As he walked along the road he encountered several other creatures
like the first one, and he collected more of the coins. At one point, he
noticed a faded sign with the word "Potos" and pointing towards the
direction he was heading on it. He followed the road, over a bridge at two
points, and soon found himself at a town.
"Hmmm, this must be Potos Village." He said to himself. However,
something seemed to be wrong with the village. He noticed everyone
gathered around a small garden. As he ran towards it, he noticed a large
hole in the middle of it. Trying to push his way through the crowd without
knocking anyone in, he got close enough to look inside. Inside was a small
cavern, and he could see a small boy backing into the wall. Suddenly, he
felt someone push him, and he found himself in the hole. It was then he
noticed why the child was backing away from the front of the cavern. It
was most likely the huge monster slowly walking towards them.
The thing seemed a giant insect, walking on two legs and having two
claw-like arms. Its bug eyes seemed to have some sort of intelligence in
them, showing it wasn't just on a random attack spree.
As he fell, another person leapt in after him. She had a lithe form,
carried a sword, and looked like she knew what she was doing. She glared
at him, blue eyes burning. "Who are you?" he said, focusing on him, "And
why did you fall into here with the Mantis Ant?"
Before Justin could answer, the creature caught his attention. It's
pincers moved a couple times, and he heard a faint hissing coming from it.
From beneath the ground four small gems suddenly burst from the ground and
hovered in the air. Both him and the young woman looked at it for a while,
slowly backing away. The gems started spinning, when the stopped and all
four pointed at Justin. They flew towards him with great accuracy and all
four punched into his side.
Justin screamed and pitched to the ground, holding himself up with
his hands. Right as he felt himself about to lose consciousness, he felt
something else take control of his body. He lifted himself up off the
floor and looked straight at the Mantis Ant. Instead of it, though, he saw
two figures, one in blinding gold light, the other in a patch of darkness
so thick he could barely see through it. Both lifted their hands towards
him, then disappeared. He felt a sudden surge of power flow through him
and, lifting both arms at the monster, released it. Two large black bolts
flew out of his hands and hit the monster straight on. It screamed,
convulsed once, then burst into an explosion of light. Unfortunately,
Justin didn't know this; he had collapsed unconscious.
He woke up some time afterwards. He looked around and spied an old woman standing nearby. He felt incredibly thirsty, and managed to croak out "w-water." The old woman, hearing him, brought a small jar filled with water. He greedily drank it up, and even though he could taste numerous minerals and the water was lukewarm, it was the best he had ever drunken. A young woman came in immediately after he had finished the water and walked up to him. Wearing an amulet with an odd figure on it, one he recognized from his pouch, she softly said something while making hand gestures. A cooling sensation went over him, like water flowing over him, but softly and gently. She opened her eyes, and he was amazed to find all his wounds healed. "Are you all right?" she asked "Yes, thank you. I'm fine. H-how did you do that?" he asked. She frowned at this question. "What do you mean 'how?' Surely you know of Undine's power?" she questioned. "Undine.sounds.familiar." Was all he could say, lost in his own thoughts. "Well, no, I haven't heard of this "Undine" or her powers, but then again I can't really remember anything right now." "Ah, a case of amnesia. Had Mana not been fading as it is, I might had been able to heal you as the followers of Undine had over 3 centuries ago but." she let the thought trail off. "Well, amnesia or not, what you did back there was very powerful, far beyond anything even the followers of Shade can do right now. However, the bolts you sent out were, well, black, and as such the townspeople are in favor of banishing you." "Why are you telling me this if you wish to banish me?" he asked. "Because you saved my son, and he's all I have left. I lost my husband to a goblin raid a few years back, and I've been living with my mother ever since." She said, her