Vic is standing at the edge of a cliff looking out into the ocean below. It is a gorgeous view, the sounds of the waves crashing into the rocks at the bottom of the cliff face, the briny smell of salt in the air, the wind pushing his hair into his face, and the heat of the sun warming his tanned skin but not so hot as to be uncomfortable. He looks down at his hands and feels relief that they’re the normal color. “This is more like it. I should have moved here instead of Alaska. The fuck was I thinking?” He takes a large breath, centering himself in the moment as if into the environment.
I have never seen such a beautiful sight before! Where are we! How are you doing this?
Vic wakes up immediately when he hears the voice again. His eyes shoot open and he scrambles to try and get up, remembering what happened but when he sees that he is no longer where he fell asleep, he stops. Looking around he finds himself in a stone room on a bed made of timber and what looks like a weird bubbly moss., The room has a light made up from what looks to be a collection of bulbous light emitting fruits hanging in a net off the ceiling. He sees he is also clothed now, with a rough fabric similar to cotton in the form of a too large shirt that feels about as soft as a canvas bag. He lifts the pelt blanket and sees a pair of pants in the same style as the shirt, both are designed with an odd stitched pattern into them with deep greens and greys. The voice speaks again, reminding him he was not alone.
What happened to the place we were in?
Vic puts his face in his hands and groans in annoyance as he remembers his hand. He pulls the hand away from his face and looks it over again, trying to will it back to normal. Nothing changes. “I was really hoping this was all just a really fucked up dream and I would just wake up on my boat or in my bed.” He falls back into the bed “What were you doing in my dream? Can I not have a moment of peace?” he hears the voice somewhere deeper in his mind this time, as if it's his inner voice and not an intruder on the surface.
I didn’t mean to startle you again, I had just not experienced anything like it before.
“How were you even able to see my dream? Where were you?” The voice is quiet for a minute and Vic is about to ask again when he notices an odd feeling somewhere in his mind. It feels like an intrusive thought normally would, but instead of thought it's more of an intrusive emotion, apprehension to be specific. He could take a pretty good guess as to the cause of the feeling now that the voice made itself known again.
We are one now. What you see, I see and what I see, you see. Bonded, remember?
Vic tests the limit of the Bond’s communication ability in fear of what he might learn. He wonders to himself; Can you hear me like this? No response. He directs his thoughts toward where he thinks the Intrusive feelings sit in his mind. Can you hear me like this? The voice answers this time.
Yes. I can hear you!
Vic lays there and stews in his thoughts wondering how this was possible. Magic obviously, but how was it possible for HIM? Why him? What did he do to deserve this? Why not just let him be, toiling away in the dinky little city, living his life.
Not like it was much of a life to begin with, definitely squandered it a bit but it was MY life to squander. I at least had the choice there.
If it’s any consolation, I wasn’t given a choice either. I didn't have nearly as much pain and I knew what would happen when I was chosen, but we never really have a choice where I come from. Your world sounds more free to me.
The voice had a quality to it that reminded him of the tree’s voice and it still sent goosebumps through him, but due to the lack of a stress filled environment around him, he was able to pick up on it more now. “This whole being in my head thing is going to take a lot to get used to.” He sits on the edge of the bed and moves his new arm around, testing its range of motion and feeling everything out. He notices that feeling with his right arm is still present and capable but there is a definite muted quality to it, almost as if his arm was half asleep without all the pins and needles.
I don’t want to be a bother, but I’m still curious about where we were earlier.
“Do your kind not have dreams?” Vic looked down at his arm when he spoke, it was better than talking to the room and made him feel less crazy despite talking to his own arm. He’ll need to revisit how that maths out later.
I haven’t ever heard of one before now. It looked like a real place there was a deep seated feeling of … nostalgia? And peace? Then we disappeared and now we’re back here. I’ve never felt emotions from a place before.
“It was a real place from my world that I have a very strong memory of. Where we were wasn’t real though, it was just the memory of that place.” Vic thought back to the cliffside photo spot for a second as he continued “Its pretty weird to have someone else to share a dream with literally. Because its my memory and my dream you were probably picking up on my emotions through the dream.” He thought about how he woke up on this world and hoped he wasn’t going to have nightmares bout it later. “Dreams are a weird thing human minds do when we sleep. I would like to tell you more but I don’t even think the people who researched that stuff on my world even figured it out yet. I guess the easy answer would be to call it a way our brain stays active during rest?” Vic was scratching at his chin noting his facial hair was coming back in. I hope wherever I am has a razor at the least.
