[Few days before Tenur's return journey]
"Alright, has everyone related gathered yet?" Andrew asked while slamming his left hand onto the wooden desk in front. There were dozens of kids standing in the gathering hall, and all were related by blood.
"Eh, not exactly. Some are asleep while some couldn't escape from their homes," a boy nearby who looked no older than Andrew spoke in a sharp but soft voice.
"Yeah, some of us took a lot of risk just to come here, and the unlucky ones got caught," a girl spoke up this time. She was no older than the former two. In fact, the entire gathering of kids weren't even older than 12, though the weirdest thing was their spontaneous growth during the passed few days. It had to be said that Tenur's mana acted as a catalyst in speeding up their metabolic responses which in turn caused a massive growth spurt. Since the lossing of their father, they were slowly reverting back to their original age.
"And some of us need to return before dawn," a hidden boy voiced some of their thoughts. Others nodded in agreement.
"If that's so, I'll quickly start our meeting then," Andrew gave an obviously fake cough and started, "as you all know, dad flew away from us while trying to flee from mom." Andrew paused and observed as a few grunts of approval resounded, then continued, "and the his absence are starting to take a toll on our bodies already," he raised his right hand for all to see in order to make an example. A few gasps were heard, and most found themselves unable to peel their sight away from what was displayed.
In front of them, displayed so openly, was Andrew's hand. Although it was still his hand, it was terribly misfitted, as if somebody had cut off a babies hand and stuck it onto where Andrew's rightly-sized hand should have been. It was a disturbing sight, to say the least. Disgusting, yet intriguing in its own way as well, as this was one of the few times where an unrecorded human history occured right before everyone.
"I'm sure some of you has begun experiencing it as well. This process is known as 'mana-based atrophy'. Simply put, it is the same as muscle atrophy, though where that is the degeneration of unused muscles, this is the reverting of mana grown beings or objects," Andrew stated with a hints of grief, "if we don't find and bring him back to us soon, we will eventually turn back to dust."
One word summed up the reactions of those who heard what Andrew had said: chaos. Those who've been experiencing the early signs went wild, going as far as to mentally break down immediately. Those who've been around more, gathered more knowledge, knew that their time left was short, that it was just a matter of time before they began experiencing the early signs as well. For those who were considerably new, they made up excuses, trying to deny the reality they faced.
One of the ones who hadn't broken down or grieve yet asked aloud, directing the question to Andrew. "How do we get him back? What do we need to do?"
Andrew having been waiting for this question, immediately slammed the table with his right hand the moment he heard it, causing a wave of silence to sweep through the crowd, "Why, we'll be going through with a plan we formulated then!"
"What kind of plan is it?" another asked sceptically.
"A sticky plan, of course," Andrew grinned while projecting a sperm model above the palm of his left hand.
"Nicholas, Jeral, Samy and Maj," Andrew looked up and spoke with authority, "the four of you will help in terms of managing the progress of solving our existence's problems."
"Why them, but not us?" a kid shouted out after recovering. There were murmurs among those who didn't break down yet, and a few gave disgruntled sounds, signifying their reluctance of being left out.
Andrew sighed at the question, as if the question was bothersome and not worth mentioning. He then proceeded to explain, "that's because Nicholas here," he points at the chubby boy who was now beside him, "is an expert in alchemy, specialised and better than any of us here."
"Samy and Maj," Andrew gestured to a boy and a girl, "are geniuses in the field of philosophy, science and magic," he then gestured to another boy next to Nicholas, "and Jeral here has been studying the geography of our world for some time now, thus being more knowledgeable in this aspect."
"How 'bout you!?" the one from before said again, "you don't seem to be good in anything."
"Hah hah!" Andrew laughed loudly at the boy's question and accusation, "that's where you're wrong! A proper team has to have a great leader, more so, with..." Andrew then proceeds to take off his black hair, which turned out to be a wig, revealing orange hair underneath.
"A leader who is capable of building and architecturing!" He climbed onto the wooden desk and seemed to bathe in his own imaginary glory. The others stared at him blankly, even the ones who have broken down were confused.
