Chapter 5 Who are you
Simon
A sharp gleam rang through the world around me.
For a moment, I was stunned; as if the noise cut through my thoughts and emotions.
Like an absolute divider that disconnected parts of the world from each other, a horizontal line that separated everything above from below was created.
Bodies and treetops flew up from the force of an impossible slash before physics retook command. Severed tops and tree trunks fell to the floor as blood spurted from the corpses of our once deadly assailants.
I could only watch as everything in front of me was cut. The roaches, trees, even the wind enveloping my sight.
Too stunned to speak, I could only look behind me to see what had caused the devastation before me.
Where I thought there had been another roach attempting to kill us was instead—A man!
A man in a kamishimo with a bright red outer layer over a mild yellow inner robe.
His skin was tanned and he had long, straight hair tied back in a ponytail reaching below his back. His hair wasn't elegant or silky; it looked rough, like dried pasta.
In his hands was a pristine katana, long enough to reach from the end of one arm to the shoulder of the other.
He was looking at all of us with a puzzled expression—like he found a group of lost puppies in the middle of a rave.
Even when he wasn't hostile, his natural expression remained quite mean.
His face was long and angular with an extremely sharp chin. His eyes—just as long and piercing. Scars were littered throughout his face.
He looked like a man who constantly fought death and won each time.
Was he a native of this land? Why was he dressed like a samurai—wait, was he an actual samurai?
"What's a group of pampered children doing here?" His voice was deep and coarse as I'd imagined. "Are you nobles? How'd you end up here?"
He spoke English? Why does a samurai know English? Hell, where was this guy even from?
"Um…" a hesitant but clear voice began to speak—Dwight's. "We were… teleported here. We don't know how, or when, or why, or how to get out."
The reason for him speaking up became apparent. "Can you help us get out of this forest? These monsters are too strong for us. We don't want to die—please help us."
The man cocked a brow. "Those weaklings?" He gestured toward the dead roaches. "You seriously can't handle them? Your mana levels are potent for your age, even if extremely unrefined."
Mana?
My insides began to churn. I saw the signs, the things here couldn't be from our world. Even with nothing telling me otherwise, perhaps I still held out for the hope—no, the delusion that something so cosmically nonsensical couldn't have happened.
My only comfort was the hand I was holding onto still. I couldn't look at her though I didn't want to look at anything right now.
"Mana?" A shrill voice escaped from Sofia.
From the way she said it I knew she wasn't asking what mana was. She was questioning if she really heard that word.
That word—mana—became a knife popping the thin bubble we still had left.
Deep down, we all had some idea of what happened. That didn't make it any easier to accept.
"Yes, mana," the man said like he was pointing out the obvious. "Wait, you seriously don't know what mana is. I thought nobles were supposed to be well studied. Only a newborn doesn't know what mana is. Do you also not know what a heart is, or a brain? How could you not know about something so integral to your being?"
He wasn't mocking us; he was genuinely flabbergasted. Completely unaware of the existential crisis he had caused all of us.
"We're not from here…" William chimed in. "Where we come from 'mana' doesn't exist"
"What!?" His eyes went wide. "Impossible. You have mana. How can a place without mana even exist."
"We don't know either." Jenny looked up at him—her voice surprisingly steady. "Listen, we're just as confused as you are, but for now can you help us get out of here."
"Sorry, but I'm no babysitter." The samurai had a disinterested look on his face. "You're an odd group of kids—interesting at the very least, but not worth the trouble."
"Besides, I'm here to take care of my own business and don't plan to get side-tracked."
A stammering voice cried out from behind me. "B-B-But we'll die if you leave us. You can't do that. Please save us."
By the end of the plea she was having a full blown meltdown. Who was that voice?
I finally looked up. It was Samantha.
A dark callousness appeared in the man's voice when he next spoke.
"Since you demand I take responsibility for your lives…" Samantha looked up; some hope renewed in her eyes.
"I'll do that by killing you all myself. Would you like that?"
A shock ran down my spine. A look of horror appeared on everyone's faces.
