Devouring the Neverglades (Beta Version) Chapter 10

The next day or so was mostly getting my baby Croc squared away, keeping him from escaping and learning how to feed him without nearly getting bitten.

As promised I didn’t give him any mana. Thankfully Uncle James finally came through.

“What do you think?” He asked, the wooden box was much bigger than just the metal washing pan that he’d had so far. 

“I think it’s perfect Uncle James… Thanks. Sorry to make you do all this work.”

“Eh well… Don’t tell the other kids, but I think everyone finds some baby monsters out there at some point and brings it home. I took care of this frog when I was a bit younger than you. Got my hide tanned when they found out, but still.”

“Pfft. Really?” I asked, my face breaking out into a smile as the older man chucked a bit. 

“Yeah. Everyone wants some trained monster or something. Doesn’t tend to work out that way. Captured monsters usually don’t end up doing well.”

“Probably the lack of mana.” I muttered. “I’ll have to make sure Bitey gets enough.”

“Bitey?”

“It’s his name.”

“Don’t name the monsters Vicky. You’re not keeping him after all this. You know that.”

“I know!” I deflated. “I know. It just feels weird to keep calling him, him.”

“Well I’m not dealing with this. This was allowed by Old Man William, so it’s his problem. Don’t cause issues.”

“Yes!” I turned back to the new enclosure and went to work. I moved the sand and dirt in the washing pan out while keeping Bitey from taking a chunk out of me, and then moved the entire pan into the new box.

I filled it with more water and then made dirt to easily get in, and a little ramp to get out. 

There. He now had sunlight from above, water and everything he could need.

“Just one last thing.” I went and found a shallow plate. It had probably been a tea saucer at some point, but whatever it had been connected to was long gone. I set that in one corner of the enclosure and then sat back.

Bitey was hiding in the water glaring at everyone and anything that he could.

But I’d already fed him as we moved him to keep him calmer, and now it was time to get the mana flowing.

While waiting over the last few days I’d already been collecting. So I took the cups of mana I’d been making and slowly poured a little into the saucer.

Instantly Bitey perked his head right out of the water, his eyes shifting, as the blue glow attracted him. I could see him looking at me, but the temptation was too much, and soon he was crawling his way out of the water, and up to the saucer.

With a bit of work he started drinking.

I’d put the saucer up against the wall nearest me, so I could just rest my hand against the wooden wall, and that way I was close enough to feel all the activity. The mana flowed into him, and buzzed around sort of just bouncing around in his gut, but he obviously liked it, as he was laying back mouth open and looking happy, and relaxed, as much as a crocodile can look anyways.

But I noticed it, while most of the mana was flowing away, he was grabbing bits and pieces of it, and it was all growing around his heart. 

The amount he saved was almost nothing. A tiny itty bit.

I grabbed the cup and poured more.

Show me.

Show me what you were doing.

And once again despite getting a little aggressive at me, he hyper focused on the mana and started drinking once my hand was gone. Although he definitely wanted the full cup.

So I settled in, and watched him drink the mana fuel, over and over. And I made notes, slowly as he drank more, gathered more, he was able to hold onto more mana…

If I compared it to what I could do… He was increasing the power of his Wavelength. It led to a lot of loss, but…

I poured more.

And more.

Gathering more as I waited in between, doing everything I could to pump Bitey with all the mana he could take.

But I couldn’t keep it up forever. I was soon out, and Bitey was quite happy to bask in the sun coming in.

I could feel him. A faint buzz to that ethereal sense, and as he opened his mouth… He started drawing in ambient mana, in the same way I did. 

Only he was a little cheater, and instead of gathering into water, he was just drawing it right into his little buzzy center. 

So that was it. The way Monsters gather mana. They could just do it naturally, once they gained enough mana to start the process. Bitey would keep gathering Mana probably for as long as he lived.

Of course, if I could sense him gathering mana like this… Other monsters probably could too. A tiny croc this small probably never got a chance to gather mana like this without getting eaten.

Poor guy. I had probably ruined any chance for Bitey to be released and survive without help…

Ugh, no. I can’t think of that. It wasn’t fair, but that was just his life. Besides I still planned on giving him more mana, and maybe in the end I’d release him. 

Dangit. Uncle James was right. I shouldn’t have named him.

I leaned against the box and felt the way the tiny mana particles in the air were drawn into Bitey as he breathed. 

Would he use his mana? Could he?

What made a monster so different to a person? Why were they able to form cores, but humans… Couldn’t? That stupid pamphlet told me that, and I had to guess it was accurate…

None of the mana I ever drew in had gone into my heart. In fact, it was less a draw, and more… A wave outward.

