IMPORTANT NOTICE: Made a big blunder in the first version of this chapter. Zombies are NOT immune to physical attacks. They are immune against the dark element, and since that is what Cecil uses at the beginning his attacks don't do any damage, of course. Sorry about that mistake. Corrected it here and I suggest to those downloading the chapters to download the corrected version.

Disclaimer: I don't own much, and definitely neither Ranma ½ nor Final Fantasy. This chapter has been written without the help of a proofreader. If you should find any spelling or grammar mistakes, please tell me; I'll correct them right away.

This is only the first half of the chapter. I noticed that people seem to prefer shorter chapters and thus I split this one in two equally long parts. The first draft of second half has already been written but still needs some work.

If you're wondering about Tellah, he serves as the mentor and tutorial program for our dimensionally displaced heroes.

One last thing: please review. I'm always happy when people like my stories and reviews give me the energy to continue writing.

Chapter 2 – Tellah Part 1

What has gone before:

After a botched summoning by Happosai, which killed the old pervert in the process, Kasumi and Ranma were sucked into a portal created by the summoned creature when it left.

The two reappeared in a foreign place near a burning village just in time to save a little girl from some knights who were about to kill her. They saved her and ran away. From the little girl called Rydia's explanations they deduced that they weren't in their own reality any longer but were instead stranded in a world where monsters and magic were omnipresent.

With her whole family dead and the village destroyed Rydia left with Kasumi and Ranma who were on their way to Mysidia in hopes of finding a way home. This led them to the desert town of Kaipo where they bought weapons and protective gear and joined the Hunters Guild.

On their way to their destinations they had to fight several groups of monsters and Kasumi found out she was a white mage when she managed to cast a healing spell on Ranma. They had just reached the Waterway South, a tunnel which led to their next stop, where they met an old man named Tellah.

Rydia looked at the man in front of them with awe, a fact Ranma immediately noticed and draw his interest. "Is he famous?" He bluntly asked the summoner.

The young girl gave him an 'are you serious?' look before answering. "Of course. Mama used to tell me a lot of stories about him. She always said that he was one of the most powerful mages alive."

That sounded impressive and Ranma was already thinking of a way to get the old man to tutor him in the use of magic. He couldn't really criticize Rydia's teaching ability since he was a total novice but it stood to reason that such an experienced man would know a lot more than a young girl, and so far he didn't have any results to show for his efforts. Maybe another approach would suit his needs more.

"Erhem!" Tellah cleared his throat, somewhat miffed by the fact that there were some people who hadn't heard of him. "I'm here you know. And yes, I am rather famous, or so I'm told. However, this is no time for idle chitchat or ego stroking. Our first priority should be to save my daughter. I think we can help each other out here since you need to go to Damcyan as well. It will be much easier to get safely through the cave if we cooperate. But first I need to know what magic you specialize in so we can plan ahead. The cave is crawling with monsters and we will probably have to fight them off. To think that this used to be such a quite place, but these last weeks monster have become a lot more aggressive and their number has been increasing dramatically."

Ranma was in a bit of a bind. He didn't know any magic, yet was reluctant to admit it. He felt a little stupid for being the only one who can't cast a single spell. Kasumi was quick on the uptake, however, and answered for the group after noticing the insecurity in the martial artist's posture.

"Rydia is a summoner, like you have already figured out earlier, but she's also a black and a white mage. As far as we were able to find out I am a white mage, but unfortunately we weren't able to figure out yet where Ranma's talents lie."

This answer surprised the old man a lot. "You don't know? How is that possible? At your age you should already be accomplished mages and I can fill the power contained in the boy's body."

"Well, it's like this…" Kasumi started and gave a short summary of their adventures since arriving in this world. Tellah even forgot his mission for a moment as he was avidly listening to the strange but also fascinating story. She mentioned all the important facts: that they were from another world, the attack on Rydia's village, their fight against the soldiers from Baron, and Ranma's problems with learning magic.

"I see," the sage answered absentmindedly as he was mentally processing the information he had just heard, although there was one thing still bothering him. "That is strange since I can feel that your body contains a large amount of energy."

"Oh, that's probably my ki. I have learnt to use it a long time ago."

"Of course!" The old man struck his forehead with an open hand. "I should have noticed right away since it feels different from magic. You're like the monks from Fabul then. Yes, yes, yes, I should have noticed right away. I'm really getting old," he sighed.

Then he thought of something and his eyes focused back on the martial artist. "You can control your ki, yes? In that case I have an idea. Hmmm, yes, that could work," he mumbled to himself.

"Okay, let's try this quickly. I'm really sorry that I can't be of more help, but I don't have much time since I have to go after that bard. However, if this works you'll be a great asset in getting through the cave. I need all the help I can get if I want to defeat the nasty monster blocking the exit of the cavern, which is also the reason why I was waiting for some strong people; alone I can't beat it."

Being an experienced mage and having taught before Tellah had a good idea why the young summoner's method didn't work. "Rydia, your explanations were fine… for someone who was born in this world."

Seeing the greenette's confused look the old mage realized that he needed to be more explicit.

