– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 214, Season of the Rising Moon, Day 86 –

Terry, Siling, and Calam were waiting at the dimensional gate in the eastern district of Arcana.

The three could easily be identified as belonging to the same group because they were all wearing similar armors. They had made a deal with one of the local blacksmiths and got a discount in exchange for providing the material from the cloud badgers.

The cloud badger leather was thick and durable, which made it a very good armor material. The felted pelt provided some additional protection. Even more importantly, it provided good insulation against the cold and was ideal for the upcoming season.

The material also had its disadvantages. First, the material needed to be cleaned professionally and air out for a while before it could be used for armor due to the cloud badger’s tendency to use stench as a defense. Additionally, the all-white color was a bit showy and impractical – unless you wanted to go hunting in the snow. Therefore, they had opted to have the fur and leather dyed and darkened.

A tall man with sunken eyes, a dark grey coat, and well-worn travel boots approached Terry’s group.

“Good morning you three. My name is Khaled. I’ll be your instructor for the day.”

Terry, Calam, and Siling greeted the man and introduced themselves.

“Alright, follow me. We can talk while walking,” said Khaled and immediately took the lead.

“No mana-cursed creatures are tolerated anywhere close to Arcana City. Therefore, we won’t find any living specimens in the whole A-zone. The nearest opportunity is the Bornais research facility in the outer reaches of the B-zone. Unfortunately for us, Bornais is intentionally isolated. We can use the primary gates up to Brisk and then a secondary gate to the Billowing Mountains. The rest of the way, we will have to walk.”

Khaled eyed them up and down. “How is your stamina? Will you be able to handle a jog for around two hours? Uphill?”

Terry nodded confidently.

Calam nodded as well, but with less confidence. When a mana cultivating instructor talks about a ‘jog,’ then that was certain to be a euphemism.

Siling’s left eye displayed a light twitch and she frowned. Siling hated running, especially endurance running.

“Not me personally, but my bear soul could carry me. Will that be alright?”

“Soul spirit? Should be fine. None of the local wildlife is particularly sensitive towards them. The Billowing Mountains don’t harbor any creatures feeding on souls or spirits. If everything works out, we could make it back by midnight. Otherwise, we will rest for the night along the way.

“Before I start with the obligatory monologues, what exactly made you want to take this class?”

“We intend to take on a mission that brings us near Corsteau,” replied Terry.

Khaled nodded. “You thought you could pair it up with the mark-and-recapture mission? Makes sense. Pity though. I hoped you might have chosen the class for more idealistic reasons.”

Terry furrowed his brow trying to understand what their instructor was getting at.

“Maybe, it is my age showing and I am just getting grumpy, but the recent generations of Guardians are looking more and more like the Guild. It used to be that being a Guardian meant doing what needs to be done instead of doing what is most exciting or most rewarding. A consequence of the peaceful lives afforded by the barrier, I guess.

“Don’t get me wrong. I am not trying to reproach you. On the contrary, I am happy to have you. Few youngsters are even looking at the optional classes. Even though mana cursed work pays well for its danger level, the travel distance makes it unattractive to people looking for earnings efficiency. To make it worse, mana cursed work seems inglorious inside Arcana – a tragic victim of our past successes.

“Anyway, no need to mind this old codger. I only wish that more people would take lessons from the past and realize the work’s gravity. All I ask is that you will keep considering the mana cursed missions in the future.

“Now to the obligatory part. What are mana curses? Do you know any in particular?”

“The deathblood plague,” replied Terry.

“Mark of Death?” offered Siling.

“Vampirism,” guessed Calam.

“Hm. Interesting choices. Right on two accounts, wrong on one. Mark of Death is merely a curse in the colloquial meaning. To be precise, it is a debilitation spell and not a mana curse. Recent generations have started to use curses as a synonym for debilitation spells, but that is misguided. Again, it seems to be a tragic consequence of our peaceful times. People have forgotten the true horror of mana curses.

“Debilitation spells can be cruel or outright horrifying, true. However, the key characteristic of mana curses is not their inherent effect, but their self-replicating nature. No matter how horrifying, a debilitation spell is limited in time and scope. A debilitation spell does not spread to others. By contrast, you can think of mana curses as diseases spread through mana.”

