Ella barely fell to the ground and she was already getting up again, there was resolve in her eyes and her every movement was resolute. She leaned down to check Eric’s vitals, the heavy trembling revealing her true mental state.
She put two fingers on his still warm neck, sending a pulse of mana through his body. The seconds trickled by while she was motionlessly kneeling next to Eric's body. Her eyes glimmered with the slightest hope, she felt his vitals, they were just very faint. Eric's body lit up in blue energy and all the shallow cuts on his body started slowly closing, but her magic couldn’t do anything about the severe blood loss.
Her face hardened, the path in front of her clear. She shouldn't sabotage everything they so painstakingly worked towards for, that’s what he would tell her. She would risk all of their lives just to buy a chance for him and yet she didn’t feel any regret. If she succeeded then she would beg the others for forgiveness.
“I told them that I wasn’t cut out to be a leader” Ella muttered before starting to put on Rufus’s battle armor.
----------------------------------------
Gabriel looked at the horizon again, but he didn’t see anyone.
“Do you think they failed?” Sam asked from the seat of his camel, grains of sand swirling behind him in a gentle dance.
Gabriel gave him a blank stare, his heart clenching uncomfortably, but he didn’t say anything.
“This whole plan is stupid, we should’ve just gone all together, it was madness” continued Sam, the corners of his eyes reddening.
“Without the armor we will be lost deeper in the desert, we need its navigation system, not to mention the equipment and gold, all our savings are depleted and that's true even though we stole most of the stuff we’re using and don’t forget that without our head start we would’ve been robbed blind and our bodies thrown somewhere in a ditch, so it wasn't possible to attack him without splitting into a strike group and caravan group. You know all that Sam, you’re the one in charge of resources and logistics” whispered Gabriel consolingly while gently petting his camel’s head. It leaned into his hand while making appreciative noises.
After that they rode in silence, neither of them saying anything. Their other three companions felt their sour mood and left them to talk privately in the back.
“Are you okay with taking care of the two extra camels, do you need some help?” asked Gabriel.
“Thanks, but they’re pretty docile, I can handle it.”
Stifling silence descended between them again, the camels walked slowly but surely, their feet expertly navigating the precarious footing on the sand dunes.
“You know Gabriel, I could never do what they did, just plunge into danger like them. Eric was roaming the scrapyard alone for days playing bait when an attack could’ve come at any time and Ella spent as much time choosing the ideal target, putting her life on the line in every conversation at the hunter’s guild” Sam choked out through the unexpected sobs that assaulted him.
They wrote in silence for a few minutes before Gabriel retorted “We would have starved to death without you, fell into a deadly trap without Sally’s perception, went insane without Darius, never thought things through without Austin, we wouldn’t have survived a single crisis without Eric’s cool head and we would’ve long all drifted apart without Ella’s leadership.”
Sam just stared at him and then laughed “You’re just going to ignore how you saved our asses in fights about a thousand times?”
Gabriel frowned and pointedly ignored him.
That made Sam burst in laughter, his melancholic mood as if forgotten. “Please little Gabbie, you can’t be serious” he teased the more than six foot tall wall of muscles.
“Your body is proof enough of your dedication and capabilities, scars are covering every inch of it, hell you even have the fancy title of the Head of Defense department and you still doubt your contributions” Sam berated exasperatedly, the mirth obvious in his eyes.
Gabriel could only sign in annoyance “Okay Sam, you’re right, just like always, will you let me live now?” An eye roll was the only eye roll he received.
“And Gabriel, we don’t know what happened. They might still be alive, it’s Eric and Ella who we’re talking about here, they wouldn’t go down so easily. So, don’t be so depressing, there’s still a fair chance that they’re just taking their sweet time” lectured Sam.
“It was you who started sobbing like a little girl, not me” Shot back Gabriel.
“Please, me sobbing, what kind of bullshit is that little Gabbie. If you want to lie then at least make it believable” Sam shot back with a shocked face, as if Gabriel just tried to persuade him that water is in fact purple.
