Chapter 16: 15: The Magic of Mana

                Hoisting Pik up over my shoulder I turned away from Lulu’s fight with the demonic beast and ran. Perhaps it was the panic and desperation caused by the situation with the demonic monstrosity strengthening my muscles, or maybe the health potion I’d taken was healing more than just my injuries, but I hadn’t expected stride to come as easily as it did while carrying Pik. While we moved further from Lulu’s fight with the beast I could hear her sobbing into my shoulder and muttering words to herself in a language I couldn’t understand. I continued to press forward, forcing myself to ignore Pik’s sobbing, her emotionally unstable jabbering’s, focusing my mind on the task of vacating the area and finding a safe place to rest.

                I ducked into an alleyway untouched by the ravages of the demonic beast behind us. Its roars could still be heard ripping through the night air along with the crash of buildings giving way to the great monster. Chills sparked down my spine. Nothing like the serpentine creature existed in my world, nor would I have desired it. I only hoped that Lulu wouldn’t be consumed by its rampage while I attempted to bring Pik, and myself, to safety. “We should be safe here. I’m not sure if Lulu can handle that thing on her own but I can’t imagine this city wouldn’t have something in place to protect against a monster like that… Pik?” Setting Pik down and leaning her up against a wall of the building in the alleyway, I only now noticed she didn’t appear to be conscious. “Pik!?” I shouted, gently patting her cheek to see if I could garner a response. Her head flopped forward, causing my heart to skip a beat. “Pik!”

                “She’s only fainted.” A feminine voice from behind spoke up.

                “Who-Where did you come from!?” Startled I jolted around to see an anthropomorphic panther lady step up and approach the alleyway. Feeling Pik’s body begin to lean I panicked and spun back around to grab the young goblin before she could fall.

                “Gently now, lay her down over here.” Pulling a large square cloth from a pack at her side, the panther lady spread it out over the nearby concrete. Having zero experience with people who fainted, I willingly obeyed the instruction and gently set Pik’s head onto the provided cloth. “Are either of you injured?” She asked, ushering me aside and promptly proceeding to position Pik on her back. She then undid and loosened the belt threaded around Pik’s blue jeans.

                “I-” I’d been about to say that my leg was still injured but that would have been a lie now. The healing potion I’d taken earlier seemed to have worked incredibly well. “I don’t think so…?” I objectified with a question, rotating my previously injured leg to test for any residual pain. Nothing felt broken, painful, or out of the ordinary.

                “That’s good news.” The panther lady responded, lowering an ear to Pik’s chest. “Breathing is normal.” She then checked the tightness of Pik’s shirt collar before moving to align the young goblin’s feet. With a swift, practiced motion, the Panther lady raised Pik’s legs and held them in place. “I’m Marla, here with the Enforcers’ medical and disaster relief division. We’ve been tasked with safeguarding and escorting any civilians out of the identified danger zone.”

                “Will she be alright?” I asked, leaning over to get a better look at what the Enforcer was doing with Pik.

                “Yes. She’ll be fine. I don’t know how she managed to get her hands on this device but the circlet she’s wearing acts as a neural suppressor.” The panther lady nodded towards the same odd head ornament Lulu had instructed me to adorn Pik’s head with. “Thanks to that thing the emotional stress caused by a Charmolgrath’s field of fear should have been minimized.

                “Field of fear?” I asked, offering the panther lady a quizzical look.

                Marla granted me a strange look, her yellow panther eyes seemed confused at first, then softened in realization. “I guess demons wouldn’t know the effects a Charmolgrath’s presence can have on the mind. The Demonic beast that’s attacking the city right now possesses a powerful ability that can assault the minds of lesser demi-human races. Beastkin such as myself and Demons like you are normally unaffected by it but other races such as Goblins can be hit pretty hard by its effects…”

                “Do these, Char Mole Graths…? Often attack the city?” I inquired. From what I’d seen of the city, it had appeared to be relatively peaceful. I hadn’t noticed any signs of conflict similar to the destruction the attacking monstrosity was causing now.

                “Easy now, let’s not get up just yet. Try and relax.” Marla placed a hand over the now conscious Pik’s chest to stop her from sitting up. Pik groggily accepted Marla’s instruction and lay back down. “It’s been well documented that Charmolgrath remain, and continue to remain, in the mana-flooded depths far below the planet’s surface. Physical sightings are very rare but they do happen. They never ascend above the surface level this high for long though, and one has never been able to attack a city directly like this before…”

                So this attack by the demonic beast was some freak abnormal occurrence then? I expelled a laugh. Everything was abnormal to me right now. A new body, a new world, intelligent non-human creatures, magic, mana… I couldn’t realistically rationalize normal in this situation.

