As the morning light filters through the ill-fitting logs of my improvised shelter, Haley deems my memorization of the prayer good enough to attempt to perform it with him.
Together we crouch in the dappled dawn sunlight and begin chanting the prayer to the spirits. As we reach the end of the second repetition, Haley starts to sing the prayer and clap to the rhythm that we've been keeping.
You know that feeling when someone's looking at you. That prickly feeling you get? Well, that's what it's like to commune with the spirits, except stronger. I could feel them all around me whispering to each other and me, their words just on the wrong audible for me to make out what they're saying. Or maybe I just don't understand the language.
It feels abrupt when Haley finishes singing. As I come back to my senses I realize that the last of the dawn light has gone, and the sunlight is now white as it streams through the gaps between the boards.
"Chosen one."
"I'm not the Chosen one." I snap back and immediately regret it.
Contritely I say, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap. It's just that was so…"
Haley nods, "I understand. I still remember the first time I was permitted to participate in the communion."
"Look, I'm sorry. I'm not this Chosen One. I know you've been calling me that since yesterday, but I'm just Taylor. Yesterday I'd just been shoved in my locker, and I thought I was dreaming when you woke me up. I guess I must have died in the locker, as there's no way I could have felt the pain of those slimes if this was a dream."
Haley smiles gently at me, "May I call you Taylor then Chosen One?"
I nod slightly distractedly as my mind starts to go over the idea that I died in the locker. I'm brought out of my musing as Haley puts his hand on my shoulder once more.
"Taylor, I know you had a hard life for one so young. But we still need to worry about our survival. The belt will help you go longer without food or rest, but even with that you will eventually need to eat."
I nod and swallow back my growing panic. "What do I need to do?"
Haley smiles, "The act of communing with the spirits is one of focusing outwards, and letting go of your sense of self. The prayer is our way of giving thanks for their aid and sacrifices, as well as asking for their continued protection. To commune with the spirits in your belt you must do something similar. Though, instead of focusing outwards, you need to listen for the spirits imbued in your belt. We are taught that things should become clear at that point. Though, as you are the first person one these belts has ever reacted to, I'll be looking forward to finding out what happens."
My eyebrows rise, and, not for the first time, I wish I hadn't let Emma talk me out of teaching myself to raise one eyebrow. Instead, I settle back against the wall and start trying to find that feeling again. Not the prickly feeling of the spirits watching me. Rather the slightly sloshy or floaty feeling that Haley said is mana.
To do this I need to go through the process of slowly identifying and labelling each of the sounds, sights, smells, and feelings around me and disregarding them until the only thing I'm left with is mana.
I'm not sure how long it takes, only that it's still daylight outside and that I had to restart it five or six times because something new happened. But with nothing else to do, unless I wanted to knock holes in our shelter and face the slimes outside, I persevered.
In a way, it's nice being able to do something like this without the Bitches Three causing problems, or dad. Or dad being all mopey around the house, as if he was the only one that lost someone when mum died.
That tantalizing glimpse of what I was looking for disappears as those thoughts cross my mind. With a scream of frustration, I surge to my feet and promptly sit back down on the ground as I bump my head on a beam. With no other outlets, and unwilling to venture outside to die again, I spend a bit of energy knocking down and replacing the logs of our shelter to use up some of the anger that came from those thoughts.
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The sun is well on its way towards the horizon by the time I manage to calm down long enough to find that feeling once more. When I do, instead of finding a pool like Haley suggested, my mana is more like a puff of steam from a nearly boiling pot with the lid on.
Suffice to say I almost lose my calm right there. But finding my own mana was only part of why I'm doing this. I can see why Haley started with communing with the spirits before I tried this. They're so much more obvious.
When I discover the belt, my eyes flick open in surprise, as I can feel it like a trained guide dog waiting to help me to the best of its ability.
Haley smirks and says, "You found something then?"
I nod, "I did. But I couldn't find a pool of mana inside me. If the feeling of the spirits was liquid, then mine felt like it was only a wisp of steam."
Haley frowns, "That can't be right, everyone has mana. Otherwise how did you place those logs, or cut down the trees?"
I shrug, "I have no idea, you're the guide."
"Sorry Cho…Taylor, that was mostly rhetorical. You need to work out how to connect to the belt and maintain the connection while you open your eyes. From everything we understand of the belt, it should then allow you to 'know' what you can do with the items you're carrying, along with any container you're looking in. It should also allow you to make things too. The first thing you should make is a torch, so that we can see. Then try to make a workbench."
I nod and get up to stretch my legs before sitting back down on the floor and trying again. Rather ironically, I think it's actually harder to find my mana and the belt than it was the first time. Probably because I'm anticipating it. That and the zombies bashing on the walls, and trying to reach through the gaps in the wood.
