Mana 4 Chapter 8 (Patreon)

I held the map as I stood near the front door, waiting for the veiled ladies to appear.

Tracey and the two others from our sword practice appeared flowing out of the Orchid Pavilion’s upper floors in loose dresses with swords belted at their hips. One of them was carrying a wooden box.

Looking past them, there was no sign of Rachel. “Are we waiting for anyone else?” I asked.

“No, is that a problem?” Tracey must have read my reaction, because she followed up on her question immediately. “Don’t worry. You are coming with us to protect us. Although you should know, if something happens to you, the cost would be astronomical. But the place we are going should be fairly safe.”

She thought I was concerned about that, but I just didn’t enjoy being out in the woods with people I didn’t trust. But I was excited to get the opportunity to stretch my legs outside of the sect and get a better look at the surrounding area.

“How does taking me out as your guard work?” I asked.

“Here.” Tracey turned and grabbed the box from the girl behind her and opened it up; inside was a pale pink crystal. “We can tune your bracelet to this crystal instead of the pavilion temporarily. It’ll last a week, and you need to stay close to it.”

Holding up my bracelet, I watched as she touched the crystal to my bracelet. I could feel a subtle shift as it connected to the crystal and mana flowed between them. “Good.” She tucked the crystal into her spatial ring. “Obviously, you’ll be paid quite well for this, and you can earn from the kills. I’ll even bring them back in my ring.”

Nodding, it seemed she was trying to make up for her previous attitude. “Thank you.”

“Come on.” Tracey waved the group forward. “This is Beth and Claire. You two already know Isaac.” She turned to me. “They are quite infatuated with you after this morning.”

Both of them were blushing furiously as they glared at Tracey.

I smiled to myself, feeling less threatened than before. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad trip after all.

“Nice to meet both of you. I’m in your care on this trip. I just came to this world and was captured in the Jungle of a Thousand Paths. Any rundown you might be able to give me on what to expect will help me so I can better protect you.” I figured I’d see if they’d open up and share anything interesting; people often enjoyed getting to share their knowledge.

Tracey smirked as Beth and Claire flanked me and started chatting as we walked through the city. From the map, I’d learned that the Pavilion was on the northern part of the city, with the Jungle being to the northeast and the foothill we were going hunting in to the east.

The city itself wasn’t remarkably different than back in the mortal world. It would seem people everywhere worked for their food and children played in the streets. The lack of mana beasts was the only key difference I’d seen so far. From what I’d gathered, most of the cultivation systems didn’t seem to include binding mana beasts. They had other innate abilities that allowed them to absorb mana.

However, that talent was widely variable and the cause of much excitement or disappointment for every family. Claire and Beth’s parents were over the moon when their talent shone through. Apparently, talent for cultivation was highly inherited, but there were some exceptions.

“So the ancient families all have great talent?” I asked as we walked.

Beth paused before explaining. “The ancient families all descend from powerful beings in the past. Their bloodlines carry with them talent and power that naturally give them a leg up above the rest of us.” There was no bitterness in her voice, just a statement of fact. I’d have to pay more attention to my own bloodline; my mother no doubt came from one of these ancient families.

Then again, in a world where might was right, the mighty ancient families were likely seldom wrong. “Are there any from the ancient family in the pavilion?”

Claire stepped in to answer. “Only a few. Most of us in the pavilion come there in hopes of one day attracting the attention of someone from an ancient family.”

“You’d then leave the sect?” I asked, surprised by the answer.

“Sects are strong, but they are nothing compared to an ancient family. They are where you can truly flourish in your cultivation and reach peak potential.” A sense of awe filled Claire’s voice as she spoke. She clearly held the ancient families in high regard.

My mother’s strength and the fact that through her I had a powerful bloodline made me wonder. “Is there an ancient family with the bloodline of the Pixiu?”

“The what?” Both girls frowned at the question. “Out here we don’t see many of the ancient families.”

