As I finished saying my goodbyes, I reminisced about my time in Norbury. I’d spent my entire life within the village, resigned to live the rest of it here. But today, that has changed.

Never again shall I be shackled by the confines of Coeden’s well. Never again a lesser. Never again afraid. I flew onwards towards Aurelia. Freedom and adventure awaits. I need only grasp it.

It took a little under an hour to leave the effective Radius of Coeden’s mana well. It would normally take a day’s travel by caravan to reach this point, but owls (or at least the species of owl I inhabit) are migratory birds, and can travel over 100 miles in a single day.

When I left the radius, I was immediately bombarded by a feeling of energy and full-ness. Mana. Though it feels the same to me as I am now, this is unlike any of the other mana I’ve ever taken in. When I photosynthesized, I had to force the mana in. Eating was a manual act. Absorbing any type of mana is a choice, an intentional act. Any type but one.

Neutral mana. Unaligned mana. Null mana. Whatever you call it, it's an unthinkable calamity that brought the universe to its metaphorical knees during the Cataclysm. The origin of all other mana, and the maker of monsters.

Of course, it's not all bad. Neutral mana changes alignment over time, infusing whoever or whatever absorbs it with an alignment. For powereds, this means magic. It makes our daily lives easier with city and planet connecting gates, and gives us ways to protect ourselves from dangers we would otherwise be incapable of surviving. Without mana us dryads, along with every other sentient monster species like orcs and technically elves, could never have been born. But still, it is a danger to us all.

Neutral mana infests everything, gaining an alignment and granting powereds and monsters incredible might. When we use aligned mana, it eventually dissolves back into unaligned mana. As they rank up, monsters and powereds are essentially infused with mana of their alignment, a process that creates new mana from nothing. When powereds or monsters die, this extra aligned mana eventually breaks down into more unaligned mana. The neutral mana cycle, they call it. A symbiotic relationship, I used to think. But if mana wells eventually stop being able to contain neutral mana, or it causes a second cataclysm, then the symbiote becomes a parasite.

More mana means more, stronger monsters. More, stronger monsters means more mana. The cycle would continue until every corner of the universe was filled with world-ending threats. And if it gets to the point where even mana wells can’t hold neutral mana as fast as it’s produced, that means nowhere is safe.

We’d go back to the age of monsters, where the last vestiges of humanity hid from existences they had no way to fight.

If that ever happens… Should there be no safety in mana wells, and monsters overrun Elos and beyond, there’d be no difference between a powerless and an E rank.

I would have to live within my subspace, shackled by a new set of boundaries from which I could never leave. Again a lesser. Again afraid. The same pitiful child I have always been.

I don’t want to go back to such a life. But I have to become stronger to avoid such a fate should the worst ever happen within my lifetime.

Being an adventurer was just an interest when I was younger, but now it’s a necessity. There are plenty of ways to gain strength as an adventurer, whether that be working jobs in exchange for mana crystals, or fighting monsters and absorbing their mana as your own. Whatever the method for power, I need only grasp it.

I looked downwards from where I flew, checking the ground for any monsters or landmarks. The main roads that connected to Aurelia were set up with lampposts every hundred yards or so. These lampposts were enchanted by mind-mages to produce a calm spell on those that approach them. While this had the main benefit of reducing monster attacks, it was also found to decrease the number of bandits. Other cities used different designs to protect their roads. For example, most Husaram roads were walled in by thick slabs of stone. Of course, nothing was always effective. Monsters still hunted, and bandits still robbed. But less so.

Then again, there are better solutions that just aren't considered cost-effective. Most major trade between cities is done using gates. But trading between villages was often much more of a hassle due to the lack of space aligned capable of operating gates. No safer, cost-effective solution has been found that can apply to small villages like Norbury, or the roads to them.

One common reason is that it's hard for most spells to do anything against a slime with the same alignment. I only bring this example up because I am currently looking at a slime eating one of the calm-spell lampposts.

I'd go down and fight it for a new form now that I know I'm functionally immortal, but I'm just an owl right now and I don't have any tools to fight it. Slimes are immune to all physical damage, in addition to attacks from whatever alignment they are. Also, I don't want to push my luck while I'm still an E rank. I've done way too much of that recently, and it's always ended poorly.

I flew onwards, avoiding every monster I saw until Aurelia came within my vision. Its walls were hundreds of feet high, and the city itself was 5 miles wide. Millions of people called Aurelia home. Of course it was grand, this city marked the site of humanity’s first planetary gate and interplanetary colony. The first site people could ever hope to escape to, should Husaram birth an S rank monster hostile to our species.

The feeling of neutral mana forcing itself into me faded. I entered the range of Aurelia's mana well long after it came within my sight.

I got about a mile away before reverting to humanoid form. I doubt any city guards would shoot a random owl, but it's a good idea to get into the habit of reverting form before entering public spaces.