"Let me explain that a bit better. A mage always inherits their primary magic ability from one of their parents, which means that their parents already know what to look for when they start teaching them. This is not the case for Kasumi and Ranma who lack a magical background and don't really understand what they have to do. In Kasumi's case this was circumvented because her primary talent seems to lie in white magic and when she saw you use a spell she was able to reproduce it which is an incredible feat. She must be very talented if she was able to instinctually grasp the concept of magic. That doesn't mean that Ranma's not talented, but we probably need a different approach to unlock his potential. I think that his knowledge of ki and how to sense, direct, and control it should help him a lot in learning magic since they are quite similar. Now, Ranma, you told me you were able to feel your mana once before but have no idea how to use it, correct?"

The pigtailed fighter nodded. "That's right. I've been using ki for a few years so I know what it feels like, but I've also felt a new form of energy inside of me. Since it's not ki I guess it must be magic, right?"

"Probably. Why don't we find out? Since you're no stranger to the use of your life force we'll take your knowledge as a starting point to figure out your magic specialization. First of all, what is ki? Give me a short description without going into the details."

"Well, basically it's the life energy that every living being produces. It flows through our bodies and surrounds us. With a lot of work it is possible to learn how to control it and use it to do many different things."

"That is correct," Tellah agreed. "You have a solid base I see. That is good. What do you know about its color?"

"It can change depending on the mood you're in. Mine is usually blue since I use confidence to fuel it. I have a rival who is depressed all the time and his ki is green."

"Indeed," the old man confirmed. "Mana works much in the same way since it's also a form of energy but on a different wavelength and each form of magic has its own color. Find out what color your magic is and we'll know what form of magic you're most compatible with. To do that I want you to meditate, locate your magic, and remember its color. This shouldn't be too difficult since you've been able to feel your magic before, and it will only get easier with practice."

Ranma felt like an idiot for not figuring out the similarities on his own. It was so obvious when he thought about it. He should have been able to come to the same conclusion. He was a lot more confident now since he figured it out and did as he was told. He closed his eyes, cleared his mind of all and any distractions, tuning out the noise around him, and tried to feel the pool of foreign energy inside of him. He gradually lost all notion of time until he felt very light; weightless even. He opened his eyes and found himself floating in the air. He looked around and immediately recognized the place. This was the same spot he appeared in that time when he was searching for his ki. He looked at his wrists and saw a glowing rope of energy attached to each of them. The left one was very familiar and led to his ki reservoir, but the right one was new. He supposed that it would lead him to his mana pool. He followed the unfamiliar rope, letting it guide him to its point of origin and after a few minutes he had finally reached his destination, a very large pool of the same color as the rope that was emerging from it.

As he approached the glowing body of liquid he could easily feel the incredible power it was emitting. In fact it reminded him of the time he found his ki reservoir for the first time; it was not an unpleasant feeling; quite the contrary in fact. He cautiously dipped his index finger into the watery substance and like an angry tsunami a current of energy immediately rushed into him and suffused every cell in his body, making him feel alive like never before. He didn't stop the flow, but instead embraced it and basked in the feeling of utter bliss.

Outside of his mindscape his companions noticed a faint blue aura materializing around him and Tellah immediately recognized it for what it was. Smiling at the pigtailed boy's success he gently shook him out of his trance, just to be blown back by a wave of energy shortly before Ranma opened his eyes. Blinking and still recovering from the incredible sensations he had just been subjected to, the disoriented martial artist looked around in confusion as he was still adapting to the new power. When he saw the old man lying on the ground he panicked. He may have been in a trance for a while, but that didn't mean his situational awareness was completely gone. He knew he was responsible for the state the old man was in since something similar had happened once before when he was meditating in the dojo and got distracted by his father. Well, his father had learnt that day the hard way that it was a really bad idea to bother him while he was meditating, and surprisingly enough that was one lesson the old man never forgot since he'd never been bothered again while meditating. He quickly dismissed those thoughts and concentrated on the problem at hand. Concern clearly visible on his face he immediately rushed over to the old man hoping he was alright.

Fortunately he needn't have worried. Although the sage was past his prime he had seen a lot in his long life and a small blast like this didn't really do more than faze him. Ranma reached him just as he was getting up.

"Sorry about that," the pigtailed teen apologized and helped the elder get up. "I reacted on instinct. Are you alright?"

"I'll live," the sage answered. "Don't worry, I've had worse." He dusted off his clothes and smiled when he saw the teen calm down.

"That's quite some power you have at your disposal, young man. I also have some very good news for you. I was able to determine your magical specialization which wasn't all that difficult seeing the strong, medium blue aura you produced."

"That's also the color I saw," the martial artist confirmed. "What does it mean?"

"It means that you're a blue mage; not very common, but far from rare. I've met a few over the years, some of them very powerful."

Seeing the deadpan look the teen was giving him the old man coughed in his hand in embarrassment having forgotten that the boy had probably no idea what he was talking about. "Well, the first thing you need to understand is that blue magic is very different from any other form of magic you may encounter. For one, unlike black and white magic spells blue magic spells can't be learnt from books, but only through observation. This means that the only way to learn a blue magic spell is to see it used. Usually seeing it once is enough to be able to emulate it. If a blue mage is unable to copy a spell it normally means that it can't be learnt.

"I think that really suits you, Ranma," Kasumi gave her point of view.

"What do you mean?" The pigtailed boy wondered.

"Well, it's obvious. I noticed that it's very easy for you to learn new martial arts techniques after seeing them only once while other people might have to train for weeks to be able to do the same. Why shouldn't the same be true for your spells?"

