Chapter VII: Mana Grasses

Author's Note: In case you didn't read the A.N from last chapter, here's a disclaimer. The First Side Story, the one about Freia, is finished. We're back with Kenneth now.

Kenneth's POV

Today is the first day of our expedition. Well, I say our, but really Lena is the only one going. I'll be staying here, and helping her out. 

I did some research on the place we were going to. Our first mission required us to forage for some Mana Grasses in the nearby plains directly outside Argonsville. 

Lena would leave for the expedition under the guise of going out for a walk, and would store her equipment in a "Dimensional Storage", one of the devices our parents gave to us to store our belongings in.

Immediately after breakfast, Lena was preparing to leave the house, but was stopped by someone we did not expect. 

"Sister. Where could you be going?" It was none other than Lucas, our brother.

"What do you mean, where? Just out for a walk." Lena tries to smoothly play it off, but it doesn't seem like Lucas is going to give up. He walks toward Lena in a slow pace. With each step my anxiety increases, and I feel like I might lose some years of my life later on.

Lucas bends over and leans in to whisper something to Lena's ear.

"Why is Kenneth with you then?" 

That immediately gets a reaction from me. Shit! He noticed me!

"I knew it. You wouldn't have heard that. I just whispered it in a quite voice. You may seem smarter than you actually are, little brother, but you can't fool me."

"Alright, alright. Leave him alone. I'll tell you." Lena pleads.

She begins to explain to Lucas about the expedition she was going on, and how I would use my magic to help her without having to be there.

"That's dangerous. I must forbid you from going. You might get hurt, and if you do, our little brother will too. As far as I can see it, he feels a portion of the pain that is inflicted on you, because he shares your consciousness."

"But Lucas..." (Lena)

"I'll allow it. I have one condition though. Let me tag along. I heard there have been an increase in monster populations and this might affect you on your first mission, even if it's just to get Mana Grasses."

"Really? Thanks brother! This makes our party even stronger!"

"Yeah, yeah. Give me a minute, and I'll get ready."

Lucas then explains to both Mom and Dad about his desire to join us, to which they agreed. 

Coming out from his room, Lucas dons a plate armor that seems to adjust it's defense and weight depending on the user. Emphasising his well toned body, he wields two gauntlets, almost the size of my head, (well my head is not that big anyways) drawing attention to his brute force fighting style. 

I activate Mind Link with Lucas.

"Can you hear me, big brother? Testing, 1,2,3."

"I hear you. So this must be what Lena was hearing."

"That's great. Let's go now. Our destination is the plains directly outside Argonsville."

Carrying me back to my room upstairs, Lena and Lucas soon left the house, and headed straight for the West District Phase Gate, the primary mode of transportation that was mostly used to get to places quickly. 

It was similar to Teleportation mechanics in Open World Games back in my world. The Phase Gate only teleported the users to places they had been before, plus the various cities it was connected to. This feature encouraged people to explore the outside world without having to rely on instant transportation, but still had some restrictions, namely being only able to teleport to places which you have reached. This prevented people from accidentally going to dangerous places. 

The Phase Gate was powered by Magic Cores. Not to be confused with Mana Cores, Magic Cores were the "hearts" of many machines, allowing them to be powered with magic. This particular one, of course, was powered by Spatial Magic.

Lena POV

"Better be cafeful, little Lena. Even though Lucas is with you, there is still a chance of.... unfortunate circumstances occuring." Illia warned Lena in her mind.

"I'll be careful, Mom."

Her way of calling Illia Mom goes back to the time when the goddess revealed herself in her dreams, and appointed her as her apostle. Most of Lena's Light Magic Spells were also taught by her.

As they began to reach the Phase Gate, Lena brought out her Dimensional Storage and put on her equipment, appearing instantly around her body, almost like it was always there.

"So this is what you guys bought during your shopping spree? I'm a bit jealous you didn't invite me."

"You were too busy playing with Tyrone, even though we tried to talk to you multiple times." (Kenneth)

And even now Tyrone was following them, after realising that it's master was going out, if wobbled along it's stubby body, somehow being able to move it's clearly overweight body effortlessly. 

"Woof!"

Despite looking like a brute with all his muscles, Lucas was a softie for Tyrone, spending most of his allowance on luxury goods, like premium dog foods. So technically he's the reason as to why the family dog looked so chubby. 

Reaching the Phase Gate, Lucas scanned his device over the monitor nearby, and the huge "portal" began to light up. 

"Thank you for choosing our Phase Gate Service! Please choose your location for phasing." A cheery woman could be heard in the voice of the A.I.

