By the time we had crossed the swamp, it was midday. Most of us had been silent the whole time, looking at the thinly veiled destruction with fear. Where there were once extravagant homes and temples, there was water. Where there were once villages and towns, there was water. I mean, if they were trying to fight a giant tsunami monster, all of this would make sense.

Cinder had been pretty quiet after spotting what was left of the golden plains. Usually, he would be insulting me at one point or another and making fun of me somehow. But he didn’t, I have to admit, it scared me a little. I sent him the mental equivalent of a hug, wrapping him in Psychic energy. It did seem to help, as his heart rate and breathing seemed to calm down a bit.

Watching the dirty water with wreckage floating around didn’t really affect me as much as it should. I mean, there was no blood, no bodies, and the only thing I knew about this civilization was that they hurt Cinder. It didn’t exactly paint the nicest picture for them.

Eh. Cinder seems better now. I don’t really care much beyond his mental and physical health. It made me wonder though… Did me being a Hybrid Fae affect my ability to empathize with others? I hoped not. That would seriously suck to know the only real social skill I had in my previous life was gone. Should I try and get empathy as a general skill?

I shook the thoughts from my mind, looking back over the wreckage that was the golden fields. The stone swamp seemed to stretch endlessly in all directions, the air feeling heavy and damp, the taste of salt in the back of my mouth.

The three foxes were still in a daze, staring blankly at the horizon. I guess seeing their entire home being swallowed can do that to people.

Viralya’s slight smile was gone, replaced by a thoughtful frown, constantly glancing around us, looking for something. Probably with her awesome wind perception skill… Dammit. I’m not jealous… Nope.

When the thought of omniscience disappeared I considered the three foxes. I opened my mouth, working my jaw as I thought of something to say. No words really came to mind that wouldn’t piss off everyone here, so I just hung it open in thought.

After about 20 seconds though, I felt something slam into the roof of my mouth, flinching as I jerked my head back. My gag reflex rared up as my whole jaw stung, coughing and spitting what looked like a damn bug!

“Eww! Get it out, get it out!” I shouted, trying to spit out the horrible taste. Unfortunately, the spittle only managed to fly back into my face due to the high winds we were surfing.

I sputtered, taking my hands and wiping the stuff off my face only to find myself the center of attention once again

Not again…

“I uh… There was a bug in my mouth. I tried to spit it out...” I said sheepishly. My cheeks turned red as I felt Cinder struggling not to laugh, not even bothering to restrain his amusement. Well, at least he isn’t being all gloomy...

While trying to think of some words that would help me escape, I felt something smack into my shoulder. I turned to find a squished… Locust? Bug? Beetle- on my right shoulder. It didn’t hurt too much, but it was definitely annoying. I flicked it off, watching it spiral into the waters below.

When I heard one of the foxes yelp, I turned to find their head was snapped back, a small black dot underneath their chin.

Another beetle…? Wait...

I turned to look ahead, eyes widening as I caught sight of the cloud of dots in front of us, forming a sort of wall in the surrounding area. Viralya must have spotted it too, as she was slowing down, creating a protective bubble of wind around our group.

“Incoming!” I heard someone shout as the world around me became a swirling mass of black. In a panic, I reached out for Cinder, grasping at his mind to use as an anchor from the terror. Blood rushed through my ears, the sound of my heartbeat overpowering the yells and whimpers coming from the foxes. The sun disappeared as darkness covered us.

A deep growl cut through the noise like a knife to hot butter, laced with a lot of mana. The swarm around us seemed to recoil, hissing its displeasure as thousands of tiny beady eyes stared us down. The only reason why we weren’t rolled up into dung balls, was because of Viralya’s quick thinking.

“What’s going on?!” Cinder broadcasted telepathically.

“It appears the Sirens had help,” Viralya said in annoyance, a huff of breath and mana escaping her teeth.

“What? H-help? How!?” The other female fox was nearly crying. I felt the bugs around me chitter, tiny mandibles perfect for burrowing into unsuspecting furry victims. The bloodlust they seemed to emit scared me as I reached for Cinder in hopes he would be less scared than I was.

Viralya’s telepathic voice faded from my mind as I descended into Cinder's mindscape. I felt waves of turmoil and fear lapping at his Psyche, preventing him from hearing me as he was lost to his thoughts. Bits of confusion and anger were pushing at me, making me realize just strongly this was affecting him.

