Chapter 5: Moonlight

The moon was beautiful.

It hung in the sky above Owen’s head, so large he thought he could reach out and touch it. Its surface was pale and white, shining brighter than the moon ever did back on Earth.

Of course, his body was broken and he felt half-dead, so the simple act of lifting up his arms to touch the Lightmoon seemed impossible.

He and Azure lay in the center of the dirt road, surrounded by demon corpses and pools of blood. To be honest, part of him wondered how he hadn’t passed out from blood loss, but he was also honestly too tired to care.

After he’d killed the third Sentinel, the minor demons around them had fled. It turns out that the moon had risen during their battle, and Owen hadn’t even noticed. But true to Azure’s prediction, it had driven away the horde. Which was really fortunate, because while Owen didn’t know where that last burst of power had come from, it had left him wrecked.

So, for now, he would stare up at the glistening white orb of light and be grateful for its presence.

“Owen?’ said Azure, her voice soft on the night air. “Can you move yet?”

“Not really,” said Owen without looking at her. “You?”

“Nope.” She chuckled, but cut her laugh short as she gasped with a bit of pain. “Ow, that smarts.”

“Sorry I broke your ribs earlier.”

“I think you just bruised them, but owwww regardless. You don’t look that big, but damn if you aren’t made of stone.”

“You’re pretty tough yourself,” said Owen with a weak grin. “I’ve put full-grown men out of commission with that tackle.” He paused for a moment, before adding, “So, something’s been bothering me.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. You told me you only had three flashbangs. But at the end there, you were able to manage a fourth. What happened?”

Azure was silent for a moment. Crickets sang from the nearby field, and a fresh wind brought on it the scent of grass, flowers, and dew-- a nice change from the smell of blood that had been ever present thus far.

“I think I leveled up during the fight,” said Azure finally. “I actually burned through all of my mana with that third Flash spell. But when you level up, you get a little bit of extra mana back, and I think that’s why the last Flash didn’t kill me.”

“It could have killed you?” said Owen.

“Yeah. Using a spell when you’re at zero mana is incredibly dangerous. Might work, but afterward, your body won’t. Usually, your heart stops. I just feel like shit instead.”

“Oh,” said Owen quietly. Given the desperation of the situation, he could understand the need to do that. It did make him wonder what had gone on with his own body, though. “I guess you won’t know for sure until you open your stat menu?”

“Yeah. And if I’m being honest, I’ve been able to move my arms for a while now. But you don’t usually open your menu in front of other people. Don’t want them reading it over your shoulder and all. But given that you’ve already saved my life multiple times now-- Eh, to hell with it. I want to know.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Owen saw the golden text appear over Azure. “Yep,” she said. “Just peaked up into level six. Damn, that was cutting it close.”

“That’s amazing,” Owen found himself laughing. “Talk about dramatic timing.”

“You’re one to talk,” said Azure. “What the hell happened with you? I thought you were dead.” Her voice took on a tender tinge as she spoke. He remembered her passion in defending him from the final Sentinel only hours earlier.

“Well,” said Owen sheepishly. “Your flashbangs blinded me, so I used Mana Sense to figure out where the Sentinels were. Uh… I think I drew the sigil wrong though, because it backfired a bit. And on top of that, I used up all my mana again.”

“That’s… fair,” Azure said. “I still can’t believe you only have a single damn mana. Regardless, how did you get up after that? You were gone, as far as I could tell.”

“I…I actually don’t know. Maybe I leveled up too?”

Azure seemed thoughtful for a second. “Actually, I might have some idea of what happened. Can you pull up your menu?”

Owen tried to move his arms. “Nope.”

With a huff, Azure began crawling toward him from his right side. “You have piqued my interest, so now I must know.”

“What if I don’t want you looking at my stats?”

She froze in place. “You don’t?”

“No, I don’t care,” Owen said quickly. “Just, you seem so forward about it.”

“Oh, shut up.” She made it to his side and stretched over his body for his left arm. Unable to completely reach, she scooted herself up onto his chest before she clutched his forearm and pressed on his Mana Stone.

“Holy shit,” she said.

“What?” said Owen, unable to see the screen.

“A few things,” she said. “In order of escalation: first, you did level up too. You’re almost level 4 already. Also, you now have three mana types: Lightning, Metal, and Wind. Though, each of them only has a mana pool of 1. Still, that’s amazing.”

“Is it rare to have three mana types?”

“I’ve only met a handful of people with more than one, and I’ve only ever heard of people with three. All of them are supposed to be monstrously powerful.”

Owen choked a laugh. “What kind of cruel joke is that? I’m pretty sure I’m useless.”

She pinched his side, but joke’s on her. He could barely feel his side anyway. “You are literally the only person I know stupid enough to take on three Sentinels at level two, as well as the only person I’ve ever even heard of to survive such an encounter. Useless is not how I would describe you.”

