Riya fought her rising panic. Not only had she lost her composure earlier by hitting Kedryn upside the head, not once, but twice, she had also knocked the mana rich Magma Beetle meat out of both Kedryn’s and Glade’s hands.
As she tried to calm her racing heart, she couldn’t help but grimace at her actions. Her father had always said her attitude would get her into trouble some day. If anyone found out that she had actually struck one of the royals, she would pay with her life. Sure, Kedryn hadn’t been a royal elf until a couple of days ago, but the Adjudicators themselves had remade him into one. That had to be significant.
And it didn’t help that his personality was just like her younger sister’s. Val had always been able to get under her skin. So, when Kedryn had asked questions without listening first, it was like she had been home again. It had felt natural to smack him. It's what she did to her sister all the time.
Combine that with the dawning reality that these two men were not only from a different dimension, but they had never dealt with commonly understood principles that everyone on Veil knew? Well, she had panicked.
“What do you mean we are poisoning ourselves?” Glade asked, picking up his food from the grotto floor.
“Wait! I might know what she’s talking about. The Magma Beetles must be rich in mana, right? Which means we’ve let the mana go to waste instead of filling up our mana cores!” Kedryn cried, his excitement returning full force instead of the fear he should be showing. He was such a child! Just like her sister.
Polluting one's body and soul with uncontrolled mana exposure was seriously dangerous. Unless they were able to process the lingering mana polluting their systems with a mana processing technique, they could be in a world of hurt. Even then, they would have to break through to the sympathetic rank in a corporeal attunement or use expensive alchemical treatments to fully cleanse their bodies.
“Not quite,” Riya began, but was interrupted yet again by Kedryn. She restrained from smacking him this time. Seriously, how could there be two people in the world who acted this immature and so self absorbed in hearing their own voice?
“Or, I bet the Magma Beetle meat might be best used for those with the right attunements! That means fire and earth. I wonder if I eat enough that it might unlock my earth mana channel?”
“Corporal?” Glade sighed. Riya noticed her Adjudicator appointed protector was pinching the bridge of his nose like she often had with her sister. She could definitely empathize with him.
“Yes sir?” Kedryn asked.
“Why don’t we let Riya explain the problem so we can stop speculating?”
“Oh… Yeah. That makes sense,” Kedryn said, turning back to Riya with a deflated expression. Yes, he and Val were alike in so many ways. She truly hoped the Adjudicators knew what they were doing. It was hard enough dealing with one Val sized headache in her life, let alone two. And if she had learned anything from the last 19 years of dealing with her sister, she needed to assuage Kedryn’s ego a bit or they wouldn’t get anywhere.
“Kedryn did guess some of my concerns correctly,” Riya began, noticing Kedryn’s eyes light up at her comment, just like Val. “I’m honestly shocked that neither of you know about this. Mana processing techniques are taught to everyone, even those who don’t have any mana channels open.”
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“What are the risks?” Glade asked.
“Where to start?” Riya asked, throwing up her hands as she started to pace back and forth. Where to start indeed.
“How about from the beginning?” Kedryn asked, trying to sound like a wiseman who had solved all her problems.
“Not helping,” She snapped, stopping herself from smacking his head again.
“Where do you think would be best to start?” Glade offered.
“I’m not really qualified to teach you on this subject,” Riya said, dreading where this conversation was going. They would ask her to teach them a mana processing technique. There were two problems with that. First, she didn’t have the teaching skill, let alone have the appropriate background to teach two grown men on the ins and outs of mana theory, even though it was supposed to be for beginners. Second, she had been strictly forbidden to share her people’s secrets.
“I understand,” Glade reassured her. The man was gentle and quiet, the exact opposite of what she had seen in him when they had first met. Since then, she had come to see him for who he truly was. Someone she could trust. “However, I would ask you to reconsider. I know it's not my place to put you into yet another uncomfortable situation, but if the very food we eat could end up killing us, then any instruction is better than a slow death.”
Riya stopped her pacing. He was right, and she knew it. But he didn’t know the truth about her. That she was nothing. Less than nothing, really. Even her people left her alone most of the time, not expecting much out of the one branded to be nothing but weak.
Yet, for some reason, he trusted her. She had no recollection of anyone except her father and sister who had ever expressed trust in her before. It was a foreign concept.
Glade must have seen the conflict on her face.
“I know a great many things, but myself and the Corporal are blind to the dangers of this world. How long do you think we have before this mana poisoning is a danger to us?” He asked.
“I’m not sure. The mana levels in these caves are unusually high. And the meat is saturated in mana. A few days before you start noticing anything? Maybe less?”
“Then I would like to ask formally, would you please teach us Da’Riya Ki’Loshere?”
“You have no idea what you’re asking,” Riya replied, her voice wilting.
“Probably not, but I’m still asking,” Glade responded gently.
“Me too!” Kedryn chimed in.
“Mede,” She whispered, fighting the emotions that were rising unbidden from within. If only the moron wasn’t so much like her sister, or Glade so trusting. She could ignore them. Like she always had before with her own people.
A notification appeared on her status screen, which she promptly opened.
You have been offered a quest: Building Foundations I. Neither Bei’Kedryn Ri’Serevlir nor Glade have been taught the basics of surviving on the world of Veil. While processing mana is more or less child’s play everywhere else in this world, these grown men need your guidance before their ignorance kills them. Even the Adjudicators struggled with this one! Will you teach them a mana processing technique?
Reward: Increased regard from Bei’Kedryn Ri’Serevlir and Glade; 500 xp; the teaching skill.
Note: Without guidance, both will feel the early effects of mana poisoning within the next three days.
Yes/No
A quest. She had been given her own quest from the Adjudicators. And not just any quest, but a chained quest. And it granted the teaching skill!
Riya absentmindedly rubbed the inside of her forearm where her brand of meekness was imprinted. Had it come because of that brand or the one she had just been granted? Did it matter?
Taking a deep breath, she quietly accepted the quest. Besides showing Kedryn a bit about Natural Lore, she had never taught much of anything. It was time to try and grow.