Page 11 of World of the Forgotten (World of the Forgotten #1)

Mana Crystals

T he first thing we did was rest since our previous one was cut short by the slimes.

And thanks to Sky’s lantern, we didn’t have to rely on Mira to keep us out of the dark.

Kai passed out rations to each of us to help replenish our energy.

It wasn’t much, but it was very appreciated after such a long and trying day.

Our first adventure out of Selas and we’d been nearly killed twice. And, thanks to the kobold’s numbers, we never got a chance to harvest the kobolds we managed to kill. That meant we’d have nothing to sell at the market and another day of our coin purses becoming dangerously lighter.

As we sat in the dim light of Sky’s lantern, I couldn’t help but notice the tension in his shoulders.

His wolf ears twitched at every small sound, and his tail remained tucked close to his body.

It was clear he was on high alert, probably because he now had a loud group of newcomers invading his space.

Only he knew what kind of monsters we might have attracted from deeper within the cavern with our noise.

Kai, ever observant, seemed to pick up on Sky’s unease. He quietly moved closer to the Animaru, offering him an extra portion of the rations. “Here,” he said softly, “You need to keep your strength up too.”

“I don’t need your food. I have my own.”

“Consider it a gift,” Kai said, not dissuaded by Sky’s gruff exterior. “For saving us.”

Sky’s gaze met Kai’s warm brown eyes for a moment before he begrudgingly accepted the food with a grunt. It wasn’t much, but it was a start .

We ate in silence, and I found myself unable to shake the feeling of disappointment. We had come here hoping to make some coin, to prove ourselves as new adventurers. But all we ended up doing was getting into one dangerous spot after another.

“So,” Kai said, breaking the silence. “Tomorrow, we need a new plan. It seems the kobolds are easy to kill, but only when they are alone. And we need to do it fast, so they don’t call up their kin to run us down again.”

“Maybe if someone hadn’t run headfirst into the battle flailing and screaming…” I said scathingly, shooting a dirty look at Kuro.

“Piss off,” he hissed, giving me a dismissive wave as he tore through his piece of dried meat. “I’m a knight, not a thief. I don’t do stealth. Besides, backstabbing isn’t an honorable way to take a life.”

“Honorable or not,” Kai replied, “we’ll need to figure out a new mode of attack if we’re going to survive. Doing what we did today only guarantees we die instead of the kobolds. Honor will have to wait.”

“I’m… I’m sorry,” Mira said, her face hidden under the brim of her hat. “My aim was terrible and I… I almost…”

“Almost burnt us alive?” Kuro finished without any sense of tact. “Yeah. We noticed.”

“S-Sorry!”

“It’s okay,” Rhia said, patting her on the shoulder. “We’re all learning how to use our skills.”

“And it was you that saved us from those slimes,” I added, trying to encourage her further. “Without your light, we never would’ve known what was coming after us.”

“And Rhia’s strength kept us safe from the kobolds,” Kai added as well. “Oliver’s healing kept us from getting too banged up.”

“Speak for yourself,” Kuro snapped. Then he stared at all of us expectantly. “Alright. Tell me what I did right today. I’m ready.”

Silence.

“You… were very brave,” Kai said at last, clearly searching for something.

Kuro grinned like a fool. “I was brave, wasn’t I? I’m telling you, I’m prime knight material. The goddess of Light is going to make me her champion one day. Just you wait!”

“Is that a thing?” I asked, looking at Kai. “Do the gods choose champions?”

But before he could answer, it was Sky that cut in.

“Yes. But it’s exceedingly rare. Only the greatest of the great get recognized by the gods.

Light and Dark choose champions the most often.

There are at least twenty in existence at the moment.

While Nature and Chaos choose less, but they still have a dozen between them for now.

” He turned his attention on me, his blue eyes catching my gaze.

“And the god of the Twilight… well, he hasn’t chosen a champion in over two centuries. ”

Sky’s piercing gaze held mine, and I felt a shiver run down my spine.

There was something in his eyes, something I couldn’t quite place.

Was he staring at me because I was a cleric and a servant of the Twilight?

Or was it for another reason? Before I could ponder it further, he looked away, his ears twitching nervously.

“How do you know so much about the gods and their champions?” Kai asked, his voice gentle but curious.

Sky’s tail bristled slightly. “I’ve been in Cindersea for a couple years. You hear things.”