I knew it would be useless to communicate with him so I withdrew, the distant voices from Viralya and co. suddenly coherent once more.

“-not good. If there’s any hope of your kin surviving, they’ll be in the great temple.” She said grimly.

“But it's possible at least some of them survived… Right?” The female one asked.

“It is unlikely, but yes. I would bet against it though, seeing as these Plague Beetles,” She swept her head around the writhing black mass. “Are being controlled. Whoever is in charge clearly knows what they’re doing and are hellbent on your race's extermination.”

The younger fox female looked horrified. “Not only that, but Plague beetles leave behind no trace after they kill something. Whatever the reason the sirens are attacking you for, it isn’t for your fur.”

The angry one seemed to tremble, pathetic whimpers escaping their throat. The more female seemed just as shaken up but was at least somewhat composed. The silent one didn’t say a word. They just stared upwards, looking into the black sphere.

“You have two choices. Either I call off this deal, or we rehash a new one. Decide now.” Viralya said coldly. Her silver eyes were glowing like floodlights in the darkness, her unsettling gaze boring into the other foxes. A gaze I knew all too well.

“I… I can’t…” The pragmatic one said, her voice quivering. “I don’t… Just… Please save them! I don’t care about the Sirens or the reservoir anymore! Just do it and you can have it all!” She screamed out.

A ghostly smile flicked across Viralya’s face as she turned back to the near-silent writhing sphere. The barely noticeable clack of their many legs suddenly came to a halt as the mana around us Ignited.

The ambient was pulled and stretched, wind mana howling fiercely. I watched in amazement as the normally playful and easy-going wind seemed to go berserk. I felt its rage, its anger at confinement, at the denial of freedom.

The swarm shook, the impenetrable writhing mass of darkness that had seemed so scary just a moment ago dispersed. The protective shield Viralya had made bent and stretched, tiny grooves overlapping its edges as it spun. Silver light exploded in a ring, the mass of mana flowing into perfect patterns and fractals, the ambient mana following it.

The Plague Beetles were shredded like cheese, beetle guts and cursed mana were flung everywhere. I gagged at the sight, watching as hundreds of thousands of individual bugs fell into the swamp below as freshly crushed paste.

I looked away, preferring to stare dead ahead, peering into the expanse the beetles had been hiding.

It… Wasn’t much better than what had been outside. A wall of those very same Plague beetles stretched endlessly, surrounding us in some sort of dome, miles in diameter. I felt my blood run cold, two small screams coming from our group. I couldn’t tell whose.

Viralya reacted instantly, propelling us forward at high speeds before the rest of the beetles could retaliate. Before the nearby beetles could try and attack us again, we were gone. I felt the cap on Viralya’s mana seem to disappear as the same horrifying presence descended upon me, stealing my breath and making my heart stop for half a second.

I closed my eyes, the wind mana thickening to the level of tomato soup.

The moment she released her power, hundreds of millions of tiny hisses came from all sides, making me clutch my ears in pain. Her speed further increased as we straight towards the center of the beetle dome, where the biggest structure I had ever seen in the world, stood. Even in the perpetual darkness that covered the sun, I could see faint golden markings and red stone decorate a kind of Aztec-looking temple. It was far more curved though, bending and twisting in alien-like shapes. I could hear the thrumming of wings as the swarm took flight, aimed at our behinds.

“Celestina!” Viralya boomed, her voice causing the water to ripple. The hissing came to a stop, the beetles no longer descending to eat us alive as they resumed their dome formation.

“Oh! It's you!” Someone said, the mana around us surging as a new contestor came into play. They sounded distinctly female, their sing-song tone of voice suggesting beauty and elegance.

The swampy wreckage shivered, tendrils of salty water and mist coalescing into a simple figure. It was hard to make in the dark, but I could distinctively make out a fishtail, two arms, and transparent skin. Shimmering scales gave off an inner glow, painting us in a pale blue light. The watery construct made a gesture I couldn’t make out as they gestured to Viralya, her voice purring with mana.

“I see you took their deal.” They said smugly, glancing at the foxes behind her in interest. “Quite surprising considering your standing among their pantheons.”

“Indeed. I quite surprised myself as well.” She said in a chuckle, her voice making us shake involuntarily. The water construct gave off the impression of smiling as she gave us a sidelong glance.

