10 – An Unfortunate Pack of Wolves

The small band of adventurers awoke the next morning in various twisted states of disarray. Jax lay sprawled against his large leather pack, head slumped at an odd angle, mouth open with a hint of drool oozing its way down his stubble-covered chin. Ren had somehow managed to drift off with one arm wedged underneath his head, now fully and completely asleep. As he opened his eyes, the cave blurring into focus, he heard, and then saw, the stirring form of Kaylin curled against the cave wall near her large cousin.

In’dala was nowhere in sight.

“I haven’t slept that hard.” Ren yawned. ”In… well in a long time.” He sat up trying to shake feeling back into his numb arm, prickling pins and needles radiating from sleepy nerves. “I don’t know if that food had sleep properties in it as well, but I feel amazing.”

Jax grunted as he too started to wake, his hair a wild tangle.

“You said the effects last a full day, correct?” Kaylin said as she stood, brushing off her very wrinkled leather tunic.

“I think so.” Ren replied, stretching. “At least that’s what it implied. I wonder if a day is like a full day or if a day is after a sleep.” Ren turned his attention inward for a moment, sensing the strange energy still focused in his muscles. His biceps and legs in particular were pulsing with strength still present from the night before. “I think it’s at least still active for now.”

The small group finished waking and groggily packing up their camp. Ren did a shortened version of his morning kata near the mouth of the cave and was just finishing as In’dala returned, informing them that she had found the path that would lead them back to Florn.

“It’s about a day’s walk, right?” Ren asked.

“Less than a day, now that we have refined bodies,” Jax said.

“Ok, can I borrow that knife again?” Ren eyed the second musttel.

Half an hour later, at least by Ren’s reckoning, he finished butchering part of the second animal and the small group set off, two more tenderloins swinging from the pack Jax carried.

“I think it might be a full twenty-four hours,” Ren said after they had been walking for a short time. He was next to Jax and Kalyin while In’dala stayed further ahead of the group. “That the effect lasts, I mean.” The energy in his arms and legs felt just as potent as before.

“What are hours?” Jax replied.

Ren dragged his hand over his eyes in an exasperated motion. “Hours are how we measure the passing of time where I’m from.” He sighed. “I’m guessing you probably have something different, but similar here. Do you measure… you know what time is, right?”

Kaylin rolled her eyes. “Of course, we have time.”

“I’m guessing here, they’re called something like nexins or chronomanas or something?” He chuckled at his bad joke.

“I don’t know what any of those are, but we have ticks and turns,” Kaylin replied.

“Huh? How long is a tick?”

“A tick,” Jax sounded bewildered. “Is a tick, it’s a tick.”

Kaylin scratched her head. “How would you describe the color red to someone who’s never seen color? Where do you even begin? Um, a tick is, the… mana resonance. It’s the heartbeat of the world.”

“Wait, hold on. Heartbeat of the world?”

“You… haven’t had a chance–well, I guess none of us have had a chance– to meditate yet. But when you do, you will feel the resonant mana all around you. It’s like… a slow bellows, so I’m told. It’s like it’s the heartbeat.”

“Ok, fine. The world is alive. But how long is it?“

“It’s a tick.” Jax said.

Ren closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. “Okay, um, how… what can you do in a tick? Like, what actions could you accomplish in that timeframe?”

“I don’t know,” Jax replied, looking around for some kind of reference. “Walk forty, maybe fifty steps.” He glanced at Kaylin.

“Fifty strides seems about right. This would make much more sense if we had a mana gear, then we could just show you.”

Annndd here we go again. Ren thought. “Ok, I’ll bite, what’s a mana gear?”

“Something the creators, the Artisan Guild devised. It responds to the inherit mana resonance and, well, ticks.”

“Hence the name,” Jax added.

“Hence the name,” Kaylin echoed. “After a hundred ticks, the gear turns, so that is called a turn.

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It was starting to come together. “And how many turns in a day?”

“I… I don’t know.” Kaylin said. We don’t measure by the day. Maybe 20?” She looked over at Jax.

“Don’t look at me. That’s yours and the Creator’s realm. I have no idea. A tick is a tick, and a day’s a day.”

Ren shook his head. “Well, however long, I think the food boons last until about the same time of day as yesterday.” The time that normal people in a normal place would call twenty-four hours, He thought.

“I don’t even know why we need to consider it,” Jax said. “I feel it in my bones and I’m completely healed.” He prodded his previously injured side for emphasis. “I don’t see what the issue is. It lasts how long it lasts. Speaking of which.” He raised his voice.” In’dala! Hold a moment.”

Up ahead the bald tracker paused while the small group trotted up to her.

“This may seem like a strange request, but I feel amazing. Freshly refined, healed of a previously mortal injury, strength coursing through my veins. It seems a shame to waste. Do you think we could trouble you to be on the lookout? Specifically for any local pests or forest monsters that might need, shall we say, clearing?”

“Jax, do you really think now is the best time for this?”

The large man turned to face Kaylin. “Yes, cousin, I do, in fact. Where is your sense of adventure?” He planted the haft of his battle axe in the ground as he struck an honest-to-god pose. “We’ve begun the journey to power, to greatness. To keep the lands and people safe. What is strength if you don’t use it to grow and help others? As a bonus, need I remind you, we have both strength and regeneration for many more owl-ers or whatever convoluted time Ren said.”

“The flopping meat on your pack really sells it, man,” Ren said, laughing.

“Fine. fine.” Kaylin said, any small resistance drained out of her at the thought of arguing with her cousin. She rolled her own shoulders. “I guess it would be fun to test our strength and keep the wilds safe.”