SURVIVAL 101

"This beautiful place we find ourselves in is called Mirror Earth."

"Though it does not look like the earth we know right now."

The mist you saw around you is what we call mana.

'He said "we".' Rephan thought.

'Are the others who know about this place?'

'Come to think of it after been saved by Gordon I was so relieved I did not think about how Gordon had come to be here in the first place.'

'It is all so odd, then again this whole place is odd.'

He kept all these questions bottled up as he listened intently to Gordon's oration.

"Mana can be used in many ways but for now I'm not going to delve too deep into any of that, it will all just go over your head."

"One basic use of mana is that it can be used to strengthen the body's capabilities; speed, agility endurance, strength and so on."

Gordon paused for a moment to let it all sink in.

Rephan's eyes opened wide in realization.

'So the shadowy figures that had pursued me, they had moved so fast it had seemed superman I only managed to evade them because I knew the layout of the area.'

'I guess that explains it.'

Nodding his head slightly he signaled Gordon to resume his explanation.

Gordon leaned forward a bit before continuing his explanation.

"Pertaining to the daemons, you see they are creatures made of mana due to its high concentration in certain places."

Rephan gulped remembering the daemon meat he had gorged himself on.

Gordon chuckled a bit at Gordon's reaction.

"Don't worry you won't have any side effects, well unless your body is weak."

Rephan relaxed a bit after that statement.

True, he wasn't exactly the strongest of people but he wasn't weak either.

'But this mist… mana becoming flesh that seems impossible.'

'Well, it had to be possible somehow, considering the fact that he had just eating said flesh…'

Gordon's voice rang out.

"You see mana is alive and in high enough concentrations it can form creatures, it doesn't have to be fleshy creatures in particular."

"I have seen creatures made from stone, wind, sand… basically mana uses whatever is around it."

"Though I have always kept my distance from such creatures, they are not creatures that can be killed easily."

"You see most beings found in mythology: vampires, werewolves, dragons."

"They all took their origins from creatures that managed to slip through a crack in the barrier between the two worlds; Earth and Mirror Earth."

Gordon relaxed in his seat apparently satisfied by the explanation he had given.

Rephan lowered his head in contemplation.

'I have absolutely no idea what vampires, werewolves or dragons are though I imagine they are no less harrowing than the daemon I met earlier.'

'I guess I will have to do my research when I get home… if I manage to get home.'

Rephan had also noticed something peculiar.

One of his talents was sniffing out lies or at least when someone was avoiding the truth.

Boss had helped him realize that.

'Gordon hasn't given me too much information.'

'Just enough for him to for me to feel satisfied but still dependent on him.'

He hadn't given him enough information on how to grow stronger or anything related to that.

Rephan had a feeling even if he asked nothing would come of it, it might even make Gordon hostile towards him.

Sure, Gordon seemed nice and all but they had only just met, there was no trust between them.

Rephan didn't hold it against him though.

He would have done the same if he were in Gordon's boots.

Gordon cleared his throat disturbing Rephan's train of thought.

"Look I know everyone has their secrets but if we are to continue being errr… partners, I have to know how you got here."

He said his tone becoming more serious.

Rephan would have liked to ask how Gordon arrived at this strange place.

But he also understood he was in no position to ask questions.

So he decided to tell a part of the truth.

"I arrived here by jumping through a rift in space that appeared to escape my pursuers."

Gordon raised an eyebrow.

"Was the situation really that bad?"

Rephan answered honestly.

"Yes, they situation was really that bad?"

Now it was Gordon's turn to lower his head in contemplation.

Rephan caught a few phrases as Gordon thought aloud.

"A rift huh… a magisphere maybe or a zealot mage."

Most of the terms did not ring any bells except for one.

'A magisphere… I have heard Boss mention that word before.'

'Could that be the package those figures were after.'

Gordon looked up with a twinkle in his eyes.

Summoning a notepad out of thing air he scribbled down a few notes before throwing it back into the air where it disappeared.

Rephan suddenly remembered something that Gordon had stated earlier, before he had been knocked out by him.

'Yeah he did mention something about me being a healer, didn't he?"

'Finally, something useful.' Rephan thought.

'A healer huh that means I can heal wounds right, like how my arm and ankle healed.'

Though he didn't know exactly what this entailed, the situation seemed a little brighter.

Suddenly a brilliant idea flashed in his mind.

'A way to free myself from all of this mess, get stronger and find a way out of here.'

He flashed a smile at Gordon.

The first time he had smiled since this whole episode of his life had started.

"You aren't going to keep me here and feed me till I get old and frail are you?"

Yes, this was his plan, he was going to bait Gordon into going out with him on his adventures outside the cave.

He would go above and beyond to learn everything about his strange powers and this strange place.

He would use Gordon if he had to.

And when he was strong enough, he would find a way to leave.

Simple, efficient, workable.

But just then Gordon flashed him a wolfish grin.

"Well of course not, you are going to be my personal medkit."

Rephan's smile fell.

Gordon's grin only grew wider.

"With you around, I can at last do tasks that were too dangerous for me to handle."

The table between them disappeared as Gordon leaned forward putting a hand on his shoulder.

"You and I my friend are going to be the best team ever."

'Guess that is the reason he was keeping me around.' Rephan thought to himself.