Taking the time to explain Mana Burnt to Colt, I also tell him what happened to me when I drank a mana potion afterward. He pinches his brow. “You… You did what?” My cheeks flush.

“It said mana restoration so I thought…”

He sighs. “Okay, you didn’t know, that’s fine. You received Branching Mana from it though? That sounds really useful!” Brightening at this, I sit up a bit straighter.

“Yeah! Honestly, may be worthwhile to do the same to you if we can find somewhere safe.” His eyes widen.

“You said it knocked you unconscious it hurt so bad!”

“Yeah, but if you’re unconscious it won’t hurt anymore after that!” He considers this for a moment.

“Okay, if it’ll give me the perk that does seem like a good idea. That much MP per level will be so useful!”

“How did you become Mana Burnt anyway? That looked like a properly formed skill.”

He glances around. “I sort of internally freaked out a lot when I saw you lose your leg.” He grimaces, looking down at his left hand, flexing it.

Realization kicks in. “Oh, right. I can personally understand how that’s a tough subject for you now. At least I knew going in that I’d get my leg back.” He nods quietly. “I’ll keep us safe while you recover, but we’ll need to find somewhere defensible.” Standing up, the situation has finally calmed enough that The Construct’s alerts appear.

Level up! For use of a related perk as well as continued practice with the anchor, your Talent: Fledgling Anchorist has reached (17/50)!

Skill level ups have occurred, check the Skills menu for further details!

Conditions Acquired: Limb Loss - Right Mid-Thigh, Severe Bleeding.

Conditions Cured: Limb Loss - Right Mid-Thigh, Severe Bleeding.

Star Reaper Mole defeated! 1031 XP awarded!

Star Reaper Mole dropped: 19 Sparks, 5 Glints, Star Reaper Mole Crystal.

Secondary quest item obtained: Star Reaper Mole Crystal!

Level up! You have achieved level 10, you are awarded 5 unallocated stat points, +0.1 HP regen, +10 MP, +1 Strength, +1 Endurance, +1 Attunement, +1 Willpower, and +1 Insight. 401/1730 remaining to level 11.

‘Status’

Status:

Lucas Creo

Age: 22

Race: Human

Status: None

Level: 10

Exp: 401/1730

HP: 78/330 (1.40 HP/min regeneration)

MP: 32/450 (1.20 MP/min regeneration)

Strength: 25

Endurance: 22

Dexterity: 17

Intelligence: 16

Attunement: 24

Willpower: 20

Charisma: 11

Insight: 24

Stat points: 40

Not wanting to alarm Colt, I don’t mention my HP and MP levels nor the amount of pain I’m in. My body may be healed, but it took a lot out of me to force my leg to regrow. Now that I’ve used Echinodermal Flesh, I’m acutely aware that HP appears to actually be an energy of its own, the perk allows me to guide it with intense focus.

That life energy is incredibly thin inside me right now, but I can also feel more of it slowly regenerating minute by minute as Colt and I walk.

Deep in the forest now, we find a colossal tree, its branches are in clouds, which is strange in itself, the dungeon must be incredibly tall here. We didn’t notice the tree on the way in either, another oddity.

Deciding it’s probably the safest place we’ll find, we settle in between two large roots of the tree. There’s an overhang of moss, branches, and vines above us, making this a very defensive position in case we encounter anything. Most of my HP and a good portion of my MP is back, we had to walk for about two and a half hours so I had plenty of time to regenerate.

Looking to Colt, I hand him a mana potion. “Ready?” A small sheen of sweat covers his face.

“Yup.” Cringing, he takes a drink of the potion, yelps quickly, and his eyes roll back in his head. Before he can fall I catch him, laying him down on a soft patch of moss.

Immediately I give him a dose of healing potion, I’ll give him more as well while I wait for him to wake up. Sitting next to him, I enter into Meditation to recover more MP.

