Mana Sickness V: (50:00:00)
As soon as the notification appears, I gasp and collapse.
The shields that I had been maintaining over my vitals disperse, and the streams of mana I was using to form them disappear, too weak to even harm me.
Feat Unlocked Mana Death
Mana Death You have forced your body past its limits and irrevocably changed how mana can flow within your body. Effect: All mana limits on spells are doubled
My body is beyond exhausted but the only thing keep in me conscious is the already familiar pain of mana strain radiating in a dozen different directions from my chest to my limbs.
I can hear soft steps approaching me, and I force an eye open, watching Syzslic crouch near me and hold out both his hands towards me.
(I'm impressed by your will. So few of us could pass this test. And if you failed the first time, the chances of later success were far, far lower. It warms my heart to know that the old ways of teaching are still possible. This world has not become too soft just yet.)
A soothing coolness spreads out in my body from my core outwards. I gasp in relief, relaxing incredibly quickly.
(I cannot accelerate the rate of recovery of your body. Not even your natural regeneration can help. The mana death feat is more than just an increased limit. It is the beginning of permanent changes in your body. It will become more used to your specific style of casting. You will find that you can cast faster and easier as you continue to practice. Already, your barrier spell is at the level of a Higher Physical Shield. In the following days, I'm sure you will...)
I fail to hear anything else he tells me, as I finally slip from consciousness just as the sun rises, my first 24-hour magic lesson finally over.
----------------------------------------
I don't dream, in that I don't see my past lives, but I do cling to some form of consciousness within my own exhausted mind.
For just a few fleeting seconds, I can see the darkness. A place similar to my own personal purgatory that I only see when I die.
Did I die? Did the force of so much mana through me kill me?
Before I can even try to answer my own questions, my perception slips and I Falk back into a deep slumber.
----------------------------------------
I wake with a gasp, sure that I've died and respawned somewhere. But the screaming pain in my chest tells otherwise.
"Ughhh...."
I groan as I slowly ease myself into a more comfortable position and take slow breaths that don't strain my body too much.
How long have I slept?
Like a perfectly timed reminder, my mana sickness debuff appears near the edge of my vision.
Mana Sickness V (39:16:19)
So almost 12 hours had passed since I first fell in the arena.
Looking around, I could recognise the interior of the spare hut Syzslic had put me in before. But the darkness lets me know that it is approaching evening again.
As much as I want to fall back into a painless slumber, my stomach is complaining far more than my healing body. I would have to get up and get some food. And fast.
Taking a deep and tight breath, I push myself into a sitting position, screaming between my teeth the entire way.
At the sound, my familiar companion Alys rushes into the hut looking concerned.
"Ah. Perfect timing. Help, please."
He nods as if he understands and runs out of the hut in an instant.
While he's gone doing or getting whatever I'm supposed to have, I revel in the newly discovered fact that my sleeping arrangements have been upgraded. A thin layer of what must be monkey furs covers the area that I'm lying on. Though I'm sitting up, it's too dark to see if any other improvements have been made in the hut, and I'm not all too concerned about that anyway.
In barely a minute, Alys is back with a wooden plate of already torn apart meat and a large pot of the green drink I'm going to refer to as forest water.
He places the food and drink next to me and from outside the hut passes me a shallow cup so I can drink from the pot easier.
I appreciate what he's bought me. Though I'm sure these are instructions from the chief, I'm glad at his urgency.
He lifts a few scraps of meat up to my mouth, but I take them from him and feed myself instead of allowing him to do it. I'm still capable of feeding myself. He puts his hand on my shoulder in sympathy and retreats outside of the hut again.
Trying not to think too hard over a headache that I've been trying to ignore, I fill myself with meat and forest water. Satisfied, I then lie back down and easily fall asleep again.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
----------------------------------------
*smack*
-2hp
"Why?!"
I wake up with a jolt, crying out with displeasure. Why does it always seem to hurt when I wake up?
Speaking of which, I still hurt all over, but nowhere near as bad as before.
I look up to whoever dared disturb my beauty sleep and I'm mildly surprised to see a Skalean I don't recognise. A young female, likely sent by Syzslic. Maybe one of his relatives even. He seems all too keen to use his family to run his errands.
She beckons me outside of the hut, and I slowly follow. My muscles ache like I spent the last day doing an intense workout. My skin feels sticky like I did just that too. I need to wash somewhere, and soon.
It's early morning outside. The sun has risen but is still fairly low in the sky. Luckily, the clifftop is still cool from the night.
Carelessly, I'm thrown a leg of meat by my guide and slowly eat it as we reach the chief's hut. Somehow, the meat makes me feel slightly better and despite my suffering, I'm in a fairly good mood as I follow the female Skalean into the hut.
(Good morning my student. I trust you slept well?)
I sit in the same spot Syzslic put me in before and hesitate, unsure of how to answer.
I slept as well as could be expected considering what happened to me.
(Yes, the first step is often the hardest in trials such as these. This isn't one of those cases though. Being able to reach the final stage of mana sickness is certainly a difficult step, but it is hardly the greatest challenge you will face.)
Though I want to despair at his words, I'm somehow excited to see what he can throw at me. His training might be extreme, but in a world that rewards extreme risk with a suitable reward, I'm more eager to challenge myself than ever before.
(So, are you ready for today's training?)