Owen swallowed. He wasn’t sure how to react to praise that, while admittedly backhanded, was also unabashedly glowing.

“I’m not done, either, so listen,” said Azure. “This is the most important part, and it probably explains why you have the three mana types now. It’s also what I suspected: you have a new class.”

“I do?” said Owen. “What is it?”

“Technomancer.”

That sounded cool. “But what does that even mean?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” said Azure. “I’ve never even heard of this class before. But just a guess, I think it means that you do magic through technology. Like with that strange van thing of yours.”

That made a lot of sense, actually. And it helped explain why Owen’s car had been transported to this world with him. If he was going to do technomancy, then it probably helped to have a piece of technology with him that he knew like the back of his hand.

“Hold on, there’s more,” said Azure. “I opened your class window, and it has a class Art listed under it. It’s called Second Wind. And-- wait, is your van Soulbonded to you?!”

“Um…” Owen wasn’t sure what that meant. “I mean, it has a Mana Stone in the steering wheel.”

“Are you stupid?! Why the hell are you leaving a Soulbonded object in the middle of the damn woods?” Azure said. She immediately winced, clutching at her ribs. “Sorry, I shouldn’t yell at you. But you really don’t know anything. When you have a matching Mana Stone in an object, it means it’s Soulbonded to you. It’s extremely rare. Like… There hasn’t been a Soulbonded object in at least a century. Nobody knows how to make them.”

“What can a Soulbonded object do, exactly?” said Owen.

“No idea. The Soulbonding ends when the person an object is bonded to dies. But in your case, your Art-- Second Wind-- says that you can draw mana from your Soulbonded object. Doing so over a long distance will put you in a lot of pain, but any extra mana you draw can be converted into vitality.”

“Vitality?”

“It gives you strength. You must have used it instinctively, and that’s why you could move all of a sudden. It was a part of gaining your Technomancy class.”

Owen swallowed. That explained how he survived, then: the Second Wind Art. That also explained why it hurt so damn much at the time. “Why didn’t I have a class before then, if I was Soulbonded to my van?”

“You only gain your class once you hit level three,” said Azure, plopping her head down on his chest and closing his menu. “Anyway, I’m too tired to move now. I hope you don’t mind if I lie here for a bit.”

“I will never complain about a beautiful woman lying on my chest.”

“Okay, I’m moving.”

“No, no, no. It’s fine, really. The copious amount of blood ruins the moment, anyway.”

Azure stayed put, so Owen guessed that she agreed. That, or she really was that tired. Either way, he wasn’t lying. It was really hard to feel any semblance of romance when you were lying in a drying pool of your own blood.

Gingerly, Azure turned on her side to face away from him and gaze up at the moon. “When I left Ysvale yesterday morning, I never could have guessed all the things that would happen. It’s mind-boggling.”

“Trust me,” said Owen. “My day yesterday started with me in a very different place, too.”

Azure was silent for a while, before finally saying, “Do you think it may have been fate that we met?”

Owen gazed up at the glistening white moon. The Lightmoon, she called it. He’d experienced its protecting nature firsthand, and yet he felt something more. It almost felt like there was something sentient there, watching over him and guiding him. Why had he first awoken in the bamboo forest of all places, if not so that he could meet Azure?

“Perhaps,” he admitted. “Though I couldn't tell you why.”

“I at least know I’m grateful for it,” said Azure. “If not for you, I’d be dead.”

“Conversely, I’d be dead without you as well,” said Owen matter-of-factly. “I never would have made it to the city, nor would I have survived those demons, if not for your help. Actually, I’d probably be dead in a ditch up in the mountains, trying to figure out why mana drain was wrecking my body.”

“That’s true, I guess,” said Azure. She seemed contemplative, pausing for several long moments. Finally, she said, “I have things I need to do. Promises I need to keep. People I need to find. And if you aren’t going anywhere, I don’t think I’d mind having you assist me. I’ll help you with things you need too, and I’ll help you gain your bearings so you aren’t completely lost. So, I’ll gain something, and you’ll gain something.”

“Are you asking me to join your party?” said Owen.

“Only if you want to,” Azure said quickly. Heat blossomed from her cheek through Owen’s shirt. Was she blushing? “I’ve only ever done temporary parties before. But it would be nice to have someone I could rely on and work alongside.”

Owen grinned toothily. “That sounds like a great idea, Azure. It’ll be good to have somebody show me the ropes.”

She nodded, but said no more.

“Azure?” said Owen.

“Yes?”

“What class do you have?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” she said. “I’m a fire mage.”

So, a fire mage and a technomancer. That seemed like a pretty decent mix. Owen wondered who else he would meet, and what else he would experience. His journey in this new world had only just begun, but so much had already happened. His first order of business would be getting his van back, that was for sure. But before that, and after, who knew?

In any case...

“I can’t wait to see what comes next,” Owen whispered.