56 – Sick Curse

The goblin burrow was a hole in the ground, hidden beneath tall flower stems. It looked and smelled exactly the same as Alexandra remembered.

“This seems beneath us,” she said.

“Goblins are perfect.” Sera crouched and studied the entrance. “Weak enough that you won’t die.” She glanced back. “Verdant beasts are too susceptible to spells that target lifeforce. You won’t learn anything about your skill with them.”

Alexandra had seen what Dark Bolt did to verdant beasts. She pointed her hand at one, and it completely collapsed. Sure, stronger beasts took more out of her, but they died all the same.

A goblin would survive longer, if anything.

“How many are in there?” Alexandra asked.

“Four. Maybe five.” Sera stood. “We’re not clearing the plains. We just need enough targets to work with.” She turned to face her. “Before we start, did you try casting it after being hit with that sickness of empathy?”

Alexandra winced. “I did.”

Sera raised an eyebrow. “Go on.”

“It was… on a Silver rank human. Didn’t do much to him. A bit of nausea.”

Silence.

“Well, we’re about to find out how much it hurts when on a weaker target. You’re not going to be able to make it stop. Not until the curse is lifted. But you can learn to cast through it.”

“Wonderful.”

“It’s that or you’re never killing that Yshant.”

Alexandra looked at the burrow.

“I know. How do we lure one out?”

Sera shrugged. “They can smell your mana. Iron rank. They won’t come out until you put it under control.”

“And how do I do that?”

“Pull it back,” Sera said. “Into your core.”

Alexandra stared at her. “My core.”

“Where your mana lives. Everyone has one.” Sera crossed her arms. “You haven’t found yours yet?”

“I think I would know if I had something inside me.”

“You wouldn’t. Just like I’m sure you don’t know all your organs.”

She blinked. “Right. So, it’s an organ? A new one that was put there when I was transported to Laika?” Alexandra looked down at her body. “Weird.”

“No,” Sera said. “Well, I don’t actually know if you had a mana core before coming here. However, you shouldn’t think of it as an organ. It’s not a physical thing. It’s the origin of all the mana you use. Try locating it.”

Alexandra closed her eyes. She felt the grass under her shoes. Wind off the plains. The smell of flowers.

“I don’t know what I’m looking for.”

“Don’t look, feel. Your mana is already moving. That’s what the goblins can smell. It radiates off you, like heat from a fire. You need to find the source of it and pull it back.”

Alexandra tried to think about her mana. The way it gathered when she cast Inflict Weakness, the absence she felt when she was subjected to the sickness, the way it came back after the potion.

There.

Not in her body. Deeper. Somewhere below her sternum, yet not truly. A weight. A stream.

“I think I feel it.”

“Do you sense the mana flowing out of it?”

“Yes. How do I pull it back in?”

“Imagine it,” Sera said. “Not a gesture, not a movement. Just the intent. Picture the flow reversing, the mana coming back to the source.”

“That’s it?”

“Make it work before claiming it’s easy.”

Alexandra kept her eyes shut. The stream she’d found was but a trickle, but it was steady. She tried to rein it back. Nothing happened.

“It’s not working.”

“You’re trying to force it. There’s a reason mana naturally flows out of your core. You don’t stop a river. You give it a new direction.”

Alexandra tried again. She held the image of the stream and imagined its mouth turning inward. Bending. Looping onto itself.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Something shifted.

Small. A thread. But she felt it.

“Hold that image. Widen it. Don’t think about the whole thing at once. Just a little more.”

Another thread. Then another. The outward flow diverted in a loop.

Then she thought about what she was doing and lost it completely.

The mana flowed back outward.

Her eyes snapped open. “How—”

Sera raised her hand. “It always happens. It takes training to do it right. Especially when you start with so much mana. It’s better to get started with training as soon as you receive your class. You must have what? Twenty to thirty points in intelligence?” She clicked her tongue. “Makes it much harder.”

Alexandra closed her eyes again. Found the core, then the stream. She held the image, the current bending, returning. This time she kept her focus locked on each thread of mana, never pulling her mind back to observe the full process.

She pulled. Diverted. Widened. More threads, at a steady pace. Until the last one fell in place.

“There,” Sera said. “Hold it.”

The image held. The mana stayed within. The moment she’d relaxed her attention, it would drift away again.

“This requires constant attention,” Sera said. “But you’ll get used to it. For now, keep it up until a goblin comes out.”

“How long?”