Chapter 5

Mana

He had to get as much as possible from this encounter; Jay figured this was at worst part of some unique Quest, and at best, some game-changing opportunity for him. “So, what does the Skill I get from becoming a Sourceer do?” Jay asked. He still had a bit of reluctance to commit to this, but he had already agreed, and could only try and gleam some more information before actually completely committing to this strange Profession called a Sourceer. He felt like stalling some, just to see how the old man would react. “Just getting one Skill when I take on this Profession doesn't seem very good to me.”

“Oh, you wouldn't even understand if I told you the benefit and scope of the Skill, it can only be properly explained after having it,” Ancestor said.

“That doesn't really encourage me to become a Sourceer,” Jay had to say; it felt too much like buying something without knowing what it was, and paying handsomely for it.

“Don't overestimate yourself. You're becoming my disciple, and such you will be a Sourceer Novitiate, not a full-fledged member,” Ancestor answered.

“Even worse,” Jay said, intentionally probing to see how this NPC would react to him. The old man was a bit too life-like for Jay's comfort, and the terms were a bit too lacking for his liking. He had to gain some insight into the old man's thought-patterns to wrest some control over their current conversation and future interactions.

“Ungrateful brat,” Ancestor said, his eyebrows actually turning down slightly in anger. “Let me tell you this: all Sourceers can only have one living disciple. And you're going to get that opportunity, yet you try to complain and hedge. You can't even imagine how powerful I am; how powerful the Society is. Our history goes back to before the Cataclysm. We have been a supreme force in the world for a bit more than four thousand years. And you're trying to gain something besides my generous offer to make you one of us. Ungrateful, I tell you!” Ancestor started muttering in a voice low enough for Jay to not hear what was said. Suddenly Ancestor raised his voice and with great fervor said, “even a back-water lout like you should have heard of us. We are gods among men!”

“Woah there, don't get too excited, you might get a heart attack old man,” Jay said, now coming to believe the old man was not completely sane... or reasonable. Jay also had the thought that this creature calling itself Ancestor, whatever it was, had to be part of some grand scheme within the game. It couldn't be for nothing that he got this opportunity. For some reason, he felt like this was his turning-point, his salvation, as if with this he could release all former thoughts of treating this as a game, and come to think of it as a true reality. He realized that if he were to survive, and even make something of his life in this reality, he would have to seize this chance and profit from it more than anyone else could have done.

“Old man?!? Let me tell you... you are so ignorant. I haven't aged for centuries. Old man, oh... right, I am actually old. No! I can't be classified as either old or young. I am Ageless.”

This was growing stranger and stranger, it seemed the old man was actually talking a bit to himself while also talking to Jay. The old man seemed to have slightly muddled thoughts. Jay got wary, he knew he didn't have much of choice in the matter, but this was growing a bit too strange for comfort. “Are you really human? You're not some kind of monster or something? Please tell me you're not a highly developed Boss that is just taunting me before disposing of me...” it was something he just thought of, and it wasn't a pleasant thought.

“Monster?” Ancestor asked, delight clearly resounding from his voice. “I've been called that, but I was born a human. And a Boss? In what way? Well, yes, I am an Ancestor of the Sourceer Society, so in that way, I am a boss, but for some reason it feels like you're asking about something else than that. Hm? What other kind of boss could there be...” Ancestor's voice once again tapered off into a low muttering impossible for Jay to hear clearly, but before Jay could say something more Ancestor snapped back from wherever his mind had wandered off to during his low muttering and said, “stop sitting there all reluctant and afraid. You have no real choice in the matter if you want to live. Just accept it and become my disciple.”

Jay ignored the last things Ancestor said and wanted to keep asking questions just to see how long it would take for the old man to lose his patience. It would be good to know his temperament. And now that Jay had given up on desperatly clinging to life, it didn't feel like he would lose much from actually antagonizing the old man. He had a feeling that Ancestor was more desperately in need of Jay than Ancestor wanted to show. “So, this Skill, 'Eye of the Magi', what's so great about it that it can be called the greatest Support Skill? What does it do?”

