"A talking rabbit?"

"Wait, are you the lake, nibi?"

"Hm? Yes, my cocoon was inside of the lake."

Somehow I get the feeling that the rabbit's eyes shined with excitement. It jumped at Kairi and hugged her. She was surprised but nonetheless she hugged it back.

Magic is already weird enough so I think I can get used to the talking rabbit thing. Still, in one night my whole life changed. It's weird but I think I can get used to it.

"Thank you for granting this powers to me Mother, nibi!"

"! Wha-what!"

After the words of the rabbit she blushed down to her neck. It took some time to calm her down. After she calm down we listened the rabbit.

Turns out it fell into the lake two years ago. While it didn't gained the ability to control mana like me thanks to my contract with her, it gained a powerful body. According to her, it turned into half spirit.

She was so confused about how could this happened. Turns out there weren't any half spirits existed before.

"That's weird. There's no way mana leaking from my cocoon could have caused this."

"Then what do you mean? How did this guy gained powers and sentience?"

"Hmm? Is it about the lake?"

She focused on the lake. Water of the lake was shining with brilliant light. It was mesmerizing. I could have fallen into trance while watching it but  instead I turned towards the Kairi. Her burrows were furrowed.

"What is it?"

"There is unusual amount of Aether in the water. And somehow it was able to mix with mana leaked from my cocoon. Somehow my cocoon ended up inside of that lake. And it caused this weird phenomenon. But this still doesn't explain the Aether inside of it."

"How does Aether work?"

"It's a mysterious energy even more complex than Mana itself. It exists every dimensions and every part of the worlds. But it only flows in the air. We don't know why but earth and water somehow makes it disappears."

"Woah. It really is mysterious. But... how can this water have Aether if any water and earth makes it disappear?"

"I don't know. But it should help you gain more mana."

"Is it safe to drink? And how exactly does it help me gain more mana?"

She scooped a handful water with her hands and she directly drank it. After drinking it she closed her eyes and thought for a while.

"Yes, it's perfectly safe. As for how does it help, it's already changing your body little by little. I observed both of you and noticed that this cute rabbit has a organ dedicated to produce mana."

"Nibi? What is mana, nibi?"

"We'll fill you in after this talk over. Now, please go on, Kairi."

"Very well. I can't control Aether but I can easily perceive it. And there's a huge amount of it in your body. Well, huge if you compare it to this rabbit. Anyway, it condensing around your heart. There's a Aether construction similar to yours in the body of the rabbit too."

"I see..."

So my body will be able to generate mana with this new organ forming inside of my body. But is this really safe? Well, I can't really go to hospital and ask them. Let's ask Kairi.

"Is it really safe? As far as I know it's incredibly dangerous to modify human body and it's organs. It's said to be even a little change can cause severe damages."

"Well, this is Aether we are talking about. I don't know for sure but if anything happens to you I can always fix you."

"Thanks. That took away some of my worries."

Hmm... An organ made of Aether that would regularly generate mana. I should really learn how to observe the flow of the mana and aether. This is just an idea but maybe I can find a way to control aether thanks to this organ.

"By the way, I think we should name it. We can't keep calling it to rabbit forever."

"You are right. We should name her."

"Her?"

"Yes, I'm a lady, nibi!"

"Oh... anyway. I think you should name her, Kairi. After all, she gained sentience thanks to you."

"Hmm... let me think a little."

Kairi looked deep into the rabbit's eyes. Those eyes were like two beautiful rubies. Maybe something about red or crimson can be used as a name for her.

"I got it. How about Akane?"

"I love it, nibi!"

"A name from far east, huh? It does sound good and she liked it too."

The rabbit seems like she liked her new name. Still, a far east name... Now that I think about it Kairi might be a far east name too. Is she from the far east? Wait that's not important now!

"Hey, Akane! What happened to my friends?"

"Nibi? Who are you talking about, nibi?"

"These guys who are lying on the ground."

"Oh them! They were searching for you, I think, nibi. I made them unconscious just in case, nibi."

That's understandable. Their finding of the lake could be dangerous or have unexpected results. I would want to share the magic with them but the situation is has a lot of unknowns now. So, until I find out more, they can't know about it.

"How to handle this?"

"I can manipulate their memories. If it's any help..."

"That would help a lot actually."