Chapter 6: Maybe i shouldn't have done that? (3)
Hmmm... Maybe it is time to ask questions? For example - what is magic? Why does it work? How is that even a concept? Those are all good questions!
Let's start with "what mana is and where it came from"! Imagine that all living being are... infected by it, doesn't sound that fun, does it? Well, it doesn't! Dont be too sad, while mana is, in fact, a virus of sorts - it is not harmful!
Well, for most... Mana itself is a concept that was brought in the world by dragons, they were the first thing that appeared, even before time itself there were dragons, and since that is a thing - time isn't affecting them much, while they can observe and even intervene in it's flow - time cannot do the same to dragons.
For that reason, dragons are immortal. But! Why am i even talking about them? Because what brought mana in to this world is dragons! How? Well, they had to die. Dragon Hearts are... To put it simply - infinite sources of mana. Every time a dragon died it's heart overloaded itself with mana and exploded, spreading it like a disease.
There were many dragons, by this time only a handful is left alive, even the first dragon ever is dead, it is unknown what was the reason of his death, but... if he didn't die willingly - i'm afraid we're all doomed, since not even all other dragons combined could match his power... and if such being were to get killed by someone?... Just how strong that... being was?..
Well, then how does it spread long time after the explosion set off? Simple, while mana is not a biological concept, it can intervene in those. Mana lets itself into the bodies of everything, be it rocks, that's how mana crystals are formed, they're basically mutated rocks, of course different rocks produce different crystals in the end, but the end of their "lifecycle" is the same.
Being that are alive are affected in the same way, mana just infects their bodies and changes them according to their own desires. Wait, desires? How does that make sense? Simple!
Mana is making your wishes come true. Do you think that dragons used some spells and difficult things? No, why would they? A simple wish from them came true, same goes for any mana user, of course, not to the extect of dragons, they need to try really hard to make it work, but with generations and generations it just... comes naturally.
Take elves for example, they could've been simple human runaways, maybe farmer who lost in the forest and kept living in it? There are many different elven nations thruout the universe, but elves are the same. Why? Because the only reason for their existence is mana! Remember what i said about rocks and mana? The end result is always the same!
So, how did elves came to existence? For generations their ancestros wished to be one with forest! To hunt freely, to be protected by it, to enjoy living! Mana fulfilled their wish. They became one with the forest! Of course, it did not happen in a short span of time, it was a long and arduous process, but it happened!
Other races are the same. Orcs? They wished to be the best warriors. Goblins? Well, i think the first gobling was a godly thief that could steal everything, i honestly dont know how they went downhill... Who else? Drarfs? Smithing and building! They're incredibly strong!
What made them all? Just a simple death of a dragon and the explosion of his heart. All those wonders, possibilities of immortality and powers that can rival existence itself are possible because a dragon died. What do you think, is that a worthy death?
...
-* 14 minutes left... -- Kerren still stood before the door -- Would it be better for me to just use another set? Of course i will lose 14 minutes, but it's guaranteed that i will not be in danger in a critical moment... No, that's fine -- he finally made a decision.
Kerren then exhaled and opened the door before him.
Strangely, when he was about to come in to the room before him, he found himself standing before a door.
-* What the f*kk? -- Kerren questioned reality.
He then opened the same door again, but as he was about to enter the room - the same thing happened.
-* Okay now, what the actual f*kk is going on? -- Kerren was not scared, he was angry that he had to open the same door thrice -- A trap? Looks like an illusion, but why is it like that? -- he tried to find an explanation to whatever is happening right now.
Deciding not to think too much about it, since it didn't seem that anything actually changed on his body, he opened the door again.
As he was about to about to get in - nothing happened, he was in the next room. It made him question thing again.
-* Hmmm... Okay, looks like i'm simply getting insane, hallucinations can occur in awakened under stressful situations after all. But is that a good thing? As far as i remember none of those who got hallucination lived for long... -- he started thinking about something else entirely once again, why cant he just focus on what's infront of him?...
-* No, wait, their hallucinations were due to them having a close-to-death experience and i got them from opening a door... was i close to death? -- Kerren looked back at the corridor behind him -- I... maybe it has something to do with the blood? But if they passed here - how is that they didn't kill it? Maybe they couldn't? That's too complicated for me... -- he found himself unable to answer whatever happened, it was clearly above his level of understading.
-* Well, even if i am alive after all this, looks like i wont have a happy life... -- he was dissapointed -- At least i tried, that's better than not trying, is it? -- he smiled.
Kerren didn't think about his distant future or the reason behind the hallucination anymore, but suddenly, as he was about to start looking around, he had an epiphany. He looked at his hand that had a magical timer on it.
