I stood with my head craned upwards and my mouth agape.
'How is this possible' I asked Ava.
'I don't know... you do realize your asking someone who has no eyes...' she said.
Lately her voice has been changing.
Slowly she began to sound like the old building manager that lived on the first floor of my apartment building.
It was raspy with a bit of a north Terra accent.
All together it sounded like a bronx accent while speaking french.
The reason for my shock was that I was finally getting close to the mountain.
I thought that the thing I was seeing was the whole of the mountain but as I got closer I realized that was just the tip.
It was odd how the closer I got the shorter the days became.
The tempeture changed dramatically, making me shiver in the night.
But I finally realized that it was the shadow of the colossal in front of me.
I couldn't move, the sheer size of it gave me an anxiety attack.
The good news was that the shade allowed for more vegitation and with it more watering holes and beasts.
Mountains have a natural deposit of metals that cool the air creating rich vegitation.
I finally understood where those riders got all the fruits and seasonings from.
Onwards towards the mountain ranges there was green and red grass growing.
Every mile mixed with patches of dry land.
The contrast made it look like a giant leach syphoned parts of the land before being removed.
Traveling light and fast I didn't stop unless I was hungry or being hunted, which happened more frequently the further I went.
'It's no wonder they use the boats to ferry them across, going over the mountain sounds impossible and going around it would take even longer' Ava said.
I had to agree with her, I didn't understand how it didn't throw the planet off it's axis.
The more distance we put behind mage Kata and her followers the more I relaxed and began to take time in between to practice all I had seen.
Instead of trying to make sense of all the allusions to the gods and mystical energy I reffered to my old life and computers.
If I was the power source and mana was the electrical current then aura was the copper and silicone that made up the wires guiding the energy.
The question was how do I mold the aura?
I allowed the red blood to drip and then tried to catch it with my mana but that didn't work and the aura would more often then not get pushed out of the blood.
So instead I circulated my eneregy sending pulses throughout my body and concentrating them on my thumb before biting in.
A thick red liquid dropped out that I tried to move around but all it did was jiggle in the air a for a little bit before dropping on the ground, reminding me of my small friend in the jar.
'You think I could be someones blood'? Ava asked that night.
'Maybe... I've never seen silver aura so maybe it was someone powerful' I said trying to make sense of it.
'But blood isn't conscious' she replied as a matter of fact.
'Ya I wouldn't be too sure' I scoffed thinking about my time as a rock.
By the time I reached the mountains base I was amazed over a thousand times, the sheer enormity of it is something only a child could think up.
Looking to my left and right I couldn't see the end of it, and that was just one mountain.
Thick tree trunks separated the savanna from the jungle at the mountains base.
The mana was so thick it reminded me of the array I stood next too.
Ava felt it too syphoning the world energy around us like a mosquito.
I looked over at Hyena wondering if I should tan his hide now that he's useless.
Deciding against it I snapped his neck quickly, burying the body.
'Eat or be eaten little buddy' I thought as I filled the hole.
The last thing I want is for him to get caught by the Inka.
Taking a deep breath I step inside the jungle, dissappearing from sight.
***
"She is excellent" Mage Ijora said as he looked down on the young girl on the cliffs edge facing the
high waves of the ocean.
Mage Rish was older than him by a hundred years but his face was wrinkled and had silver gray hair in his pointed beard.
He was a mixed blood with the signiture brown skin, spending over five hundred years with the Association he was reaching his limit and looked it.
"Yes she is, it seems we need to find her a stronger opponent" Rish commented while Isla slayed the last of the Syplh intruders.
"Indeed only by risking her life will we insure her growth".
He turned his head and looked at Rish, "Someone who has been blessed by heaven with a pure spiritual root is more than I can ask for, I would be honored to pass her my legacy".
A smile spread across Rishs dark face, "Excellent... you know it's not too late... you don't have to die Ijora".
"And you call that living"? He sneered in disgust.
"Living is drinking fine wine aged hundreds of years, It's carrassing your mate in the morning light It's more than just hanging on a tree like some sort of... fruit"!
Spitting out the last word as if it left a bad taste in his mouth.
"Suit yourself, you have never been a man of many regrets" Rish shrugged.
Ijora snorted again and floated down to the young mage.
"Excellent work Isla" he smiled at the girl that could be mistaken for his daughter.
"Thank you Great Mage" the girl said as the red blood dripped down her blade.
Her blades are uniqe and drew much attention from others at the Association.
"That style of fighting is for the uneducated and cowardly" he stated, talking about the rolling, dodging and slashing she employed
"Remember when a mage arrives they alone are an army, do not underestimate yourself young one".
"Yes Great Mage" she bowed again thinking about the little boy that taught her to fight, her chest tightened as the memory of eating fruits in the forest flashed in her mind.
"I am going to show you something called an array, with a proper array a young mage can get the best of the beast-kin, it is what sets us apart from mindless beasts who know nothing but to hunt and devour each other with their mana".
Ijora stepped towards the cliffs edge and bit into his thumb weaving a set of hand signs so quickly his hands blurred.
A light green array formed in front of him, it was thin and barely visible to the naked eye but so complex it looked like a painting in a circle.
Placing his palm over the floating array his energy poured out and went down into the waters below.
Moments later the water began to rise and seperate like the ocean was parting starting from where Ijora placed his palm.
Sylph who are positioned on the cliff wall underwater waiting for reinforcement are exposed.
Ijora clenched his fist and the array in front of him shrunk.
The mana barrier surrounding the Sylph hardened and started closing in on all sides sealing them.
With an upward swing of his arm he brought them to the surface.
Another one handed sign and fireballs came crashing down, burning them all too a crisp within the tightening sphere.
"That is how a mage fights" he said once the last Sylph body was burned.
"Our borders are being tested every day by Sylph, beast-kin and Humans alike, even if you wish to settle in your own territory one day you must learn to master combat arrays".
"The price for learning this is One Hundred years of service to House Kiseson".
"Can't I figure it out alone"? Isla asked under the astonishment of both mages
"That is Impossible, no one can just 'figure it out'" he responded thinking to give the girl a good lashing for treating his inheritance like a tasteless meal.