“Like the karmic rot?” interjected Siling.

“Absolutely correct. That one qualifies. Luckily, its reproduction number is very low.

“Most mana curses have been intentionally designed. Their effects or means of reproduction vary a lot. There were even a few mana curses that infect constructs instead of living beings. Nowadays, we have the curses mostly under control, especially in Arcana. Outside the barrier, it looks a bit worse, but even there, the greatest horrors are things of the past.

“The worst mana curse known to us was the deathblood plague, which has been eradicated thanks to the Veilbinder and his companions. It was the worst by far. Close proximity to an infected was enough to spread infection. The only effective preventative measure was a ritual that was lethal in most cases and very detrimental to your lifespan in all cases. It gave the curse originator influence over the mind of every infected. It was similar to clerics or other channelers in that it allowed the infected to channel power from the hive. Of course, the power available for channeling depended on how much you opened your mind to the originator’s influence. Last, if a mind was opened enough, the originator could take possession of the body. This made it extremely challenging to eradicate the originator.

“The karmic rot was a mana curse designed during the Faithless Wars in the Era of Enlightenment. The self-identified gods were not willing to be dethroned from their exalted positions and denigrated to be treated as just another magical creature. They went all out with a vendetta against the Veilbinder and the later Faithless Saints. Eventually, some devout cultists attempted to reinvent the deathblood plague. They came up with the karmic rot in order to punish the faithless. This curse slowly withered away an infected soul. It, too, could be spread through close proximity. Fortunately, it required long-time exposure. The curse popped up a few more times in the following era, but remained contained in the Lich Kingdoms.

“Vampirism is the oldest among the mana curses you gave as examples. It is also the only one among the three that persists to this day. One of the reasons why it persists is that it entails several difficult moral dilemmas and it is not clear how one should deal with it.

“The most common remaining mana curses are three undead curses: the zombie plague, the ghoul plague, and the death aura curse. I’ll postpone details about them for our way back. You are not likely to ever encounter them inside the barrier. They’re mostly a topic for the Wastes. There, you can find undead hordes roaming around and battling it out with the aspect beings, the hellspawn, and the other empires.

“Fortunately, dealing with undead like zombies does not pose any significant moral quandaries. You see them. You kill them. Not much to it. By contrast, vampires are sentient and empathic beings – not different in that aspect from other folk. Their curse only spreads through intentional action – biting others or giving birth to new deathlife. They can be integrated into society if the society is willing to take the risk.”

“Are we?” asked Siling. ”Arcana, I mean.”

Khaled shook his head. “Not really. The Council does not see a benefit that would be worth the risks. Arcana is not like the other empires. We are not looking for more soldiers to defend against the Wastes or against the other empires. We don’t have to be afraid of vampires taking offense and joining up with the Lich Kingdoms either.”

Khaled shrugged. ”A particularly gifted or accomplished mage vampire may get a chance, but even then, there would probably be heavy restrictions imposed.”

“Long story short, mana cursed work in Arcana is less about reactive measures and more about prevention. It is about supporting research and following up on any hints of an outbreak. The last part is also my area of expertise. I am part of the Guardians’ tracking squad. Together with bounty hunting and general investigations, mana cursed work has the largest overlap with the tracking squad.”

Khaled continued with his explanation while the group made their way through the dimensional gate in Arcana’s eastern district.

***

Khaled ran ahead of the group and kept an eye on the surroundings. He slowed down, raised his left fist up to head level, and came to a stop. Additionally, he channelled mana into his fist so that it became noticeable in mana sight.

Terry and the others gathered around Khaled. Terry did not show any signs of exhaustion yet. Siling seemed a bit ruffled, because a bear did not make the most comfortable mount at high speeds.

“Huff ha…” Calam was out of breath. “I can still go on.”

“Maybe you could, but that is not the reason we stopped,” stated Khaled. “There is a group of mana corrupted up ahead. I could lead you around them, but then we may have to take a large detour. The nearby areas are more dangerous than this one. So here is your choice: Do you want to engage or not?”

“Engage?” asked Siling.

“Naturally. Just because this is a mission on mana cursed, does not mean you are forbidden from hunting mana corrupted when having the chance.”

“You mean us alone, don’t you, instructor?” asked Terry.

