Groaning, I stir out of sleep. I feel weak, my body hurts and I’m tired, so very tired. Opening my heavy eyelids, I try to sit up, but I can barely move. I can see the roof of a room, it was well lit and I was laying on a soft bed, something I could never get used to, it was too soft. Hearing a door open, I’m about to try and sit up before a notification from my System sends my mind into chaos.
[Your Mana Pool and Veins have been forcibly removed.]
[You can no longer use Mana.]
[Wind and Lightning Magic is no longer available.]
[Due to the loss of Mana, your Class has been lost.]
‘W-what the fuck happened?!’ Forcibly extracted?! I’ve lost my magic and Class? In a panic I opened my Status.
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Alisha
Demonic Fox and Human Hybrid (Hidden)
Level 18
Health: 950
Mana: 100 (Locked)
Experience: 10,600/32,000
Class: None
Class Level: 0
Experience: Ineligible
Skills: Demonic Fox Awakening (Locked, Incomplete, 75% Awakened), Lashing Fire Kick, Drunken Brawler
Spells: None
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I felt fear, true fear. I lost my strength…everything Teacher Lee gave me…gone. Alice! What about Alice, is she okay?! Trying to get up, my muscles were too weak. Is it because I was too used to mana being spread throughout my body? It doesn’t matter, Alice matters, I can’t lose her. “A-alice, Alice whe-where are you, Alice?” Feeling my eyes burn as I start to cry, I hear Alice. “Kraa!”
Feeling something land on my forehead, I see Alice looking down at me and I can feel her worry. Glad to see her, I hear another voice…the voice of Anita.
“You’re awake. Can you sit up or do you need help?” Hearing her voice, my mind slowly pieces everything together.
“Was it you? Did you take away my mana?” Getting angrier as I spoke, I tried once again to sit up and fail. Again, again the humans took someone away from me. First it was my fate, then my friend Alice and now my strength.
“Yes, I did. You burnt your mana veins escaping my Air Bubble, if I didn’t remove them you’d be dead.” Speaking bluntly, the voice of Anita rings in my ears. Feeling the anger in me rising, the tears kept falling. There was nothing I could do…I lost my strength just like that, ripped from me. I may as well be dead. My anger was slowly replaced by an empty feeling, I felt myself losing strength.
“I must ask you, how did you open your Mana Pool? It was very primitive and crudely done.” I don’t respond, I don’t want to. I don’t have any motivation anymore, I feel empty…why did this have to happen. Perhaps because I wasn’t responding, Anita kept talking. “Well, if I had to guess you swallowed a pure mana crystal or someone forcibly injected a large amount of mana into you. Both methods are primitive and hinders you greatly.”
Primitive? Calling what Teacher Lee taught me primitive? Don’t say such a thing, Teacher Lee gave me that strength, you just took it away from me. Took away the only way for me to fight. Closing my eyes, I wanted to die at this moment. Even if I could regroup with everyone, I wouldn’t be able to keep up with them, there was no point in continuing anymore.
“Well, it was my fault that caused you to use magic like that. I tend to get over excited when I find a talent such as yourself.” Once again not speaking, Anita takes this as a sign to continue talking. “You’ve used magic once before, reacquiring it is possible but will be extremely painful.”
“You’re lying.” Speaking for the first time since I asked her if she took my magic away, I keep my eyes closed and try to tune Anita out. I don’t care for what lies that vile human spewed.
“I’m not. To prove that I’ll form a contract with you.” HAH, a contract? Words mean nothing to me now, just leave me alone.
“On my name as the Storm Caller, I, Anita Skye, hereby swear upon the System that I will restore Alisha’s magic, not only to its original state but to a higher and improved form.” Upon those words being spoken, I’m suddenly hit with a System notification.
[Anita Skye is forming a contract with you. She will be contracted to restore your Mana Pool and Veins to a state better than they once were. Failure to do so will result in death for Anita Skye. Do you accept?]
‘A contract? She’ll be killed if she can’t restore my mana pool? So be it, I don’t care if she dies.’ Thinking this, I accept this contract. Opening my eyes, I wanted to see this human die, how dare they take what Teacher Lee gave me. Too bad I couldn’t move to look at her.