“You have quite the gang here. Never took you for the mother kind.” I felt the water construct eyes roam over to Cinder, staring at him in interest before they turned to me and its eyes glazed over in shock.

“A spirit?! ” I flinched, throwing up my pittance of wind mana in front of me, a silver-green barrier wrapping itself around me like a protective blanket.

“How… No. I should have expected you were cooking up something, but I never expected this.” The look of shock on her face from 5 seconds disappeared like it was never there.

“It is not my place to ask… But I must. How did you manage this?”

“I do not know myself. I wasn’t the one who created him.” Viralya shrugged as I felt Cinders suddenly consciousness brush against mine, confusion, and panic spinning me in a flurry. Quickly taking him up on the silent offer, I rushed to him, taking in his consciousness as an anchor for short-term companionship. The disjointed connection made me feel better as I felt his presence. Something I had learned from my time in this world is that it's always easier when you're not alone.

All that happened in an instant as the conversation resumed.

“But it doesn’t matter. I warned you that the next time you tried something like this, there would be consequences. Whether it came from me, or another.” Viralya said sternly.

“Oh yeah?” Celestina laughed. “And who's going to stop me? You? You're nothing but an old husk who's been rotting away in your cave for hundreds of years! I bet you’ve hit your limit haven’t you?” The water collected itself into a sneer.

With mounting horror, Cinder and I shared my view of Celestina getting shredded into microscopic droplets that flew in all directions, scattering like mice. Wind and water mana surged in tides, clashing against one another in an invisible battle. It was outrageous that someone would even try to insult Viralya. When push comes to shove, she always wins because she’s, well… Viralya.

She always wins.

I felt the ground rumble as the water reached up, sculpting itself into an identical construct, much to Viralya’s annoyance, and our disbelief.

“Ha! I’m not even here you fool! I guess you really did grow senile, based on the fact that you didn’t even consider a mana signature.” The wind mana increased greatly, a scrutinizing feeling forming as something touched my core for a brief second before receding.

Viraya cursed. She never cursed.

“I don’t even have to say much else! Actually, no I totally do. Have fun!” The construct was melting, pooling down into the waters below. “I know this won’t be enough to kill you, so do me a favor.” The now blob of water said.

“Don’t get involved.” And with that, the water was gone as the sky descended upon us.

Viralya was pissed. And when I say pissed, I mean pissed. She basically outright threw the three foxes towards the temple, chittering something I couldn’t make out. In a blur, she turned back to us, her lips were pulled back in a snarl, mana oozing off of her in orders of magnitude.

Cinder and I recoiled, our bodies acting in sync as our individualities blurred ever so slightly. She looked at us, silver eyes peering into my own with intensity.

“I need you to find the bearer, and kill them. I have no idea what they'll be or look like, but they’ll be carrying a flute, and they will be protected.”

We looked at her like she was crazy. “What?!” We shouted in unison.

The wingbeats and hissing grew louder. My eyes snapped to the sky as locusts began descending and screaming, heading towards in unnerving unison.

“I have to protect the survivors and handle the goblin king!” As those words escaped her mouth, I felt something shift in the air. The entirety of the sky covered itself with silver walls, air swirling in what must have been the biggest tornado I had ever seen. Possibly big enough to be called a hurricane.

“The cursed always have a bearer! There is no time to explain, just go!” She said as I felt the mana holding me tense, and shot towards the ground alongside Cinder.

Understandingly, I screamed. I may not be scared of heights like I am of bugs, but they aren’t exactly my cup of tea either.

I gathered my wind mana, grabbing onto both of us as I tried to slow our fall, increasing the friction using air density. It felt like a slap to the face, my skin being pulled back to the sides of my face as I started spinning in the air.

I stopped my spinning rather quickly, being a wind mage and all, before I noticed Cinder tumbling, trying hard not to vocalize his fear.

I used my mana to cross over to him, hugging his furry red coat as the ground approached rapidly. My mana spun faster to upright us.

“Dammit! Not like this! I still haven’t tried any tacos from this world yet!” I yelled as I pumped more mana into shape of wind, wrapping us in a silver-green barrier.

The ground was eager to meet us, as a combination of my mana, and Viralya’s mana pulled us up at the last second, preventing any crippling damage from being inflicted. It still hurt like hell to be grabbed so suddenly though. We stayed silent for a moment, suspended a couple of feet from the ground.

“Wha-” Cinder managed to get out, before we were both dropped down into the water, splashing to our waists.