“Of course.” Khaled grinned. ”I am your instructor, not your escort. If I were to kill them, then that would be a wasted opportunity for you, no? I can tell you what you are up against and I will keep an eye out so you won’t get hurt too much. If you manage to take the corrupted down without requiring my interference, then all the spoils belong to you. I can even tell you that there are open missions for these things.”

“What things are we talking about?” questioned Siling.

“And how many?” added Terry.

“A small pack of ash wolves. Eight members. Going by the concentration of their emitted mana, I would say only lower ranks. However, one of them may be in the middle levels of the lower rank.”

“Aren’t ash wolves supposed to be very dangerous?” asked Calam.

Terry nodded.

“Yes… and no. Ash wolves are a diverse species of corrupted. The lower ranks don’t pose much of a threat. Their corruption is of mixed mana with fire representing the main aspect. Their bite can cook your flesh. Anyway, it is generally advisable to not let yourself get bitten to begin with.

“Things start to change beginning with the middle levels of the lower rank, because that is when they start to learn dust teleportation. Still, at that level the teleportation range is rather short and they are limited in how frequently they can use it.

“It’s the higher ranks that are truly lethal, because in addition to having fewer and fewer limitations on their dust teleportation, they also learn to change their size – shrinking as small as a puppy or growing as big as a castle. A high-rank ash wolf can represent an empire-level threat. However, such a creature has not been sighted since more than an era ago.

“In any case, we will take a short break. Make up your mind and then inform me about your decision.”

***

“Workable,” judged Siling.

“Once more to sum it up?” suggested Terry.

Siling and Calam nodded. Terry looked at Calam.

“Do not let them surround us,” said Calam. “Forcefully disperse them and break them apart if they try to gang up on someone. Do not let them get close to Siling.”

“PIck a target, get close, and try to wound them,” continued Terry.

“Send in Furball as combat support,” added Siling.

“No protracted combat with any specific ash wolf,” said Terry. “Disengage…”

“…and disperse them again if needed,” continued Calam.

“Finish off the wounded if there is a good chance,” said Siling. “No wasting mana.”

The three of them nodded at each other. Then, they turned to Khaled who was leaning on a tree close to them.

“Follow me,” ordered Khaled and walked ahead.

After a short ten minute walk, Khaled gestured towards the pack of ash wolves. They stood much taller than normal wolves and had dark grey fur and blood-red eyes.

“All yours.”

Terry took out one of his barrier spears and moved to take point. The group of three people and one white bear with purple markings slowly moved towards the ash wolves.

When the wolves took notice of the approaching group, Terry ran forward.

Calam jumped left and threw a Kinetic Push at the wolves.

Siling let her soul bear give a loud roar and charge in from the right.

They had established a formation with Siling positioned in the back where she as the healer would be protected while being close enough for her to cast long-range spells.

The ash wolves were thrown backwards. One of them hit a tree. This marked it as the first target picked by Terry. He judged that the distance to the rest of the pack was enough to provide a better opportunity than they had initially expected. Terry used a short mana burst to get close to the target while he took out his second barrier spear.

The ash wolf was still on the ground when Terry struck out with the spear in his right hand. The corrupted creature turned to the side and the spear only grazed it.

The wolf was about to snap out when Terry activated the barrier imprint of his right spear. Terry had angled the spear so that the tower shield barrier trapped the wolf against the tree while still leaving enough of the ash wolf's body open for attack. Simultaneously, Terry aimed his left spear at a lower point than before. The spear penetrated the wolf’s body and hit the tree. Terry left the spear to pin the wolf’s body, deactivated the barrier, and then finished off the wolf with his right spear.

Afterwards, Terry jumped back to distance himself from the remaining creatures and get back closer to Calam and the soul bear.

One of the ash wolves had recovered faster than the others and even managed to land on its feet. It was turning towards Terry, but instead of moving closer to the fight, it started to eye the soul bear. The ash wolf gave a few howls and started to circle left. The other ash wolves spread out.

Whenever some of the ash wolves got too close, Calam used another Kinetic Push to throw them back. Unfortunately, the ash wolves had learned their lesson and were not as closely huddled together as before. It required two spells in order to isolate the next ash wolf.

