"I would like to learn how you know that," said the rabbitkin, her hands lying in her lap. There was no judgment in her words or demeanor, only patient curiosity.

My eyes flicked to Kanieta, who had a look of resolve on her face as she stared off to the side, not paying attention to us, so I started speaking. "When I killed the first blood golem, the destruction of the blood crystal caused it to releas—

"How did you kill the first Golem?" Interrupted the blue birdkin in the weird black jacket and undershirt.

"Oh, ahh…" I was taken aback for a moment, then said, “Fran— Chieftain Franklin," I looked to my side, expecting to see him moping next to me like he had all day, but he was nowhere to be seen.

A bellow of outrage was followed by a shout laced with horror, "We gotta Rogue! Get the fecker, or he'll steal us blind!"

Ignoring the commotion, I continued, “—he made a golem to my side explode after leaping into it," that statement caused Kanieta to focus again if only to roll her eyes in exasperation with the rest of us, "and it threw me into second one. Its energy started invading my body, but I was able to…" I trailed off, unsure what to say or even if I should continue. I wasn't even sure what I had done.

"Take your time," said the motherly beastkin with a supportive smile. "This feels important to me, and the more thought out your explanation is, the better."

It wasn't like I was giving away military secrets, and it would be nice to have a sounding board to collect my thoughts. More than that, what I had done was nothing like I had ever heard others doing, and if these beings could help me understand, it would only make me stronger.

Deciding to just talk my way through what happened, I started after a few minutes of localized silence as the disturbance the badgers were making around the room only grew. "When the energy invaded me, I… felt all of the people it came from. Their pain and suffering before their deaths, and resentment at the world because of what had been done to them. The endless hunger that now consuming what was left of their melded minds. I could push back the advance of the energy slightly with my own, but I could do no more. But I was filled with seething wrath that such a thing had been done against nature. It was a blight on the world…"

I paused, and the world around me fell away as my mind slipped back to that moment, "I needed more power than I possessed to remove it. So I reached out… and energy flooded me. In an instant, I had more power inside my body than I could hold a thousand times over, so I guided it into the blood golem and shattered its core. The release of the energy pulled some of my own into its collapse and ended up acting as a pulse that revealed how they were all connected and being controlled by a single golem."

"The Derg-shaped blood golem." Stated Kanieta.

I dipped my head to her in confirmation and said, "I realized when I killed the first one that my tendrils were able to rip them apart." I saw the birdkin open his mouth to say something but was silenced by a quick glare from the rabbit. "So I made my way to Kanieta and then with her to Derg, where I drove my tendrils into him and shattered the core in his chest. The release of power was much greater than I anticipated. I ended up sending out another fake pulse down the control link, which was hundreds of miles long, and caused me to be dazed for a few seconds." I rubbed the side of my head as the phantom pain surfaced, "long enough to be knocked out."

“That…" Kanieta said thoughtfully. “I—

"It's impossible." Declared the bird. "He's lying to us. Has to be."

Irritation flashed through me, and I snapped, "Why would I lie?! Besides, if I'm right, it means you have a huge problem on your hands. What you do doesn't matter to me one way or the other."

"Calm." Soothed the rabbit's gentle voice, "Let us all remain calm here. We gain nothing by fighting."

Sucking in a long breath through my nose and held it for a few beats of my heart before letting it go and closing my eyes. I had no idea where that anger came from. I had been called far worse the liar before, that the beastkin didn't ever say in an accusatory way. It was more like he was stating a fact.

Opening my eyes, I reminded myself I was supposed to make friends and said with a quick bow, "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."

"It's nothing." waved off the bird.

"Joro has a point," Said the rabbit after a moment, and it was clear I was back under control, "What you say is impossible. In fact, you should have died in agony."

"What?" I asked, turning to look at her in shock.

But it was Kanieta who answered, "I told you before that if I touch your skin and inject mana into you, it will refill your core. But should I let it move through the air for even a moment before it enters your body, it would be like injecting poison."

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I nodded, remembering our conversation while he huddled in the small basin within the Northern Forest.

"The golem, while almost its own being, is still a spell. The instant its energy enters your body, its blood mana should have started eating away at your residual psy in your flesh like ants eating a carcass. The moment you actively resisted the intrusion with psy, it would cause the two to annihilate each other like small explosions within your body, ripping you apart from the inside. The conflict would cause more blood mana to be pulled into your body, whether the golem wanted it or not, intensifying the struggle. All of our studies and reasoning tell us that the moment the golem entered your body, the only result should have been mutual destruction for you and the blood golem as the opposing energies fought until only one remained." Kanieta's voice was matter-of-fact when she spoke, sounding clinical.

