Chapter 14
Traveling to Brightwood
The elemental mana heeded my call, rushing in from all around. It took my offered energy, and I watched it shift itself to something aggressive. Just like when I was preparing to fight the wolf, it swept itself into a full connection with my mind. I snarled, and let out a thunderous roar.
Only the fact that something deep inside reminded me of my contract kept me from allowing the mana to run completely wild. Killing humans was not forbidden, but I needed to make sure I absolutely had to, otherwise I would be in trouble. Something told me that these people would not fit the criteria.
Wind swirled around the cart, defensively. It, and I wanted to take out our fury on the man on the side of the road, but I held it back. Then the arrows came. The mana informed me of two other men as it blew the arrows off course. I reached my clawed hand towards the first man I had seen, and pulled it back towards me. In tune with my wishes a gust of wind picked the man up, and threw him into the air, sending him crashing down on the road. I heard things crunch as he landed.
The other two ambushers came flying out of the trees soon after, meeting a similar fate.
With the danger gone, the wind dispersed, the air mana returned to what seemed to be its default state. Since I was connected to it, my emotions followed its shift, I found myself giggling. Playing with those men was fun! I wanted to do it again.
I caught myself before I hopped down from the cart to go play. It took all my willpower to disconnect my mind from the joy filled influence, but I managed it on my own. My hands clenched the side of the cart, and I closed my eyes, as I recovered from the emotional whiplash.
The old man looked at me wide eyed. Then he coughed a little. "Well lad, let's get these poor fools into the cart. Maybe they'll get lucky, and Brightwood'll have picked up a rehabilitator, so they can go back to being civilized like. Either way, local law will be happy, they get uppity if you don't let them have a turn at the criminal types."
I got off to go grab the first guy who was thrown. I decided to experiment with life mana. I didn't want the men to die needlessly, particularly if I caught what the old merchant had implied correctly.
Were these people just victims of the classes assigned to them? How did the System choose what class someone ended up with? Why would something that's supposed to keep civilization on the right track create criminals?
I wished I had an answer to any of those questions, but first, I would do my best to see if I could ensure I did no more harm than I needed to.
I reached out a tendril of energy to connect with the motes of life mana that were drifting in the air around me. I very carefully asked if it could just tell me where the man was hurt, offering it a small bit of mana from my core as payment for the help.
Bright green motes swarmed in from all around, and sank into the man I had indicated. I struggled to prevent my mind from fully connecting with the life element as it gave me feedback on what it found in the man.
He had a broken leg, several broken ribs, and a punctured lung. The mana inside the man pulsed, I could feel its desire to meddle with the man's body. All sorts of options flooded my mind, from miraculous healing, to creating cancerous growth, or other horrors I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. Weakened as the man was, he would have no resistance to whatever the mana did. Thankfully, it didn't have the power to make the changes on its own, and it waited for me to choose, and fund it.
I almost lost my connection with the mana in shock, I obviously knew that life mana could have a profound effect on the body. I had experienced it. But some of the images of unchecked growth, or monstrous alterations shook me.
I did my best to put them out of my mind, and focused on the idea of healing the man's ribs and lungs. I stressed that they should be healed, not altered as I allowed it to take a small price from my core to power itself.
The work was quickly done, I was relieved that the mana kept me updated on exactly what it did. The man would be in no danger from its actions as far as I could tell. The life mana sent a questioning feeling, ready to do more, all I had to do was ask, and give it the power.
I decided to try and ask if the mana could put the criminal into a deep sleep, it would definitely make things easier. I was careful to specify that he should be able to wake up naturally in a few hours. I didn't want to put the man in a coma by accident. It was easily accomplished. I thanked the mana, and released my connection with it.
I easily picked up the unconscious man, and carried him gently to the cart.
The other two ambushers were already there. I checked both of them for injuries that would threaten their lives, and found none. I asked the mana to make them sleep too. Then I asked the System for their levels.
Level 10
Level 11
Level 15
"How were they so weak?" I asked, it seemed so easy, it had been extremely difficult to keep the mana from just crushing them.
