20 Chapter 20: I’m Gonna Diiiii~e

Herald leaned back. "Damn, nobody explains shit."

"I'm definitely gonna complain to that damn dwarf..." he muttered under his breath.

"You gain a second arcane when you finish the last one? I think that's the simplest answer. Really, it will just happen on its own, trust me. Relax and wait for it. Now, back to the main topic here!"

"Sorry." Ryth leaned back, looking slightly apologetic.

(Listen, stop acting cute so I can focus!) Herald refocused.

"Okay... I still gotta... hm... right! Okay! So; as you pull the energy within you, it should weave together into a core. Be very careful to make sure it builds thick and solid, as you want a lot to fit into that space."

"...so despite being almost 'solid' spiritually, it still is empty? Guess it's just like the body..."

Herald laughed. "No no, you got to make the core to be hollow silly. As it expands to contain more mana, you need thicker walls so it doesn't break if you need to do something drastic that could harm your body, plus it'll need more energy to expand with."

Herald opened his eyes, still chuckling, to see an expression of absolute horror and terror.

"Huh? What's wrong Ryth?"

"N-nothing... keep going. After you build it it fuses with an body part?"

"Yes. It should be when the mana within the core is the same as what your mana-well can take. Then, you bond it to a bodily function that somehow matches what you think the Sun should be in your understanding, and cause that change."

"R-right..." Ryth, still feeling VERY anxious, shakily sighed.

"S-so it can store mana... does that mean your mana capacity will double with a complete core?"

"Well... yeah. Where do you think that large leap between stages comes from? Your mana-well contains neutral mana, which can go to any arcane you hold a connection to. The mana within your core can only be used for the arcane it is contained within however."

"You want to make sure it bonds by the time it matches your mana-well precisely due to this, cause if it grows to a larger capacity, you'll have a hard time controlling it. After it's bonded, you can continue to grow it past it's foundation stages."

(That... makes sense. The growth of energy higher-stage awakened have seems to be faster than I've felt personally. I thought my levels barely affecting my mana storage was just because of my shit potential.)

"It's important you get the core to that foundation first, as if you have an issue with it after it's bonded, you may damage the body part it's bonded to."

(...)

"Ryth? Are you okay? You look really pale!"

*slump*

"Smack!"

"Ryth! Hey! BRANWEN! He passed out!"

~ ~ ~

"Gaaah!"

Ryth came to violently, with a wet chill smacking him in the face.

He looked up at... a bucket... hanging over his head... dripping the same cold water that had hit him in the face.

"Ketair that's cold!" Ryth yelled, sitting upright, only to get smacked on the back of the head.

"Ow!" He turned to see Azolfos looking at him, his yellow eyes curved in amusement as the skin around them crinkled in a smile, scales shining green.

"Don't use your god's name in vain, little healer."

He stood back, and Ryth shook his head a bit.

"Heeeeey... if y'all keep hitting me and shocking me, I'll lose what little intelligence I have!" Ryth said in a slow, sarcastic drawl.

"Do you even have an intelligence stat?" Erakin smiled and laughed a bit after saying so.

"Yes I do! I can even count to 10! And I know 2 colors!"

Azolfos finally couldn't keep it in and let out a true laugh at that.

"Oh yeah? Which colors?" Erakin played along.

"Ugly and Blue! And you're definitely one of those." Ryth stuck out his tongue right after saying so, standing up.

Pulling the woven fabric of his shirt at the neckline away from his skin, he grimaced. "Did you have to use COLD water?"

"Not my fault it's winter. Plus would you rather be awake or dry?" Branwen said, lifting his bucket a bit.

"Dry I think. Sleep is peaceful at least."

Azolfos shook his head, and began to walk away, beckoning to Erakin.

"We gotta finish planning out the team budget during the lockdown. We might have to go try and do a few gathering requests or hunt in the countryside a bit if it lasts too long."

Erakin shot Branwen a look. "No escorts or drinking for you!"

The two left, leaving the mournful wails of a betrayer teammate behind them.

Branwen finally finished his cries of injustice, leaving with a desolate look.

Herald leaned forward as he left, snapping his fingers in front of Ryth and waving his hand a bit.

Shocked by sudden motion right in his face, Ryth let out a startled Yelp and turned to look at Herald, right as Herald put his hand on Ryth's shoulder and pushed his mana into Ryth, checking for anything wrong.

"Gah!" Ryth leg put an uncomfortable groan at the sensation.

The sun was warm, heat and light, and Ryth felt comfort when he moved it's power throughout his body, knowing he was in control.

This energy was alien, and he had no control. It felt like many tiny roots were wriggling under his skin until the mana faded, leaving Ryth flinching away from Herald.

"Sorry, I know it's uncomfortable. Every healer feels icky when another heals them."

(I-is That right? Healers don't feel good when being healed?)

Herald nodded, continuing; "I hear it gets more bearable the more pure the mana is, but I don't know for sure."

Ryth nodded to show he understood.

Herald sighed. "You seem okay at least... but what happened? You just suddenly fainted."

"Eh? Ah righ-" Ryth cut off as he remembered.

With a shaky smile he turned. "H-hey, so uh..."

Herald, feeling very confused at the sudden fear in Ryth's eyes, gestured for him to keep going.

"I kinda realized due to what you said that it's very likely I'm going to die."

"..."

"In essence, I am fucked. Completely. Fucked."