"Macaus Plains." (Lucas)

"Understood. Setting location. Phasing will begin shortly. Three, Two, One, Zero."

And then the three of us instantly walked through the portal, arriving at a clear scenery, with grass and flowers stretching as far as the eye could see. 

Various plants could already be seen, swaying slightly in the calm breeze. 

"So this is the outside world. Fascinating." (Kenneth)

"Oh, yeah. This is your first time going outside of the city, right little bro? Don't worry, we'll take it slow and enjoy the sights." I said. 

"Don't forget what we're here for, though.... and there he goes." (Lucas)

Tyrone immediately woofs in delight after seeing the flat grass, the hills in the distance seeming like small mountains. Seeing the open field all around, the dog runs off in excitement.

"Eh, he'll be back." (Lucas)

"Well, let's get started then. Time to forage for some Mana Grasses!" I said.

Kenneth POV

The scenery is breathtaking. The grass (though I'm not there personally) feels like soft blankets and the cool breeze feels wonderful. It almost makes me want to find a cure (which there probably is) for my cripple-ness. 

Maybe not right now. I'll continue lazing about until the time is right. 

Mana Grasses aren't particularly hard to distinguish from normal grass. Their pointed tips are colored a light blue-cyan, due to the mana inside it. 

Scanning for mana sources, we soon found a few patches of Mana Grass on top of a nearby hill. It's not that steep, since it looks like Lena can climb it easily. 

After our small trek up the hill, Lena reaches out to the patch of grasses and begins to pull it out. 

It doesn't move though. Lena puts more force into it and begins to pull harder. It doesn't seem like it's gonna get off. 

Then it moves. 

"Lena! Get back!" Lucas screams.

Then the ground rapidly rises, bringing the soil and plants with it. Soon the whole hill rises up to be over 14 meters tall, and it towers above Lucas and Lena, menacingly staring at them. 

"This is bad. That's a Hill Golem." (Lucas)

The figure of the golem is akin to that of a gorilla, with their two arms rumbling the ground as it moves. With rock-hard skin, it is almost impossible for basic attacks to damage it.

Lucas punches his two fists together, and chants a spell, increasing his gauntlet's powers.

"Enhance Phys (S)."

Suddenly the aura around him goes crazy, instead of flowing around his body, it concentrates at his fists, making his arms feel morw bulky.

Lucas rushes towards the golem. Seeing him rushing in for an attack, Lena prepares her spell, chanting it faster than usual, making the effects reduced.

Raising her wand into the air, the scenery suddenly increases in brightness so quickly, that people who had inhuman reaction timing would have a hard time in looking away before the flash hit.

"Sunlight Flash!" The burst of light momentarily blinded the golem. It's effects weren't the same as when they trained in the A.T.C, as Lena, in her panic, had chanted the spell faster than she should've. This resulted in the flash only blinding for a second and a half, when it should've been twice that. 

That short window of time was enough for Lucas though, as he leapt high into the air, almost reaching face level with the golem, before throwing out a flurry of punches while in mid-air.

The golem, still blinded by the light, was now getting repeatedly beaten up by the constant stream of never blows, raised it's two large arms and swung it's right at Lucas, knocking him backwards.

Lucas, taking the full force of the hit, was sent back a short distance before he forcibly stopped himself by digging his foot directly into the ground, suspending him. 

Lena, who now had the time to properly chant her spells, fired her Light Beam directly at the golem's face. 

The laser-like beam began to melt through the golem's tough skin, before it raised it's left hand (the one he didn't use to hit Lucas) to protect it's head from the beam that was still dealing damage.

Soon Lena's beam stopped. Taking this window of time as a sign to counterattack, the golem rushed towards Lena, lifting one of it's arms, and began to bring it down on Lena's body. 

Just a few meters before reaching her face, the arm stopped in place. This was the work of Kenneth, who Confused the golem for a short time, momentarily making it lose control of it's body. 

Lucas, now raring to go, signaled Lena, who had now recovered, to end this in the next attack. 

"I'll keep supporting you two from here. Get ready, go!" (Kenneth)

Lucas once activated his "Enhance Phys (S)" this time applying it all around his body, allowing for more power, endurance and control over his muscles. Lena, in turn, chanted "Blink", not before raising her wand and using "Sunlight Flash" before it. Lucas, unaffected by the blind, sent his right fist towards the golem's rocky features, and Lena, who had Blinked behind the golem, fired her Light Beam on it's legs, damaging them, and sending it to it's knees, was promptly finished off by one more punch, stronger than the ones he had thrown before, by Lucas. The force and impact from the fist sent it's whole upper body flying, signifying the trio's first victory against a formiddable opponent.