The Chronicles of a Scalebound Sage

WM [72] Beyond Mana

Bjorn followed as he was slowest in the group though he kept as close as he could behind Aurelius and Fuyumi. Failsafe kept trying to get his attention but he was too worried about Tanisha to listen. They ran until they came to one of the large monolithic rock formations in the volcanic area. The shadows under the formation were odd, almost like moving through a semi-liquid. The corrupted mana density was so high to the point of being near tangible.

His attention snapped back as Aurelius gently laid Tanisha down. Bjorn was at her side in an instant. His many eyes scanned her, and his breath hitched. Her clothing was torn to near ribbons and what remained was streaked in blood. Her breathing was fine but she looked pale and she was sweating profusely. Bjorn felt the bond between them, it was strong which was a good sign. 

When he saw her like this his mind went back to the days they spent in the troll cave at the very beginning of their adventure. She was clinging to life by the barest thread after what that creature did to her. She looked so fragile, so breakable, that it made his chest ache. This time he was the monster that did this to her.

Aurelius and Fuyumi spoke in hushed tones a short distance away, their expressions grim. Bjorn watched their lips move, frustration building as he failed to understand their words. He needed to know what they were saying. Why couldn’t Failsafe decode their language by now?

“Failsafe, why can’t I understand them yet? What have you been doing?” Bjorn yelled internally. “What are they saying about her?”

“Woah, Bjorn I have been trying to talk to you.” Failsafe said placatingly. “Languages are hard to map out for a spellform. The fact I can do it for one language was already supposedly impossible, but I am working on it.”

“Work faster.” Bjorn’s thoughts lashed out like a whip. “They’re talking about Tanisha, aren’t they? Is she… Is she alright?”

“She is, but she lost a lot of blood.” Failsafe said finally, his tone careful. “She’s stable. If we weren’t as high level as we are, or if she hadn’t been using her UCP wisely, it might have been fatal. A normal wendigo probably wouldn’t have made it... but she’s not normal. And in a few dozen levels, blood loss like this won’t even be a concern.”

“I almost killed her?” His voice was barely a whisper, trembling under the weight of guilt. 

The realization hit him hard as he looked down at her. They had been through so much together. Faced so many odds stacked against them and especially against her. After all of that, after surviving monsters, druids, skinwalkers, werewolves and everything else, the thing that nearly killed her was him. He couldn’t help but be painfully aware of the blood staining his claws and it made him sick. 

“You didn’t mean to, Bjorn.” Failsafe was quiet for a long moment. “She saved us, take a look at your core. I know it seems unrelated but do it.”

Bjorn wanted to lash out, to scream that it didn’t matter whether he meant it or not. Intent didn’t undo what had happened. Failsafe’s final words gave him pause. She saved us? His mind snagged on the thought. What had she done to his core?

He lay down beside Tanisha, his serpentine body coiling protectively around her. He encircled her like a living fortress, his scales shielding her from any further harm. Only when he was certain she was as safe as he could make her did he close his eyes and turn his focus inward, seeking the truth Failsafe had urged him to find.

Bjorn’s awareness plunged into the depths of his core, and the change was immediate, stark and undeniable. What had once been a harmonious dance of two orbs, one radiating golden aether and the other shimmering with silver mana, was now altered. A third energy coursed within him, dull and muted gray, flowing like a quiet storm through the streams of power that defined his essence.

Normally Bjorn could see the formulae within the energies in his core but the gray had no formula it was pure potential. He extended his will toward it, probing cautiously. With a thought, he imposed the familiar structure of mana onto a section of the gray energy. It obeyed, shifting seamlessly into silver, joining the steady stream of mana that wove through his being. Emboldened, Bjorn repeated the act, this time shaping the gray into aether. Again, the transformation was effortless, the gray energy turning radiant gold before merging with the existing current of aether. 

He followed the new gray power to the orb that now spun with the other two in the center of his being. The gray power flowed between the aether and the mana orbs connecting them like a chain and allowing power to flow between the cores seamlessly. Bjorn realized what this enigmatic energy that now flowed within him was, it was chaos mana. He had been exposed to it long ago, when he was Isin he had opened himself to it and it flowed into his core.

Chaos mana was more than a missing piece of himself; it was the key. Aether was the domain of the Angels, powerful but rigid in its purity. Mana was versatile, the lifeblood of mortals and mages. Chaos mana was the bridge between them, a force neither divine nor mortal, but something entirely unique. It allowed him to shape both powers freely, to transcend the limits imposed by either. 

