Chapter 3 - Mana

Sala felt a gentle flow in his body leading into the pit of his stomach. As the stream coalesced, it seemed to form a rough shape, although constantly twisting and reforming. Sala felt sweat on his brow, barely even realizing that he had stopped reading.

It was a feeling akin to pain, albeit much softer. There was a large feeling of pressure, and as Sala concentrated more and more, he eventually felt a spark echoing throughout his body. It was less of a sound, however and more of a feeling. He was on the cusp of creating his first well, completely by chance, and he could feel it somehow.

"Sala! The bull's out again! Help me grab him!" Kane's voice broke the tension of Sala's impromptu meditation. Groaning, Sala stood, making his way downstairs.

Kane was at the doorway, with a frantic expression. "Come on! I herded him to the corner of the fence, but he... What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Sala sighed, and walked past. At least his plans for tonight were in place.

---

Containing any magical creature usually proved to be fairly difficult. This was especially so if said creature was a fully grown bull. While not entirely a magical species, Senna was a mature Midland Bull who spontaneously mutated an affinity for mana. This meant that his whole body acted as a faux mana well, and as such was generally much stronger. As his body had no real aspect or element, the mana only affected his physical attributes.

Kane had yet to find him a mate to produce semi-magical offspring, and as such, Senna was getting fairly restless. This wasn't the only time in recent memory that he had escaped.

Sala turned his attention to the task at hand. After tonight, Sala would finally be able to learn magic.

Quickly grabbing his jacket and his satchel, Sala jumped from the window of his room. As he landed, a long, furry tail became exposed, before Sala rushed to push it back inside his trousers.

Sala had long known that both himself and Kane must never reveal their race. Beastmen were not only unwelcome in most Faber territories, but sometimes hunted and enslaved, as they were slightly stronger than their counterparts.

Baramen, such as Kane and Sala, could blend in fairly well, as their simian traits only manifested as prehensile tails and rounded ears. Their ears were hardly noticeable so it was only necessary to hide their tails. Fabers, however, had no such "animalistic traits," and many even proclaimed that they were the only "true" humans.

Elves, Gnomes, and other races also were not considered fully human in all parts of the country, but even they were in a higher caste than the unfortunate Beastmen. Because of this, Kane insisted that none know of their true race.

After quite a long trek, Sala lifted his satchel, removing a folded piece of parchment. He handled it the way one would a plucked flower, gazing at it dreamily. Advancing his pace, he soon arrived at his destination.

Grabbing a small handle, made of two pieces of reinforced oak, he attached a small shovel head to the tip. This tool was made to have interchangeable parts, and was indispensable with many facets of farm work. There was a hammer head, a pick head, and even an axe head, for whatever needed to be done.

Stabbing into the earth, Sala quickly began shoveling. With his naturally sturdy frame and densely packed muscles from farm work, he made short work of the excavation. Before he knew it, the hole was his own height.

Looking around desperately, and poking around for any anomalies in the soil that he could find, Sala began the next step of his search. After quite a while, though, it seemed less and less likely that he would find what he was looking for.

"Damn that old crone!" Sala cursed, crumpling the map and throwing it to the side. He was certain he had been cheated. Several weeks ago, he had purchased the parchment, as a passing merchant wildly advertised the hidden treasure. Grabbing a handhold in the dirt wall, he started to climb up.

All of a sudden, the whole surface gave way, pulling out a large item. It had an extremely foreign shape, although it could vaguely be surmised that it was used for drinking. Picking himself up, Sala practically threw himself at it.

"Now... what are you supposed to do to awaken it?" Sala realized that he had no idea what to do at this point. "It's not changing when I touch it or talk to it... Oh!"

Realizing that it was a magical artifact, Sala quickly crossed his legs under himself and focused on his mana sense. He could see a vast amount of mana contained within the kettle of sorts. Peering closer with a sense similar to touch, but also like sight, he focused his will on the object alone.

Suddenly, he felt the particles change in front of him. Something of a lock was released and the mana was released, coalescing into a clear shape.

"New user detected. Does user know protocol?" An unfeeling, mechanical sort of voice greeted Sala.

"Uh... Hello." Responded Sala, awkwardly. "I don't think I know what that word means..."