The cold rage in that statement made it apparent he wasn't bluffing.
This bastard could control the wind like those roaches and seemed 100x stronger. We stood no chance.
"Maybe in your next life you'll learn to not make demands of someone while being powerless parasites with nothing but demands for others."
The wind began to shake as if to mimic his intentions.
What? Is that why he's killing us? Cause he didn't like the tone we spoke to him? A person can't seriously be that cruel and apathetic?
"We're sorry" Jenny yelled loudly.
"Sorry?" the man replied.
"We…" she paused to carefully think over her words. "...weren't trying to make demands of you. She only sounds like that because she can't control the way she talks."
She continued on. "We're scared and can't think properly, and didn't realize we offended you. Please, she didn't mean it—we only want to survive. We're at your mercy, sir. We're only begging you to please help us."
She spoke excessively—perhaps in fear of not saying enough to properly apologize. It was a good call and quick judgement. Who knew what could set this guy off.
The man visibly relaxed. "I'll let it go this time, but as I said, I'm not becoming your personal bodyguard—"
"Could you just tell us the safest way out then" she accidentally interrupted with a shaky voice.
She was also afraid, but still spoke up and saved all of us. All while I was too depressed to even stare into the samurai's eyes.
"Hmm," He put his hand on his chin. "For kids who couldn't handle those roaches, there is no 'safe' route."
"The safest route out of here is that way" he pointed left. "But it takes you through a great deal of roaches. In fact—in order to successfully leave, you'd have to beat the roach monarchs of this region. They're a good deal stronger than these grunts though."
"Is there any other way?" Jenny sounded almost on the verge of tears. "Are you saying that we're just going to die?"
"Seems like it." The man said like someone was asking him whether it was about to rain.
He then took a moment to study all our faces.
"You know, those basic roaches shouldn't be a problem for you. I've commented on this before, but your mana levels aren't small. They vary between all of you but even the weakest of you should be able to handle quite a few of those bugs."
We all looked up at him in expectation.
He squinted at us before murmuring. "Your mana channel is extremely underdeveloped compared to even a small child, even more so compared to people with your mana levels. That matches up with your story, but could it be …"
He looked up at us saying this as more of a statement than a question. "You don't know how to use your mana channel at all."
"No! We don't." Jenny locked onto the man's eyes. "Could you… teach us? Just a little bit, or even leave us with a few tips before leaving."
The man pondered this request before smirking. "Since you're such an odd group of kids, it might be interesting to see if you can make it out alive."
I heard many breaths of relief being released behind me. Jenny looked especially happy.
"Alright! I'll teach you the basics. This is something a toddler learns to do around when they learn to crawl. It's the basics of the basics, but maybe something people who grew up without mana would have to learn how to do consciously."
A clear amusement shined in his eyes. He really was doing this as a game. Still, his words were comforting. Maybe we were strong enough to survive on our own after all.
"It's really simple, but not something really teachable. In fact, it's never had to be taught before. Everyone learns this on their own. I'll do my best to guide you, but if you can't do it then tough luck."
The man widened his feet like an instructor. "First, close your eyes to better focus."
"Next, close in on your heart. That's where the channel lies. Your mana comes into existence and flows out to the rest of your body from there."
He continued on to his final step.
"All that's left is to feel the mana and will it into you. Don't doubt the process; you all have mana, it will work. Just focus on that warmth building in your chest."
I felt it! My heart felt like it was glowing. Something was there. Something I'd never felt before until recently. Something powerful.
"Now let it flow. Tell it to course through your veins and feel your abilities grow as it does."
I did as he said. A warmth flowed throughout my body. A strength similar to that of when I killed the roach returned to me.
And then—even beyond it.
I opened my eyes. My body didn't feel any different, maybe less fatigued, but I was filled with the confidence that I could do anything.
"Look at that. You guys may survive after all. Your channel is still pathetic, like a toddler's, but I think now that you've awakened it, it will gradually strengthen to the level appropriate for your mana. Well, if you continue to use it diligently."