"Hey, you're right now that I think about it. Maybe it's the same thing for your magic."

"What do you mean?"

"I know that you're interested in medicine and you also like to help people. A white mage heals and helps people, no?"

Seeing Tellah and Rydia nod he continued. That means that white magic is perfect for you."

"You may be on to something there," the old man interjected. "Maybe when you crossed over to this universe you were automatically granted a magical specialization that fits your disposition. Fascinating. I'll have to do some research on that after I've returned to Mysidia with my daugh..."

His eyes opened wide when he remembered his mission. "My daughter! I need to save my daughter. Quickly. Try and cast a spell, Ranma. Maybe you already know one. Just channel your mana and think about the monsters you've fought so far and the attacks they used. After that we really have to hurry to Damcyan. I don't want to leave her in the kidnapper's hands any longer than absolutely necessary. My sweet little daughter. Who knows what despicable things he's doing to her right this moment."

Not letting himself get distracted by Tellah's self-pity Ranma did as he was told and barely a moment later he shouted 'GOBLIN PUNCH' and an unspecified amount of punches later a large rock in front of him crumbled to dust.

Everyone looked at the result with wide eyes, but no one was more surprised than the caster himself. "WOW! I've never been this fast before. This attack might be even faster than the chestnut fist.

"You've done it," Kasumi gave the teen a radiant smile as she was genuinely happy for her friend. "You've used magic."

Tellah and Rydia were still staring at the damage the attack had done. It was an attack the Goblins loved to use and they'd seen it more than once, but never with so much destructive power behind it.

Rydia was the first to recover from the shock. "That was great," she enthusiastically shouted before hugging the boy. "I really want to see what else you can do."

"As do I," Tellah agreed, "but I'm afraid that will have to wait. We can't dally here any longer than necessary and it's a long way to Damcyan. A lot of monsters have taken up residence in these caves and I'm sure that you'll have more than one opportunity to test out your spells before we get to the exit."

They agreed and followed the old man deeper into the cave, weapons at the ready. They advanced at a decent speed but didn't neglect their guard. The sage's prediction became true very fast as barely five minutes later they encountered their first group of monsters.

Once again Ranma was surprised at the diversity of bizarre creatures in this world. In front of him were three very large, ugly and vicious looking mutated clamshells. They were red in color and their mouths were filled with dangerous looking very pointy teeth while their tongues were hanging out and dripping saliva. The critter floating behind those three monstrosities was very hard to describe. It resembled an amoeba to an extent, but the several strange, transparent, very large outgrowths with shapeless, yellow spots floating inside, and which might function as its eyes, were a very good indication that it was something completely different.

As soon as they noticed the monsters they formed a rhombus with Ranma placed at the fore angle, Rydia at the rear angle and Kasumi and Tellah on the left, respectively right angle.

"Vile Shells and a Water Bug," the sage explained. "Don't take them lightly! The Vile Shells are very aggressive and once they clamp down on someone they won't let go until death be it that of their prey or their own. Lightning spells should work very well against them."

The old man had barely had enough time to finish before the three shell-like creatures attacked. Two of them went for Ranma while the last one attacked Kasumi. The Water Bug lazily floated in the air no taking any action.

Being legless the Vile Shells weren't very fast and had to resort to hopping to reach their victims. However, they made up for this disability through sheer aggressiveness and it took Vile Shell 'A' but a few seconds to reach the pigtailed teen. It jumped in the air and tried to chomp down on his arm, but Ranma was too fast for the clumsy creature and it completely missed its target, landing on the ground with a big thud. Before the monster could recover and attack once more the martial artist had already stabbed it with his claw. He lifted the impaled creature in the air, and seeing Vile Shell 'B' reach his position he launched the wiggling, impaled monster at the attacking one. Both creatures hit the wall very hard but only one of them got up, albeit very sluggishly, stunned by the heavy blow. The mortally wounded Vile Shell screeched and thrashed around for a few moments but very soon it stopped moving altogether.

Vile Shell 'C' hadn't crossed half the distance to Kasumi's position before and arrow headed its way and became stuck in its right flank. The creature yelled in pain and fell heavily to the ground before reaching the archer. Unfortunately the arrow was only barely effective and the creature immediately resumed its charge with a crazed look in its eyes. It sped up, its eyes riveted on the woman that was the cause for its pain, but before it could reach the archer it was hit dead-on by one of Rydia's lightning attacks and fried on the spot.

Tellah hadn't taken any action yet as he wanted to find out what his new team was capable of. He nodded in approval when he saw them take the monsters down; he had chosen his travel companions well. Confident that they'd be able to deal with the minor nuisances, the old man concentrated on the real danger, the Water Bug. The monster didn't look all that dangerous but the old mage knew that looks could be deceptive, which was especially true with this cunning creature whose favorite tactic was to let other monsters weaken the targets while the Bug itself collected enough power to let loose a devastating attack. Before the critter had time to move the old man killed it with a well placed lightning bolt.

In the meantime the weakened Vile Shell 'B' had recovered enough to launch another attack at the pigtailed fighter, but a mighty kick in its belly was enough to finish it off. I hit the wall once again but this time didn't get up.

"Well done," Tellah praised the three youngsters. I'm glad to see that the rhombus formation worked out so well. If no really unpleasant surprises come up, crossing the Waterway shouldn't be too difficult."