I wish we were able to dream, my kind don’t even sleep so I guess there isn’t a reason to. I hope to see more of these dreams! It was an interesting experience.
Vic stands up and begins to walk about the room, checking to see if there are any other weirdness about him post-Bond. “So, what exactly have you changed about me other than my arm? And maybe my brain chemistry?” He looks around the bare room hoping a mirror somehow would appear out of nowhere.
We’ve changed nothing, We just joined with your mind and body, the Bond was to combine us as one body and mind. You had a mark on your arm that our Bond seemed all too willing to be influenced by, and even now I can feel that our Bond is not right. It's deeper, more connected than it should be. Instead of becoming merged we are still ourselves but also still together as if to be more than the sum of our parts. Are all humans marked in the same way?
Choosing not to think on the implied meaning of “becoming one”, Vic looks back down at his arm and moves it about to examine his tattoo. “No, this mark was just supposed to be a tattoo, a cosmetic mark, nothing else. Hell, I don’t even remember getting it. Long story short, I was drunk as shit at a bar, and woke up the next day in my apartment with a new tattoo. I don’t even like the tattoo, too pretentious and tacky of a design.” He sees the sigils in the tattoo give off a slight glow. Turning his arm over he can look into the underside and up at the “back” of the sigils and see the same glow through the slight brownish crystal. I’m never going to get used to this. Mom and Dad had a lot of choice words to say when they saw it then, I can’t imagine what they’d think now. “How is it you know nothing about humans?.”
We know your kind exists and they certainly know of us. The humans have been the reason my kind is slowly disappearing for the last century and a half. We’ve tried to make ourselves known but each time the attempt has been made, the Node that made the attempt goes dark. We usually end up abandoning the Veins where this happens because we aren't sure what is happening, all we know is each time this has happened, our Core grows weaker and weaker so we have been taking precautions.
The voice had a feeling of annoyance as it spoke. He felt like there was definitely more to learn regarding the humans of this world. Just from what the voice was saying it sounded like they were somehow finding whatever these nodes were and removing them for some reason. It sounded like the humans in this world might be the same ignorant and self-centered idiots here too. He was definitely more on the ignorant side as of late.
“I’m sorry. That sounds about par for the course with humans unfortunately, that might also be why the beastfolk attacked me. If the beastfolk are wary of humans, then it probably means they've been fighting.” Finally done with his pacing he looks around the room looking for anything he could to figure out what happened and why the beastfolk have left him alone so long. He found nothing, there was only the bed, himself and the voice and-
“What’s your name? I know you said you’re a Vessel but that’s just a title, right? I just realized I’ve been calling you the “voice” in my head the whole time and that seems rude”.
The realization that he hasn’t asked its name yet jumps out at him as he considers the voice, and a feeling of slight surprise echoes from his mind at the sudden question.
I don’t have a name. You are correct in that Vessel is a title, but I don’t view it as rude to be known as “voice”, it is not inaccurate.
“Well then what are your kind called?” The ability to talk to someone in his mind is quickly growing easier to accept but there’s still a part of him that views the whole process as a slippery slope into insanity. Then again, he was isekaied onto another planet and is now sharing a body with a magic voice after getting a gigantic gem for an arm, so maybe he’s already insane.
We don’t really go by anything. Names are only important in communicating with others and we are more of a collective than anything else. The beastfolk call us the Sacred Light, but they only use us as a focus point for their cities and towns as a sort of congregation point for large decisions, so not really any form of conversation.
As the voice was speaking, Vic had an idea. It was a dumb idea for sure but if they don’t seem to care about names then what's the harm in trying to give them one? Plus he was definitely not calling them Scared Light every time they talked, which he was sure would be a lot as two strangers in a strange land. “How about I suggest a few names? If you don’t mind that is, it just feels rude to only call you the voice and Sacred Light has too many religious connotations for me.”
What names were you thinking of?
“What about Vess? Short for Vessel? It’s a bit on the nose as far as names go in my opinion.” Vic can feel a small amount of confusion come from the voice.
Why recommend a name that you feel would be too obvious then?
“I don’t know what you like or what your taste is, I’m just going off vibes at this point. Fuck, I don’t even know if you’re gendered. Do your kind even have genders or is it more of a “be what needs to be” kind of system. Hmm.” Vic resumes pacing but at a more sedate rate as he thinks on more names to present.
