Moving quietly through the jungle, I kept an eye out for any more of the little green hunters. I was reasonably sure the pack had moved on, but those little things were fast. Until I was sure I was out of their territory, I was going to be wary of them creeping up on me.
Cautious though I was, I still took note of the interesting mana flowing through things around me. There seemed to be many similar mana forms in all life, with things more closely related having more mana forms in common.
A lizard held a lot more in common with a mouse or a bird than it did with a dragonfly or a spider. Insects and animals held a lot more in common with each other than they did with plants.
Occasionally, I would spot something with unique magic running through it, but I found that most things fell into similar patterns. My biggest surprise came when I took a close look at a mushroom.
I was perplexed when I noticed how much closer it was to an animal than it was to a plant. I must have stared dumbfoundedly at the seemingly mundane fungus for at least a quarter-mark trying to figure out why.
Eventually, I decided that it was just some unique magic in this particular mushroom that mimicked the mana in animal life. I was ready to banish the oddity from my mind until I spotted another patch of mushrooms.
The fact that all of them were more like animals than plants left me baffled.
Were mushrooms just really dumb animals? Were animals just really smart mushrooms? I didn’t like this train of thought at all.
I tried to reassure myself by looking at all of the ways the mana forms differed between a mushroom and the little beetle crawling over it. There were less differences than I would have liked, but the mushroom was clearly a very different form of life.
With another bit of trivia for my list of things I never wanted to know, I continued walking towards the clearing by the lake.
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INTERLUDE 3: Memoirs of a Verbose Magician
One day prior, the expedition party continued their trek through the jungle. Reginald contemplated the information his spell book now held.
The incongruencies between the different mana forms was quite appreciable. Many showed the polish of ages of toil and refinement. Others, like the appalling ‘phantom flame’ spell showed a slapdash disregard for convention and decency. Strangely, very few held names that his automatic translation could detect.
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What manner of bellicose society would foster the invention of such a ghastly spell? Only a heinous deviant would have thought to infuse a hapless subject’s very nervous system with sufficient mana to instigate cellular degradation. Should the luckless victim be endowed with a mana resistance level anything short of at least a hundred, a horrid and agonizing demise would surely befall them.
“Reginald, any more news on the unknown person?” Martin, the intrepid leader inquired.
“Aside from the implications inherent to the neurotoxic spell and the altered elevation of our anomalous individual, there is little more to report.” Reginald informed promptly.
At the moment, the melodious tinkling of a system message passed through the magician’s mind. An expeditious skim through his spell book revealed the presence of two completely new spells. The pair were unnamed, but both would evacuate large quantities of thermal energy from the affected sphere.
“It would appear my response was preemptive. I have received another two spells, so it would seem that our unknown local may have gained a new boon.”
“Umm… I also noticed some new runes in my rune book earlier. I think maybe this person may also be an enchanter.” Liam, the reticent runesmith, interjected hesitantly.
“A synergistic class between an enchanter and a magician? I would postulate that such a generalist approach towards magic may be the purview of a mana form crafter, though I would hesitate to claim our unknown benefactor holds such a class. Such altruism to share their craft so freely would be highly unexpected from one with such sought after expertise.” Reginald hypothesized.
Salvador, the most debonair and affable of the hired muscle, took notice of the conversation. “A generous mana form crafter hmm? Perhaps when we reach them they might have a few new martial enhancements they would be willing to share?”
Reginald pondered it a moment before replying. “Should this individual hold such a class, such a scenario could quite possi-”
“Quiet!” The largest of the warriors rudely interjected. “I heard something.”
That was probably the longest sentence the oaf had uttered in Reginald's presence that didn’t include a single expletive. Honestly, it seemed as though the man’s vocabulary was almost entirely composed of such boorish utterances.
For the life of him, Reginald couldn’t recall the musclebound brute’s name. Not an uncommon issue when dealing with those endowed with greater physical prowess at the cost of mental capabilities.
After a tense moment passed, Reginald grew fairly sure that the thug had simply imagined things. Before he could open his mouth however, a branch snapped up above.
Descending from the canopy above was a red furred carnivore. The creature was twice the size of a horse with the body of a feline and the wings of an enormous bat. The creature’s face was apelike, with a shark-like mouth filled with consecutive rows of sharp teeth.
Caught flat footed, Reginald was slow to call upon the system to start weaving spells. The moment it took for the system to start weaving mana into a shield proved too long.
With astonishing speed a barbed tail flicked from behind the advancing beast. It wasn’t until pain bloomed in his chest that Reginald realized that the fiendish creature had launched one of its spines as a projectile.
As the magician who prided himself on his extensive vocabulary slumped to the ground, his last utterance was also his most succinct.
“...Oh...”