Mana Output

The forest now completely enveloped them both, no matter if Midas looked forward or to his back - trees met his gaze nonetheless. Midas was still eager to keep his mana flowing, he was sure his pace began to speed up somewhat - the distance between him and Avalon not as far as it was a day ago.

Sometimes Midas was able to see Avalon stop in midst their track - turning his head in all directions, seemingly trying to look for something. Midas didn't ask, he mostlikely wouldn't be of any help - hopefully not being stuck inside of the ever expanding greenery.

Yet again, Avalon stood still - his feet suddenly stopping on the ground, the sounds of his steps now gone. Midas followed - as he stopped, the sounds of the leaves in the wind and the chirping of birds sometimes filled the void. As Avalon turned to his right, his eyes somewhat began to lit up - starting to wander inbetween the stems that grew out along their path, forcing Midas to stop following the path, tracking the mans steps, unsure to where he would lead him.

"Do you hear it Midas…? Thats the river I mentioned a while ago - the big one that is fed by the other three tinier streams."

Whatever Avalon was able to hear couldn't be picked up by Midas ears, the space inbetween the trees became more tighter the deeper they ventured into the growth. It took a while before Midas was able to hear a waterflow, a faint sound that emerged from the same direction he was headed to.

The ground sloped down, its angle unremarkable as Midas kept a relatively sturdy stance on the grassy floor, pebbles eventually dotted the earth - before Midas knew it, he was able to see Avalon stand right infront of the broad stream of water that passed by.

The rocks under him crunched slightly, as they were pressed down under his weight, the water was quite clear, branches and twigs were stuck inbetween tiny rocks, stranded on the river side untill the water eventually picked them up again.

Avalon took a while to look into the direction the water flowed into, dropping his bag onto the rocky floor. Opening it to retrieve packed up loafes and dried meat from inside - Midas was familiar with the crumbly texture of the flatbread, these goods mostlikely came from the desert, lasting supricingly long.

"This river eventually flows into the ocean… out of the forest, as it makes its way trough the flatlands we passed. It would make for a nice way of transporting goods by boat - but the stream gets much stronger the more we head into the forest…"

Mumbling slightly as he chewed onto the dried meat in his hand, Avalon spoke. Sitting down next to his bulky bag, as he offered Midas some of his food - the boy looking into the water as he listened to Avalons words.

"Do you think… that child fell into the river and somehow ended up coming this far…?"

"Well - maybe…"

Avalon was unable to give any real awnser, Midas uncertain question caught him off guard yet again - it must be hard dealing with such a sight for the first time, things like these tend to burn into one's mind.

Avalon watches as Midas got up from crouching down to the river, it would take three leaps to get to the other side of it - eventough the water didn't seem too deep, even for him. The boy then turned away from Avalon, taking a few steps back as he held his bandaged arm out.

Upon seeing the boys arm, Avalon began to wonder - if this boy really was gifted a crystal like that by Alma, he would need to somehow slot it into something that would help him funnel his mana into it. He heard of chains and bracelets, yet - gloves were something he hadn't seen in the west before. The glow he saw that night definitely emerged from the back of his hand and not the wrist - so a bracelet was out of question.

Midas looked at his extended arm, his bandaged fingers slightly trembled as he began to move his mana arround - hoping for it to work. Keeping his breathing calm, he still wasn't able to pick up any glow radiating from his bandages - closing his eyes instead.

The darkness he saw infront of him helped him grasp the warmth that circled through his torso more definitively - the pace in which the energy flew through him began to pick up almost automatically, eventually gathering in his right arm. Accumulating untill the rune sucked all of it up, upon realising the sudden disappearance of the warmth, Midas opened his eyes - the orange stone radiating a strong glow.

Avalon froze as he saw the orange light, before he could act, he saw stone brust out from the floor beneith them - rugged stone spikes escaped the floor that was riddled with pebbles, his awe cut short as Midas fainted.

Kicking up some of the tiny rocks, Avalon dashed towards the boy, crouching down to him as he watched Midas lids flicker, his eyes slowly opening again as he balanced himself on his left shoulder.

"Did it work…?"

Midas asked faintly, Avalons head turned to the conglomeration of rock infront of them without any remark, the stone formation somewhat reached back to the trees they came out of. Teaching the boy seemed to have paid out, the result was intriguing - quite remarkable for someone of his age.

Midas hissed as he held onto his forehead, a stinging pain was quickly spreading through his brain. Not fainting completely was an improvement, but he still was unable to controll his output which mostlikely led to him completely wasting all of his reserves at once.

"Avalon - tell me… how do I avoid overdoing it like this…? What do I do to not use my mana up at once…?"

With raspy voice Midas formed a question, his fingers still on his forehead as he saw Avalon stand up to examine what he caused. His hand on the sharp form of one of the stones.

"I don't know the details… But it's like tucking back at what ever is trying to consume your mana… Tools like your crystal, or sun shard… can and will use up any mana they will get, you as the user should prevent it from stealing all of it from you…"

Avalon paused, taking a few steps arround the burst up stone to eventually stop at Midas side, crouching down next to him again.

"The better you are able to feel the mana flow through you, the better you'll be at controlling your output of it… imagine holding onto the stream of mana that flows inside of you and keep that grip as you use your crystal…"

Poking at his left shoulder, Avalon tried his best to lecture the puzzled boy - he too only had faintly formed awnsers to that problem, mana studies weren't his profession after all. The only things he was able to give the boy on his way were basic measures he had remembered from his time as a youth.

"Tucking at my mana flow… but it happens so fast I barely have time to react…"

Avalon fixed his middle part, pausing to stand up, walking to the stone formation again to let his palm rest on it.

"That's the problem… I guess you start doing so before your crystal is able to retrieve the mana you accumulated in your limb. Im not really the best person to talk to regarding that, since I mostly rely on Null-Abilities…"

Midas eyes widen at his words, looking up at his casual face, Avalon stepped back to him while simultaneously making the rock crumble into its self - before its dust was swept away by the wind that blew against him. Making his eyes flinch slightly at the incoming particles.

The mention of Null-Abilities took him back to the time he spent with Jihid again, an old art that had been replaced by mana and the sun shards. Midas didn't realize that Null-Abilites like the one Avalon is able to use actually exist, unable to tell to what lenghs these skills actually go.

Seeing as the boy stared at him with widened eyes, Avalon couldn't help but break eyecontact with him - the university unfortunately isn't interested in these old abilities anymore, teaching him this ability would only hinder his progress.

Trying to find a stable stance, Midas eventually made it to his kees without collapsing, his head still somewhat dizzy as he grabbed the wooden bowl Avalon handed to him - drinking the water that was contained inside of it.

"Take a break for today… Let your mana replenish for tomorrow - we still have some distance to cover and the day is far from over…"

Avalon spoke as he looked at the sky, the sun barely passed its highest point, the weather was clear, only tiny bits of clouds covered the light blue that stretched out to endless distances - quite rare for this region.

"Alright…"

Midas reluctantly mumbled, atleast he got somewhat of a clue to how he could deal with his uncontrollable output, consistently trying to refine his grasp would be his only way of improving.