Chapter 46 – Anna’s First Festival #1
“MORNING ANNA!” Jen and George jumped into Anlesa’s room.
[WOAH!] Eva was jumped by the sudden entrance.
“Morning Mother and Father.” Luna stood up out of their bed and replied in the most formal way possible to contrast their parents.
George quietly chuckled at Luna’s actions.
Jen asked, “Where is the excitement Luna, today is the day the festival starts.”
Luna continued with the bit, “Well dearest Mother, you have clearly managed to purloin it from us during our nightly slumber.”
Then the family laughed for a few seconds.
“Yep I did, I’m a fantastic thief.”
George added, “I wouldn’t call someone who would steal from their daughter a ‘fantastic thief’, that’s my opinion anyway.”
“Well, it’s all sunshine and rainbows if I give something in return.”
George quietly muttered, “Stealing is still stealing.”
Anna whispered back, “He’s right.” As Jen shook her head defeated and pulled out a small gift.
Jen handed Anna a small book, “Here is a congratulatory present for your second attribute.”
The book's title was ‘Jen’s Super Cool Notes on Manipulation *Attribute’.
Eva opened the first page and smiled, [What a very Jen thing to do.]
The gift itself warmed their heart. It was a short notebook of a few pages, recounting information about the Manipulation attribute. It was clearly written and made by Jen over the last two days, not only that, she put references where she got the information from.
“Thank you, Mum.” Anna closed the book, put it under her arm, walked over to Jen and hugged her. Jen gladly returned the favour.
Once the mother-daughter duo was done, George asked, “Can I have one too?”
“Sureeeeeee–” Syrus jokingly replied.
“–Yep!” Eva decided to add more enthusiasm to the response and gave George a large hug.
The parents and Anna split a little bit later. So Anlesa had time to get changed and prepare for the festival.
Anna put on some tie-on shoes that she could run in–there was going to be at least a little bit of playing with the other children. She put on some nicer clothes gotten for her on a previous birthday, a short-sleeved red shirt and long baggy brown pants–not the brightest colour, but they were comfortable. To add the final touches Anna put on the pendant she received for her 6th birthday, she had to replace the string a couple of times, but the pendant itself was well taken care of.
Having a few more spare minutes of time, Anna chose to further read her gift.
Page one went over the basic uses of Manipulation. How it increased mana control and allowed people to manipulate mana outside their body and within other objects much easier–this being great for certain artisan professions which was why Manipulation was high in demand.
Jen even listed some of the professions–smiths, jewellers, enchanters, weavers, potion makers, engravers. She even added a note that said, ‘There’s a lot of crossover!’
Page two went over some other benefits of Manipulation. How the natural effect of the attribute boosted mana flow and control even without using the attribute directly. It also went over how it can improve reaction time and the efficiency of strengthening the body with mana.
[Huh, I didn’t know about the physical aspect of Manipulation.] (Syrus)
[I doubt most people did, it would be written in the books but the general public opinion is that its use lies predominantly in creation. Which isn’t wrong. You can use a large kitchen bowl as a hat in the rain, but the bowl’s primary usage is still to eat from.] (Luna)
[...I did know of it, but as Luna said, it’s not the aspect people care about. And it is something you have to train for it to be truly effective, from what I heard it's only an insignificant boost without the effort put in, and most would rather spend the effort improving their craft instead… Not that I really noticed, due to my… condition, I doubt any of the physical improvements even manifested.] (Eva)
Page three spoke about more wild uses of Manipulation. From the different weapons some of the extremely rare combat users of Manipulation–flying knives, rope and wires, puppets, and traps. It talked about how they were used and the difficulties in learning each. The last section of this page referenced how Manipulation worked with certain other attributes, for combat or craft purposes, there was another note from Jen, ‘A very unknown field!’
Then there was page four. All that was on it was one message, written in large fancy letters, ‘Remember to have fun, explore and enjoy yourself, don’t worry about maximising your effort to achieve something (Money, power, etc)–unless you Genuinely enjoy doing that. We love you, Anlesa. Take care of each other, Luna, Eva, Syrus.’
“Thank you…” Anna smiled and closed the book.
She left her room to reunite with her folks.
George and Jen were still making breakfast so Eva announced, “Let me join in.”
“Sure dear, can you grab the bowl from the table then?”
“Understood,” Luna replied, picking up the bowl as she passed and walked over to her parents.
The family worked hand in hand to create a fitting breakfast for a busy day of mostly fun–with a tiny bit of work.
Once they were done, they had bowls of grain, meat, and a couple of different sauces for them to enjoy. They all dug in, and the family had a large fulfilling meal together.
With that, Jen and George only had to check up on a few things and then all that was left to do was to enjoy the rest of the day.