Eight days! It took Azura eight days to escape the confines of her home. The days were profitable with plenty of time to cultivate and … well cultivate some more. Okay, the only thing she could do was cultivate. It was boring as hell! Sure Azura knew she need time to recover but after the third day she craved the outside world. The warden however refused to budge on her release. When she finally stepped out of her home she was reward with a dense mana cloud and enough pent up energy to level a small city. Nearly vibrating in place she dashed off toward Toren’s home. Her friends had visited her often the first few days but she hadn’t seen any of them since. They deserved a hammer blow to the head for forgetting her. That way the devastating blow would at least give them a valid excuse.

Her plans came to an abrupt end when she turned down the main road. Azura hesitated as she stepped out. The warning her mother had given her now making much more sense.

“Azura you can go out, but be careful. Things are getting bad out there,” her mother had said.

“I’ll avoid mages,” Azura had said with an eye roll. Seriously she said this every other time she went out.

“Not just them. Watch out for everyone.”

Azura had frowned not really understanding, but she did now. The street was the same yet, so very different. Tense was the word that came to mind. It was in the posture of the crowd, the flicker of kin’s tails, purposeful strides of those about. None of it was the relaxed atmosphere of her home. What was happening?

Azura cautiously made her way to Toren’s house. She didn’t do her usual playful dash and kept a safe distance from everyone.

The trip took twice as long as usual but finally she was before the weathered door. She rapped on the door.

“Who’s there?” A muffled voiced asked.

That’s weird, Azura thought. Since when did Toren’s family acted like this?

“Azura.” Her voice was a little too soft like she was questioning it herself. The door flung open and Toren rushed out embracing her in a hug.

“Are you okay? Do you have enough food? Sorry I haven’t been by recently.” The comments came out in a flood from Toren. Azura blinked trying to process everything. She pulled back and looked at her closest friend.

His face was gaunt and his eyes were sunken. It looked like he hadn’t sleep well lately.

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“You look horrible,” Azura said and winced at her own lack of tack.

Toren shrugged. “We never had a lot of coin and the food ran out two days ago. Everyone been fighting.”

Azura grimaced. She forgotten her mother had been saving coin for a while. Even so they would run out soon too. Azura had noticed that her mother had a distinct lack of work.

“Could we go fishing at night?” Azura suggested.

Toren shook his head sadly. “The mages created water elementals. I saw them attack anyone who got close to the river’s edge.”

“There has to be something we can do. Could we sneak out of the walls and take food from the local farms?”

“I was told they are searching all carts entering the city. Besides the farms have mages protecting them. There’s no food anywhere. Hamal’s family been smuggling in some supplies but it’s nearly as expensive as the local food.” Toren slumped against his front door and Azura joined him bring her knees up to her chest.

“Martel joined the army,” Toren said after a minute of silence. He was one of Toren’s older brothers who had taken turns watching their troublesome group.

“Why? That so dangerous.”

“Our family gets a discount on food while he works for them. Still it’s not enough. Two more are thinking about joining. My mother is trying to talk them out of it. Still there isn’t much of a choice.”

Furious Azura clenched her fists as her mind raced. The army was a death sentence for kin. She couldn’t let more of Toren’s family die. But what could she do? The river was out. The farms were out. Prices were super high in the city and no doubt theft is at an all-time high. The filthy mages probably weren’t paying as much as they were. Where else was left? Azura paused, a suddenly idea springing to mind. She turned toward Toren.

“What about the mana forest?”

“Are you crazy? The mana beasts in there would slaughter any non-mage that entered.”

“I’m a mage… of sorts. I think I could do it,” Azura said hoping it was true.

Toren just looked blankly at her for a moment, then she saw it. A twinkle in his eye. The kind he got when they planned their mischief.

“You really think you could?” Toren asked.

“I can try. I would need a spear or something but I have my magic if I get desperate.”

“Let’s grab Hamal we’ll need his help. Maybe Gerald too.

As they went to talk with their friends Azura thought about the mana forest. It was a region of dense mana that caused an abundance of life to flourish. That would be great, but it also attracted power beasts to the area. Mana beast or magical beast are extremely dangerous creatures that evolved to live in mana dense regions. Skilled mages sometimes hunted in the forest to gather meat from the mana beasts which was saturated with dense mana. Even the flesh of normal beasts was enhanced with mana. Previously Azura didn’t know why the mages would risk their lives for mana rich meat when it was all around them. Now she suspected she knew why. The mana in the beasts was probably more concentrated than what would be gathered naturally here. If mages ate a diet of mana beast their own mana wells would like become denser replacing the thin ambient mana. It probably wouldn’t do much for Azura. Her mana was already exceptionally dense but it still might help when she folded her mana making room for more. If that new mana was already denser it would save some work as she incorporated it into her thick mana before cultivation. She could support her family and friends… provided she didn’t die.