Chương 29: Fools and Fire
Meanwhile, West from Lan's Domain
Once more humans marched towards the East, towards the new and unknown threat. Sixteen people walked this time, a total of three Hunting parties, along with a person who was familiar with the path leading them.
That person was Anna. Although Johann insisted that she stay behind to heal her wounds, her pride as a Ranger wouldn't allow her to sit still doing nothing, especially when her navigation skills could be of use.
So, when the three parties gathered for subjugation, she volunteered to be a guide towards the destination, already knowing the way and location of the target.
And, to be honest, she was still curious about what was down there, despite nearly dying the last time she visited. Such was the curious nature of a Ranger.
But even her curiosity alone couldn't fully suppress her irritation towards the selected leader of the group.
"Oi, ya porcelain doll, how much longer to it? Or are you lost already?"
Anna's brow twitched while the man's like-minded companions laughed along. Still, she did her best to compose herself and looked back towards the ones she was leading.
The leading man himself was a bald, bearded, and scarred man, just what would pop into your head when you imagine a barbarian. Unsurprisingly enough, he was also wielding a Greataxe. He was the leader of all other fifteen hunters, but he also was a leader of his own group, which was composed of similarly looking macho men.
This wasn't the first time he was taunting her or cracking a bad joke at her expense, this persisted all the way from the moment that she was leading the group as a navigator. Maybe he just didn't like anyone being ahead of him, or maybe he was an asshole. A mystery of the century.
"...let me say this once again. I know the way. No, I am not lost. And answering your other question, the target is literally in the forest in front of us."
She said those words as the group crossed a hill, revealing the treeline of the forest.
"...Is it just me, or is it bigger than before?"
Unfortunately for her, she was heard by the baldy.
"Ya hear that lads? The lass is scared of some trees!"
He then walked past her, rudely brushing her with his shoulder.
"But don't worry, we ain't. We know what to do with wood, don't we?"
Followed by his goons, they walked forward. Still, as Anna was frowning, a woman caught up to her from behind. She was a leader of one of the two remaining parties.
"...Sorry Anna, you know how Onheim is. We are thankful to you for being our guide, even though you really should have stayed behind to heal."
"No worries Marilyn, you know I don't hold it against you. And yeah... Onheim's an ass."
Anna then replied with a snort. The only reason she hadn't abandoned her role as a guide was that Marilyn was her good friend, and was the leader of one of the parties sent out.
And the fact that the man leading the third party was a decent human being balanced things out too.
The man who was the other leader possessed no notable features except for a scar crossing his nose. He was dressed in black leather with daggers sheathed on his sides. His name was Leopold, or Leo for short. A man of few words, befitting of his Ranger role, though it was closer to a rogue with how sneaky he was.
He simply nodded to Anna as a sign of appreciation.
Having regained some of her good feelings toward humanity, Anna continued to the forest, only to be met with a scene that confused and infuriated her.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
Onheim the bald along with his goons were cheering and laughing as always at the consequences of their actions. This time it was fire. A big fire. Fire, that was quickly spreading, spreading from the single burning tree to others connecting to it.
The forest was burning.
"What do ya think we're doing, lass? We're clearing out the way from the trees you're so afraid of!"
Amidst the uproarious laughter, countless living beings were losing their homes and lives. And those who survived were fleeing into the depths of the forest.
----------------------------------------------------
Lan's Domain
Lan was feeling pretty happy.
He recently finished multiple projects with good results, carving out rivers, and creating places of danger and beauty. After finishing up the boss room of the Second Chamber, he invited over Lorn and his crew to settle in.
They were pretty content with staying under the Central Pillar, but still, they moved downward.
Right now Lorn and the rest of the Herd were either grazing on the lush grass, absorbing ambient and dense mana, or sipping on freshly gathered water in the pool under the pale branches.
It would also seem that the Huntress, who still hasn't evolved into a Mana Beast for some reason, would evolve soon, as the gathered mana was nearing the needed threshold.
All was going well. No invaders to worry about, no major disasters, and nothing really to disturb Lan from his day-to-day work.
However, all good things come to an end. This manifested in mental signatures of vast quantities entering his Domain from the West. Although they weren't remarkable, none of the Beasts particularly strong, the sheer quantity alarmed Lan.
This was no ordinary movement, as tens and maybe even hundreds of lives were moving, fleeing from the West. Some among them, amidst panic, didn't even pay attention to the enticing mana emanating from the entrance to the underground, while some changed their direction towards it instead.
As such, Lan now had to deal with a sudden influx of dwellers. While having more Beasts underground was always welcome, maybe even new species adding to the diversity, this wasn't the case for now.
Not only did they practically overflow, rushing past everything and into the depth, be it a small rabbit, a nimble bird... Or even an imposing bear.
The sudden influx completely confused all the current inhabitants, Tag and Nacht were just staying away from all this, not even attempting to intercept the flood, as it would be futile. All stubborn Beasts who tried were trampled anyway.
Close to none of the panicked ones stayed in the First Chamber, the majority descending into the Second. The bear that descended continued tearing through, ignoring all else. Still, as the influx died down, things got back into order.