Before leaving, he decided to give us a few pieces of advice.
"Your current mana suffusion should be enough to take care of a few bugs easily enough. Right now the bug king and queen are too much for you, but as I said, your mana channel should begin to rapidly develop if you constantly use it."
"Well—" the man hesitated. "I'm no expert in manalogy, though from what I remember that's what should happen in a case like yours. But what you kids are is unprecedented, so I can't guarantee anything."
The man finally turned to leave before stopping suddenly.
"Ah, another thing. Your mana channel will probably tire quickly from excessive use, especially now that you've just unlocked it. You shouldn't funnel out your maximum amount of mana at once; keep it at a comfortable level so you don't burn out quickly. Also, make sure you train it, but don't overdo it and end up defenseless."
He took a moment to think before continuing. "One more piece of advice, and this is a combat tip as you're probably unfamiliar with that too."
"You can spread mana evenly throughout your body, or to specific parts. Generally keep it spread evenly, but in specific moments of defense or offense you should channel more from your reserve into those specific spots to maximize effect."
"As you've probably felt for yourself, it takes time for the mana to flow around your body so it won't be instant. Take that into consideration before you plan to shift it. You can train the speed at which your mana flows and it makes a huge difference."
It looked like he was starting to enjoy this.
"Honestly, depending on how much you kids strengthen your channel and learn about mana, I don't know who will win between you and the roaches. That being said, I'm expecting it to be you. Don't disappoint me."
The man started walking away. "Hopefully I'll see you kids outside this place. Oh—also don't wander. The other areas can get much more dangerous and you will definitely die. Anyways, good luck!"
And with that, the man vanished into the wind.
Everyone kept quiet at his explanations, too nervous to ask him any questions. Even after his departure we stood speechless for a couple of moments longer.
Jenny turned her head toward me. I looked at her as well.
If it weren't for her we'd all be dead.
She looked like she wanted to say something but didn't know how to start.
I began the conversation for her. "Were you able to channel your mana?"
"Yes," she replied with a smile. "We should probably start practicing right away if we want to be prepared."
Then she asked me something I'd forgotten about. "Do you think the others are alive?"
Her words hit like a truck.
Countless others; among them, Aria, Andre, Havi, Jessie, and Sunny are still out there.
I wanted to find them.
I looked at Jen unsure of what to do. "Do we go look for them? I know that it's dangerous, so I'm hesitant, but I want to try and find my friends. Still, I don't want to get myself killed trying. I want to say we could be cautious and run away at the sign of a threat, but there's no guarantee something won't catch us off guard. Maybe we—"
She interrupted me before I continued rambling. "I think we should all go find them. I'm not saying this purely out of concern either. It's the strategic option."
She continued on with her reasoning.
"They'd be a huge addition to our combat force, I'm sure Aria and Andre especially. They're the most brawly out of all us nerds." She finished slightly teasingly.
I couldn't tell if she was just being pragmatic or just found an excuse for my sake. Either way I couldn't help but feel more enamored with her.
The rest of the class, who had been talking amongst themselves, also gathered around us.
"Yeah. Jenny's right, more people would be a huge help." a boy, Ranvir said.
"Celeste is also out there. I don't want to leave her alone." Celeste's friend, Emily added.
"Yeah, and it would be cool to teach them mana." Dwight followed up.
I heard several more statements of agreement. Looks like I wasn't the only one who wanted to look for others.
A feeling of confidence crept up inside me.
I'm coming, Aria.
You better be alive out there.
A deafening shockwave echoed through the forest.
Far ahead—a pillar of fire erupted out of nowhere. It was like a skyscraper made of flames; touching and illuminating the night sky. Fire burst and spread from the point of impact. The heat could be felt even from all the way over here.
My heart jumped and I took a step back. Something intense was happening over there. It was from something far more powerful—in a different realm of power from the roaches.
Now I understood why the samurai man told us not to wander. The roaches were the lowest rung on the food chain.
That beast… was like a force of nature itself.
What the hell is happening over there?