We don't tend to think of ourselves that way, no. I’m more curious as to what names you think would fit me.
“Well, I feel it would be safe to call you a magical entity so, maybe something magic related…. My first thought was something like Magi, but that's just a plural of magus. It also sounds too much like Maggie to me. Thoughts?
Not really a fan of that one, no.
“What about taking inspiration from books from earth? We could go with what they call the substance of magic? It would kind of be weird naming you after an object though. How do you feel about Mana?” A noticeable feeling of satisfaction comes through the bond at the suggestion.
I like the name! I feel it more accurately describes what my kind are too. It's settled! I am Mana.
Vic was pleased with himself for nailing it on the second recommendation. “Good because the options were going to get worse and more niche.” He turns his attention towards the room's door. “Nobody has come to kill me and they clothed and sheltered me. So either the beast from before did this after having a significant change of heart, or someone else talked it out of gutting me.” Walking up to the door he puts his ear against it, listening through it to see if he can hear anything happening on the other side.
What are you listening to the door for?
I’m trying to see if I can hear anyone or anything happening on the other side. There didn’t appear to be anything audible to hear. I can’t hear anything, so it either means we are going to open the door into an empty room or there’s a competent and quiet guard standing watch on the other side. Taking a deep breath and gathering his nerve, Vic opens the door. He is pleasantly surprised to find himself looking out from a balcony walkway overlooking the jungle. He's not as high up as before when he was near the Vein at the top of the pyramid, he is mostly looking into the forest now instead of at the top. The view was both familiar and exotic at the same time, with the seemingly chaotic growth of the trees intermingling of bushes and lower plant life, but that's where the familiarity ended. The bulbous forms of the larger trees and the myriad of colors not typical of forest back home were throwing him off. It was still beautiful, it just felt like he was looking at a concept art page in some sci-fi landscape artbook. The sun was still out, he could see it peeking through the canopy in spots causing rays to dance with the wind through the trees, illuminating the floor far below. There, he saw the most spacious and sprawled town he'd ever seen. No two buildings were packed up next to each other, the spaces between were used as paths, gardens, ponds, or even fields in a lot of places. It was an extremely different layout than he was used to seeing back on Earth, having both lived in and visited many on his way to Alaska.
Turning his attention away from the beautiful landscape he looked down the walkway for any people but only saw the ends where they continued around a corner. What do you think Mana? Are we guests or prisoners?
I wouldn’t be so confident those are the only options, but to me it looks like we might be guests? But If that’s the case then where is our host?
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Vic was in agreement and he could tell Mana was as anxious as he was as he walked to the left down the passage. He at one point looks over the edge of the stone halfwall along the walkway and realizes where they are. Looks like we’re still in the pyramid, just a lot closer to the ground now. They get to the corner of the pyramid and peek around the wall to check for any people. Down about halfway to the other end they see a trio of beastfolk walking toward them. The pyramid is large enough that they won’t reach Vic and Mana for maybe a minute by his guess. He turns back towards the room and contemplates their next moves.
What do you think? Back to the room or try to go around the other way and avoid them?
Why not talk to them? They clearly were willing to take you in. They even clothed you. Not to mention the lack of guards.
Fair point I guess. Should we just go and meet them? He thinks on it for a few seconds. Fuck it, I’ve survived world-hopping and whatever that bond process was, I’ll go talk. He rounds the corner with a false confidence that he deep down knew was just false bravado in front of his new mind-buddy. The trio were almost to the turn and stop when they see him, as one falling to a deep bow. Vic notices that they aren’t all the same beasts either. The one who tried to gut him is with them too and looking somehow more pale while the other two look a lot healthier and considerably younger than the man-bat-falcon one is.The one to his left seems to be a straight up giant sloth, long arms and fur with the massive long claws. It was walking on all fours but still made the effort to bow. The last beast was what looked like an upright hyena with long arms that were almost touching the floor when it was standing. It had a tail like a large rat’s and was an odd shade of greenish brown.
I think we will not have any problems judging by their reaction.
How could this mean anything but problems! He asked incredulously. Unless bowing means something different to beastfolk than it does on Earth, then I think we’re about to have a massive problem! Before Mana was able to ask what he meant, the beastfolk rose and walked with a quickness to them that betrayed all he needed to know. It was a hurried gait like he’d seen in almost every form of media relating to royalty; the movement of those who serve. He’d also seen it in weird restaurants where they treated him like his word was gospel as the customer. He hated that feeling.