brown eyes beginning to tear as sad memories started coming back. "At any rate, the fact that you saved my son is the only thing keeping you here right now. Since you are a stranger, the townspeople believe that it was you that caused the creature to come forth." "And you?" he asked, "What do you believe?" She sighed. "I don't know what to believe. I know that the pouch you have signifies you as a user of Mana, yet all eight Elements are on it. And that is impossible, for only seven of the Primes should be on at one time." "My pouch!" He looked around, realizing he didn't have the gloves, pouch, or even the strange amulet. The woman only gave him an odd look. "It's at the elder's house, along with the gloves. You're amulet is over here." She continued to look at him oddly until finally saying, "so who are you anyways? I've answered your questions.why did you come from Potos from the old fields, what's the amulet for." Justin only sighed. "I don't know. I remember being somewhat of a healer, or at least an herbalist. I was traveling all over the world for some reason. My name is Justin. And.I'm afraid that's all. I woke up under a waterfall with the amulet, gloves, and pouch. I still don't know what any of them mean though." Again, the healer sighed. "Might as well introduce myself as well. I'm Kala Derring, the healer of this town. This," she said, pointing to her amulet, "is Undine, the Elemental Prime of Water. There are 8 elements, and a lord/lady for all of them." Suddenly she started blushing. "But I'm getting onto a different topic." Just then, another young woman ran into the door, which Justin recognized as the woman in the pit who had leapt down. "Kala, the mayor wishes to see you," she said, "you and.him." She quickly ran off again. Kala only grinned. "We'd best get going. Don't worry; I'm sure the mayor won't boot you out or anything. That hasn't been done since the Second Mana War, and even then it was only done once." Justin only warily smiled and got to his feet. The two then walked over to the mayor's house.
As Justin and the healer reached the mayor's house, he was shocked to see how little people attended. Before he could ask the healer, though, she said, "Slowly our numbers are decreasing. With the goblin raids and lack of immigrants, we are slowly dying. They heard shouting as they reached the house, and Justin realized it was aimed at him. It seemed the population was divided in half-one half wanted him to stay; the other wanted him to leave. It became even louder as he walked in. "It's him!" cried out one, "The black servant of the Underworld!" "I saw him!" cried another, "he was about to turn on the boy had his own energy not consumed him!" "No," shouted another, "He killed the beast! He must be a chosen one of the elements!" An old man near the back of the room held out a hand, and slowly the people stopped arguing. Justin realized that mentioning the ghost would greatly make things worse, and decided not to even mention it until he had things worked out more. "You are the one the killed the Mantis Ant, yes?" he said, as more of a statement then a question. "Yes, I slew it. My name is Justin." "Then tell me this-how did you strike at it with such power? Even Kala or Gar'Dan can't do such a thing!" the mayor replied, motioning towards the healer and a young man stand next to him who scowled at Justin angrily. Justin could only recall him being one of those that wanted him to leave. "I, well, I don't really know." he replied softly. "Elder, I fear it gets more complicated," the young healer Kala stepped forward, "He appears to suffer from amnesia." "Well, then this must come to a stand still. If the lad cannot remember his past, then we cannot dismiss him so lightly, as he might indeed have been our friend." The mayor replied. "I conclude that we." "Wait!" the mage named Gar'Dan cut him off, "Show the weapon!" A young man, who looked strangely familiar, walked over and handed over the gloves. Gar'Dan inspected it for a while, when his eyes opened wide. "Elder! This.this.this can't be! This is one of the Weapons of Mana!" "Impossible!" the mayor said, immediately standing up, "The gloves has been in Pandora ever since the Fall of the Fortress!" "I can assure you, elder, that this is ended the legendary gloves! This confirms it-he must be from the Underworld to have stolen it from Pandora!" the mage shouted, not looking all too unhappy. "No, that