Fount of Glory

I walked across the streets with a pack of wands in my hand. I entered the ornate store, with my dad following behind. A cool breeze immediately greeted me inside, air conditioning ran by the company that dealt in the production of mana. I saw the fountans who made it all possible beyond the shop area, the crowd of them chatting and laughing together as refreshments were given and they were pampered in many subtle ways. The particulars of their work only involved that they place something near their hand, so that the mana that they produced may flow towards a valid repository.

Dad came inside after me, and I followed him towards the counter. I handed the wands over to the human man handling reception, and Dad negotiated the price of our recharge. The service cost all in all a good amount of gold. It’s part of the reason why I preferred to use my sword when I was able, but only a little! I didn’t actually care, we were bloody rich! Spending too much would only matter if it actually affected our lifestyle. More practically however, we couldn’t recharge on the field, so it was better to conserve mana.

My errand over, I looked around the shop and the various other things on display. From wands on sale, to enchanted ink, there even were accessories that could presumably act as a wand. Those products ranged from all manner of things, such as gauntlets, belts, rings, bracelets, and more. What truly caught my attention however was a helmet with a unicorn-like horn spearing out the middle.

“Something you like?” Dad asked, fully ready to buy whatever I wanted. Really, they spoiled me way too much, and as much as I loved them, my parents would’ve raised up a monster if it weren’t for my otherworldly memories.

Good thing I was born already an amazing person. A bullet dodged there.

“It’s fine, Dad,” I humbly said. “Just looking at things, pondering the possibilities.” So that I may later dump the work on Moonwash!

I didn’t know how much of a difference it would make, but considering how weird and metaphorical staves and wands worked, I’d bet that a helmet with demonic horns would work wonders for myself, possibly even be as efficient as a straight-up wand!

I continued to peruse the shop’s gallery, when I found a fountan boy huddled in one corner, hidden by the walls and shelves. He didn’t notice my approach, muttering a single word over and over as his only hand clutched desperately onto a tiny wand.

“Magic, magic, magic…”

Hmm. I wonder what he wants? To… cook? To wield the sword? To sleep!?

A mystery. Truly. One only the greatest of detectives could ever hope to unravel.

Jokes aside, it was obvious what the boy was trying to do. And as much as I wished to believe in the potential of people, I knew it was unlikely that he would ever succeed to even affect a single wisp of mana.

I’d heard all about it from Fiya…

"That's exactly the point! I like magic, it's so fucking cool, but I cannot wield it at all! They don't want me to. Because that's the thing, isn't it? Our bodies were designed to be this way. Our brains and our mutations. The ishkawtans were given slow and short limbs to go with their powerful senses and perception, traits that do not go well together at all. And by the same vein, us Fountans were given the mana-producing organ, but none of the parts necessary to actually wield it. Our brains were built to be in the moment and logical, but I cannot visualize shit. I can't cast magic! I can't perceive the mana! And why did they put the mana production gland in my right arm, robbing me of the hand that was supposed to be there!? Because they only want us to fulfill our role! The angels don't want us to rise above our stations! They specifically and purposely made us to be their little resource pools. But god forbid, literally, that we use that mana for ourselves."

Fiya wanted so desperately to wield magic herself, and why wouldn’t she when it was just so cool? But the circumstances of her birth wouldn’t allow for it. She was the opposite of talented in all forms of magic, and her ability to visualize things was incredibly poor. The angels who made her, willed it so.

“Hey,” I greeted the boy trying to do the impossible.

“Aahh!” He screeched, starled. I hurriedly clamped a hand over his mouth to silence him.

“Sssshhhhh. I’m Haell, and I’m here to help. Don’t scream when I let you go, got it?”

He stared at me, wide eyed, and nodded.

I smiled back and removed my hand from his face.

The fountan boy looked at me warily, but I didn’t pay it any mind. Dad was at the end of the aisle, and I gave him a nod which he returned.

“What’s your name?” I asked the boy.

“Merkan…”

“Hello Merkan. Now, were you just trying to do magic…?”

He looked away without giving an answer.

I sighed. “Listen. I’m not here to reprimand you. I’ll tell you how unlikely it is, but pretty much everyone has told you that already I'm sure. And yet here you still are, trying to do the alleged impossible! I like it! Which is why I’m going to help you.”

