Dil looked back at my stunned figure. I looked into Dil’s eye and whimpered out “Was that magic?”

As he knelt to help me down, he proudly explained “Yes and no, magic is the utilization of Mana to produce real-world effects but, here’s a secret for you, humans cannot store Mana. I’m sure you’ll learn more in this town for Mangalore.”

“Aren’t you going to join me Dil?”

“Sadly, a monster like me cannot enter a town such as this. I will wait for you here to call out my name.”

The dirt beneath my feet felt rich and lived in unlike the red soil of the place we were in earlier. The earth was damp when I reached out to touch it as if it were just battered with rainfall. I turned to Dil as I asked him “How far exactly have… What the fuck? Damn, the guy knows how to make an exit.”

Just like that, I was by myself. I walked up to the town’s walls. I say walls because the planks that made these walls up were from thick as a thigh wood. I felt the perfect gloss of this auburn wood that towered over me. I paced along the wall searching for a crack to glimpse into town or a whisper of merriment until I reached the iron reinforced gates. I could see the well-kept paved road which stretched into the horizon, slip under the closed gates. The lack of guards drew my suspicion, but my curiosity held my body in a vice grip. I dug my feet into the earth and pushed with herculean might to budge the door open.

“Found it.” I squealed as the bustle of the town drowned me out.