A hand clasped down onto Colthorn’s shoulder, startling him from his focus. He had been focusing on the trail he was following, and trying to keep lookout on his surroundings. His mother was just too good at Stealthing however, and he had frequently lost track of her. He suspected that she intentionally slipped out of his perception so she could reappear somewhere else for him to find. Constant awareness and all that.
“Little Coal, let’s set up camp here,” Alagossa said, placing down her backpack.
Colthorn looked around, this time not looking for tracks and potential danger but rather for camping potential. The forest floor was covered in moss and there were only a few stones visible. It was a good spot. He set his pack down against one of the trees and helped his mom set up their tent.
As they were setting up the tent, a chime sounded in his head and several blue screens appeared in front of him.
Tracking gained 4 levels. +4 EXP.
Stealth gained 4 levels. +4 EXP.
Botanize gained 3 levels. +3 EXP.
Hunting gained 2 levels. +2 EXP.
Archery gained 1 level. +1 EXP.
Analyze gained 1 level. +1 EXP.
Field Dress gained 1 level. +1 EXP.
Harvest Plant gained 1 level. +1 EXP.
It wasn’t enough for another level, but getting this many skills to level up felt good. Colthorn nodded to himself, dismissing the screens. He got back to helping his mom.
Pretty soon, the camp was set up. The tent was in between two trees, a stone ring with a fire was made in the center of the camp, a small stack of firewood had been collected, two small wooden stools were placed by the fire, and a metal tripod was placed over the fire for cooking. The tent, stools, and tripod came from Alagossa’s enchanted pack, which held far more than what the pack’s size indicated. It was pretty much standard for any experienced adventurer to have an enchanted bag of some sort. It made bringing camping conveniences very easy.
“Ok, Little Coal, I’m going to get you started, then I’ll make us some dinner while you train,” his mom said, grabbing his stool and moving it about ten feet away from the fire. “Sit down right here and I’ll tell you what to do.”
He sat down on the short stool, and Alagossa continued.
“Mana is one of the three energies. Scholars all have different names for them but our status pages call them Health, Stamina, and Mana. You can learn about the other energies another time because we're going to focus on mana. Mana is the elemental energy; the driving force of natural events. It, like the other energies, is a part of everything around us and is a part of you, Little Coal. So, when learning how to sense mana, it is best to start by sensing your own mana. I was going to teach you the conventional method of gaining Mana Sense, but because you have the skill Follower of the Sibling Moons we can do an easier method."
Colthorn perked up. He liked the sound of that. Lately he hasn't been getting any easy training... Well, they were technically the easy and fast way, but they were very painful.
"Goddess Atepa provided a way for her followers to quickly gain Mana Sense and Mana Manipulation. So, we're going to be doing this ritual every night and morning." She said, digging around in her backpack. She pulled out what looked like a couple small brown sticks, a small white disk, and a sheet of paper.
Alagossa handed Colthorn the small disk. It was circular in shape, and had a little hole in its center. Tiny runes that he couldn't read ran along the edge.
"Now form a circle with your index fingers and thumbs. In that circle, hold the focus disk parallel to the ground."
He did what he was told, holding the disk out in front of himself.
"Now, keeping the disk parallel to the ground, with the tips of your index fingers and thumbs touching, turn your palms to face the ground and spread your fingers. "
The disk almost slipped out from between his fingers as he rotated his hands, but he was able to keep a hold of it. His index fingers and thumbs couldn’t maintain the circle shape with his palms facing the ground, and instead formed the shape of an arrowhead. With the white disk, it looked like an eye staring up at him.
"Good," Alagossa said as she slotted one of the thin brown sticks into the hole in the disk between his hands. "Now holding this position, I want you to close your eyes and try to remember the feeling of leveling up, the feeling of placing Stat points into Willpower and Acuity. Do you remember that feeling?"
He nodded. Leveling up always felt like a gentle glow of warmth.
"Try to remember where that feeling went, turn your thoughts deep into yourself. Follow the traces of those feelings and you'll find your mana pool. And while you are focusing on those feelings I want you to repeat these six words," she said, holding up the sheet of paper. "'Atepa, brutar fiatan carece enkina sagorhan.' This is a prayer chant given to us by Atepa. Translated into Standard, it means 'Atepa, assist this faithful one to discover Mana's secrets.' Repeat this chant while breathing in the smoke of the incense, trying to find your mana pool... Got it?"
Colthorn paused, processing what his mother said, then answered, "uh, yeah... What language is that chant in?"
"I don't know what it's called, but it's the language that the Siblings spoke in the Second Age. No one speaks it anymore except in prayer chants. If you want to learn it as a language, and not just as chants, then you can visit any of the temples and talk to the clerics there."
"What's the difference?"
"Well, if you learn it as a language you'll be able to speak and write fluently, and you'll get a Language Skill. If you just learn all the prayer chants, then you'll be leveling the Follower of the Sibling Moons Skill, and you won't get a new skill."
"That makes sense. Because the intent isn’t to learn a language, but it’s to learn chants.”
“Exactly. Now, we’re losing daylight,” she said, striking a match and lighting the stick of incense in the disk. “Repeat after me...”