Time passes quickly, my HP and MP are full now, the latter assisted by Meditation. Opening my eyes, I glance over at Colt, his face is a mask of pain in his unconsciousness. Giving him another dose of healing potion, I lay his head back down on the moss. Curiously, I note some mushrooms that hadn’t been there before. Inspecting one, The Construct prompts me.

????????????????????

Quality: ?????????????

Traits: ???????????????

Description: ?????????

Insight level insufficient to inspect.

“Weird.” Ignoring it for now, I begin some training exercises with both my anchor and magic. Plotting Courses and Ballasting my weight, I add Knots to my swings, moving quickly around the area between the two massive roots, fighting an invisible enemy.

Next, I swap to using some of my mana manipulation spells, avoiding any fire spells seeing as I’m surrounded by very flammable nature. After training for several more hours, a noise sounds out from just outside the roots.

A massive figure steps into view. From the distance, I can make out that its made of a mix of grey stone and light wood, vaguely humanoid in shape but there is no neck, simply a massive torso with a face embedded within it. The Construct gives me some details.

Ruins Golem

Traits: Regenerative Form

Details: This golem rose from the ruins of an ancient civilization overrun with plant life. Due to the ambient mana around this civilization, it animated from stone and wood.

‘Regenerative form seems annoying. Maybe he’s friendly?’ Walking a bit closer to the golem I call out. “Hey there! Nice day, isn’t it?” The golem stops for a moment and stares at me, a strange blue glow within two eye holes.

It lets out an ear-piercing screech before charging at me. ‘Okay! Not friendly!’ Shifting into a fighting stance, I Plot a Course around the golem, moving quickly to its side. It swings with surprising speed at me, knocking me to the side into a root wall. The wind is knocked out of me, I gasp for air, dodging to the side quickly as it swings again.

A large crack accompanies its punch, the root seeps a strange sap which drips into the ground. When the golem pulls its fist away, some of the sap is sticking to its hand. Its entire fist is stuck together now.

While the golem is distracted by this fact, I Plot one more Course, dashing quickly behind the golem by adding several Knots to my legs. Leaping into the air, I slam down my anchor with a Devastating Impact, fueled by Knots and Ballasts. A deafening crack echoes out from the golem as its entire arm falls off.

It turns to me, the blue glow in its eyes is now red. At this moment I learn regenerative form does exactly what I thought it would do. The arm levitates off the ground and re-attaches to the extremely pissed off golem. It charges at me once more, forcing me to use a Crashing Wake to quickly move backward.

The golem’s footing becomes unsteady in the water, the mud slipping under its smooth stone feet. Laughing to myself at the sight, the golem’s head swivels to look at me. Stone spikes jut out from the soles of its feet, giving it traction once more. ‘Fucking really?’

It barrels at me once more, faster this time. A Mana Shield is instantly shattered as I pull it up. A barrage of Mana Bullets and Mana Darts do not even make a dent in the golem. From its left arm, several branches fly out, wrapping around my left ankle, pulling me to the ground.

It punches me in the back once, I feel several extremely painful cracks through my body, I can’t move or breathe as blood pools under me. My HP plummets from this single hit. From the shifting of stone and wood that I hear behind me, I can tell the golem is winding up for a finishing blow.

A flash of green light fills my vision, I flinch, prepared for the end. In the peripherals of my vision, I see a mass of vines, branches, and thorns move past me. The golem is now pierced in a multitude of places at the end of this mass. From behind me, Colt calls out. “LUCAS!”

Running up to me, a healing potion is brought to my lips. I manage to drink it, painfully. Feeling slowly returns to my limbs, I flex my fingers and toes, glad to be able to again.

It takes two healing potions before I can even sit up from lying face down on the ground. Turning to look at Colt, I gasp. “...Colt?”

He stares at me, a confused look on his face. “Yes…?”

His look turns to shock as his eyes unfocus, clearly receiving notifications from The Construct. He pales. Colt’s hair has changed color to a soft mint green. His irises are now a bright green, the color of a grassy field bathed in sunlight. Small specks of other colors flow through his irises as well, never staying.