Now it was Gabriel’s turn to roll his eyes. Nevertheless, the small smile gracing his lips was unmistakable to Sam’s eyes. He could hardly do business in a cutthroat place like the Scraps, that’s what the residents of Talerian garbage dump 23 normally called their home, if he didn’t know a thing or two about reading people.
"Sally made a new breakthrough" chitchated Sam.
"Oh, you know how it is, she's such a shy girl. The monster hordes will stop coming before she learns how to accept praise for her accomplishments" said Sam before turning serious “This is really an important discovery, we will break camp in thirty minutes and she’ll start her lesson straight after dinner.”
The rest of the ride passed by uneventfully, Sam filled the quiet with stories embellished enough that Gabriel had to think thrice before he recognised the original much more mundane events that somehow turned into legendary tales when coming out of Sam’s mouth.
Gabriel was thankful to him and all the stories, as they’ve done much more to boost his mood than he’d care to admit.
After they finally finished setting up the camp Gabriel finished cooking his signature soup, whose blandness was a thing of legends. The dish was neither good nor bad, a simple force of sustenance that supported the body. Paradoxically its lack of distinguishing features made it notable in its own way.
If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
After the clinging of cutlery slowly died down Sally came to stand in front of the ragtag group. "There's been a sort of a breakthrough in mana enhancement" Sally addressed the group, their undivided attention on her, but as if the shy girl evaporated into thin air and someone entirely different took her spot she simply held their gaze and continued her speech.
"Normally I'd report this finding to the head researcher and then we'd devise a lesson plan coupled with more experimentation. However, as we are short on time and currently missing two members, the head being one of them, the first lesson will commence in a rushed manner, any questions?" After she was sure that no questions were coming she continued.
"We have long been experimenting with mana enhancement, trying out non-standard ways to move mana through our mana veins, with limited success called the Laboratory's circulation method."
"How would you define mana enhancement Gabriel?" asked Sally, effortlessly adopting a teacher's tone.
"I'd say that it's an action during which a person moves their mana through their mana veins, letting a portion of it seep into their body, hence enhancing it" replied Gabriel effortlessly, earning an easy smile from Sally.
"Sam, how does a person "seep" mana into their body?"
"through a mana breathing technique of course." said Sam confidently which led to Sally clicking her tongue.
"While that's correct, it's hardly the full answer, Austin?"
"While mana breathing is the most common technique in these parts, we have collected rumors about skin absorption, rich merchants supposedly going as far as bathing their kids in mana" Sally gave an appreciative nod "Thanks Austin fo-" but before she could finish he continued.
"However I refuse to believe that that's all there's to it, if the only goal is to get mana into your body who knows how many other techniques there are. For example I refuse to believe that mana donation is truly impossible, there must be a way to achieve it and that's only a single example. Who knows what else people came up with, just the thought of it makes my blood boil with anticipation." finished Austin, his face flushed with excitement.
Sally sighed in resignation at the interruption and decided to simply continue her lesson.
"Today I have found out that except for the already discovered mana veins which closely mirror our blood circulation system there also exist secondary mana vein systems inside our organs."
"I have decided to name the original collection of mana veins "main pathways" and the mana veins in our organs the "organ pathways."
"These organ pathways are much harder to detect through our mana sense than the main pathways."
"I have noticed while scouting that a small portion of my mana circulated through my eyes, through places where no mana veins should exist, after a careful organ focused body scan with my mana sense I noticed the same hidden mana veins in every biological organ I know of."
"Circulating mana through these organ pathways may provide us with organ specific benefits. I base this theory on the finding that circulating mana through my eyes has sharpened my eyesight to a significant degree. However, this benefit ran out after I ended the circulation."
"The nature of the discovery of this phenomenon makes me hypothesize that with enough mana enhancement organ enhancement happens as a secondary benefit, but I assume that speeding up the process through dedicated practice is possible. As this is a newly discovered finding, the extent of our knowledge about it is highly limited."