proves he isn't, otherwise the weapon would burn him!" Kala cried back in response. "Stop this, all of you!" the mayor shouted out. Seeing the crowd ready to erupt again. When everyone quieted down, he continued, "Look, I have a solution for all of this! You cannot cure amnesia, correct?" he demanded Kala. She nodded in response. "And you, Gar'Dan, you say that this power he has is unlike anything you have ever seen or heard of?" the mage nodded. "In that case, I say that we send him to Luca. She would be able to cure him, being the High Priestess of Undine. Not only that, but she can tell us how he destroyed the creature." At that moment, a man dressed in armor ran in. "Sir, while we were searching the cavern, we found this!" he said, running to the mayor. He handed the elder the small orb Justin had seen before passing out. The mayor suddenly went white with shock. His eyes opened wide, and he gaped at the sight of the small sphere with a glove carved on it. "Gar'Dan, do-do you realize what this is?" he replied, handing the mage with a shaking hand. "It can't be! An orb of mana!" the mage said, also turning white at the sight of it. "That's impossible! That means that the sword is gone!" "Sword?" Justin asked, "There was a small shrine-like thing when I was walking over here from the falls, that looked like it would hold a sword, but it's gone." "The mayor appeared very scared by this. "Tell me, boy, did you by any chance encounter odd, yellow things on the way here?" "Why, yes, I did. Ones with large mouth and odd ears that they use while spinning?" "Rabites!" Kala cried in fear, "It's true then! The sword is gone!" "What sword!" Justin yelled out, totally confused. Everyone in the room turned to him. "You don't know about the Sword of Mana?" the mayor said in disgust. "Oh yes, that's right, you cant remember anything. Well, it's a long story, and I'm sure that you'll hear it or remember it at the Water Palace. Look, I can't lie and say I know what's happening, but I'm sure it has something to do with the Dark Ring." At this Justin became even more puzzled. "Look, Luca will tell you later," the elder answered his unasked question, "But I'm not about to send you out there without a guide or someone to help you." It was at that moment that two youths burst through the door. "Send us!" they both yelled out at once. Justin looked up and recognized both. The first was the girl in the pit; the one had told them that the mayor wanted them. The other, the young man who had brought the gloves, looked remarkably similar to the girl, then he realized that they were probably related. "Yes!" Eli cried out, "please Davis?" The mayor only sighed. "People, I have made my decision. The lad Justin shall go to the Water Temple, and I will choose who shall escort him. You may go now." He waved once and the people started leaving the room. "Wait!" Justin shouted, "What's going on here!" The elder looked at him. "Look, nobody has the power to heal you of your amnesia anymore. Mana, the life force of the world, has slowly been fading away, and as such the healers and mages have slowly lost their powers. Only those that have devoted their entire lives to Mana, cutting away all other contact with the world, will have the power to cure that. The Water Temple is nearby and is run by Sage Luca, an odd woman that doesn't seem to age due to her connection with Undine. She is one of those people." "Then.who's the escort you were talking about" Justin asked. Again, the mayor sighed. "Apparently these two wish to go. Allow me to introduce Eli and Matthew Sarious. They're parents died in a goblin raid, and I raised them. They are young and foolish, and as such want to take you to the water palace." At this, Matt spoke up. "There, I can learn to be a mage fully!" he said excitedly. The mayor glanced at Matt, then looked back at Justin. "That reminds me, let me tell you a bit about both. Eli here is a fine warrior, training to fight with the sword as many do. Matt here is skilled with his boomerang. Unfortunately for Matt, he has the potential to be a mage, but Gar'Dan has informed both him and myself that his magic is different; he is very strong, but he needs a direct connection to the elements themselves, much like the Sprites." "Ah," said Justin, "So he has to meet with-Undine, I think it is-to get his magic" "Exactly!" said Matthew. "Well, you'd best be off now." Said the mayor.
