ALL NOVEL CHAPTER 7 “Mana”
CHAPTER 7
“Mana”
The pain was unbearable.
Still, Kalysto forced herself to stay conscious. The last thing she needed right now was to pass out surrounded by all those monsters. Who knows what they might do to my body while I’m unconscious?
Like, eat her.
Or even worse, in fantasy novels, there had always been stories, short stories about what the horrible orcs did to the women they took as prisoners, before killing them.
Especially if they were virgins.
Why the hell did I never take the time to get rid of that? She wondered. Then right now, she wouldn’t have to be worrying about it. It wasn’t as if she’d been short on volunteers. Jake, her landlady’s oldest son, was a prime example. And he only lived two rooms away from hers. If she had asked him, she was sure he would have gladly sacrificed himself for the cause, if the way he looked at her was any indication.
But the memory of her mother, of that sickly gaze full of longing and laden with adoration that she always devoted to her stepfather, as if that human trash was the very sunshine of her existence, as if he was her everything, despite the extensive collection of bruises, marks, and scars with which he always decorated her body, turned Kalysto’s stomach.
She could feel the bile rising in her throat just thinking about it.
No, thank you. That seemed like a really scary thing to do.
It was best to stay safe.
Kalysto looked up only to notice that the sadistic smile of that orc grew as he saw the hatred in her gaze and pointed his mace at her, and then grunted strange words in a dialect that Kalysto did not recognize. And that she studied languages and spoke three quite fluently, four if you counted Japanese, but she still wasn’t one hundred percent fluent in that one. And she only knew the basics of German, so those didn’t count.
A pity, really. Japan was one of the first countries I wanted to go to as soon as I had the funds and job stability to do so.
Though none of that probably mattered now, not with those portals opening all over the world. So she would have to say goodbye to her dream of traveling and experiencing other cultures.
Or to living another day if she couldn’t find a way to survive this horde of cave monsters.
There are still so many things I want to experience, so many places to see, so much delicious food to try. It was demotivating to see her life’s work crumbling before her eyes again.
Stop it! Focus! She scolded herself.
She clenched her jaw tightly and forced herself to focus on something other than the surge of pain that swept over her as she tried to roll onto her half side and lean on her right forearm to crawl across the floor.
No, I can’t give up, not so fast! She scolded herself. She hadn’t survived all those blows life had dealt her, only to give up now. Just when she was so close, only a year and a half away from finishing her degree.
She concentrated on her breathing, on stabilizing it, even though she had to keep it shallow so the pain wouldn’t knock her out.
Come on, focus! She scolded herself. Stay focused! And a few seconds later she felt a current of something cold running through her from head to toe, but when she looked down at herself, nothing changed.
Although it was much easier for her to breathe now, and the pain became background noise.
Whatever had happened didn’t seem to hurt her, and she was grateful for that.
The orc, after growling something unintelligible at her again, turned to his audience with his arms up after pointing his mace at her and her not moving.
The idiot even turned his back on me...I wish I had something to stab him with.
But she was too injured to attempt such a feat again, and the knife was inside her backpack.
Unfortunately for her, while most of his followers looked as weak as the first goblin she killed, that wasn’t the case with all the others. What was worse was that most of them were armed with medieval-style war hammers, axes, knives, or huge clubs. So, even if she was unharmed, it would be madness to take them on.
The good news was that they didn’t seem to have highly developed weapons, which was a relief. A pistol would have taken them out in three seconds if she had one handy.
The bad news was that she only had three knives and a club, which had fallen a meter away from her after the blow she received.
She shook her head, still feeling somewhat dazed. Still, she tried to move, crawling along the ground thanks to her right arm, in a feeble effort to put some more distance between her and her assailant.
Anything that could give her the slightest advantage was welcome.
The orc turned toward her again as soon as he heard the noise, though she had barely managed to get half a meter away. Even with her left foot and arm being practically useless, she still had one arm and another functional leg remaining. She wouldn’t be able to run, but at least she could crawl, and if she could get to at least one of that woman’s crutches, she’d have a better chance of survival.
The orc grunted, and more strange noises came out of his mouth. She turned and looked at him, not understanding a word he had said.
“I’m sorry, I don’t speak orc,” she excused herself.
He watched her silently and turned his head, finally understanding that they spoke a different language. Then with his mace, he pointed at her, then pointed at the club a meter away from her, and then at her again. Then he pounded his chest.
Kalysto frowned.
Wait...is this guy insinuating that he wants me to face him in a duel?
“Oh, no,” she denied immediately. “No way I’m going to beat you, especially not in the state I’m in!” She roared, not seeming to agree with his opinion, and he pointed at her and the club again afterwards. And after hitting himself twice in the chest, he pointed at her again, and then at the ground between them.
You didn’t have to be a genius to understand what he was implying.
She shook her head again and tried to move away, but her body barely moved two centimeters.
Suddenly, a blue screen appeared in front of her.
[System Loading...]
And she wanted to cry, scream in rage, or tear her hair out. The one thing that could have saved her and it was nothing but a useless piece of junk.
It’s worse than my stepfather. And in her dictionary, that was the worst insult she could give to anyone.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw two small goblins approach Katia and the blonde woman. Kalysto felt helpless at not being able to defend them.
Crap! She groaned. It was like the whole thing with her mother all over again. And she closed her eyes. She didn’t want to witness a massacre again.
Worst of all, she knew that very soon it would be her turn.
I don’t want to die.
Her eyes watered, and she tried with all her might to hold back the tears. A bluish glow pierced her closed eyelids, and she opened her eyes, about to snarl at the useless screen, when what she saw made her heart skip a beat.
The window had changed.
Finally.
A tab labeled ‘status window’ was open, while two others remained inactive: inventory and skills.
A huge grin tugged at her lips and her eyes watered with excitement.
Finally, I’ll have a chance to get out alive!
Too happy to think clearly, she began to read.
Please let me have magic. She begged silently. Please...
[Status window]
Name: Kalysto Luna.
Age: 21 years old.
Race: Human.
Level: 1
Fatigue: 93
Class: Wizard (Normal)
Profession: N/A.
Title: N/A.
Affiliation: N/A.
HP: 65/100
MP: 0
Strength: 14
Vitality: 18
Agility: 25
Endurance: 18
Intelligence: 27
Charisma: 2
Luck: 1
Status: Wounded.
Available points: 0
One word stood out among all the others. Wizard. Yes! That means I can finally do magic! If Kalysto had been in a position to do so, she would have jumped with joy. But when she read it again to make sure she hadn’t misunderstood, that’s when she saw it:
MP: 0
Wait a minute!... MP... that means mana, right?
And all her hopes died.
How is it possible for a mage to have no mana… what good is it to me then… how can a mage do magic without mana?
She was screwed.
Her eyes filled with tears as she realized that she had no way out.
She had tried everything, and still, it had not been enough.
A silent tear slid down her cheek as she saw all her hopes shattered again. She didn’t even have the strength to fight anymore.
She was going to die.
And this time there was nothing she could do to stop it.