“Ah. Nevermind.” I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy to track down my mother. But at least I had some leads now. Not wanting to give much away, I changed the subject. “So Tracey, what are we hunting?”

“Mana beasts of course. The foothills have a wide variety of them, but the lower hills often become occupied by beasts in the 4th and maybe 5th rank. They like to each take their own peaks. Between the peaks are a variety of lower rank beasts, but I’d rather not slaughter our way, though. It isn’t good karma.”

I nodded. The notion of karma wasn’t lost on me. I’d learned not to kill what couldn’t be used or wasn’t a direct threat. It was wasteful.

We soon picked our way out of the city and into a forest. The mountains rose up before us like a stairway to the heavens above.

Making our way through the forest, the four of us had enough of a presence that many beasts got out of our way.

“Watch out.” I called, drawing my bonesword and stepping forward, slashing at the empty air.

A winged serpent back winged just in time to pull up and out of my attack. The verdant beast blended in seamlessly with the surroundings; its feathers and scales mimicked leaves perfectly. The thing was only the size of a large dog, but oozed aggressiveness.

I stepped forward again, clipping its wings before it could escape. The mana beast fell to the ground.

“3rd rank beast.” Beth declared, her own sword out at the ready as the other two circled it.

“Would you like to let it go?” I deferred to the girls. They understood this world better and our task. I was fine with them making the call.

“If it is this aggressive, then we are doing others a favor.” Tracey dove forward with her sword. The beast tried to counter, but the strange movement technique of hers stopped her short before she finished her attack and skewered the beast to the forest floor.

We all backed away as the serpent thrashed about, trying to sink its fangs into anything it could before it expired.

They watched, waiting for it to die, but I stepped forward and cut the head from the body and put it out of its misery. The body continued thrashing as it bled out.

“Its wings are worth something; the rest is trash.” Tracey informed me before she cut the wings off with two swift strokes.

“Then we can have snake tonight.” I held up the thrashing body and squeezed it from the tip to the open wound. Meanwhile, Beth and Claire worked to pin the head and remove the beast core.

Tracey wrinkled her nose. “I have rations.”

“Best save those if we don’t need them. I might be new here, but I think I’ve seen a few herbs I can use to make this palatable.”

“I want to try his cooking!” Claire declared.

“Fine.” Tracey grimaced, taking the serpent’s corpse from me and putting it in her spatial ring. “We are heading up into the hills now. The mana beasts are going to grow stronger, and we’ll have to be careful of the 4th and 5th rank beasts that might have claimed one of the hills.”

Nodding, we all jumped into action. Our feet barely touched the ground as we ran onwards with the strength of our cultivation. I was still getting used to the complete abundance of mana in this world.

Aurora and my other mana beasts were constantly absorbing it from the world around me. Three fourth rank beasts in my rings were a major boon in the rate that they absorbed mana.

But I could also feel something else in me drawing mana. I hadn’t sensed it before, but it seemed like the surrounding wild had brought it out more clearly. My bloodline was absorbing a trickle of mana. It was only a small stream underneath the flow of mana going to my mana beasts. But it was there; my bloodline was growing in strength.

The image of my mother had told me little, but my time in the mortal world was to protect me from her family. And I knew that my bloodline was incomplete.

I had practiced a dual cultivation technique to awaken parts of it, but never all. I was just starting to realize that in the immortal world with the immortal mana, it might bring forward my bloodline. And I couldn’t help but wonder if the protection she had afforded me by leaving me in the mortal world was about to end.

Curiosity filled me at the idea of meeting my extended family. There was little doubt in my mind that they were among the ancient families, but the question was which one. Not to mention the warnings that my mother had given me about them.

We traveled until we reached the first rising peak, and the sun was close to setting. “We’ll find shelter here before it gets too dark. Then you can cook your snake.” Tracey paused, looking at the hillside as she breathed heavily.