"Ok ok, maybe not so much a leader, but a planner and strategist," Andrew said before climbing down from the desk. The orange hair he has turned out to be a wig as well, revealing dark brown hair underneath when he took off the orange wig.
"For now, the plan is," he cleared his throat to garner slipping attention, "we'll be directing a search team to dad's general location."
"A few days ago, there has been movement of the Mortem's private army in our village. Through my intelligence network, I have received information that the Mortem's next heir will be sending an expedition team into the forest to look for dad. For what reasons, it seems the heir wants something from dad."
"But Andrew..." Samy, the girl, called out while tugging at Andrew's T-shirt, with a look of worry.
"...you don't have an intelligence network," Maj finished his half-sister's concern.
"Shhh! They don't know that!" Andrew whispered in front of everyone, pretending the audience couldn't hear him.
"I don't think that would be wise..." Maj advised.
"True, I agree with Maj on this one," Samy added on.
"Just like how they don't know you have a smaller than average penis?" Nicholas spoke with moderate volume, allowing everyone to hear his statement. Andrew blushed furiously and tried retorting, "th-that's because of mom's side of things!"
"Excuses excuses, tsk tsk tsk," Jeral shook his head as he spoke aloud. Some from the crowd responded with "ooh" or "ahh" and "roasted!".
Andrew was about to argue again with Jeral and everyone who agreed, when a still healthy kid from the crowd gave an angry cough, dragging his attention back to the others.
"Eh, yes, sorry. As I was saying, I have received news that an expedition team will be sent by the Mortems to search for dad," he turned down his neutral tone more, indicating the importance of his next remarks, "I need every one of you to help in powering a modified magic into 'guiding' them towards dad's precise location."
Gasps, whispers and cries erupted within the hall all of a sudden. The main reason wasn't because it was impossible for more than a single person to power a magic solely, but supplying their mana to power the magic would mean less mana left to sustain their own well being, and if the plan failed, that would mean their sustainence was depleted for nothing. If a mage from the capital city were to hear such a request from Andrew, they'd have thought the kid either immature and naive or outright crazy, but this was certainly possible when the situation stems from manabornes whose lives mostly consisted of such activities. A manaborne unable to channel their mana to power magic was no manaborne at all, since they would immediately decay at the moment of birth due to their cellular activity requiring the transformation of mana to magic in order to carry out living processes. Without tht specific ability, the manaborne was bound to self destruct in a matter of seconds.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
"I know this is a heavy burden. But please, I beg of you all, just the five of us powering the magic to cast the spell is not enough. We would be dead before we even know it!" Andrew begged the others. The other four stood in solemn silence, serving to amplify Andrew's sincerity in begging.
Everyone looked at the five sceptically. The ones who had broken down have already begun to recover, while those in the process of breaking down mentally have immediately reversed the process and started thinking about everything logically the moment Andrew started to beg. Andrew's eyes were wet, perhaps from tears, giving him a more genuine look. Or perhaps he's just pretending, some thought to themselves.
After a long moment of silence, a hand rose from the crowd. It came from a kid as chubby as Nicholas, but taller. "I'll do it," he said with a clear, sincere voice, seeing as if everyone was staring at him like crazy, "I don't know about you guys, but finding someone who has mana like dad's is difficult. That means it'll only be a matter of time until our reserves are dried."
"Better wager than hold out, I guess. At least I'll know I've tried when the day comes," the boy continued. There were nods here and there as other kids agreed as well. Then, as if a switch has been flicked, hand by hand rose, until the entire gathering room was filled with kids holding up their hands.
"I'll go!"
"I'm going too."
"I'm not going to sit by and die."
"I don't want to be left out!"
"I wonder if we will suceed..."
More voices sounded their opinions, sparking genuine gratitude within Andrew's and the other four's hearts. "Thank you, thank you all..." Andrew was sobbing a little, even if it was just for show. The others took the drama in and decided not to point out how weak Andrew was in acting.
"Alright, capt. So what're we going to be casting on?"
"First, we'll have to draw transport circles around the entrances of the forest," Maj told everyone. Samy continued, "We'll then create another transportation circle that will receive the input of all the other circles."