It took a few times repeating his mom, but soon he had the words and their strange pronunciations memorized. Once he had the words down he kept repeating them as he focused inwards. He tried to remember the feeling of leveling up and the feeling of increasing Intelligence. The smell of incense filled his nose and a warmth pulsed in his chest with each breath.
“Atepa, brutar fiatan carece enkina sagorhan,” he repeated the words religiously, knowing that Atepa was listening. She was the Goddess of the Arcane Moon and he was trying to learn about mana. Of course she was listening.
The words seemed to echo faintly in his head as he said them. As time went on the echos got louder and deeper until it was as if each word was being said at the same time. The discordant cacophony rattled his mind and caused him to tremble, almost dropping the white disk between his hands. He shouted each word to be heard over the echos, but he could barely hear himself over them.
The warmth pulsing in his chest spread throughout the whole of his body, as if it was seeking something. Pushing through the discordant echos, he mentally seized that warmth and shoved it up into his head. If that warmth was looking for his mana pool, then it would need to focus on his head as that was where the feeling of increasing his mana pool and Willpower disappeared to.
Colthorn sucked in a deep breath and continued shouting the words as warmth blossomed in his chest. Sweat beaded on his skin. The warmth in his chest followed the trail leading up to his head, swirling somewhere into his mind.
“Atepa, brutar fiatan carece enkina sagorhan!”
He shouted and shouted, eyes squeezed shut, trying to mentally follow along with the warmth that was now disappearing somewhere in his head. He pushed through the echoing words that seemed to shake his skull.
He was close. He could feel it. Only a little bit closer and he would reach Mana. He pushed himself deeper, reaching. Reaching for what could only be his Mana pool.
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The warmth vanished. The echos disappeared. His eyes popped open and he found that he wasn’t shouting at all, he was mumbling the words. He stopped mumbling and glanced down. The stick of incense in the disk had burnt out.
Is that why everything stopped suddenly? He thought, his head dizzy from the sudden change. He looked around. Where am I?
He was at a campsite in the forest and Alagossa was stirring the cooking pot over the fire.
Oh, right. Colthorn thought, shaking his head to clear it. I’m training with mom.
“Disorienting, isn’t it?” Alagossa said, smiling.
He just nodded and walked over to her, bringing his stool along. He set the stool down next to her and plonked himself down.
“How was it?” she asked, as she ladled a bowl of stew into a bowl and handed it to Colthorn.
He shoveled a spoonful into his mouth, and swallowed before answering.
“It was so loud and the words echoed in my head... I thought I was shouting, but I wasn’t, was I?” he asked, looking up from his bowl to his mother. Alagossa shook her head. “It was hard to focus at first, but then after a while I breathed in and a warm feeling spread across my chest and I was able to focus on that.”
Alagossa’s spoon halted midway to her mouth. Slowly, she lowered it back down to the bowl in her left hand.
“A warm feeling?” She asked hesitantly.
Colthorn looked at her, confused. “Uh, yeah. When I breathed in the incense smoke, I think, I felt a warm feeling in my chest that spread over me... It felt alive. Like it was looking for something. That feeling helped me find my mana pool. I almost reached it when the incense burnt out and everything stopped.”
“That wasn’t supposed to happen,” she said, brow furrowed as she tapped her chin with a finger from her free hand. Suddenly, her face was lit with joy and disbelief. “Atepa helped you! It had to have been her. It was the Gods who gave you your quest and we’re finally doing one of their rituals. Of course she would help you learn basic Mana Skills!”
At that moment, a chime sounded in Colthorn’s mind and a blue box appeared in front of him.
Follower of the Sibling Moons gained 13 levels. +13 EXP.
Colthorn’s mouth dropped open.
“Thirteen levels!” He shouted, staring at the unbelievable number. He turned to Alagossa, “I just got thirteen levels in Follower of the Sibling Moons...”
Her joyful grin widened even further, “and that proves it! Even her faintest touch is a blessing.” She turned her face upwards to look at the bright purple moon in the sky. “Thank you, Atepa, for helping my son.”
Colthorn looked up at the moon as well. “Thanks for the help, Atepa!”
Another chime sounded.
Follower of the Sibling Moons gained 1 level. +1 EXP.
He chuckled, “I got another level from that.”
<<<>>>
The next morning, Colthorn did the ritual again. The white disk held between his two splayed hands, forming what looked like an eye with his two index fingers and thumbs. The thin stick of incense was slotted into the small hole in the center of the disk, giving off a sweet smelling smoke.
Is there a reason why it looks like an eye being stabbed with a burning stick?
He shook the thought from his head and focused on the ritual at hand. The incense was already burning so he had no time to waste.
“Atepa, brutar fiatan carece enkina sagorhan,” he recited the words calmly, now ready for what was going to happen. The words started to echo, building in force little by little with each repetition. He focused inward towards his mind. He couldn’t see where it was that the warm feeling went last night, but it was somewhere in his head. This time he focused inward, ready for when Atepa’s help came.
He breathed in and warmth filled his chest.