Terry moved in fast. Unfortunately, he only managed to inflict a few wounds before the other ash wolves returned and he had to disengage. Fortunately, if the ash wolves tried to gang up on Terry, they formed a perfect target for Calam, who followed up with a Kinetic Push right into their group.

This scenario repeated for a few times until Siling cast an Entangling Roots spell right before the next Kinetic Push. This left one of the ash wolves isolated with enough distance for Terry to cause a lethal injury.

“ROAR.” Some of the ash wolves fought the soul bear and one of them had sunk its teeth into the bear’s hindleg. In a fury, the soul bear turned around and smacked the ash wolf into a pulp.

Terry moved towards the soul bear in order to help disentangle some of the ash wolves so that Calam could use a Kinetic Push. Meanwhile, Siling managed to finish off one of the previously wounded ash wolves with an Ice Spike spell.

The ash wolves kept the soul bear between themselves and Calam. This prevented Calam and the others from continuing with the Kinetic Push strategy. With its injury, the soul bear could not sprint quickly enough to disengage properly.

Terry charged towards two ash wolves. The wolves were prepared to dodge his spear. However, when Terry suddenly activated the barrier imprint, they were unable to evade the mana shield that rammed into them at full force.

Calam ran towards the opening in order to follow up with his spell.

*Flltt* An ash wolf materialized out of a dust cloud right in front of Calam. Calam froze up. His prepared spell ended in spell failure. He was wide-eyed and stood in a stupor.

The noise of the dust teleportation caused Terry to look around. In his peripheral vision, he could still see the ash settle in the ash wolf’s previous spot. When Terry saw the mana corrupted charging at the shocked Calam, he immediately went into full burst and sprinted towards them.

In the last moment, Terry managed to reach the ash wolf by taking out his non-magic long spear and thrusting out against the creature’s hindlegs. The cut startled the creature enough that it evaded on instinct and thereby gave up its current attack. It snarled at Terry, who was now standing between it and Calam.

Terry had nearly tackled Calam by accident, because he was not completely used to his speed at this burst level.

“SNAP OUT OF IT!” Terry screamed at Calam.

“Y-y-yes…” mumbled Calam.

However, before Calam could jolt out of his daze, ash rose again from the ash wolf’s fur.

*Flltt* Another dust teleportation brought it to Calam’s back and again it went on the attack with a jump.

Terry tried to block the creature with his spear. For this, he had to position the spear close to Calam.

*Flltt* The ash wolf teleported again mid-jump and was now ready to attack Calam from Terry’s left. The spear in Terry’s right hand was blocked by Calam’s body and could not be used to defend quickly.

Terry dropped the spear, grabbed Calam, and jumped back with as much force as he could muster. Simultaneously, Terry activated the Blinding Flash imprint in his glove. He hoped to disorient the mana corrupted long enough to allow them some breathing space.

They managed to dodge the ash wolf’s attack, but they were not off the hook yet.

“Crap.” Terry realized that the ash wolf was now positioned between them and Siling. This was definitely not supposed to happen. He hurriedly looked around and was relieved to find that Siling was aware of the situation. She was already moving herself as well as her soul bear. Her quick reaction enabled Terry to return his focus to the mid-level ash wolf.

Terry noticed that the ash wolf’s blood red eyes started to glow – a sign of mana circulation. Next, the ash on its fur rose again.

Terry recalled an idea he had thought of before. He summoned a metal throwing needle from his storage bracelet. The needle had a sharpened and weighted tip, and a handle with roughly double the diameter of Terry’s practice pen. Terry had practiced throwing the needle as well as using it like a stiletto knife. However, he wanted to try something different. Without wasting a second, Terry started to harvest mana.

*Flltt* The ash wolf had reappeared at Calam’s back. Terry waited until the corrupted creature had picked up some speed. He grabbed Calam with one hand and jumped back. At the same time, he placed the throwing needle in the path of the ash wolf and ignited his spell structure for Immovable Object.

The ash wolf ran straight into the needle that hovered in the air.

“Ooowohoo.” The needle was now inside the creature’s body and remained transfixed in its place. The ash wolf struggled and every movement only added to its internal injuries.

Eventually, the mana-corrupted creature succumbed to its wounds.

