Chapter Five - Manacuffs
Today, I ran out of food.
For the last month, I’ve been hiding in this room listening to the roars of hydras, dragons, unicorns, and something that sounds like Mothra!!! I really wish I’d never opened that seal…
A month ago, I learned Mana-Manipulation, and after sating my hunger and thirst, I decided to figure out how to open the seal around the door. The note left by that ass who kidnapped me said that after learning Mana-Manipulation I could unseal it, and I’m a bit of a claustrophobe… I know it also said I’d be better off if I read all the books but the walls! THE WALLS!!! THEY’RE CLOSING IN!!!
I slowly approached the door, hand in front of me so I don’t run into the seal face first again. This time, when I touched the barrier, I could actually feel how it’s made. Standing with my eyes closed, I took my time and slowly came to understand it.
After a few hours, I nearly gave up. I had no idea how the hell to open the barrier. Irritated, I threw a punch at the seal while coating my arm in mana… My hand went through the barrier as is if wasn’t there. This threw my body off balance, and I fell forward my face slamming into the barrier again. Bloody nose, watery eyes, and a nearly dislocated shoulder later I knew how to get out.
Coating my entire body in mana I walked through the barrier and opened the door… only to be greeted by a DRAGON!!!!
Ok fine, it was an insanely cute bunny, but it might as well have been a dragon!
If I’d bothered to read the rest of the books in that room, I would’ve realized that this floor of the “Academy” is dedicated to training agility. Because of that, all creatures on this floor have their strength reduced to .5. That’s not that big deal, I didn’t even notice the difference at first…
Looking at this pure-white rabbit standing nearly three feet tall on its hind legs, I started to imagine this creature with a top hat, bow tie, and cane… I couldn’t help it, I started walking towards him as it looked at me curiously. As I got closer and closer to it, a blinking light telling me of a notification popped up, but I didn’t care. I was entranced, getting closer and closer until finally…
*BAM*
I got blindsided by ten more of the furry devils at the same time. They seemed to fly around the room at the speed of light, I could barely even see them as they slammed into my knees bowling me over. Then, they started to slap me in the face, bite my arms, poke my eyes. One of them went for my neck, but I managed to hit him with a flailing arm (pure luck) sending him flying away.
Thankfully, they backed off after that; apparently I got lucky and hit their leader. Standing up shakily, unable to see out of my left eye, blood streaming down my face, I ran for the door back to my room.
I started searching frantically for the status of my eye, I still couldn’t see out of it!
Status Change:Partial BlindnessYour left eye has been damagedRecovery Time:Two Weeks
Racial Passive DiscoveredMana Regeneration:
Racial Passive DiscoveredMana Regeneration LVL 1 (0.0%)When at Maximum Mana, your body will automatically use mana equal to your Mana Regeneration to heal itself slowly overtime.
THANK GOD!!!! My blindness was caused by a scratch on my eye deforming it slightly. Thankfully, the system seemed to deem this a minor injury so I would be able to heal. Asshole, thanks for making me evolve!!!!
I carefully cleaned myself off, wrapping a bandage around my face and covering my still blind eye. When I was done dealing with my wounds, I read the rest of my notifications and found this.
Status Change:CharmedCharmed by Devil Eared Bunny Rabbit, Temporary Loss of Higher Cognitive FunctionDebuff:-4 INT; -4 WIS
That bastard!!! I started towards the door to beat the shit out of that wascally wabbit. Only to be stopped by the barrier... again… I forgot to coat my body in mana…
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That was the last time I went outside of this room. Since then, I’d spent the last month recovering from my injuries while reading the remaining books in the room. I think that ass who kidnapped me gave me a month of food precisely because he knew that was how long it’d take me to read through every book there.
At first, I was seriously disappointed with the selection. I was hoping to find skill books, learn how to summon my first spirit or demon so I could laugh as they roast alive. MUHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Instead, they’re history books… HISTORY!!! Not that I hate history, I just really needed a way to kill those damned wascally wabbits. I glanced through the titles, but the skill books seemed to be near the bottom of the bookcase and when I went to open them a barrier that I couldn’t move through blocked my way. It seems that I must read them all! Thank god I’m a bookworm… Anyway, the next book was a copy of “The Great Seer’s and Their Prophecies.” Seeing as I’d already read most of the book, I skimmed through it quickly and was able to move on.
A couple of weeks later, I had read the histories of this world, the great prophecies, the Council of Dragons and their laws, a random book on monster droppings… Today, I opened a small, old, handwritten book called, “Perception”. It had no author’s name attributed to it, and only being 20 pages long I thought I’d breeze through it in a few minutes and move on.
“...it was my third day in Tlali, and the death count just kept rising. I’ve spent my entire life traveling the world fighting great evils, curing sickness, negotiating with dragons. Never, have I seen such a menace before. Everyday, at least ten people disappear from their beds, foundries, bathrooms, the middle of the streets!!! One moment they’re their and the next they’re gone. As if some monstrous beast had eaten them whole in an instant. It was on that day it happened, it came for me.