I had pockets stuffed with herbs we’d seen on the way. My strength was returning by leaps and bounds away from the city. As we grew closer to the mountains, the immortal mana seemed to become richer. It made sense that the mana beasts would be drawn to it and want to claim a mountain peak. They were likely amazing cultivation resources.

“Say, do mana beasts take human form?” I asked. In all our discussion of mana beasts, the girls had spoken as if they were nothing more than an animal.

Sure enough, Beth looked at me strangely as we started to circle the particular hill to find a safe place to stay for the night. “There are legends of such a thing. But they are just that... legends. That’s where the ancient families come from, and how they have the bloodlines of powerful mana beasts. Of course, they have some of those traits now, but they aren’t beasts.”

My mana beasts had retained their human forms as we’d entered this world. I wondered if that had to do with them already having them before coming or if there was something I was missing.

Regardless, I focused on finding a cave so we could cook up our food and get some rest.

Luckily, we didn’t have to wander much further before we came upon an empty cave. It wasn’t particularly big, but it was big enough for us to sleep separately.

Gathering branches, I set about making a fire as the girls set up sleeping rolls deeper into the cave. “You’ll be sleeping closest to the entrance. I hope you don’t mind.” Tracey informed me.

The other two looked a little ashamed at obviously putting me in the most dangerous position, but I understood our roles. “That’s fine. Are we going to rotate out a watch?”

Glances were shot around the women in a hurry before Claire sighed. “I’ll split the watch with you tonight. One of them will do it tomorrow.”

I nodded. At least I’d get half a night's sleep.

The fire crackled to life under my attention. “Can I have the snake?”

“Here.” Tracey held it out with a wrinkled nose, and I got started on gutting it with my sword and skewering sections of meat, rubbing spices into the side to cook inside the meat. I was missing salt, but it would have to do.

The girls lounged around chattering while I cooked and kept an eye into the night. None of them struck me as the type to go hunting often, so I wondered what had gotten them sent on this assignment. Although it was also possible, they were just used to somebody playing the workhorse role like I was then.

I didn’t begrudge them their luxury. Upon reflection, I’d used servants to do many things for me while I relaxed with my wives. I realized that I’d grown so used to it that I’d stopped thinking about how those serving me may have felt at the time.

Fat crackled into the fire from the snake, as what little fat trickled out between the skin and the meat. It started to smell like cooked meat, bringing the attention of the girls.

“Don’t you need to skin it?” Tracey asked.

“There’s not much fat on a snake, almost none at all. If you don’t want it to be overly dry, it’s best to keep the skin on for as long as possible. That way it helps hold the fat to soften up the meat.” Taking the smallest piece, I pulled it out of the fire and brushed out the herbs before grabbing a corner of the skin and peeling it off in one clean piece. “Try it.”

She took a small, cautious bite of one edge and chewed.

“So?” Claire asked.

“Reminds me of white fish. Not really much flavor besides the herbs. But it isn’t bad.”

I shrugged. “I can’t make miracles. But it’s still a third rank beast meat. Should be good for your bodies.”

With that reminder, Tracey dug in and Claire held out her hand for her own portion.

There would be plenty to go around, so I took another piece that I thought was done and replaced the two skewers with more. I planned to eat as much as I could.

I served Beth and then myself, watching as Claire peeled the skin off herself with a look of wonder.

“Bone.” Tracey spat.

“Yeah, there are going to be a few little ones. Sorry, it is almost impossible to remove all of those. Kind of like a whole fish.”

The group fell into a comfortable silence as we consumed enough snake to satisfy our hunger and then some. The girls quickly got sleepy and curled up into their bed rolls deeper into the cave.

I stared out into the dark, wondering when the last time I roughed it like this was. I couldn’t think of a time after I’d become the sect leader of the Ferrymen.

Lightning lit up the sky on another mountain peak. I counted, and the boom came almost thirty seconds later. It didn’t continue like a storm, and I wondered if that had been some mana beast on one of the peaks. Lightning was a powerful attribute, and it brought back memories.

I may have defeated Leo, but his family was here, and they would become a problem, eventually.