“It is an Eye Technique with the unique ability to let you see Mana,” Ancestor said, pride evident in his voice.

“What?” Jay asked, thinking that was a ridiculous statement. “I can already see Mana.”

“Ignorant child,” Ancestor said, an almost tender tone entering his voice, as if he was truly talking to a small child that didn't understand something obvious. “You don't understand. The Skill lets you see all Mana, not just your own. It also makes it possible to easily differentiate between all the different kinds of Mana. By being able to tell the different Mana-types apart you greatly increase your ability to create and develop Spells and Skills. It also gives you the ability to analyze other people's Skills and Spells, and make them your own if you understand and have the capacity to use them. And even better is that, unlike everyone else, you can actually see Freeflowing Mana, other people's Mana and your own Mana with perfect clarity of understanding its Essence; you can know what kind of Spell a magician will use before he has completed its conjuring because of the different colors used in its creation. If you are proficient enough with your Mana Manipulation you can even inject your own Mana into his Spell and weaken it, maybe even disrupt it completely. The Skill is thus unrivaled under the sky and below the earth in its visual prowess, but only to the degree to which you can use it in combination with your own Mana Manipulation, Spells and Skills.”

"That does actually sound really good. I never thought there were different types of Mana. I figured it was only the white blueish substance I emit when using Spells. And I haven't seen anyone else's Mana—if what you say is true, it would be incredible to see other's Mana and interrupt their Spells. Can you explain some more about the different kinds of Mana?”

“No. I'll explain that to you later,” Ancestor said. “This is growing tedious, just accept becoming my disciple. It will only work if you are fully accepting, and if it fails, I'll kill you and wait for another to come. And I'm growing bored with your probing. I'm close to just closing my eyes and going back to sleep. At least in my dreams I'm not inside this bubble separating me from the world... and I still enjoy dreaming more than talking to you, especially since you're not grateful to my gracious offer. The difference between us is worlds apart. You're like the ant climbing a tree, thinking it is the whole world, not knowing that the tree is only a small part of a forest on a mountain in an almost boundless world. To clarify, in this metaphor I would be the world. Kid, even though you won't understand, do you at least understand the faintest part of our difference in power and status? You're truly not being grateful enough.”

“I understand that you're like a turtle stuck in a jar, not being able to get out. But I understand, before you I am but a speck of dust on your robe. Oh, great and revered Ancestor, would you give this novitiate the Eye of the Magi and let me learn from you,” Jay's voice held a hint of ridicule; he couldn't help it, the old man was a bit too much of a braggart.

Before Jay could react, Ancestor flickered, completely disappearing from Jay's sight. A tapping on Jay shoulder showed where Ancestor had gone, and as Jay blinked, the old man was back where he sat before. Jay hadn't seen the man move at all. In an instant, cold sweat coated all of Jay's body. He realized that he might have gone a bit too far. “Okay, I got it, sorry for being flippant.”

“It's fine as long as you understand your powerlessness,” Ancestor said.

Afraid of continuing his probing actions and speech, Jay nodded. “So, how do we do this thing?" he asked, knowing it was time to take the plunge, mostly because he could hear the growing displeasure and indifference in Ancestor's voice.

"I only need to invest some of my power into you and create your inner eye, open up the sight which truly sees Mana," Ancestor said. "It will hurt a little bit, but bare with me."

Ancestor's hand reached out, elongating, his arm growing longer before Jay's very eyes, the palm coming to a stop in front of Jay's eyes. The dark red blood on the palm had a strange undulating transparent force to it. The force fluctuated and condensed to Ancestor's finger somewhere above Jay's eyes. He felt a tap on his forehead, and everything was awash in colors, blinding him. Then came a searing pain which made his mind go blank; a whiteness beyond white intruded in his mind, forcing everything he had ever thought or remembered out of his mind. Everything went blank, darkness enveloped him. Ping!

