"Aahhh, damn it. Why the hell can't I get this right?!" I said, kicking the sand and causing my furry rat friends to scurry away, leaving behind a powerful wave of the same plastic, sour iron aroma. The same one they've repeatedly wafted throughout my internal beachside whenever they were afraid, something I've taken as their way of communicating. Sighing, I rubbed my eyes and plopped down into the sand crossing my legs.
"I'm sorry guys. I just can't figure out this damned skill, but its right fucking there!" I exclaimed, clenching my fists into the soft black and trying to calm myself. The cold touch of high tide crept across my ankles, somehow slowly simmering my seething over the stupid 'Skill Hint' bullshit. The same brave rat that always returns first hopped up on my leg, flashing a rather concerned look in its one bloodshot eye. A gust of freshly cracked stone filled my pallet as I peered down at my little companion.
"…yeah, you're right. I should probably take a break from this." I said, knowing my frustrations will probably end up diminishing any progress I've made training internally. With one deep breath, I willed my consciousness free of my place of peace and back to the cave.
"Oh good, you're finally awake. Get over here, I need your help." Cassi requested as I jolted awake. Rubbing my eyes, I noticed she was hunched over the wooden desk at the center of the sentient wave. Oddly enough, the wave still remained hovering over Korbin's unconscious body at the edge of the water.
"What the f-, how are you fine right now?" I asked, walking around the wave and across the water.
"What, the wave? It's been docile thus far, and this water mana is incredibly malleable. I can see how you learned to walk across it so easily." Cassi said, kicking her toes across the surface of the water as she continued thoroughly inspecting the crystals on the old wooden desk.
"Wait, what you do mean learned how t-"
"And by the way, wanted to say thanks for never telling me you've been practicing mana manipulation. Not like you were my trainer or anything, I really appreciate it." Cassi interrupted, flashing a devilish grin over her shoulder.
"Okay, to be fair I barely learned how to do that AT the quarterlies. And at that time we were trying to maneuver the simulation of a literal apocalypse." I replied, knowing full well I probably could've mentioned why I was meditating so much since Phanthu's simulation taught me how to practice mana manipulation on water.
"Wait, really? Hm." Cassi said, her tone sounding far more genuinely surprised before arching her lips in a contented frown and resuming her inspection.
"What 'hm'? What do you mean 'hm'?" I questioned, hearing a light amount of judgement in that sound.
"Nothing really, just later than I thought you would've." Cassi replied.
"Oh, like you learned it sooner." I replied confidently, only for her subtle chuckling to make me question if she'd been the one holding out on me.
"…okay, I think I'm starting to understand this. Come sit here." Cassi directed, standing up straight and pointing down toward the old wooden chair.
"Sure, I don't mind a quick show." I replied, seeing as the Tectonic Shift already happened and failed to crumble or flood our above-ground cave.
"Relax, don't activate the crystal shards yet." Cassi explicitly instructed, just before my twin blades hit the desk.
"Fine." I relented, dropping my blades at my sides letting their chain rest across my lap. Placing my arm up on the desk, I leaned over to peek at the exact crystal Cassi was staring at intently. Before I could properly begin bugging her however, a beam of clear blue energy shot out from the crystal opposite to Cassi's study piece.
*ding*
[ SCANNING… ]
What?
Looking down, I noticed the arm I was resting held my grapple hook being its main scan, quickly working its way up my arm and midsection.
[ ManaPrint Identification match: 93% ]
"Welcome home, Galenthelos."
Shit.
The crystals immediately hummed to life after the scan notification, morphing into familiarly complex shapes assumedly forming the screen I'd seen that Myrell guy adopt his gods power.
"Woah, hey what the fuck, I said to wait?!" Cassi protested angrily, jolting her head away from the now shifting crystals across the table.
"Shit, my bad." I replied, as the crystals jumped up from the table creating the same rectangular screen I'd seen at the grotto.
"Well scoot the hells over?!" Cassi demanded, throwing her heavily armored hip into mine nearly knocking me clean off the chair.
"Your file update request made; 22.2 trillion years, 92 days, 6 hours and 3 minutes ago has been successfully updated for: 22.1 trillion years, 257 days, 18 hours and 3 minutes ago." The same oddly familiar male voice I'd heard the last time I used one of these announced, its voice echoing off the cave walls.
"Jeez, could you imagine being around for that long? The things someone could both accomplish and wreck in that time." Cassi asked, only for a thundering, rageful bellow rang out from the projected mana screen.
"She WHAT?!" A man's voice I hadn't heard since…well, I can't really remember when actually. But I know it, as much as I recognize the demon's deep scarlet skin and short-horned head. Cupping his open hand, a powerful burst of wild, orange whipping energy spiraled out ripping a hole through the bricks in the small, almost dungeon-like room he stood in.
"She's betrothed to him, m'lord."
