The pool of blood under our new found companion was concerning to say the least. It's hard to tell if that bear hit an artery or if this is just some effect of the magic it had. Nigel did say that the magic on that thing's claws would make normal first aid practically useless, but there has to be something we can do!
"It's alright, you all tried."
Nigel spoke up, his breath shallow and his voice raspy.
"Hell, this new life was more than I deserved anyway."
His words struck me, I don't really know why, but I wasn't going to let him die just like that. There had to be something I could do, after all this new world let me use magic, right? I began building a spell, and I reached for that familiar power in my gut. But it wasn't there, I really was tapped out.
"Even healing magic wouldn't work, this spell would reopen the wound as soon as it sealed. Leave it James, you'll just hurt yourself trying."
John had regained his breath, and his feet. By now I'd have to wager he might have enough in him for another shot at fixing this mess. I'd hope so, the puddle staining the ground was getting concerningly large now.
"I'm not letting you die on me, I'm not one to keep debts."
John's Hand shone blue onto his face again, brighter than the last time. I'd assume he has more mana at his disposal this time, but that only means so much. After all, his last attempt succeeded in the summoning, but it couldn't get the job done.
"I'm getting tired of working for entitled rich folk. Let's make this quick."
In front of John this time was a man of meager stature, maybe five foot four, and dressed much like you'd expect an assassin or thief from the age of knights and castles might. He wore black leather boots, plain and simple in design, with small plates of armor on his knees. Brown leather pants covered the rest of his legs, with a few small bags on belts around his thighs. His belt had more of the bags, as well as a rapier, where it held down the black cloth shirt he wore. He had black leather gloves, which looked well-worn on the palms, and a piece of leather armor over his left shoulder. A cloth mask covered the lower half of his face, which showed the only pale skin in his outfit, and completing his look was a leather hooded cloak, which blew out behind him in the wind.
"At least for once I'm not being ordered to kill someone. I can't do much about the wound with this much power, but I should be able to take care of that magic for you. I've dealt with it before actually, one of the kids I used to take care of kept a Wind Bear as a pet."
The man put out a hand towards Nigel's injury as he took a knee next to him, unphased by the blood. I can see why knee pads may be a good investment for the future. I could feel the magic as he gathered it, not too much, but enough that when he released his spell over the wound, and the magics clashed for a moment, the hooded man's magic wasn't as strong as the bear's, but it didn't need to be. It destabilized the spell, breaking it off of its target, which was enough to cause it to dissipate.
"That should do it. Though I don't think normal first aid will be enough for your friend anymore. He's lost quite a bit of blood, and it seems he's fallen unconscious."
The hooded man faded out with his last words lingering in the air. Nigel's bleeding had slowed, but the man was right, we didn't have any blood transfusions on hand.
And it didn't help matters that John chose this moment to pass out, seemingly exhausted. I'd guess he was about out of steam. After all, his magic is more costly than ours, and he's used it a lot in these past few minutes. If it's anything like the pain I went through, I can't blame him.
Glen was applying pressure to the wound, but he wasn't expecting much. You'd have to guess that he'd seen people wounded before, and this much blood seems to have given him a very fatal impression.
Seems I'm down to my last option then. Sure, it hurts worse than anything I've done in my life, but I've done it twice in the last few minutes, what's once more?
I reached for the power inside me, and as I expected there wasn't anything left to find. So be it. I reached out, through my gut, to the power around me. And the power overwhelmed all my senses. I felt burning passion in fire, inevitability in the wind, solid strength of earth and stone, and the calming ambience of water. I felt the holy righteousness of the light, and the cool shadows of darkness. I felt all the magic around me, more than I could ever describe. It was beautiful, but it shattered me. What little of my mind that kept composure reached out for that serene water, and drew it into me.
It's fitting to say the magic flooded into me. Like waves crashing against a shore, like a river raging into the sea, like a storm pounding the deck of a ship, the water tried to drown me.
And aside from the pain, was pleasure. It felt good, to let the magic take me. The calming water stole my fears, it put all my worries to rest. It was like I was floating in a sea of endless peace. I wanted to stay like that forever, but there was something chewing at the back of my mind. Why had I found myself here? Obviously I'd just let myself feel the power of the water to calm my nerves right? But what had me so nervous? I've never been one to worry over nothing. Right... A new world, that was it. But why wait this long? There's something wrong... I... There's something I needed to do?
It all came back to me in sudden clarity, and coming out of my stupor I formed the spell. I'd always heard water had healing properties, I guess it's time to put that to the test.
I finished shaping the spell in my mind and let the power in me loose. It flowed through me, painfully, and closed on Nigel's wound. I could see his flesh reforming, I could feel his health, he was on the brink of death, but he would survive. He hadn't lost too much blood yet, but it was certainly close.
But the spell... It didn't stop.
Even after Nigel was healed, the magic still flowed through me, without direction now. Storm clouds were beginning to form above, and the pain the magic was causing redoubled. It began to rain, hard. At first it was like any other squall, but it kept building. Soon it was like we were in a hurricane.
