To my understanding, proper hunting is the act of seeking out your prey and either stalking them or waiting in ambush where you know they’ll pass. My understanding, however, is largely tainted by my upbringing away from magic and mana, in a world where predators hunted prey in a rather simple relationship.

Here, everything is out to get more mana, whether that’s by chewing the mana crystals from the walls, by gnawing on the wood of the mangroves, or by consuming other beasts. It’s not even about digestion, as it’s easy enough to get the mana from something even if it’s otherwise inedible.

I’m sure there are creatures out there that eat rocks and dirt, just to filter the mana from it, just like there’ll be fish doing the same with the water. Yet, there is still plenty more mana in a person, than there is in a stone.

Thus, we’re all competing to kill each other to drain the mana from one another. There is no clearly defined predator and prey, but rather there’s the strong, and the weak. Those who survive, and those who don’t.

As such we can find prey just by walking around a little, it’d be even easier if we make some noise but that might just attract beasts too dangerous for us to fight. Even small bunnies would jump us the moment they think that we might be weaker than them.

The particular species of bunny that we come across today, however, is not ‘cute’ by any stretch of the definition. It isn’t fluffy, and I can’t think of anyone, bar perhaps some heavy metal rockers, who would want to keep one of these creatures as a pet.

They don’t even have any skin.

Bulging, red muscles, exposed to the air, wrap around each other, covering each limb. A thin coating of mana shimmers over their bodies in a visible magic, though I can’t guess at its potential effects.

Bones protrude from their limbs, forming sharp spikes. One of the bunnies is gnawing on the bone coming from its leg, sharpening it. Three such spikes grow from the backs of their skulls, curving around to form vicious horns, made for impaling their opponents.

They are more than capable of killing us, but we are also plenty capable of killing them.

They watch us closely with their bright pink eyes, ready to jump us the moment they’re convinced we’re prey rather than predator.

The nearest of their pack suddenly screeches, but it doesn’t yet attack. A ploy, perhaps, to see if we’d charge at them or run away. Proving ourselves predator or prey.

“Can we take them?” Eshya asks me, Shen still draped over her shoulder, though standing stiff and ready for battle. “Those spells aren’t weak, they’re easily into the liquid stage.”

To make things worse there are a dozen of them, and as small targets, there is no guarantee that I can land any shots with my gun. This fight, whether we like it or not will devolve into a brawl.

Depending on how fast they move, and how hard they hit, we could be in trouble.

A loud, rhythmic chirping from above breaks our stalemate. The sound isn’t merely distracting, it’s an outright attack of its own. My mind vibrates within my skull, and my senses blur and distort, even as I try to look around for the source of the attack.

The world itself sways under my feet, and I fall to the ground, struggling to keep my pistol up.

Eshya, beside me, lowers her stance. Though she still sways back and forth, she doesn’t drop the same as I have.

Her sword is up and ready for a fight. She looks up to try and find the beast assaulting us, as Shen clings to her shoulder swaying about as it too looks for our enemies.

I swing my loaded pistol up while twisting the mana inside, ready to blast anything that comes close.

“Defend!” Eshya shouts, and I activate the reactive mana skin Skill just in time. A flash of purple fills my sight, as legs slam all around me. One leg hits me right in the chest, but it’s forced to a stop as my Skill burns mana to keep me from getting impaled. The roots around me are crushed under the force of the landing locust, and even though I’ve survived the first hit, it’s already moving its legs around to try to finish me off.

A flash of familiar light shines bright as Eshya’s blade slices into the smaller of the beasts four back legs, severing it clean through. She follows up with a kick, sending the struggling beast tumbling down to my other side.

I take a moment to look upon the beast.

It’s like a locust or grasshopper in general shape, but much larger, it’s a little longer than I am tall. It has two sets of rear legs made for jumping, and another two sets of front legs which seem much weaker.

Its head is a massive bulb at the front of its body with two, multifaceted eyes bulging out from the back of it. The front splits open into eight mandibles, they shift together in sequence like a wave.

I think it’s hungry.

I push myself off of the ground and swing a fist at the side of the beast that nearly killed me. My fire burst punch lands clean on the side of the giant, purple locust, pushing into the shell and popping it open not a second later.

Again, my mana burns away, not only in the attack but also to protect me from the backblast of my own fires.

The locust steps back, its side, torn open by the explosion, bleeds torrents of green blood and a few organs spill out onto the ground as I watch. The beast, however, looks unphased. It tilts its ugly head as if in confusion and I catch sight of a thousand copies of myself reflected in its massive, multifaceted eyes.

A sharp chirping fills the air above us, and I realize that it’s not alone. Others of its kind leap down onto the bone spur bunnies, tearing into them as they try to scatter and run, not even trying to fight them off, at least not until they’re halfway ground to paste in the locusts’ gullets.