“Good, let's get started now. Firstly, your body is weakened because of your mana veins being extracted. You don’t need to worry about lasting damage, thanks to your low level they weren’t as integrated with your body. If you were level 20, it would’ve been a problem. Now, let's go.”
Feeling myself being lifted up, blanket and all, I was carried as Alice sat on my forehead. “Let's get you healed, fed then we’ll get your mana back.” Bouncing up and down to the steps, I remained silent. I could feel Alice’s worry for me, I didn’t know how to look after her now. Before long, we entered a room that had a sweet smell to it, a fragrance that made me feel calm, slightly lifting the empty feeling I had.
“This is her, please treat her with the best available care.”
“Absolutely madam.” Feeling myself exchanged like a toy, the only thing I was thinking about was how I would approach my friends after this. Being healed wouldn’t restore my mana, the System wasn’t that kind to just hand my Class back to me either. Perhaps when we get out of here I can find Teacher Lee again, he could help me.
“Hear you go dear, just relax, I’ll be here in case you need me.” Hearing the voice of whoever I was left with, I felt myself entering some sort of water, but thicker. Strangely I don’t sink down but float, I feel a warmth spread through my body, I can feel everything in my body healing.
“Hold your breath dear, I’m going to push you under for a moment, it works best if you’re submerged.” Ignoring her, I eventually feel myself submerged. After being held down for a few minutes I regret not holding a breath in, but I don’t struggle. Soon I feel a hand under my back that pushes me up gently. My body feels revitalised and full of energy. My strength has partially returned, not completely due to a lack of mana but enough to walk.
“Alright dear, I’m going to bring you out now. Can you walk?” Continuing to ignore the human, I let her do whatever she wanted. After a minute, she doesn’t say anything and lifts me back up, carrying me once more.
“Let’s get some food into you. We have some very tasty food, it’ll lift your spirits dear.” Not responding once again, I feel myself carried into another room, the scent of amazing smells hits my nostrils. Feeling my empty stomach growl, part of me wanted to eat whatever smelled so good, and another part wanted to refuse. Both sides fought internally as I’m gently placed onto a chair, facing a table absolutely filled to the brim with foods I’ve never seen before.
I could see meat I’ve never smelled before, various different foods I have never seen or heard of before, everything here made me hungrier and hungrier. Giggling, an older lady sat next to me. “Your stomach is rumbling, best to dig in quickly.” Turning my eyes to look at her, she had a round face filled with wrinkles, brown hair that was slowly turning white and bright white eyes. She was smiling sweetly at me. Feeling a strong refusal to do as the human says, I once again return to the inner conflict of whether to eat or not to eat.
A few minutes go by, then a dozen minutes and before I knew it an hour had passed. The old lady never once complained, spoke or tried to force me to eat. The side that wanted to eat everything overcame me and I reached out, grabbed a large piece of meat and bit down, the taste was amazing. I’ve never tasted anything like this before. Giving some to Alice to try, we both start eating everything like crazy.
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“Take it easy, it won’t go anywhere.” Hearing the old lady, I ignore her in favour of eating this amazing food. Before long, Alice and I had finished everything, somehow we ate everything yet I was only just feeling full now. “It’s good to see you filled with energy dear. I know you’re worried about your magic, but don’t lose hope, Anita doesn’t take things lightly. She may get a bit overexcited but she will absolutely keep her word.”
Biting my lip, I decided to trust the kind old lady, perhaps there was still hope to gain my strength back. Standing up, the old lady introduced herself. “My name is Janet, I’m the head nurse here.” Nodding, I saw her System information.
[Level ??? Master of the Guiding Light, Janet]
“Oh my, young ones are so quick to look at their System. You may not know this dear, but it’s tradition for one to be introduced before looking at someone’s System.” Shocked, I look at her as she giggles. “If you’re wondering, then we can tell when someone lower level than us checks our information out through the System. Though that won’t happen for you for a long time yet.”
Shocked, I look at Janet. The first question from my mind came straight out of my mouth “What else changes with the System when I level? O-oh, I’m Alisha.”