You have been given the Skill 'Eye of the Magi' From ancient times, the world has always had deeper layers which mortal men could not easily perceive. A world beyond the world, only open to those that could truly see reality for what it is. Your Perception has been remade to see the world for what it really is.

The message hung in darkness, Jay tried to see something else, but nothing came into view, only the message-window hung there. Time felt like it stood still, and everything was devoid of shape, form or substance. Was this how it felt like to die? He asked himself, hoping to get a rouse out of Claudine, but she didn't say anything, and he couldn't see or feel anything indicating she was even there. Time stood still.

After what could only be described as an eternity and no time at all, Jay opened his eyes. He had toppled over, falling to the ground at some point, and was now looking up at the creature calling itself Ancestor. The old man had changed; now, when Jay looked at him, there was a blinding glow to the man, colors of all the visible spectra flashed and surged around the man in a cocoon-like shape, wrapping up the man in its radiance. The glow was bright enough to make it impossible to look at. Jay closed his eyes.

“Good, you're awake,” Ancestor said. “That took longer than it should have. I wonder, did something go wrong? How does the world look now?”

Jay opened his eyes again, tentatively, but had to close them again because the old man's radiant glow couldn't be looked at. “What did you do to me?”

“I rearranged your brain and gave you the most important Skill you'll ever need or know,” Ancestor answered, not really giving an answer Jay could understand. Fortunately, the old man seemed to understand that he needed to continue his explanation. “The Eye of the Magi is our Society's foundation. It gives us Sourceers the ability to see all of Mana, not only our own, as normal beings have it. Now you can see your own Mana, other beings' Mana and most importantly the Freeflowing Mana—the True Body of Mana. It also makes it easy to differentiate between the fifteen different kinds of Mana, giving you extremely sensitive perception and control over all the different kinds of Mana. Normally, a person only has the inborn ability to manipulate one or two kinds of Mana, and can learn to use some others, but few can even learn to see their own Mana's different distinct colors. But we, the Sourceers, can see all Mana in creation.” As if realizing that he was reiterating what he had earlier said, Ancestor stopped here, thinking, but didn't pause for long. “Well, all Mana except the sixteenth kind. But that Mana exists only in theory, and I've only encountered two things that can influence that Mana. So, it isn't really important to you now. You'll come to know about that later, if you survive that long.”

That last part made very little sense to Jay, but he could already extrapolate some implications of what he had just learned. But right now he had a bigger problem, he couldn't even open his eyes because his eyes were being overwhelmed with sensory input. “I can't even open my eyes.”

“Ah,” Ancestor said, as if only now realizing something. “Think this 'Set Eye of the Magi to 10%' and it will alleviate your troubles.”

Set Eye of the Magi to 10%, Jay thought, opening his eyes again, wanting to know how much that changed. He still saw the old man covered in a cocoon of swirling rainbow-colors, but the sight didn't blind him this time, it only made him slightly feel a strain at the back of his head. “That's better,” he said. “I still can't really see what's so great about this Skill for it to be among the greatest ever known though. Now that I'm your disciple, shouldn't you start teaching me some of what I need to know to use this Skill to its fullest?”

“I suppose,” Ancestor said. “The first thing all Sourceers are told is what Mana truly is. So, I'll start from there, interrupt if you have any questions.

“Mana could be thought of as an organ akin to the nerve-system in a body, but one that works by having the Mana micro-pieces link together to both form the nerves and a 'body' in different ways, for different uses, depending on what mental output it gets from the user's brain. Mana can be collected from everywhere, as it is present in almost everything, and when you ingest Freeflowing Mana and brand it with your mental signature, it becomes your Mana, for your own use. That is why everyone's Mana is their own and they cannot use another person's or the Freeflowing Mana as they please. This restriction, however, is not something we Sourceers suffer from. We are the only beings able to control other people's Mana—though with great difficulty—and we can even somewhat guide Freeflowing Mana to do our bidding, thus enabling us to gain a Mana-pool both inside our bodies and outside ourselves. When you use Mana, it takes in energy from anything in its surroundings, and as it is used, your mental brand on it disappears, making you lose control over it.”