Wavelength. My mana, or my connection to it was constantly pushing outward… I looked at Bitey, my hand right against the side of the enclosure close enough to feel him drawing mana in…

He didn’t push, he pulled. 

Was that it? That simple aspect, the difference between a human and a Monster?

“Monsters draw in mana, and keep it, and Mages… Push it away? That’s so lame.” I grumbled as I considered what to do… “Nope. I’m taking a break. I could use a snack anyways.”

—--

“So what are you going to do with your Crocodile?” Papa asked me, as I was eating breakfast a few days later. 

“Hmm, nothing really. Why?” I asked, taking a small break from shoveling yummy delicious into my mouth. 

“You just going to keep it then?”

“Well not forever.” I admitted and Papa looked at me, and I sighed. 

“I’ll probably release him. Once I learn everything I can.”

“Why not cull it. You told us it was developing a Mana Core right?”

“Well… Yeah…”

“Can’t you use that mana?”

I looked away, refusing to meet his eyes. 

“Vicky… Don’t get attached.” He told me, reaching out and running a hand through my bangs pushing them back.

“I’m not! Mostly.” I admitted and Papa sent me a look. 

“I just think it’s wrong to use it for my own purposes and then kill it. I can just release him. He’ll have a chance to survive, and at least he’ll have a lot of mana for such a baby.”

“He’ll just get eaten.” Papa told me bluntly and I hunched in.

I know that.

“There’s a chance.” I whispered and he just sighed.

“Alright. Well don’t keep him too long. You know it’s not a pet…”

“I know! He’s helping me understand magic! Seeing a monster develop their core in real time has been super useful… I discovered why Mages don’t get cores.” I offered, and Papa hummed as if interested, but I could tell it was mostly just to keep me happy.

Neither of my parents really liked to get in depth with magical things. 

“Human push mana away, while monsters draw it in… At least that’s my thesis. I could be totally wrong.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah… I wonder…” I wonder if that’s what made the whole Flat and Mage thing possible. Normal humans were like a negative charge. Pushing all mana away from them, and so completely insensitive to it. While mages were sensitive enough they could adjust the pushing away of magic and so make use of it?

I looked at Papa who was doing his best to seem interested, despite the fact he was eating in a rush. I just smiled at him

“I’ll do something with Bitey soon. I promise.”

“Alright.” He reached out and patted my hair. 

—--

I went out fishing after breakfast, catching a few smaller things and this time I didn’t just throw them back in like I would have. Bitey needed food, and no one wanted me to grab something from the kitchen for the monster they were allowing.

So I was out fishing while the boys ran around and did their normal thing when I wasn’t around. While fishing I was gathering mana as well.

While I did I kept looking across the river. I’d never crossed the river. Not once. 

On the other side, there was no horizon. Just trees, so thick and bunched together that within twenty to thirty feet in, the waters seemed almost dark.

There were a few bigger streams leading into the Neverglades that the boats took, but just looking into the jungle right across the river was always…

Interesting.

I wanted to explore it. I really really did. 

But I also wasn’t utterly insane. The monsters in the Neverglades were super dangerous, even entire Hunter Boats sometimes vanished inside, and that’s with all the tricks the hunters had developed over the years to stay alive. 

There were a lot of super dangerous things right across the river. 

I pulled my rod out of the water and noticed the bait was gone. Something had managed to get it away. I hooked on a piece of crawdad and flicked it back in. 

There was something I was missing. I knew it. Well to be more accurate I knew there was a lot about magic I was missing. 

But I knew I wasn’t the only person to ever walk down this path. Somewhere far into the past the first human mage had started figuring things out. 

I just wish I wasn’t walking those steps completely blind. It was stupid that I couldn’t just learn magic. 

There was a hint in my chest. Bitterness. If I had been born in a city I’d know more. If I had been born a little stronger, I’d have been taught more. 

If if if.

I exhaled it trying to banish the frustrated feelings. Life… Was never that easy. Jealousy was pointless, if I wanted something, if I wanted my life to change. I’d just have to be the change. Otherwise I’d just fall into the trap of feeling sorry for myself, about the things that could only change through my own action.

So instead of feeling frustrated, I was just going to learn magic, as best I could, and live my life. It’s not like I wasn’t already blessed with magic over anyone else at the Compound. 

Nodding as my decision was reached I took a deep breath and let it all out slowly. 

It would be alright. 

I felt something on the line and pulled it back only to find the crawdad piece gone again.

“Somethings messing with my line.” I grumbled, and this time I did my best to hide the hook in the crawdad chunk and tossed it in again. 

Then I waited, staring at the line, keeping it just under the water. Yeah come for a bit you little shit.

