The Beginning After The End (Early Years Book 1) by TurtleMe Read Free Book Online Page A

stares at me in, almost making
*jiii* sounds. Is she expecting me to show her other techniques or something?
 Every time I match her gaze, she quickly turns her head back to the
front.

 
    Kukuku…is she five?

 
    Speaking of age, I turned 4 on the
front leg of our journey to the foot of the Grand Mountains.  I don’t know
when Mother prepared a cake or where she even put it (or if it’s even edible!),
but I didn’t complain, put on a big smile and thanked her and everyone else.
 While everyone gave me a hug or a pat on the back, Jasmine surprised me
then when she handed me a short knife, simply saying, “present.”

 
    Aww she cares! I’m tearing up.

 
    Our journey up the mountain was
pretty uneventful.  I spent a lot of my time reading my book on mana
manipulation, trying to find any discrepancies between mana and ki.  So
far, it seemed pretty similar except that, in rare cases, an Augmenter’s mana
usage can take on the property of elements.  Reading on, I noticed that
for beginners able to dabble in this, it wasn’t as distinct as what you may see
Conjurers casting but more like the quality of each distinct element.

 
    For example, an Augmenter, assuming
he has an innate compatibility with fire, would have mana that showed an
explosive quality when used.  Water would have a smooth, flexible quality.
 Earth would have a firm and rigid quality.  Finally, Wind would have
the quality of a sharp blade.

 
    That’s strange.  Back in my
old world, these kinds of qualities in ki had nothing to do with elements but
how you utilized your ki.  Shaping the ki into points and edges will give
it the so called “wind element,” while storing up your mana into a single point
and bursting it at the last moment would give it the “fire element” and so on.
 Sure, practitioners had preferences and were better at practicing one
style more than the other but I wouldn’t go as far as to say it was rare.
 Only the most basic use of ki involved reinforcing the body and weapons.

 
    I’ll have to test this with mana in
the future.  Being stuck in a 4 year old body with constant supervision by
suspicious adults made practicing really hard.

 
    I kept reading on when suddenly I
hear Helen’s voice.

 
    “BANDITS! PREPARE TO ENGAGE!” she
shouted, followed by a rumble of footsteps coming from to our right and our
back.

 
    “Submit, O wind and follow my will.
I command and gather you around in protection.  Wind Barrier!” Instantly I
feel a gust of wind forming a tornado around mother, Angela and I.  Then
the gust shapes into a sphere around us.

 
    Angela is holding out her wand and
was concentrating on keeping the barrier active while arrows constantly hit the
barrier, only to get redirected into a different direction.

 
    My mother pulls me in close, trying
to shield me using her body from whatever might get through.  The barrier
seems to be holding strong thanks to Angela.

 
    In a matter of seconds, the tarp
covering the carriage is torn to shreds and I get a better view of what’s going
on.

 
    We were surrounded.

 
 

Chapter 7:   How
I Wished

 
 
    There were at least 30 bandits from
what I could see.  Our current situation seemed to be pretty bad, as
both our front and back were surrounded by bandits with swords, spears and
other close range weapons.  On the mountainside to our right, there were
archers positioned to shoot down at us and to our left was only the edge of the
mountain with the looming fog beckoning to us.

 
    Jasmine, Durden and my father
seemed to be fine with no visible injuries but Helen had a slightly pale face
as she had an arrow jutting out of her right calf.  

 
    A bald man with multiple scars
deforming his face and a body that reminded me of a bear (but carrying a giant
axe) spoke out.

 
    “Look what we have here.
 Pretty good catch boys.  Leave only the girls and kid alive.
 Try not to scar them too much.  Damaged goods will