I felt my mouth go dry as I imagined the pain. "The only exception to mana entering an Olimpian's body is healing magic, but even they aren't all cut and dry. And the best way to stop it once it starts is to cut off the affected area. This is not suspicion or hearsay. It is a fact that has been documented repeatedly by nearly every clan and faction. You should have died. But I also know for a fact I saw you rip open the Derg-golem. I thought you had somehow used enough psy to drive into the blood core and shatter it, but that's not the case, according to you."

“…I can only say that I haven't lied to you," I said, trying to radiate integrity as much as I could. Never thought I would wish to be around Olimpians, I thought with mild exasperation. "Though I might be misinterpreting things. This is not my area of expertise."

"If what you described is accurate," Said the rabbit, "then the power you pulled on was the world's mana."

"Which is why I say it was impossible." Said Joro. "Everyone knows Olimpains are hated and suppressed by the world."

Opening my mouth to reject the accusation, I closed it without a sound coming out. Over the last day when I could control my powers, and before, while I was in the ward to a lesser degree, there was no better way to describe what I experienced.

My whole life, it really was like I was hated and suppressed by the world. Well, there was when I sent out Earth Pulses, but the information overload was hard to handle, and it wasn't that the world helped me. It just wasn't against me. Now I have gone past indifference — which would be a blessing in itself — to being grudgingly supported.

"I never checked to see if he was suppressed by the world. I just assumed," Kanieta interjected, pulling me from my thoughts, "It might be that his psy doesn't react the way all the others we have tested have."

"No, I've felt what you are talking about before," I said, giving her a look of irritation at her continued use of psy, only getting an impish look in reply. "My mental energy was ripped from me as it destroyed itself. Didn't you see my battle against the camp?"

"Nope, I felt the mana and came to check out what was happening." Kanieta said, "Though the question needs to be asked, what changed?"

"Are we sure anything did? So far, we have no proof," interjected Joro. "Only a few events that may or may not have happened and could have other explanations."

"It would be easy to get," Kanieta said before her smile turned mischievous, and she shouted, "Defend yourself!" a spike of shadow condensing next to her head.

My eyes widened as I could tell by the look in her eye that she would shoot it at me. Hand snapping out, I pushed mental energy out of my body, forming it into the outline of a legion shield on instinct.

A moment after my hand was out, the shadow spike flittered forward, breaking against my shield like nothing more than a patch of smoke.

When the shadows faded a second later, I saw the three looking at each other, their eyes wide with shock.

"Well, I guess that proves it," said Joro as he said back, the look of shock turning into one of contemplation.

"That my mental energy will no longer react," I asked, wanting confirmation, though I already knew the answer.

"Yes," said the rabbit, "but also you pulling on the world's mana."

"I didn't pull on anything that time."

"Yes, you did," Kanieta said, stepping in as the rabbit appeared content to sit back and watch. "When we cast spells, the world will help us by supplying mana. For us, it's around four parts to one. It wasn't nearly as much for you, but you did receive help just now."

"Really," I asked. My mental energy felt denser than normal, but there were so many changes going on that I just wrote it off.

"Yes." Kanieta said, "Also, we could see your shield like a mana shield."

She looked around, receiving nods, as the rabbit decided to speak up, "Thought it did look slightly different. But there are many reasons for that to be the case."

Kanieta shrugged as if the point didn't matter, "Whatever it looked like, it even acted like a spell. As my spell hit, it became a contest between willpower, mana supply, and density. Not an act of mutual destruction."

"Then what about what me pulling on the world's mana?"

Kanieta waved off the question like it was no concern, "It happens occasionally. People with strong willpower can pull on the world's mana to fuel their spells, but it's hardly worth it. In cases of intense emotion, sometimes the world will answer the call with support. It's rare but well-known. I want to know what changed. And what you can do now without being suppressed." The look in her eye's made me want to take a step back. It was like I had suddenly shifted from a person to a fascinating puzzle begging to be solved.

"Uhhh," I said, trying to get this over with as fast as possible, "It has to be the ahh… failed spell used on me. Since then, all of the weird stuff has been happening to me… it's fuzzy, but I could have sworn my mental energy reacted with mana on the raft."

"Ha!" Shouted the rabbit in amusement, her composure breaking for the first time since I had seen her, "You think the Mother will react on the timescale of mortals? It's a miracle she shifted her opinion of you this fast. A thousand years is but a blink of an eye for her."

"Mother?"

"Nature and all who live within her. The air, mana, and earth, she is us all and makes up everything around us." Explained the rabbit.

So like an elemental, "Thank you for the explanation." I said, to which she nodded.

"This is all fascinating," said the bird, "but if he is using some form of mana, then does that mean psy and mana are basically the same," a gleam of desire entered his eyes as he said the last part, "And does that mean you can use our enchantments?"

"That could be a pro—

"Faction leaders," shouted a harried voice from suddenly thrown open doors. "A messenger from the Olimpians has arrived at our gates."