When I get there, it's like the belt is showing me stuff in a grid, and if I focus on something it gives me some basic details about it. Like my copper axe having 35% axe power.
I open my eyes with a frown and try to keep my focus on what the belt is telling me. "Harley, what's Axe Power?"
Harley's voice comes out of the darkness, "Um. I'm not entirely sure. I know that a trained lumberjack will take down a tree in 10 hits with a lead axe, while a copper axe will take 15. That's assuming that they're both unenchanted of course."
"Enchanted? Damn it!" I swear as I lose my focus and my connection with the belt.
Haley chuckles, "I remember feeling like that when I was learning magic tricks as a child. Calm down and take it slowly, and it will become second nature before you realize it."
"Enchanted? Magic tricks?"
"An applied permanent magical enhancement. While there's only a limited number of enhancements that we've found; our weapon smiths and craftsmen often find that the magic they used has remained in the item for better or worse. The few tribes of goblins that aren't warmongers make a lot of money from the kingdoms, as they're the only ones that know how to disrupt the pattern of enchantments so that they fall back into a new configuration."
"Oh, um. I guess that might make more sense later. I'm going to try and make contact with the belt again."
Haley just smiles as he settles down again.
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When I finally feel the belt again, I get that sense of an eager puppy just begging for the chance to help. Working out how to get it to help me make something was, irritating, but fairly quick.
When I showed my desire to make something, it eagerly presented me with half a dozen different options. As I was trying to understand the different options, I focused too hard on a weird mini table. Suddenly 10 logs of wood fly out of the belt and my hands start to move and manifest ghostly saws, hammers, drills, and other woodworking tools.
My mouth drops open in surprise as the massive logs are compressed down into useable pieces, and then slotted together using dowels and pegs to fasten the joints invisibly.
When I get control of my body again, Haley chuckles as the little table vanishes into a pouch.
"Well done, you've made a work bench. You might as well place it in the middle of the room before you make the torches. And we do need those torches."
I frown at that statement, before the rapidly disappearing light registers. "Have I really been doing this all day?"
Haley's a barely visible shadow as he nods. All around us I can hear the sounds of zombies clawing their way out of the ground. I swallow hard and dive back into the meditation that allows me to contact the belt. This time I'm able to focus on just the torches, and once again my hands start doing their own thing.
First of all, I take a log and compress it down until it's about 18 inches long. Then I split it into three even pieces, which get carved into a thin cone. Finally, I take one of the jello balls and stab one of the proto torches into the mass, I then twist the other two torches through the jello until there's an even blob on each of them. A spark of fire sees the blob catch and rapidly shrink down into the end of the torch.
As the three torches disappear into a pocket, I somehow know that they will continue burning forever, or until something else that is hotter than normal fire burns them.
"Well done. Now, normally I'd say put a torch on a wall. But as you've already built a workbench, why not see if you can make a lamp of some kind."
I jump slightly as Haley's voice comes out of the darkness. I root around in the pockets of the belt until I find the torches.
I end up making a couple of chairs and a floor lamp before making small batches of wood paneling to go on the walls. By the time I finish, the place looks quite cozy, if a little spartan.
Over the rest of the night we talk about what we need to do going forward. Well, what I need to do anyway, what with my demonstrated ability to survive being killed. In short, I need to cut down a few more trees so that I can start expanding our shelter into a proper house. If I die again, well when rather than if, I should mark the place I revive with a torch. That way I can build a shed or something over it and not run the risk of being jumped while I'm regaining my wits. Oh, and finding stone to make a forge, and ore to turn into bars.
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The next morning I hack out a door shaped hole in one wall of our shelter and hang the door (made with the recovered wood). As I'm looking around, Haley comes out to stand beside me.
"Well done Taylor. What are you going to do now?"
I look around at the trees for a moment, "I think. I think I'm going to turn this into a clearing so that we can see any of those jelly things coming."
"Slimes."
"Huh?"
"They're called slimes. They're a pest when they're allowed to run wild, but we have slime farms on the mainland. The gel they drop is most commonly used with dynamite to allow it to stick to the sides of quarries. If you're one of the less wealthy living near a slime farm, their gel can also be turned into furniture."
"Wow, um, sucks to be them?"
Haley shrugs, "Depends on your point of view. As many of the wealthy in the cities will have a room decked out in slime furniture, just so that they can show they can afford to have it imported."
"Right, well I'm going to get on with cutting the trees down. Do you think that a 60ft radius would be a large enough clearing?"
"A what radius?"
