Magicka/Encounter.

It's been a couple hours since I began my meditation. Sitting cross-legged on a large boulder, I was in a relatively safe area, and judging by the thickness of their scent, the group wasn't too far away from me either. Using my nose to predict where familiar people were located was a skill I sharpened over the last few days. Alongside that, I've gotten pretty good at a couple of other things…

Following the last week or so, I've been constantly moving my Mana or "Magicka" around my body. Forcefully trying to direct it the way I wanted to… This was actually another way to increase my Mp stat… Well, that's not completely correct…. It didn't actually help me increase anything, but there was an invisible reward. By training my control, I didn't have to spend as much Mp when activating Magicka-based skills. It also allowed me to feel the surrounding power in the air. I was confused for a bit. Why didn't this turn into an ability or a skill? After contemplating it for some time I came up with an idea. I wouldn't call it a theory or anything… Just a shot in the dark. 

Perhaps, it's just a type of biological sense. Like your ability to see or touch something? a natural sense, Like I only just realized how to open my eyes. That kind of thing. That would make sense… But wouldn't it be the same for my Mind Link skill? There must be something that differentiates the two… New thoughts ended up blooming in my mind… 

What would happen if I were to lose my interface one day? I already knew that I could use my physical skills without the help of the interface… But what about my Magicka based skills? I've never used Magicka before without activating the proper skills to do so…

Could I use them without the help of my interface? 

And so, a few days ago, I began moving my Mana around inside my body. It was incredibly difficult… But similar to a muscle, constant repetition seemed to improve efficiency and ease of doing so. It was still very difficult, requiring most of my attention.

Originally, I discovered this training exercise when trying to use my Mp, without the help of the interface. I was trying to see what I could do with it… If I could even use it. And after 4 days, My efforts paid off.

Concentrating as hard as I could, I gathered some of the Magicka in my body… Feeling the raw power, I directed it to my left hand…

*Vvvimmmizzzzzz*

A crackling noise sounded out in my ears as purple-blue arcs of electricity began moving around over my open palm. It didn't hurt, but there was a strange sensation, the feeling of something wriggling around in my hand. Like when someone grabs hold of a frightened worm. You can feel it desperately trying to escape... Only it can't.

The electricity was beautiful, It seemed unnatural… Like my flames…

Opening the Info page I looked towards my skill section.

-Lightning Bolt[1]-

Nodding my head in success, I looked towards a nearby tree… It was long dead. Pointing my hand towards it I willed the lighting bolt to release. 

*Shizziz*

The electricity scattered over the wood…. Leaving a slight burn mark…. But other than that, there wasn't much damage.

'It isn't very powerful… Even so, it worked.'

I could really use Magicka without help.

'But'

I looked towards my MP. The drain was too high.

'It's enough for now…'

"Yawn"

Just sitting in the same spot for hours on end is exhausting. Even if you're not doing anything, mental exhaustion will still build.

My joints gave out an audible cracking sound as I stood up.

'Judging by the sun's position… It should be around 4 pm, maybe 5. The sky will be darkening soon. It's best I catch up to the others.'

Tilting my head upwards I sniffed the air…. A few seconds passed and I found their general direction….

Activating Sprint, I went down on all fours and dashed off leaving the area I was just in.

Moving through the wasteland, I began thinking about other things. Creating [Lightning bolt] wasn't the only Mana related thing I discovered. 

I learned was that everything I planted had Magicka in it… It was understandable… When activating the farming skill, I unconsciously inject my Mp into the seeds, so it isn't strange that they have it. But the strange thing is they keep it even after a long time has passed…. Why? What's more, when someone takes a seed from a plant I grew and tries growing it themselves….. The plant that comes out still has mana… Although it is an insignificant amount, they still have it. Why is that? I have a couple of ideas but none of them are concrete.… It could be hereditary? But in the Elder Scrolls universe, Magicka flows into you from Atherious.

Is there such a place in the Fallout universe? I can't really disprove that… Especially with the way I am. But I can't confirm it either.

Originally I acquainted the plants I grew to the game-like interface as well as my own Mana. But the other plants? The ones that I didn't grow? It really may just be hereditary. I think that's the most likely, but I can't rule out other possibilities.

Another thing I learned after acquiring my 'Mana Sense', was that the plants I grew were much more than I originally believed them to be. Anyone who constantly eats them will start to subconsciously exert Magicka. Again, I have no idea where this power is coming from… It could just be the plants digesting. But after waiting a while the flow again never stopped. They don't seem to feel it, or even use it, almost like something important isn't there. Like the power is there but a key component is missing.

They exert it, but can't use it.

It was…. Interesting…. This would actually be a good thing… It meant I didn't have to worry about other people using Magicka against me. What's more, I have a suspicion that their bodies possess Magical properties. I'm not completely positive yet, but if it's true I may be able to create my own alchemical ingredients in the future. Using plants I grow and animals that eat the plants I grow.

Unfortunately, Mother is the same. Even though we Deathclaws are omnivores she really hated eating vegetables… I had to trick her into eating some bamboo… It made me question who the parent was. Well, after tricking her into eating the Bamboo multiple times, she was also able to exert mana like the others… but, also like the others she couldn't feel it or control it. Maybe I'll come up with something in the future.

Sprinting through the wasteland I was pondering about these things… Every now and then a mutated animal would pop up and I'd kill it for exp… I've been doing this over the last week of travel, and I have to say, I've leveled up quite a bit. With that alongside my new Mp training as well as my upgraded Physical exercises my Info page has changed greatly.

