Changeling

2.5

As before, mana was stronger inside. What didn’t change was the humidity of the air. Nestra looked around.

A mangrove biome.

Under a heavy cobalt sky, the portal world extended in front of her in a dry snake path between mangrove trees. White lightning sometimes flashed silently in the distance. She looked up to rolling waves marked by pinpoint dots of light. The forest extended on a kilometers wide strip while to her left, a lake extended until it merged and faded with the horizon. A deep fog covered the land to her right, masking it from sight.

She knew it was much smaller than it appeared on an intellectual level. Walking to the edges of the world, one would soon be stopped by a space anomaly that simply prevented people from advancing, no matter how fast they could fly, and yet the sensation of infinity grasped at Nestra’s mind like a inebriating dream. This was a new world, another planet bound by different rules. It had long since finished drinking in the mana to trascend itself.

She frowned. Where did that thought come from? There were theories but they were just those, theories. No one knew why or how the incursion happened.

Right, mangroves.

Unfortunately, she knew what it meant.

Nestra made absolutely sure her armor set was airtight, double-checking indicators for a third time. She also pulled the monster compendium to cross reference ‘mangrove’ and ‘D-class’. Sometimes, new creatures made their appearance. It paid to be prepared. Not this time though, and with a last sigh, she set her rifle to burst fire and left.

Nestra’s boots sunk in the mud. A part of her wanted to remove the armor to feel the wet, warm soil between her toes. Not worth it. The land around her was mostly quiet except for a distant rush and the calls of unknown creatures. It would not last. Large insects with strange, circular bodies flew in flashes of ephemeral lights. The trees themselves were gnarled and bulbous, though not grotesquely so. Their trunk split into many limbs as they touched the water while heavy branches provided a thick cover. Growing fruits hung heavy, their white flesh turning green and red at the tip. It was spring here as well.

Soon, the path narrowed as the water on the sides of the path grew more shallow. Green reeds jutted from there in small bouquets. She paid close attention to those though it proved to be redundant. She perceived the ambush long before it could close on her.

The first hint was a change in the mana, a denser, different tone to the usual background. Reeds on either side of the path were yellow, the top shredded. Her night vision picked up unusual shapes clinging to the trees. She studied them as she slowed down.

Thick hair covered the creature’s squarish head, dropping down their naked back in thick rows plastered with mud and leaves. Short, thick humanoid limbs gripped the wood with great strength. She knew they had two fingers plus a thumb and a remarkable grip power that let them spend their days in trees, jumping from branch to branch without effort. It could also snap the spine of a baseline in an instant. They were manaprimates habilis arboricole, technically called mana monkeys. Another dokkaebi-class threat. Of course, there were several of them.

Nestra whipped out her rifle and landed three bullets at the base of a nearby dead reed. The water splashed, carrying dark red ichor. The reed surfaced as it proved to be nothing but a rudimentary snorkel. She shot another burst before the other reeds erupted into more monkeys. Backpedalling, she lined the creatures as they charged her.

Mana monkeys were ugly as sin. Bulging eyes and a flat nose accompanied a mouth so large it split their face in two, revealing misshapen rows of uneven teeth. They charged with shrill screams. They died with shrill screams. Nestra ducked in anticipation of darts but one still stuck her side, failing to penetrate. A fourth monkey died. The last one charged her from a farther point atop of a lizard creature with shimmering scales. A party leader. She lined her shot and missed when a dart hit her hand.

Split second decision moment.

Nestra swore and grabbed her blade. As the lizard jumped, she lunged, coating her blade with mana at the last moment. Her horizontal sweep went through the creature from side to side. Its rider jumped on her.

“Oof!”

They used their momentum to swing on her back but she was ready. Her hand touched the leg on her shoulder just as two hands clamped on her neck. She called upon electric mana.

The monkey spasmed and fell. Nestra turned on herself and, in one smooth motion, cut down with a cry. The powerful strike fell like thunder.

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She missed the head. Her sword cut an arm and part of a leg which was enough to debilitate the monkey. She finished it off a moment later then picked her gun off the ground. The blow dart monkeys had figured out her armor was too thick so they were swimming across the water to get at her.

For a moment, she watched them cross. The water made the mud slide off their bluish skin. Their faces were turned into rictus of pure hatred, eyes bloodshot and fangs bared. Nestra lined the shot, then reconsidered. It didn’t feel right. She unsheathed her sword again instead.

Planting her feet on the ground, she received the first monkey with a windmill, a two-handed strike that formed a half-circle from behind her knee to the air in front of her. Each windmill caught the monkeys in the chest as they rose from the brackish waters, sending their tiny bodies flying with sprays of blood. As the last one died, she was left alone on the field.

