“Thank god,” Bobby said. “Sheesh dude.”

The area outside the node chamber felt different.

“Why did it take so long?” Bobby asked.

“What? It wasn’t that bad.”

“Alan, please…look at the tutorial status.”

Time Remaining: 21 days

Cosmic Vanguard Candidates: 8,422,146

Cordalum: 0/1

“A lot more humans have died. Wait what…what happened? Is the tutorial panel broken? It doesn’t make sense. Luméos, how is this possible? We were only there for a few minutes, but it’s been more than a day.”

“Did you actually think you would master an A-tier aptitude in a few minutes?”

“I mean, that’s what it felt like. How was I supposed to know?”

Bobby handed a health potion to Alan. “Was it worth it?”

Alan went silent while quickly looking at his own status pane.

STATUS

Alan D. Newman

Race: Human

Class: [Magic Pursuer - tc: 8]

BOONS

[Boon of Manafestation x3]

[Boon of Augmentation x3]

APTITUDES

[Identify]

[Spellweaving]

After seeing the last line, Alan chugged the health potion. “I think so. Let’s cover some ground.”

A moment later, they packed everything, and moved through the tunnel of interwoven trees and overhanging foliage. Alan stepped into the open jungle feeling childishly anxious to try out his Spellweaving aptitude. But he needed to wait until all of his resource pools were back at full.

Without warning, Aranya leapt into the air. In the blink of an eye, she shot down five towering trees surrounding the shrine's entrance. They fell with thunderous crashes, completely blocking access. Finally, Aranya quickly enveloped the fallen trees in thick spiderwebs, sealing off the shrine.

Alan stood stunned. “What just happened?”

“Her clan’s purpose was to guard the shrine,” Bobby explained, stepping up beside him. “She doesn’t want anyone else to enter.”

“How’d you know this?”

Bobby shrugged. “A few things happened while you were on your trip.”

“O…kay,”

Aranya approached Alan, her many eyes meeting his two. “Thank you,” she said simply, in halting English.

“What the—you can speak English now?”

“Not much, but we’re making progress,” Bobby said, grinning triumphantly. “She probably knows a handful of words.”

“Oh…well, let’s keep teaching her.”

Luméos’s head turned to Aranya. “Poor soul.”

“Poor Alan!” Bobby squawked. “How did you survive an entire day with that…demon, really. Anyway, we have to make up for lost time.”

“Luméos was actually helpful. I owe him.”

“Bullshit,” Bobby said. “Did he brainwash you? Are you worshiping him?”

A second passed, and Luméos didn’t respond with any snarky comments.

“Nothing like that,” Alan laughed lightly.

In no time they were already on their way to Vitendrea.

Alan looked at his companions, pleased. Not only did Luméos now feel like part of the team and communication with Aranya seem within reach, but Bobby had also learned a few new tricks. While waiting for Alan, the alchemystic had spent most of his time learning new potion recipes through trial and error. Using Mirabanis Fructus, he crafted stamina potions and, somewhat disconcertingly, he used his own blood, infused with mana, to create health potions. Although he needed only a single drop for each potion, Alan suspected he would be the one consuming most of them in the end.

Just another day in Verdenterra.

After about two hours of nonstop walking and sipping on ten different varieties of Bobby's potions—Bobby couldn't even remember what the last two were, but thankfully none seemed to have caused any adverse effects—they decided to take a break.

And by break, it meant that Alan would furiously test Spellweaving.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Sitting cross-legged, he closed his eyes and focused inward. The Node of Creation had left him with more questions than answers, but there was something else besides Spellweaving that he learned while being in the ‘node realm’; Feeling the mana within.

It was strange. But also natural. Suddenly being aware of something within your body that wasn’t there before, but now felt as real as the air inside your lungs. Flowing in and out, like a river, always in motion.

He imagined taking hold of that river. Moving it. Guiding it. He tried shaping it, and the magic seemed to respond in his mind.

He placed his palm up in front of him, attempted to direct the river to it, and short wisps of energy sparked out.

Spellweaving, huh. What can I do with you? he thought before noticing Bobby sitting down beside him.

“What are you up to, trying out your spellweaving thing?” Bobby asked. “So what does it even do? Make magical baskets?”

Luméos chained in. “Such ignorance! You think A-tier aptitudes are mere child's play? They are a force that can shape galaxies and forge realms. It's not some parlor trick to be mocked. Understand its potential before you belittle it.”

Bobby frowned.

“I hope not,” Alan chuckled. “Just pondering some existential life questions. Like, what's the point of an aptitude if you don't know how to use it?”

“Well, what could go wrong in this crazy place? Worst case, you blow something up. And best case, you blow something up but in a cool way.”

“That’s the plan,” Alan said, refocusing on the river within him.

He wondered if he could weave a new spell out of Boon of Manafestation—after all, the boon’s description was all about external mana use. And his only other spell had been made out of the combination of Identify and Manafestation.

