A soft hum drifted through the branches and trunks, settling into the forest like a soft, calming blanket. Critters and the like halt their actions, staying stock still as a group of four passes through their territory. Though curious about the strange beings, their stillness owes their presence to something much more sinister. To the shadowed figure leaping silently from branch to branch, its fur barely concealed the rippled muscle of its body, powerful legs with sharp claws dug into the wood, yet despite the force, its gracefulness left no noise produced. It was hunting.
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"Alright, this is as good a place as any, let's set up for the night." Jace set down his heavy pack, opening the top string and dumping out the canvas and fabric inside. The other three halted and mimicked his actions in some way, safe for Agni who kept her main focus on activating, deactivating and controlling her mana through her body. Seriously, that's more than I have in my chamber, good lord. It wasn't unheard of for some humans to possess a larger mana pool. Jace figured it had to do with their "share" of the Aether, or perhaps their affinity with the realm itself, but he never thought to get that theory confirmed, to him, part of the fun is the mystery of it all.
"Alright, I'm going to do some immediate scouting, shouldn't take more than half an hour, if you see a red light, come running." Nell waved to the group and delved out of the small clearing Jace had settled on, presumably his "scouting" involved checking their perimeter for signs of beast or monster dens, but Jace figured leaving it to him was best, he is quite a capable hunter for his age, ha, this is one hell of a party.
"Well then, hows about we see your efficiency, ay Agni?" Jace turned to gauge her fatigue and expression. It did seem the mana use was taking its toll, but she still had a bit more for practice, which Jace figured from her determination. "Manifest the dagger, throw it, then re-absorb it."
She nodded, faced a huge tree trunk, and the triangle blade popped into existence in a dull flash. She flicked her arm and wrist, sending the knife careening toward the wood. It clattered against it, leaving a slight scratch, and fell to the ground, upon which Agni held her hand out to the fallen weapon, prompting a brighter pulse of light, persisting for about two seconds before diminishing, leaving behind space. She stumbled, flashing a smile, then fell to a sitting position, leaning her back against a tree and catching her breath.
"Well done, not to flatter you, but you have quite the mana reserve, hell, more than any of us here, myself included. But it's not infinite, you can afford a little more use than most, but don't get carried away, without that infusion, you must rely on your strength. Balance is key, especially if you plan to use mana regularly, which is why we will get you into some physical exercises tomorrow." Jace ran through some plans in his head, he knew that yes, she could use mana longer, or more recklessly, but all the same, if she ran out, it would all come down to raw strength and reflexes. And this one won't go the same way, not again.
"Yeah, sweet!" Agni took a few moments to catch her breath. "Just go a bit easy on me, I never was a fitness nut."
Jace smiled and thought for a moment. "Well, since you're out of mana, there's one thing left to do. The order of my usual introduction to the Aether was a bit jumbled since we're on the road, we'll now do the actual first step, peering into your mana pocket, chamber, or whatever you'd like to call it. This is the space where your mana originates, and where your imprinted items are stored, so getting familiar with it is never a bad idea."
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Agni looked exhausted, to say the least, but eager nonetheless. "Well, how does one do that?"
"Emagine that opening of the gate, now further place yourself going through the open door, anything along those lines should be more than sufficient."
She pondered his words, closing her eyes and entering some form of pseudo-meditation. Might take a bit, but we shall see...
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Ah hell, this has just not been my month has it? Nell was sent flying into a patch of bushes, tumbling out the other side and rolling into a crouch. He jumped to the side, barely missing the large catlike creature that gracefully flew past him. Its white tusks were in stark contrast with the void-black of its fur. Nell tried to reach into his pack, and almost immediately he lost feeling in the arm that was reaching over. His good arm chucked the metal blade in its grasp between the path of the creature and Nell. Pain erupted throughout his left side, a surge of hurt coupled with a strange tingling feeling, the sensation began to lessen as the sword embedded itself in the ground, and when Nell flicked his vision back to the thing attacking him, he saw arcs of bright pale blue connected to the sword in the dirt. Ha, that isn't good.
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West. Now. Jace's expression turned dark. A somber look crossed his face, and he turned to Alkir, muttering quickly. "Watch Agni." He looked confused but nodded all the same, and with that confirmation, Jace's figure flickered and disappeared, a soft rush of air meeting the now-duo.
Jace came to a stop once the sound of crackling, and the bright flashes met him. Not gonna happen. An ornate black handle, topped with a single-edged steel blade, appeared in his hands, a basalt-grey cloak over his plate armor, Jace reared back his arm, and hurled the glaive through the light brush. The crackling ceased, same with the light, replaced with a yowling scream of pain. Got you, goddamn bastard. In a flash, Jace burst through the foliage, dashing to the downed monster, grasping the glaive's handle and tearing it from its side, extending his hand up to the sky, and swinging it down over the back of its neck. Its cries ceased, the life from its body having been flushed out, and only once its head was nearly severed did Jace dispel the glaive and cloak. He frantically searched the surroundings for signs of Nell, spotting his blue-handled, grey leather-wrapped steel sword embedded in the dirt.
There. Jace leaped to a crumpled figure, its left side was visibly smoking, acrid smoke curling into the air from the visibly scorched clothes adorning the boy. "Nell! Nell wake up!" He dropped to his knees and extended his hand over the boy, performing the same signs as the first time he met Nell. Come on. "Wake up!" Strings of ethereal mist began forming around Jace's hand, reaching for the smoking wounds.
"Hey, I-" The boy's weak voice was cut off by a heavying coughing fit. "I'm, I'm a-okay..." He trailed off, his breathing was labor, but he was still conscious.
"Good, good, I was worried for a moment." The mist trailed off, Jace retracted his hand, sitting next to Nell for a few moments until the boy reached his arm out to him, looking up at Jace.
"Wanna give me a lift?" Jace obliged Nell's request, gingerly grasping his arm and placing it over his shoulder, and the two made the quiet trek back to the camp, over time Nell's breathing eventually stilled, luckily enough the wounds weren't as serious as they looked, but Jace was concerned about the types of creatures evidently in these parts, they've been lucky not running into any so far. But I guess they had to show up sooner rather than later.
"Well, not you're lucky day, week, no, year? Man, I'm sorry my friend." Jace tried to lighten the mood, cracking a joke at Nell's expense, resulting in a chuckle from the limping boy.
"Ha, good one, just don't make me sound lame to the others, okay?"