Back on the Path

Suited up in his new leather armor, Cole rides from the Enchantworks back toward Beanfield. Lula had given him instructions to look for an apartment in town, but with the lesson that she gave him on auras, there simply wasn't enough daylight left. Looks like I'm coming back to Wakeville tomorrow. He considers finding a hotel room but decides against it – without a change of clothes, a toothbrush, or any of the other creature comforts of home, he would rather ride home. I'll save a few silver, too.

The ride home is peaceful and pleasant. It's a familiar road and the only other traffic is the occasional shipping truck or courier. On the long straight stretches between curves in the road, Cole activates his aurasight ability to practice. Aside from the blue glow from the bike under him, the countryside is unremarkable to his special vision. Probably best I don't see anything magical on the side of the road. With my luck, it would be a monster. Suddenly the realization hit him. Aurasight could work as a way to see monsters in the dark. Cole thinks back to the creature in the basement of the branch office and shudders. I really need to practice that until it's second nature.

He rolls into Beanfield and to his apartment. After a quick shower, he falls straight into bed. Instead of drifting to sleep right away though, he tosses and turns. He has lived in this apartment since graduating school and moving out of his parents' house, almost six years now. For the first time, it feels… wrong, somehow. Like he shouldn't be there. Maybe it's just because I haven't been here much in the last few days. Or maybe I'm just not meant to be in Beanfield anymore. Maybe it's time to move on. No surprise there though, not a whole lot to do here with Kat gone, anyway. He sighs heavily, and then the thought of Kat reminds him of his encounter with Dover earlier in the day. What is that guy's problem? Why does he even know who I am? It's like Aaron told him to cause trouble with me. Whatever the reason, he didn't have any good answers, only questions.

When he finally drifts off to sleep, his awareness is back on the path in the forest. This is the same place that he dreamed about before. What am I doing back here? Then Cole thinks of the hellhounds waiting in the charred lands ahead. 

"Best get a move on, youngster. We do not have long." Gray's voice said, the same as last time. Cole looks over and sure enough, there he is.

Cole walked on the path along with Gray. Anticipating the dangers ahead, he turns his focus inward to his mana well – the central point that mana flows through as it moves throughout the body, like the heart for the circular system. He knew he didn't have any time to waste, figuring out how to activate his stealth ability is the only way to avoid the keen eyes of the hounds.

The practice that he had with Lula today was very helpful. Cole finds that in the moment, he's able to focus easily on the mana well. The energy responds to his attention. It rushes faster through his body, circling through his chest, out to his extremities and back. He maintains this focus for a few minutes as he walks. It felt more natural and more comfortable than when he tried this in his last dream.

With new confidence, he shifts his focus to the mental image of himself becoming transparent. In the back of his mind, he could still feel the mana flowing throughout himself, though only faintly. Something started to happen. It's working? An unexpected sensation started at the base of his neck. The closest feeling Cole could relate to it is being in water: a faint, all-encompassing pressure against his body, the movement of that pressure like a fluid around him. Am I invisible now? He didn't dare open his eyes to check.

"Nice work. You have been practicing." Gray says. 

The sudden sound caught Cole's attention and the sensation went away immediately. He opened his eyes and turned toward Gray. "Did it work? Was I invisible?" Cole asks, tone full of hope.

The question elicits a raspy laugh from the elder man. "Invisible? Heavens no. But you were camouflaged, and that is a start."

Cole makes a confused face. "Camouflaged? Like painted green or something?"

"Not painted green. Think of the chameleon and how they mimic the color and pattern of their surroundings. I could see you, but distant eyes might not be able to pick you out of the background, especially if you were to be still." Gray says.

It's not invisibility, but it's better than nothing.

"Are you sure you can't teach me the trick you used last time to become invisible?"

Gray shakes his head. "This is the dreamspace. I can only teach you what you already know."

"I didn't know any chameleon power until you taught me!" Cole exclaims, suspicious of Gray's explanation.

"You knew. Unconsciously, subconsciously, your body understands how to utilize mana. Moving that knowledge to your waking consciousness is no simple task. It is, however, mandatory."

"What do you mean mandatory? What happens if I don't learn all this stuff?" Cole asks with growing concern.

"You will die." Gray says as if it should be obvious.

"How? The hellhounds?"

"Do not be absurd. The hellhounds are a figment of your imagination. You would die from mana overrun or from damaged mana flow, perhaps an energetic infection." His matter-of-fact tone stuns Cole.

He knew those terms, but hadn't thought about them in years. Once per year in the fall, representatives from the National Hero Management Agency would visit the grade schools. During these visits, they would pass around mana stones in hopes of finding future Heroes. Any child who is able to absorb mana from the stone is then put on the Hero education track and receives preferential treatment until graduation, when they are automatically registered with the NHMA as an active Hero.

During these presentations, they made it clear to the students how important it is to report any mana absorption, even a small amount. Though the details were always cloudy, conditions like mana overrun or energetic infection served as a boogeyman to school-aged children for generations. Cole had never seen a case himself though, and many people doubted if these situations were even possible. To them, it was simple: folks just died from unexplained causes. There is no external manifestation of these fatal symptoms, and the corpse left behind is entirely unremarkable, thus studying the condition or searching for a cure has proven incredibly difficult for NHMA researchers.

The revelation that the hellhounds are imaginary is of little relief to Cole when he walks into the charred lands where they prowl. He activates his power again. Cole's skin and clothing take on the black, grey, and dark orange tones of his surroundings. Gray, as before, has disappeared entirely – not camouflaged, but truly invisible.

Cole is a bit jealous, but then a thought crosses his mind. I wonder if Gray's magic keeps him invisible from my manavision. Too curious to wait, he moves his mental focus to his third eye. A dark purple aura surrounds an empty human-shaped space on the path ahead of him. 

"These beasts can't detect mana, can they?" Cole asks.

"Not these particular beasts, but some monsters can." Gray confirms his suspicions. Then he continues. "They will see you plainly if you are not hidden. Do remember to stay focused on the task at hand."

Cole looks down at himself. He sees a faint blue aura surrounding his body. His plainly visible, uncamouflaged body. Using manavision caused him to lose focus on his other power. I'm an idiot. He looks up the path and sure enough, a pack of three hellhounds is already racing toward him. The beasts look even more fearsome than in his previous dream, because now they are each surrounded with a powerful scarlet aura. This time, at least, Cole knows the stakes in the situation: he will live through this dream even if he fails against the challenge of the hellhounds. Might as well try something a little different.

Instead of trying to use his enhanced running abilities or reactivating the camouflage, he stopped in the middle of the path and put his arms up to fight. This is probably going to hurt a whole lot.