The Hand of Forturne

With the introductions out of the way it wasn't long until we were on the road. This group went by the adventurers party name of Hand of Fortune. To be honest I thought it was kind of corny, but they used it ironically as well. None of their lives had been very fortunate besides finding each other.

"Does this mean I'm no longer the pinky? Surely the kid, being the newest member can take that title." Seth said walking at the back of the groups.

"Nope"

"Never"

"Think again."

"Not even a little bit." Came the replies of the rest of the group and I held back a smile as I watched the archer mope. I slowed my pace to walk beside him and pat him.

"It's okay, Pinky." Earning laughs from the rest and a twitch of the eyebrow from Seth as he looked at Vietta's back.

"Are all Elves so cruel?" He whined. I just pat him once more and hurried up to walk beside Vietta.

It felt nice not being alone. I hadn't been alone for long, but I hadn't realized how much I had already missed it. Thinking about it though made me remember Sara and I clenched my little fists. Is it alright? Should I ditch this group at my earliest opportunity? Will this camaraderie lull me into complacency with my goal?

I shook my head which caught the attention of Vietta as she looked at me quizzically. I shook my head and smiled at her. No, if anything this group can help me get stronger. I feel like I can already trust them, but I need to make sure. I'll give it a year. If after a year I don't feel as if I'm progressing fast enough with them then I'll split.

— 1 Year Later —

Paul slashed with a speed that still surprises me at the bear like mana beast. His giant sword colliding with an earthen paw as they reach a stalemate. The bear was easily over 1000 pounds, but Paul didn't even budge, if anything he was slowly pushing the bear back.

Two arrows whizzed from above me. I was at the base of a tree keeping watch over the group and Seth was above me in the branches. His wind coated arrows flew quickly, one digging into the eye of the bear that Paul was fighting along with the bear that Zach and Vietta were fighting.

While Paul was matching the bear's strength, Zach and Vietta dipped and dodged each lumbering swing of the bears paws. These bears were A class mana beasts with a terrifying affinity in Earth. Their power was continually being held in check by Reeta as she fought their control over the element.

I was just a healer, for now. This past year I had spent training my mana and my control over it. I also discovered that I am a conjurer like Reeta much to her enjoyment. I also learned that I could trust this group. They were strong and skilled which surprised me since they didn't have any instructors. They learned purely through battle which perhaps is why they worked so well together.

With that trust I finally began showing them my other affinities. Of course it shocked them, but if anything it endeared me to them even more. They knew what would happen if the wrong people figured this out. In their eyes I was at even more risk than I had been when I was just a healer.

They no longer took missions with other parties, which had been very few already. They no longer took escort quests either, all of our quests were single party expeditions into the beast glades. I imagine most would think it insane to bring a 6 year old into such a place but in their eyes it was the safest place.

They dare not leave me in Xyrus, so there wasn't much choice without having to leave one behind and that was quickly vetoed. However they didn't seem to mind the shift, as pretty much all of them were distrustful of others to begin with. If anything the party thrived on such adventuring and soon rose to A rank. Paul had broken into the solid orange stage with Reeta and Seth had broke through to dark orange alongside Zach and Vietta. Though they were both on the cusp of reaching solid orange themselves.

I however was still at the stage they had found me at. It had seemed as if I was just a few days away from the light red stage, but now I didn't know what to think. I could feel my mana growing in both potency and purity, but it didn't seem to be enough to breakthrough. That leads me to the only thing I never told them about, my storage space. I was able to make the rune disappear on my arm and they seemingly could never sense when I accessed it.

Regardless nothing new had shown itself inside. I tried to reread the book, but realized it was useless as all the information was already in my brain. My latest theory was that perhaps I needed to use the sword and actually fight to get stronger. That's why I had begged and pleaded with the group to let me buy a sword only for practice.

Finally they relented and we went to a blacksmith shop where while they were talking to the smith about making me a weapon, I pretended to pull one from a pile. Really it had just been the sword from my storage, thankfully it was a rather plain looking sword, but it passed Paul's scrutinization.

Thats why I gripped it in my hands now in the beast glades as I watched them fight the bears. I watched Zach the closest as I didn't see myself becoming a greatsword user like Paul. Though I also watched Vietta as I didn't plan to use a shield either. I wanted to have a free hand that I could either strengthen my sword swing with or use to as point to cast spells. After all I was a conjurer. My journey down the path of a swordsman had saddened Reeta, but I wasn't going to limit myself to just melee or just casting.

Seth fired off another volley of arrows, each finding their mark digging deep into the bears. Slowed from the continuous assault the bear fighting Vietta and Zach stumbled. They pounced on the opportunity, both coating their blades in fire as they slammed their blades into vital points at the neck.

Reeta caved in the ground around the bear Paul was fighting, and it lost its balance. Paul spun with terrifying speed and with the bear's focus lost, his blade met no resistance as he cleaved the massive bear in half just below its front shoulders.

"Well that pelt isn't going to fetch much now." Seth snorted dropping from the tree. Ruffling my hair as he walked up to the rest. Paul grinned sheepishly as he wiped his blade clean of the bear's blood.

