Hello again! Finally finished updating the old chapters of this story. Have to say, I'm excited as I get more of a idea on how to write. Though doesn't change the fact I still suck lol... Regardless of my questionable skills here is another chapter of Remnant of a hero! Please enjoy!
So turns out creating something out of magic is a lot harder when you're rusty. I've probably spent a couple hours just trying to make a stick, and all I have to show for it is something that resembles a misshapen rock.
"Won't be winning any rewards anytime soon…" I said to myself tossing the worthless thing aside.
So yea, harder than it looks. Though I think I'm making progress, other than that, I fought more of those snake things, and ate a couple of birds(?) along with even fighting a dragon. Kidding on that last one, but I have to over embellish here since this mountain is so damn boring! Makes me wish I was back fighting the damn back on brondstridge. Anyways, I'm still working on this but I won't be able to practice too much, like I said before, my current reserves are lacking, which makes getting the necessary mana hard. Normally I used Xross to help out whenever I my reserves get to low, but seeing how they're a bit on the "unstable" side, it wouldn't be wise. That makes it another challenge as without a solid medium to connect to the laylines, I won't be recharging my mana the quick way.
Putting those thoughts aside, for now, I might as well try again. I'm still in the clear and right now I just need to make either a sharp stick or something that can penetrate the mountain, that way I can cross the ravine.
"Why not just find a stick or materials outside you ask? Well I tried already… couldn't find anything but snow and birds" I explained to my snow friend, made after those initial danger noodles.
Yeah besides Xross-Xenova, this guy's been a real pal keeping me company, shame I'll be leaving him alone after I get out. But that's the difference between us. I live out in the concrete jungle, while he lives in the snowy savannah. Two worlds that couldn't live in peace but are destined to always remember the good times shared!
Coughing a bit as I sit back down from my moment, I return my focus to the task at hand. Now while I had stated that using my imagination may have made the process easier, it is still much harder than it looks. The human mind is always moving, and just like in anything productive, the mind wanders after a while. For magic like mine to work, it needs full concentration along with the knowledge of how the thing is made, to what it's made of, and how the thing works. So no making a nuke without knowing how to make a nuke, and although there are workarounds for that, simply by making a bomb with a nuke size explosion, I never endorse them as it's easier to kill your self with a gun or knife.
Now bring that to combat situations and you might as well use your fist then creation magic. With how precise you have to be, and those situations also require you to focus on the fight, unless you have a calm demeanor like Albert or just stupid lucky like Jane, then you would have no luck using it in those situations. As for me, I developed a style for this reason, plus having an eidetic memory helps in smoothing the process over. Some call it suicidal, others crazy, but to me, it get's the job done plus I can take the pain if it works. But going back to my test, it's forming well this time as I sit and analyze every fault.
"So far so good"
Wiping the sweat from my eyes, I pour more mana as the object gains shape. From a ball of light to a stick the object now looks to be filling. Like a bucket or glass, the "Liquid" fills it to the brim as it now gains some color. Stopping my mana transfer, as I do not want it to overflow and explode, I picture what I'm trying to make. As I said before, the mind wanders and I'm no exception as I think of either the hook or stick, and the object starts to blend together trying to form both. As it continues, the faults increase, and cracks appear. As more appear, more mana leaks and more imperfections are created which keeps going till all that's left is a disfigured rock thing with no more mana to leak.
"Ah, another failure." I cough out as I grab some boiled snow to drink.
Like I said, it's a hard process and I am incredibly rusty to do it efficiently. I sigh to myself as I collapse on the floor. Seeing as I've been working since dawn, I might as well sleep as I shut my eyes, huddled as close to the fire as I could in this cold dark cave.
(Optional theme… Grief fate/zero ost)
A forest full of white, a gentle blanket of snow covers the grass, the trees mimicking the earth, a pair of two enjoying themselves in this land of frost.
"Hey! No below the belt!" A masculine lithely built figure shouted exasperated, swiping his black hair back into place.
"You're just mad I won" The similarly formed female figure argues playfully, fixing up her cherry-like brown hair.