“What the hell!” Cinder shouted. I had to agree. The water was up to my knees, filled with black muck and rubble. I grimaced, trying not to vomit while I gaged my mana. I was at about 85%, which was pretty good considering how much I had to burn to excessively use shape of wind like that.

“You’d think she would at least give us more of a warning than ‘go!’ and ‘find the bearer!’ ” I said, trying to wring the water from my clothing.

“Dammit… My fur’s all soggy.” Cinder said in aggravation. I grunted in response, looking back up to see a faraway red speck bathed in silver light, just standing there in silence while the plague beetles continued to scream bloody murder, almost like she was waiting.

I shook my head.

“I don’t know what the hell is happening. Do you know what the hell is happening? Because I don’t.” I threw my hands up in a ‘to hell with it’ gesture.

“The only thing I can confirm is that whatever that is, it sucks. Makes me feel hungover.” I glared at the purple and black mana that twisted in shapes and forms that felt fundamentally wrong.

“That's cursed mana…” Cinder said grimly. “Or in other words, the infamous artificial mana. The one created by spirit beasts who just couldn’t help themselves. It… Well, it's not pleasant, to say the least.” I was quiet as I looked at the stuff, trying to conceal the disgust from my face.

Silence fell over us as I contemplated the situation, trying to piece together exactly what it was we were supposed to be doing. After 30 seconds or so, I snapped back to reality, only now noticing how awkward it was.

“We should probably… Find this bearer thing.” I said while pointing to the miles of wide expanse, trying to bat away my resurfacing nausea.

“Yeah… We should do that…” Cinder hurriedly responded, staring up at the sky, studying Viralya’s form. I shook my head, barely able to hear anything over the screeching of insects. Cursed mana was seeping through the silver barrier, increasing the density. I felt my fire mana flare-up, warning off the invading mana like a startled house cat.

The sound of sloshing water signified that Cinder was following, unusually silent in from the events that had happened. I swiveled my head around, remembering something about a flute. How I would find a singular instrument in this massive watery expanse, I had no idea.

“Do you have any idea how to find this bearer person?” I asked hopefully. Cinder didn’t respond at first, furrowing his whiskers as heat mana slithered from his core.

It shot outwards, its thread-like appendages spreading hundreds of feet in all directions. I felt the strain on the massive amount of mana he was using, trying to juggle control and feedback at the same time. Seconds later, his mana collapsed as it was sucked back into his core. I felt the frustration steam out of him, his heat mana responding with steam of its own.

“No. I can’t feel anything. Just like I can’t do anything either.” He looked back up at the sky resentfully.

I frowned in thought, realizing the source of Cinder's anger.

“Well, we may not be able to help her directly, but we could always-” I paused as the ground shook, wailing sounds echoing across the water, coming from the central expanse. In the distance, I could see the great temple shaking, new cracks running up its side, visible from even here.

The wailing intensified, its inhuman nature making me shiver in revulsion. The temple flickered with magical light, sickly green mana oozing from the cracks, pooling into the water. Tiny grey dots spilled from the opening, screeching louder than even the plague beetles. I felt Viralya’s silver barrier warp, her enormous amount of mana beginning to unwind under the pressure.

“Goblins…” Cinder whispered.

They seemed to soak in the green mana that was also endlessly spewing from where the three other foxes came from.

I stared, slack-jawed at the sight, my mind swirling in confusion. Goblins? I thought. But… They aren’t real… They only exist in stories… I shook my head. It was a foolish notion. I mean, humans existed in this alternate world, why wouldn’t other things from my homeworld also exist here?

“Ash… Ash!” Cinder shouted at me. “We have to go! Now!” Without giving me any time to respond, he bolted across the water, his paws powering up with heat mana as steam followed his pawsteps.

I looked back over to the goblins, seeing them now heading towards us, the tiny grey dots charging, coming closer and closer. They get here in a matter of minutes. “[email protected]%$”

I ran after Cinder, pumping my legs as balancing act countered the waters' increased friction. I caught up with Cinder, my breath evenly paced.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“I have no idea! I just don’t want to be here when those things catch up with us.”

“Huh?! How are we supposed to find this bearer person if these things are chasing us!?” I yelled at him, wind mana swirling around my beating heart.

“How am I supposed to know? Mother kept talking about a flute! Maybe we just have to listen?”