"What the hell kinda boons do you have, kid?" He asked, sounding very concerned.
"Ahh.. " I scratched my cheek and looked at the unconscious criminals that we had hauled into the back of the cart. "I'd rather not say, really, just some things to help me do my job."
"Kid, what kind of job are you on?" The weary traveler asked.
I eyed the men in the cart. One of them was mumbling a little, as he shifted in his sleep. "I heard the voice of Belua, she told me to join human society, work with them."
"Right, and she sent you here? Are you to work in Brightwood specifically? Or just, with humans in general?" He asked as he hopped back onto his cart.
"In general, this place was just closest to.." my throat started to close up, I had been about to say where I was dropped. I coughed a little. "My territory" I climbed back onto the bench I'd sat on earlier.
"Ahh, you're probably meant for this place for a while, Brightwood's got some trouble, could use another adventurer." He sighed, "It's a good thing for us she sent yah, got plenty of monsters 'round here that need killing, and not a lot of folks left who're capable." He clicked at his horse, and we started moving toward town again.
"What happened?" I could think of a few reasons a lot of people would leave. Now that I thought about it, I had seen a lot more people coming from the north than headed to it.
"King's army conscripted all the combat capable types who are suited for group work. All that's left are berserker types, or folks whose skills aren't suited for war with men." He gestured ahead. "Left enough to keep the town safe, but barely."
"Do I have to worry about being conscripted?" I thought about my contract, I could probably fight in a war, I was allowed to fight, and even kill men if it helped me make a name for myself among the humans. I just really, really didn't want to.
"Ha! No! Wild Mages are too volatile. Always one misstep from going crazy. What's that like by the way? Always wondered. The few Wild Mages I met were loons, unpredictable as hell too." He eyed me speculatively. "You seem pretty stable, even brought in all that wind without running off into the woods, or something."
I sighed, and reached a hand out as if to physically touch some of the air mana that was drifting past me. It spiraled around my arm briefly begging me to play, before moving on. I wanted, badly, to answer its call, and let it share its joy with me.
"It's amazing, and terrifying. Losing myself to the mana is like taking a drug, I guess. I almost lost hold with the wind, if I'm being honest. But I've gotten a lot better at not completely losing the plot as soon as I touch the stuff." I sighed, that was maybe an exaggeration of my self control.
"A drug huh? That makes a sort of sense. Anyhow, we'll be to town soon enough. Was the goddess kind enough to bless you with papers?" He sounded doubtful.
"Papers? Ah no. I have these clothes, and my pack. But no papers." I shrugged, I was supposed to pose as a Spirit Beast from the wilds, I almost thought I was lucky the System didn't make me forget what you'd need papers for.
"Where are you from, exactly? I mean, in the kingdom." He shrugged, grunting at the unwilling passengers.
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"Well, my territory is that way." I gestured toward the area I had been dropped off. I certainly could pretend it was my home, I knew every tree and twig. "I've never been to a city, what are they like?"
"That way huh, lad?" He said mimicking my gesture, then he turned and really looked at me, hard, like he was trying to see through me. "Ahh fuck me, you're a monster."
My instincts jumped, pushing me to growl as I spoke, I knew I was no mere monster. "That's unkind, and inaccurate, I'm a Spirit Beast, monsters are…" I trailed off. I didn't really know what made something a monster, or why I was definitely not one.
"Calm down lad, ahh did you know your fur puffs out when you get mad? Monster is a kind of catch all word for critters that have excessive mana inside them. I think you'd count to most folks. But yer right, Spirit Beasts aren't mere monsters, people who know their stuff know the difference." He cleared his throat. "Monsters are all mad with the mana, like Wild Mages can get, but permanent. An' they don't got memories of times without the madness to ground 'em."
I nodded, that made sense, Spirit Beasts were special. My instincts told me it had something to do with the way their cores worked, but I didn't know what that was. I ran my fingers through my mane. "I wish I could see myself." I had a momentary thought that I could, I'd just have to enter the web of life for a minute, surely there was a creature in the woods around the road watching us. But I stopped myself, there were hostile people right at my feet. The fact that they were pretty out of it didn't mean they were safe.
