The Endless Forest

Hopefully we get some actual answers, Felix thought to himself as he and the rest of the group settled down. He felt his annoyance from this morning returning as the small dragon floated above them.

“Before we begin, has anyone made any discoveries? You’ve had plenty of time, after all,” Yarnel asked, already sounding rather snobbish.

Noria’s hand was the first one up. “I read through the section dedicated to mana in your journal, and… I’m a little confused. You said mana is like an energy, a force, but you didn’t clarify what that means.”

“A good observation of my journal. And, I should point out that it does not have all the answers, nor is it complete. It is…merely a glossary of what I’ve discovered. A good stepping stone, if you will.”

The dragon let out a sigh as Noria slowly lowered her hand. “I suppose we should start with what you do know. Then, we can work backwards.”

Before anyone else could raise their hands or speak, Yarnel continued. “You all have been told that Mana is made up into various parts. There is elemental, physical, mental, and… Uniques,” he said the word with disdain.

“It is said that all the parts make up the whole. That, when casting a spell, you are separating a single part from your mana. You perform an incantation of some sort, splitting the various types apart and converting the rest.

“That is how you were taught to cast a spell. That is how you think magic works. But, what if I told you that is a lie? What if I said, that isn’t how you cast a spell?”

Felix considered the question. If what he is suggesting is true, then would that explain why I am having trouble casting simple spells? He decided to ask his question aloud.

“Your mana manipulation is interesting. I think it enables you to tap into mana at a more fundamental level. Personally, I find it curious that you ask your mana to do something.”

“Is there something wrong with that?” Felix asked.

The dragon shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. Actually, I think your ability is closer to the truth than anything else.”

Huh, interesting… “Why is that?”

“I was getting to that…” The dragon said, trailing off before getting back to the original topic. “Now, as I was asking, what if I said everything you’ve learned is wrong?”

The entire group gave Yarnel a curious look as they waited silently for him to explain.

“As Noria pointed out, in my journal I say that mana is energy. A force that flows around us, through us, and in us. By itself, mana does not contain any properties– Or, rather, it is of all the different types.”

“But… But how does that work?” The question came from Yedril.

Yarnel flashed a toothy grin. “Tell me, what did you hear last night?”

The young elf furrowed his brows in confusion. “A note, a singular note. One that got more complex as I listened to it.”

“An…apt description I suppose. What do you think it was?”

Yedril quickly glanced at the others, looking for help. However, none came. They were just as unsure as he was. “Mana?” he said hesitantly.

“Wrong. Anyone else?”

There was an uneasy silence before Eri decided to speak up. “It’s a spell, isn’t it? The note, it's some sort of incantation.”

“Yes!” The dragon shouted excitedly. “Indeed it is. But now I am curious, how did you figure it out? Was it while watching the hatchlings just a few minutes ago?”

But Eri shook her head. “Not exactly. I only just put it together, but I first noticed it earlier. The kobolds, they were harmonizing with it.”

“Fascinating… I haven’t paid them much attention, but perhaps I should change that. Tell me, what happened?”

“Two things. First, they were praying to their… New? Old? Goddess–”

“Yes, that was a curious little incident. Though, I can’t personally say how important that is. To you all, the Gods might seem beyond us, but to someone as old as me they used to be quite a bit more mundane.”

Ithea mentioned something about that… But Mirezabeth said she was the dragon goddess. Wouldn’t that be a big enough deal for Yarnel? Felix thought as the dragon finished his interruption and Eri continued.

“And the second was…” She trailed off for just a moment, throwing Felix a nervous look. “Their naming ceremony for Niri’s and Gern’s children. They hummed to the note.”

“Hmm, that is interesting. I am definitely going to be paying closer attention to them from now on,” Yarnel muttered before speaking up to the group.

“As Eri correctly pointed out, what you all heard was an incantation of a spell. One that has been active since the very start of our world–”

“How come we have never been taught this?” Solanna asked, sounding incredulous.

Yedril was quick to follow with his own question. “And what does that have to do with mana being a force?”

The dragon frowned. “I was getting there… Anyway, to start with Yedril’s question, that spell is what I believe to be where mana originates from.”

Silence fell upon the group.

“As for Solanna’s question, there are two answers. The first one is simple, politics.”

“Poli…tics?” Felix blurted out, entirely confused.

“Indeed, though there is more to the story… Politics played a large role. However, as I said, there are two answers.”

The dragon paused, putting one of his taloned hands up to his snout in thought. “To explain, we must first learn a bit of history. We will have to go back far into the past, well before the war that drove us to this island…”

Felix felt a brief moment of concern at the mentioning of the war, but it was soon replaced with curiosity. I haven’t learned much about the past… Maybe I should start?

Of course, fear had been the main reason why he hadn’t learned. He didn’t know exactly what his past self did, but the dreams were enough to give him hints. But I refuse to live in his shadow.

“...I shall warn you, a lot of this is speculation– But! Speculation that is backed by research. To understand why you have never been taught this, we need to understand early society.