After Ranma had cleaned his weapon and Kasumi had recovered her arrow they continued on their way with the pigtailed teen walking in front and Tellah taking up the rear. They were swapping stories and the martial artist was impressed by the adventures the old man had been through. He was a great storyteller and the two Nerimans really liked listening to him.

Ranma was in a rather good mood. He thought back to what had happened since his arrival in this strange world and he came to the surprising conclusion that for once he actually liked the latest complication in his already difficult life. Being forced to take human lives had been hard of course, but except for that uncomfortable experience it had been a nice change from his life in Nerima; no fiancées, no rivals, no Amazons, and especially no old freak whose fault it was that he got stranded there in the first place. Usually he was very forgiving, but he didn't feel sorry for the old bastard at all. He had it coming after all, and there would probably be a lot of rejoicing once the women find out that they won't have to look out for the molester and panty thief any longer.

It was actually sad when he thought about it. He was feeling more comfortable in the presence of these strangers he'd only met a short while ago than his very own family and 'friends' back home. 'Ah well. No point thinking about that now', he mused. 'I'll go back to the daily grind soon enough. I should enjoy my time here as long as it lasts'.

Unfortunately, he would be reminded very soon of the fact that good things rarely last, and if he had thought about the tunnel's strange name and paid attention to his surroundings (the stalagmites and stalactites should have really clued him in) he might have taken the initiative and explain his curse to his allies to avoid any potentially embarrassing situations at a later time. It wasn't until he had entered the next cave that he noticed the danger he was in; the cave contained a huge underground lake and the only way to safely cross it was a network of wooden bridges connecting several isles of various sizes. With some trepidation he hesitantly put his right foot on the wooden construction in front of him to test its sturdiness and was quite relieved that it appeared to be in excellent repair, which would greatly reduce the risk of his curse getting exposed. Happy that he had safely dodged that particular bullet he confidently crossed the bridge rejoicing in the fact that didn't have to reveal his biggest secret, but also greatest shame, to his allies just yet. Unfortunately overconfidence was one of Ranma's biggest flaws and he really should have taken into account his usual luck when it came to water.

As soon as he had stepped off the bridge the ledge of the isle crumbled under his feet catching him flatfooted; the surprise had cost him the precious seconds needed to jump to safety and thus he fell into the lake below, creating a very large splash when he landed in the cold water.

"RANMA!" Rydia shouted out in panic, as she and the others sprinted over to the spot where the cursed fighter had fallen over the edge. The greenette was in full panic mode and frantically checking the surface of the lake for any signs that her friend had survived the deep fall while Tellah and Kasumi were trying very hard to calm her down. Just as she was on the verge of breaking into tears a huge water fountain rose into the air and a small figure jumped out of it and landed on the isle not far away from the group. Much to the summoner's surprise the figure shakily standing there and panting for breath was not the pigtailed boy she had been expecting but a red-haired girl wearing not only Ranma's clothes but also his hairstyle.

"DAMMIT!" The unknown girl angrily pounded the ground with her claw-covered right fist. "Why is it always water? And everything was going so well too. Damn curse!"

Kasumi knew her reaction wasn't very nice but she really couldn't refrain from chuckling at Ranma's misfortune. Although she had born witness to water based accidents more than once, it never ceased to be funny. Her amusement turned into concern however when her newfound allies took up an offensive stance and prepared their spells for an attack.

"STOP!" The usually very composed woman yelled in panic and jumped in front of the irate redhead who hadn't noticed the danger she was in. "She's not an enemy! She's Ranma."

The brunette's intervention and bold claim had taken them by surprise and made them lose their focus, interrupting their casting in the process. Before they could try again Kasumi had clutched the smaller girl and was throwing pleading looks at the two mages. Disconcerted by the young woman's surprising reaction and the lack of hostility from the unknown redhead they lowered their weapons and decided to wait for an explanation.

Ranma only noticed something was wrong when she felt someone grab her and only then did she notice the hostile audience staring at her.

"Ehehe. Sorry about this," the redhead apologized as she embarrassedly scratched the back of her head. "You know, there's a perfectly logical explanation for this."

Expecting the usual violent reactions or malicious accusations she was very surprised when the two to natives just stood there, calmly waiting for an explanation.

"It's a curse I got about a year ago," she explained in an annoyed tone as she was really getting tired of having to tell the whole story whenever someone saw the transformation and Nabiki's joke about selling explanatory pamphlets sounded better by the minute. "Cold water changes me into a girl and warm water back into a guy. And before you ask, I'm a guy, yes, they are real, and I'm only interested in girls."

Tellah nodded silently and Rydia was excited, hardly any of the reactions the redhead had been expecting. No malletting, no groping, no name calling… Actually, it was kind of refreshing and she could really get used to it.

"You're taking this rather well. How come?" She wondered.

"Well, I can't speak for Rydia, but curses are nothing unusual. Mind you I've never seen a sex change curse, but any halfway competent black mage knows at least one or two shape shifting curses, the 'Toad' spell being the most common one, changing the victim into a toad."

"I know that one," Rydia interrupted. "It's easy to learn."

"There you have it. The thing that really surprises me however is the potency of your curse. All the ones I've ever heard about are a one time thing and once dispelled they have to be cast once again. This is probably the first recurrent curse ever. I might even make it into the history books if I can get to the bottom of this mystery."