Jay had to many questions to actually know what to ask, so he just listened. Figuring the old man had been alone for far to long, Jay felt like he might have a need to talk. And that was for the best, Jay would listen, absorbing the knowledge to gain greater understanding of this newfound power. The more he heard, the more he felt like his world was expanding—if he really could gain control over other people's Mana, wouldn't that be incredibly powerful? He listened on.

“The fifteen different Mana Essences are divided into groups. The eight Basic types, the four Superior types, the two Ageless types and the Divine type. The reason I even gave you this opportunity is because you have the innate ability for using Force Mana—the Mana I'm the least proficient in among the eight basic ones, and the least common Mana for a person to have as their innate ability. The eight Basic types are commonly known as Earth, Water, Wind, Metal, Lightning, Fire, Cold and Force; the four Superior are Life, Decay, Light and Darkness; the two Ageless are Destruction and Compression; and the Divine is tentatively called the Space-attribute. There is probably a sixteenth Mana, but it isn't something you need to know about, since its existence is only theoretical at best anyway, and I, myself, know little to nothing about it. All I can say is that the sixteenth Mana is the progenitor of Mana, that which balances and creates all other Mana, or so I speculate. It is also the only reason why the world survived the Cataclysm, but that's also something you'll learn about later, if you survive long enough to become Ageless; only a third of the people in our Sourceer Society has reached that stage though, but no matter. To continue...

“And to reiterate, the reason I gave you the opportunity to become my disciple is because I'm hoping you can gain enough understanding of Force Mana to help me reach a higher level of understanding in its uses and functions, thus enabling me to reach into the Ageless Mana Realm. I was born with the ability to use Life Mana without any effort—it was a both a curse and a blessing in disguise, but that's a tale for another day—and now I have almost flawless control over six of the Basic Mana-types, and all four of the Superior types. The only Mana Essences I lack near-complete control over are Force Mana and Lightning Mana, and without knowing how to use them with great prowess it is impossible to learn how to use Destruction or Compression Mana. This is because most of the Basic Mana-types are needed to assist when using the highest Mana-types, and to use Destruction and Compression Mana you need to have extremely fine-tuned control over Force Mana and Lightning Mana.” Ancestor stopped here, as if waiting for Jay to ask a question.

And Jay still had more questions than he could actually put into words. But he had to begin somewhere, “how do you know I'm most proficient in using Force Mana?” It was something he thought he knew the answer to, but he had to ask, just to confirm his own understanding.

“Most of your Mana has a pale yellow color, corresponding to Force Mana, that's easy enough to see just by looking at you,” Ancestor answered. “From what I can see, you seldom use any other types of Mana, which is a bit strange, but also very good. It shows you have potential to be groomed into what I need. Force Mana is subtle in its uses. On the surface it is only good for one thing, but that use is extremely versatile. In simple terms, it is using your Mana to bombard and push the surface of something to move it in a direction according to your will; its intricacy comes from that though, how well you control your Force Mana makes it possible to do an almost infinite amount of things with it. It is the simplest Mana to use, but the most difficult Mana to use perfectly.”

Jay got a mad thought from what he heard earlier; he didn't believe it would be possible, but he couldn't help asking. “Would it be possible for someone to brand, as you named it, all Mana in existence? Theoretically, it should be possible, right? If you had enough capacity to hold all Mana and then absorbed it, what would happen?”

“Reaching beyond your limits now, aren't you?” Ancestor asked, a slight smirk forming on his face. “Simply said, it wouldn't be possible. To explain some deeper functions of Mana... you know your amount of Mana, right? That number represents the amount of Mana bonded to you, for your direct and instantaneous use. And to dispel a common misunderstanding, MP, as some believe, doesn't stand for Mana Points, it stands for Mana Particles. And each Mana Particle is actually a configuration of 1024 smaller pieces working together as a whole. And if you tried to bind all the Mana in the world to you, the amount of Mana Particles you would have to bind would be in the range of ten to the power of ten to the power of 1024; and that's just my educated guess. If you were as large as the world, you might be able to bind that amount of Mana to you, but as I said earlier, that is a practical impossibility.”

