An Anti-Hero's Origin

Mana Eater

^^ Magic Storage Device ^^

Due to my own surprise, I wasn't quite quick enough to catch one of the rabbits before they ran away, so I was left without breakfast, yet again, and now I would miss lunch, it seems, while the Owl that Miss Hiram had flown in on had no such issues, snagging and devouring two deer almost entirely whole in a matter of minutes.

"Well, one of us gets to eat, I suppose." I frowned at the owl as it disappeared into a magic circle, just like last time she'd un-summoned it.

"Is that why you're up here? Why not buy food from the marketplace, or just ask me? I am responsible for you now, you know." Miss Kip Hiram asked casually, plopping onto the ground next to me.

"When you didn't offer me food all day yesterday, I took it as a challenge; I was under the impression I would be hunting for my own food and making my own firewood... and buying food felt like cheating." I hummed, leaning back against the rock I'd chosen for my meditation and relaxing once more.

She frowned as she realized what I was saying, looking at me in horror. "I thought elves only ate like, once a week?!? Why didn't you say something?!?" She snapped, irritated suddenly as the realization hit home fully and came back around to anger.

"Why would You think that I had to?!? What stupidity brought you, -or anyone else for that matter, but specifically you, a supposedly learned woman,- to think that Elves, -whom all possess a naturally dense, yet lithe musculature, and are naturally stronger and faster than humans,- would require Less Food?!?" I snapped back at her, irritated by yet another human stereotype; there were many, and all of them were irritating.

She blinked slowly, sitting back on her heels, and hummed. "That... is a perfectly sound argument, and I am sorry that I didn't research more about Elves before taking one as an Apprentice... in the future, please tell me when you need something; while training your body is important, and I may prescribe increased physical exercise as punishment if I think you're slacking off, I'm never going to abuse you by refusing to feed you, or any other such barbaric methods of punishment."

"I suppose that's good to know... you scared off my breakfast, by the way. I was waiting for the plump rabbit to come closer to me while I was refilling my Mana Pool." I sighed, looking at the fat hares that were halfway down the mountain already.

"Refilling, Huh? The mana in your room was pretty big... how many times were you emptying out your mana to try the Third Stage? Don't feel bad if it's still a problem, sometimes the Mages with the most Power have the least Control." She waved a hand off to her left, and a small falcon appeared out of a portal, taking off and diving at a rabbit instantly; within seconds, it held a rabbit so big that it couldn't lift it properly, so it half-dragged the rabbit back to her hand.

"I got it on the first try, actually; that Guide was actually somewhat useful, if a little trite and needlessly esoteric! After I managed it, though, I simply stopped absorbing the Simple Mana from my breath while I sorted the Pure Mana out piece by piece... it was very slow work, and by Dawn this morning I'd only managed 10% of my Mana Pool, and I was hungry, so I used what I'd gathered to recreate the Mana Heart I built when I skipped Stage Three. Now I'm autonomously gathering Pure Mana, and pushing the Simple Mana into my weapons, in anticipation of our Lesson this afternoon." I explained what I'd been doing while I built a fire from some wood nearby, skinning the rabbit and carefully dressing the meat into proper bits; I'd intended for a Stew, so I didn't waste the blood, but with it bleeding all over the place, that was impossible now.