"Glad to see someone thinks it's interesting," the martial artist muttered angrily, jostling the old man out of his fantasies.

"I think it's neat," the summoner excitedly circled around Ranma, examining her from head to toe. "You probably have a lot of fun with it, no?"

"Riiight… fun!" She sarcastically answered. "I'd like to see you have to deal with it all the time. Do you think it's fun being treated like a freak or a pervert just for something you have no control over?"

"Sorry," the greenette meekly apologized, tears threatening to leave her eyes.

"Ah… no. Don't cry!" Ranma frantically waved her arms trying to calm her down as crying girls usually meant a lot of pain; either getting attacked by one of her rivals or by Akane. Noticing the lack of pain she calmed down and took the upset girl in her arms. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you. It's not your fault, but I'm just sick and tired of it all. I'd like nothing better than to finally get rid of it. So far every 'miracle cure' has been a bust and I don't know if there even is a cure."

"Maybe Tellah knows a cure," Rydia tried to lift the martial artist's spirits. "He's one of the most famous mages in the world after all."

Seeing the hopeful look the redhead was giving him the elder actually blushed a bit. "Ah well, I don't know. I'll have to do some research. As I've said before your curse is unlike any other I've seen before and probably much stronger. If there is a cure I don't know about it and I suggest you don't get your hopes up. I promise that I'll try my best once I'm home with my daughter. I doubt that 'Esuna' will work.

"Esuna?" The cursed Neriman wondered.

"Yes. It's the most powerful healing spell known to mankind. It is said that it can cure almost any disease or curse."

"Do-Do you know that spell?" She asked in a hopeful tone, hoping that for once luck was on her side.

"As a matter of fact, I do. I've forgotten a lot of spells over the years, but this is one I can remember quite well."

"That's great! Could you try the spell on me, please?"

"Well… alright. I don't see why not. Just stay still and I'll give it a try." The old man then gathered a very large amount of mana in his hand and cast the spell.

"ESUNA!"

Ranma was immediately obscured from view by a bright halo that encased her completely and the witnesses were eagerly waiting for the light to die down to see the result of the experiment.

"Did it work?" A female voice asked after the light was gone, but she realized immediately that once again the cure was a dud.

"Darn! Should have known it wouldn't work," she cursed in a neutral tone, having anticipated the result. [1]

"Just as I thought; the curse is too strong. Okay, I'll take up the challenge. I'll cure you of the spell yet. I can't wait to find out more about the magic behind it after I'm back in Mysidia."

Seeing that there wasn't much else they could do at the moment they continued on their way to the castle. Kasumi saw the redhead's reflective mood and hoped that she was alright. "How are you feeling? You must be very disappointed that the spell didn't work."

"Naaa! Only a little." She reassured her friend when she saw the worrying look in her eyes. "I'm used to it by now, you know. There probably isn't a cure, but I won't give up anyway. Maybe one day I'll find one. We'll see."

Although they had been advancing carefully they were unable to avoid falling into an ambush a few hundred meters further ahead while they were crossing a narrow bridge. The ambush had been rather unexpected as they hadn't anticipated an attack out of the lake. They only realized the danger they were in after three fountains of water had exploded around them revealing three dangerous predators. The three monsters were man-sized, orange fish with huge fins that were flapping at a very fast pace and allowed them to stay airborne. Their most noticeable feature however was the large mouth filled with vicious looking serrated teeth. They resembled the piranhas Ranma had had to catch at the fair when she tried to learn the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken technique, but those had been much smaller and obviously less dangerous.

The ambush spot had been well chosen as the group had not only been caught flatfooted but they also lacked the space to take up a formation, a problem the floating monsters didn't have. Their maneuverability in the air allowed them to freely attack from any side, an advantage they immediately made use of, attacking one opponent each. The only one spared was Rydia. Ranma, who had the fastest reaction time of them all, jumped towards Kasumi and pushed her to the ground just before the fish had reached her, causing the attack to miss. Unfortunately, in order to protect the brunette the martial artist had left her back wide open, a weak spot another Killer Fish quickly took advantage of as it landed a solid hit with its tailfin that had been hard enough to throw the redhead to the ground.

Meanwhile, Tellah didn't have an easy time with his own enemy either. If he had been a few years younger he would have easily dodged the monsters sloppy biting attack. As things were, however, old age had really dulled his reflexes and he had only been barely able to evade the brunt of the attack as the monster had got close enough to cut a deep gash in his left shoulder with its impressive teeth. The wound was bleeding profusely but not enough to take the experienced mage out of the battle; he had had worse in the past.

Before the critters had the time to recover and attack a second time the party took action. The earlier attack had been violent and would have been strong enough to knock out Rydia or Kasumi, but to someone like Ranma, who was used to Akane's and Ryoga's blows it had been nothing more than a love tap and hadn't slowed her down in the slightest, even if the tailfin attack had scratched her back and she was losing some blood from the wound. Still, the redhead was really pissed at the monsters for daring to attack Kasumi and she would show no mercy. "GOBLIN PUNCH!" She shouted in anger and turned Killer Fish A into a sieve. The eyes of the remaining attackers were on her now after the violent attack, which gave Kasumi time enough to notch an arrow and take aim. Before Killer Fish B could return its attention to the brunette she had let the arrow loose. The projectile struck true, piercing the monster's flank. The fish screeched in pain before falling to the ground; it flopped around like a fish out of water, obviously, which only served to aggravate its serious wound even more and a few moments later it stopped struggling altogether after having drawn its last breath.

