Cursed Explorer of the Arcana

Should I start screaming until something comes to eat me? I’m running out of time and options here and even more so out of patience… Maybe the beasts are hiding themselves after my first two kills, they must know they’re next.

I’m still full of energy, and even my mana is doing pretty well, so the only thing I’m short on is time, which won't replenish the longer I wait. Just how should I… Maybe if I cause a forest fire the beasts will reveal themselves while they flee and-

Okay, dumb ideas aside… smell! Everything in this forest has a better sense of smell than me so I just need to lure them out with the scent of a free meal? Maybe?

My two victims come to mind immediately and I quickly turn around and sprint back in the vague direction where I left the wolf turned hedgehog. It’s not like there are clear paths out in the wild so I can only pray to find the carcass.

***

On my way back to the spot of my gruesome handiwork Aelion or fate or the Gods or I don’t really care who but something decides to play games with me as a locust just like the first one I found peels off a tree and lunges at me headfirst. I didn’t even notice it because its chitin is nearly indistinguishable from the bark of the tree and… maybe my careless sprint also played a part in me walking into its trap.

The moment I catch a glimpse of the bark moving from the corner of my eye Quick Witted activates at full power. Plans and ideas zip through my mind but none of them are good enough, fast enough and to top it off I’m losing time with every second spent thinking.

As panic rises and my time runs out I can’t help but fear for my life, hoping for Martha to intervene or some miracle to save me. This whole outing was only fun until I wasn’t about to get hurt because that is scary and as much as I got used to this whole hunting thingy I’m still deathly scared for my life.

None of my elements can give me both the power and speed I need right now… not like Martha… like lightning.

Help me Savant!

As if hearing my plea a picture flashes before my eyes, images returning way more forcefully than whenever I try to remember something important. Maybe this is what people talk about right before dying...

The moment Martha shot that lightning bolt that eradicated the big locust. I just stare at the incredible magic in my frozen world and the longer I stare the more I understand.

I expected it to be like fire but quicker and I was so wrong. It’s… imbalance. It’s everywhere and all the magic does is accentuate that imbalance. The up and down, in and out, good and bad, or whatever it might be… Mana forces that separation and generates the energy and then guides it by creating a bridge…

It’s incredible.

As I put the pieces together Savant plugs the gaps in my deduction and then it clicks.

[The Class Skill [Investigate Anomaly] has reached lvl 4 ->8.]

How did this even work? Just based on my memory?

[The general Skill [Savant] has reached lvl 16 ->18.]

I grab the new knowledge and guide it by instinct before hurling what feels like a buzz, an itch in the magic towards the bug. The result isn’t the deafening bang Martha can produce but more of a zap yet its effects are just what I needed.

The locust is struck and thrown back slightly as if hit in the head by an invisible fist. I quickly follow up with a number of earth spikes bursting out of the ground and piercing its twitching body before that arrives.

The headache.

“Incredible. How did you do that?” Martha’s familiar voice reaches my ears coming just from behind.

I just groan, holding my head as the familiar sensation of way too much new knowledge trying to squeeze itself into my head assaults me.

“Are you okay Eli?” The concern is clear in the old woman’s voice but I just raise a hand for her, signaling to shut the fuck up. Headaches and loud noises are a terrible combo.

This time receiving the gift from my Blessing is a lot more bearable than when I woke on my ninth birthday although I’d still put it at a seven out of nine on the headache scale. In just about a minute the pain lessens and rub my temples a few last times just for good measure before straightening up and blinking a few times.

“Now I’m good.” I declare and check on the most important thing.

[You have triumphed over the enemy [Juvenile Devouring Locust - Life lvl 28].]

[The Class Skill [Mana Spear] has reached lvl 4 ->6.]

[The general Skill [Quick Witted] has reached lvl 17 ->18.]

“Uh, nice, I’m getting closer.” I fist pump. “That was a 28 so there’s only-”

“Eli, the lightning.” Martha interrupts my celebration rudely.

Like c’mon, I just saved my life and discovered how to wield lightning or rather electricity, let a girl enjoy the moment. The headache managed to wash away the panic I felt just a minute ago by being hella irritating but it still left a bitter taste in my mouth. That was close, too close…

“Well, I just panicked for a second because I kinda walked into that trap,” I explain and Martha nods with a flat look. “And nothing I had would’ve worked fast enough in that situation. Not even a shield.” She nods again, although this time without the demeaning look. “So I thought of lightning, remembered how you used it, tried to understand what you really did when killing that locust and yeah, I tried to do it.” I shrug after my half-assed explanation.