“Through this cacophony?!” My gaze traced the lapping murky waters, not even able to hear the splashing we were both making. The plague beetles were loud enough, but now the screaming goblins? What's next? A wailing banshee? A Siren?

“Do you have a better idea than to just run!?” He said, his mana weaving into unfamiliar patterns that charged made his paws shimmer in red.

“Split the waters!” I didn’t question his words, only heeding them in desperation. I threw wind mana in front of me, easily bending it to my will as if it was second nature. It formed an arrowhead in front of us, cutting the water in half in a green-silver shimmer.

Cinder snarled like a bull, charging forward faster and faster. I could barely keep up with him.

“Grab on!” He commanded. My feet flew faster, leaving the air as I grabbed two fistfuls of his fur, making him wince as the heat mana stored in the back of his paws exploded, burning the air behind us, and propelling us forth. Space seemed to bend ever so slightly, our forms blurring as we went faster.

I struggled to hold onto Cinder while focusing on what was in front of me, forcing the wind arrowhead to stay in front of us, locked in place like a battering ram. I clenched my eyes shut, trying to listen past the now loudly rushing water, goblin screams, and forever present plague beetles. I tried to remember the sound of a flute, its majesty, and melody almost real… But as expected, there was nothing.

After only a couple of minutes, I felt Cinders mana and body tire, lagging behind as the burst of energy he put on to escape the goblins took its toll. I hoped we weren’t making a stupid decision. To my horror, he seemed to be at around 15% of his maximum mana capacity.

“I… Can’t carry you… Much longer…” He struggled to say, not even bothering to use our soul bond, and using telepathy instead. His Psychic mana washed over me as something in the back of my mind flashed. It had to do with Psychic mana, but I couldn’t quite remember... I froze as the memory of my incompetence came back.

“My Perception ability!” I yelled, wanting to hit myself for not thinking of it further.

“What?!” Cinder broadcasted. “You… Got the… Skill? You… Idiot… Why didn’t you… use it… Sooner...” He wheezed at me. How the hell do you even wheeze telepathically?

“Well… No. I don’t have the skill, but I can learn it! I think I know where I went wrong last time! I just uh… Can’t figure out how to enhance my upper facilities using Psychic mana…” I said in some amount of anxiety.

“How is that... Going to help us then…? If you couldn’t figure it out 2 days ago, there's no way... You’ll figure it out now of all times!” I grimaced, ignoring him as I brought out my staff, feeding mana into it until it extended to a comfortable length. I admit it didn’t actually do anything for my perception or mana sensing abilities, but it did help calm me down.

I delved into battle meditation, not even listening to Cinders cursing. The rivers of my mindscape felt like a cold balm to my face as I sucked greedily on the ambient in panicked thought.

I should take this in bite-sized pieces.

First, what is it that I want to do? What do I want to use my Psychic mana for? That was simple. I wanted to improve my uh…

My thoughts went sideways, jostling in place as my body impacted something. I winced, hoping Cinder was ok. He wasn’t exactly the kindest person, but I was grateful. Too bad I couldn’t see what was going on...

What was I saying…? Oh yeah. I wanted to improve my ability to… Think deeply? Memorize things? Increase my thought speed? No… None of those things.

I cast myself back to what felt like only a few days ago, remembering my frustration at the impossible task. I could only instill simple commands into the wind, and it only required two to complete. I thought back to how it had overloaded my brain, sending me too much information all at once.

That was it! I needed the ability to comprehend stuff like that! In other words, my sensory tolerance! So all I have to do is somehow increase the potency of whatever part of my brain that controls my tolerance to outside inputs!

…

Okay, maybe I’ll have to take this in very small bite-sized nibbles.

I cautiously inspected my core, feeling the rampant fire mana boiling in my veins, begging to be released. It was a sensation I had long gotten used to. I set any of the extra ambient I had gained into my Psychic corruption node, feeling it drift down to my core for later use. With that quick inspection done, I moved on to my brain

With no idea on what I was doing, I peered into my literal skull. It was… Confusing to say the least. My mana sense picked up tiny bits of life mana being generated, quickly being dispersed into the ambient. There were also tiny bits of electricity mana being carried around, something I had only seen a couple of times before.

That was nothing compared to the intricate soul mana weaved into my body though, anchored to my skull. I gaped as my vision went blurry, an illusion of an endless tunnel stemming from a fractal paradox, doubling my vision into infinity.