"Foot, or 20 yards?"
"I'm sorry, I've never heard of those measurements. We use blocks for our measurements. That's the maximum amount of iron ore that can be shrunk magically turned into a cube. Larger amounts need to be broken down until they're under that value. It used to be called the iron standard, as the Zerian Hordes used to use it for measuring distances before they discovered how to shape other materials into the same size during the mining process."
I open my mouth to ask a question before deciding that I didn't want to get caught in a three hour conversation when we could be jumped by slimes at any moment.
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I've cleared around half of the trees needed to make my clearing, and only died twice. I can't believe how quickly I've become blasé about dying. Anyway, I've cleared around half the trees when a branch that seems to have a birds nest attached to it falls on my head.
As the branch shrinks down into one of my pouches, rather than the belt loop that the wood is stored in, I decide to take a break and ask Haley about this in the house I've started to build over my resurrection point.
As I'm opening the door I call out, "Haley!"
Haley puts his bow away and follows me into the house, "Yes Taylor?"
"I can understand fruit falling out of a tree, but what on earth is this?"
As I'm fishing the branch out of my pouch, Haley asks, "Earth?"
I pause for a second, "Um, it's the name of the planet I come from."
"Oh, well this planet is called Lesiphus after the ancient philosopher that pointed out that we can't call a planet Ground."
I hand the branch to Haley who goes quiet as he examines it for a while. After a few minutes he looks up with bright eyes, "Well Taylor, you're exceedingly lucky. I never thought I'd ever see one of these, as they only form naturally in areas with high levels of wild magic. On top of that they're restricted to horde members and adventurers in good standing."
"You have adventurers?"
Haley's eyes seem to sparkle as he enthusiastically nods, "Oh yes. I always dreamed of becoming an adventurer when I grew up. At least until my mana levels were tested when I came of age." His expression drops, "My mana levels were too low for even a trade, let alone a Horde member or Adventurer. And it's not like fallen stars are that common in the nations."
"Fallen Stars?" As he opens his mouth to answer, I shake my head, "No, wait. let's talk about this tonight. What's the branch?"
Haley looks disappointed as he says, "Oh, yes. This is a finch staff. Year after year a finch has nested in this branch. Over time their essence seeped into the wood and bound the nest and branch together. With the right application of mana, you can summon a copy of the bird that made the nest its home. It will then follow and defend you until it's dismissed or you die."
I nod, as something to watch my back sounds good. "How do I summon it?"
Haley hands the staff back to me, "It's like connecting to the belt. Except you need to connect to your own mana and the staff. Then pull your mana into the staff while you point it where you want the summon to appear."
I nod and easily slip into the state where I can feel my mana, having done it so much over the last day. As I connect my staff to the cloud that is my mana, it streams into the staff and I have a moment to realize just how much pain I'm in before I fall down. Just as the world is going dark, the sound of a bird chirping fills the room, and I can vaguely hear Haley's concerned voice.
A short while later I appear standing on one side of the room, where I was standing before is a short black obelisk that I know will have some form of insulting epitaph on it. "What happened?"
I grind my teeth as Haley looks at the inscription and says, "You apparently used up all the magic that's keeping you alive."
As the last of the phantom pains leave my limbs, I slump over to one of the chairs in the room. "How am I supposed to use the staff if I can't do it without killing myself."
Haley thinks for a moment, "Can you connect it to the belt instead?"
"I'll try."
It takes me what feels like nearly an hour to connect the mana pool from the belt to the staff. Part of that is my nervousness at making a mistake and killing myself again. Regardless, when I succeed, I feel like a weight has landed on my head.
Looking up, I see nothing. So I feel around on the top of my head with my hands. It seems like there's a birds nest with a bird sitting in it. I gently take it out of the nest to look at a small blue finch that sits calmly in my palm.
I chuckle as I say, "Well, that's the first time having a birds nest instead of hair has been literal."
Haley smiles, "I'm glad you're happy about it. One of the reasons why those staves are so rare is that very few adventurers ever stick with the summoner path, or they start with a stronger summon."
"Summoner path?"
Haley nods, "It's the magic path for those who don't have large amounts of mana. As a summons only needs to be called once, and so it can be done when you're in a place you don't need to hurry and risk overtaxing yourself. The downside of summons is that they are semi autonomous, and so can end up attacking targets that you don't want them to. Which is why they're usually not allowed in towns and cities."
I nod and shiver as it reminds me that we're in the equivalent of the untamed wilderness here. Wryly I say, "Well, it's not like I need to worry about that here."
Haley nods, "True, and spirits willing, you will be able to eliminate the hold that the Moon Lord holds on this land, and release the stored magic back into the world."
