Wichita crouched next to the boy, paying close attention to what he was doing. Jace was using mana, even if he said he couldn’t sense it. The boy was poking the drake’s body, sending minute amounts of mana into it that produced reactions.

“Do you sense the mana only when you poke it?” she asked.

Jace looked at her in surprise. “Yes. How did you figure it out?”

“What you are sensing is the drake’s body reacting to your own mana, not the mana that flows through the drake.” she said.

Jace frowned, hsi brows furrowing. “I am using mana? I can’t feel it though.”

“Just because you aren’t doing it consciously does not mean you aren’t doing it. The body does more than you tell it all the time. Take moving your arm for example. Do you think of moving every single muscle, about where they should go and how much they should move?”

“Of course not.” Jace’ eyebrows furrowed even more. “So I am using mana without meaning to?”

“Yes.” Wichita nodded. “I do not know about the laws of where you come from, but mana is natural here. The word altered your body when you arrived here. Even if you didn’t have the ability to use mana, you do now.”

“So, what should I do?” he asked.

Wichita’s lips thinned. “Would it be possible for me to poke you again?”

Jace moved back in fear.

Wichita frowned. “Did it really cause that much pain?”

“Yes.” Jace answered without hesitation. “There was like a burst of it…but it didn’t last.”

Wichita nodded. “The entire spell only lasted for a second or two, it shouldn’t have caused any lasting pain.”

“I get that. But like, I don’t think I could concentrate if you did it again.” he said. “That pain was way too much.”

Wichita’s frown deepened. Were humans really so weak? Just a little pain and they lost focus? This felt very strange to her.

“How about this then? How about you try to sense the mana in this thing? This is your own mana, even if it transforms. A skilled sensor could even track it back to you.” she said, holding out the stone that had now transformed into a lump of flesh.

“What is that?” Jace looked at it with naked disgust.

“The stone that I used to -”

“No, I know that. I was talking about what it transformed into. Like a bunch of flesh or something?” Jace gulped for some reason.

Wichita sighed. “No. Flesh magic is just a small part of Organic magic. This is a bundle of organic matter. There are a variety of things in there. Germ organs, human organs, monster organs, you name it and it’s probably there. There is a list of things Organic mana can transform into, and it is very large. I wouldn’t suggest you think about it much.”

“Oh.” Jace was still looking at it with disgust. “And my power is what, making stuff like this?”

Wichita shook her head. “I am aware that certain worlds have this inclination to have ‘powers’ that limit what a person can use, but that is not the case here. As I said before, affinity is just what your mana can transform into. if you wish, you can throw fireballs at things after you learn magic.”

Jace’s expression brightened. “Wait, I can learn fire magic? Why didn’t you say so.”

Wichita was not sure why he was sudden;y eager. “I didn’t mention it because it would be a dozen times more difficult for you to do. perhaps even a hundred times more difficult considering we do not have something that you can use to practice fire magic.” she said

Jace looked at her with a puzzled expression. “Why would it be so much harder? And what do you mean have something to practice on? Is there a way for me to practice Organic magic except on beasts?”

Wichita nodded. “Yes, Organic magic is a largely self oriented spell school. The spells will be something you practice on yourself. Fire magic on the other hand is something that you will have to use on others. And it will be quite difficult to do so. Do not worry, I will start with things that are easily reversible. Losing a layer of skin won’t matter much in the long run, especially when you can regrow it rather easily.”

Jace looked a bit taken aback by what she said. “Are you sure that is safe?”

Wichita looked at him. “Poke yourself.”

“What?”

“Poke yourself. Just like you were poking the drake, poke yourself.”

Jace looked at her with doubt on his face as he slowly raised a finger.

“Poking needs two hands.” she said dryly. The audience let out a giggle, apparently unable to hold herself back anymore. Jace threw Tully an unamused look and shuffled to release his other hand.

The boy had been sitting on it. Wichita did not understand why that didn’t hurt him. Didn’t humans have a lot of mass in their bodies? How was that mass not crushing him? A part of her regretted not learning more about human biology now, even if the subject had seemed unimportant.

The species’ workings were fascinating.

The boy touched his own hand, just brushed their skins really. And then pulled them apart like he expected an explosion.

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“jace.” she sighed. “Poke yourself properly or I will.”

The boy looked at her in fear and then poked his finger. There was no reaction with mana.

Wichita brought her hand closer to his, moving faster than she did usually. Ten points of mana, gone like that. Just to boost her speed. The waste pained her on a level she could not properly express. but there was a reaction. Even though she didn’t actually touch him, the boy’s brain had produced mana just in anticipation.

“Did you feel that?” she asked.

“A bit.” The boy actually looked shocked. Wichita groaned as she heard the trees start groaning. Now? The forest wanted them to move now? Tully went to wake Rose up from the short nap the girl was apparently taking.

Didn’t she say that the floor was too uncomfortable to sleep on?

“That was because I was bringing far, far more mana to bear on your hands. The reaction was exaggerated.” she said. 'Just the mana I spent moving that much was ten times as much as I sent into your body.’

“Oh.” the boy said getting up while throwing a weary glance at the forest.

