A large icicle slammed into the side of the chimera, sending it flying. Grey looked at the person responsible, Aurora, and asked about her Mana reserves.
"That was all of it." She responded.
He nodded, refocusing on the task at hand.
The Manticore shook its head, removing its dizziness. Both the lion and the snake snarled, baring their fangs at him.
They jumped forward, opening their mouths wide.
This time, however, Grey was prepared.
CRACK!
A large wall of Light appeared, causing the Manticore to smash its face. The snake was fine, its body bending, however, the lion, not so much. The lion's neck crumpled, creating a fine, cracking sound.
'10 seconds.' Grey thought, counting down the last of its life.
Hiss-
The snake hissed at the lion, seemingly scolding its partner. Grey watched as the Beast wasted time, and nodded to himself.
'That solves one question.'
With a grin, he watched as the Manticore finally got itself together.
'3...'
'2...'
'1...'
The Manticore finally moved, but it got no further than a single step before it crumpled to the floor.
'And it's dead.' Grey commented.
"Well done. And thanks." Grey said to Aurora.
"No problem. Can we stay here, I have a sliver of Mana left." Aware of the consequence of Mana Depletion, Aurora left a small amount of Mana aside.
She moved away, going to the side of the cavern and sitting down.
"Of course. Besides, I'm kind of hungry." Grey eyed the Manticore, thinking about how he'd need to prep it.
Since its blood was poisoned, it would have to be drained, and then he'd have to remove the inedible parts.
'The lungs and liver; I can't trust the heart, and I probably shouldn't eat the kidneys. The rest, though.'
- That all sounds so good. - Fallen Star said.
'Organs sound good to you?' Grey thought, slightly disgusted.
- No, the food, not the organs. -
'Well, you're getting ahead of yourself, I haven't even decided what to cook. Actually, I'm not sure that I can cook it. There's only 1 of it, and therefore, it has high research value.'
- Well then, get something else. It's imperative that we enjoy something here. -
'Understood.' Grey nodded.
'Now, can you tell me a bit more about Mana Dungeons?' He asked.
- Of course. Let's see... They are portals to different worlds, and the area they are in becomes closed off. Mana becomes a limited resource too. They're akin to trials. -
'Fascinating. Do you know what other creatures we might find?'
- Well, as far as I know, Manticores are on 59,730 planets, and they only share 2 species in common. Manticores and Fairies. I'll know more the more we explore. The red marble is also a common factor. - It explained.
'I see. If you figure anything else out, please tell me immediately, no matter what I'm doing.' Grey forewarned.
- Of course. - Fallen Star agreed in an instant.
'Now, tell me more about fairies.'
- Fairies are little, devious creatures. A Fairy is a 30cm tall, winged creature. Their forms differ, however, sometimes they are humanoid, and other times they are serpentine or feline. They live in forests in groups of 3 or 4 and are pretty harmless. However, if you anger them, then you probably won't get away with your life. They all have Illusion Magic and are highly proficient with it, although they are more suited to non-humanoids, and their second Element differs, they have a wide range of options, too long for me to list. Fairies are under the command of a ruler —a Faerie. Therefore, it's likely that a Faerie is the boss. Faeries are evolved forms of Fairies and are therefore much scarier. Faeries, unlike Fairies, create better Illusions for humanoids, making them much deadlier. - Fallen Star lectured.
'Understood. Anything else?'
- I'd say to watch out for Trolls, but the odds of them being here is what, 1 in 5,973, so you're fine. But, just in case, I'll tell you. Trolls are 2-3 meter tall humanoids with pale yellow skin and bulbous eyes. They wear loincloths and carry a club most of the time, but the occasional one is naked. Also, they are attracted to Fairy groups because they eat Fairies. Rarely, you'll encounter a Troll near a Fairy group. -
'And their powers?'
- Regeneration Magic. It's a Rare Magic, but a sub-type of a more powerful Magic, Healing, which is also Rare. -
'That sounds pretty useful, why didn't you give either to me?' Grey gathered that Healing Magic must have been incredibly powerful, considering what his Rare Magics could do.
