I saw a place where stairs were going down into the darkness. That place was quite different and lonely from the rest of the house. As soon as I reached near it, I got an strange feeling of heaviness. I was scared to go inside. The fear was not that someone would catch me, but the fear was that the stairs down there might be very deep and old and I might get trapped. Along with that, anything could be in that silence and darkness—any wild animal or perhaps something that was beyond my understanding. But my motive was clear; I had to find out the truth here at any cost.
I started going down those stairs. It was quite dark there, and at every step, the sound of squeaking rats was coming. I kept walking by gathering courage. Reaching the bottom, I looked all around. There were some old utensils kept there, some bags, but they were all useless. A thick layer of dust was settled everywhere. I was just walking forward when a spider web got stuck on my face. I removed it and walked forward with disgust.
Just then, my eyes fell on a book. Seeing it, I jumped with joy. I picked it up, there was a glimmer of hope in my eyes. As soon as I tried to open it, the cockroaches hiding inside jumped and came straight onto my face. I got scared badly, started running here and there, and removed them from my face. I was very terrified, my courage had completely given up, but I did not give up. I opened it again and saw that all its pages were eaten by rats and insects were crawling inside it. I just threw it away as soon as I opened it and continued my search.
I started searching through some boxes. A lot of time had passed, and I was tired, so I took support from a cupboard. As soon as I put my hand on it, one of its knobs broke and something fell down from above with a thud. That entire cupboard was about to fall on me, but I saved myself at the last moment. My breath started to shorten out of fear.
Just then, my eyes fell on a book kept nearby. It was very thick, a bit too thick. I went near it—finally, I got it! I tried to open it, but its cover was made of iron, which was very heavy, and for a two-year-old child, opening this was almost impossible. I tried very hard, but it was not opening. Then I put my full strength into it; only then did it open. I was badly exhausted from this.
I saw its first page. Something strange was written on it which I was not understanding at all. I kept staring at it, but nothing went into my head. Then I turned the page. The second page I was understanding clearly, but even there, it was written in a different language, but don't know how I was understanding it. I saw the pages ahead as well; I was able to read the whole book, but the first page was a mystery; I couldn't figure out what was written there. Then I said to myself, "Let it be, let's start reading from the second page. After all, let's see what is written in this."
I turned the second page of the book. There, it was written in detail about 'Mana'. Seeing the word, I immediately remembered—Oh yes! The board that is outside the training ground, the same is written on it—'Mana is banned'. After all, what is this 'Mana'?
I started reading deeply. According to the book, 'Mana' is a type of energy, by using which magic powers can be achieved. Magic is also of different types—fire, earth, wind, water, and much more. I thought in my mind, if this is such an amazing thing, then why is it banned? Are these people fools who are keeping such wonderful power away from their reach?
I read further and it was written in the book that this magic power runs in the veins of the people here. Due to this trait coming down through generations, this energy gets activated by itself in the children here by the time they reach the age of 6 to 7. For them, it is no miracle, but a natural thing.
But, if someone wants to awaken it before their age, then they will have to learn to feel this energy within themselves. A method was explained in the book—there is a special center inside the body, which is located just below the heart and between the lungs. By focusing on that point, just like a pitcher is being filled with water, in the same way, the surrounding energy has to be pulled and collected in that center.
I read this part many times. This was sounding easy to hear, but feeling it in reality was the biggest challenge. My heartbeats had increased. If I could understand this, then it meant clearly—I too can do magic! What an amazing thing it would be, man...
The end.