“Oh,” Jay had figured as much, but he hadn't been able to not blurt that out. Absolute power wasn't something his mind could ignore. “No matter, no matter... it was just an idle thought. I've become a Sourceer, and you've explained about Mana, which is great. Now, onto another topic... I'd like to know what your name is, I can't keep calling you Ancestor, it feels weird.”

“I've been called many things during my long life,” Ancestor said, his face going slack and expressionless. And as if not really talking to Jay anymore, he continued, “my given name at birth was Farlorion de'Laru, but that name was taken from me when I was three and the Magician Magistrate came and took me away... after that I was called Lifebringer for some eighty years because of my famous ability to heal any injury, but I don't like that name because it was what I was called during my enslavement. After I got free I was given another name, one that I like more, it came from my infamy; the name Wraith. But Ancestor Overseer gave me the name Cloud Golem... Hm, what should the boy call me? Yes... that should be best, Wraith is the name I took for myself...” Ancestor, opening his left eye again, looked at Jay with a tint of sadness. “Yes, call me Wraith.”

“Okay, Master Wraith,” Jay said, puzzled about that long monologue. It truly seemed like Wraith had the habit of talking to himself. Well, Jay figured that was something most would start doing if they were alone for long enough. “So, now what?”

“Now you complete the first thing every Sourceer Novitiate has to do, the initiation trial,” Wraith said. “You need to create a Spell or Skill using each of the Basic eight Mana Essences and show them to me. Remember, each Spell or Skill can only contain one of the Mana Essences, no mixing is allowed.”

Ping!

Quest Creating the Basic Eight (0/8) Difficulty: F To show your worth to your Sourceer Master, you have to create one Skill or Spell corresponding to each of the Eight Basic Mana Essences. Skills or Spells created: Earth Mana: ??? Water Mana: ??? Wind Mana: ??? Metal Mana: ??? Lightning Mana: ??? Fire Mana: ??? Cold Mana: ??? Force Mana: ??? Reward: 1000000 Experience

“1000000 Experience?” Jay thought and blurted out at the same time. Jay had to take a look at how much Experience he had. View Experience.

Experience (to Next Level) (% to Next Level)

908965 (8835) (12.55%)

That was more Experience than he actually had. Wasn't this too good to be true?

“Hm?” Wraith said, seeming puzzled. “Not enough? Maybe five then?”

Ping!

Quest Changed

Quest Creating the Basic Eight (0/8) Difficulty: F To show your worth to your Sourceer Master, you have to create one Skill or Spell corresponding to each of the Eight Basic Mana Essences. Skills or Spells created: Earth Mana: ??? Water Mana: ??? Wind Mana: ??? Metal Mana: ??? Lightning Mana: ??? Fire Mana: ??? Cold Mana: ??? Force Mana: ??? Reward: 5000000 Experience

Jay's jaw dropped. What was going? This was really too good to be true, but he wouldn't complain. This was beyond great and it was something he could do to become a lot stronger in one go, but he also knew how difficult it was to create Spells. He hadn't even gotten his practiced Fling Shot to actually give him a Skill-window in the Skill-list, so his excitement was tempered by quite a bit. “Thank you, Master.” For the first time, Jay felt completely exhilarated by this extreme windfall.

“Well,” Wraith said, not seeming to care much. “Experience isn't good for much anyway, it basically only strengthens your mind against mental attacks. And I have enough to spare. I'm Level 1597 after all. That little bit I can spare without noticing.”

Jay didn't know what to say or think, his mind was reeling from the information... and he knew if this was how he was rewarded for the first Quest, what would the next Quest give? All he could think was that this encounter was truly game-breaking, that there must be something wrong here.

