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Auron failed to hold back the scream that burst from his lips as he and Zander blazed through the sky.
Clutching on to Zander, who lazily draped around his shoulders, he could swear he felt his familiar's chest rumble with laughter shortly after a wheeze confirmed it.
As the force left their trip upward, the contents of Auron's stomach felt like butterflies from the momentary zero-G Feeling. The butterflies quickly soured as the two began a quick descent back down toward the water. Zander wrapped them in a blast of protective fresh air as he cast his magic, and turned them into a flesh torpedo once again.
Auron felt his world spin with nausea as his body was once again launched upward, he watched the power flow out of Zander and caused ripples throughout the swamp-water.
Unfortunately, those ripples had unintended consequences. As the man and his familiar flew up and down through the swamp making their best impression of a parabola, dodging trees and rocks large enough to get in their way, the movement on the water alerted several groups of lounging Bark Gator.
*Screeeee* Auron heard one of the Gators call out angrily its voice echoed along the misty swamp. His insides instantly froze as he listened to the call returned by dozens of others. "Zander. We have company." Auron had to shout over the noise caused by the angry wind whipping at them. Frantically he screamed as the ice in his belly crept and transferred to his neck, giving him goosebumps. Another oscillation in their flight path brought them up, and away from a bark-covered jaw as it slammed shut where they had been seconds before.
Zander's face scrunched up tightly after hearing the fear in his partner's voice. He lightly slapped his tail down on Auron's shoulder in frustration as he continued their trip, resembling a sine wave graph as they continued up and down. As they continued forward, they continued to dodge the branchless trees reaching up toward the sky like individual fingers.
[Do you have no pride in my ability Auron.] Zander sent the message as he began to glow a deep forest green. This color was darker than Auron had ever seen on his friend previously.
[I will not fail you. I will not fail another partner or lose a charge I have been set to protect. Never. Again.] Zander's eyes took on that distant quality Auron now knew he could associate with that wave of purple blood magic. Concerned for his friend's mental state, Auron was about to comfort him when several monsters converged in their path. Half of them were waiting right where they were about to come close to the water, and behind them, another group was gaining closing the distance. The gators' powerful legs allowed them to run across the water, and they charged forward slapping the water with every step, snapping their powerful jaws in a challenge.
As they began their descent back toward the water, just as their arc would end right in the middle of the two monster packs, Zander's eyes focused again. They fell headlong slowly as his wind from the previous blast fully faded.
As they plummeted directly toward the bloodthirsty monsters, Auron could see Zander looked furious.
Just as the closest creature became greedy and lunged forward, Zan released the magic he had been charging.
The environment surrounding them blurred as the force of the magic took effect. Auron felt the air around them shudder.
Simultaneously everything seemed to slow down and speed up as Zander accessed a depth of mana no level twenty creature should have access to.
The wind pressure vaporized a crater thirty meters wide. The trees, water, and rocks were gone. The group of Bark monsters scattered as if they were leaves in a hurricane.
The closest Gator about to snatch them out of the air became pulp, wholly decimated at the lack of mercy, and restraint Zander's magic refused to show.
The two-shot up and forward at a 45-degree angle like a rocket.
*Bing*
Congratulations! You are now level 6. 10 stat points granted.
As the two screamed through the Air, Auron screamed his throat raw.
The two covered almost a day's distance of walking in half a minute. A blurry line of green approached, at least Auron thought it was green. As they began to descend, his watery eyes could not see much at all. Zander was lightly shaking, and Auron forced one of his hands through the air and placed it on his friend's foot.
As the landscape changed noticeably, Auron dismissed his level up message. Looking to where Zander was clasped on his shoulder, he could feel his partner's front feet were clasping tightly on his offered hand as he fought back tears for reasons other than the wind.
