Mana Conduit 1

“Ah, that damn tree” Jay cracked his eyes open with a yawn. A strong wind was beating a tree branch against his window.

Suddenly, he sat up in bed as he came to his senses.

Ah, finally, today is the day of my class awakening, Jay thought, and got out of bed with a spring in his step. He freshened up with some water before making his way downstairs.

While eating a breakfast of glade-deer sausages, Jay thought about how his life was going to change, getting more enthused with each passing second.

For a moment, he gazed out his window at some mist-sheep in a nearby field, watching as they phased in and out of the mist - disappearing and reappearing.

Since Jay watched the sheep every morning as he ate breakfast alone, he felt a little sentimental.

Today was the day he would get his class. It would open up new opportunities in his life, and allow him to leave this small, quiet village - and nothing was going to stop him from enjoying every moment.

The wait is almost over, smiled Jay, thinking he could finally start killing monsters, leveling up, and officially start his journey as an adventurer.

But the first step is touching the mana conduit.

Jay left his small house, which was a two story butchery, heading towards the only building in town with a mana conduit: the Adventurer’s guild.

A mana conduit was a large magic crystal that gave adventurers their class when they touched it.

By law, everyone who turned 18 years old that year must place their hand on a mana conduit on the 7th day of the 7th month in order to gain a class, and no one would ever break this rule, as getting a class benefited everyone.

After all, not getting a class would mean you would get no skills, abilities or magic power. Without those, you would have to live a quiet, boring life; a punishment for someone like Jay who wanted to escape his lonely butchery.

As he walked through the stone streets, he frowned slightly as darker clouds gathered overhead.

Ah, just my luck, rain... he thought as he pulled up a black hood.

The rain sucks, but today is still going to be great. A little rain won’t dampen my mood, he encouraged himself, smiling under his hood.

Walking along the muddy path towards the adventurer’s guild, it tempted Jay to curse at the dreary weather as it began to sprinkle, trickle and rain, while more thick, dark clouds gathered, blocking out any chances of sunlight gleaming through.

Jay pursed his lips. He would’ve stayed home if he had the choice - however, if he failed to reach a mana conduit, he wouldn’t get a class.

To live a life as a mediocre civilian at the mercy of the beasts, monsters, and other races would be a curse in this magical and medieval world. So on this special day, even a snow storm would not stop Jay.

With a sigh, Jay pushed on.

Halfway up the mountain now, nearly there… I hope my practice with the knife gives me a cool swordsman class. Surely the system will consider that I’ve been using a knife as a butcher for the last few years... Ooh, maybe it will even give me a rare passive ability? he thought to himself as his eyes filled with expectation.

Jay walked faster, thinking about the possibilities, excited about becoming a powerful swordsman and having legendary adventures, finding people to fight with, people he could trust and confide in.

No more was life going to be mundane, making money as a butcher to get by.

After Jay’s father moved to another village to start a second butcher shop, he took over the business here in Losla. There was brief contact between Jay and his father, who may as well have been dead since Jay never received as much as a letter from him.

Yet after seeing some adventurer magic, and hearing their thrilling tales, he cast these sad thoughts of abandonment aside and eagerly waited for his class. While he walked, he felt each step bringing him closer to a new life.

The muddy road to the adventurer association gate curved up around a hill which overlooked the village, dodging rocky outcrops on the way.

There were a few other people walking up the dirt road, too. Some spoke to each other and walked together, but most kept to themselves; the dark weather suppressing any chance of a warm conversation.

The hill was large, and the path was long, causing Jay to sweat slightly as he panted.

I’m pretty unfit, he thought, huffing as the rain grew much heavier. Small streams and puddles began to form across the old path.

I should’ve started training or something... oh well, he shook his head.

Suddenly, a deep voice called out from behind, startling most of the young adventurers on the road. A large, bulky man clad in armor on horse rode ahead of a carriage.

“Make way for nobility!” he bellowed. His gravelly voice had the airy authority of a war-torn veteran, as raspy and ripped up as he was.

With a short sword strapped to his waist, he rode on a black glade-horse ahead of a luxurious carriage as he continued to call out; the man didn’t even turn his head towards Jay, expecting anyone to move at his call.

The safety of the young noble was his only priority, but in a small village like this there were certainly no threats.

The knight was overqualified for his position. Just by looking at him, anyone could see his boredom, yet he still emitted hints of a dangerous pressure when he came close enough.

As he rode past, a trail of steam followed him - his sword’s sheath hissing when droplets of rain landed on it.

Must have a ruby gem. Heh, must be nice being rich, Jay secretly thought, not risking to say it out loud.

In this world, gems gave weapons attributes. There was a ruby gem embedded into the short sword, which gave the sword +3 fire damage. A passive effect was that it felt warm to the touch.

When drawn, the sword would glow red-hot, able to carve through flesh like paper and only leaving a cauterized wound behind. A wound such as this would block instantaneous healing abilities. One would have to cut off the cauterization before even attempting to heal it, taking precious time in the heat of battle.

It was common to see these gems embedded into larger objects, but to put them into smaller objects like swords required great skill.

The fire attribute had to be channeled into the blade and not into the handle, lest it burn the wielder. This made the weapon expensive; the smaller an embedded object, the more expensive it was.

Jay’s eyes were drawn to the blade, perhaps for a little too long. He did his best to move to the side of the path, getting out of the way of the exquisite carriage following the expensive knight.