Siling had managed to kill one more ash wolf in coordination with her soul bear. The remaining ash wolves were quickly taken care of as well. The fight was over.

“Clap. Clap. Clap. You did not disappoint,” said Khaled. “That battle was much quicker than us taking a detour. Collect your spoils and take a break.”

Khaled turned towards Siling. “Do you think you will be able to continue riding on your soul bear?”

“Yes, I need to cast Cure Wounds on it and Heal on myself and we should be good to go. I still have enough mana.”

Siling looked at Calam with concern in her eyes. “What happened there?”

“S-sorry,” mumbled Calam. “I don’t know. My mind just blanked.”

“You scared the mana out of me,” said Terry.

“May happen to everyone, but if it keeps happening, you have a problem,” said Khaled.

“Won’t happen again,” promised Calam.

Terry, Siling, and Calam started to collect the ash wolf remains into their dimensional body bags.

“An ash wolf would make for an awesome soul spirit, wouldn’t it?” remarked Terry.

“Yeah, but I would have to find at least mid-level ones in order to perform dust teleportation and that would make strengthening the soul a bit difficult. For now, at least.”

At some point, Khaled took Calam to the side in order to have a private conversation.

“If this keeps happening, then you ought to go into freeze therapy,” said Khaled.

“Freeze therapy?”

“You’re familiar with the fight or flight response?”

“Yes?”

“There is a third instinctual option: freeze. In this kind of mission work, freeze is by far the most troublesome response to have. At least flight makes you move and movement can be channeled into a helpful direction. Freeze is different. There are not many people that can resolve a freeze problem on their own. It is generally advisable to reconsider doing mission work until the problem has been sorted out in the training grounds.”

Calam looked pensive and reluctant.

“For now, there is not much need to worry yourself. A single occurrence does not make a pattern of behavior. I just wanted to make you aware that there are options even if there is a problem.”

After a few minutes, they were all done with collecting the remains. The adrenaline had worn off by then.

*Sniff* *Sniff* “What’s that stench?” asked Siling. She started to sniff at Terry before recoiling and holding her nose.

“Did you run into any rotten eggs along the way?”

“Not that I’m aware of, no.” Terry sniffed himself in perplexity.

Khaled laughed. “That would be a consequence of your choice in armor. That mid-level ash wolf singed the fur on your left leg.”

***

A woman in a pantsuit waited for the group at the entrance.

“Good afternoon, Khaled.”

“Greetings, Mercedes.”

The woman turned to Terry and the others. “Welcome to our Bornais Research Facility. My name is Mercedes and I will act as your liaison and show you around. Since this is an introduction class, I take it that this is your first encounter with the cursed?”

The three nodded.

“They’ll be visiting Corsteau soon and intend to help with the mark and recapture mission,” mentioned Khaled.

“Then allow me to thank you already for your efforts. Please, follow me.”

Mercedes activated a personalized spell imprint at the entrance to open the door.

“I am afraid that your work in Coursteau will be slightly different than what we can demonstrate here. A mark and recapture mission is part of the empire’s efforts to detect problems early and prevent any problematic outbreak. The local mammal population will be your primary targets for spot checks.

“Arcana mandates strict procedures when dealing with mana curses. Any curse able to affect mammals is not tolerated anywhere closer than the C-zone – not even for research. Curses that are able to affect beings capable of flight may be subject to even harsher restrictions. Here in Corsteau, our research focus is on mana curses that affect insects.”

Mercedes used an inscribed card to open another door.

“And here, you can see one of the curses in action. Please stay behind the line marked in red. You may activate your mana sense, but be so kind as to refrain from any mana harvesting. On the magnifying display you can see our curse victims – members of the Camponotini tribe or as you may refer to them colloquially: ants.

“This mana curse is termed vivi mortuis unilateralis and is of particular interest to us. The curse replicates itself through a complex interactive mechanism between mana, a fungus, and the insectoid victims.

“Broadly speaking, the fungus accumulates mana for the curse. The activated curse helps it to attract and infect ants. An infected ant then displays modified behavior patterns beneficial for spreading the fungus. Their bodies convulse and make them drop to the ground. The ants start to seek out areas with specific temperatures or humidity levels.