“Oh Enlightened one, please forgive my failure to listen to you earlier!” The man-bat-falcon went practically prostrate at Vic’s feet as he begs for forgiveness. Vic grows impatient when he remembers how it didn’t even try to help him earlier and went for the attack almost immediately. He was about to start telling it off, but a thought struck him last second; what would he have done if he saw a naked beastman in his home? He would have done probably the same as this beast. Or he would have screamed and ran, who knows. Vic waves his hands to stop any more sycophantic grovelling. “Nope, I’m going to make this as crystal clear as possible; I am JUST a guy, not some Enlightened anything, you hear me? None of that please.” The beast is still on the floor but the sloth was squinting at him and the hyena was wide eyed.
After a beat he continues “If you’re not going to try and kill me again then can we move on to the explanation of who you are and where I am? It’s been a rough day.” The man-bat-falcon lifts its head and looks up at him “Does this mean the Enlightened One forgives?”
I’m about to say no, this guy is annoying.
Don’t do that, we need info and we can use this to our advantage. Also I liked the crystal pun, you should do that more!
With a sigh, Vic looks down to address the beast “Fine, you are forgiven. Now can you please answer the questions?” The beast jumps to his feet and smoothes his fur as if he were wearing a dusty coat. “We are of the Beast Tribes, specifically the North Combined Tribe. We are in the Elles Basin and this is the town of Surn. As for who we are, I am Barus. I am the Light Seer of the temple of Light here in Surn. Again, I cannot express how deeply sorry I am for any offence I have committed against yourself, Enlightened one.” As Barus finishes speaking, he repeats the bow and backs away for the other two to present themselves. Alright, not as far from the standard fantasy as I was expecting.
What do you mean?
I’ll tell you later. The gigantic sloth moves forward more than Barus did, coming a lot closer to Vic and looking him over as if he was a nuisance. He could see that the Sloth was covered in scars now that he was close enough. They were jagged and running every which way over its body. I'm going to take a wild guess and assume it's the muscle around here. “I’m Nirren, Lead Guard, and I don’t like you.”
Big Sloth-Man, it turns out, is a Big Sloth Woman. Her voice was not quite raspy but it had a definite edge to it and all that edge was pointed at Vic for some reason. “Nirren! What the fuck did I tell you?!” Both Nirren and Vic looked with Barus at the third member, the two Beasts with shock, Vic with amusement. “What? You said to be cordial with the human, and that was as far as I am willing to go.” The third Beast face palmed. “I told you that in hopes you wouldn’t decide to make a scene out of our first introductions!” Vic piped up at that, it was a good enough spot to interrupt.
“Personally, I liked the candidness more than all the “Enlightened one” stuff. And also if I did care, I feel like you were definitely the one causing a scene.” He gestured to the third beast. “Can we be done with the…whatever this is? I just want to know how I got here. And where to go from here. And most importantly, what the hell is happening!” The beasts were looking at him again with mixed emotions. Nirren was a blank slate, Barus was looking slightly dejected, and the third beast was looking at Vic with embarrassment.
The third beast decided to get on with the introductions and gave a slight bow as they spoke. “I am Mel, I am the Head of Surne. On behalf of the Beast Tribes, we welcome you Enli-” Vic gave her a look as she was about to say Enlightened one again. “Sorry I don’t think we ever got your name.” Vic half smiles in appreciation “My name is Victor, but I would prefer you call me Vic.” Mel continues “Thank you Vic, the Beast Tribes welcome you to our territory. If you would like, we can move to the Feast Hall for food and we can discuss matters further there?”
Vic nods and they all begin the walk to the Feast Hall. “Is there a reason you don’t like humans here? I know Barus thought I was part of a scouting party or something, you guys at war?” At the mention of humans they tensed slightly, except Nirren. She just side eyed him as they walked. Mel decided to answer a second later “The humans to the south of the Basin have been attacking us for a few decades now. They deem us as lesser because we live among the Land, in harmony with it. Only taking what is needed and giving back when we can.” Mel looks slightly uncomfortable talking about the subject, but Vic needs to know more information before making up his mind on what to do next.