Shaking off the unsteady trembling that fills my limbs at the sound of their incessant chirping, quieted only by the occasional scream from a bunny, I lift my pistol and shoot at the injured beast before me. The bullet misses it’s head by a fraction, but lands below its neck, blasting open the shell and scattering its yellow-green flesh.

The moment it dies, one of its kin leaps down and lands right atop its corpse.

While watching me closely, it crunches chitin and flesh in its mandibles, uncaring that what its eating was just moments ago another of its swarm.

“That’s stealing.” I grumble, stirring the mana that remains in me while reloading another shot. I usually have a moment to regain my mana from the corpses of my enemies, but these beasts deny me that chance.

A chunk of flesh fell near to me, and I slowly approach it and stick my foot in it to scrape together a little more mana in the process.

Eshya shouts in wordless frustration as she sidesteps away from me, and away from another locust that lands between us. The beast, quite unsatisfied that it missed its prey, is quick to try and leap towards her for another attempt at her life.

At once, her sword strikes it from the front, and my fire burst punch hits it from the back. The combined damage is enough to still the beast, though I’m not certain it’s dead quite just yet. Regardless, I waste no time in drawing mana from it, hoping I can convert it in time for the next skirmish.

Of course, I am not so lucky. Another of the purple insects falls from the sky above us, as others chirp madly, stripping my mind of its focus.

I lift my pistol and shoot. Praying that I don’t miss.

The green blood, yellow organs, and purple chitin that rains from the sky indicates that my shot has landed, though more by good luck than by talented shooting. Now I’m out. My mana has hit zero, and my head is pounding, while my skin crawls with the cold touch of the reaper.

The mana crunching inside me will correct that in a moment, if I don’t die before then.

“Eshya, I’m out!” I shout, using the locust corpse as cover as much as for its mana.

More chirping fills the air, wavering my focus and blurring my thoughts. I look over at the beast that was busy feasting on its own kind. It’s finished its meal but seems still hungry, though surely it’s stomach should be full by now. It sets its legs and opens its wings slightly, as it faces me, getting ready to jump at me.

“Eshya!” I shout for my warrior.

The locust leaps at me, moving fast enough that I stand no chance of dodging. The corpse at my back shifts as it’s kicked away by the elf jumping over it. Eshya flies over my head, her sword glowing as she swings for the insect that’s going to meet her in the air.

Eshya’s glowing sword slashes through the shoulder of the insect, cutting almost right through, but that isn’t enough to stop the coming impact. They each continue flying through momentum, slamming into one another and ending in a violent tangle of snapping limbs and green blood.

Shen leaps upon the locust, smashing her long armoured tail into the joints between chitinous plates.

Together they fall to the ground before me, struggling and fighting even in their current condition. I grit my teeth and watch on, churning the mana inside faster and faster, as I watch my lover’s blood scatter on the ground before me.

The locust shifts a leg around, moving to impale Eshya. Shen wraps her tail around the legs joint and tries to pull it away, but she’s too small and too weak. Likely realizing the same thing, she instead crawls around and halfway into the joint, stopping the locust’s movement with her own body.

The locust kicks, crunching Shen and still managing to impale Esya’s shoulder.

This isn’t allowed.

They are mine.

She is mine.

I step forwards, the ball of rage inside seizing control over me as I force a few drips of mana into my soul. I reach out a hand, touching the head of the beast as it tries to reach down towards Eshya.

It has hurt what is mine.

Nothing can be allowed to hurt what is mine.

Thus, it must be nothing.

The drop of mana understands my intent, running down my finger and invading the creature’s skull. It’s only a drip of mana, a small hint of power, but as I watch, it builds into something more. I watch as the magic multiplies in strength, mana coming into existence as if inspired by the purpose by which I’ve wrought this spell.

A moment later, the mana does as it is ordered to do.

The mana vanishes, and the top half of the insect’s skull turns to soft ash. My vision blurs as the Skill message comes in.

~ Skill developed

~ Annihilation magic

“Kyra!” Eshya’s shout is enough to bring me back from the edge as I’m about to faint.

The drop of mana I squeezed out ahead of time has come at the cost of slowing the rest of my mana’s conversion. The symptoms of low mana are getting worse and worse, and I know it’ll kill me given enough time.

I blink until my eyes are clear and look down at Eshya.

She pulls at the leg impaling her shoulder, but grunts in pain as her hands slip. The beast’s corpse is draped over her, bleeding its guts all over her. Shen is somewhere in the mix, but she doesn’t matter right now.

I look up as I hear the buzzing of wings overhead, raising my pistol, and watching as the rest of the insects flee. I don’t think those things can actually feel fear, so we just mustn’t be worth the effort, I suppose.

