80 Copper was my take from this excursion. I then spent 30 on a potion for pain. (Tashia felt guilty and gave it to me at half price). I went to my tent to lay down before I drank the potion and tried to activate Mana Burn.
My mind, my body, everything went numb as the potion took hold. It took every ounce of my willpower for me to activate the ability while trying to push past the numbness. I had no feeling in my body. I felt like a surgery victim of an inept anesthesiologist. Numb all over but still aware of what was happening around me.
That is until I managed to activate my ability. One of the first things my mana burn ability “healed” was the effects of the potion. My body was so overwhelmed from the pain that it just locked up. Full body spasms shot through me. I was forcefully flexing and releasing muscles I didn’t existed. Rapid twitching of the nervous system far faster than I thought possible. It was like my body was vibrating but I couldn’t scream. In an attempt to keep my ability to myself I moved away from the companions I was traveling with, and into the furthest tent from the group. This seemed to have backfired. They knew where I was but were keeping their distance, so I could “rest”.
It felt like hours, but I knew it was only minutes before the spasms receded. Now all I had to wait for was having my mana regenerating.
It was this time that Tiana came in to check on me. “Oh no your burning up” Since my mana burn was still in effect I was still unable to respond until regaining all my spent mana. Tiana quickly ran out and returned with her bag. She was quick to pull an unlabeled bottle out of it and proceeded to pour it into my mouth.
Unable to refuse the potion I began to choke on it as it slid down my throat and the spasms began anew. All the shivering and twitching all the aches and pains returned. Tiana trying to help grabbed me and tried to steady me keeping me from hurting myself. My hips thrust, and my shoulders shot to the ground. My much more powerful muscles combined with Tashia’s tiny frame caused her to launch into the air like a rubber ball bounce off one of the poles and roll back out the tent. I could hear her scream for help as the tent slowly began to collapse around me.
In a moment of surreal enlightenment, I was able to sense all the mana and threads of magic in the air around me. My continuous spasms and state if near asphyxiation caused me to release control of my body.
Once I loosened my grip on the world around me I was able to observe the aspects of the threads as the drifted in the air around me. I could see what I assumed to be threads of air leaving the tent as it was still collapsing. Reaching out with my senses I was briefly able to grasp the threads before the last of them left the tent. I spent no mana of my own, I just touched it with my conscience I touched it with thought and watched as it moved around it. I was holding what I believed to be air and wind in my thoughts. I then knew that if I was to feed mana into these strands then I would be using wind in a spell. I was now excited. All I needed was to heal myself and get back to work.
The spasms quickly left this time and my body was relaxed again and attempting to recover the spent mana.
It took Bartram and Rendrake over half an hour to convince Tashia that I did not need another potion and that my body was purifying itself of all toxins. Any more potions and my body would go into another spasm to try to burn it off again.
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All this did was cause her to cry again.
Soon enough my mana was recovered, and I was greeted by some unexpected popups.
You have gained 8(2+6) strength.
You have gained 4(1+3) speed.
You have gained 8(2+6) constitution.
Total hp 220
You have learned Partitioned mind.
You have gained 20(5+15) willpower.
Partitioned mind allows the individual to separate thought from their physical body to focus on the world around them. More advanced versions will allow the user to cast multiple spells simultaneously. Also allows clear thoughts through pain.
Total mana 350
Mana fully recovered I was quick to get up and go to Tashia who was still crying. She was too upset to notice me approach her, so I did the most reasonable thing I could think of.
I picked her up into my arms and gave her a big kiss on the forehead. “Thank you Tashia you were a big help.” I succeeded in stoping her crying and left her there in a state of confusion before I helped reassemble the tent and prepped myself for bed.
I awoke early the next day to assist in packing the camp. Excited to be leaving the valley we were in, we skipped having a morning meal and headed out as soon as camp was packed. I was depending on my traveling companions as I lost myself in thought trying to study the strands of energy around us. I would watch the birds in the air and see how the wind blew around their wings. I watched as it would curl in the air on the downstroke and seem to be pulled in on the up. Watching these birds was how I was able to form my first “useful” spell. While I Watched the birds, I saw one of them pull the strands of wind towards itself and shape it into a ball, I could then see it fill the ball of wind with mana and push it away from itself. The ball shot across the air close to a hundred yards before hitting a larger bird, knocking it out of the sky.
This couldn’t be the how easy the spell was to cast. Could it? “Guys I want to try a spell out, is there something safe to try it on? Last thing I want to do is attack a bird and find out that it is more powerful than all of us combined.”
As long as you don’t hit a pack animal or a hive we should be fine here. The crown regularly has harvesting weeks for the lower class where there is triple reward for all creature bounties. This tends to keep all the creatures in the area to a low level since they don’t have the time to gain strength. If you wait an hour we will be at a steady horned rabbit warren. They are almost impossible to wipe out all the way since they have a rapid reproduction.”
As soon as we came to the warren I was greeted by a large area where all the trees and vegetation were torn up with partially collapsed tunnels and holes in the ground. I was also quick to spot multiple horned rabbits using their horns to dig new holes, and uproot roots in the area to eat. “What’s the bounty for horned rabbits?” 3 coppers for the horns 5-10 for the pelt, and 1-2 for the meat if its fresh. Bounty is only on the horns, the other items are market prices.”
“Why go after goblins at all if you get so much for rabbits?”
“It is actually the other way around.” Replied Rendrake. “Goblins might only have a 10 copper bounty on there ear, but they often carry other items like iron knives or earrings. That kris blade from the one Tashia got before he stabbed you will fetch close to a silver. They also have larger amounts of coins inside them. Goblins can have as many as 20 copper on them, though you would be pressed to get 5 on a rabbit. This is just these grunts we have out here. I hear that some of the tribal goblins will even have enchanted blades”
Looking back at the rabbit there was one thing I was quick to notice. They were big. The average size came up to around mid-thigh not including the horn. The second thing I noticed was that they were not running or hiding in fear. They were defensive and looked ready to attack.