Astral took heed of the situation he had now found himself in. He looked out and saw glimmering waves that stretched to the horizon. In the opposite direction, he saw a dense jungle that lead further inland. He felt his person for the equipment that had been left behind.
"Shit, I'm really fucked." Astral cursed to himself, realizing he had no clue which plane he had ended up. All he had on him was a pair of cotton swimming shorts, and that was nothing the scholar wizard could use to defend himself. With no other options, Astral followed a sandy path that lead into the jungle.
After passing under the canopy, the muggy air immediately reminded Astral of a sauna, except that it was a little too hot. The sounds of thousands of unseen insects droned through the jungle. Small monkeys swung between branches. Although the jungle was well-lit, he knew that wouldn't be the case for long. Astral's first thought was seek out a Spiritwood tree - he could break a small branch off and use it to channel the local primal magic. His eyes sharpened, the opening of his Third-Eye Meridian allowed him to see mana saturation in the world, an ability commonly used among Diviners. Like a dog sniffing the trail of its mark, he saw faint trace of primal mana, and locked in. Astral crossed through thickets and roots until the presence of mana caused his eyes to burn. Rubbing his eyes beck into focus, he saw he had arrived at a tall Golden Phoenixwood.
The tree's highest branches seemed to carry sunlight into the jungle. Phoenixwoods were a type of Spiritwood known to carry vast amounts of primal fire mana, and the Golden color meant it was fully matured. Astral thanked the Enlightened One for guiding him on this path. After burning a stick of incense and meditating in reverence of the magical tree, he reached up to a low branch and broke off a 2ft. (60cm) section of flaky Phoenixwood. The stick carried a small amount of primal mana, and smelled of burning leaves. Astral only remembered a few cantrips that he could cast, or come close to casting. Now with all of his meridians open, he should definitely be able to evoke a full Fire Bolt!
Astral knew the fire mana would help strengthen the spell even further, so he flicked the rod toward the sky and spoke a fiery incantation!
A small glob of flame burst forth from the wooden rod into the air, and quickly petered out in the muggy atmosphere.
"Woah, fuck yeah! Haha!" Astral was ecstatic. The rod began to shake and blister, and Astral let go as it snapped and shredded into pieces. Even though Astral couldn't channel mana into the rod, he could still use the rod's latent mana reserves to cast spells. Unfortunately it seemed that using up all the rod's mana in one spell caused the rod to break. Nonetheless, this is something he could use to defend himself in the wild!
Looking back at the Phoenixwood, Astral bit his tongue.
"Am I really going to defile this precious piece of nature for more rods?" He spoke, looking longingly at the tree.
Astral found himself in a dilemma and thought deliberately for just a moment.
"Of course I am!" Astral declared and immediately began breaking off all the easily accessible branches. He began to plan how many rods he could travel with, and more importantly how to transport them all. Astral scoffed and took a step back from the tree. He decided it would be foolish to try and carry a bundle of Phoenixwood rods. It would be much more efficient and practical to break off a big branch to use as a quarterstaff. Astral set his mind immediately to the task, and about an hour later, he had made a +1 Golden Pheonixwood Quarterstaff. He wielded the staff in both hands and felt the larger pool of primal mana within. Astral's good knack for arcane theory made him think the staff was good for about 10 Fire Bolts. In close quarters he also knew he could hold his own for only a moment with the quarterstaff. All academy mages at some point have to cross-class into martial arts to gain proficiency in Bōjutsu. Astral was particularly good at the combat style, and excelling at jabs and large sweeps.
With this newfound equipment, Astral head deeper into the jungle and crossed the jungle for what seemed hours. As dusk approached, he reached the foothills of a large chain of tropical mountains. He could see how dense the primal mana was through the mountains. No spellcraft or demonic energy must have passed through here for many years! More importantly, primal mana this pure suggests the complete absence of negative energy. This was an incredible find, as Astral knew this to be a Mana Grove, and a huge one at that. Astral took a moment and basked in the jungle's mana, his body felt light and high, as if he were being suspended by branches and vines. This feeling surprised him, he'd never felt this relaxed.
Then, his vision shot to the ground and followed the trail of mana that made him feel relaxed, ending at a 10ft. tall ganja plant. His fortune could not stop increasing, what wonderful wealth! Astral severed several leaves before he realized he had no way to grind the weed or even pack it. He decided to take the longest stem he could find, with the most flowers, and carry it on his shoulders. With the stem firmly suspended, Astral continued through the jungle until the sun finally set. As it was getting very dark, Astral cast several Prestidigitation spells using the staff's power. This was a very weak spell and consumed almost no mana, so he wasn't concerned about overusing the staff. After cleaning an area for him to rest, Astral conjured a bonfire using some Phoenixwood sticks. If lit correctly, these sticks would serve as arcane-controlled fire, allowing him to adjust the intensity by manipulating the mana around it.
The jungle's thick atmosphere was very uncomfortable, but Astral's makeshift den was lined with large banana leaves that made it somewhat bearable. After struggling to sleep for several hours, he managed to catch a quick nap due to his inability of staying awake. All his muscles cramped, and his back was stiff. He stretched for the time it takes half of a stick of incense to burn, and was limber enough to snag a couple bananas from nearby trees. Mana-suffused fruit was much more flavorful than mundane fruit, and considered a delicacy by the inept: beings without the ability to sense mana, most often refers mundane common folk of the world. Astral thought eating mana fruit would give some kind of mana to his body, but his meridians rejected the mana, causing him to vomit the fruit. He figured it would be best to wait for food until he leaves the mana grove. Regret began to form in the bottom of his stomach now.
"Damn... Is this a blessing or a curse?" he asked out loud, as if to question some divine being. Having the body of an arcane cauldron that converts THC to mana is certainly an esoteric power with incredible potential, but this lack of external mana absorption is beginning to become a severe liability. He dreaded his limited spellcraft being used in actual combat with a great beast. Mana groves tend to be hotbeds for demonic activity due to the large amounts of unbound mana, but once purified by a high ranking Druid, mana groves can be used support a wide variety of magical endeavors. Now that Astral took a moment to think about it, he wondered why the mountainous grove had mana so clean. He soon dismissed that thought as he crossed over a crested hill and was met with the sight of a Dire Jungle Raptor feasting upon the corpse of a large ape.
The medium-sized reptilian's head perked up. From its body jutted sharp spikes of bone, and some external bones were shaped as armor. This is a feature of dire creatures. Its spiked head feathers ruffled as it locked its eyes on Astral. This caused Astral to grow stiff with fear as he gripped his quarterstaff. The raptor lowered its jaw into the ape's carcass, ripping entrails out its ribcage with a fanged maw. Its eyes remained on Astral, who attempted to duck behind the hill, but its head perked up again to keep sight on Astral. He began to think of a way to combat this creature if it should pursue him. Surely a well-placed Fire Bolt would scare off the beast. Slowly pulling the mana from his staff, he shaped the energy with an incantation and thrusted it toward the raptor. This was a direct hit! Astral offered a prayer to the Enlightened One.
The raptor reeled back in pain from getting its face blasted with a fist-sized ball of flame. It screeched and clicked the back of its throat. Astral's studied proficiency in animal behavior allowed him to recall the pattern of a cry made to call its family. The raptor reached up with viciously clawed arms to wipe its face of smoldering feathers, and it became enraged. Moments later, several other Jungle Raptors came forth from the jungle's depths that lacked bones jutting from their body, this meant the dire raptor was alpha.
Astral clenched his jaw tight as fear gripped his heart. His mind turned blank.
"Oh shit, I'm fucked." Astral whispered through his teeth.