Mana Mutation Menace (Journey to Chaos Book 3) Read Online Free

meant to say was—”
    Kallen grabbed his arm and pushed him forward with a hand
to his back. It was clear that she was trying to smile through her cringe and
doing a terrible job of it.
    “Let’s put some food in your mouth before you stick your
foot in it again.”
    “You’re right!” Eric exclaimed. “I can eat my
foot!” He stuck his hand in his mouth and chewed on it. “I don’t taste good.”
    “He’s still groggy from waking up. He’s not normally like
this,” Kallen said apologetically to the guards.
    While hesitant, they allowed her to pass with her strange
charge. Their weapons were still at hand and the spells were still charged and
ready. Kallen smiled and nodded as she led Eric through their midst.
    “I used to be pretty strange myself. Percy could tell you
all kinds of stories about the shenanigans I got into. Now I’m perfectly sane
and helpful.”
    “I completely agree,” Tasio said. He was again floating
above them. “I couldn’t ask for a more pious devotee.”
    “You’re not helping!”
    Inside the cafeteria, Kallen showed Eric the food line.
Then she had to hold him back from pouncing and eating all of it right then and
there. She had to explain the use of utensils and why they were necessary.
    “We don’t use those at my guild. I remember that!” Eric
insisted. “Some people used them, like Nolien, but he was in a minority.”
    “Your guild, right. That’s good!” She looked over her
shoulder at one of the guards that had followed them in. “Please fetch some videos
about the Dragon’s Lair, and none of that offensive slanderous stuff.”
    The guard looked to Talbot, who nodded. The guard ran off
and someone else filled his place. Kallen returned her attention to Eric, who
was loading his plate with bacon. When he ran out of room, he put all the bacon
back into the tub and simply took the tub with him to the table. He ate a piece
along the way.
    “What is this stuff? It’s magnificent! ”
     “It’s called ‘bacon.’”
    Eric swallowed and then stuffed another four pieces into
his mouth and swallowed again. He started choking. Kallen performed the Heimlich
maneuver and it came out. Eric stared at slimy bacon and then put it back in
his mouth, chewing this time before swallowing.
     “Memo to myself: Never eat cooks because they make
bacon."
    While this scared the sapients (except the cook, of course),
Kallen immediately shushed them. Instead, she sat next to Eric and encouraged
this line of thinking to convince him why he shouldn't eat others. For
instance, she explained that he shouldn’t eat plumbers because they unclog
toilets and to respect policemen because they neutralize threats like he did.
     "Okay. That makes sense. If someone is unemployed,
can I eat them?"
     "No."
    “Why not?”
    “Because even the unemployed have friends and family.”
    “What if they’re unemployed and loners?”
    " No ."
    “Why not?”
    “It’s dangerous for you to attract attention.”
    “I can handle that.”
    Kallen scratched her head. The answer was obviously “it’s
illegal.” Nor was it civil. It was clear that his monster instincts and human
memories had merged to create a new sense of morality. Only by appealing to
that could she make him understand. She didn’t remember having to deal with
this years ago. Then she got an idea.
    “You know the Omnipresent Mana Principle, right?”
    “Oh yeah. Reality is made of chaos and mana is the most
diluted form of chaos. Thus, everything is made of mana; you, me, this food,
those walls—everything.”
    “Right. And everything can become everything else. That’s
the River of Chaos; cycling through Noitrearc and through different stages on
its way back to the Sea of Chaos. The same holds true for human relationships.
Someone without a social circle or a job could become a bread-winning family
maker and vice versa.”
    “So, I shouldn’t eat them because they could become a job or friend.”
    “Yes.”
    “Hmmm...