“We’re well defended in the Basin and the Tribes come to each other's aid when needed, but that only goes so far against the numbers that humans send at us. They send in Scavengers to raid our supplies and hunt down our skilled warriors. Nirren here has gone up against them many times before she was sent here as a Lead Guard.” At the mention of herself, Nirren looked back at Vic and gave him what he took as a smirk, as if to say “Try me, bitch.” Vic just nodded and continued listening. “The worst part is that they never try for diplomacy. Whenever we capture one to “question”, they just spout some nonsense about us being demonic and trying to possess them.” Air quotes are a thing here too huh? “Have you tried to infiltrate the towns to the south? In retaliation or for scouting?” Vic was starting to see a picture forming and he was positive he wasn’t liking how it looked. If humanity sucked alone on Earth, then it tracks that it would be the same, if not worse here where there was an entire race of sentient animals. If there's Beastmen then I wonder if the other classics are present as well?
What are classics? Did your world have different races than ours?
No, we were it on Earth. We had animals and there was a lot of studies saying that a few could be contenders but we lived in cities we built and they lived on the lam. Tools are the name of the game and we got a head start by a couple hundred thousand years I’d say. Maybe. I might be off by a few years. The point is we didn’t have another entity to make an enemy of so we invented reasons to do what the humans here are doing, but to ourselves.
It was Nirren that answered him. “We try every so often but with the human’s magic capability growing over the last few decades, the improbable has slowly morphed to the impossible. They’ve been building these structures around and inside their towns and the surrounding farmlands that, in the best case, drive us away in irritation and at worst, kill us outright. We’ve tried a few times to force past the affected areas, but that causes the magic to intensify and we end up fighting a losing battle while being tortured at the same time.” The group descended the pyramid as they conversed, reaching the Feast Hall as they travelled further into it. It was not a large room as Vic would have thought, still showing the bare and worn stone floor and a few fires to light the place made it feel distinctly ancient to Vic. It doesn’t look like this was built any time recently. The room had a few long tables and benches, with food already having been set out for them, he assumed.
“Can you not fight back with magic?” Vic asks as they sit around a large spread of food stuffs, from cooked meats to raw cuts and fruits and veggies. Nirren sits opposite him in a spot at the end of the table where the bench is shorter to accommodate her size. “Not to a degree that would be effective. Our magic comes from the Land and from within ourselves and it takes time to prepare and to learn, but the humans, they figured something out. We don’t know how they do it but there’s been an uptick in their mage numbers since the conflict began. Their magi are casting faster and more frequently than we could have ever imagined before. Frankly speaking, it’s terrifying. We don’t know how long it will be before they outclass our defense and push for our lands ” She looks soberly at her food as she reminisces on previous battles.
“If they’re so much more powerful, then how have your people been able to hold out for so long?” At the question, Barus clears his throat and answers “You have the Blessing of the Light, Vic. Can you not feel it running through your veins? The Beast Tribes have long been stewards of the Light. Over time we have learned from it how to take in the magic of the land and reinforce our bodies, our hearts. We fight with the strength of the Land in our souls and the Light as our guide. We aim for Harmony with the Land and as we have gotten closer to reaching it, we ourselves become one with it.” As Barus spoke, a twinge of surprise came from Mana, which made Vic curious. What is it? Why are you shocked?
They have found a way to nurture a pseudo-Bond. They get a part of the benefit of being Bonded by simply trying to attain Harmony with the land, or at least that’s what I’m inferring based off of what he said, but that doesn’t make sense. What does that have to do with attaining a partial Bond? There has to be something else going on or they don’t understand themselves and are just misattributing their battle prowess and people’s constitution.
Should I mention it?
No, If you do that then you might take away a key belief that might very well be propping up their ability to counter the humans. The hit to morale could be their undoing, not to mention we don’t know if they’re wrong or not. Say nothing for now.
Fine. “How are your people doing on numbers then? This sounds like a somewhat one-sided fight.” Vic was on his second cooked leg of what looked and tasted like a massive chicken. Nirren was on her fifth and answered as she finished it. “We are doing fine on numbers, the most loss happens near the southern Tribes lands. The Basin makes it extremely difficult for the humans to use any access other than the river valley in the south, so we have a decent kill tunnel. The problem is the parties of Scavengers with their Magi. They don’t send them often, but when they do, we tend to have a lot more losses.” Barus chimes in at that. “That was mainly the reason I had been so aggressive when you were at the Sacred Tree. There has never been a Human sighted past the Lake Elles. To see a human so far, it would make anyone aggressive.”
