“So, what’s going on?” Liz asked as they walked together towards the village center.

“As far as I know something knocked everyone out overnight, and only a few people have woken up, each with a headache like the one you had this morning. Other people don’t seem to wake up no matter how you move them or call their name.”

“Do you think…they will ever wake up?”

“Since you and I are awake I would think so, but we can’t know for sure right now. The lady at the apothecary seemed to have some idea of what is going on, so maybe she can tell us more.”

The silence of the village as the two walked was distinct and eerie, the sun was now prominently placed in the sky meaning it was well past the time when the village had normally begun bustling with activity.

Nearing the center of the village, the houses had given way to shops and service buildings – the blacksmiths, butcher, leatherworker among dozens of others. While not the largest village in the area, Corsel had everything needed to match a simple life and was considered a paradise to those living within its walls. Very necessary walls as the forest to the east contained bears, boars and other beasts that might come looking for food.

The duo finally reached the apothecary – one of the last single-story buildings before the actual village center, the only place where higher stories had been constructed.

Knocking on the door lightly this time, Drake was again greeted by the attractive face of the woman who served as the village apothecary. Being large enough meant it was impossible to know the name and face of every inhabitant, and Drake tended to avoid injury or anything that would send him to the building that could be smelled from ten doors down.

“You are Elizabeth then?”

“Yes.” Liz replied with an aggressively quizzical look.

“Could you tell me about how long ago it was that you woke up?”

“Well I went right back to sleep once my head stopped hurting, but I think it was about four or five hours ago.”

“I see, that would put you ahead of the majority that are now awake”

“Is there some importance to the timing we all woke up?”

“Come with me to where the others are waiting, and I will do my best to explain what I believe has caused this”

Following the woman into her shop they assisted her with the bags of herbs and reagents she was gathering and began trudging towards the village center.

The center of the village was a wide area, stretching about 75 yards from one building to another across the clearing - making a rough circle. The one difference was the village hall, a large building three storing tall and twice as wide which peaked over all others in the vicinity. This towering construct protruded into the clearing about 30 feet from the Western side.

The center of the circle had a patch of well kept vegetation, mainly grass and flowers with a few carefully placed bushes. Gathered on several of the benches as well as spread out on the ground was approximately 30 individuals Drake observed. They ranged from visibly aged to children that had not yet hit puberty, and as Drake watched another villager was led in from the Northern aisle.

The 8 paths from the center of the were labeled as aisle, each called by their direction. The Western side was considered the best off as they were furthest from the forest and therefore furthest from danger. Drake and Liz lived in the South -East aisle as their parents had jobs that involved some work outside of the walls, however they were not soldiers and were spared from living in the Easternmost area.

As he approached Drake noticed a lot of eyes turn towards the lady who was guiding them, all filled with expectation. Seemed she had spoken to a number of these folks already and had left them wanting for her explanation of the situation as well.

At the lady’s signal, he and Liz put the boxes they were carrying onto the ground and settled into a corner of the grass carpet to wait.

After spending a few minutes rummaging through the boxes, the lady stood and walked to the center of the clearing. She cleared her throat and began to speak, far too quietly to be heard. It became apparent that she wasn’t used to oration – something she noticed as well as she frowned and blushed slightly.

Restarting her speech, now much louder, Drake heard the first words.

“Those of you gathered here are surely aware of the strange situation we are in. Everyone in the village is asleep with no signs of waking, the few gathered here have been able to regain consciousness. Fortunately, I believe I have some measure of understanding of what is going on though I do not know the cause.”

Murmurs began among the crowd, which was distinctly sorted into groups of different aisles. Despite this the woman continued, emboldened by her success in speaking.

“Surely each of you knows that magic, and mana, are forces that exist in our world. You should also know that they are extremely limited, being only enough for simple shows or small tricks. However, this was not always the case.”

That shut the murmurs up, and people looked at her in bewilderment.

“My profession – potion maker, requires a small use of magic to combine and bind all ingredients and is considered a high magical job. To become registered for this I visited a school in the capital for some time, where I learned many things. Most notable to our situation is the fact that the density of mana was not always this low. Hundreds if not thousands of years ago the density of mana was so high that nearly everyone was capable of using it, and it’s use in warfare was overwhelming.”

The murmurs began again, some excited, some mocking. Drake continued to sit in silence thinking about the shocking information. As far as he knew, magic was a rarity and not something people concerned themselves with. Those who could use it had access to some higher tier jobs but were not generally considered to have higher status.

The woman had learned quickly how to speak to a crowd and waited for some silence before continuing.

“To keep things simple: I believe what knocked everyone out was a wave of pure mana, which has increased the density to levels many times what we are all used to. To prove this I present a few of the herbs I use on a daily basis.”

She leaned down to pick up a small burlap bag, and from it produced a lightly glowing plant.

“This plant likely evolved many years ago to use mana and create light. Normally it is dim and requires a mage to feed it mana to glow. Now as you can see it glows without any external help”

As she finished speaking she dropped the plant. Even after landing it continued to glow, proof that she was not supplying any mana.

This earned her more than murmurs as people became visibly agitated and the noise level rose by a few notches.

“If you’ll allow me to continue I believe there are two more points it would be prudent to cover. All of you were able to wake up early because you possess more advanced levels of mana affinity. Hundreds of years ago you would have had the ability to become mages, earlier waking times likely signify greater affinity.”

This served to both calm the crowd and excite them at the same time. People no doubt imagined the incredible possibilities such magical talent might entail. Drake found himself wondering if he would be able to shoot fireballs, fly, and control the weather like heroes in bedtime stories.

After a much longer pause the lady began speaking again, seemingly reluctant to do so.

“The records also told of another great difference from today…thanks to the abundance of mana certain…creatures were able to exist that may have presented a danger to humanity. These were sealed along with the magic of the world long ago, but if this wave of magic has any connection to that I believe we should be on the lookout for potential dangers.”

The way she presented clearly lessened the blow, but her words were enough to incite panic amongst those gathered.

Fortunately, the lack of immediate danger gave people time to calm down, at which point a man got up and walked to the center area which was now designated as a place for people to speak.

Drake clearly recognized this man as one of the village officials, despite never having an interest in the politics surrounding such positions.

“While I’m sure you are all worried about yourselves and loved ones, now is not the time to panic. In order to properly face this potential threat, order and planning is required; I would ask that any guards or soldiers come talk with me after this to set up a patrol rotation that will be ready for these ‘monster’ attacks if they ever come. Other noncombatants are to come with me to register their name as well as an approximate time for when they woke up. After that you are instructed to continue your daily routine, only stopping to help others as they wake up and direct them towards the village hall.”

With that order was restored before it could be truly lost.

Being only 15 years old, Drake was too young to be considered for the patrol duties despite his sword training. He instead registered his time with the man and headed home alongside Liz.