The Begotten Fiend

Chapter 19: Nightly Ambush

I took a huge sigh of relief. All the tension building within me left, leaving me with all but my aching bones and my drained body.

"Zenith, you’ve been hiding all that mana from me this entire time?"

[As you have noticed, your mana pool is remarkable. It is for that reason that you have to take extra caution in budgeting it, for power can turn even the most cautious into fools.]

"Makes sense. In that case, go ahead and cap my usage again."

[I’ve already done so.]

I breathed a little "hm" to myself before looking to the sky. I was getting a little sick of seeing blue, but the way the clouds drifted through the sky--maintaining their shape despite the wind blowing on them.

It was inspiring.

Now, for the new skill I learned.

I grazed my hand against the huge cut on my ankle, then the deep lacerations on my chest and back. I couldn’t feel them behind Zenith’s pain nullification, but the blood staining my hand was still just as warm.

Time to try out that new skill of mine.

Imagining the gaps between skin reaching for each other, I materialized my new skill, Regeneration. My flesh bubbled, large quantities of steam rising into the sky.

But it didn’t hurt. No, rather, it felt like someone was scratching me in a spot I couldn’t reach. The relief was so great I couldn’t help but groan.

It took around a minute, but eventually, my wounds closed. "Hey, Zenith, why’s it take me longer to heal than the slime did?"

[As you aren’t a spiritual being, you don’t have the same magical-physique that it does. Regeneration of organisms is far more complicated than beings comprised of mana.]

So that’s what spiritual beings are? That makes sense, but it is a little disappointing.

Basking in soundlessness in what felt like forever, I brushed my hand against the grass on the ground. It’s so nice to win.

But there is just one last elephant in the room.

"Hey, Zenith, about before and why you didn’t apply pain nullification. I understand. There’s some things that you can’t tell me. But if there’s anything I learned, it’s that you want me to survive just as I do."

[I am grateful for your forgiveness.]

I didn’t say it, but Zenith almost seemed sentient. It only responds to me when I ask for it, but it makes decisions like any person would. It’s intriguing.

"Hey, Zenith, is there anything that you want me to do for you? You’ve done so much for me, it only makes sense that I help you out any way that I can."

[There’s nothing I desire, as I am but a digital assistant for you. But, if I were to possess any desire, it would be for your safety. In that regard, I ask that you trust my advice from here on.]

"Oh, yeah? And what’s your advice?"

[Escape this forest.]

I chuckled a bit. I didn’t know whether or not it meant to make a joke, but regardless, I took it seriously.

Getting up, I kicked my left foot a little bit. Surging a bit of power through it, I raised my leg vertically, then crashed it down. My heel stood firm against the force, digging into the ground.

"Good as new!" I shouted.

Right now, it feels like I can do anything. And on that note...

I closed my eyes. Again, I searched for one of my skills.

It only made sense that I obtained this skill. After all, a slime didn’t have eyes, nor any organs to use.

The world around me lit up--not with the usual green, brown, and blue, but with a luminescent purple. It blazed like fire, yet flowed like water. And it existed all around me.

"Woah." Most surprising was that I didn’t need to see it. The feeling was indescribable. It manifested as a sort of "gut feeling," where I knew where it flowed, and how much, but there was no seeing it. "What is this?"

[The knowledge should’ve already been provided to you. It’s mana, in its purest form. An effect of your Magic Sense] fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

So this is mana? Before, I could only feel it and observe its effects on real things like air, but now I could actually sense it.

Which made what I saw even weirder.

"Hey, Zenith, why does it seem that this place stretches on forever? No matter how much I concentrate my attention, there doesn’t seem to be an end, or big wall bordering this forest."

[That is rather odd.]

Even Zenith doesn’t know? I wonder what this means.

"You don’t think that this place is truly endless... right?"

[I cannot confirm nor deny that, but my advice is to continue walking. Your magic sense has a limited range and sensing capacity, so it’s best to ignore what you’ve seen for now.]

"I suppose." Pulling my rabbit coat over my body, I continued on my way. There’s only one way out of this place, and that’s to walk in one direction until I reach the end.

***********************************************************************

The dusk was resoundingly beautiful. Perhaps I was imagining it, but the moon seemed to glow with even more life than ever. Perhaps a byproduct of my new Magic Sense?

But why would the moon be made of mana?

Regardless, it was nighttime, and I made no new ground. "Zenith, this is my second day out here, and I’ve yet to come close to leaving. You don’t think... I’m gonna die, right?" My stomach growled like a beast, and my skin turned pale.

Damn, I wish I’d brought the bear from before. Although, I hear that carnivores aren’t very delectable.

[You will be just fine. If not food, your mana is enough to sustain you for a little over a month.]

"Mana can do that? How convenient."

I just noticed that I’ve been speaking out loud. Before, I was so hell-bent on speaking to Zenith in my mind so as to not attract attention. I’ve really changed.

I wrapped my rabbit hide over me, resting my head on a wood log I’d cut up.

"Hey, Zenith, you don’t think monsters will attack in the night, right?"

It didn’t say anything. I understood what it wanted to say, so I just kept my mouth shut.

Even if something attacked me, I’m sure Zenith would notify me.

It’s as I thought that that I felt my body begin to float. My sight went black, and all my thoughts and worries dissolved with it...

...

...

[Warning. Large mana signature nearby.]

Shit!

The notice jolted me wide awake. I gasped out loud, eyes wide.

There, I saw them. An entire horde of spiders, surrounding me and my log.

I groaned. "I’m too tired for this."