Bryn moved like a part of the forest itself—a shadow with intent. Ali followed, his new boots still too loud, his senses stretched taut. He kept his Mana-Sense open, not as an active scan, but as a passive blanket, feeling the textures of the world around him. The cold, patient signature they'd avoided earlier had shifted, sliding parallel to their path. Something was keeping pace.
System, Ali thought, keeping his mental voice as quiet as his footsteps. You heard me earlier. Break it down. My Mana-Sense. What are its actual specs right now? And how common is it?
Bryn paused by a fallen log, examining claw marks in the moss. Ali stopped, waiting, using the moment to focus inward.
[Query Acknowledged. Analyzing Skill: Mana-Sense (Rudimentary).]
Current Capabilities:
Range: Passive awareness extends to approximately 15 meters in a sphere around you. Conscious, focused "reaching" can extend this to 25 meters, but with significant degradation of detail and increased mental strain.
Precision: Can differentiate gross categories of mana sources: Life (general vitality), Elemental (crude distinctions like "warmth" for fire, "density" for earth), Structural (lingering mana in crafted objects, weak), and Void (absence or consumption, like Lyra's blockage). Cannot discern individual signatures within a crowded field (e.g., identifying one specific tree in a grove).
Efficiency: Skill operates at ~65% efficiency due to System optimization. A non-System individual with a similar proficiency level would gather 35% less data with 50% more mental "noise." Your sense is clearer and requires slightly less focus to maintain.
Output: Purely informational. Provides no active benefits (e.g., cannot be used to disrupt other senses, create illusions, or directly interact with spells). It is a receiver, not a transmitter.
Commonality Analysis:
Your assumption is correct. Mana-Sense is not unique. It is a foundational skill for any being that consciously interacts with mana. However:
Innate vs. Learned: Most nobility and magical races develop a basic, instinctive Mana-Sense in childhood, as natural as hearing. For commoners, it is often unlocked only through deliberate training or traumatic mana exposure. Yours was forced open by System intervention during core ignition.
Proficiency Variance: "Talent" in Mana-Sense is a real spectrum. Some individuals have senses that are naturally broader, sharper, or attuned to specific aspects (e.g., a dwarven rune-smith might have a Sense exceptionally good at detecting geometric mana flaws). Your version is a generalist, System-optimized model. It will develop evenly across all parameters.
Focus: Many practitioners only develop Mana-Sense to a functional minimum—enough to not blow themselves up while casting. Dedicated scouts, healers, enchanter, and researchers often pursue higher tiers. Your path, as an optimizer, necessitates maximizing it.
Regarding Mana-Sight:
You are simplifying, but not incorrectly. Channeling mana to the eyes is a direct, brute-force method to temporarily enhance visual acuity, as you have done. This is the skill [Mana Manipulation - Ocular Enhancement]. Repeated, sustained use of this specific application could act as a catalyst, causing your Mana-Sense to evolve a specialized sub-skill: [Mana-Sight].
Mana-Sight would be a fusion: using Mana-Sense through the visual cortex, overlaying mana data directly onto sight. It would allow you to "see" mana flows, auras, and structures as light, color, or texture. This is a more efficient, integrated, and powerful method than simple enhancement.
Prerequisites: Typically requires Mana-Sense at Adept proficiency and [Mana Manipulation - Internal Channeling] at least Level 5. Your System optimization may lower these thresholds. Continual ocular enhancement is a valid, if crude, training method. Warning: Overuse risks permanent ocular nerve damage or mystical blindness until prerequisites are met.
The analysis flowed through his mind in seconds. Bryn straightened up, his expression grim. "Claw marks are fresh. Wolf. Big. Not a forest wolf. Deeper woods pattern." He pointed to a disturbed patch of earth. "Limping. But not weak. Cautious."
The cold signature in Ali's sense seemed to solidify at Bryn's words. It was a wolf. And it was now holding position ahead and to the right, near a tangle of thick briars.