Part of me relished the challenge. While being at the bottom of the cultivation ladder wasn’t exactly ideal, the concept of progressing further and becoming strong again was a fun new challenge. It brought an extra pressure I’d been missing.

Flipping over my wrist, I paid more attention to the bracelet on my arm. Whatever Charles had done to activate it, the metal was smooth all the way around, as if it was one fused piece.

I fiddled with it, watching the enchantment on it begin to power up at times. It seemed to have an advanced system in it to prevent someone from tampering with it. Part of me was curious about what would happen if I cut my arm off, but I wasn’t that desperate yet.

The night was peaceful as I wrapped up my watch. It felt like just over half the night had passed as I woke Claire to take over.

“Wha?” She sleepily groaned and rolled over to go back to sleep.

I squatted down and shook her until she rolled back and glared at me, going to turn back. But I stopped her from rolling over, waiting for intelligence to enter her eyes.

That vague squint of someone just woken up clarified slowly into knowing reluctance. “I’m up.”

“Good. I’ve kept the fire going, and there’s enough wood for the rest of the night. Just try not to ruin your night vision.”

She slowly got to her feet and grumbled as she went to take a position between the fire and the exit. I found a smooth section of the wall to lean against and close my eyes.

At some point in the night, Tracey, moving about, woke me up. She left the cave, and I watched with my head down, curious about what she was doing.

She came back in less than ten minutes, and it wasn’t clear what she had been up to. She could have just been relieving herself, but something felt off. And I trusted my instincts.

Knowing I needed sleep if I was going to be of any use the next day, I worked to get back to sleep. If there was something coming the next day, I’d want all my energy to catch it.

***

“Master!” Aurora pounced on me as soon as I entered my soul palace.

I rubbed her back between her wings. “How is everything? Did Kat come by?”

“Yes! She’s still here.” Aurora bounded off me with a flap of her wings and flew out of the soul palace.

Moving quickly, I followed her out to the center area of the soul palaces where the girls were gathered. Someone had started a structure there. Right now it was just a foundation and pillars going up, but I couldn’t help but wonder what it would become. The structure seemed to almost be a joining piece between each of our souls.

Setting it aside to ask about later, I moved towards Kat. “Kat.” I scooped her up into a bridal carry that made her red locks bounce. “We need to talk.”

Her eyes flashed as she smiled. “Yes, we do. And I was right, your Mohawk did come back to hunt for more slaves.”

“And you are okay?” I didn’t care about revenge nearly as much as I cared about the woman in my arms.

“Of course. Better than okay. She didn’t have nearly as much as you suggested, but she did have a spatial ring, which I now have. Makes this all a lot easier.” The other girls were listening with rapt attention, but none of them seemed shocked. It would seem Michelle and Kat had let the rest of them know about my troubles.

I grunted in agreement as I sat down with her in my arms. “You saw the map?”

“Already on my way to Murdock, but Aurora said you were leaving?”

“Yes, and I’m starting to think there might be trouble on its way for me.” I went on to explain my interaction so far with the girls and the gut instinct I had when Tracey had left the cave.

Michelle didn’t look happy. “You think they are going to betray you somehow.” It wasn’t a question. “Then why in the world did you go?”

“There was one girl in the group previously that I thought was trustworthy; I agreed, thinking she was coming. Plus, I’m a servant right now. My choices are limited, and I hope I can deal with the problem.” I turned back to look at Kat. “But I’d love it if you were able to come out here as backup.”

Kat nodded, the gold chain around her throat bunching against my chest with the movement. “I’ll head out first thing in the morning. Help me with updates.” The last was targeted towards Quinn.

That out of the way, I looked at the rest of the girls and got ahead of the problem. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell all of you before. But I…” I trailed off before taking a deep breath and recanting my experiences so far in the immortal world. I wanted them to hear it from me. While I wasn’t proud of the situation, they deserved to know all of it. We were a team, even if we were separated.