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Sam trembled as heat flooded through his hand, down his arm, and into his solar plexus. Although he was sentencing a colony of graylings to death by absorbing the yellow topaz of life, he hadn’t hesitated nor felt any guilt. Well, he wasn’t exactly condemning them either; they could work for the reptilians. Instead of a life of slowly starving to death, he simply gave them a life of servitude. Now that he thought about it some more, he did feel a little guilty, but he didn’t have time to dwell on the feeling.
Through his All-Seeing Gaze, he saw his solar plexus chakra blossom with a yellow hue, and seconds later, a strand of yellow light extended out of Manipura and formed a blob of yellow in the air before him. It wibbled and wobbled before finally taking the shape of a sheep with pig-like features; perhaps it was closer to call it a pig with hair as fluffy and curly as a sheep’s. It was massive too, its furry snout level with Sam’s chest.
“What are you?” Vercedei asked. “A wooly pig?”
“Mangalitsa,” the pig said in a deep voice.
“A mangalitsa,” Vercedei said, glad to finally have another animal capable of speaking on board the vessel known as Sam. “Got it. And what’s your name?”
“Mangalitsa,” the wooly pig said again.
“Right, Mangalitsa,” Vercedei said. “I apologize for getting it wrong the first time. So, what can you do?”
“Mangalitsa,” Mangalitsa said, the pig answering in the same intonation as before.
Vercedei let out a sigh as it realized the pig couldn’t speak after all. Pinks oinked, boars snuffled, sheep baaed, so why couldn’t a wooly pig mangalitsa? “Why don’t we call you Manga?” the snake’s blue head said. “Since you’re a gifted rhetorician, it’s only apt we name you after an ancient form of storytelling once used to pass messages of the utmost importance.”
Manga opened its mouth and mangalitsaed, agreeing with the name given to it, but chiding Vercedei at the same time for making fun of the way it expressed itself. Then, it mangalitsaed at Sam—loudly.
Duke crouched down and hunched his shoulders, his neck shrinking down with his chin almost touching his chest. What in the name of Oterra had happened? The yellow topaz of life vanished, and everything went dark. Then, someone or something spoke in tongues. Was it a predator of the graylings? Was he in danger? Of course, he was in danger; he knew he’d be in danger for the entirety of the trip and even upon reaching his destination. Outside of the human city, nowhere was safe. Thus, the only thing he could do was keep quiet and trust his bodyguard would handle everything. To not interfere with Sam’s work, Duke wouldn’t turn on his flashlight in case he was spotted and became a burden in a confrontation.
“Mangalitsa!”
Duke heard a roar, and there was a gasping sound followed by a heavy thud. Then, something large ran away, the thundering footsteps echoing through the cavern. Luckily, it was heading away from Duke, and not towards him. Shuffling sounds made Duke picture something being dragged behind the large creature as it sprinted off. Had he developed echolocation after being stuck in this dark place?
Duke squatted as the echoes of the footsteps faded into silence before eventually taking a seat after his thighs failed him. Then, he crossed his legs and waited. What if Sam had just been killed by whatever that thing just now was? Then, didn’t that mean Duke was now all alone, stranded in a colony of graylings that had just lost their way of life? He didn’t know how to escape, and even if he managed to get out, where would he end up, back in Et Serpentium? In Silva Volucris without any hired muscle?
Duke’s brow furrowed as he stared at the ground before finally exhaling. “Hello?” he called out in a small voice. “Sam? Mr. Grayling? Anyone?”
There was no response, and Duke waited a bit before turning on his flashlight. Long shadows were cast on the walls of the cavern, the corn giving off a much different vibe in the dark compared to when they were bathed under the topaz’s light. Shivers ran down Duke’s spine, and he slowly climbed to his feet before making his way to the ramp leading back to the entrance of the corn cavern. He paused between every step, tiptoeing so as to make as little sound as possible. Since he couldn’t fight like a tiger, he had to survive like a mouse.
***
Sam clung to the wooly pig, Manga, his hands wrapped around the pig’s hind legs right above its hooves. His body was stiff as he maintained his usage of Toughen; he had to if he didn’t want to be bruised and battered as he slammed up and down against the floor and ceiling of the tunnel. Manga was charging forward, widening the rock cavern with its bulky body, seemingly unperturbed by the hard surface. It swung its head from side to side, its snout digging apart the rocks in front of it.
Sam wanted to sigh but couldn’t thanks to Toughen. He finally had a familiar that would transport him instead of the other way around, but it was a bit too driven. Upon hearing Sam was going to Silva Volucris to unlock his heart chakra through the mantids’ recording malachite, the wooly pig wondered why he was wasting time here observing plants. If Sam had a mission, he should stop dallying and get it done. As such, it decided to lead the charge, literally.