Despite my mental bravado, that simple question makes an ice cold chill run down my spine. The fear of torturous effort must be obvious on my face already.
Sure.
With a gasping wheeze, Syzslic leans forwards and begins to laugh in his weird snake-language. To a speaker of the common tongue, it just sounds like wheezing gasps and rapid-fire hissing fits. Its certainly an odd spectacle to behold, and my surprised expression isn't helping the elder calm down at all.
After more time than I'm comfortable with, Syzslic dabs away at his eyes using his robe and addresses me again, much calmer this time. The remnants of his laughing fit are all too obvious in the way he communicates though.
(My, my. I haven't laughed like that in a long time. The fear on your face... well, you will be happy to know that there is no more magic training for today. Until your body adjusts to the excessive mana that you managed to manipulate before, there will be no more magic training.)
I sigh in relief. I don't know if it would even be possible for me to use any of my mana let alone engage in another day-long magic excursion.
(No, today you will be training your body. Specifically, against my hunters.)
My breath catches in my throat. With my body aching and in such pain, how would I possibly be able to physically compete with creatures that have invested in their body all their lives?
My shock must be evident on my face again as Syzslic grins, showing off his long teeth.
(And I'm not kidding this time. Your body is currently in a state of magical flux. Extreme improvements to your physique while in this state will grant you at least one trait that cannot be gained any other way. And as I mentioned before, it will be far, far more difficult for you to reach this level of mana sickness again, so this is your only chance.)
I groan, not looking forward to what is to come. For some reason, the hunters showed hostility towards me when I almost ran into them, so I doubt they're going to go easy on me.
The only trump card that I hold is my past training. I won't claim to be a master in any sort of combat art, but I've at least tasted almost every form of hand-to-hand combat beneath my experience with most weapons.
(Take the day to rest and recuperate. Try and work those sore muscles loose. The hunters will be waiting in the training area when the sun reaches the horizon. I suggest you do not keep them waiting.)
I nod and leave the hut, still dreading the shit night I know I'm soon to experience. I've taken out my feelings on the leg of meat I was given and at some point, I started gnawing on the bone.
What do I do all day before my inevitable torture?
As much as it pains me to say to myself, I have to train. I'm a little rusty in my combat forms, and I want to be able to put on a show for the arrogant hunters.
Even walking back to my hut sends firey ropes of pain through my legs, but I don't let it stop me. My hut is the only really private place that I've been given and in the already uncomfortable heat, it's the only place I know I can get really comfortable.
My day passes slowly and painfully. In the hours leading up to join, I ease my body through some basic, then advanced yoga poses. While it does little to increase my apparent physical potential, it does wonders for helping me to remove the aches of my changing muscles.
By the time I take a break to join in with the tribe's lunch, my body feels light again. The searing pain of mana sickness nothing more than an uncomfortable memory.
Invigorated by the meal, I devote my afternoon to some slightly more demanding exercise and spend a short amount of time stretching and warming up my already too-hot body. Then I take a run, starting slowly around the border of the village then accelerating as I reach the cliff edge, following it as I enter the packed forest again.
Without being able to clearly see the ground through the foliage, I stumble a few times over roots, but I don't let that slow me too much.
All too quickly, I reach the end of the particular chasm I've been running parallel too and take a few minutes to catch my breath.
Physical limits pushed.
+1 body
"Woooo."
Lying on the ground in a sweaty mess, I celebrate weakly. Every little point in body is probably going to help me here. I'm reminded again that I have at least one physical perk to choose, but I'm willing to put off a decision again. Much like the plus that appeared next to my own level, I want advice before moving on with such a decision.
I give myself as much time to relax as I can, but as soon as I start to get bored, I start walking back to the village. With a slower progression, I have more time to focus on my surroundings more. This close to the chasm, I can see evidence that the birds that supposedly stay below ground level have been here fairly recently. Most likely they rise up to the forest to collect nest materials and possibly food.
Much like the apes, I can only wonder about what they eat. I simply don't know enough about the general area or ecosystem to start applying earthen knowledge to the situation.
As I try to walk closer and closer to the edge, hoping to see some more of what the birds look like closer up, I'm alerted by a subtle rustle in the darkness close to me.
I give the source of the noise no indication that I've heard them and simply pick up the pace again, jogging back to the village. I can't fight whatever is trailing me properly without my magic, and rather annoyingly, I still have over a full day before I'm supposed to be able to use my mana again.
All I can do is evade if it comes to it, so I keep an eye aimed at the deep woods to my right. A flash of light green between the trees tells me all I need to know and I slow down to a walk again.
The green scales of a Skalean were obvious enough that I realise it must have been a curious youth that followed me, or perhaps a hunter making sure I'm not trying to escape their wrath.
Though I'm somewhat annoyed at the small reward I got for the effort I put in, I'm glad I have a better grasp of how to increase my body stat. I'm no stranger to pushing myself.
All too quickly, I'm back at the village. By my best guess, I still have an hour or two before I need to fight the hunters, so I retreat back to my hut and lie down, fully intending to have a brief nap before I'm summoned.
The fatigue of my magic training is still present and I've only compounded on that by pushing myself to get rid of the pain.
I yawn deeply, wishing for the air to cool down even a little bit to a slightly more comfortable temperature. Despite the sticky warmth, I doze off quickly, only a lingering unease present in my mind.