I shake my head clear and rush to Eshya’s side.

“Your healing potion?” I ask her, looking over the corpse and figuring out how to approach the problem. Without useable mana, I don’t stand a chance of moving it.

“Here.” Eshya says, digging around at her waist before pulling out the glowing potion.

Taking a few deep breaths, as waves of cold chills race across my skin, I finally feel the mana warm pleasantly inside of me. The rest of the symptoms fade away as I return to life. A few more moments and I’m back.

“Be ready.” I say, meeting Eshya’s eyes. “The moment I pull the leg out of your shoulder, I need you to drink it.”

She nods, gripping the bottle firmly.

I invest all of my mana into my muscle grouping and set my feet. I have to lift more than just the leg as much of the body is leaning over her too, pressing down on that offending limb.

With a deep breath, I grab firmly to the leg and pull. Eshya grits her teeth and moans, as the leg tears her flesh apart.

Shen squeaks in pain from somewhere within the mess of locust organs, but she’s of secondary importance.

“Eshya.” I shout, the moment the locust’s leg is out of her. She kicks herself out from under the beast while chugging down the contents of the small bottle.

Her bleeding stops right away, and the magic unravels through her flesh, healing her as well as it can. I drop the beast’s corpse and rush to her side.

“Eshya, are you alright?” I ask, watching her injuries heal over. The potion isn’t some perfect miracle, and the massive wound in her shoulder leaves behind scarred flesh an inch and a half across.

“Shen.” Eshya squeezes out between grit teeth. “She saved me. She…”

“She’s alive, just… are you…?”

“I’m fine. Save her.” Eshya says, shuffling herself over towards the locust corpse.

“Stay there, I’ll do it.” I say, rushing ahead of her.

“Shen.” I call to her, while digging my hands into the beasts guts.

It doesn’t take long for me to find her, or at least, the main parts of her. She’s half crushed, and her tail alongside half of her legs, has been severed and is stuck somewhere in the mass of beast flesh at my feet.

“Shit…” I whisper, seeing the organs inside still pulsing with life.

“…Together” The ugly, little face-hugger whispers.

“Shen… Together.” Eshya says, looking down at her and seeing something in this creature that I can’t. “We have to get her to a healer.”

We’ve known the creature for all of two hours and she’s already connected to it. I grit my teeth as I look at the mangled corpse, feeling nothing but a cruel apathy in my own heart. I’d throw it aside just to rush Eshya to the healer a minute sooner, if I thought it’d work.

Damn it.

“I…” I don’t think Shen is going to make it.

I shut my mouth, and keep the thought to myself.

“I’ve messaged Red.” I say. “She’s coming. There’s a healer down here with the lord’s people. It’s our best chance.”

“She saved me.” Eshya says, her breathing getting heavier. “I was too weak. I was…”

“It is what it is.” I say, grabbing her shoulder and holding her firmly.

“Are you okay?” Eshya asks, suddenly turning to face me. Looking me up and down, her eyes sticking to the few bleeding wounds on my arms and legs. Then again to the ruined clothes that I’m wearing, which took more damage than I did.

“I’m fine.” I reply.

She nods, her stance and expression growing harder as she turns away from the dying little creature in my hands and turns to look around for her sword. She finds it quick and starts scanning our surroundings for threats.

I hold Shen close while leaning against a corpse, shoving my darker thoughts into a corner as I bite my tongue and wait for Red. Trying to find her will simply take more time for all of us.

“How are you feeling?” I ask, “Did the potion work it’s magic?”

“My leg healed wrong.” She says stiffly. Stomping her feet a few times, as if expecting the shock to put everything back into place.

“Healed wrong?” My heart bounces up into my throat, and I completely forget the insect in my arms.

“The bone. It’s not in the right position. It’s fine. I’ll get it treated at the same healer we’re taking Shen to.” Oh, right. Healing magic can fix all of that.

“It doesn’t sound fine.” I say looking down at her leg while taking slow deep breaths to steady my mind.

“It’s fine. I can still fight.” She says. “How far is Red?”

“Right here.” Red says, stopping right over the locust corpse. “Looks like it was a good fight, but also, you’re both morons for coming out here to train like this.”

“Thank you. Now could you please carry this little one to the healer for us?” I ask, passing the body over to her.

“This is?” She asks, looking at the half dead creature.

“Shen.” Eshya replies quickly.

“She’s low intelligence, but has proven herself loyal.” I reply, Red nods, taking the creature into her arms. “I’ll have someone sent over to pay the healer later.”

“I’ll get her there quickly.” Red replies, looking between us. “Korgan and Arn will be here shortly, after they’ve brought the trainees back to base. They’ll escort you to the healer.”