Manga couldn’t really be thinking of running all the way to Silva Volucris, could it? Besides, what about Duke? Sam transmitted his thoughts to the wooly pig, asking it to slow down, but the pig mangalitsaed while communicating its thoughts with Sam. It was easier to sustain an activity than to start an activity, so if Sam wanted to accomplish things, he should finish them in one go instead of getting distracted and stopping and starting repeatedly. Of course, Sam disagreed, but the wooly pig didn’t give two hoots about Sam’s opinion and continued to run; however, instead of running forward, it spun around in place, scraping Sam’s body across the cavern wall like an insect being squished by a finger. Of course, Sam was fine thanks to Toughen, and he was glad Raindu was his first familiar instead of Manga. If this wooly pig came into his life first, he probably wouldn’t have survived for very long. It was still questionable if he would.
Speaking of Raindu, the ferret, Birdbrained, Joe, Vercedei, and Werchbite were pressed into Sam’s body, extreme discomfort roaming through their bodies. They cried out in protest, but the wooly pig didn’t deign to respond. Manga ran back in the direction it had came from. Since Sam had also made a deal with Duke, he had to uphold his end of the bargain, and Manga was going to help Sam do that, so they could go do the thing the wooly sheep wanted afterwards. A bright light appeared where there shouldn’t have been light, and Manga narrowed its wooly eyelids before coming to a halt.
“Mangalitsa,” the wooly pig said, and the light across from it jittered as someone screamed.
“Duke?” Vercedei asked, speaking for Sam. “Is that you?”
“Yes,” Duke said, staring at the gigantic wooly pig standing in front of him: its snout was level with his neck; its eyes looked down on him; its back towered over him. Underneath the pig, clinging to its hind legs, there was Sam. “Are you”—Duke squatted down to look Sam in the eyes before glancing up at the wooly pig’s lower jaw—“acquainted with this creature?”
“Yeah, we’re new best friends,” Vercedei said. It was difficult for Werchbite to create a corresponding illusion to hide Manga’s presence; the wooly pig was a huge bundle of motivated energy, the kind that anyone would notice, the kind that’d even be unbearable to some.
“I see,” Duke said and stood up. He bowed his head at the curly hairs on the pig’s face. “Nice to meet you. If you’re going to be accompanying us, then I’ll be trusting you with my life. What kind of snacks do you like eating? I’ll try to get some for you.”
“Mangalitsa,” Manga said, the word reverberating through Duke’s bones. It sounded much deeper and more intimidating up close.
“It would like some yogurt,” Vercedei said.
Cold sweat ran down Duke’s back. Where was he supposed to get yogurt? “I don’t have any yogurt with me right now, but when I encounter some, you’ll be the first person—pig, I tell,” he said and gave the pig what he thought was a calming smile.
The wooly pig mangalitsaed.
“What did it say?” Duke asked. “It’s not going to eat me, is it?”
“It won’t,” Vercedei said. “It wants you to follow us. It’s going to take escort us to Silva Volucris.”
“Oh,” Duke said. “We’re leaving already?” He glanced back at the empty space in the ceiling. Since the yellow topaz of life was gone, it wasn’t like they could stay in the grayling colony any longer. “We didn’t even get to try the corn.”
“We’ll have the graylings pack some for the road,” Vercedei said. “They’re coming with us.”
“Who’s coming with us?” Duke asked. “The graylings?”
“Who else?” Vercedei asked. “Don’t you think it’d be safer with more individuals around? The graylings can protect us from the mantids in case they’re aggressive towards us.”
“Well,” Duke said. “I suppose….” Somehow, he didn’t think it was a great idea to bring a whole colony of graylings into Silva Volucris. What if the mantids mistook them as warmongers? Then again, with more individuals around, they’d be safer, and who didn’t like being safe? “Yeah, it’s a great idea…?” Duke’s voice trailed off as he noticed the wooly pig spinning in place, dragging Sam along the tunnel wall. He watched with a blank expression as the pig ran ahead, clomping down the tunnel. It moved so fast; how was Duke supposed to follow it? Well, he had no choice but to try, so he chased after the wooly pig, following the footsteps it left behind.
As Sam clung to the wooly pig’s legs, he discovered its innate ability. If something got in its way, that something simply disintegrated and was no longer in Manga’s way after making contact with the wool on the pig’s body. The wooly pig ran down the tunnel, widening the path but without leaving broken fragments of rock behind. Its footsteps may have been loud and clomping, but Sam didn’t really feel any weight behind it; he may have been bouncing along the ground because of the way he was positioned, but the pig’s footsteps didn’t send tremors through his body like those slagpions had back in the dungeon. Perhaps it was because of the pig’s wool deleting the ground out of existence before its cloven hooves could touch it. As for why the pig didn’t fall through the rock, Sam wasn’t sure. As for why he was thinking such idle thoughts, well, he had a lot of time. It wasn’t like he could do anything else thanks to the effects of Toughen.