“Understand my lightning?” She asks and now it’s my turn to nod. “Even I don’t know how I do it, my Skills do all the work. Could you show it, step by step?”

I don’t see why not although I doubt it’s that easy to play Savant and that nasty restriction. With that said I don’t really want to share these secrets, my secrets, because it’s a gift I received, and even if it is for the sake of humanity or any other mighty fake reason I’d still be reluctant to gift this knowledge so freely.

Librea warned me about its dangers and frankly, this is what makes me special and I like being special. I’m only giving this a try because I’m curious whether or not showing the method works and because Martha isn’t all that bad of a person.

Here goes nothing.

It’s like rubbing the mana together while pouring energy into just one side and… except, my mana just refuses to answer. The arcane floats above my palm cluelessly as if its master, ME, wasn’t giving it orders and it’s pissing me off.

“You can’t, right?” Martha asks with a frown and I nod. “A shame. Anyway, I came because you looked like you were about to lose the bet but that’s no longer the case. Keep up the good work!” And she teleports away again.

Okay… wait, can I also learn spacial magic the same way? No, I have absolutely no clue how she does that besides moving matter from point to point in an instant. Which sounds impossible and… no I just can’t imagine it.

With both Martha and the danger gone I try making the zap again without anyone looking or any teaching purposes. I open my palm, command my mana and soon see small electric arcs play between my fingers, just as expected. Savant really is a stubborn thing.

“At least I don’t need to look for a bait anymore. Although I doubt many beasts would find bug meat appetizing.” I pull out my knife to cut the body to bits before scattering it across the area. Except I change my mind as the stench hits my nose. “Yap, there’s no way I’m touching that.”

Instead, I bring out one of Mom’s old tricks to help me out. One she often used to cut sausage or bread whenever she was too lazy to get a knife and decided to utilize her magic instead. First I need some water, then I form a nice thin circle using the liquid flattening it out as much as I can before making the edges jagged and freezing it. Voila, an ice sawblade. Now it just needs to spin and it’ll be able to cut even the bones of… oh wait bugs don’t have bones. It’ll work and that’s all that matters.

[The Class Skill [Mana Blade] has reached lvl 5 ->6.]

Huh, this counts as a blade?

***

The idea of making the prey come to me instead of scouring the woods looking for beasts to kill turns out pretty solid as not even five minutes after Martha leaves me to do my thing another locust pops out of a nearby bush.

It hasn’t even been five minutes since I killed the last one… Those adventurers must’ve done a pretty shitty job at getting rid of these pests if I can find so many of them even though I’m bad at finding things.

[Locust lvl 13]

Ah, a small fry.

Without much effort, I redirect the sawblade, still hard at work cutting the chitin of the corpse at my feet, straight towards the new locust buzzing just ten or so steps away from me. It jumps to the side thinking it's smart and that… stupid bug. That’s my magic, my mana and mine to tell where it’s supposed to go. I need to give the ice a bit more spin after the blade just wedges itself into the bug's side but in the end, it properly cuts the bug in half amidst some ear-piercing high-pitched hisses.

Another one bites the dirt.

Just as I’m feeling smug and can already taste victory in my mouth the sound of movement reaches my ears again. The same erratic and forceful moves that I’ve learned to recognize after seeing the end of four such creatures.

In a snap decision, I grab my ice blade and sprint towards a tree before climbing it like a little monkey aided by some wind magic to push my bum since physical stats are not my strong side. I’m still an elf, even if just half, and a true veteran when it comes to climbing a tree but even so I’m just barely in time to settle on a lower branch for the first locust to burst into the small clearing.

[Locust lvl 31]

This one is big and I can clearly hear another fellow wiggling around nearby so either I run while I can or drop in there with a decisive strike. Only about an hour of sunlight left… Eh, who am I kidding I would choose to attack even without a time limit, I’m itching to give lightning magic another shot.

Can lightning even kill this big bug in one hit? I somewhat doubt it, or rather don’t want to risk finding out. I couldn’t cut the legs off last time so that’s also out… Ice? Or rather, eyes? Yeah!

An ice spear through the head does sound pretty deadly to me and if that doesn’t work then I’ll just spread the frost and freeze its head as much as I can. Now that I think about it, I can make proper functioning spears with Mana Spear so does that mean that Mana Blade is meant for creating swords and the like?

Overtaken by curiosity I make my ice sawblade return to liquid form before reshaping and refreezing it to become a botched kitchen knife. It has a blade and a handle and does look distinctly like what Mom would use to cut vegies but I’m sure if any chef or blacksmith ever saw a metal knife in this shape they would throw it in the trash with gusto, deeming it scrap metal.