As I walked down the main street, towards the only restaurant still open in the once sizable town, I felt it. A killing intent nearly matching that of the greatest dragons locked onto me. I reacted instantly, conjuring a barrier of stone nearly two meters thick and pouring all of my mana into it making it nearly as hard as adamantium. The sound was unbearable, I could almost feel it as an invisible maw of a great beast bit into the stone and sank deeper and deeper. It actually managed to punch through and I threw myself to the floor as I felt something graze over my head. Looking up, my once impervious stone fortress had a gaping hole in it.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
The creature roared, causing me to relieve myself in sheer terror. Next to me, lay a chipped, curved tooth longer than my height, wider than my width. For the first time I heard it move as it ran from the town while roaring in pain….”
I read and reread the journal, over and over again, as if something seemed off. The story ends with him killing the beast and becoming the hero of a nation, but how? He says he spent nearly a year tracking it, trying to sense it. The book just ended with him finally sensing it and killing it. All he said was he was able to sense it…
As I was rereading it for the 10th time, I noticed the book was glowing. Staring at it in surprise, I realized that it was absorbing a little bit of my mana and then dispersing it into the air. Forcing more of my mana into it, I felt my mana dispersing and returning in pulsing pattern. It would go a few feet from me and then return, but when I focused on it more clearly, I could feel that it returned quicker when it hit an obstruction.
New Skill Acquired!!!Mana Sense
Wait, I’ve heard of this before! My parents said that they used a similar technique to find traps in dungeons. They danger sense, and it only found traps or dangerous enemies not everything nearby. They also said that it was dangerous to use it sense it would alert everyone to your presence. Closing my eyes, I could sense the chair, half the stone desk, a bit of the floor and wall. Everything within three feet of me I could sense. Even the nearly microscopic bugs that flew around the room, feeding on my dead skin… ICK!!!!!!!!!!
The final book was also the longest; “The Art of Manacuffs” by Kennoth Obitus (Kidnap Artist, Asshole, Lower than Wabbit Shit, etc…) It was the longest book by far, and it focused on moving mana around your body efficiently. Apparently, that old man created an entire fighting style is based solely around using Mana Manipulation to defend, attack and move all at the same time. The basic fundamental of it all is balance; apparently when a practitioner reaches the pinnacle of “The Art of Manacuffs” no matter what position his body is in, he’s able to move in any direction instantly by using mana to propel his body. It says that in order to do this, your body needs to relearn how to balance so you balance not on your body, but on your mana pool. After reading the entire book, I reached the final page and the book began to absorb my mana and flash just as the previous book had. Just as I received the notification for gaining a skill, I read the final paragraph...
“...While Manacuffs is at the pinnacle of martial arts, the equal of any other martial art in existence, it’s requirements are nearly impossible to meet. In order to fight even the weakest of monsters one must have a minimum of level 5 in Mana Manipulation. This is because in a fight, a practitioner must be able to react and move his mana at an instinctual level to keep from being killed while balancing around his mana pool…”
“WHAT A WASTE OF TIME!!!!!!!!!!!” I screamed, throwing the book down. I focused on the skill window, opening up my skills menu to check them out and distract myself from the fact that I’d just spent a month to learn a skill that is pointless for me… and the bugs I sensed crawling towards me… ICK!!!!!!!!!!!
Skill Window:Active Skills:Mana Sense LVL 1 (0.9%)Cost:10 Mana/Minute per footDescription:By pulsing your mana in a mysterious pattern, you are able to sense anything the mana comes into contact withRange:Equal to Maximum Range of Mana ManipulationMana Coat LVL 1 (1.2%)Cost: Variable (Mana only used when dealing or absorbing damage)Description:Coats the body with a layer of mana which absorbs damage equal to 50% of mana allocated and increases attack by 50% of mana allocated. By focusing mana on attack or absorption can use up to 100% of mana allocated on either attack or damage absorption. +10% to Damage Absorption or Attack Rating per level.Instantaneous Movement LVL 1 (0.0%)Cost: 1 Foot/10 manaDescription:Change direction and instantly move in any direction by propelling your body using mana. (Only usable when perfectly balanced.) Cost lowered by 10% per levelPassive Skills:Mana Manipulation LVL 1 (8.2%)Cost:N/ADescription:You are able to manipulate your mana inside your body at will and control it with great difficulty outside of your body.Range:Three Feet at current proficiency. Error: Unknown Growth RatioManacuffs Mastery LVL 1 (0.0%)Cost:N/ADescription:Increases Damage, Defense, and Movement speed of all skills associated with Manacuffs by 10% per level.Current Skills Associated With:Mana Coat, Instant MovementGrowth:Unable to surpass the level of Mana ManipulationRacial Skills: High HumanActive Skills:N/APassive Skills:Mana Regeneration LVL 1 (1.2%)Cost:Equal to Mana RegenerationDescription:When at Maximum Mana, your body will automatically use mana equal to your Mana Regeneration to heal itself slowly overtime.CapabilitiesMinor Injuries only at current level
“Great! The only skills I have are nearly impossible to use, and I’m out of food so I can’t even train before I go out and die! GREAT!!!”
I'm gonna die tomorrow...