“Nice to meet you, Alisha. Oh, quite a bit dear, but it’s best for you to experience those changes yourself, there is simply too much information to learn, and you have something more important to take care of right now.” Nodding, I agreed with what she was saying. If there is too much information then it’ll be best to not focus on it. “Once you hit level 20 you’ll get your first taste of what the System is truly capable of. Let’s head to Anita, she would’ve prepared the Mana Springs by now.”
Standing up, I follow behind Janet with Alice returning to my head. Moving behind her, we move down stairs, one set, two sets…after ten flights of stairs, we arrive before a large door, a faint glow surrounds it. “The best Mana Springs within the country, cities would wage wars just for one slot…and they have before. You’re a lucky one dear, Anita is working very hard to get your magic back.”
“What’s a Mana Spring?” While I ask this, I see Janet pull out a strange hand sized wooden token and place it on the door. The glow flashes for a moment then disappears as the doors open.
“Best to experience it dear. I can watch over Alice for you if you wish. It’s best for her not to enter, it could cause her to mutate due to oversaturation of mana.” Grabbing Alice gently from my head, I look at her and smile. “Kraa!” She jumps from my head and flies to sit on Janet’s head. “Oh my, what a friendly Dark Raven, she must trust you completely. Now dear, in you go, Anita is waiting inside.”
Walking into the room, I sensed the doors closing behind me, inside there was a massive lake with an island in the middle, no path leading to it. The lake was a beautiful deep blue, there were plants growing on it that had glowing coloured flowers, ranging from bright colours like pink to void black, their roots leading deeper into the lake. There was a dense mist floating around the wind, I could feel a strong power coming from it, but there was strangely no smell. On the island in the middle, I saw Anita. She was paler than earlier, looking a bit ragged.
“Just walk over, you can walk on the lake.” Nodding, I took a step on the lake and was able to stand on the surface. Making my way over, I arrived quickly at the island and noticed there was a massive magic circle under my feet. Nodding at me, she points at the centre. “Sit here. I will say this again, you’re going to experience pain beyond anything you’ve experienced. This is the purest Mana Springs, it will slowly reconstruct your body, every fibre of your body will be changed. If you are not compatible this will destroy your body, forget magic your life will be forfeit.”
Slightly nodding, I moved to where she pointed and sat down without hesitation. “Now, when the process is complete, this room will guide you to show you what the true nature of your magic is, that is the best magic for you. I expect it will be Wind Magic, but if it’s not I will personally guide you on using Wind Magic again. Oh, another thing, you can not pass out during this, the magic formation will not allow you to.”
Closing my eyes, I breath in and prepare myself. “I will begin then. Good luck, Alisha.” Through my eyelids, I see a blue glow coming from around me, a soft hum rings out as I feel a strange pull coming from me. Just as the process starts, I see a new notification from my System.
[Magic opening ritual detected, Alisha is the target. Beginning reconstruction: 0.01% complete]
“Ahh!” Letting out a scream, my body lights up with pain, like thousands of molten needles were being inserted into every pore of my body. Wouldn’t dying be better?! Just as I thought this, the pain increased, causing me to open my eyes. For a moment I saw blue streams from the lake slowly snaking its way to me before I closed my eyes again. With the pain getting worse, I wasn’t getting used to it nor going numb, it was continuous. After what felt like minutes, I saw the System update.
[Reconstruction at 0.02% completion.]
Biting my lip hard, I was sure it was bleeding. As the process kept going, the pain kept intensifying, I still not numb to it, Anita didn’t lie, this was hell. Suddenly, after no idea how long, a warning came from the System.
[Reconstruction at 50% completion.]
[Warning: Mana Pool and Veins are mutating. Confirming reason for mutation.]
[Mutation caused due to ritual being for humans. Due to being a monster and human hybrid the ritual has caused mutation to occur. Attempting to prevent mutation…failure.]
[Due to a unique situation, Skill: Demonic Fox Awakening will be unlocked briefly to prevent mutation…success]
[Mutation can no longer be prevented, however with Skill: Demonic Fox Awakening there is less risk to the mutation.]
[Reconstruction at 50.01%]
Not having the luxury to worry about these notifications, the pain becomes overwhelming as I feel the monster within stir, but oddly it wasn’t trying to take over me, it was like it too was screaming in pain. Being unable to pass out, I bite through my lip, teeth touching as the process keeps going. After another long period of time, more System messages show up.
