“M-magic!” Fefnir is the first one to exclaim. “Must be! How did you do that, Aefener?”

“I-I… I have no idea,” I gulp. “I couldn’t reach it so… a strong wish I guess?”

“Do it again!” Liana sits up and her expression is mad.

“Come on!” Ingri grabs my phone off the floor and puts it in front of me again.

“Not with my phone!” I shake my head violently.

“It’s a good thing that I made you buy that screen protector, right?” Erik laughs but it’s the kind of nervous laugh that precedes a mental breakdown.

He somehow successfully came to terms with me being a telepath and having wings but now he’s facing another unbelievable phenomenon. Poor Erik. And there doesn’t seem to be an end to strangeness any time soon. I hug him and now it’s me comforting him.

“DO IT!” Liana and Fefnir shout at me at the same time.

“Use this instead,” Ingri readily positions a pillow in front of me.

“E-ehm… okay,” I say timidly.

Still, I have no idea how I did it in the first place. I try focusing on the pillow and sending a strong wish to move it but nothing happens.

“Well? Don’t you feel anything? Mana?” Liana nudges me.

“I’ve been feeling something pulsating inside me but I thought it’s my bones getting hollow,” I say. “Mana… I’m not sure, Li. I can somehow accept DNA changing even if it’s stretching science too far, but mana? Magical energy?”

“But you did magic, we all saw it,” Liana insists. “Right, doc?”

Dr Stein finally closes her mouth and simply nods. I guess it must be much harder for her and Erik to accept such a thing as magic because they’ve never played virtual games where it exists. As for me and my gaming friends, we were experiencing magic every day in the world that was almost indistinguishable from reality so we got used to it. But still… in real life? Seriously?

“Heyaa,” out of the blue Fefnir takes the pillow and throws it at me.

I know it can’t really hurt me but I flinch on instinct and the pillow changes its trajectory, hitting the wall behind me.

“Magic confirmed,” Fefnir grins and his teeth flash for a moment. Did I just see… small fangs?

Erik must have seen it as well because he blinks, dumbfounded again.

It’s real… it’s real… it’s happening… they’re… my Ryuu is…, he’s thinking frantically.

I’m still me, I assure him and try calming him with lots of love. It does seem to work as he gets his cool back.

“Real magic,” he speaks aloud and caresses my face. “How is the world going to react to that?”

“We have to keep it secret as long as possible,” Liana says resolutely. “The world is panicking already now that it’s been proven we’re really changing into our avatars. I’m afraid we can even expect violence and limiting our human rights if it comes to the worst scenario. Confirming magic isn’t wise at this point, we have to keep our people safe during the transformation when we’ll be utterly vulnerable.”

Our people, she says. I shudder at what it might entail—dividing the population into ‘us’ and ‘them’ is never a good thing. But what else is to be expected? Soon there’ll be five races on the planet. Everything’s going to change. And now that magic is confirmed, it’s only logical to expect that other races will get their abilities as well.

What does it all mean!? Erik starts freaking out again. I calmed him just a moment ago but because he can perceive my emotions and thoughts, he can also catch what I’m pondering about and get nervous as a result.

“I agree, we have to keep it secret for now,” Fefnir nods. “We’re lucky to be safe at Liana’s place but many others won’t be as lucky. I imagine there’re already people who fear us and if they find out we can do magic… well…”

“Dr Stein, I forbid you to make it public,” Liana turns to the doctor. “You can publish the rest but don’t you dare mention magic. At least not yet.”

I’m catching all sorts of conflicting emotions from the doctor. Julia Stein… she seems to be just a simple private GP for rich people but I can feel her ambitions go much higher. She wants to skyrocket her career on me. Still, would she betray Liana, her employer? And the Hippocratic Oath?

“I understand,” she says with evident self-denial. “But I want to be the first to publish it when the right time comes.”

“Deal,” Liana agrees.

“Try something else,” Ingri pulls my sleeve now that I’m properly dressed.

 “Sorry, Ingri, I’m dead tired again,” I take a deep breath and Erik carefully lies me on my right side. I try to stretch my wings to rest them properly on the mattress.

“If magic here is based on mana, whatever that is in reality, it might be connected to one’s overall energy,” Fefnir thinks out loud. “In the game, you could take a potion when your mana was exhausted but I’m afraid there’ll be no such shortcut here. It’s most likely Celestials will have to sleep and eat to refill mana.”

