For the rest of that day, Ray couldn't shake the image of the floating jar.
So later—when Nora wasn't looking and Kael was fixing the barn door—Ray slipped behind the house, took a deep breath, and stretched out his hand.
In the novel… mana control starts with feeling the flow of energy inside the body. Imagine a a orb of energy. Guide it. Shape it.
He closed his eyes.
Focused.
Felt nothing.
Ray gritted his teeth and tried again.
Still nothing.
He stayed out there for almost an hour until he fell backward into the dirt, dizzy and annoyed.
"…Stupid magic," he muttered.
But he didn't stop.
Not that day.
Not the next.
Not even when weeks turned to months.
Ray tried every day.
Meditation.
Weird breathing he remembered from the book.
Even some poses that made the chickens tilt their heads at him like he'd lost his mind.
And every single time…
Nothing.
Just silence inside his body.
Still—he kept trying.
Three Years Later — Ray, Age 8
Ray stood on the hill behind the house, panting hard. Sweat dripped down his forehead as he tried—again—to "feel" mana.
Still nothing.
He groaned and flopped backward into the grass.
"My life is a scam…"
Before he could complain more, heavy footsteps approached.
Kael.
"Ray," Kael said, arms crossed. "Come with me."
Ray blinked. "Did I mess up?"
"No. It's time."
"Time for what?"
Kael's expression shifted into that soldier look—the one that always made Ray straighten up instinctively.
"I'm going to start training you," Kael said. "As a soldier."
Ray froze.
A soldier.
Not a mage.
Not a hero.
Not anything flashy or special.
Just… a soldier.
A part of him sank, quiet and small.
But Kael was watching him with a rare, quiet pride. Like this was something important. Something he wanted to pass down.
Ray swallowed.
"…Okay," he said softly. "I'll do it."
Kael nodded, relieved.
"Good. First lesson is simple. Run around the village. Three laps."
"Three laps?" Ray squeaked. "The entire village?!"
Kael nodded again.
Ray trudged to the road, preparing to begin what he was certain would be the worst training arc in history.
As Ray started jogging, Kael's friend Joren walked up beside the barn.
Joren grinned and slapped Kael's shoulder. "Finally training the boy, huh? Took you long enough."
Kael frowned. "I still think he's too young."
"He's eight," Joren said with a shrug. "Old enough to start shaping him. You know how it is."
Kael didn't answer.
Joren lowered his voice.
"And… we're giving him the pup today, right?"
Kael's jaw tightened.
"…Yes."
Joren huffed a laugh. "Good. Kids grow stronger when they learn early that attachments can get you killed."
Kael looked sharply at him. "He's just a boy."
"And one day he'll be a soldier. If he freezes in battle, he dies. If he hesitates, he dies. Better he learns the cost of softness now than later."
Kael's gaze drifted toward Ray—tiny legs pumping, cheeks red, determined despite hating every second of it.
There was pride in Kael's eyes.
And guilt.
"…I don't like it," he muttered. "He'll love that pup."
"That's the point," Joren said quietly. "He needs to learn to kill with a steady hand, not a trembling one. And to stay clear-headed when it hurts."
Kael clenched his jaw.
Joren patted his arm.
"You're doing right by him. This world isn't kind. Better he learns under you than out there."
Kael didn't reply.
He just stood there, watching Ray run—small, determined, unaware of what today would plant in his heart.
Ray was breathless, sweaty, and not having a good time
By the time Ray made it halfway around the village for his second lap, he felt like his lungs were plotting treason.
He stumbled to a stop beside an old well, bent over with his hands on his knees.
"Haa… haa… why is this village… so BIG?"
He wiped sweat off his forehead, gulping down the humid morning air.
That's when he heard footsteps approaching—two sets.
Kael and Joren.
Ray straightened immediately, trying to look less like a dying chicken.
"Break time?" he asked hopefully.
Kael nodded. "Two minutes."
Ray let out a quiet, exhausted cheer.
But then he noticed something.
Joren was holding something behind his back.
Kael… was trying very hard not to look emotional.
Suspicious.
Ray squinted at them. "Uh… what's going on?"
Kael opened his mouth—then shut it.
Joren grinned instead.
"Oh, nothing," Joren said. "Just a little something we picked up on the way."
Ray blinked.
Before he could ask—
Something small wriggled.
Then jumped out of Joren's hands.
Then ran straight at Ray.
"Wh—WHOAA—!"
Ray flinched. Only for a tiny brown puppy to skid to a stop in front of him, tail wagging like it was trying to create its own windstorm.
Ray froze.
The puppy barked, high-pitched and excited.
Ray's eyes widened so much they practically glowed.
"A… a puppy?" he whispered.
The puppy yipped and tried climbing up his leg.
Ray scooped it up, and the little thing immediately started licking his chin.
Ray laughed — actually laughed — bright and breathless.
"It's so cute! Whose puppy is this? Did someone lose it?"
He looked at Kael first.
Kael looked like someone had stabbed him with guilt.
Then Ray turned to Joren, who smirked with the confidence of a man who lies smoothly.
"Yours," Joren said. "He's yours."
Ray's heart exploded.
"Mine!?" Ray hugged the puppy like he'd just been handed treasure. "Really!? I get to keep him?"
As the puppy wiggled happily in his arms, Ray's smile lit up his whole face — the kind of smile that made him forget he was older any eight year old.
Behind him, Kael looked away, jaw tight.
Joren elbowed Kael lightly.
"See?" he whispered. "He's happy."
Kael didn't answer.
Not because he disagreed.
But because that bright smile cut deep.
He wanted Ray strong.
Prepared but giving this kid something to love…knowing they'd one day have to tear that love away…
Kael's hands clenched slightly.
Joren's expression softened for a rare moment.
"He'll grow from it," he murmured quietly. "Pain makes soldiers. But you're… still a good man for hesitating."
Kael didn't reply.
He just watched Ray kneel in the grass, laughing as the puppy tumbled over his feet.
Pure happiness in its simplest form.
Kael's chest felt strangely tight.
Ray looked up with the softest smile.
What should i call him…Think ray think out of all those anime, mange and novels you have seen something must feels good to call him.
As he thought suddenly he said kiba might fit as it means fang in Japanese but he doesn't have that sharp of a fang. will who cares he like so be it,
The puppy barked proudly, as if approving the name.
Kael forced a small smile.
Ray didn't notice the sadness ghosting behind it