FMH: Everything ~ Four

Weeks later, from their perspective, Luke and Zed stepped out of the portal and back into the lush green forest that had been created by Andre. The Murderhobo let out a deep sigh of disappointment as he looked around the mana-lacking environment.

 To be fair, this place on the planet compared to anywhere else he had been so far, was far more mana-dense than anywhere else. Most of that was the presence of himself, since opening his portals in this area allowed a fresh influx of raw mana to be dumped into the area. In truth, it was the efforts of the Druid that allowed for that mana to be captured, to fertilize the earth, and create a fresh harvest of power. Life generated mana, and when it was in balance with the world around it, the entire planet would slowly increase in potency over time.

 This was how planets themselves naturally ascended, but this one had been greatly stunted by the efforts of the Corrupted Archdruid that had set a dragon to feast off the Ley Lines and Earthen Node. That loss of power had caused new lines to slowly start forming, but they were stunted things that didn't cycle power throughout the world as it should have been. By repairing, and furthermore increasing the potency of the Earthen Node in this area, they may have regained hundreds of years that had been thought to be lost. 

That was the upside to the influx of raw energy that he brought into this area, just as whales breaching the surface then diving deep into the ocean would bring fresh air to the depths. Luke looked at the grass he was standing on, watching as hundreds of fresh shoots withered and died in a slowly expanding ring. He shook his head and spoke with soft annoyance. “There’s the downside.”

 The truth of the matter was that neither the weak nor the unlucky would survive the mana baptism that increased magical potency brought. Increasing the density too rapidly would merely cause everything from plants dying, to rocks exploding, to civilizations falling. He was shaken from his thoughts as the Bard's voice began ringing through the area, “Taylor! Andre! I have so many stories for you. First off, look! I survived!”

“I’m glad.” Andre came over and threw an arm around the Bard's shoulders. “I admit, I was worried for you, my friend. That stunt was reckless, and dangerous in the extreme. Furthermore, even if you didn't die from the mana exposure, how are you alive right now? I didn't see a pack of food or drink.”

Zed lifted his shirt and showed the fact that his ribs were completely pronounced, his gut sunken, and he was trembling. “Correct! I am wildly malnourished and literally starving nearly to death. Thanks for noticing! I was able to get away with only having a few mouthfuls of my water a day, and luckily I had a couple waterskins on me.”

“For the love of apples, Zed!” Andre growled as he waved his hands at the land around them. Quickly, fruit and vegetables started rolling toward them, dropping from their trees or vines, then tumbling over the grass until arriving at their feet. “Eat something.”

“Honestly, I feel great.” The Bard backed that statement by picking up a cucumber and biting it directly in the center. It split into two chunks of vegetable, and he alternated between chomping on them as soon as his mouth was empty. “Something about the sheer amount of power in that world sustained me pretty well. Not great, clearly, but pretty good. But that's not the exciting thing!”

 Andre watched as the Bard picked up a banana and ate it peel and all. “You are clearly near death.”

“Yyes, yes, we've been over that!” Zed's eyes were shining, and he wasn't about to be stopped. “The sheer enlightenment! Andre, you don't understand, we have these incredible mana channels, and we have never been given the opportunity to use them! Put that big, beautiful mind of yours to work. When we have higher-capacity mana channels, what does that mean for us? Think on that for a second, imma eat that rabbit.” 

The Bard lunged for the small animal, missing terribly as the beast nearly contemptuously avoided him and hopped away. Andre watched the interplay with a heap of concern, and a hint of mirth in his eyes. “Well, if conventional wisdom is to be believed… having greater mana channels will allow for a higher capacity on… everything.”

“Exactly!” Zed’s voice was muffled, as his face was pressed against the dirt and grass from his failed attack on the bunny. Still, his hand was in the air, one finger pointing up. He rolled over, and that finger pointed directly at the Druid's face. “It is literally enlightenment! Having the capability for greater things, for understanding things at a higher level, being able to learn things more easily. All of this can be traced to our mana channels. Sure, it might not directly give us new Masteries, ‘Abilities’ in your case, but it allows us to explore them more fully… so long as we have the required mana to run through those mana channels!”

“This all makes sense, but I don't see how it is overly useful? We still need Potentia in order to increase the level of the Abilities.” The Druid crouched down and hoisted the Bard to his feet, handing him an apple. “Would you like a pair?”

“Sure?” Zed answered, getting handed another apple in the next moment. “Huh? Oh! Haa, you took advantage of a homophone. You are clever, I like that. It's useful for you because you'll be able to test your capabilities constantly, endlessly. Do you know what my mana regeneration was in there? Fifty. Fifty mana per second. I was able to play with almost all of my Masteries, and I gained a far deeper understanding of them. You would benefit from that, as would Taylor, but I directly need to master my Masteries in order to gain new Masteries to master!”

“I see a nap in your future.” Andre chuckled softly, his eyes moving over to look at the disgruntled Murderhobo as he gently led his friend towards some soft moss that he grew. “How was your play time, Luke?”

“Unsatisfying. I was unable to overcome the barrier that has been placed in my path.” Luke ruminated on this thought for a long moment, “Hitting harder has not been helping, and I am unable to hit faster.”

