Curse the Mainframe! 20 Javor

Alec turned around, but there was nothing there. He frowned inwardly.

No. There was no way that he was wrong about this. In fact, his neck was still prickling uncomfortably now.

"Hello?" he tried again.

Nothing, but the rustling of leaves.

Alec peered into the tree, but there was nothing there. The tree continued rustling, baffling Alec.

Wait a moment.

He knew there was something off about this. There was no breeze! How was the tree rustling?

As a matter of fact, the whole tree had its leaves rustling, not just spread evenly like when wind blew through. Every single leave was moving.

The sight of it was rather curious.

What was going on here?

Bunbun wriggled in Alec's hands, hopping off and nudging the tree.

The tree stopped rustling.

Bunbun sat on one of the tree's protruding roots, looking expectantly at Alec, as if waiting for him to realize something.

Alec looked at Bunbun uncomprehendingly.

"What is it?"

Bunbun gestured at the tree, and the tree's rustling started again.

The gears in Alec's mind started turning. If there really wasn't someone there, then… Bunbun seemed to somehow be able to recognize the tree.

Actually, wasn't this the tree that he hid behind when he was hiding from Bunbun? At that time, it had been quite windy, so he never gave it a second thought, but…

Wait. Bunbun. This tree. They were related somehow. But how?

Alec thought about it. What did they have in common?

The only thing his mind kept coming back to was himself.

Something he had done?

He was a Sin and an Awakener.

What if…?

Did he let loose some of his magic when he had been in distress? Suddenly, something seemed to click. That had to be it.

Exactly what was this Magitype of his?

No matter how many books he consulted, there was nothing that specified the details of what an Awakener could do.

The most he could find was evidence that they could open doors and windows, as well as start things from far away, which seemed pretty useless in terms of fighting, but what if…?

What if they were all wrong?

What if 'Awakening' magic was something that they never thought about? What if the possibilities were something deeper and more expansive than they ever imagined?

What *was* Awakening magic?

There were no answers, unlike the way the uses of Offensive, Defensive and Support magic were listed out.

Magic didn't follow hard, rigid rules. As long as the person possessed the Magitype, they would be able to cobble up something and specialize in it.

Instantly, the thoughts set Alec's inquisitive soul on fire. His eyes lit up, something that he had not felt for a long time.

He was immediately invigorated. It reminded him of the first days when he had just started as a System. He had been so eager to learn, and so challenged for the first time in a long while.

"Are you… awakened?" Alec questioned, both to Bunbun and the tree.

If they were, this explained so many things. For example, why the Mainframe deducted points from him for someone or in this case, something seeing him act out of character.

For a moment, there was silence, and Alec wondered if he was wrong.

Had he gotten it into his head that this was something that no one else had discovered even after all these years? Was he crazy for even entertaining the notion? That a tree could become sentient because *he* had awakened it?

Was he just a crazy man talking to a tree and his pet bunny? Was this what it had come down to, after all these years? Had he finally cracked?

Then, Bunbun leaped towards him, and he could sense a sort of glee emitting from the rabbit in a connection that wasn't there before. The tree also rustled softly, as if elated.

Alec stared at them, gobsmacked. He was right! He really wasn't imagining all of this in his head.

He prodded the bonds that hadn't been there before shakily, getting a general sense of what the tree and Bunbun were feeling. It wasn't so much words as it was a soft hum of emotion.

Alec was immediately hit with a sense of awe. He had done this, however unconsciously. He had awakened two beings and granted them with something more.

Alec picked up one of the leaves that had fallen on the floor, examining it. It was a classic example of a maple leaf, so then…

"Javor," he named the tree, patting its sturdy trunk.

Perhaps this was how the Edelles Tree had first come into being. Perhaps, back in the day, someone had awakened the Edelles Tree, which slowly but steadily grew over the years, gaining more and more sentient.

Perhaps that was why the tree did not attack humans, but instead provided them shelter.

Alec was filled with a sense of awe every time he glanced at the Edelles Tree, and he wondered if one day, Javor would become like that too.

He was filled with anticipation that one day, the Neil Clan would have another tree that protected them just like the Edelles Tree.

As Alec patted the tree's trunk, he felt the soft hum of contentment, almost like how Bunbun sometimes felt whilst particularly satisfied.

What else could he do?

He couldn't wait to experiment with this newfound discovery. Alec's eyes shone brighter than they ever had before.

This was just so exciting! Even his usual grumpiness was blown away in the face of this discovery. It would be a lie to say that he wasn't disappointed when he realized that was all those of his Magitype could do, but he had been determined to work it through anyway.

He had been convinced that surely there had to be some way to use his Magitype, and he was right! There was no way that something that seemed to be the rarest Magitype in society was completely useless.

Everything depended on the person who was using it.

Right now, Alec couldn't wait to go back to try more experiments in secret. He had to hide it even from his mother, since they weren't supposed to use their Magitypes unless under someone's, in this case, Evin's, supervision.

However, he couldn't help but feel bad to leave his newly found friend behind. Alec hesitated, and in the end spent an hour sitting beneath Javor's shade, taking a nap with Bunbun resting on his stomach.

The three of them enjoyed a restful afternoon basking in their newfound connection, pinging and bouncing off each other.

When Alec woke up, he felt more restful than he had ever been since coming into Incantix. It wasn't to say that he didn't rest well, but there had always been something that held him back from sinking into a deeper, more restful sleep, which made his bad mood even worse.

Alec reluctantly left Javor, promising to go back the next day, but he got a feeling like a push from Javor, as if saying he would be fine alone. Javor gave off a calm pulse, as if saying he could do what he needed to do.

Bunbun patted Javor, likely planning to come back alone from time to time.

Alec felt a gush of affection from the depths of his soul, surprising the System. He didn't even feel this way about his clanmates and friends, though they would likely get there sooner or later. They were like fungus…

Perhaps it had something to do with the way that they were connected to Alec's magic.

Whatever tripe that said Sins didn't have softer emotions had obviously never interacted properly with a Sin in their lifetime.

If Alec ever met the author of said book, he wouldn't hesitate to punch him in his or her smug face. There were well-hidden traces of condescending tones people usually overlooked since they tried to be 'impartial'.

What would he try to awaken next…

Chapter end

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