The hill was steep at the edge of the road; they had built it up to make a slightly wider path, though over time it had degraded. Much of it was little more than dirt and rocks.

Standing on the edge of the road to give way to the carriage, Jay realized he didn’t have enough room - but it was too late to do anything about it. The carriage would not stop for a nobody like him.

Having no choice but to dodge the oncoming carriage, he stepped onto the very edge...

Suddenly the side of the path crumbled under his weight - the rain helped in making a bad situation worse as it was all turning to a slippery mudslide.

“Shit, ah!” Jay attempted to plant his foot firmly on the ground, but the mud caused him to slip further down.

He lost balance as he yelled, hoping someone would hear him - and someone did.

A taunting chuckle came from the carriage. As Jay fell, a mocking smirk flashed at him ever so briefly through the carriage’s curtains.

What? Is this amusing? The thought flashed through his mind as he tried to gain his balance - yet unsuccessfully so.

Jay fell, smashing his shoulder and sliding a little way down the side of the hill.

“You asshole in your shitty carriage!” Jay yelled, gritting his teeth in a burst of anger as he slid down, and he began picking up more speed and sliding faster in the muddy rain.

Spotting a shrub as he slid, he grabbed at it to stop himself from sliding further.

He grasped the small bush with all his strength, yet neither Jay nor the bush came out unscathed as he ripped up half of the plant’s roots and his hand began stinging, turning red and hurting more than his shoulder. He had a handful of leaves he stripped away from the plant.

Using the shrub as balance, he stood up slowly as his anger raged.

“Dammit, will they even let me in now? I’m so filthy, they will think I’m a beggar... and that little bastard in the carriage was basically laughing at me. Prick!” he snapped in frustration, clenching his fist as he noticed the carriage wasn’t even there anymore - it didn’t even stop to help. No one did.

“Little fucking bastard...” his brows furrowed in anger, swearing through his clenched jaw as he looked at the brown slide he made down the hill.

As he trudged back up the muddy hill towards the road, his anger still seethed - yet this only caused him to lose his concentration, and with it, his balance.

“Fucker... little carriage bastard fucker... ~Oh, wait, shit!” Once more, he fell backwards.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Jay lost all control, blindly falling backwards. And that was all he remembered.

The back of his head landed squarely on a rock, and he instantly lost consciousness. But he didn't stop there.

His unconscious body continued sliding down the hill for a moment before catching itself under some bushes.

Sadly, no one saw him fall or even heard him yell in the pouring rain - he was alone, knocked unconscious and caught in some bushes.

***

“KAW~!”

“... what?- AH!”

A silver crow shocked Jay awake, bolting away as his eyes opened widely.

Jay sat up quickly, trying to make himself look more lifelike, as he realized the crow was about to eat him like he were roadkill. But this was the least of his problems.

It was still close to Winter, and at this point Jay was shivering, his clothes drenched with rain. He couldn’t tell how long he had been unconscious as it was still overcast, but it mattered little right now - he was freezing.

“I need..... to get warm... so cold... need... warmth…” his teeth chattered, his lips blue, and his fingers white. He could hardly form sentences.

Survival instincts kicked in and Jay hobbled to the village inn. He would’ve gone home, but he knew that his shivering hands wouldn’t be able to start a fire.

“S-so hungry... so thirsty. How long w-was I knocked out?” he shivered as he jogged, trying to warm himself up.

It was still overcast and early in the morning when he finally made it to the only inn in the village.

Stumbling through the wooden door of the Snake-raven inn, Jay quickly walked towards the innkeeper standing behind the bar ready to place his order - however the middle-aged bald man with a twirling mustache spoke first.

“Hello...? How.. can I help..?” the innkeeper asked, squinting at Jay as he wondered whether or not he should kick this dirty mud-covered bum out.

I’m not getting paid enough for this shit, the innkeeper thought, looking at the tracks of mud Jay was making through his establishment before realizing he was his own boss.

“O-one room please, and a hot bath i-immediately! I’m f-freezing!” Jay said through his chattering teeth.

“Sure. That will be 25 gold.” The innkeeper eyed Jay’s waist for a coin pouch, ignoring his shivering.

“It will cost you more if you stay for longer, though. And about your bath, it will cost five gold for the ruby-bath which heats water instantly; otherwise, we normally heat water over the fire, which would take quite some time.” The innkeeper explained, casually peering at the thick mud on Jay’s clothes.

“Ah.. would you like laundry service too? For five gold?” he added.

Obviously I want the fucking ruby-bath, I’m literally shivering in front of you, you absolute fu-, Jay thought with dead eyes, replying with an almost sarcastic tone.

“Yes, I would like my clothes washed and I would like the ruby tub too, p-please.” He said through gritted teeth.

“Sure. 35 gold.” The innkeeper said before he called out for his employee.

“Tamara! We have a customer! Get the hot tub filled right away!”

“Yes, sir.” A young female voice sounded from a door behind the bar, and Jay gave up the 35 gold as Tamara came out.

“Room three, but take him to the ruby-bath first” the innkeeper said, collecting the gold coins and then went back to cleaning glasses after Jay and Tamara left.

Yet as the innkeeper put a clean glass down and grabbed another to polish, he wondered. What did those crazy adventurers do to make a recruit come back like this…

He merely assumed this was some sort of training.

“Looks like old guild leader Sully is experimenting this year,” he shrugged with a smile. “Oh well, not my problem.”