The three of them were immidiatly attacked upon leaving the town by three rabites. Josh punched one, killing it instantly, while Eli slashed at another with her sword. Matthew and Eli killed the last, Matt stunning it with his boomerang, Eli stabbing it. As they traveled, more of the rabites attacked them. They soon reached the road split, and took a right turn. They soon found their way blocked, however, by a large dome of ice covering the area. The dome was very high and wide, and when looked through it they could see a building on the other side. Eli gave a gasp when she saw this and pointed to it. "Matthew, it's the Water Temple! Somehow this ice wall is preventing us from going in!" she said Matthew looked inside and pointed at something else, a group of 3 stones standing next to each other. "Calm down Eli," he rebuked, "Look, we can just go through the Haunted Forest! Once we reach Eileen's Castle we'll get the whip and keep going." Justin, on the other hand, had enough. "Will someone tell me what's going on here?" he shouted. "Ok, there is two ways into the Water Temple-this path and a path through the Haunted Forest. The Haunted Forest also has only two entrances and exits-one near Gaia'a Navel, and another here, at the Water Temple. Inside the Haunted Forest lies a castle belonging to the witch Eileen. She isn't really a bad witch, just misunderstood. After the Fall of the Fortress, the end of the Second War of Mana, one of the legendary weapons of Mana, the whip, suddenly appeared in Eileen's Castle. The whip has a magical property that allows people to safely cross large gaps. The path into the Water Temple from the Water Forest is one of those gaps. "Now, the only way to Gaia's Navel is through Pandora, a city south of here. We'll go there, and then walk northwest to the Haunted Forest and Gaia's Navel. Justin shook his head. It was starting to make a little sense, but he was still confused. Sighing, he walked with the other two towards Pandora.
He woke up some time afterwards. He looked around and spied an old woman standing nearby. He felt incredibly thirsty, and managed to croak out "w-water." The old woman, hearing him, brought a small jar filled with water. He greedily drank it up, and even though he could taste numerous minerals and the water was lukewarm, it was the best he had ever drunken. A young woman came in immediately after he had finished the water and walked up to him. Wearing an amulet with an odd figure on it, one he recognized from his pouch, she softly said something while making hand gestures. A cooling sensation went over him, like water flowing over him, but softly and gently. She opened her eyes, and he was amazed to find all his wounds healed. "Are you all right?" she asked "Yes, thank you. I'm fine. H-how did you do that?" he asked. She frowned at this question. "What do you mean 'how?' Surely you know of Undine's power?" she questioned. "Undine.sounds.familiar." Was all he could say, lost in his own thoughts. "Well, no, I haven't heard of this "Undine" or her powers, but then again I can't really remember anything right now." "Ah, a case of amnesia. Had Mana not been fading as it is, I might had been able to heal you as the followers of Undine had over 3 centuries ago but." she let the thought trail off. "Well, amnesia or not, what you did back there was very powerful, far beyond anything even the followers of Shade can do right now. However, the bolts you sent out were, well, black, and as such the townspeople are in favor of banishing you." "Why are you telling me this if you wish to banish me?" he asked. "Because you saved my son, and he's all I have left. I lost my husband to a goblin raid a few years back, and I've been living with my mother ever since." She said, her brown eyes beginning to tear as sad memories started coming back. "At any rate, the fact that you saved my son is the only thing keeping you here right now. Since you are a stranger, the townspeople believe that it was you that caused the creature to come forth." "And you?" he asked, "What do you believe?" She sighed. "I don't know what to believe. I know that the pouch you have signifies you as a user of Mana, yet all eight Elements are on it. And that is impossible, for only seven of the Primes should be on at one time." "My pouch!" He looked around, realizing he didn't have the gloves, pouch, or even the strange amulet. The woman only gave him an odd look. "It's at the elder's house, along with the gloves. You're amulet is over here." She continued to look at him oddly until finally saying, "so who are you anyways? I've answered your questions.why did you come from Potos from the old fields, what's the amulet for." Justin only sighed. "I don't know. I remember being somewhat of a healer, or at least an herbalist. I was traveling all over the world for some reason. My name is Justin. And.I'm afraid that's all. I woke up under a waterfall with the amulet, gloves, and pouch. I still don't know what any of them mean though." Again, the healer sighed. "Might as well introduce myself as well. I'm Kala Derring, the healer of this town. This," she said, pointing to her amulet, "is Undine, the Elemental Prime of Water. There are 8 elements, and a lord/lady for all of them." Suddenly she started blushing. "But I'm getting onto a different topic." Just then, another young woman ran into the door, which Justin recognized as the woman in the pit who had leapt down. "Kala, the mayor wishes to see you," she said, "you and.him." She quickly ran off again. Kala only grinned. "We'd best get going. Don't worry; I'm sure the mayor won't boot you out or anything. That hasn't been done since the Second Mana War, and even then it was only done once." Justin only warily smiled and got to his feet. The two then walked over to the mayor's house.
