“It succeeded!” Core spoke, excitement and joy clearly to be heard within the voice in my head “I can sense the mana flowing through and around his body!”
“Congratulations on your experiment Master Core” Hornscale said, a satisfied glimmer appearing in his eyes.
The ground below me moved again, and both Hornscale and I were slowly raised to the glimmering lights up above again, the floor below my feet turning from a solid stone cave floor into a field of grass similar to the area around it. Soon it blended in in such a way that I couldn’t tell the difference.
The experience earlier had turned itself into a sort of memory, where certain parts were clearer than others. The feeling of energy inside of me, as well as all around me became known as Mana from memories that surfaced, but I couldn’t quite remember experiencing, or perhaps from expriences I couldn't quite remember, I don’t really know.
I tried to feel the energy around me, and noticed that there was far more of it than in my memory. Similar to how I somehow remembered I tried to call it to me, to make it flow in to me. But unlike the ‘previous time’ I wasn’t able to. I did feel it flowing into me, but I couldn’t do it on my own. Like a baby who is unable to feed themselves being spoon-fed by a caretaker or parent, that’s how I felt with being unable to do this myself.
During the time I was figuring out this whole ‘Mana’ thing, which had probably taken ten minutes or so, far more than I’d honestly like to admit, some things had happened. A seat had appeared underneath Hornscale and he sat down before being moved backwards with it. After he was moved backwards a table appeared in front of him, between me and him. The table seemed to be made of red wood with a metallic gleam, and was shaped like a crescent with round edges, with me at the point where the center would be if the crescent was a full circle. On both sides next to Hornscale more seats appeared, four on either side. During this time a grinding sound could be heard as a decorated wooden double door appeared several meters behind Hornscale, the doors of which opened soon after it appeared.
Once that had happened a chair knocked against the insides of my knees, forcing me to sit down. This seat had padding which I couldn’t see on the others. The doors were now open, and creatures began walking through it, each sitting down on the seats next to Hornscale.
The first creature that entered was accompanied by a blazing heat which disappeared almost immediately as he entered the room. His figure was masculine with a broad build, a thin middle part, and a strong but sleek lower body. He was entirely made of bright yellow flames, and was covered with a red fiery aura shaped like a candle flame. His face was mostly featureless, with a depth where his eyes should be. “This is Ifrit, a fire elemental spirit as you can see” Core said as Ifrit sat down.
The second creature to enter came through the door as a gush of water which shaped up to become a voluptuous female figure. And though the face initially lacked features it quickly shaped up to having a rather round cutesy face, her eyes locked on me. She had wide hips and a rather large front side, with thin arms. Her legs didn’t end in feet, but rather in an inverted whirlpool. As she looked at me I looked back and saw her transparency slowly fill in with skin tone, and her figure become covered in a dress. Her skin tone was similar to mine and her dress was a fresh, light blue with vertical streaks of white elegantly placed along the folds and snowflakes seemed to be flowing from the top of the dress down into the whirlpool of her legs. “This is Maraid, water elemental spirit… She used to be a slime you know, but she’s grown a lot” Core explained.
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The third and fourth appeared rather quickly after one another. The first looked like a stack of boulders rolling through the door, which as they appeared made it feel as though the entire room was weighing down on me. They seemed to merge into something I can only relate to Thing from the Fantastic Four comics which then moved to sit down. After him came a twister accompanied by a fierce wind, literally. It didn’t even take a humanoid shape before positioning itself above the seat. “Dao and Djinn, Earth and Air” Core said.
The fifth to enter the room had some difficulty to go through it. It first grabbed the sides of the door with hands the size of half my body, followed by a head covered in scars poking through it and looking around. Then the rest of his earthen grey body squeezed through. His body I could only describe as that of a fat Ogre, with a small head and a huge almost drop-shaped body with legs that seem slightly out of proportion compared to its body, and arms of which you can’t really see shoulders but still seem like they could crush you easily. “Rakk” Core explained “An evolved troll, very sturdy and his blood can heal most creatures”.
Seventh to enter was someone who arrived mostly human-shaped, rather than needing to form at the spot, or looking like something that could possibly in some way maybe be a human. Her skin was dark red, and her hair black like the night. Her eyes gleamed a golden yellow and her bosom was even more grand (and less covered) than the one Maraid had formed. She was wearing what looked like a black leather crop top which only barely covered the important parts, accompanied with almost skin-tight pants made of the same leather. Her face could only be described as that of a model, except that from her forehead two dark horns stuck out which seemed so sharp that I was tempted to ask if I could feel how sharp they were exactly. She looked haughty, as though she was above everyone here, perhaps even prideful, but as soon as her gaze fell on me it changed to disgust, she looked away with an expression as though she smelled something bad. Despite this she elegantly moved to her seat and sat down “Amon’dy, our resident Demon. All of the demons are under her command.” Core said.
Eight and final to pass through the doorway was a skeleton with an oversized head, not very much so, but still. His bones were pale white, and if I hadn’t experienced everything I had up to now I would’ve been surprised, but now I would’ve been surprised if there wasn’t a skeleton. “Calcoph, a Lich or Undead lord. It took me a while to realize that it was actually far simpler than I thought to make him so” Core explained happily.
All of these creatures I knew of a little bit, from a minor interest in mythology and fantasy which was spoon-fed to me by my parents from an early age. And all of them, even the air creature called Djinn, had some humanoid traits.
And there I was, surrounded by nine monsters sitting at a table, with a voice in my head. “Now let me explain” Core said, this time I could actually hear it physically, but I couldn’t quite locate where it came from, and from the looks of my… companions, this was a rarity, as all but Hornscale looked up with surprise.