It was like looking at your own eyes, with your own eyes. It shouldn't have been possible. My mind felt frayed, a headache of legendary proportions revealing itself.

Holy hell! I thought. Apparently, looking at your soul/consciousness was a big no-no. Right. That doesn’t discourage me from messing with my mind at all.

I shrugged off the headache with a jump into my river of thought, grimacing as I activated a poorly used skill. Psychic Perception.

It was all I could think of. Mana sense wouldn’t work, seeing as I would be seeing my soul any time I looked into my skull with it. I don’t think meditation would do much either. So, Psychic perception, which I probably should have used in the first place.

The underused skill burned my Psychic mana, lighting up at my touch. I felt Cinder’s presence near me, intelligence and wisdom creating a bright light. There was also… The goblins? They didn’t feel like normal monsters or spirit beasts. They felt rotten. Festered. Wrong. Like they weren’t even supposed to exist in the first place., which made sense if cursed mana really was artificial.

As if sensing me, I felt their minds blaze brighter, the barely perceptible purple-black flicker of cursed mana making me recoil. Psychic perception collapsed, my precious Psychic mana dissipating into ambient.

I fought to keep my breathing calm in meditation, the mana river that seemed to split my Psyche in two starting to lose its gleam as I stood halfway between wakefulness and serenity. I breathed deeply, trying to restore my concentration.

My whole mind was being ravaged by that stupid headache, I could barely think. With effort, I scrubbed my pesky thoughts clean in the river.

My focus sharpened a bit, Psychic perception flaring back up again as I disregarded all that was outside. My sole focus was turned to my own mind, trying to sense… Something. I had never really tried this, so I was uncertain.

To my great surprise, it worked.

My mind illuminated itself under my gaze, a condensed blob of threads that hosted my mindscape and Psyche.

It was… Hard to look at. Not in the sense that it was another weird infinite paradox, but there were just too many tiny threads laced together, it made my eyes hurt. Every part of this whole damn process seemed complicated! Stupid goblins! Stupid Viralya!

I took a second to regulate my roiling mana, cursing the situation with every breath I took. I turned back to where my mind lied, trying to hone in on a small jumble of threads near the top that seemed quite active. I gathered my Psychic mana with the intent of enhancing what was already there, and Nothing Else.

I felt my Psychic mana quiver with excitement and jump out of my hands, flying into that tiny piece of my brain in streams, stacking itself in a spider web and sinking in. I felt a jolt as things seemed to blur, the feeling of depth that it brought me was like taking an ice-cold shower.

I cut it off just as quickly as I had started to enhance, pausing for a second in thought. I had no idea what the hell that was, and as much as I want to fiddle with it, it wasn’t what I wanted. It was frustratingly close though. My attention went back to the mess of threads.

Now that I was looking… There appeared to be four separate main parts of my mind. One was clearly my cognitive functions, or at least, that's what I assumed it to be. The rest were mysteries. Mysteries I had to solve as quickly as possible if I wanted to not be eaten by plague beetles and goblins.

With haste, I stretched my Psychic mana into the front of the mess, making it glow purple with Psychic mana.

Not knowing what to expect, I was understandably nervous. But when I lurched forward mentally, I panicked. A staggering sense of emotion exploded from me, overwhelming my mind for just a second. Whatever chemical in my brain caused fear, it was amplified tenfold. I didn’t even bother to carefully save the spent mana, I cut the connection off and leapt into the river, feeling sickened.

I was tampering with a core part of myself, changing and altering pieces of me that were never meant to be touched by mortal hands. The thought of it made me uncomfortable and squeamish.

But I had to. I didn’t need to be a genius to tell I was on the clock.

Once I didn’t feel like throwing up from my roiling emotions, I threw myself back into my mind.

*In a desperate situation, you find hope amongst what many would consider an impossibility. Psychic Awareness XVI becomes Psychic Awareness XVII*

Not now, dammit! In the lower region of my fleshy glowing blob thing, I opened the floodgates. I let the Psychic mana carve out a pathway, the same weird spider web wrapping itself around that part of my brain and sinking within.

I waited for a second, crossing my fingers in the hope it did something useful.

…

Nothing happened.

Oh, you have got to be kidding me! I wanted to throw a tantrum, but the thought of those disgusting grey-skinned poor excuses for goblins stopped me once again. I swear, if I get some kind of mental condition after this, I will throttle Viralya.