[Reconstruction at 99.99%]
[Reconstruction completed. Ritual will now test true magic nature.]
Feeling the pain slowly disappear, I feel a tug from deep within my body, something was surging out of me. Feeling the pull get stronger, there is a flash of light as the roof of the room is suddenly covered in stars as a faint wind starts. Slowly looking up, I see there are hundreds to thousands of stars around. It was like I was seeing the night sky, but it felt deeper. Blinking, I feel a strong wind blow past me as well as the System notifies me.
[True Magic Nature is Lunar and Wind magic.]
[Mutation to Mana Pool and Veins complete. Mana has mutated to Lunar-type Mana.]
[Skill: Demonic Fox Awakening locked due to Alisha being in a Scenario.]
[Talent Unlocked: Lunar Mana: Increases the strength of all Lunar type magic by 20%. Reduces the strength of other magic by 10%.]
[A Hidden Condition has been met.]
[Contract with Anita Skye marked as complete and successful.]
Checking my Class, I saw it was still marked as none, but my magic is what surprises me.
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Alisha
Demonic Fox and Human Hybrid (Hidden)
Level 18
Health: 950
Lunar Mana: 10,000
Experience: 10,600/32,000
Class: None
Class Level: 0
Experience: Ineligible
Skills: Demonic Fox Awakening (Locked, Incomplete, 75% Awakened), Lashing Fire Kick, Drunken Brawler
Spells: Lunar Magic (Incomplete), Wind Magic, Lightning Magic (Incomplete)
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I don’t see that Talent called Lunar Mana, maybe it just didn’t show? Breathing heavily, I felt mana surging throughout my body, much smoother than it once was. “Well done.” Hearing a voice behind me, I try to turn but can’t. “Astral Wind magic? No, this is normal wind, so Lunar Wind or Lunar and Wind magic? Can you tell me which one?”
“Lunar and Wind magic, I still have my lightning as well.”
“Dual magic, not bad. I knew you’d likely get Wind magic, but Lunar was surprising. Now, I will teach you the basics of magic, the rest will be up to you. I do not know who taught you before, and while their techniques to unlock your magic were primitive, it may be due to reasons I do not know.”
Remembering who Teacher Lee was, I remember his shrine said he was a “Drunken Fist Weaver”, while the lady in front of me seemed to know a great deal more about magic. Looking around at the lake, I saw it was now completely drained and there was no longer any blue fog…did I absorb all of that?
“May I ask something?” Seeing her nod, I ask “What is a magician?”
“A Magician is someone who specialises in magic, whether it’s for research or combat, the System will label them as a Magician. For someone like you, Jin mentioned you were very used to fighting in close quarters and your class was a “Dancing Fox Fighter” so you would be labelled as a Fighter by the System, that will not change, even if you have temporarily lost your Class Up due to my mistake. Your magic would then be tailored to your style of combat.”
I see, so I would still be able to fight as I was, but now my magic has improved, or did it normalise? Knowing that I was only here to witness the downfall of a country, and it being likely this city was a part of that country, it might be best if I could learn how to better myself at magic while waiting for those events to unfold. I considered informing her about the possibility of a downfall coming, but something told me that I absolutely should never tell anyone that. Trusting in my instincts, I keep it to myself.
“Okay, I’ll learn from you. Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it, afterall I was the one who caused you to act so recklessly. Now, the current you isn't exactly any stronger than before, however you will have much better and smoother output of mana than before. The way your mana veins were before are very limited,and while it may have suited a fighter like yourself, you would’ve been hindered in creating magicks or risked your mana veins if you ever needed to expend a large amount of mana at once, like when you escaped my Air Bubble.”
Nodding, it made more sense as to why Teacher Lee used a Pure Mana Crystal. He didn’t have something like this for a ritual and he was also a fighter, and it's possible he just didn’t know or thought what he provided me would be enough…well it had been until Anita took it away. Thankfully she kept her promise.
“Right then, let's take a walk around the city. It’s nighttime now, Lunar magic is stronger with the stars out so you might get inspiration while I teach you the basics. Don’t worry, it won’t take you long to learn some basics, maybe an hour.” Nodding, I follow Anita out of the room, Janet hands Alice over who lands on my head and we walk out of the building…after all those stairs again.