"Is this a unique finding?" asked Sam.
"No, I believe that it's impossible for it to not have been extensively researched, our lack of formal education and the restriction of knowledge in the Talerian republic are the most likely culprits of our ignorance."
"Now, that's enough for our little brief, it's time to delve straight into it" said Sally, finishing their theory session.
Gabriel found himself a more comfortable sitting position and then closed his eyes, the others mirrored him soon.
He could feel his main pathways clearly, that's when an idea struck him.
"If it's possible that organ enhancement can happen as a secondary benefit of mana enhancement wouldn't the easiest way to discover these organ pathways be to start mana enhancement and then follow the energy that goes to a place where it shouldn't with our mana sight?" said Gabriel, thinking out loud.
Everyone just stared at him for a little bit.
"Sometimes I forget that except for your bulky muscles and fancy scars you're also goddamn smart."
As Gabriel's idea appeared to have merit, everyone started working on it straight away.
Gabriel focused inward on his mana veins, feeling them branching out and connecting again, with countless loops and dead ends circulating mana through them was no simple task.
He reached for his mana core with his will and commanded it to pump. More and more mana started coursing through his body. He expertly controlled, making extra loops to increase the speed until the mana in his body was like a cascading mountain stream. A sense of power engulfed him, his body feeling light and stronger than ever. He found his senses sharpening and his mind clearing.
Of course, these benefits were only temporary. However, after he finished a small portion of the mana, it would seep in his body enhancing it forever. The rest would either be lost and evaporate through his skin or returned into his mana core. Especially for poor bastards like them, the efficiency of this process was crucial.
Gabriel tempered his will, visualizing a great unbreakable dam, just like the one master told them about.
Just as no water could ever hope to escape this dam, no mana could hope to escape the iron grip of his mind. Nevertheless, deep down he knew that no process could ever be completely efficient, no matter how hard he tried. He'd always lose some mana. His understanding of the world was simply too high for this mental image to hold, the mental dam creaked and water started spilling through its holes. That's the best Gabriel could do for now.
His mental image in place he focused on the mana streams around his eyes. He couldn't find these so called organ pathways just with his mana sense, he doubted that any other in their group except for Sally could manage a ridiculous feat like that. Instead he focused on the increased drainage of mana. Every time it left the region neighboring eyes there was a bit less, but no matter how hard he focused, he couldn't see where it was going. Minutes turned into an hour and progress was still nowhere to be seen. He was definitely getting closer to sensing it, but he was slowly running out of mana to circulate.
That's when Austin's shout interrupted him "I have it!"
The group shot him annoyed glances for his interruption, he didn't even seem to notice them though, instead he started talking with excitement.
"Gabriel's idea was brilliant, but it's too broad, too wasteful. We shouldn't do the enhancement in our whole body, we should just focus on the mana vein loop closest to the organ pathways we want to sense and pass as much mana through it as possible. This way we will maximize the amount of mana going there and make it much easier to sense these elusive organ pathways." When Austin finished he was breathing heavily, not stopping for any breaks in his excited speech.
"Both of you excellent thinking" complimented Darius.
This for a change made everyone's heads turn towards him, as while he didn't speak much, what he said, he meant. Even Austin's eyes widened after hearing the compliment and Gabriel's mouth was hanging wide open.
After Gabriel collected himself, he decided to try again, but this time he just focused on the loop closest to his eyes, using just the minimum amount of mana to secure a connection between this loop and his mana core.
In less than 10 minutes every single member of their group managed to get a feel for their organ pathways.
"Okay, let's end it here for now. We will practice this every day after dinner. Don't forget that all other forms of training except for mana sight are prohibited for the time being as we need to be in top shape, the risk of pursuers is still high" said Sally, but then decided to add a bit more after all.
"Good work today everyone, now go get some rest" she finished and headed into her tent.
"I'll take the first watch" said Gabriel, which earned him a set of thanks, a tired one coming even from Sally's tent.