Looking to his ears, they end in a small point now but are no longer than they were before. Colt is struggling to form any cohesive thought, let alone words, but in that moment we both figure out that Construct messages can be shown to others. Several screens appear in front of my eyes, with his name tagged in the top left corner of each.

Due to the infusion of Wild Magick into your mana vessels while in a faerie ring, a Racial Change has occurred. Your race has changed from Human to Fae.

Perk: Witch’s Heart has transformed into Fae Heart.

Perk: Catalytic Blood has transformed into Catalytic Ichor.

Racial Perk acquired: Magickal Anatomy.

Racial Skill acquired: Glamour.

Skill: Green Thumb has transformed into Fae Blessing.

Due to racial status, HP and MP, as well as their respective regeneration rates, have merged and become Wild Magick. Restorations to HP or MP work on this resource.

My heart is thrumming in my chest after reading these messages. Colt, a Fae? Turning, I see the pure destruction he has wrought with his nature magic. The golem is in pieces, not reforming, the magic broken.

Colt is staring at himself in the glass of a potion bottle, trying to get a better angle on his reflection. He runs out of the roots, I follow. He stops at a small pond and looks at his reflection once more.

Tears fill his eyes, they glimmer in the air as they fall, small tendrils of plants growing where the tears land on the ground. “Colt it’s going to be okay- We can go see Ilmarinen, he’ll know what to do!” He looks at me, hopeful, fear still present in his eyes.

Pulling him close, I let him sob into my shoulder. His body feels strangely light and otherworldly. “What can we do Lucas? I’m not human anymore. I can feel it, my body is made of magick. There’s no flesh.” Shaking my head, I give him a tight squeeze.

“I’m not sure, but we’ll manage. You seem like you’re still you though, so maybe for the moment we can try to make the best of the situation?”

He smiles almost imperceptibly. “Yeah, maybe this won’t be all bad.” He frowns again. We walk back into the roots to grab our bags. Curious, I take a sniff and notice the sap from the massive tree still leaking. Taking two of the empty potion bottles, I fill them with the sap, its scent is incredibly potent with power.

Stepping out, I receive my Construct notifications finally as we gather up the loot, admiring the gold coin.

Level up! For continued improvement of your anchor arts, your Talent: Fledgling Anchorist has reached (19/50)!

Skill level ups have occurred, check the Skills menu for further details!

Conditions Acquired: C5-C7 Vertebral Fracture, T1-T12 Vertebral Fracture, L1-L3 Vertebral Fracture, Spinal Cord Severing, Total Body Paralysis, Punctured Lungs, Severe Blood Loss, Severe Bleeding.

Conditions Cured: C5-C7 Vertebral Fracture, T1-T12 Vertebral Fracture, L1-L3 Vertebral Fracture, Spinal Cord Severing, Total Body Paralysis, Punctured Lungs, Severe Blood Loss, Severe Bleeding.

Ruins Golem defeated! 2083 XP awarded!

Ruins Golem dropped: 84 Sparks, 12 Glints, 1 Gleam, Ruins Golem Core.

Secondary quest item obtained: Ruins Golem Core!

Level up! You have achieved level 11, you are awarded 5 unallocated stat points, +0.1 HP regen, +10 MP, +1 Strength, +1 Endurance, +1 Attunement, +1 Willpower, and +1 Insight. 754/2012 remaining to level 12.

Wondering just how bad I’m doing right now, I bring up my Status with a mental command.

Status:

Lucas Creo

Age: 22

Race: Human

Status: None

Level: 11

Exp: 754/2012

HP: 43/345 (1.55 HP/min regeneration)

MP: 186/475 (1.25 MP/min regeneration)

Strength: 26

Endurance: 23

Dexterity: 17

Intelligence: 16

Attunement: 25

Willpower: 21

Charisma: 11

Insight: 25

Stat points: 45

‘Oh dear’ Ignoring that so as not to escalate the situation with Colt, I try cheering him up instead. “How did you manage that huge nature spell? That was incredible!” Colt smiles a bit but looks pensive.