"IT. That thing is a fucking ABOMINATION!" The demon angrily barked, snatching a massive glaive from his guard's hand and slicing his desk behind him clean in half with one hand. Orange energy poured from his eyes on impact, triggering his guards to quickly shuffle out of the room. All except the messenger, an older man with white hair and a metal 'x' across his eye.
"I'm sorry, Beloris. You must know she doesn-"
"Save it, Caloth. Please. It…it doesn't matter much anymore, does it?" The demon replied with clenched fists.
"Wait, that's Beloris?!" Cassi asked over my shoulder, nearly making me jump from my seat.
"Beloris? Why is that name so fucking familiar?" I asked aloud, the name gnawing at the edge of my mind.
"Because it's Korbin's Patron." Cassi answered, immediately flooding a number of conversations with Korbin regarding his god. Or, his devil, not really sure how to call it with infernal deities.
"You mustn't give up hope, Beloris. You know as well as I she had no intention of remaining with that abomination your master accidentally unleashed." Caloth spoke up over Cassi.
"And how do you suppose she escapes this? Do you have any clue how powerful he will become with unfettered access to her plane? The multiverse hasn't known such wrath since…" Beloris hissed back, leaning against the shattered remains of his desk on the ground.
"I know. But we cannot simply abandon our duty to Anutir and our people because Galenthelos has failed. We must retalia-"
"Oh ho-ho hold the fuck on, 'our' people?! I'm not sure if you've forgotten, old-timer, but I was officially forbidden from her until I fulfilled my oath to Myzur. One he knew only ended when he was good and fucking ready. And for what? Because I was born where chaos breeds? And what of that MONSTER our supposed God was supposed to protect us from, hm? Where is he now to defend his niece, that fuckin' fraud?!" Beloris shouted propping up to his feet, the devils skin visibly reddening, as did his orange irises.
"Belori-"
"LEAVE!" Beloris commanded, pointing to the staircase Caloth stood several steps in front of. The white haired man's eyes softened from their arched grimace, his wrinkly eyelids opening wide enough to reveal a look of genuine sadness.
"Please I need y-"
"NOW!" Beloris bellowed, his voice doubling with a far deeper, guttural tone. Fire ignited at the ends of his horns, the engraved devil hovering on a torrent of orange flames lifting him high above Caloth. The old man sighed, dropping his chin to his chest and ascending the staircase behind him. Not before stopping halfway up however, leaning down to see Beloris who stood still visibly seething.
"The ritual, she still completed it. I needed you to know, so that it could never die with her or I. Good luck, son." Caloth said, his words causing Beloris to start heading for the staircase. Caloth lightly placed his hand against a step, letting a little rat suffer down the steps as he turned and left. Once he mentioned a 'ritual', the flames at the ends of the devil's horns extinguished. Beloris' hand rose up to his chin as he turned back into his hideout, leaning down and letting the rat scurry up his hand with a grin.
"I'm glad to see you're at least still loyal." Beloris said to the rat as it scurried onto his shoulder. Beloris's hand rose back to his chin, his eyes darting quicker than my own could track. Then, a terrible smile stretched across the devil's mouth, his eyelids narrowed gleefully and…oddly pointed right at me.
"I see…alright, I'll follow your lead." Korbin said, before the entire image washed out in a series of ripples that reminded me of a rainstorm over a pond's reflection. The crystals rattled to a stop, lowering themselves slowly from the air down toward the desk.
"Ritual? And…who's Anutir?" Cassi asked. Before I could even begin trying to put a face to the name however, the crystals tapped against the desk.
*CRUMBLE*
The watery pond below suddenly sank down, causing both us and the desk to drop into a freefall for a full 4 seconds. My body bounced off the water surface, rolling over to find Cass submerged to the hips slowly lifting herself back onto the surface.
"Why didn't you let yourself fall in?" Cassi asked with a confused look.
"Cassi, who exactly do you think I am?" I replied.
"Hang on, where's Kor-"
*SPLASH*
Cassi and I both shared a wide eyed expression before she dove back in head first. The stone walls around us crackled into etching webs all around me in seconds before Cassi reamerged holding Korbin.
"Why the fuck is it collapsing now?! We still have an hour before the next shift!" Cassi angrily questioned, crawling onto the water surface upright once more, with Korbin slung over her shoulder.
"Again, who the fuck do you think I am?!" I replied, scanning the crumbling cave. Several streams of water jetted out from the webbing cracks in the walls, causing chunks of stone to fall around us.
*SPLASH*
Massive crystal shards joined the stone in cascading from the ceiling that's now too deep in the darkness above to see. A massive pool of water dumped down on top of us both, causing Cassi to sink down under the water while I smacked hard onto the water's surface.
Argh, why isn't this water fucking watering?!
Cass popped up from the water, only her hands were now free and waving around in front of the water that refused to touch her.
"Come on, get down here?!" Cassi yelled impatiently, snapping me from my stupor at her ability to create such a barrier around herself from the water.
Okay, alright Tom, just focus. Connect your own mana strings to the waters'-
*SPLASH*
"Dammit, Tom!" Cassi exclaimed frustratedly as a massive hunk of stone collapsed between us, her body suddenly rising up to the surface revealing Korbin laying at her feet.
