemed happy with the explanation, and she seemed to quickly understand the things he told her. “I’ll go and make us something to eat,” Cobal said after putting the two small fish he caught into a bucket. Not a big success, but enough to make do with. He was about halfway done with dinner when suddenly a pile of the papers next to Mana were blown across the room, some even outside with her trying desperately to avoid them from falling in the water.
He peeked from behind the kitchen counter. “Is everything alright?” 
Mana sat back up. “Yes, I’m fine, but I think I’m getting the hang of this finally.”
Cobal raised an eyebrow. “You did that?” 
She nodded. “I think so, yes.” She stood up and grabbed one of the mangoes that was on the kitchen counter. “Watch this.” she said, as she held it out in front of her. When she let go of it, it hovered in the air for a second or two before she promptly lost control of it and it fell down, the small amount of wind holding it in place blowing away from her.
“How did you manage that?” Cobal had seen mages before so it didn’t look too strange to him, but he hadn’t seen anyone go from not understanding magic at all to knowing how to wield actual practical magic in such a short time. Most mages studied for a decade before being able to practice magic at the most basic level.
She quickly went over to the last bit of paper she had been writing on and showed it to him.
“If you focus your attention here, and then mutter the magic word for air, it will form in a small orb-like state around your point of focus. The trick is to keep it there though.” She recoiled, realizing how much she was talking, and quickly put the papers back on a neat pile. “It takes a lot of energy though, so I think I’m going to eat in my room if you don’t mind.”
Cobal nodded, and handed her a plate. He’d only just noticed the sweat pouring down her forehead, this was clearly taking quite a lot out of her. One thing that always came up in his lessons was that magic, although being able to do crazy things, didn’t come without a cost. A lot of the feats took a large amount of mental and physical energy out of the casters that a lot of people didn’t expect. For this exact reason, a lot of mages do hours of physical training to stay in good shape. He didn’t think Mana had done much physical training in her days, so perhaps he should help her with that. But for now he’d leave her alone.
After finishing his own food, he went for a walk along the beach. The distant clouds seemed to be coming ever closer and at this rate it wouldn’t be too long before they would reach the shores. He kicked about the sand a bit after walking for a while, frustrated at the situation. He didn’t know what to do, and he didn’t like that. Normally there was always someone around to tell him what to do, how to behave and what to say. Life at the palace had been strict, but very consistent. Now he was on the edge of their kingdom, helping some stranger figure out magic that he himself didn’t even understand, and he had no idea why she even requested to go here in the first place. After not finding an answer to his numerous questions he eventually gave up and walked back to the house.

Alongside The Necromancer’s Daughter, which has been my main fantasy novel I’ve been working on for well over a decade now, slowly learning and getting better until one day I’ll be happy about it, I’ve written a second story. I’ve been at least somewhat obsessed with the Isekai genre of anime. For those who aren’t familiar, Isekai stories are generally about someone from our world being either teleported, trapped or reincarnated in a different world, often of the fantasy variety. It’s a very saturated genre right now, but to quote the genius Bo Burnham: “We’ll stop beating this dead horse when it stops spitting out money.”
Of course, doing a carbon copy of something that’s been done a million times wouldn’t be interesting, so I decided to put my spin on it a little bit. Here’s a preview of what you can expect from this series, that’ll be coming out here on this blog most every Thursday.

Cobal Blueyerd, third prince of the Blueyerd Kingdom was appointed as the personal guide to the newly summoned hero. This ancient ritual that had been successfully attempted by the kingdom once before, a long time ago, would bring forward a new warrior to fight against the encroaching problems that have been encircling the kingdom from all directions. Pirates have been harrowing the coast, the Kingdoms to the north have been eyeing up the borders for a while and most importantly the creatures living in the Feral wildlands, the large unexplored center of the continent, have been getting more and more aggressive. 
But plans don’t always go as expected. Instead of a mighty warrior, the ritual summoned a young woman with no combat experience. To make things worse, the world she came from hadn’t really experienced combat in the way Cobal’s world has in a long time. No monsters, no fighting over borders, no pirates. And this new hero, Lady Mana, seems to be hesitant about becoming a hero. It’s almost as if she knows something that the rest of them don’t. Nonetheless, Cobal accompanies her as she travels through the kingdom, with a suspiciously clear direction for someone who doesn’t know this world at all. What is Lady Mana hiding? How will her knowledge of different cultures from a foreign world benefit her here, as she learns about magic and the history of the Blueyerd Kingdom alongside Cobal? Follow their journey from one end of the kingdom to the other!