As soon as I gained consciousness the first thing I noticed was that I was dripping wet lying on a soft ground which oddly enough had silky grass. Before I could question any further I passed away again.
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Next time when I came to I opened my eyes, prepared to be blinded by the sunlight. Instead I saw black and blue grass.....wait that's not grass that's fur, I'm on top of a mana beast, shit.
I tried to get up but as soon as I tried moving in the slightest unbelievable pain shot through my body and I passed out....again
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When I finally woke up for good I found myself in some sort of cave where the only source of light was a glowing chasm.
Weird.
"I see you're awake" A deep voice rumbled.
I shrieked like a little kid...which I guess I was.
I turned around to meet the source of the voice only to scream louder.
There in front of me was a huge Wolf, at least 20 feet in height. With red eyes and pitch black fur,
"Wh-wh-who are you? Are you the one that saved me?" I stuttered.
"You can call me Noctis, and yes I was responsible for your survival." He replied.
"Thank you, my name is Fayden Leywin and if you agree I have a few more questions" I ask him now with my fear lessened, after all he wouldn't save me just to kill me afterwards, right?
"Fine ask away" He agrees.
"Why did you save me? Where are we? and why is no one else here"
"I do not know exactly why I saved you. Maybe i was touched by your self sacrifice and bravery, or maybe I was just bored. We are in a zone between the Beast Glades and Forests of Elshire, hardly anyone comes here nowadays all because of that damn Indrarth, as for why I am here that's simple i was banished by my race." he growled out.
"Who-?"
"Nevermind, its not important. I may be able to create a rift to send you near settlement, but I wont sugar coat it I cant send you to the human kingdom her barrier prevents any rifts from entering or exiting from here, the closest I can send you is in the forests of Elshire but even that could take months." He cut me off abruptly before I could ask what he meant by 'asura'.
" Do not worry about your family, they are safe, as for your brother, I only saw him for a few seconds before he was taken"
"What do you mean taken is he safe?" I all but yelled at him.
"Calm down, young one if he was taken by her you can rest assured he will be safe" he replied in that constant calm voice of his.
I see so they're all safe, thank god. Knowing Arthur he will make it back to them without my help.
"There are some fruits here which you can eat to nourish yourself." He grunted in reply before turning away and walking out.
"Thank you Noctis", I said as I went looking for the mentioned fruits.
After some searching I found some weird looking glowing fruits, might as well eat.
In all this I failed to notice the tears streaming down my face.
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Days bled into night and I kept meditating to pass the time and refine my mana core, if I will have to navigate the forests I'll need all the strength I can get.
"I had thought human mages awakened near the age of 10 so how come you have awakened so early?" Noctis' voice snapped me out of my meditation.
"Yeah while that is the case normally my brother and I are considered geniuses for awakening so early" I answered him
"Hmm he might be able to make good use of it if he has so much talent but before that I must teach him that yes" He seemingly mumbled to himself.
"What are you talking about?"I asked him.
"Tell me can you absorb mana while fighting?" He answered my question with a question.
"Huh, is it even possible to absorb mana while moving?" I reply
"Yes it is , mana beasts learn this naturally but since humans and other races awaken so late their body cant adapt to this change, and if you're the genius you say you are it wont take much time for you to learn it" he demonstrated this by absorbing the surrounding mana while pouncing from rock to rock.
So from then I started to practice absorbing mana while moving. It was agonizingly frustrating at first, the smallest movements would stop the absorption of mana but after months of practicing I could finally do it.
It has been almost four months now since the fall, I wonder how everyone else is doing. I can't imagine how it feels to lose not one but two children at once, who am i kidding of course I can after all I had lost my previous family in one night during my old life. But still I couldn't help but worry, I hope mom didn't do anything rash after our supposed "Deaths".
One day while I was practicing the Dynamic mana absorption technique Noctis came sprinting towards me, " Get ready, it seems Sylvia has made a rift of her own, I can probably interconnect our rifts and get you out earlier." as soon as he said that I immediately ran towards the black and blue rip he called his rift.
He went ahead of me but stopped at the entrance, "Come on, I might as well escape here along with you" and so I did.
As we entered the rift all I felt was cold, but that only lasted a few seconds before its color changed to a mix of multiple colors making a sort of rainbow.
When we exit the rift I saw that we had indeed arrived in the forests of Elshire, courtesy of the fog it is famous for.
"Listen young one, I have to leave now before they notice me but I will leave you with some gifts before I go" He speaks urgently as if someone is hunting him.
"Please call me Fay and there is no need for gifts you've saved my life and now also helped me on my way home I cannot ask more of you" I say with a bow expressing my gratitude.
"Trust me if you are to survive whats coming you will need this" saying this he struck my sternum, where my mana core resided, with his snout and pierced his tongue into my core and let out a shadowy wisp which ever so often crackled with blue and red lightning. During this process Noctis' eyes glowed like torchlights while his body became an ethereal collection of onyx black smoke.
I grunted in pain yet when I placed my hand on my sternum expecting to find a bleeding hole all I found was smooth skin as if he did it.
He then opened his mouth wide and shot another series of smoke which suspiciously looked like a wolf cub.
"If you go that way you will find yourself near the teleportation gate to Elenoir"
"When you find yourself in need of celestial assistance call out to me and I shall come, until then farewell Fay."
"What-"
And just like that he disappeared.