“Mana… magic…,” Dr Stein shakes her head. “It sounds like a fairy-tale. If I didn’t see it myself, I’d never believe it. Or it might be scientifically explained after all? Some ability of a human brain we still know nothing about that was awakened? Did you have other abilities apart from telekinesis?”

“Of course, all sorts of abilities,” I say. “But simple telekinesis is the only one that didn’t require complicated spellcasting.”

“Miss Richter, do you feel something already?” Dr Stein asks, fascinated.

“I’m not sure… uhm, dizzy,” Liana massages her temples.

“Li, you need to rest, seriously,” I say sternly and manage to touch her because she’s sitting close to us. I want to check up on her.

As I suspected, she’s totally exhausted and just putting on a brave front. She’s not worse than me five days ago but she was working the whole time. I don’t want to invade her privacy so I only peek into her fresh memories. I knew it! She didn’t sleep since we came here!

“Aefener’s right,” Fefnir supports me. “Go to bed, Li.”

“And eat something, Miss Richter,” Dr Stein adds. “You might lose weight otherwise.”

“We’ll keep monitoring the situation,” Ingri says confidently. “I’m still at least two weeks behind you so I can be of use in the time you’re too weak.”

“Okay then,” Liana sighs in resignation and finally leaves. Dr Stein goes as well, mumbling she has to publish new information.

“Your compatibility was 80%, Ingri? That’s very impressive,” Fefnir is amazed. “What was your ingame level?”

“Thirty-seven,” she says and continues adjusting my hoodie. “It’d be much higher but my parents didn’t let me be plugged in VR for too long. But I started with VR as soon as I could so I guess my brain got used to it nicely.”

“When did you start, Aefener?” Fefnir is curious. “Also at fourteen?”

“Well, not exactly,” I say slowly. “I started gaming seriously at fourteen, yes, but I was testing VR when I was four.”

“Wait… what?!”

Ingri stops sewing, Fefnir looks up from his tablet and Erik frowns.

“My Mom was a VR developer,” I explain. “Or not really a developer, a researcher rather. I don’t remember it that well to be honest but I was testing some experimental stuff for her.”

“So that’s why your compatibility is so freaking high!” Fefnir claps his hands victoriously. “Your brain got a chance to adjust at a very early age.”

“Yep, most probably,” I nod.

“I thought testing VR on children is forbidden by the law?” Erik is shocked.

“It is. Not that my Mom cared I guess. But I really enjoyed it, she didn’t force me or anything.”

I’ll tell you the details later, I add in my thoughts. In fact, my Mom had a very good reason that relates to my telepathy.

It should better be good, Ryuu, because it sounds like abuse, he’s concerned.

“What is she doing now?” Fefnir asks.

“Huh, who?” I’m confused.

“Your mother. If she’s a VR researcher, didn’t it occur to you to go to her for answers?”

My chest gets heavy. It’s been so many years and I don’t remember her that well but it still hurts talking about it.

“My Mom died when I was a child,” I say simply.

“S-sorry,” Fefnir flinches. “I… I didn’t realise… I mean… you used the past tense but I thought she just changed jobs or retired.”

“Moron,” Ingri kicks him under the table and glimpses at my phone in front of her that started vibrating. She must have put it on silent because of countless notifications flooding my account.

“Oh, your grandmother is calling you,” she announces and hands me my phone.

Grandma. I freeze seeing her name on the screen. She never calls me just to wish me a pleasant day so either she needs something again or… she saw me on the news. I bet it’s the second option.

“Guys, can you leave, please?” my voice cracks. “It’s private.”

“Sure,” Fefnir and Ingri nod and leave for their guest room. Ingri takes the hoodie and the sewing kit with her.

My fingers tremble when I’m about to hit ‘answer the call’ button.

“Erik, it’s probably going to be nasty,” I warn him beforehand. “We don’t exactly get on well.”

He’s known nothing about my Grandma until now so it’s going to be embarrassing. He feels my anxiety and fear and clutches my hand in comfort.

“We don’t choose our family,” he shakes his head and gives me a quick encouraging kiss.

I touch the button and all hell’s fury breaks out.

“I’VE TOLD YOU THOSE DAMN VIDEOGAMES WILL BE THE END OF YOU! DO YOU EVEN REALISE WHAT KIND OF FREAK YOU HAVE BECOME?!”