Another victory.

First thing first, make sure she was safe. Fortunately, D-class worlds were fairly straightforward and the enemies, though cunning, would just fight until death. Next was checking for wounds and her gear. She swore when she saw that her rifle was covered in mud. It took her a minute but soon, the firearm was reloaded and the blade cleaned of blood.

The next step would be looting but first, there were the strange gains she got from her victim. This time, the change was more subtle. It took tracking the insects moving around to confirm it.

She could think faster.

That was one of the things that stumped biologists the most. Mana could accelerate thought. The effect was mild but it was there, and it meant whatever rules defined her progress considered that this was a good battle. The mana monkeys were a new foe so that condition was fulfilled, the question was the use of guns.

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She’d used guns against gangers back in fifteen and it hadn’t worked. She knew it hadn’t worked, because it was killing the rogue user that had triggered her awakening. Was it because they were augs? Or because they were not users? Maybe… but she didn’t think so. Shooting them felt wrong at that time. Impersonal. It was not a battle she chose and the same was true for them because, even more than her, they’d been victims of a power play. Shooting the mana monkeys here was a true contest. One she’d picked. It was her battle, after all.

Nestra dropped her backpack and reached for the skinning tool.

Of course, those were all conjectures based on her feelings. What mattered was that she was now getting stronger.

Mana monkeys held no valuable parts, or rather, they had been thoroughly researched over the years and now held little interest. The lizard skin was used in some midrange gleam clothes and bags though even Nestra thought it was tacky. She removed it, damaging the limbs a little despite the guide. She’d need some practice. The skin went into a special pouch while she kept the tail meat in another since, apparently, it was considered a delicacy. It did smell tempting which was a little concerning on its own. A pleasant scent emanated from the raw, juicy piece of meat over the muddy background of the bog. She knew it would taste amazing once properly prepared.

Once she was done, it was time to move.

The next ambush happened ten minutes later. It was pathetic compared to the first with only five monkeys, two of which died before the rest realized she had spotted them underwater. She benefitted again from an improvement but, clearly, the benefits were diminishing. She needed fresh prey. A third ambush went very much like the other two.

Slowly, the path became muddier and more difficult to traverse in her heavy suit of armor. Trails in the water hinted at the presence of some fauna, though they didn’t engage. The path eventually led to a clearing surrounded on all sides by mangrove trees. A single altar rested in the middle, its flanks slimy with marshy growths. A pair of mana crystals rested there.

Nestra made her way to the suspicious tree standing next to the altar, one that emitted a little mana. Her hand rested on the handle of Gorge’s revolver, its weight clear even through her glove.

No, that wouldn’t be right.

But this would be.

Nestra lifted her rifle, flicked the indicator to full auto and emptied the entire magazine into the trunk in a thunderous display. The gun bucked in her hands, her improved strength the only reason she could keep control. She smiled as the creature moved towards her. Manacanthecae Enttus Minor. A mangrove ent, named after some old legend. A branch whipped and she unsheathed her blade, cutting as the limb whistled over her head.

The power behind the strike was enormous. The blade was almost torn from her hand but she managed to regain control at the last moment. Cursing, she jumped over another strike. Slowly, the creature was making its way towards her. A multitude of leg-like roots crawled over the ground.

Nestra wished she was a firespark. A firespark would have roasted the creature in two minutes. Instead, she cut with power as the next, predictable strike aimed at her midriff. It cut the branch neatly.

The cut part still slammed into her chest, making her lose her balance. She jumped over another strike. The next one fell short now that one of the two branches was damaged. In answer, a bulbous extension rotated on the trunk with a sickly groan and a new branch appeared from the back, ready to strike. This one went up, then down.

Nestra easily sidestepped, then she ran to the back of the tree. The water barely slowed her down. She felt too giddy. Another strike aimed at her midriff but it came from the shortened branch. She stopped behind the main trunk while all three branches were on the opposite side. The legs were still a concern so she lunged and planted the blade deep into the tree’s bark.

Nothing much happened beyond some more groaning.

She pressed the button. There was some steam, some more groaning, and nothing else. Hard to say if she was actually doing something. Just then, the branches traveled over the surface of the trunk towards her.

Sticking close, Nestra smirked as she ran around her slow opponent. The ent was strong and against a formation, they could be a problem but she was alone and quick on her feet. Even a sudden gap in the clearing’s mud failed to make her fall. It was, she realized, where the tree had been planted.

She circled the ent and hacked at each branch in turn until they were nothing but kindling. A gap in the trunk where the bullets had landed bled sap, so she stabbed there and waited.

The heavy, glistening liquid fell in great goops until, finally, the ent collapsed.