Vic had a feeling he knew the answer to his next question, but he wanted to hear it to make sure. “So then why am I still alive? Why wasn’t I killed at first sight?” Barus nods at Vic's crystalline arm and answers “The mark on your arm. It pulsed with the Sacred Tree’s Light as you touched the Tree. The Tree has never responded to anyone before in the time our people have established here. It was a beautiful sight to see the Light moving within you, and the power… it was unmistakable that you were meant to commune with the Tree.” Mel gives Barus a slightly annoyed look as he speaks and adds “Even so, what now? He is connected with the Light, but what are we going to do now? We can’t have him stay here, the others will try to rip him apart even with his being Enlightened just based on his being a human.” I guess that would have been too presumptuous of me, glad I didn’t ask.
Why would that be presumptuous? They did try to kill you and you could basically be their king with just our Bond. You could probably ask for whatever you’d like.
Sure, I could be a dick and ask them for the moon, that doesn't make it my right. Plus, why would I want to stay in a place where I’m basically a prisoner in all but name? I wouldn’t be able to go anywhere or do anything without an escort from one of these three. There’s also the chance that having me around might delegitimize their leadership in the eyes of the Tribe. But I'm not versed in Beastfolk politicking.
“What are you suggesting then?” Vic asked. “I will take him to the South Tribes.” Nirren didn’t seem to care for the looks of surprise that Mel and Barus gave her. “There’s that weird group of humans that wants to ally with the Tribes, we’ve been keeping them at a distance for awhile now because they’ve been useless in convincing the rest of their cities to pursue peace. They are a fringe group, but he will at least be among those who do not wish death on him and-” she looks over at him now “- If you are willing to help us, you might be able to try and influence and build them up into a co-op of sorts.”
Vic liked the idea as a direction to move forward, but he had a pretty big issue. What the hell do they think I’ll be able to do? I’m just a store clerk! Am I supposed to fight? I can’t fight! I couldn't even ask for a raise!
You might not be able to fight now, but we can learn! I'm sure it wouldn’t be that difficult right?
Oh, you want to do all that training? Go ahead, but you need a different body first because this one is fucking spoken for, thank you very much!
We have magic, dumbass! It will go by much faster and you can heal!
No, YOU have magic, I don’t know how to use it! That's a whole separate course of training! How long is that going to ta- Vic’s right hand holding a fruit that tasted like an apple mixed with honey spasmed and dropped the fruit. The feeling of static washed over his hand and he watched as his fingers morphed together into a solid crystal point, then to a blade, emulating a gladius. It emitted a faint hiss with small cracking noises as it morphed. Everyone stopped moving and looked at Vic’s hand, mouths dropped open in surprise. Vic was in shock for a second as he stared at his now sword-hand. “Mana what the fuck?!”
We have magic. I may be magic but together, WE have magic. No, it's not permanent and no I will not change it back. You are my Bond, you will learn magic. Not doing so would be like hopping around on one foot while having two good legs.
Vic was standing now, looking at his arm and gritting his teeth in angry contemplation. On the one hand, Mana was right that it would be stupid to not use magic as it's now a part of him. Hell, he even loved reading about magic in fantasy books and seeing it in movies and shows. The amount of times he wished it was real as a kid and the few times as a grown man, he would never admit. On the other hand, it would be another step down a path towards probable conflict and fighting. Not to mention how Mana was fine with manipulating him literally, with no problem doing so without even asking. He was pacing in slow circles when Nirren started to speak. “I’ve lived and fought for many, many years and I have never seen a Magi do that.” She raises a claw and touches the edge of his sword arm, making a ‘ting’ noise ring out. “Vic, how did you do that?” He looked up at Nirren, contemplating if he should tell the group about his Bond.
Deciding that he would probably tell them eventually anyway, and only slightly in retaliation to Mana, he begins with “Well, If you must know, it wasn’t me who did it” Mana, you better be able to communicate externally, or I’m about to look insane! I am not going to be the translator here. As he’s talking to Mana, another wave of static rolls through the sword-hand and it morphs back into a regular hand. It doesn’t stop there though, the wave travels up his arm, past his shoulder, and into his neck and jaw where it stops at the base. Vic is confused for a second after checking he can still breathe, when he loses feeling in his jaw. He reaches up to feel his neck and jaw and finds they’ve turned into what he is willing to bet on is the same crystal his right arm is made of. The Beasts all look horrified as they watch, backing away from him slightly and food forgotten. When the static stops flowing, Vic feels his jaw and neck move as if he was stretching them out to relieve pressure in his ears, but he isn't in control. Vic rolls his eyes when he hears Mana’s voice, the same chorus effect as in his mind now presented to the Beasts.
“Hello, My name is Mana.”