Manga let out a four-syllable-long cry, and Sam understood the wooly pig’s explanation. Rather than moving itself around the ground, it was fixed in space, and it was moving the world around itself—similar to a mouse’s pointer on a computer screen.
Vercedei couldn’t help but tack on its helpful thoughts. The wooly pig’s ability was an expression of a higher-dimensional creature’s existence, and it was likely the blue avians would begin attacking them again. Unless Sam got to Silva Volucris and absorbed the mantids heritage stone soon, he’d be in trouble. Once he unlocked all of his chakras, he’d have a shot at winning a fight.
Sam thought back to the blue avian, Paula, who had killed him. Would it be possible for him to fight back against someone like that? Once his Anahata was unlocked, theoretically, he could protect himself from the punch that had killed him before, but he didn’t know what other tricks Paula had up their feathery figurative sleeves.
Manga let out another cry, letting Sam know he didn’t have to worry about a thing. No matter what troubles came, as long as Sam was pursuing his goal, then the wooly pig would help out. Together, they could accomplish anything: stealing heritage stones, defeating blue avians, overthrowing the order of the world, anything was possible.
***
Paula’s eyes seemed to be glazed over as the blue avian flew through the sky. Rather than paying attention to where it was going—after all, a blue avian didn’t have to be afraid in the sky—Paula was daydreaming; however, a blue avian’s form of daydreaming was much more than a flight of fancy. They could enter someone else’s dream.
Within the fellow blue avian’s dream Paula had invaded, Paula looked around, observing their surroundings. They were in a meadow with a hammock in the center, sunlight streaming down over the occupant of said hammock’s feathery body. “Mozart,” Paula said as they flew towards the relaxing figure. “Has anything happened recently?”
Mozart’s aura shifted from yellow to green as the blue avian sat up in its hammock. “Hello, Paula,” the blue avian said. “I was having such a nice dream, so why did you have to come and ruin it?”
“If I feel unsettled, you should feel unsettled too,” Paula said, not giving two hoots about Mozart’s complaints. “Did the calamity detector exhibit any unusual behaviors?”
“I’m not sure,” Mozart said and gestured around themselves. “As you can see, this is a dream. I’ve been sleeping.”
“Then wake up,” Paula said, crossing their arms in front of their chest as their aura flared red. “If you don’t help me with this, then I won’t hunt the calamities anymore, and I’ll blame it all on you.”
“This is why no one likes you,” Mozart said, its amber eyes staring directly into Paula’s. “Hold my dream for me. Don’t mess anything up; I’ll be back soon.”
Paula watched as Mozart faded from view. Then, Paula waited. Storm clouds gathered in the sky above the blue avian, and Paula glanced up at them before shoving aside her guilt at betraying Mozart’s request. The blue avian was sleeping while Paula was busying themself hunting calamities, so Mozart could handle a little bit of rain in their sleep. An hour passed before Mozart finally returned.
“It’s bad,” Mozart said, not commenting on the change in weather. “The calamity detector rang again, and according to the device, there are multiple calamities gathered in the direction you’re heading—at least three of them.”
“That is bad,” Paula said, their green aura darkening, taking on a bluish hue as they fell into their thoughts. Three calamities were a bit much for Paula to deal with by themself. It wouldn’t be like the last time where the calamities had a clear weakness: the summoner. The summoner…. Could it be that Sam hadn’t actually died, and Paula had been tricked by the bewitcher?
“Are you thinking about calling for reinforcements?” Mozart asked. “Although I personally won’t volunteer since I’m quite busy, I’m sure the others will be glad to help.”
“Reinforcements would be nice,” Paula said. “Help me request for them. I need a minimum of five others for us to destroy the calamities without casualties.”
“Five?” Mozart asked. “It’ll take a while for five volunteers to show up, but we’ll sort it out before you know it.”
“Alright,” Paula said, “but know I’m going to pester you in your dreams every night until I get the names of those who’re helping me.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Mozart said.
“Oh, but I think I do,” Paula said. The blue avian narrowed their eyes at Mozart. “Shouldn’t you be waking up now to inform them of my decision? I’ll meet with the reinforcements by the border of Et Serpentium and Silva Volucris.”
Mozart’s aura seemed to deflate. “Alright,” the blue avian said. “I’ll get it done.” If Mozart wouldn’t be able to sleep well so long as Paula remained in their dream, so there was only one thing to do: get five other people to volunteer to deal with Paula and the calamities.