The Primal Source

Ayashi leads me into a large chamber. Unlike the cave tunnel before, there are no torches or other sources of light. Instead, a bright blue light emanates from the bottom of the water. Above the water is a large tree. The tree has its roots diving into the water and uses them as legs to stand above the water. The tree's leaves are bright green with a blue tint on the edges.

"What do you think?" Ayashi asks me.

"It's amazing, and there's so much mana coming from it." I say and she looks at me surprised and happy.

"I'm surprised you can sense it. The Primal Source can prevent itself from being sensed, even by Senors. The only way to sense it is if it allows you, or you drink from the water." Ayashi responds and I nod.

"Is it good to be able to sense it?"

"Kind of. Before the village was destroyed you would've been able to become a caretaker. Pretty much you'd be able to keep an eye on the tree and ensure everything was fine. It was rare and we'd always get excited. Anyway, I'm ranting, sorry. I need you to put this on." She says while setting down the bucket of water and pulling some white clothing from the air. She reached out and her hand sank into the air, disappearing and returning with the clothes.

"What is it?"

"I mentioned it before, but we had a celebration for this. I'd like to continue that, since after all, the Mythos can still come back from being endangered." She says and I feel myself tense up. I've never thought about myself being a Mythos as anything more than gaining power. The fact that there's only the two of us left never crossed my mind before. The thought send a tidal wave of mixed emotions through my mind. I shake it off and take the clothes. I use my inventory to equip them, putting my current ones in my inventory. I look down and see they're very revealing. My chest is exposed with nothing covering it since, what I thought was the shirt, is just a small scarf with a thin layer of almost see-through cloth on my back. My shorts are loose and the bottom of them are the same see-through material on my back. In fact, I can almost see my thighs with these on.

"Is this all?" I ask her and she nods.

"They're meant to be small and revealing. That way the next part is easier."

"Do I not just drink?"

"Not yet." She says with a smile and picks up the bucket. "Next you need to be cleansed. The Primal Source is almost god-like to us. So we make sure we don't dirty it by cleansing ourselves in water first. Normally your parents and siblings would pour one on you before the Queen poured the last one. But since it's just us I'll only do it once." She says before telling me to sit down. I do so and she walks over to me. She slowly pours the bucket on my head and I feel the water run along my skin. The water feels nice and cool, and I sense a bit of mana in it.

"Does this water have mana in it?" I ask as she finishes pouring the bucket.

"A little, the lake here is full of heavily condensed mana. When the lake overfills it leaks into a river. The river carries, dilutes, and distributes the mana, it's how the natural mana in the air, plants, and ground exists. This water is from that river, and has the mana that hasn't been too diluted yet." She answers while gently pulling my shoulder, signaling that I can stand. She pushes the bucket into the air and pulls out a golden cup. At first, I think it's a wine glass, as the shape reminds me of cups restaurants serve wine in. At least if movies are to be believed, I only recently became 21 so I haven't tried any. "This cup is what we drink from. It may look gaudy, but I assure you, we had a reason to use gold. A Lyna guild that specialized in runes discovered that gold has the ability to amplify the magic runes engraved into it. Unfortunately, the guild is no longer around, but they made several advancments in Runic Enchanting. The runes in this enhance your body's natural recovery. Like I said before, you'll feel exhausted afterward. And while it is rare, there have been cases where someone was **** for a few days. So these runes will help you recover faster, just in case." She explains. I just nod, still processing all this but not wanting to waste time by waiting. She hands me the cup and leads me to the water's edge. She instructs me to kneel and scoop the water in the cup. I do so and look in the cup. The water is impossibly clear, with a rainbow swirling in the center. I have to do a double take and hear Ayadhi chuckle. "Don't worry, all Mythos have that face when we first see this." She says and I lift the cup up to my lips. I drink it and the taste is incredible. I can't even begin to describe it. I feel my eyes water as I chug the water. I finish and feel my head throb. I try to turn to Ayashi but I start falling instead. I fall to my side and my vision fades.