He took a few seconds to process that. “Really?”

“Yes. Really.” I confirmed and demonstrated by grabbing his hand along with the wand. I did just as my mother once did for me, performing dual casting with another person in order to teach them.

The element of choice here was water. Not something I was very familiar with, but it was the boy’s own element, the mana he could naturally produce as a fountan, and subsequently use to recharge a wand meant to be sold and put on display. The products, of course, were already full, and someone might notice if he emptied it out. Not that he was ever in any danger of being able to do that…

I might end up doing that though, now that I was helping. So I changed my mind, bought the wand, and then led the boy to a private booth in some nearby restaurant downriver, where I could also have a good meal.

“Now,” I said, guiding the smoothly flowing mana. Merkan tried desperately to sense it as I explained. I repeated to him the many lessons that my mom has given me on the subject. I talked about my own experiences and how I got to learn magic.

He showed no progress in learning water at all, even after I gave him a long session of dual casting. But there were still other elements, and I was already invested, so I tried to get him to learn those as well. Predictably, nothing worked, no matter what I tried, and I started to get desperate. He had to be able to break past his limits, to surpass the confines of the angels and fulfill his dreams!

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An inexplicable and strange desperation took hold of me as we continued the lesson. Merkan grew more and more uncomfortable with it all.

“It’s fine… I know it was silly. I know it now…”

“No…” I feebly protested. But I knew the truth. Fiya, a much older fountan, had told me of it long ago.

And now I told the same thing, the same conclusions, to a boy whose dreams were on the verge of shattering. I clenched my fists as I explained, I ground my teeth when I saw the boy… actually begin to relax, ready to give up.

The effort I’ve gone through, and you’ll just give up? That’s it? You’ll accept your lot in life, and work as the angels want you to!?

I grew progressively more annoyed as Merkan lost his enthusiasm. But I knew better than to say anything. It was probably the better choice, to not chase after the unattainable.

I just fucking hated it.

“Well, I better go now,” I said, standing up from my chair. “Call on me if you need more help alright? Learn magic and shit. I live on the hill down south. You’ll know it when you see it.”

“Okay…” Merkan forced a nod, but I could already tell that he had no intention of ever taking my offer.

Perhaps in the end, the help that I offered was just as much for myself, as it was for the boy who dreamed of magic.

~~~

Granuel was finally ready to join us in our adventures, giving us a full party of five. That was the standard party size, and I was quite fine with it. I wasn’t quite as social in this life as I once was anyway, so I didn’t have that many more people I wished to invite.

We went into the forests, with Baston and Fiya as our escorts for the week again. We had long graduated from single-day excursions, which meant that we could finally spend the night out in the wilderness!

It wasn’t quite as fun as I first imagined. The lack of beds, the pests, the cold… I wondered why I ever wanted to do this, but it was probably a good experience to have for the future.

Doesn’t mean I have to like it!

Fiya led the way, and then gestured for us to stop. We came across a bear, which was a species here that typically started at level 20, depending on the species. I could kind of vaguely feel that kind of danger from it, though my level sense could still use a ton of improvement.

The fountan woman charged at it, with Baston ready to intervene just in case. I gestured for my group to be alert too, and not let our guards down.

Fiya got into the creature’s range, and then dodged a large swipe that appeared to me only as a blur. She slammed her mace-hand on the creature’s belly, and the wound not only bled but began to sprout the same vines growing on the woman’s weapon.

The bear roared, and then swiped again, but it was blocked by the shield Fiya held on her other hand. Another strike of the mace sent the bear reeling, its retaliations were forcibly blocked or dodged. For all the intentional flaws in the fountan’s design and Mutations, they had more raw power to bring to bear than a human.

The animal roared for the final time as its body was hugged from all sides by thorny vines. Fiya breathed deeply and then out, giving us a big thumbs up by the end.

Thorny vines were hugging the animal from all sides when it finally collapsed and died.

Too strong. I decided. I had taken the opportunity to observe a higher-level enemy in action, but the qualitative difference of level 20 was too much. Angerly could survive a bear for a time, given that she was higher level than the rest of us, but she wouldn’t be able to hold it in place. At that point, the rest of us would fold quite easily, including me, and then Angerly would die as well, left by herself.

I'd be hard-pressed to do enough damage, even with my unfair gear. The strength wielding it just wasn’t enough, the sword couldn’t be made too heavy lest I lose the ability to handle it.