"You sure are something to see. I'd hazard a guess you got a bit too friendly with life mana a couple times, eh?" He chuckled.
"Yeah, you could say that. Life mana is amazing, even if I don't love how it's changed my body. It makes you feel whole, it shows you how everything living is connected.. " I trailed off, talking about it made me crave it.
"Ah shit, Wild Mages, you said yourself mana was like drugs. Do me a favor and stay clean for the ride, okay?" He looked thoughtful. "You'll probably want to stay 'sober' in the town as well, you know. Hope you can manage that. We'll be outta the forest 'fore you know it"
"I can! Absolutely, I like the feeling, it doesn't mean I can't stop myself." Thinking about the mana made me realize I was still a little low from all the usage earlier, and started to put some effort into consuming and circulating.
"The hell you doing back there lad? I jus' asked you to stay clean." He said sternly.
"I'm circulating my mana, it's perfectly normal, and not at all the same as losing myself to it." I realized I didn't really know other people would see when I pushed my mana circulation. "Why? What do you see?"
"Feel, more like, I'm not in touch with the stuff like you are, but anyone above a certain level can feel the stuff when something's moving it around a lot. I reckon exposure during level ups creates a certain sensitivity." He said the last bit with a bit of a wince, so I guessed leveling up would never get more comfortable.
The man whose name I realized I had never requested, continued after a brief pause. "I s'pose you should know, 'circulating your mana' is not, in fact, 'perfectly normal', it's prolly a Spirit Beast thing."
"I got class levels the first time I did it." For some reason I was feeling a little defensive about the practice, and it came out in my voice.
"Wild Mage is all about communicating with mana, getting it to move like that is prolly what got them levels. Normal folks don't have mana moving 'round in em, normal folks just have a kinda spiritual well they draw their mana from." He grunted a bit and scratched the back of his head. "Hell this really is your first…" he interrupted himself with a cough. "time meeting humans."
"You could say that. I don't know much about how… people… work. I have a lot to learn" I moved the end of my tail to my lap and started brushing it out with my hands. There were some leaves stuck in it that were starting to bother me.
He looked back at me, watching me work through the mass of fur. "Guess that'd be the case. Can't stick around and help you once we get to town though, I got my job. Can't fall behind on my circuit 'less I have a better reason than jus' wantin' to help another old soul get their feet under 'em. Can't offer you supplies 'less you've money to pay too. Merchants don't give shit for free. Do have an old soul discount though, if you catch me when you have the coin."
I sighed, I could smell the farmlands ahead, we'd be there in no time at all. "What are you called? So I know who to look for?"
"I go by Hoyt, you got a name? Reckon I heard System does give them to Spirit Beasts." He turned around on his bench and reached out over his bags of merchandise. "We humans shake hands when we properly introduce ourselves, just so yah know." He said with a wink.
I reached out and shook his hand, my long arm reaching easily. My hand practically engulfed his. I was careful not to apply too much pressure, but at level 200 his handshake was pretty firm. "I'm Angel"
"Good to meetcha Angel. Imma show you something. I don' like doin' it 'round folks like our passengers here. But they seem to have fallen asleep. Guess you had a hand in that… anyway it's an old soul thing." He lowered his voice to little more than a breath. "With ears the size of yours I'm betting you can hear this. We all get enough experience with mana to manage basic senses and manipulation without the skill for it, eventually. We aren't allowed to hold onto our names, but we make mana movements we identify ourselves by, watch the mana, this is me."
I saw him focus, and a small amount of mana spiraled out of his hand. As it moved I saw a complex pattern. He repeated it several times. I was stunned that I was able to remember it completely after the second repeat. There was some sort of resonance between him, and his pattern.
"Got it already? Damn lucky first class for that. Pattern isn't random, and it'll shift by bits over a very long time. But you should find yours when you get the chance. It'll come when you try. But.. maybe not this life"
I moved some mana in his pattern, it didn't carry any resonance when I did it. He nodded at me.
