The Mana System

Returning to consciousness was a surprising affair. Both in the painlessness and the fact that he woke at all. Ignoring his sore body, he opened his eyes and surveyed the surroundings. The clean white and yellow walls were reminiscing of a medical bay. This specific medical bay was familiar from Zhalo's previous tour of the Light Cruiser Zannibore, a military vessel on lone to the Grand Academy for the initiation tests. Just as he started to attempt to sit up a voice stiffly interrupted him.

"Don't you dare young man; you were at deaths door when your initiation ended. An entire slew of injuries across your form."

The memories slowly came back to Zhalo about everything that happened. It was only his training and whatever drugs he had inside him at that moment that prevented him from breaking down. Instead, he asked a question that was hot on his mind.

"Did I pass at least?" He asked the naval nurse.

She gave him a gentle smile with a hint of judgement behind it.

"You passed yes, although just barely." She informed him.

He let out a sigh of relief and slumped further into the bed.

"When will I be able to leave?" He asked.

She smiled a more genuine smile now as she looked over the holographic interface containing his information. She spent a few moments considering the data before giving a reply.

"Should be able to have you discharged within the day, we had to do a slew of procedures on you to make sure you did not perish. It would have been a shame if you died after all you went through after all." She responded before going off elsewhere.

Zhalo took in the good news with a mildly hysterical chuckle before simply relaxing and going over his memories of the event. It didn't take long to remember the disgusting alien and the mana system text that has flashed across his vision. What was the alien? Was it an illusion from his subconscious or some kind of ancient alien technology at work? And what was this mana system?

Just as he thought the question, the strange text appeared again.

[The Mana System collects and uses mana in order to perform a multitude of tasks.]

This time the text was in his favourite colour, green. Rather than panicking however he felt eerily calm and collected as if he had just been dumped full of drugs.

[The Mana System had deciphered that your species would react badly without emotion suppressants when being told of the Mana System.]

"No duh!" He muttered.

With only the logical side of his brain remaining for the moment, his mind began racing at the implications. Would it enable him to fulfil his dreams? Was it an alien trap? Did it matter? In the end, as long as it could advance his goals and desires nothing else mattered, not after the near miss he just had.

"What can you do specifically?" Zhalo whispered under his breath.

[Host is able to think thoughts for a more secure communication method. But to answer host's query the Mana System is able to do a wide variety of things when provided with sufficient Mana. For example, mana-tech that would beat even the most advanced modern technology your civilisation can scrounge up. Alchemic creations that defy the fundamental rules of the universe. To the creation and use of spells.]

That sounded like just what Zhalo needed. What kind of amazing things could he make with all these options and more? He just wanted to try all of them right now! But there was one tiny problem.

'What is Mana?' He directed his thoughts toward the concept of the Mana System.

[Mana, also known to your species as Radiation-X8429JK69 is an extremely powerful form of radiation that is given off by living beings and certain types of technology that can change the fabric of reality when wielded correctly. From a simple Mana Reactor to mass human sacrifice, you can harvest Mana in a multitude of different ways.]

'Human sacrifice?!' He thought horrified as much as he could be with the emotion suppression active.

[Any form of living being would do! But sentient beings provide a significantly larger amount of Mana then animals. Due to the actions of your species, there are very few other sentient species within a reasonable range of this star system. In fact, from all the different methods known to the Mana System mass human sacrifice would be the best short-term way for you to acquire mana.]

'I couldn't possibly do that!' He bit back.

[What about criminals? I'm sure you wouldn't mind getting rid of many criminals or even those who are to be executed and use them for something greater.]

'Thats better, but I'd much prefer to harvest Aliens then my own kind!' He argued.

[Once you become stronger host, we will be able to harvest as many aliens are you wish, as long as you are smart about it.]

"When can we get started?" Zhalo asked eagerly.