The Hidden World

Chapter 3: The Herbamancer

As soon as he mentioned the mana leeching, Sarah started to notice something being drained. During the time since her ring broke, she had slowly started to gain a grasp of something flowing within her. This 'flow' was now being disrupted. She also realized that it was becoming harder and harder to breathe. Panic was slowly starting to well up within her, as she realized that her inability to control mana was about to cause her a major problem. "You heard what I said, so I'd recommend stopping the mana flow. You'll only strangle yourself," the voice continued, wavering slightly. "I can't control my mana!" Sarah screamed, as she was starting to lose consciousness. "That won't work on me, ma'am. I'll call your bluff," the man said, but Sarah could hear concern in his voice. Just before she passed out, Sarah heard Edmund muttering "Ah, for fuck's sake" followed by screams from the mysterious attacker.

When she came to, Sarah was lying on the ground next to the plant, now cut into neat little pieces. Sarah slowly stood up an turned around, wary of the silence. She was not prepared for the sight she was witnessing: Edmund was sat in a chair, devouring yet another bag of candy. The plant that had grabbed him was on the ground, cut into even more pieces. However, the most bizarre thing was the fact that a man, most likely the one controlling the plants, was hanging upside-down from the ceiling, inside what Sarah could only describe as a spider's cocoon. "Ah, you're back," Edmund said nonchalantly. "Let's wake the old man up." "Wait, wait... what exactly happened while I was out?" Sarah asked, flabbergasted. "What happened was," Edmund replied as he got up, "Was that I saved your life." As he didn't continue, Sarah decided not to pry any further; she had enough questions already, and the man inside the cocoon was far more likely to give answers, considering his state. Sarah took a closer look at him. She could only see his head and a part of his upper body, but the first thing that popped up in her mind was the word "teacher". She could tell that the man was fairly old, judging by his grey, balding hair. The glasses on the ground must have also belonged to him. All things considered, he seemed like the least threatening person alive. Yet he had nearly killed her, Sarah thought to herself as Edmund slapped the man to wake him up.

The man whimpered as he came to his senses. He squinted his eyes to see Sarah and Edmund. "What... What are you?!" he screamed at Edmund but stopped when he raised his fist. "We'll ask the questions here, understand? Let's start: who are you and why did you attack us?" To emphasize his point, Edmund cracked his knuckles loudly. The man recoiled but then slumped in submission. "My name is Ernie Hudson, the owner of this shop." He swallowed loudly. "And I attacked you because of your rather... 'ominous' presence." "Did Jasmine not tell you that we were coming?" Edmund asked, rubbing his temples. Ernie was visibly surprised. "Oh, so you're the ones I'm supposed to help? But she didn't say anything about your, erm, nature..." Edmund stepped off, cursing 'Blaze' to the lowest depths of hell. Sarah took over the interrogation. "So, you're the one that's supposed to help me? Can you teach me to control my mana?" Ernie seemed to relax a little. "Sure can. But, um, could you help me down? I'm starting to feel a little faint here..." Edmund, now having finished his litany, stepped up and raised his hand. To Sarah's surprise, web spewed from his skin and formed claws around his fingers, which he used to free Ernie from the cocoon. Ernie fell to the ground uncarefully and slowly stood up. He avoided Edmund's gaze; it was clear that something about him had made Ernie very scared indeed.

A few minutes later they were sat around a small table. Ernie was now serving them tea. Edmund declined, opting instead for a soft drink. Ernie sat down, as far from Edmund as the table allowed, and looked at Sarah. "So, as ever, Jasmine didn't really give me much details. How is it that you have so much mana but can't control it?" Sarah explained her family situation, and he nodded. "This is something that happens every now and then. Can't say that I have heard of anyone breaking a ring, though. You must be something special." "His grandfather is the Reiji Takahashi," Edmund interjected, between his sips. Ernie turned to Sarah with a shocked look. "Wow. Now this makes a lot more sense." When he saw Sarah's questioning look, he continued. "Your grandfather's a bit of a local legend. Really, he was one of the best mages around during his heyday. No wonder your mana can't be controlled." Ernie took a sip from his tea. "Well, now I have to train you. A bloodline like yours, diluted as it may be, can't be ignored." Edmund stood up, startling Ernie and causing him to spill some of his tea. "Well, that's that. Now that you have a mentor, our business is officially concluded. I'll be going now." Just as he was about to leave, he turned to Ernie and whispered something to Ernie's ear. Whatever it was, it made him pale as a sheet.