I’m not disappointed with the results or anything, time and practice are literally what I need right now. No parent-like heart-to-heart talk or encouragement, just more Skill levels.

Just as I’m about to shift the knife back to a spear I notice something, or rather the distinct lack of it. Noise. The bugs stopped moving.

I look down just in time to see the one I was about to ambush staring up at me with its legs coiled and ready to jump. We stare at each other for a moment with my heart stuck in my throat.

Shit, I got distracted…

Then the locust launches itself towards me and I throw the knife right into its face while hurling myself off the branch I was crouching on. As the ground approaches fast I still catch a glimpse of the knife sinking into the ugly bug’s face, guided by sheer luck as I had no time to aim. Not that my aim is good or anything.

With a blast of wind and a practiced roll, I hit the ground, still pretty hard but not hard enough to break anything. Staggering to my feet I hear something slam into the tree behind me before falling to the ground with a nasty crunch and familiar hisses.

I need to finish this one off before the second one-

As if on cue the second locust makes itself known in a bush to my right foiling all my plans and making my situation go from pretty bad to I’m royally fucked. I can’t deal with the two at the same time and I don’t see a way to kill any of them fast enough before the other one could jump me.

It’s time for some lightning. Since Locust 1 is still writhing on the ground with the knife in its eyes I turn my attention to Locust 2. Its empty-looking round eyes, cold armored body, sharp mandibles yearning to bite down on me and those legs… The back limbs coil, signaling me it’s ready to jump so I prepare to dodge. But where? Where will it jump? When will those legs kick back and send the bug body flying?

As I keep watching a few little hints catch my attention. The way the antennas move and twitch, the body tilting slightly to the right, and how the supporting legs are spread with the left ones closer to its body. It’s expecting me to step backward.

I do just that and when the antennas snap back I roll forward, trusting my eyes and mostly my guts. As I stand back up unharmed I already know my guess was right so I turn after my attacker and send a bolt of lightning after it before commanding the earth to skewer Locust 2 just like I did last time.

Even though one is down I feel the unease growing in me, like I missed something, something. Instead of finding a half-dead Locust 1 on the ground as I expected, I see the beast standing over its long-fallen brethren with its head buried in the corpse. Eating.

Of course, they devour.

As if sensing my gaze its head snaps up with no signs of my knife or the injury and instead some sort of red haze swirling around its eyes. Overtaken by a deep primal fear at the sight of the red glow, I take a step back instead of seizing the opportunity to attack.

When the bug hisses at me with its mouth wide my senses return for a moment and I raise an earth shield to hide from this… this monster. Not a second later something, not too hard to guess, slams into the barrier, making it collapse and causing me to fall on my bum in fright.

It’s going to eat me, alive.

“Go away!” I scream, lifting my hand and unleashing fire towards what looks like a living nightmare.

The flames lick the brown carapace, incinerate the antennas, and slowly claim the round bug eyes yet the locust does not collapse. Oh no, it takes a step towards me. It walks through the fire with the red haze swirling around its body and wounds slowly healing despite my magic.

More, stronger, hotter! I urge the fire spewing from my palm in panic as a sense of emptiness starts growing in my chest. My mana is running low. I quickly grab the white pebble from my pocket and take an enormous calming breath as the terror bug keeps slowly marching toward me with its entire body burning every second.

Flames… they need heat, which is plenty here, air, something my fire does not lack, and fuel. I always imagined fire as similar to the flames in a hearth or a campfire. Wood crackling merely under the dancing orange light. But what if it was something else, something superior, cleaner, more efficient…

Then Savant provides the answer. Gas.

The mana flowing from the crystal right through me and into the fire raging from my palm like a large orange blanket changes. The flames shrink, the light brightens, and the color changes, first from orange to yellow, then from yellow to white and lastly taking on a slight blue-ish hue.

The moment the fire turned white the bug already stopped with its head no longer... well, there, and as the color changed to the minimal blue its body began to incinerate like paper. After only a few seconds of blasting fire as hot as I can the Hadron crystal runs dry and the mesmerizing flame that made me forget to even breathe dies with it.

The ground where the bug stood is left scorched and still smoldering so I crawl backward, just to bump into something.

“What the hell did you do again!?” The owner of the legs yells more than asks, looking more excited than actually furious.

I saved my ass that’s what I did you crazy old hag! Is what I wish to scream but I can only flop back and breathe out all the fear that lumped up in my chest.

Did I win?