I narrow my eyes as my atrophied social skills poke at my conscience and suggest that he's feeling sad about it. "Haley, what's wrong?"
Haley shakes his head, "Nothing, just ruminating on the fact that I probably won't survive to see you complete your destiny."
"I'm going to do my best to make sure you survive."
Haley gives me a smile, "I'm sure you will."
I grab the apple and lemon that dropped from the trees I was felling, "Do you want some fruit to cheer you up?"
Haley gives me a smile, "Sure, I'd like that. Do you mind if I have the lemon?"
I hand Haley the lemon, while I take a bite of the apple. A few minutes after I finish the apple, I feel energized, and like I could finish clearing the trees in less time than the half I did before.
Shaking my head at the energy rush, I ask Haley, "What's up with the apple, I feel like I could run a marathon."
Haley chuckles, "I have no idea what a marathon is, I assume it's a long distance. As for the apple, there's nothing special about it. It's just this is the first thing you've had to eat for a few days. Do you remember me saying that you need less food and rest?" When I shake my head he continues, "Understandable, as it was the first day after you arrived. Everyone that gets sent here will have been taught how to subsist on the high mana levels. It's no substitute to an actual meal, but it means you won't die. Instead, hunger makes you sluggish and more likely to make mistakes that will get you killed. If it goes on for long enough, it could get so bad that you can't even defend yourself from a slime."
"Does that mean sleep too?"
Haley rocks both hands alternating up and down, with his palms up, "Yes and no. We can commune with the spirits to rest while remaining somewhat aware of our surroundings. Your belt should protect you from the ravages of not resting enough. Though when you can make a bed, sleep is still a good idea."
Slowly I ask, "Haley, what would have happened if I didn't turn up when I did?"
Haley smiles sadly, "I'd have been the 356
th guide to give their life waiting for the Chosen one. Hopefully I'd have been able to survive till the next blood moon, but we know that the veil between worlds is particularly thin at this time of year."
"365? Is that one a year?"
"Slightly less, as not all the guides survived the full moon. The prophecy was given to Queen Abashidze in the 853
rd year of the Abashidze Kingdom, and 1,647 years after the fall of the Zerian empire."
I collapse back into my chair, "Wait, so you knew I was coming?"
Haley shakes his head, "Not you particularly, just that someone favored by the spirits would be brought to our world, and that they would be instrumental in freeing the old gods from the Moon Lord's grasp, and bring magic back to the 13 kingdoms."
I stand up abruptly, "I'm going to chop down some more trees."
Haley nods, "I understand."
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I just about manage to finish making the clearing before the sun drops below the horizon. Though it was close, as the energy boost from the apple didn't last nearly long enough.
The finch was an absolute godsend, as it flew off whenever a slime got within 40 yards or so, and kept attacking until the slime popped. And the exercise helped distract me from what Haley told me. Except I decided to spend the night in my own shelter rather than with Haley, and now all I have is time.
Looking at the finch, that is putting up with my petting of it, I say, "What do they expect me to do Bluey? I'm just a bullied teenager, I'm not a hero. I don't even have powers, just this stupid belt. Which is an admittedly cool belt. But it's not powers. Why didn't they call someone like Eidelon or Alexandra? And they've sacrificed 300 odd guides in the hope that someone would turn up. I mean, what the fuck?"
I let out a sob and bury my face in my arms on the table. "I can't do this. I couldn't even deal with Emma, how am I supposed to deal with this? What should I do?"
Predictably, Bluey doesn't say anything. A loud thump on my door shocks me out of my pity party, and the low moan that accompanies it tells me that it's not Haley at the door. In a fit of pique, I storm over to the door and yank it open, "Hey, arsehole, I'm not interested."
The zombie on the otherside of the door doesn't have time to moan back at me before Bluey's launched from the nest on my head and started attacking it as I slam the door in its face. I feel a brief pang of guilt as I hear the chirping cries of Bluey as they attack the zombie outside.
With nothing else to do, and not feeling the slightest bit tired, I stomp over to the workbench that I put into the corner of my shelter.
Connecting to my belt, I smile slightly at its eager desire to help by showing me what it has in the pouches and belt loops, as well as what it can help me make.
As I curiously look at the items in my pouches, it eagerly tells me what each item is, and if it can be used to make something. A bit like Haley, without the interesting commentary.
My attention pauses on fences. 'Prevents enemies from forming inside the fence' sounds useful. Though I'd need to leave a gap so that I can get in and out. Maybe I can put a doorframe in the gap. But first I think I'll make myself some of this armor and a hammer and big sword. As anything that will help me survive anything that gets past Bluey is good in my book.
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