                “Perhaps this experience has affected you as well.” Marla noted, concern rippled over her feline features at my sudden and out of place laughter. “We should probably get you both checked out as soon as possible.” Returning her attention to Pik, Marla guided the young goblin to slowly and cautiously ascend into a sitting position.

                A realization clicked into my head. Mana! Pik had been showing me how to access the mana within Lyssa’s body earlier when the demonic beast had suddenly attacked. Marla said these Charmolgrath things lived around a place known to be full of said mana! “Hey, Marla? Is it possible that the monster attacking the city is looking for more mana?”

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                “More mana?” Marla pondered my question for a moment before shaking her head. “No. The flooded depths are named such because of the wellspring of mana available to them. There would need to be a significant change in the ambient mana at that level for Charmolgrath to even consider leaving something like that behind. And the surface cities don’t possess enough mana as a whole to actively provoke a Charmolgrath.”

                But what about Lyssa? I’d seen what my explosion of the mana had done to Pik. If my releasing mana could do that to a goblin, then what about a Charmolgrath? The thought sickened me to consider but if I was the cause of this disaster because I’d unknowingly released a lure to attract the demonic beast, then logically speaking it fell to me to take responsibility. I couldn’t let my actions be what ultimately ended up hurting others. “Pik, is it possible for me to use my mana in a way that can strengthen my body?” I’d told myself I wouldn’t fight, but at the same time I couldn’t ignore the possibility that I might’ve inadvertently been the cause of the whole Charmolgrath situation.

                “Yes… It’s an extension…” Pik’s voice sounded meek and frail but she managed to answer my question using a single word before following up with brief guidance. She held up a hand and balled it into a shaky fist, offering me a weak grin.

                “Please don’t, you can explore your capacity for mana control later. Right now I need to get the two of you to safety so leave the Charmolgrath situation to us Enforcers.” Marla objected to both mine and Pik’s oddly renewed enthusiasm.

                Ignoring Marla’s protests, I backed out of the alleyway and proceeded to delve back into the depths of where I’d been originally when Pik instructed me on how to access the mana within. If I tapped only a little bit at a time and focused it, then maybe I could control it. Pik’s explanation this time might not have been the most detailed but I think I had the gist of what she’d intended. I just had to find and treat the mana as an extension of my body, make it work for me and not let myself lose control over it. The problem was I apparently had two sources with which to draw from… Red, and blue.

                Ultimately I chose blue. To me it seemed like a more mellow color and the one more prone to be used as a defense. Red screamed offense and destruction and that didn’t match what I was going for. I closed my eyes and focused, entering the depths within, tapping into and visualizing the streams I’d closed off earlier. I willed myself to maintain control over the mana while I revisited this force I was as of yet unfamiliar with. I guided the essence, visualized it wrapping around my right hand, blanketing it with its invisible blue hues.

                A sensation washed over me and I knew. It came too naturally for me to understand but it’d worked. The cool sensation of an invisible aura flowed over and around my right hand and I held tight onto that feeling, clenching my hand into a fist. Before I could lose it, I pulled my arm back and foolishly swung my fist at the brick wall in front of me.

                “Stop! Are you trying to hurt yourself?” Marla cried out.

                I could no longer intercept the force of my attack. My fist lashed out, striking the building before me. I was taking a huge gamble by freely throwing my arm into a solid wall of stone and I fully expected to regret my decision, but I also knew Lulu had access to potions that could heal one’s body instantly. While imbibing another of those nasty tasting potions wouldn’t be a highlight to my day, I at least knew they worked. I also didn’t feel right leaving Lulu, a girl, to fight by herself against some demonic monster that I might’ve provoked in the first place.

                “Ow!” I reflexively winced, closing my eyes while my fist struck solid brick. Ow? I blinked. No, it hadn’t hurt. I’d felt the texture of the brick as my balled fist slammed into the wall, but I couldn’t feel any lasting pain coming from the point of direct contact. I blinked again, taking in the results of my utterly foolish test of pain.

                “I told you not to do- that…?” Marla started to protest but stopped. It made sense for her to be confused. I had just taken out a chunk of wall with my bare fist after all!

                “I did it...” ‘Where had this power been when I’d been forced to fight the Minotaur?’ The thought briefly crossed my mind in the moment of success before it passed, “I did it!” I then shouted, exhilarated by my discovery.

                “Where are you going!?” Marla called out in horror as she watched me do a little dance and then disappear beyond the corner of the alleyway. She was still holding onto Pik because the young goblin was not yet ready to stand on her own two feet.

                “Take care of Pik for me, I’m going to go help Lulu fight against the giant monster-thing!” I called back over my shoulder before setting off into a run.

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