The two then reached a thick treeline, and the ground changed from the gray swamp water to a healthy brown soil littered with tiny plant-life. "Zander we made it, you can let us down now," Auron says shakily as vines hanging between the tall trees began to wrap around, and collect on them as they flew forward. He had to prod a few times before Zander threw out an orb of wind, and the two landed, blasting away dirt, the vines wrapping Auron, and any of the small plants in a meter radius. *Bing*
You have entered the Galapagos Jungle.
Zander leaped off of Auron's shoulder and placed his forehead on the ground. He held this position as he was overwhelmed by sorrow.
The quick level up made Auron feel giddy with energy, but in an instant heart felt a pang at his familiar's emotional distress, which was only increased by the waves of pure grief rolling through their connection.
After allowing him a few moments to feel what he needed to, Auron walked over, knelt, and hesitantly placed a hand on Zander's back. "Are you okay, buddy?" Auron's concerned whispers were barely heard. Zander simply nodded his head without looking up.
Auron was afraid not only for Zander at that moment, but of him as well, after the magical, and emotional outburst.
Zander did not move from his position, but he moved his head from the ground to press against Auron's shin.
[After my transformation from that purple dungeon's mana concentration, I am more resilient. I can resist certain things now.] Zander's voice over their link was dripping with sorrow. Auron immediately understands he was referencing the blood magic. Zander's eyes briefly go cloudy as he fought against the magic affecting his brain. Gritting his teeth, he continued. [Although I can not talk about specifics. My memories can no longer be clouded. My greatest failure can no longer be taken from me. I now suffer as I should.] Zander fights to send each word.
Auron was moved by the determination Zander showed to retain such a painful memory. Seeing his partner in such distress caused rage to stir in his chest. "I am going to find whatever or whoever is using this magic." He paused, tightening his fists. "I am sorry that you are unable to tell me about your pain Zander, but I have full faith in your abilities." After a pause, Auron looked up to hold back the raw emotions that threatened to make him tear up. "You may think you deserve this pain, but you are wrong. You are kind and strong, and I am glad we are together for this journey." Auron's words were barely audible, but once again, Zander bobbed his head in response.
After the silence had sat comfortably between them for a few moments, Zander apologized for the outburst and explained he used up too much of his mana. Touching his tattoo, Auron sent him to rest and was left alone in the jungle.
Surrounded by various ferns and trees several times his height Auron looked around at the jungle. It was teeming with life. Flora and fauna he had never seen and likely could have never imagined. Vibrant colors and hundreds of plants returned his gaze. Insects and animals could be heard randomly, but he did not see anything as he peered around. His inspection seemed to activate at its whims, generally when he became close or interacted directly with anything alive.
A thick canopy of leaves only allowed in light, while fortunately, it blocked the heat of the sun. Auron found the temperature to be bearable, although humid. As he walked around the fairly barren jungle path he found himself on, he decided he would put as much space between himself and the swamp as possible. He may be able to handle one of the Gators now, but certainly not a group of the level five creatures.
Auron slowly walked forward, taking in the sights. Though there was a multitude of colors around him, the vast majority of space was dominated by green, and brown. One such plant let out a puff of seeds as he bumped by it.
Ochu puffer plant
The wide plant had white petals that looked like teeth, and its vines wrapped up around the base of a tree.
As he jumped backward at the low whining noise it made while opening, his hand brushed a brilliantly bright blue cluster of flowers. The bulb opened up in return for the contact, revealing a green interior as it dumped a wet sticky sap down his arm.
Spitting sky bulbs
The sound of bubbling water caught Auron's attention as he wiped the goop off of himself. Each time he ran his gloved hand across the material, he just spread the substance over his leather gear. Pushing a large Violet fern to the side, he found the stream he had been hearing.
Surrounded by green and the occasional purple ferns, Auron felt safe from any potential predators' eyes and took a small rest.
Slowly, he cupped some of the clear cold water. As he did so, tiny glittering fish pecked at his fingers.