Dousing Jay's internal struggle to keep calm from the extreme elation he was currently feeling, Wraith's voice rang out with distinct clarity. “I also need you to grow strong quickly. What I have in store for you isn't for something someone as weak as you could even hope to survive. So, now for your part of our deal. I need you to go find me a couple of things and bring them back for me. Even after all this time, my minions outside has not been able to gather even one of the things I need to break this sealing sphere of darkness. I wish there were more that stayed loyal after I was trapped in here, but only those Rat-people kept their faith. Truly, it is such a difficult thing to get competent helpers,” Wraith lamented, sighing loudly. “If those weakling weren't capable of keeping my garden outside in a some-what good state, I would have already turned them into nourishment for my Life Tree... Anyway,” he continued, “first I'll need you to go to my basement and get some minor tools and materials, but don't go too far down in the structure. I have no idea how my absence has influenced the lower floors with the door connected to the Underworld. There might be some uninvited guests lurking down there, and you can't really survive an encounter with any creatures from the Underworld just yet. So, go get my refining furnace on the seventh basement floor and a couple of rolls of Lightning-Bat Wing-leather from the sixth floor. Give me your Map-pad and I'll put down the location of my Greenmist Villa.”

Jay took his Map-pad out of one of his inner pockets and handed it to Wraith.

Wraith tapped the Map-pad with a finger and a dot was put down in a place Jay thought he knew.

Ping!

Quest Collecting Material for your Master Difficulty: D Your Master Wraith has asked you to go to the basement of his Greenmist Villa and find his Refining Furnace and Lightning-Bat Wing-leather. Reward: 2000000 Experience

“I truly hope the guidance of Mana brought you to me; that this was wrought by the Will of Mana and that you are the one to help me free,” Wraith said suddenly. “If you succeed in helping me get free I'll reward you with everlasting life and riches, but for now, Experience has to suffice. This is how the things look like.” Wraith's arm once more elongated and tapped Jay's forehead.

Two pictures came into view inside Jay's mind. He saw exactly how the things he needed to get looked like, but Jay was reluctant to leave this place of safety he had found. He wanted to go through his Stat-window and come up with a plan for his future before actually doing anything dangerous again. “Master Wraith. Is it okay if I first stay here for a while and try creating a few Spells.”

“Yes, yes...” Wraith said, closing his left eye again, looking like a statue once more. Wraith's mouth didn't move, but his voice still resounded in Jay's surroundings. “No rush, as long as you do it within the next few years it should fine. I will go to sleep for a while now. Don't wake me unless there is something really important.”

Next few years? Jay thought. That statement made him understand that their perception of time was likely to be very different. If there was no rush, Jay would stay and try creating the Spells first. That way he would become much stronger while also being completely safe and while waiting for his Murderous Aura to dissipate. “Wait, just one more thing. Those creatures outside, they seemed to hunt people with a negative alignment to put inside this place. How can I leave later, when they are that much stronger than me and want to put me inside this place?”

“Oh,” Wraith said. “I almost forgot about that. Do you have a piece of metal, silver or gold would be best.”

Jay reluctantly took out a silver coin from his Inventory and tossed it to Wraith. As the coin came close to Wraith, a strand of silvery light shot out from Wraith and disintegrated the coin into a fine powder that floating in the air. Then, just as suddenly, the powder came together to form a square symbol with a circular hole in the middle; it was slightly bigger than a coin. Some jagged patterns seemed carved around the circle.

“This represents you being my emissary, of sorts,” Wraith said. “Just show them this when you leave and they'll obey you as they would me. But don't make them do thing they can't do, and don't kill them. They aren't warriors either, so you can't order them to kill for you, unfortunately even I can't make them go against their alignment... dull creatures that they are, they have some strange integrity ingrained in them.”

The silvery square floated back to Jay and he took it from the air, feeling its slightly warm surface. He had no idea how Wraith had done what he did. Wraith's actions were too quick and expertly done, but Jay didn't mind. It probably wasn't possible to copy that Spell and make it one of the ones to complete his Quest.