"Only cause you hit my ankle!"
"Sure sure achilles."
"Shut up, at least I fell with class, you just fell flat on your ass."
"H-hey the ground's slippery, I almost- hey! Stop laughing you ass!"
"S-sorry sorry"
"Jerk…"
The two rest from their activities, finding comfort in the other's warmth, a larger tree shading them from the cold ridden sunlight, as the frozen leaves fall rhythmically.
"Hey Ð̷̧̪̫͑͌̿å̷̛̼̪̘̇͋ñ̴̦̠̣̈́̂̅ï̷̡̨̾̈͌ͅê̴̩̣̳̔̄͘ľ̶͖̬̹͂͌…." The girl starts shyly, unsure whether to continue or drop the matter.
"What's up?" the boy asks, looking at his partner in an aloof manner.
"I want to, er well actually.." the girl sputters unintelligently as the boy laughs.
"Come on, you know I don't bite"
"Hmph"
"Hey Cherry!"
"Ð̷̧̪̫͑͌̿å̷̛̼̪̘̇͋ñ̴̦̠̣̈́̂̅ï̷̡̨̾̈͌ͅê̴̩̣̳̔̄͘ľ̶͖̬̹͂͌ …?"
"Yeah?"
"Can we stay like this? Even for only a little bit more? I don't want to go back yet" The girl-Cherry asks softly.
The boy only looks forward, as he gazes over the snow-covered land, how life still moves on, creating a serene beauty. A peaceful grin appears on his face.
"Yeah. Me neither…"
I woke up more tired than before, but I feel oddly refreshed. Like I had a terrible night sleeping but saw a beautiful dream. Regardless I start cooking more questionable bird meat as I drink more boiled snow. Not a bad breakfast seeing as how I normally have protein or something light, but even I know it could be better. I'm just glad she forced me to learn basic cooking since I used to set water on fire. And if the feeling I'm getting from Xross-Xenova is right, I'm not the only one who's grateful.
After reminiscing about one of my crimes against humanity (Yeah my cooking was that bad), along with waiting for my reserves to set back to a reasonable amount to start, I went back to training. I really need to get off this mountain soon, while the bird look-alikes seem to be infinite, I'm starting to have to go a bit further out then I like. Still weird how they don't even run away, guess they don't have any natural predators on this death trap. Still, the fact I have to go out at all means that this area might be running out and I'm not looking to move just so I could eat safely. Plus who knows if there is another cave like this, I found this by luck and knowing mine, the next one would be too far to safely escape from.
So with that in mind, I tried again to make the stick, and again, and again. A couple hours passed and in front of me after all that time was a bunch of shiny rocks. Now granted, these rocks are smooth with little to no imperfections so there's that. Just as shame that it wasn't what I'm trying to do. As I went to grab a cup of water, I took in my situation out loud with my snow friend.
"So I still need more time to work out the kinks, guess I have to stay here for another few days or something. As for how resting and food deal with mana regeneration in this place, it is close to negligible. Sleeping gives me back at the greatest a fraction of a fraction, with last night being the most I've gotten since I got here, and the only reason I have been able to regenerate any in the first place is because of those birds. They, for whatever reason, seem to be made of mana. Like I'm pretty sure they are literally made of the stuff, shame I can't prove it.
"Oh well, good for me in any case seeing as I need all the mana I can take." I shrug towards my friend as I bite into said bird thing.
With my piece said I go back to my lovely home as the ground starts shaking uncontrollably.
"What the hell, an earthquake!?"
I'm not scared of it as I'm more surprised, but guess that's stupid since anywere could theoretically get one. I was about to shrug it off before I remembered the ravine.
"Shit if this tears open the hole more..!"
Then I would be screwed regardless. And with my luck, that is just what's going to happen. Running back into the cave to grab my partner I rush back out with them and some extra food on my back.
"It was fun snow noodle but I have a ravine to catch! Take care and live to be the greatest snow noodle anyone has ever seen!" I yell tossing a couple of extra birds at the snow snakeman. Not knowing my dumbass just caused something I'd deal with in the future.