Then I saw it. Something shifting under the water, just barely visible, and yet I felt nothing…

I waited patient, and then suddenly pulled, yanking the hook out of the water, and my annoyance right along with it.

The small Octopus landed with a splat in the mud beside me. I blinked.

It sort of blinked.

“Oh that’s not goo-yeeeee!” I screamed as I started running.

The Octopus was a familiar enough monster. A Razorthread, rare this far up the freshwater river. The moment I realized what it was, I turned and ran, throwing the fishing rod away. Its clear skin was already darkening as it gathered up the Ink they were known for.

I heard it, the sound of water spraying out at high pressure, a black streak of ink that thankfully didn’t hit me as it arced past me, missing me by just an inch. 

I ducked and rolled, desperate not to get hit.

While it was small enough it likely couldn’t cut right through me, it would still hurt, hyper pressurized ink, that the large ones used to literally cut people into pieces.

For the Flats that ran across them it was like a thread of black that simply cut through everything. They were one of the monsters we got warnings about.

I made it behind a tree just in time and heard the spray hit bark with a hiss. 

Then everything went quiet. Razorthread were… Very smart. Octopus were like that. I didn’t hear anything for a few seconds and peaked.

It was still glaring my way, its body black as ink, and I ducked back behind the tree as it pressurized and shot again. 

Then everything got quiet. I waited. I was much too big for a meal, but it depends on how aggressive it felt. It could hold me here for quite a while if it wanted. 

I peaked again, and then ducked back…

“You little shit!” I hissed. It was digging into my fish bucket!

I fought with myself. Let him have it. Or fight back…

I grabbed a rock.

“Take this!” I roared as I whipped the rock I’d found at the bucket, it flew right over, and the Razorthread sunk down hiding for a second before popping back up.

Growing dark again in anger.

“That's mine!” I yelled at it, making noise to scare it. It was young. I could probably scare it off from just the easy meal…

Then as I watched it crawled out, still dark skinned and angry, it made to push things over and then it did something I really didn’t want. It found the cup of Mana Fuel, I’d been gathering the blue glowing liquid splashed across the earth. Causing both me and the Octopus to stop.

Crap. Any hope of it leaving without draining that dry went out the window! 

I ducked back. As it fired again, not even hesitating to mark its claim on the precious resource. I realized I was done. Nothing else I could do.

“Fine!” I grumbled, and I ran to another tree, and then another, running away. Hopefully it would be gone soon.

—--

“If I ever catch that little shit. I’m going to cook him one tentacle at a time.” I promised as I looked over my previous fishing spot. Only with nothing left around. No bucket. No cup, and no fishing rod. 

He’d taken my fishing rod. The one I’d gotten as a birthday present.

Did I want to cry?

Yes. Yes I did. But I didn’t just yet. Instead I just turned and headed for the compound, my morning ruined.

I walked down the well worn path. Shoes scraping the dirt as I went. The compound was the same as it always was, and I pushed my way inside, and then into the main area. The gravel under my feet crunched as I walked across the way and joined the women doing clothes in the meeting area. I slumped into a seat next to Mama.

“What’s wrong Monster?” She asked me after a few moments no doubt noticing how I was pouting with my head in my arms.

“I caught a baby Razorthread while fishing. It stole my cup of mana, my bucket full of fish, and… My fishing rod.” I told her and then couldn’t help it.

That was my birthday gift. I pushed in for a hug and she accepted with one arm pulling me in tight. 

“A Razorthread? Are you okay?” I was suddenly the center of attention but I just kept pouting.

“Fine… It didn’t hit me, I ran away.”

“Good. You did the right thing then.”

“But it stole everything.” I whimpered, face buried into her side, and I could feel the hot angry tears rolling down my cheeks. Mama patted my back, but I could tell she was more worried for me, than worried about my fishing rod. 

“A Razorthread? That’s rare. You weren’t fishing in the salt river, were you?” Aunty Isabel asked, and I just shook my head and sniffled into Mama’s side.

“Alright Vicky. It’s okay. It’s just a fishing rod.”

I shouldn’t be this upset, but I really really was!

“But!” I pulled away from her, and rubbed my eyes. “Now I can’t fish up tasty fish!”

My words didn’t have the serious impact I was going for as Mama, had to jerk her head away to try and fail to hide the laughter she was falling prey to.

“It’s not funny.”

“It really is.” Aunty Isabel chuckled. “I should have figured you were upset about the loss of food rather than the pole.”

“It was my birthday gift, and I love fishing!” Because it was relatively easy food, I didn’t say as I argued my point, looking around at the adults just laughing at my torment!

