287: Consequences

Prinae let out a laugh at my question before quickly realising I may not have been joking.

Hari just let out a sigh.

Prinae looked to the medical wing, “I should probably check on the patients. That was a lot of mana, and several of our patients are very sensitive to that right now.”

Milo spoke up, “In the Temple of Fate when this happened, the mana had no real effect on people and it seemed to just wash over them. It does have a drastic effect on nature, though; we’ll discuss that soon.”

Prinae frowned, “I see. I’ll have an elder check them then. I’ve found that doing this over the last several hundred years that it’s usually better to be safe.”

He quickly gestured to a man I had not seen yet, and provided some quick instructions before turning back towards us.

“Right, well I’ll lead the way,” Prinae said.

It was for the best that we were leaving now too; the mana had attracted a lot of attention as priests and acolytes were appearing from the hallways, likely woken up by the event.

We’d only started walking when Jen came up to Hari, “Lewie and I will go into the town and make sure everything is okay out there. We don’t know how widespread this one was.”

Hari nodded.

Before Jen left, she called out, “Liane, you come too.”

Liane grumbled, but ultimately, followed along.

Gilain started following them also, calling out, “I’m going to check on the inn!”

I saw Prinae raise an eyebrow at the comments, but was clearly holding back for the time being.

This silence didn’t hold long as we entered what looked to be a private meeting room with at least a dozen chairs around a large table.

“I’ll start with why I asked for this conversation, though it seems the goal of getting you here may have already been achieved. I have an ability, Commune with Life. It’s a very powerful ability and has guided me through my journey here; however, it can only be used once per year.” he began.

I was immediately shocked by this; once per year was a ridiculous time to wait between uses. My thoughts were interrupted.

“I appreciate your desire for academics, young mage; however, I’ll have to ask you not to document what we discuss here as I will not document what you tell me.” he said, smiling to Milo.

Milo just nodded, storing his notebook away, though I suspect without an oath, he’d have it written down in a private book later anyway.

Prinae continued, “People have described the skill as a vision from the God of Life. I don’t think it’s quite so simple. I think it’s a vision from the system on how to best serve the God of Life—similar, but there is a distinction between these two.”

“And this ability told you to seek me out?” I questioned.

Prinae let out a soft laugh, “No, unfortunately the ability is never quite so clear. It’s not prophetic, and it can’t see the future. For example, the last forty or so uses of the skill have just shown me where I should look for recruits who have not made their way here. No, what it told me was to seek an individual who’s friends with fire and shadow.”

Crisplet let off a burst of sparks, clearly happy to be included.

“Seek him out for what exactly?” Milo enquired.

Prinae shrugged, “I didn’t get that much information, but I believe we saw what it was for already, which brings me to the most important question I have: what exactly did we just see? You mentioned it was widespread before?”

“That I can’t tell you, because I don’t know, I’m afraid,” I explained.

Milo however spoke up again, “What I theorise has happened is a large pulse of mana has just entered the world, for better or worse, as it did in the capital.”

“Or worse?” Prinae clarified.

“Yes, obviously this tree produces mana, a lot of places in the world lack mana producers and as such plant growth is lower,” Milo said.

This seemed to be all the explanation that Prinae needed as the pieces seemed to fall into place for him.

“So the early crop growth then?” he asked.

Milo nodded, “Most likely due to the first mana increase, but it’s not all good growth. We purchased drownweed, sourced from the local river, which is a highly toxic plant that can paralyse an individual on touch.”

“So the pulse today will make it worse?” Prinae muttered mostly to himself.

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“There are pros and cons to the situation. More mana means rarer ingredients and materials, more food, faster growth, bountiful crops, but at the cost of increased monsters, stronger monsters, and likely some plants people are not aware of,” Hari added, joining in.

“This is a lot to consider. I thank you for informing me. Now, you mentioned a dragon. I assume this was in jest, but I have to confirm with your current companions,” Prinae asked.

“Oh that wasn’t a joke. The pulse in the capital grabbed the attention of Alira the phoenix, Banawa the sea monster and Sylverith the green dragon,” I said with a laugh.

I left out Morlin, because how do you describe him?

Prinae did not find it as amusing as I did. He began to turn pale.

“Are they friends?” He confirmed, his confidence seemingly breaking for the first time.

“The phoenix and the dragon are. The sea monster, I don’t think so,” I said.

Hari sighed, “To be clear here, they are friends with Trevor, and Crisplet...”

There was a loud chirp from the nest.

I quickly whispered, “I’m sure they’ll be friends with you too when you meet them.”

Hari recovered, “As I was saying, they are friends with him. I would say their interactions with everyone else who is friendly to Trevor is cordial.”