Rydia's lightning spell quickly dealt with the last monster while Tellah was tending to his wound.

"Darn things!" Ranma cursed after the fight. "Attacking out of the water like that. One more thing we'll have to watch out for. Ah well, at least they went down fast," she continued while Kasumi was curing her injury, happy that she could use her magic once again, even if it was in such an unfortunate situation.

"Thank you for saving me," the grateful brunette said while healing the younger girl. "If not for your fast save the monster would got me, and I doubt I'd be standing after such a powerful attack. I feel so useless. I wish I were stronger so I didn't have to rely on you all the time."

"You're not useless," Ranma reassured the anxious white mage. "Your healing magic is really great. I really could have used your healing powers back home after some of my fights. So don't think you're a burden. I'm happy to have you here with me instead of any of the other idiots and I really don't mind saving you."

"I know that," she interrupted the redhead, "but I don't want to have to rely on you. What if we get separated? I really need to get stronger."

"Don't worry," the martial artist interrupted her. "If you want to I can help you train when we have time, but I don't think you'll need it; you're getting all the training you need on this trip, and having to face dangerous situations is the best way to improve. Trust me; I know what I'm talking about."

Kasumi didn't doubt that one minute. Considering how fast Ranma had improved since coming to Nerima the martial artist was probably right, but that wasn't enough for her. The readhead was far ahead of her and even if she'd never reach that level she hoped to surpass everyone else she knew. She had no intention of ending up as the designated victim [2], like her little sister who had to be saved every other day.

After confirming the monsters' deaths they quickly cleaned their weapons and left the battlefield behind. Very soon they arrived at the entrance to another cave. Ranma prudently peered inside and the first thing she noticed was the absence of isles, bridges, and especially water. She didn't really mind the underground lake now that her secret was out anyway, but the water had been cold, and she didn't want to get wet more than absolutely necessary, and she knew that with her usual luck with liquids of any kind it was bound to happen again very soon. In the distance she could vaguely recognize a group of people.

The martial artist called out to the others. "Hey, there are people in there. Should we join them?"

The redhead pointed them out to the others after they'd joined her, but Tellah objected to her plan. "That's not a good idea. We don't know if they are friendly and therefore I suggest we approach them very carefully. Better safe than sorry."

They followed the elder's suggestion and advanced slowly, but it didn't take them long to notice that something wasn't right. The humans were wandering around aimlessly and at a very slow pace. As they got nearer Tellah recognized the 'people' for what they were.

"Zombies!" He hissed. "There shouldn't be any here. Something is very wrong here."

As they got closer Ranma was really surprised that these undead were quite different from those she had seen in zombie movies. While the movie monsters had some defining characteristics that allowed the viewer to recognize who they had been in life all the ones in front of her looked alike which made it impossible to keep them apart. There were four of the bulky, hulk-like creatures towering over the group with their impressive size of over two meters. Unlike the movie zombies these didn't have rotting flesh hanging from their bones, but their grey, unhealthy looking skin was smoothly stretched over their frames, making them look like dolls. Their faces were identical too as the only recognizable features were two empty eye sockets and a perpetually wide open mouth. The rags they were wearing, and which might have been fine clothing a long time ago, were hanging in tatters from their bodies, indicating that the once living beings must have been dead for quite some time.

"Huh? Why?" The martial artist wondered

"Because it doesn't make sense for them to be here. Human zombies usually only appear at cemeteries, battlefields, or any other place where people died or are buried. If there are any here it can only mean that either someone has raised them, an action which is forbidden, or that the balance in the world has been upset, which would explain the large increase in the monster population. Whichever the reason it can't be good."

"What should we do?" Kasumi asked. "Attack them or try to sneak past?"

"Well, killing them should be easy since they are very vulnerable to fire and holy magic, but I'd rather we avoid wasting too much magic as we might need the spells at a later date. So, sneaking past would be the best choice. Zombies are very slow and even if they see us we shouldn't have any trouble getting away."

Heeding the experienced elder's advice they crept past the creatures and very soon left them behind only to stumble upon a new group of monsters.

"Oh, come on! Can't we ever catch a break?" Ranma cursed.

There were six creatures in the tunnel. Two more of those fish they'd killed earlier, two creatures that looked exactly like the Desert Sahagin they'd encountered the day before, except that these were light blue, as well as two very tiny gnome-like… humans?"

Ranma immediately sprang into action and skewered one of the Killer Fish with her first attack before the monster could react.

"You should have gone for the Tiny Mages first," Tellah admonished her. "They are the real threat."

Kasumi, having heard the old man's explanation shot an arrow at one of the tiny creatures but the shot lacked precision and the creature was only wounded. The monster countered immediately by casting a spell on the inexperienced white mage.

She felt a strange tingling, and found out to her horror that she was unable to move. She tried to fight the effects of the spell, unfortunately in vain.

Tellah cursed at the white mage's misfortune, but didn't let that little setback distract him from the task at hand. He quickly cast an ice attack at the other Tiny Mage which killed it immediately. Just as Rydia was about to finish off the first Tiny Mage, the critter cast a spell at Ranma.