When he exited the cellar, Ernie breathed a sigh of relief, after which he turned to Sarah. "Well, then. Shall we begin?" Ernie cleared his throat and started to lecture. "So, mana. It's a force that flows through everyone, just like blood. By manipulating it, you can create tangible effects on the world around us. That is, if you have enough mana density to do so, and most people don't. But the ones known as mages do." Ernie straightened his back. Now that Edmund had left, he seemed a lot more relaxed. "Incidentally, we mages tend to have a specialization. By focusing on an element or "type", we can be much more effective with our manipulations, or, well, spells if you're fanciful." Sarah drank the rest of her tea and set the cup on the table. "I see. So Jasmine, who can control flames, is a pyromancer. I'm guessing that you can control plants?" "An astute observation. I'm a 'herbamancer', or someone who can control and modify plants... And I'm sorry about earlier, by the way," Ernie apologized, but Sarah waved it away. "So, what about Edmund? He said that he wasn't a mage, but I did see him controlling web." Ernie shifted around in his seat; he was clearly uncomfortable with the subject. "Let's just say that he's something of a special case and leave it at that."

"Now, if you have a high amount of mana, you will inexorably affect the mana field around you, which is bound to attract problems, as there are creatures that feed on mana," Ernie continued after a small silence. "I actually know that from experience. I entered this world because of a freakishly large imp," Sarah interrupted. "Actually, what is an imp, really?" Sarah asked: Ernie was a lot more forthcoming than Edmund had ever been, so now was her chance. Ernie scratched his chin. "I see, you've already had a run-in with an outsider. Well, since this is a bit early, I'll just say that creatures like the imp are from another dimension. Every now and again one of them manages to slip through, but usually they are small. As such, in most cases they are little more than an annoyance. You have to understand that you are a special case in that regard." Ernie took another sip from his tea. "This does bring up an important point. As free mana attracts creatures like imps, we mages usually keep the flow to a minimum. In fact, that is going to be the thing I'm going to teach you today."

Soon they were sitting in chairs opposite to each other. "Usually you tend to start emitting mana at around puberty, and the body will automatically learn to control its flow. But as you were sealed by then, I'm going to have to jumpstart your body, as it were. Grab my hands" Sarah put out both of her hands. The man's arms were veiny, but surprisingly soft. "Now, I need you to close your eyes. We're going to do some image training while I control your mana." Sarah closed her eyes. The room was completely silent. Soon, he felt like someone was manipulating her very essence. "You have quite a bit of mana. More than I do, at any rate. Listen closely. I'm going to start limiting your mana. Meanwhile, I need you to start imagining something closing or slowing down, a concept that you can connect to controlling your mana. For example, I like to imagine a door opening and closing."

Sarah nodded, and started to think about what she would use as her image. She considered using a door like Ernie but found it too confusing. Then she remembered a comic from her youth. "Nice, you already have it. You barely needed help. Oh, you can open your eyes, by the way." Sarah had to blink a few times to adjust back to the light level. Ernie was smiling. "You really are a natural," he said, smiling. "Out of curiosity, what did you use as your reference image?" Sarah blushed slightly, as she thought about the somewhat embarrassing way she had figured her image out. "I imagine a water faucet opening and closing," she said. "Is it any good?" Ernie laughed. "Good? It's perfect. By imagining the level of waterflow you can control your mana easily.

After a few hours Sarah was able to supress her mana sufficiently, and Ernie sent her home. Some way from the shop Sarah stopped to look at the sky. It was a cloudless night, and even through the light pollution of the city she could see stars. Sarah smiled: she had just taken a major step on her way toward magehood.