“Right.” I say, brushing my hair out of my face. “Thank you.”

“I’ll lecture you about proper training, and how dangerous this was after everyone’s safe.” Red says, disappearing into the forest in a flash.

“I feel like an idiot.” I grumble, brushing the blood off of my face.

“We should make the most of this mana before we leave.” Eshya says, “We shouldn’t let it go to waste.”

“We need to get to the healer and recover.” I say.

“Arduelle is stealing you away to do something.” She hisses, “You need to get stronger before then.”

“I’ll be fine.” I say, trying to believe it.

“Maybe. Maybe not.” She says, holding out her hand towards me, asking for another hit of mana. “We both need to be stronger. This is… this is all just proof of how weak we are.”

I hand her a small snack packed thick with mana, and she swallows it down without even chewing. A grunt of pain escapes her, as she starts the slow process of converting foreign mana into her own. It can take her up to half an hour to get to the point where she can use the mana, as I’ve seen from our training sessions so far.

“Do you think…” Ehsya sets her jaw and shakes her head, before saying something else. “What was that magic you used?”

“Annihilation magic.” I say, looking over the ashen head. The powder is so incredibly fine, and mana-less, such that I can barely feel it as I pinch it between my fingers. “According to my support device at least. I got a Skill for it.”

I take a moment to look through a few of the class files loaded onto Chip hoping to find some interesting Skills or information.

“Annihilation magic?” Eshya asks, raising an eyebrow and looking over the beast again, “That’s… interesting. No wonder they didn’t tell you about it. That’s assuming they even know you had a talent for it.”

“Talent?” I ask.

“The spell was larger than it should’ve been. Even struggling for my life, I saw it.” She explains, “It was a talent, and a powerful one. Your magic pulled mana into existence to strengthen it, like Vii does with her wind magic.”

“Ah, the real talents, not the fake talents.” I say, shaking my head at the twisted logic of my words. I really should’ve realized it was a talent for myself.

“Annihilation?”

“Magic is creation and destruction. Your talent is destruction.” She says, leaning against the side of the corpse, and barking a dry laugh. “With a talent like that, I can’t hope to catch up.”

“It’ll be fine.” I say, “You have a talent for combat that power alone can’t compete with.”

“I’m sure…” she says, clearly unconvinced.

“Why is it that I haven’t found out about this talent before?” I ask.

“Just because you’re good at something, doesn’t mean you’re going to know about it. Besides, as I was saying, they wouldn’t tell you about this talent since it’s somewhat contradictory to our entire culture.

“We fight to subdue, not to kill. Using resources to remove other resources from existence would have to be the closest thing you can get to sacrilege.”

“I almost forgot for a moment you were raised in a crazy culture, run by madmen.”

“Well, we’re both living in it now.” She replies with a difficult smile, which quickly disappears as she sets her jaw and focuses on the world around us.

“Wait, does this mean that I’m not going to find any Skills or teachers for my fancy new magic?” I ask, trying to keep her mind away from Shen. I thought she was the most monstrous of us, the most cold-blooded, but here she is trying to pretend that she doesn’t care about that dying bug.

“I suppose that’s true.” She replies, relaxing slightly. I think that by now the mana might’ve finished its conversion.

If I look closely, I can see where the excess energy leaks from her, where the mana just can’t quite fit in anymore and escapes into the atmosphere. For her, even stressing herself as she is, the leaks are miniscule, just tiny wisps really. As I watch, they disappear and I prepare to give her another hit of mana when she falls to her knee, letting out a low growl.

“Eshya?” I ask, stumbling closer to her.

“I’m… I’m fine. Better than fine.” She says, smiling through grit teeth. “I did it. I really did it!”

“You developed to liquid state?” I ask, “Really?”

“Yeah, it’s…” She takes a few calming breaths. “I can’t waste any mana. I can’t risk dipping below that 1000 points, it’ll kill me.”

“Can you take in more mana?” I ask, and her jaw tightens, as she nods forcefully.

“I can.” She replies, her expression tense for more than just the pain. “Give it to me.”

“Careful,” I say, giving her a little extra mana.

“Heard you girls found yourselves in a bit of trouble.” Korgan says, climbing over a root and pulling his massive shield with him.

“A little.” I reply, forcing a smile. “Let’s get to that healer.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Skills & Stats

~Mana Form:

Current mana density: 820 units

~Mana distribution:

Catagory Current Max. Skin 0% 49% Muscle 56% 56% Mind 0% 72% Cardiovascular 0% 34% Misc. 0% 29% Efficiency 56% 82%

~Favourited Skills:

-Chip Shredder

-Multi-mind

-Tag

-Mana surge movement

-Mana surge punch

-Reactive mana skin

-Infused delayed Casting

-Fire burst punch

-Annihilation magic