But the problem remained.
'Something must have caused those Beasts to run away in the first place... But what is it? Can I deal with it?'
The answer to that question didn't remain unknown for long, as hot tongues of red and orange crossed over the branches of the trees hanging across the river, crossing it. Soon, they now covered the trees on his side of the river. And the plants. And grasses. They all burned.
A wildfire was raging across the forest, consuming all in its path, leaving behind only coal and ashes.
Lan panicked, not being prepared for such a thing at all, but he then calmed down, as most of his Domain remained underground, safe from it... Except for a certain tree whose roots enveloped the entire upper part of his Domain.
'Damnit, no! I can't allow it to be burnt down, it is crucial for my goals!'
Without this tree the mana concentration would be significantly reduced, reducing his possibilities of construction. As such, Lan got nervous once again.
'Calm down, Lan... Calm down. Emotions alone won't help. I need to do something and fast!'
Lan didn't remain idle for long, searching and testing possible solutions. The first thing he tried was infusing Life Mana into the burning vegetation and things close to it.
It did partly work, fire slowing down in consuming them, as the plants and trees were regenerating rapidly. But on the other hand, that meant that the fuel didn't get consumed quickly, meaning more fire.
Then, the second obvious thing was Water Mana. As water extinguished fires, it was strange that Lan didn't think of it first. He then tried multiple things with it.
At first, he tried infusion. Water did indeed gather on the surfaces of plants and trees, making them harder to burn. But the fire was simply too overwhelming, and whatever moisture gathered was quickly evaporated.
The second thing he tried was to gather a massive amount of water mana, forming water droplets, and creating a low-attitude rain. It also suppressed the fire, and would probably extinguish it eventually, but it drained him quite a bit to gather so much at the same time, and he wouldn't be able to do anything else if he focused solely on it.
At this rate, his precious Tree on the Hill would burn down before the fire was extinguished.
Finally, Lan tried the Neutral Mana, the type of Mana he was most proficient in wielding. But this seemingly worsened the situation at hand. The fire didn't extinguish or fall under Lan's control, but instead was fueled by the mana, like adding oxygen, and burned even brighter.
'Shit! Damn magic fires of a magic world! Neutral mana is prone to change, so it probably got infected by Fire Mana!'
And as suddenly as the forest fire appeared, an idea, a solution crackled into existence.
'Fire... Mana!'
As Earth was now a world of magic, mana was omnipresent as a foundational force. It could be said to be the essence of all things. As such all kinds of mana existed and resided in their respective elements. And who could forget a staple of magic such as fireballs? As such, fire mana existed as well.
And if one could control fire mana... Then one would be able to control the flame. Whether it would be to set things ablaze... Or extinguish the flames themselves.
As such, Lan's current predicament was at the same time an opportunity. If he could attune to fire mana, then he would at the same time solve his problem by stopping the spread of the flames and gain an additional attunement in the process.
The fire continued to spread, by now it was encroaching on the edges of the clearing near Lan's Hill, leaving no time to dawdle. Lan immediately tried to attune to the fire.
Fire Mana.
Hot, Burning
Fe-
'Dammit... I can't focus!'
Being stressed by the situation, Lan couldn't focus. At the moment he had no time to attain a tranquil state of mind, to isolate all other mana, and to feel only the fire mana. Right now he was running out of time, but he continued to try.
'...C'mon, it's 'Hungry', right? 'Ferocious'? 'Devouring'? Anything?! Why won't it work!'
Meanwhile, the fire approached quickly, turning the world bright red, covering the sky with smoke, embers flying in the air. And one of such embers landed on a leaf of the Tree on the Hill. Although a single ember wouldn't normally ignite a leaf that wasn't dry, this one bore an amount of fire mana sufficient to ignite. And ignite it did.
That leaf caught ablaze, being engulfed in flames. Soon the flames spread to other leaves around it, then to the branch, and to the trunk of the tree.
The entire tree was ablaze, forming a great pyre.
But it didn't succumb immediately, the great amounts of Life Mana keeping it alive, regenerating from the burns. But the fire kept on burning, and the tree kept on regenerating. A constant struggle.
Lan was now near despairing, as he didn't make even a single step of progress of attuning to fire. And without the attunement, without putting out the flames, that tree would be gone.
Just as he was running out of options, he felt a tug on his mental connection, similar to when the Huntress conversed with him.
He didn't hear any coherent word, just feelings and intent. It was a weak voice crying for help, speaking of its pain. Lan followed the connection and found the source of it.
It was the tree. It was begging for him to help, to save it from the burning flame.
'I-I how... But I can't help... No, how can I help? I-'
Amidst the stuttering and confusion, he felt it transmitting more intents and feelings, he gradually got lost amidst them, feeling the same things the tree felt.
Red filled his vision. It was BRIGHT.
And now fire burned his skin. It was HOT.
The fire consumed him alive. It was HUNGRY.
The flames were unending. They were ETERNAL.
They would leave nothing behind. For they were DESTRUCTION.
A new kind of fire lit in his vision, a new feeling filling his senses.
And the fire no longer burned him.
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