I was no longer in control, the magic was. I was just it's way to affect the world. It forced its way through me, and the pain began to fade. It started to feel like I was drunk, my mind clouded, slipping into the magic again. I began to feel the storm above us, not as furious as it seemed, if anything it's energy was born of joy. It's violence born of exuberance and immaturity. The calmness was taking hold of me now, even as I felt my body trying to tear apart at the seams.
But I couldn't keep this up. I had to fight back against the tides. I may be one man standing against literal oceans, but if I couldn't stop this magic, it wouldn't just be myself in danger. This storm was building itself to destroy this forest, even if by accident, and everything in it.
So, I fought against the seas, standing firm in my own head, holding against the magic with all I had. It was overwhelming, I couldn't even breathe. This wouldn't work, I'd die before I could stop this tide, I needed something else.
I reached again outside of myself, stepping aside of the water, and felt for something to save me. I grabbed onto another magic, earth. It might make things worse, but at this point I'd rather take my chances.
I pit the earth magic against the water coursing through me. It's foundation as solid as stone, it pushed against the water, a dam of sorts across my mind. It was working, at least a little. The earth beneath us began to shake violently. It felt like any second I would be thrown from my feet, and the water would burst through again, but I held my ground. My clothes stuck to me, both from the rain and from my own sweat. I don't know when, but I'd started screaming, and soon I didn't have the breath to even make a sound. I couldn't breathe, but I stood strong, holding that wall against the power of the ocean.
Eventually, the two magics stopped flowing through me. After what felt like an eternity, I fell to my knees. Everything hurt. Along my whole body, it felt as if daggers were cutting into me, stabbing through me. It felt like my skin was on fire, like my bones were melting. It felt like I was under a great pressure, like my lungs were about to implode, and I sat there, on my knees, pain making what was left of my mind white. If felt as if my very soul was damaged, like this pain would simply never end.
I was dying, as surely as Nigel was just moments ago. In a muddy clearing under a storm the likes I hadn't seen in my own years, with the earth still quivering beneath me, I was going to die.
I wasn't afraid, it was just a sure fact. So sure, that the pain started to fade, becoming an afterthought. I felt myself fall onto my back, felt the rain hitting me in sheets. I might as well enjoy these last few moments.
I looked over, Nigel was still asleep, but Glen was helping John up. He seemed like he was yelling something, but all I could hear was the buzz that the magic had left in my head. I was at peace, dying on this ground. I'd saved a life, maybe even two. I'd say for a store owner, that's a pretty good way to go out.
"I haven't seen mana exhaustion this bad in decades!"
I looked over, and John was huffing leaning on Glen. In front of the pair, past John's outstretched hand, was a man with dark crimson hair, amber eyes shining with magic. He wore a button up shirt, but the first 3 buttons were spread open wide, showing off his sizable chest. He had a cocky smile on him, and the rain was stopping above him, sliding to the side as if he had an umbrella, despite his lack there-of. He had a scar crossing his left brow, from the midline of his forehead down to the corner of his eye. He looked no older than 23, but his shining eyes spoke of a wisdom beyond what humans should have.
"You got lucky, bud, I might just be your best shot for saving this kid."
He walked towards me, and held out his hand, magic gathered in his palm in an instant, more magic then had flowed through me to create the storm, more than I'd felt when I'd reached out into the forest. He released his spell, the casting having taken only a fraction of a moment, and it rushed into my head.
By the time I woke up, the storm was over. Glen had built a fire, and Nigel, John, and I were all laying next to it. Nigel was awake, but it seems Glen convinced him to rest and recover. John was asleep, peacefully, considering the circumstances. I for one, wasn't getting up any time soon.
"What... happened?"
"Well, after that hooded guy got rid of the magic on Nigel, you tried to cast another magic. The redhead said that you put yourself in something called terminal mana exhaustion, apparently it's what happens when you try to use too much mana too quickly. The good news is that you managed to heal Nigel, even though you almost killed yourself."
That's good. I guess all's well that ends well.
"The bad news is that you won't be using magic for at least a couple weeks, if not a month. If you do, you might end up like that again, and we might not get as lucky with John a second time."
"Wait, you mean for the next month I'm just a practically defenseless, utterly out of my element, dead weight?"
"I would have put it a little nicer, but yeah. Don't worry, that redhead said that there aren't too many more things in this forest that'd be willing to get so close to the site of a near magical catastrophe, whatever that means."
"So, are we just stuck here for a month?"
"Seems like it. If you want, I'll train you a little bit of self-defense. Seems like we'll have the time. Nigel wants me to have you try and tutor me in magic too, so it seems we'll be spending some time together anyway. Rest for now though, you need it."
Well, we could agree on one thing, I definitely needed rest.
"Were you two raised in a barn, some of us are trying to sleep?"
Apparently, we had woken up John with our conversation.
"That isn't how you use that expression."
Don't poke the bear Glen!
"Either way, Nigel wanted you to keep practicing too. Unlike us two though, you're all on your own. apparently you should try to fix up your personality and make a few friends that you can summon a little more consistently."
"My personality can't be that bad!"
Me and Glen both share a chuckle, at least we hope it's a joke, but it's about time my exhaustion catches up with me again, and I slip back to sleep.