I had never been eaten before. It was a new experience and one that I would not voluntarily choose to have again. It is hard to say what you notice first since so many different things demand your attention. It is dark inside, and damp. There is pressure on every part of your body, restricting movement. It sort of feels like being buried under enough sand to actually stop your movement. Only instead of a nice cool feeling, it is warm.
To my credit, I did not panic. To panic, you need a large enough presence of mind to react to what is happening. Panic requires comprehension, and I did not comprehend what just happened. Instead, I froze, until the squeezing started. Then I panicked.
I attempted to flail about, but obviously that didn’t work. The pressure was enough to hold me. Still, that didn’t stop me from trying. I could still breathe, somehow, which helped a little. But the lack of light, the warm pressure, and the wetness of it all overcame any solace that would have provided me.
It didn’t take long for me to accept I was stuck. Or it could have taken a while, I didn’t have a handy clock nearby to check. What did help was my breathing exercises. I breathed in…something, and exhaled my emotions. I didn’t pay attention to what I was breathing, instead focusing on exhaling the panic, fear, and anger.
Anger was the one emotion I struggled with. Unlike the others, anger liked to stew and build up. Exhaling while angry was less draining the emotions and more slowly releasing pressure. Still, I focused on becoming calm. Panic and anger would only make things worse, or at least according to all the books and movies I had consumed.
To give my mind something else to focus on, I brought up my ability sliders. I noticed that my external mana had decreased and my internal mana had increased at some point. Opening external mana, I found that there was an ability. Mana armor contained all of my available external mana. Clicking on it, I found it was split into defense and stability. I left the sliders where they were, not wanting to mess things up.
Instead, I went to internal mana and entered the mind portion. I wanted to see if I could purchase abilities, now that I had an idea that they existed. The first thing I wanted was a search bar. There was too much information for me to actually do anything, and since all of this was happening in my mind I was hoping that a search function of some sort existed.
Most likely responding to my desire, a search bar appeared off to the side. There was no slider underneath it, replaced by a box. Clicking on it, I found I could think words. The first thing I thought of was a clock.
Sure, there were probably clocks available outside of my fleshy prison, but if the cost wasn’t too high then it would be a good investment. There was a clock option, but it, unfortunately, came with its own slider. I mentally sighed while I looked for the second thing.
I wanted numbers. If not numbers, then someway to reset my abilities to their previous values. Some form of confirmation that it was what I wanted in the end, otherwise I would never touch this wonderful tool.
I found something infinitely more helpful: a help menu. Thinking about it, I figured that Wuinal added it in at some point since he was supposed to guide me. Before I could focus on it, I found myself facing the world again.
I looked behind me to find the bureaucrat behind me, with Bastar behind him. Looking around, I found myself in a new room. Maps lined the walls, each showing a different location. In the center stood General Andre, looking over a table of some sort. Seeing him, I bowed.
A chuff was the only response I got. Rising, I looked at the table itself. It had a replica of what I assumed to be the city we were located in. The city sat in the middle, tiered like so many other fantasy cities. I idly wondered if the city was built on top of a mountain, or had been built up to look like a mountain.
Portions of the cities were separated by walls, some by tiers others just sectioned off. The city tapered off, leaving fields before a final wall. Outside of the wall were miniature trees. I moved closer to get a better look, but a sharp stare from the general halted me in my tracks.
“Why are you here?” He asked, moving his gaze back to the diorama.
“Sir,” The bureaucrat began. A choking noise filled the air. Looking back to him, I found one of the general’s paws was pressed firmly against the man’s throat
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“I wasn’t talking to you.” The general barred his teeth at the man. I bowed toward him again before beginning.
“I believe I was brought before you because the man under your foot and I were having a disagreement. I had requested Bastar to bring me to another that I may follow, seeing as I did not think I could work with that man.” I kept my tone cool. While I might be important, the general could force me to do things.
Andre growled at the man who melted under the assault. I meant that literally, his body began to pool, trying to escape. But no matter how thin he made himself, Andre’s paw and the man’s neck never moved.
