The hole that was left behind from the claw ripping apart the air revealed the cavern they had left behind. The scene was very different than what Andy had expected to see. He had been on the verge of shouting to close it until the realization of what he was seeing had set in. Andrew was lying asleep with his head on a large white bear. He was reasonably sure it was the same bear he had once saved the man from. Around him, several penguins were working to cook a meal, and further beyond that another portal hung open in the air to what looked like the place Andrew had ended up when they first arrived.
“What the hell?” Andy asked in shock. Several of the penguins turned towards the portal at this interruption and hushed him. One even hopped back through.
It was a smaller penguin, likely still a chick. He thought it was likely the newborn they had left behind. “Please be quiet. Uncle Andrew is sleeping. He had a very hard fight and is lucky to be alive,” she said matter-of-factly.
With her tone, Andy was reminded of Andrew himself. He was about to laugh at the idea of a penguin Andrew when another thing caught his attention. The mana threads were going through all the animals and into Andrew himself. The man was now radiating his own mana source, and it was growing as he slept.
“Hey guys, can anyone else sense a mana core growing inside of Andrew?” He whispered, following the chick’s orders.
“Yes, it reminds me of our bond, but more stable. I think this is more natural and less forced.” Bill said.
Another penguin hopped through the portal. This one was much larger than the chick, and Andy assumed was an adult. “I would hope you are detecting a core within the man. It is our gift to him for his attempt at defending us. Though it wasn’t truly needed. He certainly did not know that, and therefore, his courage deserves to be rewarded, especially with the stress he is under.”
“And what exactly is your gift? Are you able to control the growth of his core?” Apparently, the last statement had piqued Ralth’s curiosity.
“He will carry within him a seed of raw mana from the primal worlds. How it develops fully will depend on his own guidance, needs, and direction. That said, it will allow him to summon any of us forth who have been tied to it. He will need much practice to control the power. I believe you all have experience there and can help guide him,” the penguin said.
“We can try. He’s a bit stubborn, so there’s a good chance he will only want to do this his way.” Andy responded, considering the idea of Andrew with magic. The man would be furious and secretly elated when he learned about this.
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“What happened to Zoz?” Ralth asked. A look of worry accompanied his question.
“He fled once he realized the battle would be lost. I doubt it is the last we will see of him.” The penguin answered.
“I was worried that would be the case. I’m reasonably sure I fought him in the past, and this would explain some of the insane hate he seemed to hold for me from the moment we met. This will likely grow into a very large problem someday.” Ralth had finally voiced some of the deep fears that had kept him on edge around Zoz.
‘Hey, look, I’m alive. Didn’t see that coming. Wait, am I sleeping on a polar bear?” Andrew had woken up but was clearly still pretty out of it. “Shouldn’t I be in a lot more pain from the shoulder goring?”
“Hush, Andrew. You have much healing ahead of you, and it will take at least another day before your seed solidifies fully. You need to rest until that happens, rest and eat.” The penguin passed him a bowl of some sort of soup. It smelled like fish.
“Hrm, that reminds me. Since when can you all speak anyway?” Andrew asked after finishing the entire bowl. His usual gruff annoyance was returning to his voice. Andy thought that was likely a good sign for his recovery.
“We could understand you the entire time, but unlike Zoz, we choose not to directly involve ourselves. That is the proper flow of primal existence. Sadly, temptation has destroyed that and likely altered the future drastically, so to that end, we have decided to involve ourselves and do what good we can,” the penguin answered.
“Oh, are you planning to stick around? We seem to attract a large number of animals to world-saving.” Andrew laughed as he said that.
“Not exactly. Surely by now, you’ve felt the primal forces growing within yourself?” The penguin moved closer to Andrew and looked to be inspecting the ambient mana around him.
“I was trying to ignore it, yes, but I suppose this growing feeling inside of me is something similar to what my younger self did when he tied himself to Bill.” Andrew looked indignant at the reality of what was happening to him.
“I can’t speak to that exactly; it’s hard for me to fully grasp the intricacies of refined mana, but based on what you’ve said. Yes, I believe it will be something similar. You should be able to summon one or more of us with some practice and a variable amount of effort, depending on where you are located. Likely, over time, this will grow in strength, giving you some control over primal mana. I urge extreme caution its use outside of the abyss, but I believe with proper care you will be of great aid to your friends and allies.” The penguin was suddenly cut off by Andrew.
“They’d already be lost without me, but I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to keep up with their growing potential. It also finally gives me direct access to testing some of my theories on how mana growth interplays with the physics of our universe.” Andy recognized the growing excitement on Andrew’s face with that statement.
“Okay guys, this is great and all, but how do we get back to the Under Library?” Andy’s only answer was several confused faces.