A large mallet appeared in the air and bonked her on the head with no visible effect, but the pigtailed girl's brain dissected the attack immediately and added the new spell to her rather limited selection. The redhead was happy to have learnt a new spell, although she was not sure whether it would come in handy in the future or not.

An instant later the creature was dead; Rydia's lightning bolt had hit it dead on.

While the Tiny Mages were being dealt with the three remaining monsters hadn't been idle and had reached the party soon after the wanderers' first attack. The Killer Fish and one of the Sahagins went for Ranma since she was the closest while the other Sahagin's target was Rydia who hadn't had time to take a defensive position after her successful attack.

The Sahagin attacked with its sharp claws, but the blow was softened and barely pierced Ranma's skin, much to the redhead's surprise who so far had not been convinced of her enchanted gear's effectiveness.

The Killer Fish's attack on the other hand had completely missed as the martial artist didn't have any trouble at all evading the simple frontal attack. She looked over to Kasumi's position and was relieved to notice that she hadn't been attacked again and was relatively safe outside of the melee.

The Sahagin attacking Rydia had an easier time as the young summoner lacked Ranma's experience and reflexes, but the previous fights had sharpened her skills enough to evade the deadly strike to her heart, so that she was hit on her left flank instead.

Ranma had noticed this and in order to avoid giving the three monsters time to regroup and focus on the weakened summoner she disregarded her own defense and attacked both of her own attackers at the same time, running the Sahagin through with her claw and kicking the Killer Fish away. With a swift pull the redhead removed her hand from the agonizing, impaled monster, which then sagged to the ground where it breathed its last.

At the same time Tellah took care of the remaining Sahagin. "THUNDER!" Was the last thing the monster heard before it was struck dead by a lightning bolt.

Confident that Ranma would be able to deal with the last monster Tellah quickly cast a cure spell at the summoner.

The Killer Fish got up again, slowly, and before it could take any action Ranma finished it off.

Once the battle was over the pigtailed girl tried to help Kasumi, even going as far as shaking her, but to no avail.

"That won't work," the old mage said after joining the redhead. "The spell will wear off on its own after a while. Just wait one or two minutes and she'll be back to normal."

Ranma let go of the paralyzed woman but stayed close by just in case.

Rydia on the other hand used the waiting period to go over to the Tiny Mages' corpses and collect the stuff that was scattered around them. She came back with a rod, a piece of jewelry, and two small bottles.

She enthusiastically waved the items around. "Look what I've found."

Ranma looked at the Tiny Mages and saw a lot of useless junk lying around them. "Where have they been hiding those things? I'm sure I would have noticed if they'd been carrying all that stuff around."

Tellah answered her. "Oh that? That's just a spell that allows a mage to create a magical pocket to keep their possessions in. It's not too difficult to learn and it comes in really handy if you have items you want to keep safe. However, it dispels automatically once the mage dies."

Ranma rapidly realized the usefulness of that spell and wanted to learn it as soon as possible. She'd had been unsuccessful so far in recreating Mousse's hidden weapons style, but this spell was even better. At least she wouldn't have to observe the blind idiot any longer to find out the secret behind his technique.

At that moment the hold spell fizzled out and Kasumi dropped down like a puppet whose strings had been cut, but Ranma had been paying attention and caught her before she could hurt herself. "Are you alright? How are you feeling?"

The brunette shook her head and grinned at the fuss her friend was making over that little incident; she just hoped that the martial artist would never lose her caring nature. "Don't worry. I'm alright. It was a very strange feeling, though. I could see the whole fight, but I was unable to do anything. I hope that won't happen again."

The summoner had meanwhile reached the old man and the dimension travelers and showed them the loot.

Ranma took the rod and was surprised at the cold radiating from its tip; Tellah took the other items.

Tellah looked at the rod and immediately recognized the weapon from the cold aura it was emitting. "Ah, an ice rod. That's a very fine weapon for a mage. I'm sure it will come in very handy."

He then concentrated on the items in his hand and nodded after he had successfully identified them. "A silver armlet, an antidote, and an ether. Those are some very nice finds. The silver armlet will give one of you a good defensive boost. I think Rydia should wear it; she's physically the weakest of us."

Seeing that no one objected he handed the summoner the jewelry. The young girl put it on and it immediately changed from a rather ordinary looking bracelet into a finely crafted ladies bracelet that magically shrunk to fit her wrist.

"This looks really good on you," Kasumi told the greenette as eyed the beautiful bracelet.

"All the women in our world would just love to have auto adjustable jewelry, don't you think so Ranma?"

Ranma just gave the older girl a blank stare.

Kasumi concealed her mouth with a hand and tried desperately to stifle a giggle. "I'm sorry. You're probably the only girl I know who wouldn't be interested."

The redhead declined to take the bait but instead pointed at the potions. "What do they do?"

The old man had been expecting that question. "The antidote cures almost any poison and the ether help you recover some mana. This will be especially useful should one of us run out of magic in a fight, which is a definite possibility if the monster attacks don't ebb down."

He handed the summoner the ether. "Here, take it. You'll probably need it the most. I have my own."

The greenette took the vial and put it in her pocket. "Thanks."