“I guess I don’t need to question what happens when they are not friendly,” Prinae laughed.

Hari had a smirk, “Having trouble getting potions from the Alchemist Guild right now?”

Prinae let out a sigh, “Yes... wait, that was due to Trevor?”

Hari didn’t respond, just smiled and leaned back in his chair.

There was a pause in the conversation as it seemed Prinae didn’t know what to say to that. I felt it was best to ask what was on my mind.

“Sorry to change the subject, but could I ask how long you think it will take for Lukas to recover?” I said, looking around, making sure no one objected.

Prinae looked very serious for a moment, “I’ve seen a lot of people come through here over the centuries, and it’s near impossible to answer that question.” Prinae took a moment to readjust, before continuing,

“His physical injuries are likely already healed by your soup, but I must warn you, he’s suffered, and not just through this attack. It’s telling that he is here and none of his party are.”

“He’ll need to rehabilitate, especially because he’s lost a leg. Those magical attachments are good once you’ve lived with it for a while, but they are tough to get used to,” Hari added.

I didn’t have any words. I knew this had already been said to me, but I was really hoping for a clearer answer.

“You’ve given him the best possible chance, Trevor, and we have a lot of people who specialise in helping people recover mentally speaking, though often they don’t pick up a weapon again.”

With that, the conversation came to an end as Prinae got to his feet.

“I still have some questions, especially with your food, but we have time. We can do this in the morning. If your friend awakens, we can have someone fetch you,” Prinae said.

Hari joined him in standing, “Please, that would be excellent. We’re staying at Jamal’s Inn.”

Prinae nodded.

I, on the other hand, stared at Hari, “That’s what he called the inn? Just Jamal’s Inn?”

Milo burst into laughter.

Hari just had a silly grin on his face.

“With how run-down it is, call it The Bottom of the Barrel, or The Rolling Stone? He has so many options!” I pleaded.

Milo did not stop laughing, and now Hari had joined in as well.

“I will say, Trevor, with names like that and your cooking, you should open an inn yourself one day. You’ll do quite well,” Prinae said, as both Crisplet and Clacks reacted in agreement.

As we entered the main hall, there was chaos. You’d never know it was the middle of the morning. There were dozens of priests and acolytes scattered around, all speaking to each other. Several were even making offerings at the plinth, though I noticed, they all remained on the stone.

A few immediately got concerned seeing Lily and Crisplet following us, though I had a feeling she was holding back her aura right now considerably as several people still had not noticed.

Prinae didn’t wait, announcing immediately, “Calm yourselves, everyone, please.”

All faces turned towards us as he continued, “Our god accepted an offering today and has blessed everyone with a burst of mana. Though we need to warn our people that although the crops will grow strong, so will the monsters and dangerous plant life. Everyone get some rest or return to your duties. Tomorrow we have a long day ahead of us.”

No one argued or surprisingly asked any questions. There was some soft muttering, but everyone started to head out of the main hall.

Turning to us, Prinae said, “Thank you for coming, and I should thank you for doing this at night. It’s far easier for us to handle. We will contact you as soon as the situation changes.”

He bowed deeply after that.

I was just about to join Milo and Hari as they walked towards the entrance when I remembered.

“Oh sorry, Head Priest Prinae, that pot the elder took, it’s a special one to me. I will need that one back, please,” I asked.

“No worries, Trevor, I will make sure it comes back to you in pristine condition.” He smiled.

The walk out of the tree was quiet. My mind was racing with what I was going to say to Lukas when he woke up. Did I bring up the fact that he ignored me? Was that something I should be concerned about? By the sounds of it he had a terrible party, and it was mentioned some parties might not have allowed him to talk to me.

I let out a big sigh, immediately feeling reassurance from Crisplet behind me.

“Something troubling you, Trev?” Milo asked.

I shook my head, “No, it’s alright. It’s a problem for later. I need to sleep on it.”

When we made it out of the tree, Milo looked around, almost like something was wrong. Even Hari noticed.

“What’s wrong?” Hari asked.

Milo had an incredibly serious face, “Nothing, I’m just surprised no one is here yet.”

“No one?” I asked.

“Yes, no dragon, no Morlin, no phoenix, no fox spirit,” Milo said, his serious demeanour cracking.

Hari laughed, “Careful what you wish for, it’s not been that long yet.”

I had to laugh it off; maybe this mana pulse didn’t go as far and it wasn’t noticed.

That hope was shattered.

Just before we reached the inn, there was an unmistakable sound of a carriage racing down the road towards the temple.

“Told you, you spoke too soon, Milo,” Hari said, clipping him across the back of the head lightly.