"True." He started and then looked at me with my sword in hand.

"Hmm, Cassius, why don't you see if you can cut it. Most of its mana is about gone so it shouldn't be too hard, but it's good to know what kind of resistance you're going to come across when fighting mana beasts." Paul mused, sheathing his massive sword on his back.

I didn't really see the point in cutting an already dead animal, but it was true that we wouldn't get much for pelt now. I just nodded and walked up to the front half and hefted my sword up like I had seen in the trainings for the sword. I reached out at the mana around me and used it to fuel my swing, and brought it down with as much force as I could.

When my sword connected with the coat it cut through but something else also happened. I felt the sword pulse in my hands, and then it pulled mana from me before doing the same with the bear. It pulled from me for only a moment, but it continued pulling from the bear. I could feel the force with which it drained the bear of the remaining mana and soon an audible crack was heard followed by a pulse of mana that spread out.

When it finally stopped I yanked the sword out, inspecting the weapon but found nothing different about it. Visually. But I could feel the difference through my connection with it. It had gotten stronger. If I focused on it I could feel that it had absorbed the beast core of the Earth Bear. Then I felt rather than heard another crack and immediately sat into a meditation position.

I dove in to look at my core and could see the cracks growing. Elongating and expanding as more bright red bled through. I focused all my attention on it and pulsing of my sword as it lay in my hands across my lap.

—Reeta POV —

"What's he doing?" Paul nudged me but I didn't respond. Only holding up a hand as I watched closely. The others couldn't see mana and people's cores like I could, and right now I was silent in amazement. Somehow Cassius' sword had absorbed the mana from the bear and was now feeding him with the power.

He had been frustrated with his lack of progress in his core, but now it seemed we had found the answer he had been looking for.

"He's breaking through to light red." I finally said aloud as I continued to keep watch. However as he assimilated more and more of the mana I felt a headache begin to form. I tried ignore but as I watched more it continued to grow in intensity.

"Reeta your nose is bleeding!" Vietta said in alarm. I could feel the warm liquid dripping down, but I kept watching. I had never seen anything like this. Right before his core broke through, I felt a chill run down my spine. I blinked for just a moment but now I was looking at a pair of glowing purple eyes that seemed to radiate pure mana. They weren't Cassius' but they were inside him watching me. I could feel that I was no longer welcome, and what felt like walls began to form and block me out.

I kept trying to see, to see what was happening to him. Then a pulse crossed nearly imperceptibly from his core to mine and blasted me off my feet. All I could feel was the intense pain of mana backlash mixing with piercing headache that had been growing. My vision was blurry as I could see the heads of the others on the edges. Just before I thought I was going to pass out, I felt the heavenly relief of Cassius' healing.

It felt better than before, more controlled and warm rather than the typically cool and directionless healing. I blinked through bleary eyes and saw that Cassius' eyes were filled with worry, causing me to chuckle. Since when did he think he could worry about me.

— Cassius POV —

What the fuck was that? I broke through to light red but I could feel something or someone helping and guiding it. I could see that the method was better. Much better. I fed into it, trying to follow the wordless instead best as I could. It alerted me to things watching us, not with words but with feelings. Was the remnants of the bear warning me of danger? Was there something trying to harm us?

I asked the bear to protect me with my feelings. Some part of me knew that words wouldn't really work not that I could speak right now if I tried. It was all I could do to control the mana that was rampaging through my body and core. It turned its eyes outward and I felt like I could see through them, hazy yet clear enough to make out faces.

I could see Reeta watching us and before I could stop it from attacking, it roared. Its roar that of pure mana that had no effect on the outside only on the core of Reeta. Expelling nearly every last bit of mana from her.

"No!" I shouted. Panic filling me and the mana seemed to freeze in my body. As if understanding my feelings it calmed and eased its flow. I had broken through to red, and I could feel that something had been placed around my core. It felt like armor or some kind of protection provided by the Earth Bear.

I opened my eyes to the outside world and saw everyone crouched around Reeta. I moved as quickly as I could but it was barely better than a fast crawl as I still felt disoriented. I did something I had never done before when I saw how low her mana was. Instead of only healing I pushed the other elements into her. I could feel her body rejecting it so I filtered it and changed it until her body accepted it.

Pulling from the ambient mana and refilling her core while also healing her. This was something the book had not talked about. This was new. But the same way the book had instantly filled the knowledge in my brain, I knew that this would work. Somewhere deep down.

When I finished, I swayed and as I fell back it was into someone's arms. I saw the short blond hair of Vietta before I passed out.

//////

Quick author's note.

Just wanted to say that I really don't have a direction for this fic yet. Just kind of writing. Any changes or inconsistencies i apologize for, but I did go through and right down at least a little about each of the adventurers in the party, so I can reference back to that in the future.

Also if you haven't noticed yet or are just picking up the fic. Welcome. And thank you. My upload schedule is the weekend! I try to do at least 1 each day for each fic I'm writing. I also apologize for any grammar mistakes or misspelling. I type this from my phone in the app's writing section, so sometimes I miss when autocorrect does something dumb or I mistype something.

Thanks again. Enjoy.