- Because if you don't get hit, you don't need to heal. That's part of the reason you have Space. -
'Fair. Now, I should get to work.'
"Aurora, do you think I can open up the Manticore, or should we leave it for research?" He asked the girl nearby. Not only was she almost as smart as him, but she was also knowledgeable about things like this, due to her standing as a Princess. An important aspect of ruling a territory was R&D.
"Leave it. There's no telling if there's more than 1, so it's highly valuable research material. If we find a second, you can eat that one." She informed.
"I see," Grey said, a bit of a sad smile on his face. "Well then, I've got nothing to do."
He moved to the wall, sitting beside Aurora, waiting for her to regain her Mana.
"Do you know how long you'll need for your Mana to recharge?" He asked, still staring at the Manticore hungrily.
"Maybe, 4 hours? My recharge rate isn't the best." She told him.
"That's no good, you should improve that. Just deplete your Mana to the bottom, just above 0, and let it recharge, over and over. Or, you can constantly use a small amount of Mana. Either way is good."
"Mhm, I know, I just haven't had a chance. Using too much Mana is tiring, and it makes you sluggish. I had Princess training after 10, so I didn't have much of a chance."
"Oh, that explains it then. So, you're that strong without much training?"
"Yeah, I'm lucky. My Efficiency was naturally high, at 10%, and my talent wasn't too bad. I just hope that when the golden decade comes, my Mana increases enough so that I can put up a fight with someone like you."
"That's a nice hope, and I'm sure it'll come true." Grey smiled.
After that, they both fell silent, not knowing what to say. Grey, however, had a question.
'Fallen Star, why did she say that less Mana makes her sluggish?' Like regular people, Grey would fall into a short coma when in Mana Depletion, however, he felt no tiredness when low on Mana.
- You have a Mana Body, not a Mana Heart. - Fallen Star put it as simple as possible.
'Man, it sounds like it sucks to have a Mana Heart. Why did... He... give Arkusians Mana Hearts?' Grey asked, struggling to get a certain word out whilst containing his anger. Even the mere thought of Him was enough to set Grey off, so he had come a long way.
- I don't know. He works in mysterious ways, I guess. However, Arkusians aren't the only ones with Mana Hearts.'
'I'd hope not.' Grey laughed. It'd be rather unfair and odd if only Arkusians had Mana Hearts.
Just as Grey and Fallen Star were about to continue conversing, Aurora spoke.
"Grey, how are you so strong?"
Hearing her question, Grey took a good look at her face. Her voice sounded strong, but it hid desperation, and her face betrayed her. Her eyes held an unknown sadness, that much even Grey could grasp, alongside a clear longing for power and a thirst to know his secrets. However, there was a deeper emotion he couldn't get.
He looked away, contemplating how to answer her, and chuckling at the thought of just spilling the beans. Whilst he had never been bothered by keeping his most important secrets, the longer he lived as Grey, the more he felt at home, and the more he felt he was betraying the trust of his family.
'No, they get to know first.' Grey thought, steadfast in that decision. If there ever came a time he told someone, Lucas and Samantha would know first.
In the end, Grey decided to tell her what he did, not what Fallen Star did.
"I trained, really hard, from a really young age. Then, when I got Mana, I trained really hard. I'm just lucky, I guess." That was all there was to it. A simple curiosity had led to the worst disaster he'd ever seen, something no one could call lucky, but then he'd been blessed with something greater. Emotions.
'Fate's a bitch, if it does exist.' Grey thought.
- I disagree. - Fallen Star spoke up out of nowhere.
'What do you mean?'
- Look at her. -
Grey looked back at her, finding her asleep on his shoulder.
'Oh.'
- Yeah, you took like an hour to answer. Very embarrassing. -
'You're right.' Grey shifted, attempting to safely move Aurora from him, but Fallen Star immediately stopped him.
- What are you doing?! -
'Moving her so she can sleep?' Grey replied, confused.
- No, leave her there. Don't be stupid, fate is helping you! -
Grey looked at Aurora once more, spotting a small smile on her face.
He moved back, sighing. 'Fine. I guess she can stay.'