-* 8 minutes?... -- Kerren was visibly shocked and afraid -- How is that?.. Something just stole 6 minutes of my life? Wait... Maybe my memory got erased? Something must've happened, it wont be unusual... Maybe something appeared and told me not to go, but i insisted, and that being made an offer, erasing my memory about it in the end? -- he starting imagining, while that is a valid outcome if he were an important character, why would such a being appear before a random thief that called himself a porter?
-* Hm... Well, there's not enough evidence, just like the other theories, whatever. -- he then started to look around, not like he didn't do it before, it's just that now he did it properly -- Another empty room with a few door eh? -- he didn't feel anything about it.
-* Three, four... six doors in total? Hm... -- he then came closer to a door on his right -- Well, why bother taking my time? -- ending his thought he opened the door.
Before him was a corridor, just like the one he came from, the only difference was that there were no blood on the ground.
-* Oh, so it must be a main hall of sorts, if i'm right, then... - he came closer to the door on his left -- this must be a corridor! -- he opened the door, before him was another corridor -- Yep, so those three doors must lead somewhere important then -- he looked at the three door on his left.
-* Well, if i'm right then this door leads to another trashbin, the one on the left must be the one leading to the main entrance... or i got it all wrong that it's the other way around... -- his head started to hurt from all the thinking he was through.
-* Anyway, those corridors are no-go, at best i'll just arrive to a trashbin or to a place with enemies, those three doors must lead somewhere nice... if it were me the one in the middle will lead to the center, maybe to the control room? -- he tried to guess what was behind those doors.
-* Okay, first doors on the side, then the middle one -- he came closer to the door that was on the right from the central one -- Lady Luck, allow me to live through this... -- exhaling, he opened it.
Before him was a spacious room, at least three times as big as the one he was standing in. It had a lot of tables, chairs and in general it looked like a dining room or a canteen, perhaps that was it?
What was strange is that when he entered it, there was space on his left, meaning that if he were to open the central door in the room before, he will get in to this same room, but there were no door on this side.
-* Space technology? Interesting, so... potentially this place could be as big as a city? -- he quickly abandoned this thought -- Nah, that's too much mana, a single dragon heart wont be able to give enough mana for an army of automatons and such a big facility, maybe it's just those rooms. -- He was wrong about it, a single dragon heart would be able to produce enough mana for thousands of hidden space rooms.
-* Well, maybe they have something tasty somewhere here? Some magical fruits or dishes that boost your stats? -- already imagining the riches he went inside the kitchen -- Eh?... Nothing here? Well, that to be expected, i doubt anything but automatons are left in this place, what did i even hope for?... -- dissapointed, he came back to the initial room and stood before another door.
-* Opening it wouldn't hurt, i guess -- he tried to open the door, it was closed -- That's... new? Do i have to use an unlock scroll?... Sure, why not, there must be a reason it's closed. -- he made a decision quicker than i imagined, wow!
Kerren then took out a small scroll, infused his mana inside of it and pointed his finger on the door.
-* Nothing? Well... There goes my scroll, i guess... -- what did he expect? This is a high-level facility and he wanted to unlock a door with a level 4 unlock scroll? What a joke.
But, to be honest, level 4 unlock scroll wasn't a joke, while other spells and scrolls had one use, "Unlock" could open anything, be it a heart of a living being, in methaphorical sense of course, or a door, it could help with anything, so those were insanely expensive! For example the scroll he just lost was around 300 gramms of 100% A crystal! It was a big loss for him.
Why was this spell so special? Because mana did not differentiate between living and non-living beings, while opening a door is simple, opening a heart is hard, but for mana there was no difference, so using it on a human worked like a truth serum, which was why they were banned almost everywhere. Of course, they were only banned for those that had no power, higher-ups and big guilds used them on daily basis...
-* Okay then, the last door will either lead somewhere nice or just kill me, be it one or another i will be happy -- that sounded strange?.. Does he want to die or something?...
As he was about to put his hand on the door...
-* Oh, right, what if there is another trap like the one that took 6 minutes from me? -- he then looked at his hand -- 2 minutes left, okay, if it wears off it happened again... damn it... -- ending his thought he opened the door.
- What? -- he wasn't even able to hide his shock.
Before him was a giant space filled with maze-like platforms, some were just floaing in space, some led from one to another, there were countless automatons jumping from one to another, all in all this place looked not only magical but incredibly dangerous.
Trying to hide his presence Kerren quickly took out a seemingly empty bottle and drank whatever was inside, it looked like he was gulping on air, he only drank half of it, dumping the rest on his body. Almost immediately he dissapered from sight.
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