I was running out of options, and there was only one bundle of threads left.

I really hoped this last one would work or else… Well, let's just hope this works.

I threw the Psychic mana into it, watching the section of my mind beef up with my mana. This time, I felt a difference immediately. My thought speed, tolerance, and ability to recall things felt dramatically improved.

I grinned in excitement, frantically checking my mana while I sent a continuous stream of Psychic mana into whatever part of my brain that was. I was around… 68% maybe? It was draining relatively quickly, maybe at a percent every 30 seconds.

Without thinking of much else, I gathered my wind mana, condensing all my power into my palms. It would work this time. It had to.

I sat next to Ash in exhaustion and growing panic. I couldn’t risk barging in on his head, using telepathy to interrupt whatever he was doing. He was too deep in meditation and there was a good chance it would hurt him.

My lips pulled back into a snarl, my eyes flickering between the distant form of mother to the goblins.

I felt like a cornered rat. First, I had been all but plucked from my forest without warning, and then I had been thrown into… This! This entire situation!

The maddening screams were grating on my nerves, their rotten bloodlust spoiling the air. My mana channels felt scorched, the extensive heat mana I had used to propel us in an attempt to escape had strained them.

I felt the oversized puddle that was this expanse trembled slightly, a battle between gods occurring only a couple of miles away. The ambient mana was stretched thin, the wells in my mindscape that I so often used for meditation had nearly dried up.

Frustration boiled over as I felt the crushing weight of uselessness. Sitting here and waiting for my brother to develop some skill, while I watched my mother engage in battle, my homeland crumble, and those damn goblins come closer and closer making me want to bury my head in the water and drown.

If I wasn’t so low on mana right now, smoke would be coming out of my ears.

I huffed, rechecking my mana which was at 13%. I looked over my stats for some kind of inspiration, some kind of hope that would help.

Name: Cinder

Race: Sun fox

Accumulated power (In Lvl): 12

Corruption Percentage:

46% Voidal Heat 18% Psychic Mimicry 36% Spacial Expanse

Core skills:

1 Heat Blast XX 2 Heated Claws XX 3 Temperature Control XX 4 Shift VI 5 Bend II

Side skills:

1 Spacial Amplifier V 2 Telepathy XX 3 Psychic Defense XX 4 Shimmering Illusion XVI 5 Flash Freeze XX 6 Thermal Precognition XX 7 External Psychic Awareness XX

General skills:

-Tracking VIII

-Basic Construction XX

-Runecrafting XIV

-Inventor XVI

-Mana Manipulation XX

-Mana Deflection I

-Foraging VI

-Desperate Gamble IV

Stats:

-Strength: 26

-Dexterity: 40

-Constitution: 34

-Mana Regeneration: 24

-Mana Capacity: 32

Psychic Bond: Ash

*Status: Alive*

There was nothing. They were the same they had been for the last 3 years. My choices and skills were now set in stone.

I had been a fool to rush those. It was a mistake that I regretted only now. The fact that I was going to die in the very place I was cast away from stung deeply.

Distant echoes of a battle between the biggest goblin I had ever seen and a preoccupied mother added fuel to my frustration and disappointment with myself. I wanted to blast those stupid goblins with the biggest heat blast I had ever created, but…

No mana. I had wasted it all on running like a coward. Part of me just wanted to keep running and leave behind my brother and mother, sprinting away into any place that wasn’t… Here. It was a stupid thought, I know. How would I even leave? Mother put up the massive barrier. There was no escape.

The goblins were about 5 minutes from arriving. I could see them clearly now. Their short stature, their sloughing flesh, and their frantic stumbling gait.

They were undead, brought back by whatever this bearer thing was I assume. It made sense now, and I was an idiot for not realizing it earlier. Of course, there would be someone controlling the plague beetles and goblins! Everyone knew that cursed mana was never natural! It was always controlled by someone!

I tried to count the goblins, my hope of winning a battle dwindling with each new goblin. I lost count at 60, as I had not even gone through a third of them. The worst thing was that there were still some escaping the temple. The number was increasing by the second, to the point of a full-blown horde.

Restlessness hit me again at full force and I stood back up on wobbly paws, grabbing Ash by the back of his fur shirt with my teeth. I tried to lift him, to run away or do anything to buy him more time but…

It wasn’t happening.