"Get over here and focus!" Cassi commanded. I immediately shuffled tightly beside her and Korbin, feeling as we began sinking down together on some invisible surface. She turned and pressed her back into mine, slowly waving her hands in figure-eight motions.
"Allow the mana strings to collect along your own, and give them currents you desire." Cassi exclaimed loudly over her shoulder and right into my ear, her tone disciplined like she'd used this as some sort of mantra. Closing my eyes and feeling the water quickly pooling in my boots, all attention honed in on this new sense mana manipulation has brought. First my feet and hands extended out to the water, constantly washing across my own strings that felt…surprisingly sturdier under the pressure. Swaying my body and limbs, every mana connection twisted and rushed in concert creating a thin curving layer of space between the water and myself. It took several swipes for the strings to cover Korbin and I in our entirety, though the water here continues to be more and more…willing to listen definitely made it easier. Still, I could feel my mana constantly draining ever so subtly with every motion, the strings binding the current wall still siphoning from my resource pool.
"Woah…this is incredible!?" I exclaimed after finally opening my eyes, seeing into the water's depths from inside our dry pocket. Korbin still lay totally unconscious between us, now wearing an angry grimace I almost giggled at seeing.
"Stay relaxed, Tom. This method requires your mana strings remain completely flexible. Any rigidity introduced will cause the network to stress, and saving yourself from a collapse like that is mana costly as fuck. Trust me." Cassi said with a pained sigh. I nearly whipped my temple into hers looking over my shoulder.
"Why do you know all this shit? I never once caught you practicing any form of mana manipulation?!" I questioned, having felt certain her time training was the only thing that improved from her being demoted as General.
"Because it didn't take me nearly 2 weeks to start waking up earlier than our soldiers, did it? I have no choice but to manage my time wisely, you know this." Cassi replied, her tone sounding slightly peeved.
"…yeah, that's fair enough. Sorry." I said after a brief pause, realizing I've probably been pretty self-centered for the majority of this Tutorial.
"It's fine." Cass replied exasperatingly. I scanned around the quiet waters to help keep myself relaxed, attempting to feel out the mana strings binding our protective layer one at a time. It's really eerie, seeing a big body of water with no life to inhabit it. Reminds me of the miles of ocean Steve and I had conquered around our region, causing much of the life to either bow or abandon our territory altogether. I'm really starting to miss that feathered-snake right about now.
"So then uh…are we just going to wait here until he decides to wake up?" I asked after a couple minutes, hoping to deflect the encroaching homesickness.
"Can't see why we'd bother leaving. So long as we're down here with enough mana to get him on land safely, we're pretty much in the clear from elimination." Cassi pointed out, bringing a strange subtle relief to my belly. One I didn't think was necessary, given safety has become a sentiment more than a state.
"But wait, what about the next Tectonic Shift? Didn't you say that was already within the hour earlier?"I asked, recalling how wildly violent being swept up in that tsunami during the one at the grotto. Then again, the sentient water here seems to be just as willing to assist our survival, if not more so given its malleability.
"We'll see. Frankly, I'd rather be down here being dragged to the top than on the coast being buried in a hundred tons of tidal pressure. Maybe that's just me." Cass shot back with a grin and devilishly raised brow. Shaking my head, I let out a long drawn sigh.
"Alright, I guess the multiversal murder mission is as good a time as any to…practice."
——————————-————————————
"-yet you insist on blaming the infernals? What of the voidborns who've allowed us our own realms?" Beloris questioned, his voice breaking the constantly distorted murmuring as my eyes cleared.
"You ask me to punish those you coerce into cooperation?" The System Auditor Sarcastically questioned.
"ME?! I have done no such thing?!" Beloris replied, smiling ear to ear lifting his hands defensively.
"Ou, why are we arguing now? Did you guys see what I saw this time?"
"What, no. Oh for the hate of all…why, what did you see?" Beloris questioned with a long sigh, sounding more fed up than I'd imagined he'd been when I woke up.
"Oh nothing, you dog you. Nothing I wouldn't expect at least." I said, jabbing him in the arm twice playfully. Beloris shook his head, letting his smile twitch at the edge of his lips.
"I hope you've been paying close attention to these, Mr. Erickson. Now, this is the period in which you may review what you've seen with your patron to gather context and a grasp before being sent back to your body…or…" the System Auditor raised a brow toward Beloris, who was already rubbing his eyes in annoyance.
"Or what?" I asked. The Auditor peered over its glasses at me with a big grin.
"Or you can watch the final 2 memories to build a better understanding before being sent back. The choice is yours alone." The auditor asked. I smiled over at Beloris, who went out of his way not to look up at me, his mouth twitching threatening yet again to smile.
"What do you think lover-devil, should I find some more dirt on our crotchety old god?" I asked Beloris, who broke whatever held him from looking at me and nodded with a grin.
"By all means, snoop away."