Staying in place a moment longer, Andre kicked the bureaucrat out of the hall, again literally. I don’t know how he did it, but with a smooth movement, the entirety of the man was balled up and tossed outside of the room. Bastar barely managed to sidestep the flying ball.
Between my blinks, General Andre moved from his position behind me back to the table.
“You will not work with him,” Andre stated. “I would find you another, but since you are here I can fill you in.” He motioned with his paw.
“As you can see, we are surrounded by the outlands. Everything within the walls is controlled by humans and relatively safe. Outside, monsters rule. We believe that it is in the outlands that the threat to the land will arise.”
“Do you have any idea of what the threat is?” I asked when he paused. When he looked at me, I lowered my gaze before explaining. “I only ask because I have been given as much information as you. There is a threat to the land and I am to end it.”
The general snorted at my behavior before continuing.
“No, only that it is unlikely to come from a human settlement.” He scratched his chin before continuing. “I thought it would be best if your training progressed in the outlands. This is for 3 primary reasons.”
“First,” The general raised one finger, “Is that you are too ignorant of this world. Those that you interact with should know that.” He finished by glaring out the still open doors.
“Second,” The general picked up a figurine and set it on the trees. “You need to understand the stakes. You might learn that by being trained inside, but it is better for you to see what humanity is battling against.”
“Finally,” The general stared directly into my eyes. “If you were given this task you probably have some sort of skill or ability to find out what it is. Since you haven’t reacted in any specific way, yet, I am guessing you need to be outside of our protection.”
“You will leave with four other people. Heather will be the healer and support unit. Do not expect her to fight. Bastar will be your leader and trainer. Khaw will be your scout and Nan will be your teacher.” With that, he returned his focus to the board.
I stood there lamely until Bastar touched my arm. With a quick motion, he made to leave. I paused, thanking the general and bowing before following my leader. I stayed quiet, following Bastar. He led me through the labyrinthian hallways once more. I was tempted to delve into the help function but thought better of it. Instead, I asked Bastar something that was bugging me.
“How do you know where to go?”
He looked over his shoulder quizzically, before shaking his head.
“You still have the eyes of a child, don’t chya?” Sighing as if to answer his own question, he continued. “Mana signatures tied to internal map prevents me from getting lost. Most kids develop their mental map early but seeing the mana signatures take more time. The easiest way we’ve learned to keep kids out of some areas.”
“By making them lost?” I asked.
“By using things they can understand. If they can understand it, then an adult thought it was important enough to physically mark it. Paints are expensive. Mana is cheap.”
I nodded at his explanation as he continued his march. I considered trying to develop this mana sight, but I considered the only time I had seen mana was when my eye was being healed, I thought it would be best to talk to Heather about it.
I remained quiet until we reached another room down another featureless hallway. Bastar barged in without missing a step and I followed. Inside I found the rest of my party, staring at the angry little man before looking at me.
Bastar marched past them into a room. The slam of a door was all we heard, causing everyone to look between where the sound came from and me. Stepping to the side, allowing the door to close, I waved.
“I think he’s having a bad day.” I made as an explanation. “At least, that’s how he’s been acting the entire day.”
The three other people nodded. The two I didn’t know, I assumed Nan and Khaw, were checking the contents of their packs. Heather came over to me and grabbed my hand.
“Anything specific happened?” She asked.
I shook my head before looking at where Bastar disappeared to.
“He acted that way since I met his this morning. It has been a day so far.”
Before we could continue the conversation, the sound of another door being slammed opened startled us. Bastar marched out before throwing a bag at me. If I hadn’t bothered keeping my mana as a thin coating over my body, Heather would have had to heal me. So instead of caving my chest in, the bag simply caused me to double over.
“Nan, Kwah, Heather, finish packing.” Bastar barked. “We’re leaving in five.”
Without missing a beat, he walked out the front door, repeating the slam open and close. The other two simply shook their head as they refilled their packs. Heather bent down and helped me up.
“A day?” She asked.
“A day.” I nodded, looking after my erstwhile training. “I just hope it improves from here.”
Heather patted my arm before she moved off to collect her own bag. I slung mine over my shoulder and waited for the rest to get ready. I only hoped that this didn’t jinx the rest of our trip.