“Didn’t the stars teach you?”

  “Stars?” I wonder what she was talking about.

  “Remember you told us about when you fell unconscious and had stars all around you? Tribe leader told me, when I happened to me, that they teach us the basics of how to use our magic. Like this!”

  Aveeno grabbed my soft snow pile and compressed it into an icicle.

  “For me, the stars showed me to use water and put it in a pattern, how to build it and how to control its temperature. Right now, I can only make icicles but eventually I will be able to make a sword!”

  I sat down on my soft snow bed and contemplated. The star showed me a string and told me how to grasp and pull the string.

  I turned to Aveeno’s icicle, I conceptualized a string coming from the icicle, before trying to grasp that string.

  “What are you doing?” Aveeno looked at me like I was a weirdo.

  “I’m doing what the star showed me to do.”

  “Making weird hand gestures?”

  I’ll be frank, I didn’t feel the string or connection.

  “It’s working I can feel it.”

  “Well, I can feel you are even inputting mana in the air.” She poked my hands.

  I stared at Aveeno before glancing at Glynn.

  “You didn’t ask.”

  “Okay fine, please teach me step by step how to use magic.”

  “Okay I got this; first step is to touch your target. That is because you are only starting out, so you have no way to feel or move magic away from your body. Look at Aveeno, she reached into the snow pile to make an icicle.”

  I grabbed Aveeno’s icicle.

  “Next, you want to mark it with your mana, this will make it easier to manipulate.”

  “How do I use mana.”

  “The best way to think about how to use mana is to think of your blood. Your heart is where all the mana is created and your blood spreads out the effect, that’s why we use blood to see your affinity. Now imagine you are wringing out a wet cloth, imagine squeezing out the mana and painting your target with it.”

  It took me a couple of tries but soon my fingertips glowed purple before leaving an after glow on Aveeno’s icicle.

  “Now try doing what the stars taught you.”

  I again imagined a string connected to the icicle, this time it felt stronger, firmer, and I tugged it.

  “Oh? Its working, you have gravity after all.” Aveeno sounded impressed.

  She then let go of the icicle as it soared and crashed into my chest.

  “Ow.”

  Good thing it was the one she just made and not the sharp one.

  “Congratulations, you have taken a step in the world of the awakened.” Glynn helpfully patted me on the back.

  “Now that I have magic, can I have my breakfast back?”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Both Glynn and Aveeno looked at each other before remembering the hare they snatched from me.

  “Nope, catch another one.” Then she bolted out of the room with my food.

  “Don’t take it seriously, the hunters will be back soon, and then we can have breakfast, I’ll stay with you until then.”

  “Thanks.”

  We then chatted a bit, I asked him why he and Aveeno were so accepting towards me while the other guy really hated me.

  He explained that, as the son and daughter of the tribe leader, they often made transactions with the local merchants for information and material wealth, so they learned to not be biased and be civil. As for the guy from earlier, his mom got sold as a… certain slave and he and his father had to escape after failing to free her.

  Now I felt bad, but he deserved the ice ball to the face.

  After a while, a bunch of clouds covered the sky and it began snowing, but because of the big blue fire in the middle of village, I didn’t feel cold.

  “It’s about time.” Glynn got up and stretched.

  “For breakfast?”

  “Yeah.”

  I followed him to the village, when we made it to the village, around the big fire was a long ice table and chairs, I saw the young man from earlier as he was staring daggers at me, but I ignored him.

  Glynn brought us near the fire before we sat down and continued our conversation, eventually Aveeno joined us and sat beside Glynn.

  “Where did you put my food?”

  “Already freed it. :P”

  “We are going to eat anyways.”

  The tribe leader came out of his igloo and a delicate woman was beside him, and they sat closest to the fire with the man having his back facing the fire.

  As time passed more people joined us, some elves cast curious gazes at me but some glared at me like the young man from earlier.

  The last to sit at the table were the hunters I saw that morning, they held an assortment of different animals, from hares to a very large frost wolf.

  They tossed them into the blue fire before taking it back, then some weird magic happened on the table where ice blades came up before skinning the animals, collecting the blood into ice bowls, and cutting the meat into portions.

  Everyone was more or less equal, with the adults having more than teens like me and Aveeno.

  Surprisingly, contrary to my expectations, the tribe leader didn’t go into a speech, he just slapped the table, and everyone began talking or eating.

  Despite how civilized the serving was, everyone didn’t bother to use utensils, and the meat looked very fresh still.

  Of course, at this point I was starving and didn’t care, I ate the slab of meat in front of me and found that it was a very comfortable warm temperature, had nice flavor, and not as gamey as I expected it to be.

  “Is this your magical fire making this taste so good?”

  “MMhm” Aveeno said with her cheeks filled like a chipmunk. “Bee drow erbs imto da, gulp, fire and it flavors the food for us.” She looked very proud of her magical stove.

  There goes the elegant image of elves gone from my head.

  “We usually eat once a day so don’t expect lunch or dinner.”

  At least Glynn was more civilized and didn’t eat with his mouth full.

  I closed my eyes and enjoyed the blood wine (not wine).

  After about 30 minutes everyone finished and left, I followed Glynn and Aveeno into an igloo beside the biggest one.

  “This is where you can find us, but again, don’t try to find us unless we tell you that you can go outside.”

  They brought me inside, and I felt like it was much bigger than the biggest igloo.

  After passing five doors, they knocked on the sixth one.

  I heard a muffled “come in” from the other side.

  We entered and I saw the delicate ice elf from earlier beside a large loom. She was using ice that was flexible yet shined like diamonds and was making it into cloth.

  It would’ve been a beautiful picture had she not been surrounded by large ice weapons and frozen armor.

  “Ma, this is the human we told you about.”

  The ice elf looked up and smiled.

  “Hello, I am the tribe leader’s wife, Savre, welcome to my humble igloo.”

  “Hello, my name is Zyran.”

  “… I just realize this is the first time you told us your name too.” Aveeno poked me.

  “Ah, haha.” I nervously laughed.

  “It’s not important,” Savre chuckled “What is important however, is our tribe’s tradition, the tribe usually gifts new residents one item as a welcome gift, had it not been for someone begging, you wouldn’t get to pick.”

  “Yeah, you should thank Glynn.”

  “What.” Glynn looked at Aveeno confused.

  “Say what you want Zyran.” Aveeno urged.

  I carefully pondered what I would like, I looked at the assortment of weapons all around the room, should I get a knife? It was practical, or maybe an arrow. There was few that could interest me, I am a simple man; I have simple needs.

  “Can I get a bow?”

  …

  “Zyran, I’m sorry if I had to remind you but… you only have one hand.” she said as she gently poked me.

  “It’s fine, I just want it for sentimental reasons.”

  Savre simply smiled. “Would you like it to be an ornament or have practical use?”

  “Tough and practical please, I don’t want it to break accidentally.”

  “Alright,” she chuckled. “Come at dusk for your new bow, now go along, shoo, shoo.”

  Savre then waved a small needle and the ground surged, pulling Glynn and Zyran away.

  This left the mother and daughter alone in the room.

  “So… you like him?”

  “MOOOOOOOOM!”