Rainbow trout
The substance from the flower he bumped into attracted a great deal of them. After his third sip, nearly thirty of the baby fish were nibbling on his gloves. The sap flowed away with the water, and the swarm of fish went with it.
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As Auron sat, he watched them swim away, part of him was worried about drinking water out in the wild, but he hoped that if it made him sick, he could solve that problem with healing magic.
When his stomach began to rumble painfully, Auron cast a healing wind. When it eliminated the hunger pang, he was sure it would stop any potential Giardia or other nasty bacteria if they existed in this world. Now left with two healing wind for the day. He decided to take his trek through the area in a more careful manner.
As Auron walked occasionally, he would hear noises from the canopy or on the ground around him. In one such instance, a loud, buzzing noise approached him from behind. As he fearfully ducked and pictured a low swooping helicopter, a Large pink beetle the size of his head flew by lazily. As it hovered up and down, his inspect activated.
Remington beetle
After that interaction casting Stealth when these noises happened became second nature. He would generally stop walking to keep the mana cost at five mp per min rather than the exorbitant cost of 5 per second while moving. He enjoyed watching the purple mist flow out of his pores, and into the surroundings. The attractive glow that surrounded him, pulling any eyes away from his presence, while using the ability let him know it was working well. Though he may never feel casual about the use of magic, after going from amateur to adept, it felt as simple as breathing. As tree branches cracked in the distance, he waited patiently until he could move forward once again.
Auron also regularly activated his Inspection skill, trying out a theory ever since his stealth changed from amateur to adept. Mostly he used it on plants, and the surrounding trees, the only information being whether or not the object was edible. Inorganic material like rocks or water still had no information.
Auron was resting against a tree, heaving slightly from his trek, when he heard one of the branches above him loudly protest to a foreign weight. As the creak sounded out through the jungle air, Auron swiftly activated his Stealth ability. The mist flowed out and sunk into his surroundings as a giant cat pounced down from above. Auron's breath caught in his chest as his investigation skill activated.
The creature flexed the muscles in its back as it stretched out on the ground sniffing the air lightly with its pink nose. Its head stood around the level of Auron's chest. Claws each as large as his hands gripped into the earth, sending up little spikes of hardened ground as it casually activated a connection to its mana. Yawning, it opened its mouth, revealing rows of dagger-like teeth. A noise sounded in the distance, and the creature forcefully injected its claws into the dirt. This time the maneuver sent out a wave of spikes turning the ground into a weapon. The wave spread out in a line until it pierced the intended target several paces away from the Jungle cat. A loud yip echoed towards Auron's ears as the Predator bounded over and began feasting on what Auron assumed was some sort of monkey. The view of the two creatures being blocked by giant ferns.
Auron slowly made his way around the wide tree he was pressed against. Noting that the creature did not have a level, and this was the first time he saw a monster with only one mana color concentration.
Putting as much space he could in the limited time his stealth gave him, he found a bed of roots sprawling out of a gigantic tree. Pushing his way into the root system, he collapsed his empty mana bar flashing and giving him a headache as his ability came to a stop. Cursing his weakness, Auron looked at the tattoo on his shoulder and wished Zander was with him.
Auron's hand pressed into something soft and wet, sliding down to a sitting position against the back of the hut-like formation of roots. Jerking his hand away and looking down his investigate skill activated.
Fluid Oyster shrooms. These mushrooms grow on the roots and bark of trees. They absorb a slight amount of water and use it to secrete a substance that causes predators to shy away from the texture. Edible.
As Auron read the description, the system let out a sound. *Bing*
Investigate (Augmented) Amateur has upgraded to>>> Investigate (Augmented) Adept. Combined skills in this category have been enhanced as well. Investigate will now reveal some information related to inorganic material if said material has a connection to mana. Flora, and Fauna that would not normally be eaten for sustenance also now have a small chance of listing a description.
-Weak-point: The ability to discern the weak-point of an organic creature using a combination of Red and Yellow concentration. At the adept level, this ability will now state the health percentage of the target creature.