My muscles sagged in defeat, my ears flat across my back as I tried to use meditation, only just able to calm myself long enough to enter my mindscape. I dipped a paw in the steadily declining waters, the woods around me quiet and dead. My mana regen increased just a bit… Maybe enough to hold off one or two more by the time they came.

I would have to fight without mana. It was the only thing I could think of. It felt hopeless, the stupid task Viralya had given us seeming more and more impossible by the second.

No! I can’t think like this! There has to be something I could do to improve my chances!

Breaking meditation to touch the empty mana battery on my foreleg. I might be able to carve some kind of formations… But I would need a really fast mana gathering formation to siphon from Ash, and a forcefield to go with it. I also don’t have any materials to draw the runes on. The best I could do is clear the water with a simple expel water rune.

I eyed the rapidly approaching goblins, measuring the time it would take for them to get here. Just by eyeballing it… 3 Minutes and 30 seconds. Tops.

That's not enough time. I thought as I fed 3% of my mana into the simple rune drawn into the air, expelling the water around 6 feet from me in all directions. A light smile touched my lips as I checked Ash’s mana, figuring there was no way in hell he could have burned through his fire mana.

Sure enough, I found it untouched. What did alarm me though, was his rapid consumption of Psychic mana, burning through a bunch of it. I guess that was good? Maybe somethings working. I don’t have the energy to worry about it right now. I tried to think of something I could use to draw the runes on.

The air was a horrible conductor for runes. It would last 10 minutes maximum, used mana inefficiently, and couldn’t be used for anything beyond one-word runes. Altogether, it was terrible. The only other magic conductor I could think of at the moment was…

My blood.

It's… It's better than dying I suppose, but… I would need a lot of blood. Like, 40% of what I had in my body to draw proper runes, which would leave me… Very weak.

One glance up at the goblins, seeing them come closer and closer to the point where they had sped up. It would only be two minutes now.

Don’t think just… Cut!

I used my claw and pressed down hard against my inner leftmost foreleg, grinding my canines as the crimson liquid spilled out. Not wasting any time and only using three legs, I limped in a circle, panting as my claws danced with dexterity that came from 8 years of practice. Eight years of experimentation and effort, pooled into a language only I understood.

Siphon Ash’s Mana:Siphon Ambient mana within 3 feet:Funnel in leftmost corner of Diagram:Condense:Drain into ‘Mana battery’ storage unit:Designate as ‘Mana Gathering formation #1’

I simplified the mana gathering formation to waste as little of my blood as possible, using it to power the next construct as fast as possible.

My claws blurred in front of me, the ground and sky twisting together as force of habit took over, each rune coming slower than the next, the crimson red runes lighting up with parasitic power. I gave it bits of my mana too, my vision tunneling into a pinprick.

Use designated mana formation #1:Create barrier:Morph:Half Sphere, Shape (Upper):80% Durability 20% flexibility:Designate Flame Mana:Harden

I finished the second forcefield formation with a heave and a pant, the wall of red flames springing up around Ash as it morphed to fit my command. I coughed, covering the trickling wound with furry paws, collapsing on my side as I stared at Mother, blurring in silver and freckles of red, clashing against the massive grey goblin king.

I looked back at my own barrier in some determination as the Goblins approached, their tiny fingernails deceptively sharp.

I tried to stand on all four feet, knowing I would need to hold back the goblins for as long as possible. Once Ash finished his skill creation, we could find the bearer and kill them, ending this whole thing.

My paws gave under me, twisting on dead grass as nauseating pain came from my left foreleg. There wasn’t much use. I couldn’t fight with this little blood or mana. I shut my eyes, retreating into my mind as I solemnly considered my last trick.

I did have one more ace up my sleeve… One I hadn’t used in years. I had never needed to, and I had never wanted to, but if I wanted the ability to stand and fight…

*Along with Desperate Gamble, You have obtained Bloodied Rage! Banished for your power and false betrayal, you have tasted true despair! You used your anger and grief all in hope of a legend of one just like you, one who shared your scarlet heritage! Against all odds, your gamble has paid off and rewarded you the skill Bloodied Rage. Using all but 1% of your mana, you may use this skill to temporarily boost your power. All of your Physical attributes will increase threefold, but your mind will be lost to rage. You will attack anything within sight, regardless if they are friend or foe. For every percent of mana your skill consumes, you will be given a single minute of raw unadulterated strength. You have a maximum of 15 minutes. Good luck.*

Then I’ll fight tooth and claw.