~~~

We fought our own battles after the encounter with the bear, and Granuel’s place in the group was decided upon through trial and error. We took on some murdles, whom he was able to hit from afar with his rock bullet. The tankier bushpiders were hit with bigger boulders. And he relied on the vanguard's stopping power to find an opportunity to hit tigers and other more evolved specimens. We could handle these stronger monsters quite a bit easier by now, just based on our sheer numbers.

Our first day ended with little trouble, and I suffered the forest as we slept. We were arrayed around a campfire, sleeping on blankets and small pillows that we’d brought. Our packs were steadily filling with only the best parts of our kills.

I was asleep dreaming about whipping shepherds in hell, when someone’s screams reached my ears.

“Everyone! It’s an attack!”

I recognized Granuel’s voice and immediately bolted upright, glad that I had slept on my armor with only the helmet removed. That missing part was very quickly reinstated.

Everyone else roused, and Baston gave us the go-ahead to take on this foe ourselves. I quickly learned that it was a nowl, when Granuel shot into the canopies, and then hit an owl-like creature. The donkey-sized bird made a keening noise, and then dove right for us. I met its talons with my sword, and we pushed hard at each other in a struggle that I barely won. Our opponent must be very high level, for a bird in flight to be able to match me in strength.

“Huddle together,” I called, stopping Therick from giving chase. “Too fast. Flying. We can’t catch it.” He nodded and we got into position, backs towards each other. Granuel and Moonwash held their shields up, while the rest of us flourished our weapons.

Our surroundings grew more undefined, I felt weaker, a cold dread settling into my body.

“Fire!” Granuel commanded. “Nowls have night magic. Fight back!”

I was already exchanging my sword for my wand and buckler before Granuel could finish his explanation, and then I joined Moonwash who was shining a light around us. It warmed my body, and I gestured towards the campfire. I sent one a fireball towards it, to encourage the flames to burn brighter, after which we The Harvesters formed ranks around it. The weakening effect on us began to dissipate.

Granuel used the added visibility to snipe at our target, getting a few glancing blows but nothing too serious.

The nowl dove, and Therick was hit badly on his exposed shoulders. My allies here were generally wearing a lot less than their typical armor, having taken it off to sleep. The wild animal attacked once more, but Granuel shot it before it could land on Moonwash, letting the crafter girl block the bird with her shield in a desperate push from both sides. The night brightened and darkened repeatedly like a strobe light as my friend pushed away the night and tried to retaliate with clumsy but still effective bursts of fire.

More shadows lengthened around the creature, and they whipped at the rest of us, but I drove away most of them with my own flames. Mana behaved strangely and in different ways when they overlapped, and so did their physical manifestations react differently depending on the stimuli. I’d studied the subject well, and I knew fire was a good match, second only to light.

The nowl tried to go after our chaperones next, but Baston easily backhanded it away. The bird got the message and went back to harassing us, but Granuel’s constant barrage of bullets proved a sufficient distraction, and I capitalized once the monster picked me as its target.

I slammed the shield into the beak, ignoring the raking of talons across my forearm. I shouted to press the attack, and did just as I said, bringing my roaring flames to bear. Darkness once again coalesced around my foe, fighting against my fire and putting up a good fight this time around as the two elements tried to consume each other. But I knew that night magic had very limited physicality, so I slammed my shield into the nowl again, pushing it back. It was hardly dazed, but the momentary distraction caused my flames to gain more ground.

The monster screeched, willing the night to consume more of my flames. It finally tried to run away, but it was too little too late. First came a larger bullet of earth. Then the mace of Angerly followed before it could regain its balance, and then Therick’s sword. We all converged on our foe, and ripped it apart limb from fucking limb. The nowl tried to fight back, but it was blocked by the surrounding press of bodies and the density of our weapons. The darkness that tried to kill and consume us was swept away by both the force of our strikes, and the flames maintained by myself and Moonwash.

The nowl screeched at the unfairness of it all for the final time.