Auron thought as he carefully pulled off one of the light blue mushrooms. His theory about upgrading an ability was right. After a certain amount of uses, they upgrade. As he wondered what the next upgrade would be, and how many uses it would take, he read the grayed out information. Though he was disappointed, he understood why he had not unlocked it. He needed more yellow mana. Possibly from being inside a dungeon of that color, but he was not sure. As Auron ponders when he will find other people, and his goal of shutting down the blood magic wave, his stomach rumbles loudly.
Moving the mushroom in front of his eyes, he peered at it in the sun's dying light. Noting that he should rest soon, he decides to bite into the partially translucent fungi, fearing his stomach may call predators to his location. A sweet syrup-like taste floods his mouth as he sinks his teeth into it. Auron falls in love with the taste and texture immediately. Scarfing down the rest of the shroom in his hand, he had a few others. Patting his now full belly, he wished he had a bag or something to take the food with him. Assigning that to his list of things to do the next day, he summoned the bedroll from his ring and laid back.
Remembering he leveled up, Auron pulled up his stat sheet silently. The slate instantly appeared before his eyes.
Auron last name. Level 6
Class: Rogue
Secondary Class: Artificer
Title: Friendly Wind Rogue Healer
Secondary Title: n/a
Socket points open: 6
Socket points used: 2
Familiar 1/0
Available stat points: 30
Spiritual stats:
Health: 40
Regen:10(x2)
Mana: 20
Wisdom: 30
Physical Stats:
Speed:20
Precision:20
Strength:20
Durability:25(+15)
Main:
HP:400/400
MP:200/200
Regen: 100 health per day
Wisdom: 15 mana point per min
Magic: Wind blast (Limited)3/3, Healing wind (Limited)3/3,
Ability: Stealth, Inspection(Augmented), Mana Infusion, Mana Manipulation, Rune Script, Strength runes
Skills: Back-stab, Thrust slash
Special attributes: Will to survive, Indomitable spirit, Lateral thinking.
Blessings: Blessing of the Goddess Lombardia. R**** Aura
Auron was slightly annoyed at himself for letting twenty stat points sit unassigned for so long. Though, he knew that fooling around with what was likely his most valuable resource was not smart. As he stopped lambasting himself mentally over the mistake, he decided to do something about it.
Possibly if he rearranged the screen somehow. Success! With some mental prods, he reorganized the display. Something in his chest came to life as he did so, and the corners of his vision took on a kaleidoscope of colors. Auron added to his stats and admired the display before his eyes.
Auron last name Lvl 6
Friendly rogue healer
Class: Rogue
Secondary Class: Artificer
Available stat points:30
Socket points used: 2
Available: 6
Stats
Spiritual stats:
Health:40 = 400hp
Regen:10(x2)
Mana:20 =200mp
Wisdom:30
Physical stats:
Speed:20
Precision:20
Strength:20
Durability:25
Stat changes
Mana 30>40
Regen 10(x2)> 15(x2)
Speed/precision/strength 20>25
Auron was still only guessing at his stat allocation, and so he decided to keep himself as evenly spread out stat-wise as possible. Changing screens, he flipped to his improved magic list. His abilities, special attributes, skills, and blessings were all still clumped in the same way, but some things seemed to have moved around, and his magic was set up in a way that intrigued him. Rubbing his weary eyes he looked over the changes.
Green magic Attack path Genesis External Internal Soul Tier One Wind blast (Limited) 3/3 Undiscovered Healing wind (Limited) 3/3 Lvl 20 Tier Two Locked Locked Healing gale (Partially locked) Error Lvl 30 Tier Three Locked Locked Locked
Lvl 40 Tier Four
Locked
The tier-one Internal space. Undiscovered. One more mystery.
As he looked over his magic and pondered the one open magic slot, Auron did not notice the light slowly leave the sky. His blinks gradually became longer as he slipped into a nightmare filled rest.