Fantasy Early Bloomer's Guide to a Healthy Mana Garden

[Elffri3nd]

”That arch leads to my earth gate,” Dylan answered. “The boulder is there because I haven’t opened that gate yet, so it is blocked.” He placed his hand against it. He could feel his earth mana on the other side of the gate. It churned wanting to be used. Dylan could possibly open his earth gate while they were in his mana garden but it would take a lot of his concentration and it was possible that it would kid Rai out.

He walked away from the boulder and knelt down next to one of the plants in his mana garden. “These plants are the representation of all of the spells that I have learned. I have four that I have mastered; Dry Clothes, Mend cloth, Relieve Pain and Heat.” Dylan briefly looked away from the plants and looked at Rai. “Mastering a spell means that you can cast them instantly without having to sketch them.” Then he looked back at the plant that he was kneeling next to. “This one is my mend cloth spell.” Like the other three spells that Dylan had mastered, it was larger than any of the other plants that might be in his mana garden.

“Through this arch is my life gate,” Dylan said as he began moving again. His life gate looked small. It was maybe a quarter of the size of his ungated section. At the edges of his life gate was a fog that obscured the next gate. It was also a lot more empty than his ungated section. There was a grassy field but there were no plants that indicated a spell of any kind. It would take some time before his analyze life spell would take root. “As you can see, it isn’t as developed as my ungated section. I haven’t really learned any spells yet, or at least none have started to take root in my soul. There is also fog all around us. As I cast spells and get stronger, the fog will get pushed back until I eventually find the next gate.”

 

[CeruleanStars]

Rai followed along with the other's explanation, listening intently. Surprisingly, this subject was a little easier for him to digest when he was looking at what the other was explaining; it all seemed to make a lot more sense to him compared to when he was trying to keep up with the other as they walked earlier. He stared at both of the gates as they were explained, taking in all their detail. He sort of wondered what his own gate looked like. Dylan's gates looked rather harmless and peaceful, nonthreatening in any way, but then again, his alignment was life and earth, practically the polar opposite of Rai's.

He hesitated a bit before he asked his next question. "...Is...Is it possible for a gate to be broken?" he asked as he continued looking at the structure of the other's life gate. Maybe that was why Rai couldn't control his mana or whatever? Because his gate was broken? If they could break, how did his own break? ...Of course, if that were the case. Really, from what he's learned so far, it seems like it was the only logical reason why he was like this, but what did he know? He's just learning about all of this today; for all he knew, a broken gate was totally impossible.

In the back of his mind, the other mana type the person had said haunted him a bit. Desolation. What did that even mean? If Dylan could learn helpful spells that repair and help others...did that mean Rai could only learn spells that hurt people? Destroy things? An intrusive thought of his father's farm pushed itself into his mind, the lands completely barren, cracked, dried, missing of anything even remotely called "life," and him at the epicenter, being the reason for all those acres of failure.

The boy shook the thought out of his head as he looked down to the plant Dylan identified as his mend cloth spell. It was so delicate and soft. He allowed the cotton to rub up against his exposed calf, finding it almost soothing and reassuring. He hoped he might be able to have something as remotely gentle in his own gardens...if it was even a good idea for him to open his gate like the other had...

 

[Elffri3nd]

Dylan hesitated to answer Rai’s question, looking thoughtful as he considered it. He hadn’t heard of it being possible before. That isn’t to say that it wasn’t, it just wasn’t something that he had ever heard of. “I honestly don’t know if a gate can be broken. I can’t even imagine the consequences someone would have to live with if it was. It is a part of your soul. At best, maybe someone wouldn’t be able to use magic. At worst… Well death would be preferable. I don’t even know if such a thing is possible but maybe your soul would be shattered?” He felt a shiver go down his spine as he considered. Souls were a sacred thing. He hated to think that they could be damaged in such a way.

“Let’s not think about that. Did you want to check out your mana garden or did you want to see someone about sealing your magic?” Dylan swiftly tried to change the subject, wanting to help Rai. As he did, he leaned against the wooden arch looking at his life gate. He felt a tinge of excitement as he thought about what spells he was going to learn. At most, he planned to ingrain five spells for his first gate. ‘Analyze life’ ‘harvest plant life’ and ‘enhance plant life,’ were a given. Those were the most basic spells that a good plant mage needed. The last two spells were up for debate. He didn’t know if he wanted a healing spell or control spell more. He also considered whether or not he wanted to get a combined life and earth summon spell. He didn’t know if there were any but a summon could fill in a bunch of different roles.

 

[CeruleanStars]

His soul would be shattered? Yet another topic he knew very little about other than myths and fairytales he's heard growing up; he wasn't even sure how much of that was real. Rai let his mind wander on the topic, wondering to himself if he actually did have a soul. Would he know if his soul was shattered? Would he just be a zombie?

But before he could ponder much more on the topic, Dylan's voice shook him out of his own head, changing the topic. The ultimate question felt like a spear going through Rai's chest as he was suddenly burdened with the idea of either path. There was no going back on his choice once he decided, which scared him more than the result of either option. What if he picked wrong? What if what he wants doesn't work out and he ends up hurting more people instead? Would one be more expensive than the other over time? As the questions circled his head, he pressed his lips together tightly. Dylan knew more about all of this than Rai could ever hope to with his own education. A part of him just hoped that, if anything happened, Dylan's family would be strong enough to keep him from hurting his new friend on accident...

"...I think...I want to see my mana garden..." he replied hesitantly, still looking at the cotton plant by his feet. "...I like how your garden looks."

 

[Elffri3nd]

Dylan gave Rai a quick nod, then with a short exertion of will, both of them were back in the real world. “I’ll be right back, I need to go grab another potion.” He was as quick as he could as he went back to the same place that he had gotten the first potion from. Once it was in hand, he ran back to his room. “Here you go,” he said as he offered it to the other boy. “ Just drink the first half and then hand it to me like I did for you. Also, take a few breaths to steady yourself. We have no idea what we will see there. Don’t be afraid if it doesn’t look like mine.”

He hoped that Rai wouldn’t regret doing this. There really wasn’t anything wrong with entering the other boy’s mana garden but he seemed like the kind that would be afraid of what they saw. Dylan was slightly happy that the other boy hadn’t learned any magic yet. If it turned out that the spells that Rai eventually learned looked like dead things, then it was better that the other boy didn’t see that the first time that he entered his mana garden. Really, there were only a few things that they would really find out when they entered Rai’s mana garden. They would find out how big it was, the state of Rai’s mana gates, whether they were opened or closed, or if there was something wrong with them. He highly doubted that last thing.