—-Loading Loading Loading—-
"Shit!"
Just as I feared, rocks from the higher cliffsides started falling, which in turn started landing on both sides breaking the already fragile ground to the void below.
"Well now or never I guess" I said as I made a running start.
And it was, seeing as I have no more time to practice making either of the tools to help out with this. Crouching in a sprint position I counted the times between each rock that fell from up top, taking a breath of air, I began my rush towards freedom. At the last moment I jumped from the ledge, landing on the crushed earth before it fell as I moved from rock to rock. With each rock I flew higher and closer to my goal, adrenaline coursing through my veins as a manic grin appeared on my face.
Even with the threat of death ever near, I never felt more alive. After all the time I've spent in that cave alone with nothing but my thoughts, partner and snow friend, I finally would be going home. To them I couldn't help the laugh that escaped my dry lips.
"YAHOO! YEAH!" I laughed as I continued my deadly game of hopscotch, Xross/Xenova's warmth fueling my body with each jump.
Sadly then, just as I could clearly see the other side and was about to position myself to land, a stray rock hit me off target. Just like that, my dreams and euphoria crashed as I now faced my reaper once more. Time seemed to freeze before me, something I knew always happens just before my death, think of a passive ability from a game if you will. The fact it is happening now is not lost to me.
"No…" I let out as my light seemed to be growing darker.
"No.." As my hope gets washed away with despair.
"No." As their faces start to fade away…
"I SAID NO!" I refused to end it here, like this. HELL NO! Activating my magic, I think quickly, I have no time for a simple stick or hook, I need something that would help out, I need my hook shot. Not caring for overcharging or if it was imperfect, I blasted my mana in an effort to create it as time began to resume. As rocks fell around and the light above was fading, I was null to it all, only focused on the task at hand.
"Come on, Come on!" I hurriedly muttered, pouring every last drop in this creation of mine. Sweat pouring down my face, it's only Xenova's energy that is keeping me conscious from the constant mana drain.
"For once in your life keep going!" I shouted one last time, as my hands glowed bright enough to rival the sun.
With a decisive roar, my creation was finally complete in all its ugly glory. With a whip of my wrist I aimed and launched at the cliff above. Another turn and the shot activated sending my body high and higher as I launched myself out of the deathly void, landing on my back as I was blasted with sunlight.
Coughing and gasping for air, I turned to my side as the rocks continued to slide off. The path behind is no longer getting destroyed but I knew that if I missed my chance or waited then I would have never been able to leave. The thought scares me. Regardless of what ifs, I didn't notice when my laughter fades or when I had started laughing in the first place.
"Man guess we had a productive day huh?" I ask my partner tiredly, getting an equally tired response in the form of a weak glow. Afterward, my newly created hook shot bursts into fragments at the end, something I expected seeing how unstable and broken the thing was. I'm just glad it did its job before it did.
"Guess I'm not getting the deposit back huh?" I joked, trying to calm my aching heart.
Letting my final chuckles out, I continued on my path up, seeing as that is the only way forward, with a smile on my face. I do wonder what caused that earthquake, seeing as last I checked my city wasn't near any fault line. Though I guess things could change seeing how I was on this mountain for a while now. Either way I kept my smile as I thought of home and surprising them with my presence.
"Though I might die from it, it would totally be worth seeing their faces again!" I thought with a chuckle.
But my thoughts and smile was broken by the roar above as the world suddenly turned dark. I know I left late but I'm pretty sure it was still daylight seeing as I saw the sun beforehand and I'm definitely sure I ate lunch so that ruled out my stomach. I turned to face the source of the noise as I let out a small cry. Because instead of the clouded sun I normally see, all I saw was a big white dragon flying above.
Yup, a dragon. Anyone guess who this bad boy is supposed to be? I think the trailer might have spoiled it if you focused on some key details... Regardless, all answers will be answer next time. So keep in mind as we wonder... What is the hell is a dragon doing here? Does our Protagonist know where he is at all? Will they be able to get out of this alive? Find out next time on Remnant of a Hero