Grey Wolf. Lone. From the deeper woods, Ali supplied silently. It's the reason the game is gone. It's hunting the hunters.
[Probability: 94%. Signature matches predatory canine archetype. Mana density is elevated for a mundane beast. Approaching "Minor Magical Beast" threshold. Likely possesses enhanced senses, toughness. The limp is a recent injury, possibly from conflict with another territorial predator. It has identified you as potential prey, but is assessing Bryn as a threat.]
Bryn had nocked an arrow, his body still. "It's watching. Can you feel it?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper. It wasn't a casual question. It was a probe. Did the strange boy have the woods-sense, or just luck earlier?
Ali met his gaze and gave a single, slow nod. He pointed towards the briars. "There. Cold. Waiting."
Bryn's eyes widened a fraction. Not surprise, but confirmation. "Good. Don't stare. It'll know. We move back, slow. To the rocky outcrop west. We let it think we're leaving. If it follows... we turn the hunt."
They began a slow, deliberate retreat. Ali's heart hammered against his ribs. This was it. A real threat. His 0.003-something mana was useless for combat. His knife was for cutting rope. His only weapon was information—and the System.
Can I use my Sense to track it if it moves? Without it sensing me?
[Passive tracking is possible within your 15-meter sphere. Active scanning risks sending a subtle "ping" back along the mana field, equivalent to squinting in the dark. A magically sensitive creature may detect the attention. Recommend passive only.]
They reached a small, moss-covered outcrop of bedrock. Bryn positioned them with their backs to the stone, a partial defense against a rear attack. "Now we wait," he murmured.
Minutes stretched. The drizzle picked up, pattering on the leaves. Ali's Mana-Sense held the wolf's signature. It was moving. Not charging, but circling, a slow, deliberate arc that would bring it downwind of them.
[Signature is shifting. Utilizing terrain for approach. Current trajectory will place it 20 meters to your south-west in approximately 90 seconds. Wind direction will favor its olfactory advantage.]
Ali relayed the information in a hushed tone, omitting the source. "It's circling. Coming around south-west. Will have the wind soon."
Bryn didn't question how he knew. He adjusted his grip on the bow, his gaze locked on the green murk. "Then we don't let it get the wind. We move first. You stay behind this rock. Do not move. Do not make a sound. If it comes at you, use the knife for the belly or the eyes. Scream if you have to."
Before Ali could protest, Bryn melted away from the outcrop, moving not towards the wolf's projected path, but on a wider intercepting loop of his own. He was going to flank the flanker.
Ali was alone.
The forest's symphony felt suddenly oppressive. The wolf's cold signature was a pulsing knot of intent in his mind. He crouched behind the rock, the iron knife cold in his sweating hand. His core hummed, a traitorous reminder of the thick mana around him. One draw… one tiny scoop… it might sharpen his senses for a crucial second…
[Warning: Active Draw in proximity to a mana-sensitive predator is equivalent to ringing a dinner bell. Your ripple would carry a unique, "unrefined" signature—unfamiliar and likely intriguing to it. Strongly advise against it.]
Teeth gritted, Ali forced the hunger down. He focused on his breath, on the passive feed of his Sense.
The wolf's signature stopped. It had sensed Bryn's movement. A silent standoff in the green gloom.
Then, a new sound. Not from the wolf's direction. A low, grinding crunch, like a great weight settling on gravel, from further east. A larger, slower, and infinitely denser mana signature bloomed on the edge of Ali's range—a deep, resonant pressure that made the very air in his lungs feel heavy.
[Alert: Secondary entity detected. Mana density classification: Low Magical Beast. Signature profile suggests… Ursine. Territorial. It has detected the wolf. And possibly you.]
The wolf's cold signature flared with alarm. The standoff was broken—by a bigger player.
A guttural roar split the forest silence, shaking water from the leaves. It was answered by a savage, defiant snarl from the wolf.
The hunt had just become a three-way fight. And Ali was huddled at its potential epicenter, with a knife, a drop of mana, and a System screaming calculations of disaster in his head.