There was something he was missing though, why did the Chaos Lands have something so unique within them? Where did this power come from and why were the Angels so obsessively fascinated by it? He needed more answers but that could wait. For now he couldn’t help but look at the core and smiled when he saw the soul bond connected to him. Maya, which his mother sealed away, flowed around the gray orb giving it stability. The realization struck him with humbling clarity, Tanisha had saved his life in more ways than one. Until his own connection to maya was restored, she had become his lifeline, more vital than the air in his lungs.  

“So we now have chaos magic?” Bjorn said mentally.

“That is what that is? Chaos magic?” Failsafe questioned. “Hey wait a minute how do you know that and not me? I am the magic one.”

“The visions I have been seeing, I saw when Isin unintentionally pulled it into his core.” Bjorn said. “When he did, he didn’t have mana so it just stabilized his aetheric one.”

“Then what we suspected about Angels being bad at controlling aether because of its rigidity must be true!” Failsafe sounded increasingly excited. “Those orb-things they used, they were artificial stabilizers for their power. That’s why their civilization leaned so heavily on technology. They needed machines to channel their energy effectively.”

“The Angels were essentially the power source for their technology to function.” Bjorn postulated. “But we don’t quite know what they could do without the technology, aether on its own is far more potent than mana, it is a Higher Plane energy after all.”

Failsafe hummed thoughtfully. “So now you’ve got this, uh, what are we calling it?”

“Chaos mana is how I was referring to it because it has mana-like qualities although it’s not quite mana.” Bjorn thought about it for a while. “It feels like mana, but it’s not. It’s proto-mana. That so-called ‘corrupted mana’ in mana storms isn’t corrupted at all. It’s primordial energy in its natural state. Aurelius has it too but unlike me his core is entirely that form of energy. ”n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Failsafe perked up. “Primordial mana, huh? Let’s call it primana. Sounds cool, right? Short for ‘primordial mana.’ I would’ve gone with ‘prana,’ but humans already use that for a material user.”

“Primana. Fine. It’s better than anything I’ve got.” Bjorn agreed. 

“So, does that mean that monsters are actually made of primana?” Failsafe questioned.

“No, I don’t think so, they are actually a corruption of mana,” Bjorn said. “Something about primana and the corrupted mana that monsters have is different. It is why Aurelius’s aura is monster-like but also very different at the same time. He has primana while they have corrupted mana.” 

Bjorn paused, his thoughts darkening as he considered the implications. “Coming here was necessary. These lands unlocked memories and visions you don’t have access to, Failsafe. I need to find a way to trigger the rest of them before we leave. Isin came here for something, a purpose that would upend the balance of power, making humanity more than just a slave race. Whatever he found here turned him into the Sunderer of the Angelic Throng.”

“Do you know what it was?” Failsafe questioned eagerly.

“I am not exactly sure but I think it was one of the Angel Cores,” Bjorn said. “And yes, that is what those orbs are called by the way.”

“Well, that’s a dumb name.” Failsafe joked. “That is like a human making a wand and calling it a ‘Man Stick.’ They really weren’t very creative.”

“I didn’t make the name.” Bjorn responded with a chuckle. “But you’re right.”

Failsafe snickered. “Glad we agree. But seriously, what’s next? I can’t analyze the changes to your core and finish this new translation spellform at the same time. What’s the priority? Understanding Aurelius and Fuyumi, or digging into your core?”

Bjorn mulled it over, his right-most head tilting in a decisive nod. “Finish the translation first. I’ll experiment with the Tri-core on my own for now.”

“Tri-core?” Failsafe echoed, clearly amused. “Nice name. I’m rubbing off on you, aren’t I? Let’s go with it.”

Bjorn smirked faintly but didn’t reply, his focus shifting as he noticed movement. Tanisha stirred, her breathing uneven as she began to wake. Instinctively, all four heads snapped toward her, eyes sharp with concern. Fuyumi was at her side in an instant, moving with a fluid grace that belied her urgency. She held a cup of steaming soup, Bjorn realized, as its savory aroma reached his nostrils. Without hesitation, he shifted out of Fuyumi's way to give her the room she needed. The language barrier was still an obstacle, but Bjorn could read the scene clearly enough. Tanisha needed to recuperate and eating would help in that journey.