'Info page.'

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[Setherrog Bal] Lv38

HP: 608/608+

SP: 1355/1355+

MP: 205/420+

Available stat points:37+

Race: Molag/Deathclaw

Type: Molag Bal

Title: Grave runner+(Extra info) Radroach Killer+ Explorer+ Hunter+

Location: FalloutVerse/Wasteland

Primary Job: N/A

Secondary Job: N/A

Skills: Pierce[11], Scratch[9], Bite[7], Glare[12], Hiss[9], Tail whip[12], Dig[15], Sprint[19] Jump[17], Basic crafting[3], Tear[11], Shape[6], Carve[10], Farming[6], Climb[4], Sneak[11], Sneak attack[9], Long Jump[4], Heat Rage[2] Soul Flame[16] Lightning bolt[1]

Traits: Intimidation[4], Bloodthirst[4], Radiation Immunity[Max] High magic resistance[2], Strong hide[3], Mind Link[4].

State: Healthy, Physically fit, Child.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

'I've made a lot of progress.'

I gained two new titles. The first, Explorer, gives all my stats a 30% boost but only when exploring. If I'm doing anything else besides that then it doesn't have an effect on me…. I can't use this title in a fight and I can't use it while running away from something. It's not terrible but it won't help me survive in dire situations.

The next title I got was Hunter. I have killed a lot of things since we started traveling. Enough that my level increased to 38…. It's not that high considering I reached level 12 in a single day but it's still decent. The title allows me to do 75% more critical damage against animals and mutated animals. But it does not affect abominations or mutated insects. It only affects creatures in the animal and mutated animal categories.

I gained three new skills, Basic Crafting, Climbing, and Lightning Bolt… Basic crafting allowed me to craft very basic things better than I'd normally do myself. I got this skill when I helped others craft the Bamboo Cart. Climbing is pretty self-explanatory and Lightning Bolt allowed me to both coat my hand in electricity as well as shoot it outwards.

Besides Lightning Bolt which I just received now, I've raised most of my previous skills a decent amount…. Even the non-combat skills which were normally harder to level up got some levels… This was because even though I called them noncombat, I still used them in combat and leveled them… Like my Sneak skill…

Of course, There were non combat skills that leveled up without combat. Like Dig… This leveled up so much because I've been farming plants every now and then, and digging is a fundamental part of that.

After I finished going over everything I made my status screen disappear and continued towards the group. They weren't too much further away…

I encountered two Giant Bloatflies but killed them almost instantly… It happened so fast that I wasn't really even slowed down... It was how most of the animals and insects I encountered died… With one hit… The fight lasted longer when there were multiple opponents or when the enemy was very strong. I'm not sure what would happen if I fought a Yao Guai.… Well, that's if I don't use my magic attacks… If I did I could just burn it to death. That's how powerful fire based attacks are in the real world.

Another minute or two passed before I caught up to the group. They were on top of a large hill.

I was much faster than them. They went at a pretty slow pace after all… Slow for me at least. I was actually around the same speed as Mother… We could probably move around 30 miles per hour. Of course, Mother couldn't keep up with me in the long run… She doesn't have a game-like interface like I do, so she'll get tired faster and she takes longer to recover her stamina. Not to mention, I've been physically conditioning myself for a long time.

'You are back Bal?'

Standing on my two feet I brushed my hands clean.

'Yes mother. Did anything interesting happen when I was gone?'

She thought for a moment before nodding her head.

'New area, new buildings. Glad Bal is back.'

'I'm happy to see Snow as well… And what did y-'

"Ah s-Setherrog?…. I didn't know you were back… Maybe it'd be best if we got your opinion on the matter."

My greeting with Mother was interrupted by one of the ghouls… I didn't mind though… It wasn't like they could tell when I was using Mind Link.

'A moment Mother.'

"What's going on Bert?"

Bert looked over towards the edge of the hill before nodding his head in the direction. When he didn't elaborate further, Jill punched him in the shoulder before taking the opportunity to speak up.

'We came across a town….. Well, calling it a town is pushing it a bit, but more like a couple of scrap buildings. And they have owners… It's the first time in a while we've seen other ghouls… We were wondering whether or not we should greet them. What do you think?"

'Hmm'

"That….. Could prove to be dangerous…. We don't know if they are hostile… But at the same time, we can't just back away every time something like this happens…. It's a gamble, but so is everything else in this world…. We should try interacting with them. Only two or three of us will go and test out the temperament of these settlers."

Marcus, Jacob, and some of the other ghouls who were on the side nodded their heads in agreement. It was better than nothing…

Suddenly Jacob possessed a question.

"And who will you decide to send?"

I thought it over for a moment before I asked a question.

"Besides Marcus, who are the best fighters?"

"Well, That's not something I've ever really considered. I used to be a law enforcement officer before the war so I'm probably better when it comes to fighting people… Jill is pretty good at reading people but Carly has the best aim. Tommy on the other hand is good at making split-second decisions, Bruce though, is average all around, but he has a bit of a temper."

"I don't have a temper!"

"And Bert isn't really a combatant… He can use a pistol but his accuracy is only around 50%."

'That's a pretty well-rounded selection…. Well besides Bert.'

I thought over my choices for a while before I came to a decision.

End of chapter.