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Chapter 204: Mana Beasts and Bears
🕑 Added 2025-07-13 08:25:37 +0000 UTC“Rabyn, can you hear me?” I said as we propped him onto the nearby couch. Both Elody’s and my own healing magics were already at work on the man. The big problem was that neither of us had the ability to easily regrow lost limbs. For now, the best we could do was keep it patched as we slowly worked to heal the arm.
“I can now. Damn, that was the chopping arm,” he replied, wincing in pain as we adjusted his wounds for better patching.
“It’s been weeks of you barely talking as you vanished into the woods, with just a few reports of new feral mana beasts, what the hell have you been doing?” There was anger in Pryte’s tone as he questioned the wounded Orc.
“Someone had to catalog the feral mana beasts before it became a problem, and with John just as capable of taking care of the day-to-day cooking as I was, I figured to make myself a bit less useless. The rest of you had a lot bigger problems to work on.” Several blood-tinged coughs escaped his lips as he spoke.
“And what the hell did this?” I asked, worried about what he found out there. With the dungeon energies now seeping into Earth, it was entirely possible that feral mana beasts were getting infused with some of that energy, which would in turn create a more dangerous breed of monster.
“I had been tracking something hunting smaller beasts North for over a week when I finally found it. On the northern shores overlooking the ocean, a massive white bear with the streaks of blood from a fresh kill. And we saw each other at the same moment. We fought for hours before it leapt into the water and vanished from my sight. I was in no shape to chase it, and barely made my way back here alive,” Rabyn answered, as more of his wounds closed. The color in his face was returning.
“Should we be hunting the creature down? Or is this a normal change to the world? I’m not sure I like the idea of a mana empowered polar bear out there.” My words were an understatement. I did not remotely like the idea, but I also wasn’t sure what a natural ecology looked like anymore.
“Tracking it will be difficult if it’s taken to the ocean. The Orcs were one thing, they had true cores, but mana beasts generally only have a proto core of sorts. It’s possible they could eventually form full cores. But it’s rare, and more often seen in primal mana beasts, but possible,” Elody answered.
“It can’t be safe to leave a mana beast polar bear roaming the Alaskan wilderness. What are our options here?” I wasn’t willing to just give up people to predators.
“I was hoping to wait until Mel’s return, but I think we are past that point. Since the school will be opening soon, we may as well start looking into training a real guard force as well. We can’t have feral mana beasts placing the city in danger, not to mention we will need to attempt to keep them contained, as it’s very unlikely the rest of the world is ready to handle them.” Pryte shook his head, not looking happy at this declaration.
“If these are issues I can expect to run into, I’m going to need better mana orbs for my people. Can I take what I need from the stock?” Grant asked.
“Yes, and class orbs too. Get your team as trained as you possibly can in case of dangerous mana beasts. Who wants to handle training a guard force here in the meantime?” Pryte scanned the room after asking his question, his eyes finally falling on Yorela.
“Sounds fun. I’ve been bored anyway,” she said, downing a large drink after she answered. “I wonder if I can put Mel to shame or not.”
“I assume none of you have anything to heal the arm quicker?” Rabyn asked, his coughing fits had finally subsided.
“Unfortunately, no, something we will want to consider as well. There is likely a Reltleon interested in training as a doctor. Perhaps it’s time to survey your people, Glunderlin, and see just where their interests lie. There are many specialist areas we are going to need to start working to fill,” Elody said as she adjusted some of the mana patches she had placed on Rabyn.
“Yes, we’ve already started collecting information on who would be interested in what. Alexandria presents a very large change in perspective for us, and many are very interested in pursuing where that change can lead them, myself included,” Glunderlin answered.
“Well, that’s some good news. Adding to that, we are now pretty much sure this Ronald Tammen person is from this planet, and therefore likely to be the person Sanquar’s quest has called out,” I said as I retook my seat at the table. I had done all I could for Rabyn at the moment and wanted to finish up with the rest of the meeting. I had promised the cores I would join them for their meetup with Apollyon tonight, and I didn’t want to be late.
“What makes you so sure?” Pryte asked, also returning to the table.