“I’m not really sure, to be honest. I woke up in that… Faerie ring… And felt this massive power flowing through me. I saw you were in danger so I just… Reacted. I unleashed every bit of that power all at once.”

He’s staring at his hands, looking extremely distraught. Placing a hand on his shoulder, I give him a squeeze, noticing now that his body does not feel hot or cold, there’s simply a strange energy to him now. Avoiding mentioning that fact, I try to simply fill the air with idle chatter.

“Both the mole crystal and the golem core are apparently secondary items for my quest! I’m not entirely sure what that means, but my anchor Ilmarinen makes will probably be incredible! He said he’d make you something too! Any ideas what you’re going to commission?”

Colt looks around, seeming to think hard about that. “I haven’t really figured out what he should make me yet. My gauntlets seem good already, but maybe he can make something better? I’ll have to talk to him more when we get there. Where are we anyway?”

Glancing down at the map for the first time in a while, my heart drops when I can’t find our markers on the map. Come to think of it, I don’t see any depictions on this map of a gigantic tree. One would think that would be important to include on a map.

Turning to Colt, he immediately notices the panic on my face. “What?”

“We… We aren’t on the map.” Handing him the map after he gestures for it, he looks over it, wiping nonexistent dust off of it, just in case. After we both determine that we’re incredibly, unbelievably lost, we stop walking and determine a plan.

“You’re a Fae now, right? Is there any way you can guide us out of here? This place is obviously filled with faerie magick, or this wouldn’t have happened!” Gushing words in my panic, Colt’s face drops once more at the mention of what he is.

“Maybe? Let me try.”

He sits down and enters into Meditation. A faint green glow appears around him, running in waves across his skin as well. The energy coalesces around him on the ground, slowly extending out, trailing into the forest.

Colt’s brows furrow in concentration, for a moment it even seems like his body flickers slightly. His eyes open at last, a pale green light coming from them. “Follow me.” We walk for what feels like forever, taking random turns that seem to be backtracking us. At one point we even have to jump across rocks in a river.

Despite these strange directions, I place my full trust in Colt, knowing he’ll get us out of here. Suddenly, we take a turn, stepping through trees that form an arch. Beyond them, I can see a full expanse of forest. Once we step through the arch, however, the world shifts.

We find ourselves at the edge of the forest that we entered many hours earlier. We’re both exhausted, Colt looks about ready to pass out, just as much from the mental strain as the physical strain.

Unfortunately, our journey is not over. We walk back across the hilly landscape, following the map back to Ilmarinen’s house. It takes us a little longer to walk back uphill, rather than downhill as we did before, but eventually, the small town is in sight. From the top of the hill, we can see Ilmarinen’s house.

Finding new energy within us, we sprint to the prickly smithy’s home. Unfortunately, on the way there, we spot several bellowclaw lobsters in the street. Holding back a gasp, I grab Colt’s arm. He looks at me. “Do you trust me?” I nod. “Keep walking.” A shimmer appears in the air around us, Colt’s face is contorted in intense concentration, his skin is becoming paler by the moment.

We quickly make the rest of the trip to Ilmarinen’s house, undisturbed by rogue lobsters. As we go to knock on the door, it opens, Ilmarinen is on the other side, face filled with worry.

“What happened to ye both? One minute yer on the map, next yer not!” His eyes go wide as he notices Colt. “What in the dark depths of the sea happened to ye lad?! Quickly, quickly, come in, come in!” He gestures frantically with his tentacles.

Once we enter, he locks several locks and even whispers a few words while gesturing at the door, glowing glyphs appear on the wood. On the table inside, we see an identical map to the one we’ve been carrying, the markers in the same place. It seems Ilmarinen was following our adventure. That old softie.

Ilmarinen has us sit, giving us each a cup of hot tea. He gives us an extremely serious look. “Explain everything that happened.”