As they were preparing to leave there was one thing that bothered Kasumi a bit and that she wanted to get to the bottom of. "Say, Ranma. What was that spell you got hit with? It doesn't seem to have had any effect."

"That spell is called 'Magic Hammer', apparently. The spell siphoned some of my mana. Luckily I didn't lose all of my reserves."

This fast and precise answer surprise the white mage. "How do you know that?"

"Huh?" The young girl hadn't really expected that question and after thinking for a few moments she realized that she really had no idea. "Hey! You're right. How do I know that?"

"That's one of the unexplained mysteries in the world," the old man explained. "No one has ever found an answer, and not for the lack of trying. Many a researcher and philosopher have tried to get to the bottom it over the last centuries, but no one has succeeded so far."

They continued onwards and arrived in the next section of the Waterway which to Ranma's exasperation was once again a network of isles combined by bridges. "When will we get out of here?"

"We've cleared the first half," the old man reassured the redhead, "but we still have ways to go. We'll get to a safe spot very soon and we'll be able to rest for a while."

Unfortunately rest was not to come for a while yet as the party was surprised by another group of monsters that had suddenly appeared in front of them. The redhead groaned in frustration. It was true that she enjoyed a good fight from time to time but this was getting ridiculous. She had the impression that every goddamn monster in this cave somehow had it out for them.

At least this time she recognized the three creatures as they looked a lot like their more friendly counterparts from her own world, except for two major differences. These frogs were not only positively huge, at least as large as wolves, but they also had teeth, very impressive looking ones at that. Ranma had seen a lot of frogs and toads in her travels, and even eaten some, but never did any of them have teeth. Two of them were yellow with blue markings on their bodies while the third one was ice blue with brown markings.

"Gigantoads and a Toadgre," Tellah identified them. "And we'd almost made it to the safe point too." Then he remembered that he'd completely failed to warn the dimension hoppers about these monsters although he knew that they could be found in this place. "Whatever you do, don't touch them! Their skin continuously secretes a very potent poison and a lick from their tongues can cause paralysis. The warning had come too late however as Ranma's claw had already attacked one of the creatures, piercing its skin with her claw. She immediately removed her arm after hearing the warning but unfortunately it had been too late as she'd already come into contact with the poison. Her skin was rapidly turning blue and it didn't take more than a few seconds for her to fall to the ground convulsing in pain.

Kasumi covered her mouth with a hand in shock. "RANMA! NO!"

***BESTIARY***

VILE SHELL: the Vile Shell is best described as a very large, mutated mixture of a clam and an oyster the size of a wolf. This monster has no real intelligence and cunning, but it is very aggressive. As the Vile Shell doesn't have any legs it can only jump around which reduces its threat level by a wide margin. No one knows where this creature comes from, but monster experts speculate that its creation is the result of some alchemists carelessly disposing of their failed experiments in the sea.

WATER BUG: the Water Bug is a really strange creature resembling an amoeba in form as well as color. There are only few facts known about this bizarre creature. For one you never see one alone but only in the presence of other monsters. The Water Bug is a cowardly, but very cunning monster. For one it never attacks first but lets other monsters weaken its opponents first while it powers up an attack. However, if the other monsters in its group are defeated it immediately runs away. The best strategy to deafeat this opportunistic creature is to target it first.

KILLER FISH: the Killer Fish is a ravenous creature that only attacks in groups. It looks like a giant piranha but has sharper teeth and its fins function as wings which allow it to fly. This critter is incredibly fast and maneuverable, but if its attack misses it needs a few moments to adjust which makes it a sitting duck in those few instants. This creature is not very strong or durable and a single hit is usually enough to kill it.

ZOMBIE: the Zombie is a soulless and corpse, aimlessly wandering around and attacking anything that approaches. The mindless Zombie never tires and will wander around its spawning ground until destroyed. It has no intelligence to speak of, but its inhuman strength and ability to regenerate from any physical blow if it's not completely destroyed makes it a dangerous enemy to people who don't know any holy or fire spells. Thankfully, this monster is very slow and it's not difficult to run away from it. Zombies can appear naturally at battlegrounds or other places where carnages have taken place, but usually they are created by mages. Raising corpses to transform them into Zombies is strictly forbidden and any mage who dabbles in necromancy will be severely punished.

SAHAGIN: the blue skinned Sahagin is related to its weaker cousin the Desert Sahagin, with the only physical difference being the color of the skin. Just like its cousin this creature is carnivorous and eats only meat and fish. It is physically stronger than its cousin, but can't survive for long in a waterless environment. The Sahagin is a dangerous predator in its natural habitat, a body of water, but easy to kill out of it. Like most other aquatic creatures it is weak to lightning spells.

TINY MAGE: the Tiny Mages are a race of magical beings created by mages a long time ago to be used as cheap labor to help them with their chores and even magical research. Tiny Mages are intelligent and capable of speech. Unfortunately after decades of being used as slaves a group of them started a rebellion, quickly joined by many others, killing a lot of people in the upraise. They harbor a strong resentment against humans and attack them whenever they can safely do so. Tiny Mages are to be killed on sight. They are physically weak, but can be dangerous if attacked with spells.

[1] I added this scene only to stop people from asking about it all the time. Sorry, but the curse stays even if it won't be important for the story.

[2] Check the TV Tropes webpage for the definition.

POSTED 2011/05/23

EDITED 2011/05/28