The warm feeling appeared about halfway into the ritual, when the echos had reached its loudest, and each word echoed at the same time. This time it didn’t spread around like it did before, but went straight up towards his head and circled in one spot.
Colthorn was a bit off in where he thought the spot was, but he was close enough that he was able to instantly reach out and mentally prod at it.
... Nothing happened.
Now what? He thought, as the echoes continued to shake his skull.
Patience, child. A whisper cut through his mind, more quiet and soft than anything he's ever heard before, but somehow still noticeable through all the mental discord. It was a woman's voice, unrecognizable and yet familiar.
He froze, unsure if those words had really come to him or if he had imagined them.
Atepa?
No response.
Well, she did say to be patient.
And so, he waited. But he didn't need to wait for long, as the warmth encircling that spot in his mind slowly started draining into it. The warmth vanished from his head, but he could still feel it... He felt it in a place he had never felt before. His Mana pool.
Colthorn followed after Atepa's warmth through the spot in his mind. He froze, again. The words halted in his throat as he stared in wonder at the beautiful purple energy that he could now see.
We're not done yet. The whispered words jolted him from his wonder. He blushed, realizing that the echos were starting to fade. He forced his mouth to move again and repeat the ritual chant again. The echoes once again strengthened.
Follow the Mana. The whisper came again.
Colthorn looked around, trying to see what she meant, and saw that the Mana was moving. It flowed like water, shifting like waves on a lake. But there was a direction that it all flowed; back through where he came from.
He followed the purple energy back out through the spot that connects his mind to his mana. The Mana really did flow out into his body. He watched as it, like waves breaking onto a beach, washed through his body then retreated back into his mana pool.
It was amazing. How had he never noticed this before?
Now open your eyes. Atepa's whisper came again.
My eyes have never been more open! This is amazing!
A sigh as soft as a gentle breeze flowed over him.
Your physical eyes, child.
...Oh. He opened his eyes.
Purple mana was everywhere. He could still see normally, the forest was bright and his mom was stirring the pot over the campfire, but he could also see nothing but purple mana. It was as if he had two different visions, one normal and one of mana.
The new vision of Mana extended out in a perfect sphere for about 30 feet in all directions. It was a bit disorienting, but Colthorn loved it. The mana in the sphere was churning, always in constant motion. Some areas seemed to thin as others grew denser, then it shifted again as mana flowed to fill in the more thin areas. It was mesmerizing.
Now, Atepa whispered, focus inward again. Watch your mana flow to your hands and try to catch it there. Hold the mana in your hands until the next flow of mana comes, then let it go back with the flow.
Colthorn did as he was told, and closed his eyes again. At first the mana wouldn't stay in his hands, but he quickly got the hang of it.
Good, now instead of letting the mana flow back, push it out of your hands and into the disk between your hands.
Surprisingly, the mana was easier to push out than it had been to hold in place. The problem, however, was that the moment the mana left his hand, it dissipated into the surrounding mana. With an effort of thought, he expelled more mana, pressing it together, then into the disk.
Congratulations. Atepa's whisper faded quietly.
The echoing prayer chant halted and he stopped mumbling the words. The incense burnt out.
Colthorn opened his eyes. The disk in his hand was glowing faintly as previously unseen runes on its surface were lit with mana. The glow faded as it ran out of mana.
A familiar chime sounded in his head, and blue boxes appeared in front of him.
Follower of the Sibling Moons gained 21 levels. +21 EXP.
You gained 1 level. +1 INT, +2 Free Stats.
Congratulations
You’ve gained the skill: Eyes of the Arcane Moon!
+50 EXP
Through the ritual “The Eye of Atepa,” the Goddess Atepa has helped you become aware of your own mana and the mana surrounding you. With her help, your eyes can now see traces of mana.
Active: Become aware of mana in a 30ft sphere, -1 mana per 30 seconds. +1/2 foot per level.
Passive: Be able to faintly see large densities of mana.
Congratulations
You’ve gained the skill: Mana Manipulation!
+50 EXP
With some guidance, you learned how to control mana.
Active: Manipulate mana to your will.
You gained 1 level. +1 INT, +2 Free Stats.
"Woah..." He said, reading the boxes. "21 levels in Follower of the Sibling Moons, two new Skills, and two levels. Today is starting out awesome!"
"Two new skills?" Alagossa asked, bringing over a bowl of porridge.
Leaving the boxes up, he pulled open his settings page and checked the "share with friends" box.
"Look at this, mom! I think I just got a better Mana Sense."
Her eyes dashed side to side as she read the boxes, eyebrows rising with each line.
"Yes," she laughed, shaking her head. "Yes, you certainly did. And 21 levels in your skill! Did Atepa help you again?"
"Yeah! She helped when I didn't know what I needed to do, she even congratulated me!"
"Congratulated you?... As in... she spoke to you?"
"Yep!" Colthorn gushed, grinning ear to ear.
Alagossa stared slack-jawed at her son, who had so casually talked with a goddess in the pantheon she worshiped. She chuckled and shook her head.
"Well," she said, ruffling his hair. "Let's eat our breakfast and break camp. We have to train hard so your other skills don't get left behind!"