As Justin and the healer reached the mayor's house, he was shocked to see how little people attended. Before he could ask the healer, though, she said, "Slowly our numbers are decreasing. With the goblin raids and lack of immigrants, we are slowly dying. They heard shouting as they reached the house, and Justin realized it was aimed at him. It seemed the population was divided in half-one half wanted him to stay; the other wanted him to leave. It became even louder as he walked in. "It's him!" cried out one, "The black servant of the Underworld!" "I saw him!" cried another, "he was about to turn on the boy had his own energy not consumed him!" "No," shouted another, "He killed the beast! He must be a chosen one of the elements!" An old man near the back of the room held out a hand, and slowly the people stopped arguing. Justin realized that mentioning the ghost would greatly make things worse, and decided not to even mention it until he had things worked out more. "You are the one the killed the Mantis Ant, yes?" he said, as more of a statement then a question. "Yes, I slew it. My name is Justin." "Then tell me this-how did you strike at it with such power? Even Kala or Gar'Dan can't do such a thing!" the mayor replied, motioning towards the healer and a young man stand next to him who scowled at Justin angrily. Justin could only recall him being one of those that wanted him to leave. "I, well, I don't really know." he replied softly. "Elder, I fear it gets more complicated," the young healer Kala stepped forward, "He appears to suffer from amnesia." "Well, then this must come to a stand still. If the lad cannot remember his past, then we cannot dismiss him so lightly, as he might indeed have been our friend." The mayor replied. "I conclude that we." "Wait!" the mage named Gar'Dan cut him off, "Show the weapon!" A young man, who looked strangely familiar, walked over and handed over the gloves. Gar'Dan inspected it for a while, when his eyes opened wide. "Elder! This.this.this can't be! This is one of the Weapons of Mana!" "Impossible!" the mayor said, immediately standing up, "The gloves has been in Pandora ever since the Fall of the Fortress!" "I can assure you, elder, that this is ended the legendary gloves! This confirms it-he must be from the Underworld to have stolen it from Pandora!" the mage shouted, not looking all too unhappy. "No, that proves he isn't, otherwise the weapon would burn him!" Kala cried back in response. "Stop this, all of you!" the mayor shouted out. Seeing the crowd ready to erupt again. When everyone quieted down, he continued, "Look, I have a solution for all of this! You cannot cure amnesia, correct?" he demanded Kala. She nodded in response. "And you, Gar'Dan, you say that this power he has is unlike anything you have ever seen or heard of?" the mage nodded. "In that case, I say that we send him to Luca. She would be able to cure him, being the High Priestess of Undine. Not only that, but she can tell us how he destroyed the creature." At that moment, a man dressed in armor ran in. "Sir, while we were searching the cavern, we found this!" he said, running to the mayor. He handed the elder the small orb Justin had seen before passing out. The mayor suddenly went white with shock. His eyes opened wide, and he gaped at the sight of the small sphere with a glove carved on it. "Gar'Dan, do-do you realize what this is?" he replied, handing the mage with a shaking hand. "It can't be! An orb of mana!" the mage said, also turning white at the sight of it. "That's impossible! That means that the sword is gone!" "Sword?" Justin asked, "There was a small shrine-like thing when I was walking over here from the falls, that looked like it would hold a sword, but it's gone." "The mayor appeared very scared by this. "Tell me, boy, did you by any chance encounter odd, yellow things on the way here?" "Why, yes, I did. Ones with large mouth and odd ears that they use while spinning?" "Rabites!" Kala cried in fear, "It's true then! The sword is gone!" "What sword!" Justin yelled out, totally confused. Everyone in the room turned to him. "You don't know about the Sword of Mana?" the mayor said in disgust. "Oh yes, that's right, you cant remember anything. Well, it's a long story, and I'm sure that you'll hear it or remember it at the Water Palace. Look, I can't lie and say I know what's happening, but I'm sure it has