Nestra felt it die. Shortly after, she felt… more solid somehow while a portal opened near the altar. She saluted the fallen and immediately felt silly about it. That wiped the smile off her face. Right. This was a low D-class monster and it was not sentient. She would save the theatrics for larger targets.

She collected as much of the sap as she could in vials, then hacked for fifteen minutes to reveal the ent’s heart wood. Heart wood was a single, pale, pear-shaped mass at the center of an ent. Intact, it could be used to make mana instruments. This one would be a low end tool but that meant there would be buyers. She managed to cut a piece of the trunk that definitely contained what she wanted and left it at that, unwilling to endanger her prize.

A good haul.

Nestra passed through the opening, walking over the supine form of the sanitation staff who was now sleeping on his side, head resting over a folded jumpsuit. He was snoring softly. A box waited by his side with ‘For little Nezhra’ written on it in that sharp, weird script. She opened it. The box contained a message and a book, and by book, she was being generous.

“Little Nezhra!

I hope you are having fun. Congratulations on getting stronger! As a reward, I have remembered something that will be of use to you: the first movement of the Stalk of the Scornful Crescent! Enjoy. Next coordinates below, tomorrow. Make sure you keep your mana close and coated.

Until next time!”

So… infuriating! Whoever wrote that treated her like she was a little girl, not an adult in her twenties. Well, it was fun and they were helping but still! She wanted more, like knowing what the fuck she was and possibly also finding out if she had people like her, someone who could relate? Anyone?

“I wish you’d just come out and talk it out!”

No reply.

“I know you’re here somewhere!”

Still no reply.

“I… I just want someone to tell me what I am. I don’t want to be alone anymore. It’s so tiring,” she continued, voice lowering to a whisper.

“Just someone to show me where I belong. It’s fine if it’s just one person. Like you, whoever you are. That would be fine. Just one person explaining to me what the fuck is going on. It’s not much, is it?”

The sanitation employee started to snore. There would be no answer here, at least not tonight. And no kero nuts to dull the pain. Nestra grumbled and checked the book since it was supposed to be some prize.

It was clearly not a real book. It was a notebook bought from vintage paper mill company, she even recognized the logo from a past fad when it had become fashionable to send letters again. It did look well handled, its back a little wrinkled. Come to think of it, all her prizes were wrinkled.

She opened the first page.

A demon woman, advancing under a storm over a basalt landscape pitted by impacts. Great stone shapes animated by blue energy reached for her but she cut them away with contempt. Her movements were slow compared to the haphazard assault of the stone beings. She cut them down with efficient, merciless strikes. Each of her cuts was perfection given form, just enough damage to take down the creature at just the right depth with just enough strength before she struck again, not a single instant wasted. Every attack was countered as it wound up. She was overwhelming them with a fraction of the movements they performed without really trying. Nestra knew the woman could go faster. She just elected not to.

There was no need.

The demon woman continued into the storm at a sedate pace until the torrential rains obscured her shape, leaving behind shattered remains. She—

Nestra slammed the book close.

Holy Riel that was some strong stuff. Her memory searched the image of the blade master and found diagrams, examples, exercises. It was the beginning of a book. Interestingly, most techniques integrated what she already knew, what her father had taught her on the fencing piste back when she’d still hoped…

Nestra’s mood plummeted. Whatever. She grabbed the book and made for her car with the heavy bag on her back reminding her that her little excursion ended with a success. The trip home was annoying but, eventually, she made it back safely.

She decided to have the lizard right away because hunger gnawed at her. She prepared it herself with a guide she found on the net, all of the tail which was in theory enough to feed six. Despite that, she still felt like it wasn’t… the best food despite the pleasant taste and the rejuvenating feeling it left on her after she was done. Not what her teeth were meant to bite. She really hoped it wouldn’t be people. Riel, she really did.

She eyed her fork.

She bit her fork.

Note to self, forks do not taste good. At least it was another item off the list of the things her teeth were designed to eat.

At around 5 AM, she crashed hard and went to sleep.

***

A new sphere was active when Nestra entered the next grotto. This one spoke of games of wit, of fast memory. Cards and tricks. A stranger removing something from a holster. A door opening onto the maw of a gun. It returned to rotate among the others when she released it. She felt there was more to it but she was still weak, extremely weak. She would have to wait.

The armor and shield room was clearly a resistance room. She was sure of it now. Next to the armor, a new form was now active. It looked a bit like a metal skeleton and represented her internal fortitude. Or at least she thought so. It was hard to tell without punching herself in the gut.

So now she could, apparently, resist physical attacks, acid, and electricity better. For the electricity, her resistance to her own spells was proof of that. For the others, she couldn’t be completely sure.

She wondered what would happen next.