Andrew took the role of elaborating the plan, seeing as there were still some who weren't exactly convinced. "The circles will be a one-way path, making it impossible for the team to return back via the same circle they teleported out of. A confusion rune will be etched as well, its effects stronger on those who are closer to the circles, making it easier to find a new path out of the forest."
A few got the idea, and slowly but surely, the idea became widespread. Every kid in the room now knew what the plan was and how it was going to 'guide' the expeditionists into searching for their dad.
"Here's a question though. If we supply large quantities of mana in such a short time to generate such immense amount of magic, wouldn't that attract unwanted... guests?" A girl stated out loud. Andrew secretly hoped he wouldn't have to answer the question, but since it came directly, he no longer has a choice.
He gave a sigh. "We'll fight against those guests when the time comes, head-on." His answer elicited "ooh"s and "ahh"s. The response ended up being more attractive than repulsive due to their manaborne nature.
"Finally I can test the 'Artillery' spell I've invented!"
"I hope I can display my skills to the fullest."
"Real practice targets! Finally!"
"Isn't that really dangerous?" "Zero danger multiply by whatever risk still equals to zero danger and risk."
"Perhaps we'll get to feast on the mana of those who've come!"
The answers weren't exactly what Andrew was expecting, but nontheless, it fitted his criteria as 'good' response. The other four were murmuring with each other, where the usual pair of Maj and Samy discussed things among themselves while Nicholas was getting bullied by Jeral, even though Jeral kept claiming it was a 'prank'.
"Everyone, I do hope we don't get unwanted guests. But just in case, to ensure the safety of you all, remain in your homes as you channel your mana to your respective divisions," questions popped up rapidly among the crowd, but Andrew just calmly stepped down while saying," Maj and Samy will now be taking my place to inform all of your divisions."
"Thanks. Now, the first division will be..." and so the organisation was carried.
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"... And that's the last of it!" Maj gave a relief sigh as he announced the final division's members. The others agreed as well, since it took two and a half hours just to get everyone present informed properly on what their positions were. Plus, it was four in the morning, and some were dying to get some sleep already.
"Then that's that. Thanks for participating in the plan, everyone!" Andrew shouted aloud as one by one, the crowd dispersed through the door. Just when Nicholas tried to leave, Andrew looked at him strangely and said, "who said you could leave now? There's something else I need the four of you to be part of too."
After a painful groan, Nicholas stopped himself from leaving and closed the door after everyone except the five of them left. The room only had five kids now, where Maj stood beside Samy around the rectangular table, with Andrew and Jeral opposite to them, and Nicholas taking one of the sides.
"Alright, you may or may not know what I'm about to say, but I need the four of you to expand specific fields of knowledge," Andrew stated.
"Yeah yeah, we know already. But how's that different from our post's original purposes?" Jeral asked groggily. He was half asleep, with his head lying on the table.
Ignoring Jeral's question, Andrew started, "Samy, you're in charge of philosophies. There's nothing that holds more power than the willpower of a well trained conscious mind. Maj, you're in charge of formulating a more efficient magic circle so that there won't be too much wastage. The efficiency should reach ninety percent," Andrew turned to Nicholas next, "since alchemy's your strong point, I expect you'd be able to create a substance volatile enough to not waste supplied mana and generated magic power?" The expectancy was unexpected, but Nicholas gave a firm nod, as if the task was a good fit for his skills.
And finally, Andrew turned to Jeral, who was now snoring with his head on the table. WIth a smack on his head which elicited a "Hey!", Andrew gave his orders, "Jeral, you'll be in charge of setting up a web of magic circle that synergises with the terrain. Think you can do that?" "Of course! Who do you think I am?"
"With that, everything is truly settled. For now, we'll call ourselves," Andrew gave a slightly dramatic dance and sang, "the Curious Five!"
"That's a shitty name." "Agreed." "Can't believe we're taking orders from such a weak leader." "I do hope I'll get to eat chicken later."
The four of them left, leaving Andrew behind even though he yelled "wait up".