Ding! A blue window popped up in front of David, and the system read out the words.
[Passive: Consume - The user can consume an immobilized or dead target to gain a portion of the targets mana.
Cost: None
Notes:
Mana gained from dead targets will rapidly decrease a few moments after death.
Targets much weaker than the user will yield negligible mana.]
'Huh?' David couldn't believe it, what on earth was this so called system telling him to do?
[Yes User, unfortunately, mana in living creatures is linked-]
Once again, the system seemed to ignore David's initial question. But this time, he interrupted it.
'No, are you telling me to eat things alive? What does this mean? I need to find magic beasts and eat them whole, alive?'
[Actually, this ability is not limited to Magical Beasts, any being with a significant amount of mana would suffice. Even humans.]
There was a long pause, as David thought over what the system had just said to him, he watched the flock of birds that were just visible in the remaining light, wheeling and spinning through the air.
'So what, you're telling me I can be a cannibal to grow stronger? You can't even explain the first ability to me properly, and now you're telling me to become some kind of hungry beast?' Now, David was angry, this system had already tricked and tortured him, and now it was wasting his time.
'There's no way I'm using this.'
[User, please. I shall display a simulation of the usage of this ability.]
Ding
Another blue window popped up, and there stood an image of David, facing a fallen Gem Deer.
"Oh, that isn't so bad." David murmured out loud to himself, as he watched the video created by the system.
'So, is this it? I can regenerate and steal mana from things?' And even though David pretended to be disappointed, he wasn't. The greatest limiting factor for humans was their slow speed of gathering mana.
[User, there's no need to put on a front with me, were are completely and totally interlinked.]
The cold voice was sickeningly sweet now, causing David to flinch.
'Don't ever say that again. That's disgusting.' He had to live with this strange thing living inside of him, he didn't need to be reminded anymore of its closeness to him.
[Apologies. User, if you are curious about my functions, all you need to do is ask.]
The system continued, but David knew that there was no way it was that simple, otherwise, why had it tricked him into the integration?
[Unfortunately User, your mana reserves are far from sufficient to utilize the majority of my functions. Please do gather more mana. I will notify you when a new function is available.]
Far from sufficient mana reserves. That was one way of putting it. Simply put, David was weak, at the very bottom of the food chain.
David let out a deep sigh, and returned to observing the horizon.
-----
"Let me leave! The Strike Team needs reinforcements, isn't this why we have the guard as well as the strike team!" Back at Coppervein, in the large, wooden building that served as the center of the settlement, loud voices were arguing back and forth.
A dark skinned woman had just spoken, her face looked like she had seen all sorts of battles, the scars that criss crossed her body only adding to her dangerous air.
Thick braids fell down to her waist, and a longsword hung at her back, at this moment, she had one leg up on the large table, glaring at the others all gathered around the table.
"Maerissa. The reason we have you all is so we can ensure the settlement is protected at times like this, we don't know where the enemy might strike next.
"We need to get a good grasp of the situation first. All we know is the students were attacked by orcs, and not all of them are back yet." A tiny man had spoken, and even though his voice was soft and quiet, the entire table had turned to look at him.
"Chief Art. That's exactly why we need to head out, we need to protect the kids. Who knows what they're dealing with right now. Xavier, David, Cherie and Callahan are still missing." Maerissa frowned. She was a woman of action, the longer they stayed here talking, the longer the students were in danger.
"Did you forget, the reports that Xavier was the one who assisted the orcs? There's more to this situation." Chief Art pushed up his spectacles, his beady eyes glittering with intelligence. All in all, the man looked very much like a mouse.
"I refuse to believe it. There's no way Xavier would betray the settlement. " Maerissa crossed her arms, turning away and biting her dark green lips, snakelike fangs peeking out of the corners of her mouth.
"I know he was your apprentice, but there's no reason for the kids to lie to us." A sturdy man wearing a blacksmith's apron finally spoke, he had been standing in the corner of the room, listening closely to everyone who spoke.
"Jord is right. And from what we heard, it was a High Orc and a few other orcs, once the Strike Team joins Brogan, they'll make short work of them."
"Right, what they need are fast reinforcements, more numbers aren't going to make a difference." Now, the others were all joining in to the conversation.
"I hate to bring this up people. But there might be some right here that are working for this unknown enemy." Jord the blacksmith had spoken up again, the entire room falling silent as his words sunk in. Until now, the idea had been at the back of everyone's minds, but no one had said anything.
"JORD!" Maerissa yelled, a hissing noise escaping from her throat.
"How dare you!" She continued, stalking over to where he stood, but the blacksmith stood unmoved, his arms crossed firmly on his chest, his bearded face completely calm.
"I only spoke my mind. This is why we have these meetings, isn't it." His gravelly voice continued, as Maerissa let out a low hissing noise, sending shivers up everybody else's spine.
"Please! Enough! Everyone!" The door to the hall slammed open, and there stood a round faced woman, her dark hair flying in every direction.
Everyone swung to the doorway, and immediately their faces fell, this was the only parent of the missing students, the rest were orphans, but that made things even worse, because she had been like a mother to all of them.
"They're after my daughter." Nora sighed, half collapsing onto the floor, before Maerissa appeared next to her, pulling her to her feet, and wrapping a protective arm around her.
"And why would that be?" Chief Art peered at Nora, concern in his voice, her normally red cheeks were as white as a sheet, all the blood had drained from her face.
"It's her father, he's not a human." As Nora spoke, Maerissa helped her into a chair, near the head of the table, Nora was a typically jolly and happy woman, for her to be this serious, meant this was serious indeed.
"So what! Barely anyone is fully human nowadays. Brogan has orc blood, my mother was a lamia. Why would anyone care! Even Jord has a trace of dwarf." Maerissa slapped the table, as if daring anyone to argue.
"Hold on Maerissa, let her finish." Chief Art stopped Maerissa, who looked ready to list out all the people in the settlement, and what non human blood they had.
"Her Father said not to reveal anything about him, but now that it's come to this, I feel I must. We've put you all in danger just by living here." Tears began to fall from from Nora's blue eyes and Maerissa patted her on the shoulder.
"He's a demon, a demon noble." A collective gasp sounded out around the room. Demon nobles were existences far beyond the imagination of people like themselves. It was rare for anyone out here to even glimpse an unintelligent demon, let alone a lesser demon.
"So she's on par with a demigod. Afterall, demon nobles rub shoulders with gods." Chief Art muttered, other similar comments echoed the chief.
"I guess you were right Maerissa, with existences like these in the picture, there's a good chance Xavier was mind controlled, or at least, influenced in some way." The chief sighed, suddenly looking years older, as he shrunk down into his chair.
"So. What now?" Someone murmured.
"What do you mean what now! We need to find Cherie and the other kids, and protect them. Demon shmemon, she's one of ours. Now and forever." With a bang, Maerissa slammed the table.
"No. I know you're tough Maerissa, but against his enemies, it'd be like an ant going up against an elephant." Nora shook her head.
"I've called for help. Her father left me an artifact to contact him. That's our best hope for now." Looking around at all the worried faces, Nora forced a weak smile.
Still in the corner of the room, as he looked out the window, Jord frowned, who on earth would be burning a fire right outside the window of the hall?