“I checked with my mom, had her look up the name. Someone with the same name vanished from a college decades ago on Earth, with no trace ever being found. This diary matches up with what should be that time frame. How he found himself in the Spiral, though, that we have no idea,” Alex answered. She was reclining in one of the chairs more often used by Trolke, but with how much her pregnancy was now showing, I understood why she preferred the comfort of the bigger chair.
“I just wish we knew where he was now. He’s had several adventures with a man named Grom, but the diary ends as they left for chaotic space together,” Sanquar added.
There was a sudden sound of silverware clattering onto a plate. “Did you say Grom? How did he describe him in the diary?” Connie was staring intently at Alex and Sanquar as she asked this question, her food entirely forgotten, something that hadn’t happened at Rabyn’s appearance.
“There aren’t a lot of descriptions of how he looks exactly. Ronald does refer to him with rocky grey skin at one point, though. Based on some of the way their sizes are referenced, I’d guess shorter than Ronald as well, but hard to say if that means anything,” Alex answered.
“I had the distinct feeling he was some sort of Stone Gnome. The way he was described reminded me of the few I had met,” Sanquar added.
“Good news, everyone!” Connie shouted, leaping out of her seat before continuing. “I’ve met Grom. I don’t think I’ve met the human, but I have met his friend, probably!”
“There aren’t many Stone Gnomes left in the Spiral, and the idea that he would leave for chaotic space makes a lot of sense if that was accurate. Connie, what makes you sure you’ve met them?” Pryte asked.
“Not a lot of Stone Gnomes, as you said, but also a Grom used to visit my family a lot. He was friends with Dad. Pretty sure he’s deep in chaotic space now though, so finding him ain’t going to be easy. It’s possible Gramps knows exactly where they went, but I doubt it. Plans don’t really last long once you head deep into it,” she answered.
“That’s a fucking understatement if I’ve ever heard one!” Yorela exclaimed loudly.
“Meeting your grandfather just seems to be more and more important as time goes on, Connie.” I sighed as I spoke, ignoring Yorela, but knowing what was coming.
The somewhat hoarse laughter of the wounded Orc confirmed my thoughts. “Fate really has plans for us. We’re just along for the ride.”
“It seems chaotic space is in our future still. But likely our far future, I’m sorry to say, Sanquar. While I was willing to run to it to save us all, we aren’t truly ready for an expedition into it,” Pryte said, frowning slightly.
Yorela laughed loudly, but said nothing this time.
“Understandable, I have no wish to send us all on a suicide mission. The fact that any of this is happening at all is more than I had dreamed of over the centuries,” Sanquar answered, perched on a chair near Alex.
“Alright, as much as I’d love to stay and discuss this more, I promised the cores I’d be at the dungeon for their gathering. If we stumble upon anything actually important, have Maud send me a message,” I said as I stood up.
I knew how the rest of the meeting would go. We’d go back and forth over all the topics we had already hit, until eventually we just did them. I wasn’t exactly happy about the solution to the polar bear issue, but it was also probably the best one available. The reality was I was just unhappy at the idea of the animals growing faster than the humans in mana channeling.
A message popped up as I started to make my way toward the gate to the dungeon.
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>Corey: Dave, we need you to bring one of the scientists who is very familiar with the makeup of Earth.
>Dave: We’ve got a geologist and a seismologist on hand, want me to just bring them both?
>Gamma: Yes! I think we need Karlinovo as well!
>Apollyon: We do. Things are changing.
>Karlinovo: On my way.
>Dave: What the hell is changing?
>Corey: We are unsure, but the spike is doing something with the dungeon mana, and we need greater expertise than we have here.
>Dave: Got it. I’ll go find them.
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I closed the message window and changed directions. In theory, those two were still in the materials workshop we had put together, looking over everything we had brought back from the Spiral that didn’t naturally occur on Earth. What the hell was the spike doing that we needed them to look into? Had we bought time by causing another disaster?
Amongst the many primal mana beasts of the multiverse exists a strange, small dog. This animal appears on the weaker side of mana beasts, and it’s hard to believe at first glance how long it has defended its world, but looks can be deceiving. Pophet, the Gentle Faith that Echoes, is a formidable opponent. He single-handedly slew a mad sun as it attempted to consume his home. This great feat of unmatched hunger has left the pug in a state of deep slumber for many centuries.
Mana Beasts, an Endangered Friend by Roril Thorl, Paladin of Conservation Grand Warden of the Order