“Well, I’m going to be the next champion of Light,” Kuro declared, puffing out his chest. “Just you wait and see.”

Sky snorted, a hint of derision in his voice. “The gods don’t choose based on bravado alone. It takes more than charging headfirst into danger. And the goddess of Light… well, she’s very picky.”

Kuro’s face reddened, but before he could retort, Kai smoothly intervened. “Is everyone feeling a bit better now?”

There was a slow round of nods. Kai opened his mouth to speak again, but it was Sky who got to his feet first.

“Good,” he said, grabbing his spear. “Because you’re going to help me earn a living today.” He tipped the point of the spear down at Kuro, the blade only inches from his face. “And if you’re good and don’t complain, I might even give you a few coins for your trouble.”

“Are we fighting more monsters?” I asked, the hesitation clear in my voice.

“No,” he said, lifting his spear. “We’re hunting mana crystals.” Sky didn’t wait for questions. Instead, he kneeled down and tossed a burlap sack to each of us. “Come on,” he said, scooping up the lantern with the tip of his spear. “It’s a bit of a walk, so we better get started.”

Everyone followed suit, getting up without complaint.

Kuro huffed a few times and made a big show of his sighs, but he never opened his mouth.

I could see the way he looked at Sky’s spear, remembering how it had frozen those slimes solid in a split second.

I grinned, feeling a little vindicated to see him fearful of something. His machismo was getting tiring.

We walked for a solid ten minutes in silence. Now and then I heard Rhia whisper to Mira at the back of the group, but other than that, the cave was as quiet as could be.

Almost Immediately I found myself staring at Sky as I followed behind him.

His spear hilt clacked on the ground with each step, the muscles in his arm bulging as he gripped the shaft.

He cut a rather handsome figure silhouetted against the lantern light.

I even liked the way his ears and tail added an air of mystery to him.

Something about him was so alluring and I felt my heart rate quicken.

The same pull was there, the one I’d felt the first day we met.

But then I pushed it down. Sky had made it perfectly clear that he wasn’t interested in anyone.

In fact, he seemed annoyed by everything.

What had happened to him to make him act like that?

And why was he working alone? Cindersea was a dangerous place, and newcomers were warned that going outside the city walls solo was a death sentence. So why did he?

I shook my head knowing none of those questions were appropriate to ask.

He had no reason to tell me his reasons and frankly, it was rude of me to pry.

However, if we were going to keep running into one another, we should at least be friends, right?

He had a lot of information about Cindersea we hadn’t learned yet and I didn’t want to waste this opportunity to learn.

“So, what do you need the mana crystals for?” I asked, jogging forward to catch up. I figured it was at least polite to make conversation as we walked down the long dark tunnel.

Sky let out a long sigh, clearly irritated with me interrupting the silence. I could tell by the way his ears laid back as I spoke that he didn’t want to talk. “You guys really don’t know anything, do you?”

Nobody spoke up, although Kuro did let out an exasperated huff.

“Mana crystals are the base ingredient for mana restoration potions. They can be sold at the market in Selas to potion makers and apothecaries.”

“Is that how you make a living?”

“Sometimes,” he grunted. “And, if I’m really lucky, I’ll come across a single piece of mana ore. Although, that’s pretty rare and they’re always tiny.”

“T-They use those to make m-magic items, right?” Mira asked, her voice barely audible from the back of the group. “Like my wand.”

“That’s right,” Sky nodded. “At least one of you knows something, thank the gods.”

“Your wand is magic?” I asked, glancing back at Mira.

She gave me a soft smile. “A little bit. It’s a beginner wand, so only the very tip is mana ore.

The amount of ore is less than half the size of a thimble, but it’s enough to channel power through it without destroying the wand.

” She glanced over my staff. “I don’t think clerics use it in their weapons. Well, not at first anyway.”

“All the high priests had metal staves,” I nodded. “I bet they have some. But they knew really powerful spells.” I let out a long sigh. “I can barely heal a scratch.”

“Damn right,” Kuro grumbled behind me.

I turned back to burn him a dirty look, but he just stuck his tongue out at me like a child. Sometimes I really hated that guy.

Sky suddenly stopped, raising his hand for silence. His ears twitched, scanning for any sound. After a tense moment, he relaxed slightly.

“We’re here,” he whispered, lowering his lantern. “Look around carefully. The crystals look just like the stone walls, but they will glimmer faintly in the light.”