On their way to their tent, Zan saw a bird's nest on the ground. Seeing the dry twigs, grass, and leaves built together, he tough it would make an excellent tinder later, so he picked it up.

At the tent, Zan hurried to the firewood and pushed two Y-shaped rods, two feet apart, at the burned ground. He then put another rod on top of them and laid the bird's nest between the sticks.

After preparing everything for the fire, he only needed his flint and small steel rod to ignite the tinder. So he went to their tent and reached into his sack for the small metal box. However, by the time he found it and turned around, he saw his mother already rolling the rabbit over the fire. "How did you do that?"

"I have done it with mana." Arilia smiled.

"Can you show it to me?" Zan asked his mother because he couldn't understand how she lit the fire.

"All right." She nodded and took a thicker branch piece into her hand. She only held it for a second, when suddenly greenish-blue flames cowered the firewood and three symbols appeared on it in a darker shade. Then the wood piece suddenly ignited and was burning with natural red and yellow colors.

After witnessing this, Zan's jaw dropped, and his mouth opened so big that even a little bird could easily fly in it. If someone told him that creating fire without a spark was possible, he wouldn't believe him. But as he saw this miracle with his own eyes, he couldn't do anything else but to accept it.

"What you have just seen is another way to use mana, which most people only call as magic. However, this is nothing more than simple scribing," she explained, while carved three characters into the ground.

(THUMBNAIL)

"I have only created these three characters out of mana to make the wood burn." She said. "These characters mean fire in the ancient language, and it is one of the simplest and easiest magic one can create wit a script."

"Ancient language?" Zan asked with interest.

"Yes, in the great war, when they opened the Ancestral Tower, people found thousands of years of knowledge. There, they discovered the ancient scripts, which were carved into several steel plates. However, even after more than two hundred and fifty years, we still could not translate every word of it, and no one even knows how to pronounce these letters." She explained as she rolled the rabbit over the fire. "But what is certain is that when these characters are written in the right order, they can make big changes to the world, and someone with enough mana can create miracles with it."

"Then, after the aura level, is this level?"

"No," she shook her head and stopped rolling the rabbit. "The next is the smoke level," she held her hand up, and her arm began to emit a greenish-blue smoke from her skin, "which is followed by the flame level," and her hand was covered with greenish-blue flames. "At the smoke level, you can use your mana to double or even to triple your body strength, and on the flame level, you will be able to move your mana into objects, weapons, and crystals. If you draw words written in the ancient language with blood or crystal paint and flow your mana into it, the words will execute their meaning."

"But you didn't paint the words on the tree. The characters just appeared on their own."

"You are right, but the rabbit is almost roasted," Arilia said as she looked at their soon-to-be dinner. "It was not easy to catch it, and it would be a shame to burn it."

Zan looked at the rabbit, which seemed almost as raw as when his mother put it above the fire. He was sure that his mom just wanted to divert his attention, but he decided not to ask about it anymore. If she didn't want to tell him something, then no matter what he would do, he couldn't make her talk. So he sat down on the tree trunk and rolled the rabbit above the fire.

"Why do they call this beast windy and not long ears?" Zan asked after a while.

"Well, I do not know why it is not called long ears, but I do know that the villagers call it windy because they think that it runs just like the wind."

"But isn't that just a phrase for someone who runs fast?"

"Yes, it is," she nodded, "but where do you think the phrase came from?"

"From the rabbit?" Zan asked with a surprised face.

"Well, I do not know it with certainty," Arilia shrugged her shoulders, "but it is likely true because when this wildling rushes for its life, it is quite fast. If you do not see it with your eyes, then you might think that only the wind is blowing."

"If it is so fast, then how did you catch it?"

"I caught it because I am faster," she said, but after seeing her son's shocked expression, she continued, "If I would just run after it then, of course, it would not be easy. However, if I use lightning steps, it is really simple to catch it."

Zan couldn't help but show a doubtful face. "What are these lightning steps again?"

"It is a movement skill with which I can run much faster by using my mana," Arilia said, then stood up, and after a moment, she appeared 60 feet away. She was just as fast as a bolt of lightning, and she even looked like one.

Zan could only see a greenish-blue beam of light from his mother's movement. He was unable to hold onto his excitement and yelled, "That was amazing! Teach me how to do it!"

Arilia once again turned into a bolt of lightning, and after a moment, appeared in front of her son. "I cannot teach you yet. You will only be able to use this movement skill, once you have reached the flame level. There are four little holes in the ground, do you see them?" she asked while pointing at the four tiny pits about 15 feet apart. "These are my footprints. I have only made four steps in both ways. To be able to use this skill, you need to focus your mana in your balls of the feet, then just like a cannon shot, you have to push it out," Arilia explained. But as she saw the sadness on her child's face, she continued, "However, there is a movement skill that you can already practice."

"Really?" Zan asked as his eyes gleamed with anticipation.

"Yes. This movement skill is called the silent steps. You can use it to sneak on someone quickly, and not even mana is needed to practice it. Here, what you need to concentrate on is moving as carefully and as gently as possible so that nobody can hear you. When you run, you need to be careful not to make any noise with your steps. Only your toes and the balls of your feet can touch the ground while your heels stay in the air. You have to be just like a cat hunting for its prey, which is quiet but quick. Somehow like this." Arilia showed her son the movement skill. Although she was nowhere near as fast as before, yet she was still far from being slow. "You can practice this skill until the meat is roasted."

Zan didn't need to be told twice, and soon he was running up and down. Although in his heart, he would rather practice the lightning steps; however, since he wasn't at the right level, he had to be satisfied with the silent steps.

He practiced these movements until the sun went down, and the meat was almost cold. However, the cold dinner didn't sadden him because this way, he could eat it faster. The meat tasted to him like the roasted chicken that they sometimes ate at home, and he was so fond of the meal that he quickly devoured both of the little beast's hind legs.

After finishing his dinner, he stood up and started practicing the silent steps again.

"We should go to sleep now. You will continue your practice tomorrow," Arilia said.

"You can go to sleep, but I still want to practice." he was still eager to master this skill.

"All right, do whatever you want. But do not be too frightened when the beasts attack you."Arilia said as she went inside the tent.

Hearing these words, Zan got scared, and after a big gulp, he said, "But soon it will be night.

"Some predators hunt at this time."

"You know what, the practice can wait till tomorrow. After all, I could see a lot better in the morning than now." He then yawned. "And now that I think about it, I already feel a little tired."

After saying these words, Zan went into the tent and lay next to his mother. He wanted to fall asleep quickly, but his mom's sentence didn't let him go to his dreamland.

He was never as afraid in his life as he was now, feeling helpless against the beasts in the dark. However, after Arilia embraced him, he felt secure, and for some reason, he quickly fell asleep.