"Pretty good with mana for a newbie. Guess you've got the traits for it." he said in his normal voice.
While we were talking about our respective identities, we had started seeing farmlands. There seemed to be quite a lot of wheat growing in the area. I watched people work the land as I groomed my fur, brushing it out as best I could with my fingers.
I decided to make a request.
"Hey Hoyt, I know you can't give me anything for free, but uh I've got some pretty nice clothes in my pack, they are really big for humans, but, I was wondering if I could, maybe trade you a shirt for a brush? I would really like to look a bit more presentable."
He looked back, and smiled. "Oh, yes sir I can trade. Toss it here, I'll appraise it. If it's from.. the goddess, that cloth'll prolly get you more than just a brush."
I dug around in the pack, and pulled out a somewhat fancy black shirt that felt a bit like silk. I tossed it to his waiting hand.
He looked at it like he was about to ask it on a date, and whistled, clearly impressed. "You got more like this? 'Cause if so, you have to meet up with me after you get through the gate. I'll be able to swing a stall for a few days if I'm expecting a deal on material like this." He winked at me.
I thought about it, I wasn't really attached to anything in my pack specifically. It was just the nicest stuff that was in the closet of the bedroom as far as I could tell. Hell, possibly selling them was a big part of why I wanted them to begin with.
"Well, I don't know if the others are the same value, but they were all from… the goddess. I'd be happy to trade everything but the clothes on my back, and my staff." I grinned.
His face paled a little at my grin. "No offense, Angel, but don't make that face unless you're aiming to scare someone. Ahem, I can give you twenty gold for the shirt. I'll throw a nice big brush in for free."
I nodded."If that's what you say it's worth, I'll trust you. I haven't got a damn clue about.. um.. human money."
He groaned, and spoke with emphasis. "Are you sure Angel? Most folks know to haggle with a merchant. Merchants, folks reckon never, ever, give the best they can do as the first offer. It's like it's almost a damn Rule"
"Hypothetically speaking, what would a gold piece buy?" I asked
"That's probably a good place to start. One gold would buy a shit horse, or a damn fancy meal. Manual laborer would earn about five gold in a good year. A young adventurer would earn half a gold for risking their life on a kill quest. Your level'll prolly earn you a gold a quest. Normal folks don' level so fast as the goddess touched. Since I can hear the question rattling around in your mind. All old souls are goddess touched, but not all goddess touched are old souls ."
"So what can you tell me about that shirt?" I asked.
"Ahh good, no merchant who cares about their reputation will lie about what their analysis ability says. It's well crafted pure mana infused ash silk. Most merchants would be unlikely to also tell you that, while the shirt would doubtless need to be resized for whoever it's sold to, high society folks would lose their minds trying to get something like this for social events. The scraps from resizing something this large would also have value." He smiled.
I nodded and thought. "How bad do uh… 'most folks' think merchants will try to screw them?"
He laughed. "Most informed folks would think it's likely a merchant's starting offer was considerably less than half what he intended to sell an item for."
"50 gold." I said
"Shit man, I said less than half what I plan to sell it for, you need to leave me a profit. And I have to actually find a buyer, this thing will probably be taking up space in my storage for a long time. 30."
"I'm sorry, I'm starting to remember I have a sentimental attachment to all this clothing. 45 gold might help me forget that."
"I'll do you 40, and that brush, and that hurts."
"That'll do."
Hoyt reached into nothing, his hand disappearing, and pulled out a small sack that I heard jingling a little, and a very large wooden brush with long black stiff bristles. He held them in his left hand, and offered me his right. "Deal?"
I shook his hand. "Deal." He handed over the coin bag, and brush, and folded the shirt neatly before placing it in empty air.
"Good for a first trade. Brush is meant for using on the tamed dire wolves they have out west by the way, should work well on you." He smiled at me.
I got to work, taming my now long fur. I couldn't help it, part way through I started purring. Hoyt laughed his ass off.
It wasn't long after I finished brushing out what I could reach of my coat. We finally reached the gates.