“Rokas, are we there yet?” moaned Elias. Evidently he was exhausted from this journey already, and it has only been a few days since they left their hometown of Starch. He was dragging his feet in a child-like manner, making huffing and puffing sounds.
Rokas stopped and looked back at Elias with a grin of good news. “Why don’t you look up? Then you can tell me if we’re almost there,” he said back, picking the pace of his walking up. Just over one last climbable patch of rocks and there it was, the peak of the mountains. Nobody really spoke of what civilization would refer to these mountains by, at least not to Ariah’s knowledge. They were on the homestretch, and in mere minutes they will be reaching their goal.
“Hey do either of you happen to know what they call these mountains? I seem to be quite uneducated on Xero’s geography…” Ariah said shy-like. She was embarrassed that she only knew of the main cities of Saintsland, Starch, and Dockton. It just never occurred to her that there is more to the world than the points of interest that people reside in. She would remember this moving forward, trying to take mental notes of anything she can learn.
“Yes, actually these mountains are called the Sinkro Mountains, discovered and traversed by an infamous rogue named Drake Sinkro.” Rokas would reply astutely.
“What exactly made this rogue so infamous?” Elias asked.
“Well you see, in the early days of Saintsland, before King Artos began his reign, Drake was quite the thief. Any home worth stealing from, best believe he scouted it out. Before the humans banished the other races from Saintsland, he often sold the wares and collectibles to the orcish tribes that would have villages in the north-east. The elves and humans became aware of this after sometime, and began a pursuit to catch him…” Rokas said with dramatic effect. “Then, after being caught in a village, he ran down the whole eastern border until he got here. Nobody wanted to traverse this deadly terrain with minimal gear and supplies, so they just gave up.
The twins looked at eachother curiously and replied in unison “THEN WHAT?!”
Rokas chuckled, “This mana pool we are about to find will answer that exact question, however, how I know of this tale is because Drake would eventually meet my father. So naturally I would read about it in his journal when it was given to me, my father named the mountains after him for making such a prestigious effort to piss people off.” Ariah and Elias were in shock that Drake managed to receive any kind of respect to have a whole mountain area named after him.
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“No worries though, legally these mountains have no name, but to my family’s legacy and knowledge, we call them the Sinkro Mountains. Now, enough of that, follow me!” Yelled Rokas.
The trio navigated up the remaining path to the peak of the mountain, a claw-like shape of stone being the true peak hovered over a small flat clearing. A light level of snow covered the rocky ground beneath them, and to their amazement, it didn’t seem to be too chilly. Sure it was a bit windy, and cold enough to maintain snow or ice, but it didn’t bother them one bit. Upon ascending the final steps, at the base of the claw formation was the mana pool.
It was smaller than the twins anticipated, but the stone walls connected to the ground with almost a bowl-shape compartment that the blue glowing mana water was held in. Above this was a stalactite, and at its sharp end, it emanated the same blue glow that the mana water had, it was even partially transparent, giving it a gemstone appearance. Upon examination, the blue liquid dripped from the stalactite and into the bowl.
“This is beautiful, Ariah said softly, “how does this even work? My parents have only really taught us how to harness the magic within ourselves, but never explained where it came from. This too, this is pure nature, just like our physical bodies.”
Rokas looked at Ariah and tracted her attention, pointing to the sky. The two moons hovered them to the north, his smile was inspired by the science behind arcane energy. “The two moons, Ariah. Our powers, our ability to channel the arcane energy within ourselves is brought out by those magnificent celestial formations. I’m still trying to learn of the science behind it, but it’s a beautiful thing. I can’t imagine what would come to be of our world if they happened to disappear.”
“So you’re saying that the two moons are the only thing giving us magic powers?” Elias inquired, his right hand lightly scratching his head in confusion.
Rokas looked to Elias and clasped his hands together, “No, at least I don’t think so… I believe our sun is the core, the two moons distribute mana in two different forms, light and dark. Those who utilize light mana, typically have clean souls, unbound by evil and sin. Meanwhile, users of dark mana are likely to be those who are taken over with greed, gluttony, and power. This is basically what my father told me, so sorry if it isn’t as straightforward as you hoped it to be.”
The twins stared into the cosmos, the two moons sitting diagonally from each other. The sun was beginning to set to the south, as the light around them started to fade to the blue hues of the moon’s radiance, the stalactite began to glow ever more brightly. Rokas would approach the mana pool and look up at the glowing stone. “Lastly, our world has had many meteorites that have succumbed to gravity, but they seem to be infused with various gems and magical energies. Again, a science I cannot explain. However, the tip of this stalactite happens to be a meteorite, which slowly drips this blue mana water into the pool here.”
As Rokas was explaining, he grabbed an empty potion flash that he kept hidden in a toolbelt around his waist under his leather coat. The twins hovered around the mana pool as Rokas dipped the flask into the liquid, filling it about 3/4ths of the way. He then gently placed the glowing flask onto the ground and kneeled in front of it. “Casting Celestial Restoration.”