something to do with the Dark Ring." At this Justin became even more puzzled. "Look, Luca will tell you later," the elder answered his unasked question, "But I'm not about to send you out there without a guide or someone to help you." It was at that moment that two youths burst through the door. "Send us!" they both yelled out at once. Justin looked up and recognized both. The first was the girl in the pit; the one had told them that the mayor wanted them. The other, the young man who had brought the gloves, looked remarkably similar to the girl, then he realized that they were probably related. "Yes!" Eli cried out, "please Davis?" The mayor only sighed. "People, I have made my decision. The lad Justin shall go to the Water Temple, and I will choose who shall escort him. You may go now." He waved once and the people started leaving the room. "Wait!" Justin shouted, "What's going on here!" The elder looked at him. "Look, nobody has the power to heal you of your amnesia anymore. Mana, the life force of the world, has slowly been fading away, and as such the healers and mages have slowly lost their powers. Only those that have devoted their entire lives to Mana, cutting away all other contact with the world, will have the power to cure that. The Water Temple is nearby and is run by Sage Luca, an odd woman that doesn't seem to age due to her connection with Undine. She is one of those people." "Then.who's the escort you were talking about" Justin asked. Again, the mayor sighed. "Apparently these two wish to go. Allow me to introduce Eli and Matthew Sarious. They're parents died in a goblin raid, and I raised them. They are young and foolish, and as such want to take you to the water palace." At this, Matt spoke up. "There, I can learn to be a mage fully!" he said excitedly. The mayor glanced at Matt, then looked back at Justin. "That reminds me, let me tell you a bit about both. Eli here is a fine warrior, training to fight with the sword as many do. Matt here is skilled with his boomerang. Unfortunately for Matt, he has the potential to be a mage, but Gar'Dan has informed both him and myself that his magic is different; he is very strong, but he needs a direct connection to the elements themselves, much like the Sprites." "Ah," said Justin, "So he has to meet with-Undine, I think it is-to get his magic" "Exactly!" said Matthew. "Well, you'd best be off now." Said the mayor.
The three of them were immidiatly attacked upon leaving the town by three rabites. Josh punched one, killing it instantly, while Eli slashed at another with her sword. Matthew and Eli killed the last, Matt stunning it with his boomerang, Eli stabbing it. As they traveled, more of the rabites attacked them. They soon reached the road split, and took a right turn. They soon found their way blocked, however, by a large dome of ice covering the area. The dome was very high and wide, and when looked through it they could see a building on the other side. Eli gave a gasp when she saw this and pointed to it. "Matthew, it's the Water Temple! Somehow this ice wall is preventing us from going in!" she said Matthew looked inside and pointed at something else, a group of 3 stones standing next to each other. "Calm down Eli," he rebuked, "Look, we can just go through the Haunted Forest! Once we reach Eileen's Castle we'll get the whip and keep going." Justin, on the other hand, had enough. "Will someone tell me what's going on here?" he shouted. "Ok, there is two ways into the Water Temple-this path and a path through the Haunted Forest. The Haunted Forest also has only two entrances and exits-one near Gaia'a Navel, and another here, at the Water Temple. Inside the Haunted Forest lies a castle belonging to the witch Eileen. She isn't really a bad witch, just misunderstood. After the Fall of the Fortress, the end of the Second War of Mana, one of the legendary weapons of Mana, the whip, suddenly appeared in Eileen's Castle. The whip has a magical property that allows people to safely cross large gaps. The path into the Water Temple from the Water Forest is one of those gaps. "Now, the only way to Gaia's Navel is through Pandora, a city south of here. We'll go there, and then walk northwest to the Haunted Forest and Gaia's Navel. Justin shook his head. It was starting to make a little sense, but he was still confused. Sighing, he walked with the other two towards Pandora.