“That alone is a difficult task for a multitude of reasons. The best knowledge I have is on my kin, of course, but I have researched elves and dwarves and found similarities.”

There was a pause as Yarnel stopped and considered something. “Perhaps, I should give the kobolds more credit… They alone have independently discovered how their ancestors performed magic.”

He shrugged before getting back to the main subject. “Anyway, I am fairly certain mana was discovered by accident. Someone listened a bit too hard and began channeling it. They harmonized with it, and through that process created the first spells. They created magic.”

Wait… “Harmonized?” Felix asked out loud.

“Yes, harmonized– And yes, this is what I meant by your mana manipulation being similar. When you use your ability, you are effectively harmonizing with it. The process isn’t quite the same, but it is close enough.”

Felix felt a small bit of vindication but that feeling quickly fell away as he realized his original question hadn’t been answered. “Why do I struggle with casting spells normally then?” he asked again.

Yarnel’s expression became serious as the dragon bore his attention down upon him. “I believe you and I already had that discussion…” The dragon let out a sigh.

“That’s right… We did, sorry…” He shrank away, remembering everything he and the dragon had discussed earlier today.

Yarnel waved the apology away. “I shall attempt to get us back on track… The incantation you heard is where mana comes from. But, do you know what powers it?”

The group all looked between themselves, but even Noria looked unsure.

“It is fine if you don’t, it took a lot of trial and error on my part to understand it. Normally, I would have you all try to piece it together but that would be counterproductive in this case. It would do you better if I tell you, else you will be chasing ghosts for the rest of your life.”

“Ghosts?” Felix asked, echoing the others' confusion.

“Indeed.”

The world grew still. That is, until Yarnel decided to break the spell.

“What powers the spell is souls. When we die, a part of us is returned to help fuel the spell. But, how much is returned is a bit of a mystery.”

Yarnel brought his attention towards Felix. “Resurrection spells can work because of that, but it’s also why they need such a high cost and still may not be perfect. You cannot simply take from it, you must offer a proper replacement as well.”

Felix felt a shiver that ran to his very core as multiple vague concepts slowly started to come together. For a moment, he felt Fea stir as if confirming Yarnel’s words.

The dragon went on, clearly not aware of how world-shattering his lecture was turning out to be. Or perhaps he doesn’t care? Felix faintly thought.

“This now brings us back to Solanna’s question. Why isn’t any of this taught? I gave you the simple answer, politics. But the far more complex answer is more muddied than that.”

Yarnel paused as if anticipating more questions but when none came, he spoke again. “As time progressed, so too did our understanding of mana. Harmonizing with it quickly fell out of vogue. Instead, as we experimented and built up our knowledge of mana, we found shortcuts. Little tricks we could use to speed up the process.

“That eventually led to our modern understanding of mana and magic. We soon found ourselves teaching these shortcuts, presenting them as the ‘proper’ way and forgetting what was the actual truth. Though, that isn’t to say our ancestors were necessarily wrong.

“They found these shortcuts were faster, more efficient, and easier to cast spells with than the original way. And after enough time passed, everything we knew was built almost entirely upon those theories.”

Wow… “And different civilizations expanded or added their own myths and legends to explain magic?” Felix asked aloud, recalling Yarnel’s words about how humans regarded magic differently than other races.

“Indeed,” the dragon said, giving him a nod. “It does not matter what names one gives mana, magic, or spells so long as it functions as described. Humans took a more religious approach to magic, while elves and us dragons took a more natural one. Dwarf and gnomes differ as well.”

Solanna spoke up. “Is there a problem with that though? I find this fascinating but personally, it sounds like it doesn’t matter. Was it wrong for…our ancestors to forget about harmonizing?”

Yarnel let out a tsk. “As I said, no. It was not necessarily wrong. But it did lead to us forgetting the bigger picture. It left most questions unanswered.”

“What are some of those unanswered questions?” she asked genuinely.

Before the small dragon could answer, Eri spoke. “I think… I think I might know one.”

“Oh? Please, do tell,” Yarnel said, his expression filled with amusement and curiosity.

“If that hum we heard has been around since the very creation of the world, who started it? The next question would be why?”

“Exactly, but there are other questions as well. For example, how does mana interact with the world at large?

“As Felix put it, myths and legends were created to help explain it. So long as they continue to make sense, people have chosen to accept them as fact. The truth is, though, we barely know anything.”

He pointed at Solanna. “That is the problem. Our entire foundation is built on shaky ground and lies. It is why I have dedicated my life to the pursuit of knowledge. And it is why I have been shunned by most. I dare question the unanswerable–”

Yarnel suddenly stopped. A moment later, that round object appeared before him, floating just in front of his face.

“Hmm, it appears our time is up for today." The dragon looked up to the group. “I want you all to meditate on what has been discussed here and we will reconvene in a few days at the same time as today. And then, I will show you the truth.”

Before another word could be spoken, the dragon vanished in a blink of an eye…