Alan took a deep breath. If he was right, then he could release this concentrated stream of mana as an external force.

The currents swirled with renewed vitality. Then, he attempted the first test; trying to contain the magical sparks.

A tiny orb of rough mana manifested in his palm. He turned it over, feeling the latent power contained within. Grinning, Alan molded the orb’s form into an even smaller, but smother orb. Thinking specifically about the Spellweaving aptitude, he tried weaving strands of mana into the orb, like threads in a tapestry. The orb grew brighter and humming with energy.

Throughout all this, he noticed that his mana pool was halfway full.

Next, Alan pictured gathering the energy into a focused point, like the tip of a spear. As he concentrated, the orb elongated and hardened into a crystalline shaft. Alan could feel the mana compressing tighter and tighter. The energy felt dense, volatile and contained—a perfectly natural contradiction of terms.

On instinct, he thrust his palm forward, unleashing the built up energy.

A brilliant beam of mana erupted forth, blasting into a nearby boulder. The rock exploded into pebbles from the mana beam's impact. Alan stared in awe at the sizzling aftermath.

This time he extended his left palm forward, aimed away from his friends and at a vacant tree stump a few yards away. He fired again. His mana went into the red. This time a bright streak of light shot out of his palm, hitting the tree stump squarely and disintegrating it into fragments with a thunderous…

‘Crack.’

Combination Unlocked! By synergizing [Spellweaving] with [Boon of Manafestation], you have discovered the potent spell [Mana Blast].

[Mana Blast] - Shape and condense internal mana into a highly concentrated form. Once crafted, it can be expelled, delivering potent destructive energy upon contact.

Thrilling!

“Well, that wasn't subtle,” Luméos scoffed.

Bobby shuffled back to Alan. “Alan, that was wicked awesome! But you might want to put a 'Beware of Mana Blast' sign on that tree.”

“Yeah, I guess I've just discovered deforestation by mana.”

They then left the clearing, battling webweaver spiders that leapt from trees every ten minutes as they made their way across the second quadrant.

Blasting them into pieces was fun, but it drained his mana fast. Bobby made the case for Alan to cut them down with his falchion since they were down to their last two mana potions.

But he wanted to practice Mana Blast.

He had pretty much figured out how to control the width of the blast, but not the power. The wider it was, the more mana it consumed. A mana blast as wide as his hand would consume half his mana, but if he made it as wide as his finger he'd have five or six shots. All in all, more testing was needed.

Good thing we ran into another mana water spring.

When he finally collected enough mana water for Bobby to start refilling their empty potion flasks, he approached Aranya. As he sat down atop a fallen tree beside her, Luméos raised an eyebrow.

Alan ignored him.

He wasn't sure if Luméos and Aranya had officially become 'party' members, but they had at least been consistently following him and Bobby's schedule.

The god didn’t seem to be concerned with anything other than getting him and Bobby to worship him. But he had no idea what Aranya’s goals were.

"Hello," Alan said awkwardly. He wasn't sure where to begin with her. Luméos could act as a translator, but Alan wanted to try communicating directly with Aranya.

She turned her six eyes towards him. "Hello," Aranya replied in her raspy, accented voice. She waited patiently for Alan to continue.

“Umm…we’re headed to the big tree. Do…you want to come with us?” Alan paused, wondering if Aranya understood.

After a moment, Aranya nodded. “Go...tree,” she rasped in her limited English.

“Yes, we're going to the tree. Will you join us?”

Aranya nodded again. “Go together,” she affirmed.

“Great! I'm glad you'll be coming along,” Alan said enthusiastically. “Now that the shrine is sealed off, does that mean you’re free?” He hesitated, then continued slowly so Aranya could understand. “You are...strong. We are...lucky.”

“Important. Protect.”

“Yes, you protected it.”

She shook her head, then placed her elongated fingers on Alan’s arm. “You...important. I protect.”

“You want to protect me now? Why?”

“Yes," Aranya rasped. “Protect. With life.” She drew her arm across her chest in a serious gesture.

Luméos rolled his eyes and exhaled loudly. “Your pauper communication skills leave so much to be desired. Because you now possess the knowledge of the Node of Creation, she is going to stay by your side and protect you. How was that so hard to understand? Poor Aranya, went through all the trouble of learning your subpar communication conduit and you can’t even make an effort to pay attention? Alan, you are most shameful.”

Alan was taken aback. He had not expected this level of devotion from Aranya. But he could see the sincerity in her gaze.

"Thank you," he said solemnly. "I hope it doesn't come to that. But I appreciate you wanting to keep me safe. You don’t have to do that."

“Her other option is to terminate you,” Luméos sneered.

Aranya nodded again. Luckily she seemed satisfied that Alan understood her vow.

They sat in silence for a few moments. Then Alan pointed at Bobby. “He must be almost done,” he said. “We should get going.”

Aranya clicked softly in response. “Go. Tree.”