“I made you hit a little bit faster.” Zed sleepily called over. “That song of vigor made you attack three percent faster at the start. It's not my fault that Cookie weighs the same as a small house, and even the fastest attack you can make with it is almost as fast as the slowest attack you can make with it.”

Taylor walked into the glade that had been created by the unfortunate forest fire effect that Luke's re-entry into this world created. She had obviously matured in the past five years. Instead of speaking and launching into recriminations or causing issues as she would have before the updating of her mental state, she merely made sure that everyone was healthy, and leaned against a tree to patiently wait and see if she was needed. 

Zed was already snoring as Luke struggled to maintain the fragile human connections that he had been able to build up. “How. Are. Things.”

“Things are going very well. We only have a few dozen more miles to complete before the desert is fully eradicated, and the Ley Line is reestablished with the magical framework of the Hollow Kingdom. A couple of months, at most. I'm hoping it will be weeks.” Andre watched as his friend nodded woodenly, his eye twitching and nostrils flaring. “Thank you for asking. Is there anything I can do for you?”

“I need better armor.” The sound of Luke's teeth grinding against each other didn't exactly shatter the silence, but it certainly added an unnerving effect to it. “If I can boost the armor values of my legs and shoulders, I will be able to send a constant deluge of kill notifications to my Sigil. It looks like about one hundred points of armor is necessary to outright ignore the void-tipped needles.”

Andren nodded sagely as the words washed over him. “I have no idea how we would be able to translate armor into numbers, so I can't guarantee that we will be able to know how to make that happen. Still, I'm on the lookout for any caravans coming this way with gear that you have commissioned. Nothing in the last couple of months. Also, is there any more information you can give me about the problem you're having? What is a void-tipped needle, for example?”

“Ask the Bard.” Luke scoffed as he glanced at the snoozing man. “Uhhm. Uh.”

“You can be done with the conversation, thank you for trying this hard.” Andre nodded at the instantly relieved berserker.

“Thank the stars.” Luke felt a wave of exhaustion roll over him. Too much social interaction was not good for his health. “Right, I'm off. See you in five weeks.”

Taylor stepped forward, holding her hand up in a motion that was a clear request for him to wait. “Are you sure that you want to do that again, Luke? I don't know anyone else that willingly and intentionally goes into a Descender portal over and over again. We don't know what the long-term effects are going to be from that, on you.”

“Are you going to tell me not to go?” Luke waited patiently, not a hint of concern on his face.

“You're going to do whatever you want to do, and can do. So long as those two things overlap, I'm not going to try and stop you." Taylor walked closer, taking a deep breath before reaching out in putting her hand on his arm. When they had first started this journey together, that same motion would have allowed her to be touching his shoulder, showcasing just how much he had literally grown over the years. “I just worry about you. I worry about all of you, all of us. The raids have gotten more frequent, and the traps have become more sophisticated. If anyone has seen you going into that portal… well, each time you go, there is a greater chance that they will catch you. I know that you know it.”

Luke could only shrug. “It's either wait out the time in only a few minutes, or go crazy trying to do it out here. You know as well as I do that the order you were given to make me wait sixty days between delving into Murder World was intended to make me a beacon of destruction for them to follow.”

That put a small, if sad, smile on her face. “On the plus side, it was worded poorly. Otherwise, you would go into that Descender portal, come out, and still need to wait sixty days.”

“And we would be found immediately!” Zed shouted, drawing the group's attention over to him. As far as they could tell… he was still asleep. 

“Yeah, that’s not at all weird.” Andre muttered as he took a couple of small, careful steps away from the sleeping Mindbender. When he looked back, Luke was already gone. That didn't stop him from knowing exactly where he was, this was his forest, after all. 

The Murderhobo was sprinting through foliage, going directly through trees if they were small enough that he figured his Druid friend could replace them with a wave of his hand. He had no concerns about his wake of destruction being followed, he knew that the forest behind him was being repaired even as he moved through it. Sound that would normally travel in such a quiet environment was instead blocked and absorbed by leaves that shifted to impair the movement of the vibrations. Finally, he was moving so fast that standard humans would never be able to track him, and with the help of the forest around him, it was unlikely that any but the most impressive scout would be able to do so. 

The portal that he was aiming for was outside of the forest, but not by much. He exploded through the final portion of greenery, mulching leaves and wood in his frenzied charge. He heard someone shout, and narrowed his eyes. Before he could hear any instructions, demands, or be presented with a writ that would force him to march his unhappy feet back to the control of the kingdom, he uttered the words ‘Bum Thunder’ and appeared directly in front of the portal, the thunderous clapping of his passing echoing out and drowning any sounds that had been coming his way.

 He stepped into the bright orange portal, keeping his eyes closed as he waited for the next few minutes. To him, this world was abstract: a place of bizarre colors, muted sensations, and such low mana density that the world itself looked like it had been created by a child with watered down ink. Finishing his countdown, he jumped backwards, directly out of the portal.

 Weeks had passed, exactly as he had expected. That was not the only change that the passage of time had created. Now, the desert was gone as far as his eyes could see. Lush, verdant foliage and underbrush coated the landscape, trees soared into the sky, and small animals rustled in the underbrush. Just like that, he knew that an ambush was not waiting for him. There was no way that Andre would allow an incursion into his forest, and that allowed him to take his time walking back to the group.

“You were right, Cookie. Having good friends really does matter. Good call.”