Back in Rhannu's form, I walked on towards Aurelia. I don't have any need for mana for the rest of the day, and I'll regain some of it later through photosynthesis, so I should pick up something that Rhannu asked for. Trees, was it?

I placed my hand against a tree and pulled it into my subspace. I tried to imagine it going into Rhannu’s bubble, but couldn’t verify if it worked. I’m still having trouble consciously detecting my subspace.

The trees here were willows, maples, and other such trees typically around 20-30 feet in height. Much smaller than the ones that make up Almer forest, pines and redwoods and other hundred foot trees.

Since they were this small I was able to store two of these trees before my mana ran out. I wouldn't have been able to deposit even one of these trees a week ago, though. My maximum mana pool has grown by leaps and bounds over these past few days. Of course, such gains were expected. Growth is easier when one's powers are new, especially when they kill and consume monsters as I have.

Hopefully this much will be enough for Rhannu to at least start making a house. Will he need tools? An axe, a saw, or nails? Those aren't exactly just lying around. Will he be able to get by without them? He's wood aligned, so he should be able to figure something out. Shaping spells are pretty basic, surely he knows one.

---

It was already sunset by the time I arrived at the gate. Aurelia was surrounded by stone walls, 100 feet high and 20 feet thick. Its southern entrance was always guarded by no less than four D ranks at all times, and there were always C ranks nearby. Its other entrance, the northern gate, had similar arrangements.

A short line of carriages was at the gate ahead of me. Traders from small villages like mine that were too small to build a gate in. As they passed the gate, one of the guards banged a tuning fork against the cargo, then placed their palm against it. A sound warrior, likely inspecting the caravan’s contents through its vibration. I had no goods to inspect, so they waved me on through.

This was the first time I’d been to Aurelia since my parents brought me almost a decade ago. It’s just as grand as I remember it, and just as alive in the night as it is in the day.

With the sun setting, powereds came out of their shops periodically to launch slowly floating fire orbs and hovering balls of light into the night sky, illuminating Aurelia with thousands of soft lights. Various wind-aligned flew through the air, incontent to travel on foot when the wind called to them. Water aligned sprayed the streets down with soapy water, keeping the main streets clean and pristine.

I continued on, ignoring the hustle and bustle of the city. I enjoy it, to be sure, but there will be time for it later. First thing’s first, I have to register as a powered, and an adventurer. I could do them both at the same time at any adventurer’s guild, but I have to choose one first.

There are four types of adventurer’s guilds: Clans, Sects, the Mercenary Guild, and the Interplanetary Government Adventurer’s Guild (IGAG).

The vast majority of clans were family-based, so joining them wasn’t something I could just do. Not without gaining some renown and marrying into them, at least.

Sects could be joined freely, but leaving them was often an issue. Sects are often secretive with their knowledge, so they don’t want deserters spreading their secrets. They often funnel resources into a few promising Powereds, meaning everyone else had to live off of scraps or hope for a lucky break. As an older E rank, I would most certainly not be in the “promising” category, unless I were to divulge the details of my specialization. But considering humanity’s colored history with experimenting on unusual existences, that wasn’t something I wanted to do with anyone outside of family. Not until I’m strong enough to defend myself, at least. Besides that, sects usually have this whole “young master” vibe going for them, so I’d have to constantly bow my head and deal with their politics if I went to one. Three things I hate more than anything: entitled children, bowing my head, and politics.

That left the Mercenary Guild, and the IGAG.

The Mercenary Guild is less of a guild, and more of a job board that anyone can post to, and anyone can accept. The only real management is in making sure that jobs are completed, and making sure payment is delivered. Though the management takes a cut of every job, the payment is still generally higher than it would be at any other guild. There are obviously rules to the job board. Crime is generally frowned upon at every guild outside the Guild of Silence. The only real drawback to the Mercenary Guild is that it has no real benefits or support system, and it has a registration fee. I’m kind of broke at the moment, neither gold nor Mana Crystals to my name.

This leads me to the Interplanetary Government Adventurer’s Guild. The payment tends to be lackluster, but it comes with free education, optional mentorship, and is both free to join and free to leave. There are “mandatory assignments” that have to be done periodically, but those are typically either simple stuff like community service, or necessary things like “protect a city from imminent destruction” that anyone in the area would normally do anyways, and those outside of the area typically can’t get to quick enough en-masse to send out mass orders.

I'd been to Aurelia's IGAG hall years ago with my father, who used to be an adventurer before he took an arrow to the knee. I only vaguely remember the place, though. Apparently it was cut short when I was offered my first drink, and got so drunk that dad had to carry me out. I do remember mom scolding us both, though. That was burned vividly in my mind.

I had to ask a passerby for directions. The IGAG is apparently located near the center of Aurelia, situated across from the gateway district, and shares its space with a pub.

Oh yeah, it's all coming back to me…