Wichita wasn’t really good at human body language, but even she could tell that the three humans were exhausted. The forest was clearly running them dry.

“I wanted to give you a much more thorough explanation, but this shall have to suffice for now. Tell me, how much mana do you have?” she asked.

“What?”

“Mana. Or magic. Whatever the System calls it in your status." The three of them started running as the trees closed behind them. There was far less urgency to their movements than the situation merited. For some reason, even she couldn’t muster up the motivation to push them forward. At their current speed, they would be able to escape the closing trees. That was enough.

“I got 7.” Jace said, already wheezing. Wichita threw him a distressed glance. Just how low were his stats?

“How much do you have in total? Tell them all to me.” she asked.

“What? I thought you were supposed to keep that kind of stuff private!” the boy yelled.

“Of course.” she admitted. “I would not tell you what my stats were unless circumstances forced me to. But really, Jace, I have hundreds of points of mana. If you don’t even have ten in one of your stats, then it doesn’t matter.”

Tully let out a fit of laughter, giggling as they continued on their way. The forest hadn’t sent any other challenges yet.

“I have a headache.” Rose said, sounding really tired.

“So does everyone.” Jace commented. “I blame the lack of water.”

“I mean hasn’t it only been a few hours? Shouldn’t it be a while before we start getting dehydrated?” Tully asked.

“Oh fuck.” Rose swore, stopping in place. Wichita’s eyes widened. “Rose!” she yelled out.

“I am running ok!” the girl started moving again. “I swear I hate this forest. But yeah, I think we’re dehydrated. The forest has had us running for hours before giving us any mana. Not to mention we have to be secreting adrenaline every time we run into danger. I don’t know how much that affects things, but it has gotta be a bit.”

Jace sighed. “Just what we needed.”

“If Jace can learn magic then he can use it to conjure water.” she revealed. “or extract it from the vines. Organic Magic is closely related to Water magic. On that note, stats please.”

Wichita glared at Jace until the boy capitulated. “Magic seven, mind thirteen, strength five, dexterity nice and body three.”

“What?” Rose turned around looking at him, stopping again. Wichita glared at her until she moved again, though she could sympathize. That was way too low.

“How do you have thirteen in mind? I didn’t have that and I’m clearly more intelligent than you.” she said. Wichita blinked. Thirteen was a lot?

“Well maybe some of us actually think about stuff instead of just boasting.” Jace said, sounding proud.

“How are you still alive?” she asked, unable to hold herself back. “The amount of stats you have come together to thirty seven. I haven’t heard of a single person having less than fifty.”

“What?” Now it was Jace’s turn to look shocked.

“There are five stats. An average starts off with at least ten in each stat, at least according to Arcanian records.” Wichita was doubting those now. “How much did you have?” she asked Rose.

“Fifty three.” Rose said. “Body was my lowest at 9.”

Jace looked horrified. “I know I am bad, but I am not that bad.”

Wichita looked at him and had to agree. “Three in body would give you the toughness of a toddler. In the body of an adult. This is the System messing with things.”

“Wait, you’re saying that Jace’s stats have been artificially reduced?” Rose asked.

“I don’t know.” Tully interrupted. “I had forty three stats. Just got a one in magic. Jace’s don’t look that unreal.”

Wichita frowned. This was news to her. “Have you -” the four of them groaned audibly as they were plunged into darkness again.

“Another drake?” Rose asked in fear. Wichita shared it.

“Did you cooldown -”

“Not enough.” Tully said. “I got two uses more. Not enough to kill the thing.”

The silence between them was palpable as they waited for the forest to do something. Except it didn’t.

“Is this a test?” Rose asked. “Like is it trying to get a reaction from us? Test our bravery.”

Wichita sighed and used her Skill. The [Forgotten Melody] was - the Skill disengaged like a blow to her Heart. the same heart that was burning. Wichita pulled up her stats, her mind reeling, trying to remember what had happened.

Mana: 302/553

two hundred mana. More than two hundred mana. Gone just like that. And she had no idea what had happened. Wichita had no memory of what she had seen or felt, just the feeling of fear. A fear that shook her down to her non-existent bones, leaving her shivering on the floor. A fear so huge that she did not dare even look at her Skill, dismissing the status page to run away from it.

“...so?” Rose asked testingly. “I presume it isn’t good.”

“I don’t know.” she said, still looking down at the floor with her eyes wide open. “I don’t know what happened. I can’t remember it. The Skill activated, and then it's blank. The only thing I remember is fear. What happened?”

“Well you sighed and then started convulsing.” Jace said. “At least I think you were, can’t really see shit in this fucking place.”

“Well I can.” Rose said. “And you were definitely convulsing, not on the floor though. For some reason you were in the air.”

Wichita blinked, righting herself. “This, this shouldn’t be possible.” she said. But a chunk of her mana was gone. And she was floating. Even right now. In fact she didn’t know how to not float. For some reason her mind just couldn’t get the information to her.

“I think.” she tried to right herself, to straighten herself. The only thing she managed was swaying like a pendulum.

“I think I just cast magic. And I don’t remember how.”