“It’s okay Monster.” Mama said, reaching out and cupping my cheek for a moment to wipe away some of my tears. “It’s better to lose a Fishing Rod than to get hurt from a Razorthread. Just take the win for what it is. I’ll speak to your father about a replacement.”

I slumped because. “No. They’re expensive.”

“You’ve done a lot with the Mana Fuel, and the infusions. We can spend a little.” Mama offered and I shook my head. 

“I’ve gotten a lot. James helped me with Biteys enclosure and everything too. It’s fine… I’ll figure it out. I can just make one again.” It wouldn’t be nearly as good as one bought from the city, but a long stick, some fishing line and a hook wasn’t exactly rocket science.

“You're a good girl.” Mama said, reaching out and brushing back my hair. 

I just pouted and stayed slumped against her while she worked for a while. What a disaster. Now I’d have to go to the kitchens to get food for Bitey even if no one really liked it. Or I guess I could find Willas and get some more Crawdads and use them. Bitey would eat them without issue. 

Still… What a disaster. 

—--

Time passed, and while Bitey kept drinking mana, and eating, I wasn’t really getting the answers I needed. He seemed to be quite happy to just keep absorbing the mana, and then using it to draw in more mana.

Did monsters that become pets just become lazy without the struggle to survive? It was something I did actually have to consider.

But I kept feeding him, having helped Willas make a few more cages for crawdads, I now had a few for myself that I was baiting and throwing out to collect for Biteys meals, and some extra munchies for myself too.

“Food time.” I called out carrying in the bucket of Crawdads that I would feed to Bitey and the noise caused him to stir shifting and looking up at me as I peeked my head over. 

Huh. He was getting fairly responsive to me. It was kinda cute. 

I chucked in a still living Crawdad, although I had taken off its claws, and Bitey rushed it and snapped his jaws shut. Then he dragged it over into a shaded spot I’d made with some sticks and leaves, and he kept an eye on me as he chewed it down.

Only once he was done did I toss in another one, and he was soon stalking it, slowly pacing closer.

He went for the charge, but the Crawdad moved nearly jumping on top of him, even clawless it tried to fight back and Bitey found himself in a bad position as the Crawdad clung onto his head. 

He freaked, rolling and twisting to try and dislodge it, but when it started doing something, maybe biting him?

He flinched and I felt it.

A buzz of mana that made me flinch as he seemed to just push Mana out from his core in a frenzy and…

It flowed through him! 

I gasped, jaw dropping as it shifted. The feel of the Mana changed, no longer that buzzy sensation exactly, but… I smelled earth. Like fresh loam. 

Then his skin darkened and I could hear cracking as if rocks rubbing against each other. Bitey’s scales looked like rock!

Then he rolled and this time there was no surviving for the Crawdad, it got smooshed. I could hear the exoskeleton crack as he twisted and death rolled until it was off him, and then he moved in, his body slow and heavy snapping up the body of his foe.

Victorious.

But…

I’d been going about this all wrong.

I rose up and rushed to my room.

Where was it?

The pamphlet was grabbed, and then I grabbed my mage card as well, and there was the tiny little mana stone chip that was still as dark as I remember it turning when I first accessed my Mana.

I’m stupid.

All I had been doing was drawing in ambient mana, and then releasing it into water, but the Pamphlet actually had told me what I should be doing!

I wasn’t a Monster. I couldn’t just draw in Mana and do things with it, I was a Mage! I needed to override it with my own Wavelength.

I needed to turn the Mana into mana aligned with me! I even remember. The feeling I had gotten. I rubbed my hand against the little chip, and instantly felt it again. 

The smell of the space between. Where I had been after I died. I closed my eyes and just tried to remember, even if it was hard. 

The Magic Circle in the Pamphlet wasn't just able to confirm my Mage Card, but it also let me shift Mana I gathered into Mana that was… My Element? I honestly didn’t know how to describe it, but… That was what Bitey had done. He’d turned his Mana into something like Earth, and it let him shift himself into a rock.

What would happen if I did that?

I grabbed what I needed and headed back up to the second floor, and the enclosure where Bitey was looking quite pleased with himself. Still a Rock, although I could feel he wasn’t using the mana anymore.

But…

Okay quick idea change. I reached out and snagged him, and then with a grunt lifted him out of the enclosure onto my lap, quickly wrapping a bit of string around his snout that I’d left up here in case I needed to, and only once I had him in my lap and secured, did I start writing out the Magic Circle I could sort of feel under my palm that he was using in my notebook.

Turning into a Rock sounded kind of useful.

Or well, I guess since I wasn’t Earth Aligned I’d turn into something else?

Who knows. Write it down first. Experiment next.