Chapter 30: The Path of the Mage IlI

Chapter 30: 30: The Path of the Mage IlI --- John braced himself and raised his dagger. "Are you helping this time?" Fizz rubbed his chin. "Mmm. I’ll jump in when needed. You must gain some experience. I want a strong master." "You’re the worst partner." "I’m the funniest and most caring partner. Big difference." The Ravager charged. John sidestepped just in time like before, slashing at its flank. The blade scraped harmlessly off the creature’s mossy shell. "Great," he muttered. " There is Armor." Fizz called down helpfully, "Try stabbing it where the armor isn’t!" "Thanks, genius!" The Ravager spun on him, mouth open wide, a string of green drool stretching between its teeth. It lunged again. John rolled beneath its body and stabbed upward, finding soft flesh beneath the limb joint. The creature shrieked. He rolled clear, but not before it caught him with a glancing blow to the ribs. He staggered back, wind knocked from his lungs. Fizz clapped. "Ooh, he’s bleeding! Now things are getting spicy!" "I swear," John growled, "if you don’t help now, I will beat your ass." "Fine, fine." Fizz zipped down, glowing faintly. "Distract it. I’ll aim for the eyes." John rushed forward again. The Ravager roared and met his charge, but just before the impact, Fizz released a bright pulse of light directly into its face. Blinded, the beast flailed. John slid underneath it again and drove the dagger into the same wound, deeper this time. A wet gurgle followed. The Ravager collapsed. Fizz did a little dance in the air. "Victory! You stabbed the ugly! Good job." John panted, covered in sweat and grime. "That was not necessary. You should help me. What will you do if I die?" "I don’t want you to die... that’s why I want to get stronger and get some battle experience." He knelt to inspect the beast’s body but quickly noticed there was no mana core, no glimmer, no hum. The system remained silent. "Nothing," John said. "No mana core. Just a random wild animal." Fizz hovered above him. "Maybe it was guarding something nearby? Or maybe we just had bad luck." "More like you jinxed us with your chicken impression." "Thats very rude, master." John wiped his dagger clean, sheathed it, and looked toward the deeper woods. "We keep moving. The cavern’s closer. Let’s not waste daylight." Fizz nodded. "Aye aye, black hole boy." John glared at him. "You promised not to say that out loud." Fizz grinned with all his teeth. "Oops." Together they walked on, deeper into the wild. The trees grew denser. The light dimmer. Somewhere ahead, buried beneath stone and time, the first mana particle waited. The woods thickened with each step, like fingers curling slowly around them. Branches above them knitted tighter, letting only thin shafts of sunlight through, just enough to paint golden streaks on the dirt path. Birds remained quiet. Even the wind seemed cautious. John ducked under a twisted branch. His boots crunching over a patch of old moss. The system map shimmered faintly before his eyes, guiding him deeper toward the place it had marked with a glowing symbol. Fizz floated sideways beside him, twirling in slow circles as he chewed on a stolen twig. "So... any particular reason this mana particle is hidden in a cave and not, I don’t know, sitting politely on a flower petal waiting to be collected like honey?" John gave him a look. "Because nothing in life is ever that easy." "True. You weren’t." John muttered under his breath and kept walking. The path narrowed until they were almost shoulder to bark with the trees. Then, just beyond a bend marked by a strange, crooked birch tree that looked like it was bowing, the forest abruptly opened. Before them stood a rocky hill, hunched like an old man beneath a blanket of ivy. At its base, a jagged mouth of a cavern yawned open, black and silent. A soft mist leaked from it like a breath of something. John stopped. "This is it." Fizz sniffed the air. "Yep. Smells like mold, secrets, and regret." "Good. Means we’re in the right place." The moment John stepped past the threshold, the system pulsed. [Ding. You have entered a Mana Infused Zone. Estimated Mana Particle Location: 24 meters underground. Warning: Environmental mana density is unstable.] Fizz zipped ahead, weaving through stalactites like a drunk lightning bug. "Ooh, look at the glowy moss!" Blue fungi glimmered faintly along the walls, giving the tunnel an eerie pulse. The ceiling dripped steadily from moisture that had probably been trapped for centuries. John lit a small crystal lantern from his satchel and pressed forward. The descent was steep, but not treacherous. He followed the pulse in his system map as it pointed deeper and deeper. It was past collapsed stones, broken bones, and a nest of webbed-over cocoons that Fizz politely set on fire with his elemental power. Then, they reached it. A circular chamber, no more than six meters across, opened up from the tunnel like a buried shrine. In its center lay a flat stone platform, and hovering just above it was something still and glowing. It was a small orb of deep sapphire light. It shimmered like water trapped in a crystal, humming faintly like a heartbeat. John stepped forward slowly. "That’s it." Fizz circled it twice. "Mana particle. First of three. I’d recommend not licking it." "I wasn’t planning to." He reached out. The moment his palm came within range, the particle trembled. Then a stream of energy peeled away and slid toward his skin like smoke reversing through the air. It touched him. [Ding. Mana Particle Detected. Absorb? Yes / No ] John selected yes. A sharp coldness pierced his mana veins, followed by a wave of pressure. It was like standing at the edge of a waterfall about to leap. Then warmth flooded his chest, spine, arms. He staggered but didn’t fall. Something inside cracked open. The same sensation he’d felt during the first system activation, only now magnified tenfold. His breath hitched.