“Eventually, the ants crawl up leaves up to a certain height, fasten themselves with their mandibles, and then patiently await their deaths and the sprouting of fungus spores from their bodies. This behavior pattern has earned them the moniker ‘zombie ants.’ The height allows the spores to spread further. Additionally, a bird or other flying creature may snack on the ant only to then spread the fungus with its droppings. There was a lot of debate if we would be allowed to study the curse in this facility.

“The behavior modification component on its own already serves to explain our interest in this particular curse. One additional aspect that fascinates me personally is that it is not clear if the curse has been deliberately designed by a higher sentient being like us folk. A perpetual insecticide would be one possible design purpose. An alternate theory is that it is an extended phenotype of a mana-corrupted fungus. That is a theory I find both intriguing and horrifying.”

***

“Have you finished your shopping for your multi-mission trip?” asked Bjorln after he disengaged from hand-to-hand sparring with Terry.

“Water catcher? Food supplies? Light source?”

“Yeah, all set,” repliedTerry.

“Insect nets? Cold wear? A tent and sleeping bag just in case? Heating pad?”

“All set.”

Terry had to smile. He knew that his siblings might be annoyed if they were in his place, but for Terry the concern of his accepted parents made him feel all warm and fuzzy.

“Mhmh. Ward imprints? Mana containers? Rope? One can never have too much rope.”

“All set. Really.”

“Allright, good,” acknowledged Bjorln before he thought of another topic to discuss. ”You know that trick you pulled in your spar with Isille?”

“You mean with the Immovable Object spell? Yeah, I don’t think that will work a second time, will it?”

Bjorln chuckled. “No. No, it won’t. Actually, I would suggest that you don’t use it in your weapon spars for now. Or rather I think you should focus on a different target than the weapon. It fits better into our sessions.”

“You mean target armor instead?”

“Yes, exactly. An immobilized weapon is nice. However, the opponent can still pursue you or take out a spare weapon.”

Terry nodded. “And immobilized armor in contrast would impair the opponent’s mobility.”

“Right. It could be a great card to play in order to prepare an escape or to set up an attack from a blindspot. Also, there is a statistical aspect.”

“Hm?”

“You are not able to overpower other spell imprints yet, are you?”

“No, but I can use my mana sense to check if the item has an imprint.”

“Sure, unless the item’s imprint has been cloaked. Also, as a rule of thumb, people mostly upgrade their weapons before they upgrade their armor. This makes it more likely to encounter magic weapons than magic armor pieces. There are exceptions, of course. This tendency applies to people that have to equip themselves. If you were to encounter a cherished member of a rich merchant family, then their defensive equipment may outrank their weapons.”

“Because armor tends to be more expensive?”

“Exactly. In any case, while it is common for people to wear magic weapons, it is very rare to encounter someone that has exclusively magic equipment. So if you practice with targeting armor pieces…”

“My practice is more likely to be of help,” agreed Terry. “So from now on I should attempt to use Immovable Object on your equipment during our spars?”

“Mhmh, but I will watch you with mana sight. You seem to have practiced ambidextrous casting and your off-hand has gotten better, but unless you manage to quicken the spell some more, it will be difficult for you.”

“Understood. Another round?”

They continued sparring for another half hour and Terry tried to incorporate his spell into his hand-to-hand style.

“That’s enough for today,” announced Bjorln before he disengaged again. “You know, I may have underestimated how much of a nuisance that spell of yours truly is.”

“How so? I haven’t even managed to immobilize you even once.”

“True and I would be embarrassed if you had, mind you. However, I already know what the spell does and I have to adjust accordingly whenever I notice you harvesting mana or shaping the structure. If I were to punch out normally…” Bjorln grimaced. “Immobilization is only part of the problem. My bigger worry is that my movement would continue even after the spell has activated. This would throw all my force back against myself. If you were to immobilize my leg bracer when I kick out, I would suddenly kick an immovable wall. That thought throws off my rhythm.”

“The more I think about it, the more I am looking forward to you incorporating it in close combat.” Bjorln grinned excitedly.

Whenever Terry saw his accepted family demonstrate such genuine happiness for him, he felt immense gratitude. He was never sure how to best express this feeling, but Terry promised himself that he would work hard on improving his spell control and timing.

***