"Please rest for now Esther."
"I can't, sir."
"I'll come back in like an hour, atleast get a nap." Katsumi tells Esther
"I just want to see the things outside, nothing too dangerous." Katsumi promises
"Very well, we have a few hours, do not take long." Esther replies, walking out of the clinic
"Where will you go?" Katsumi questions
"A hotel." Esther says
Katsumi leaves the clinic as well, not forgetting to bow to the doctor and saying his goodbyes.
He walks to the opposite side of the entrance, presumably the exit.
"Scanning." the guard says as his eyes turn blue and lines of numbers run down it
"Katsumi, an acquaintance of the princess, access granted."
"You may now leave."
-Katsumi's POV-
They updated my information that quickly? Having the princess by your side is really useful.
Now what do I look for? I was thinking of seeing a shark, maybe a mermaid.
Wait, I hear something, a voice.
Are they singing? It's.. Alluring.
It feels as though my mother is singing to me.
Wait, did I even have a mother?
I can't help but be drawn to the sound, inching closer and closer to it, almost as if my body was floating in the water just to get closer to it.
That doesn't make sense, you can't float here, not with my features.
Yet I'm still doing it, the sound is like an angel descended onto the Earth and played its beautiful harp.
The sound is getting more vibrant, stronger.
I'm getting closer to it.
And then the sound cuts off, just purely gone, the disappearance of the sound tore me away.
It's as if someone pulled a plug out of my head, violently ripping it off.
I could hear nothing but silence for a few seconds, only coming back to my senses, seeing I'm on top of a rock, with a statue of a siren with their mouth open, as if they were singing a song.
That was a siren? How could they sing when it's just a statue?
"AGH!" My head hurts, it's as if a truck ran over it.
My necklace flies up a little, hovering, with a quarter of it glowing a beautiful color, being radiant enough to blind a person with its beauty. The necklace stops glowing and a quarter of it turns a color of blue that can only be described using the color of midnight.
What was that? I don't know, all I know is that I'm confused.
It's best if I go back and ask Esther about it, as I dive into the water, I can feel the water brush on my face, and the feeling of being limited on oxygen.
My air bubble broke?! I suppose that is why I feel like my head hurts, I must've hit a rock. I was sure that I had it even during my surgery, the doctor was careful enough to not break it, I could still breathe after my surgery.
I struggle for a few seconds until I swim back to the top, clutching onto the rock I dived from.
-CoP-
Esther wakes up from her nap, tidying up her bed after she wakes up, knowing that the workers can do it for her.
She fixes her hair, straightening the tangles using a brush, she can use magic of course, she just prefers to do it like this.
She leaves her room and enters the elevator, clicks the button to go to the ground floor, and in a second, the elevator door opens and the lobby can be seen.
There's mostly only Atlantean people, she is a rare existence, catching the eye of some people, an elf in Atlantean territory is rare, even rarer than humans.
She walks towards the receptionist and a holographic image that only she can see pops out, she interacts with it using her mind and goes to an option named credits, she enters 4000, a thousand more than her bill, and sends it to the receptionist.
"Thank you for the donation, I hope you enjoyed your stay at the Aquaticus Hotel. Come again."
She walks out of the door, presumably to look for Katsumi.
A few people did more than just eyeing Esther, they followed her as she left the hotel.
There's 4 of them in total, one being a woman, with her tail split into legs and her and the other 3 looking like brutes, being massive, one of them having a fat stomach and the other two looking like an average jock.
Esther did her usual routine, going through shortcuts to get to her destination quicker, the people that followed her took the chance, and tried to jump her.
As one of the bigger brutes close in on her, she disappears into her shadow.
"WATCH OUT!" the woman screams while her eyes turn red with lines striking at the pupil
Esther is on top of the roofs, with her MID out, and materializes her sniper.
She looks onto her scope and aims at the fat thug, aiming at their head. She takes a deep breath, and shoots.
"Bang."
Her sniper doesn't make a noise and her shot lands true, but the thug she hits doesn't seem to be injured, in fact, his entire body turned into steel, with his mana covering him.
"WHERE ARE YOU, LITTLE LADY?!"
"I found her!" The woman cries out while pointing above, guiding the thugs to go to where Esther is located
The thugs, with one of them carrying the woman, jump above the rooftops and find Esther, she disappears into her shadow again, with her sniper dematerializing and her shadow visibly moving.
Her shadow is moving and blending into the darkness of the city, with it being underwater making it even harder to see, however, as the thugs are aquatic, they can see it, but she's too fast, climbing on top of the bell tower as they try to chase her through the rooftops.
She summons her MID and summons her sniper again, making sure to infuse magic this time. She uses magic to overcharge her eyes, making her lifeless eyes turn red, with green numbers falling down her eyes. She looks into her scope, and takes a deep breath.
BANG!
A blast was fired, with electric sparks left in the water, stinging Esther a bit, but her shot was true, the fat thug's blood is mixing into the water, alerting predators of their next possible meal, and his brain is blown to shreds.
She charges another shot as she looks into her scope.
She can see the thugs with their arms raised above their shoulders, to show their unwillingness to fight.
Esther opens her holographic menu, and calls the cops.
"Hello? I have three criminals on top of some rooftops near Blujas Street, they have laid down their arms."
"Dispatching Acquirill."
"Please wait by, it should take no longer than 30 seconds."
The call ends and with Esther's heightened vision, she can see the police teleport near the scene, with a magician holding a staff, with a green gem embedded in it, behind 3 men. The men move quickly, almost impossible to perceive, if not for her eyes.
They stop after finding the criminals, and cuff them with magic restraining cuffs, similar to the ones they used on Katsumi, and take the criminals away.
The cops call again and tell Esther to come to the station.
-CoP-
"This will have to do for now." Katsumi thinks as he forms an air bubble
The idea is simple to form one, you simply need to imagine your mana as an orb, and there being a vacuum inside, not letting the air escape.
It's low tier, and can run out of air, but it's the best Katsumi can use right now.
"I can feel it, the magic content of this, it's weaker than Esther's."
"I should hurry back."
Katsumi dips into the water instead of diving, being careful to not break his air bubble.
Katsumi is careful with his movement, and is conserving his breaths, there isn't much in this air bubble.
Once he gets to the ocean floor, he dashes through, knowing that the air bubble won't break from just the water pressure.
He gets to the exit
"You are not allowed to enter here."
"Please, let me through." Katsumi pleads with the guard, showing his panic.
"No can do, rules are rules."
Katsumi takes his time and contemplates whether he should just bust through the doors, but gives up on the idea and speeds around the city, reaching the entrance in about 5 minutes.
He stops for a second, taking panicked breaths, and then stabilizes himself remembering that he only has a limited amount of air.
"The air reserve is running low, I'm going to die if I can't find Esther." His panicked thoughts scramble
"Scanning."
"Katsumi, an acquaintance of the princess, you may enter."
Katsumi dashes through, trying to find where Esther is, remembering he doesn't know where to find her.
He could feel it, the air inside the bubble is running low, and the bubble turning into a vacuum.
There is still a little left, Katsumi closes his eyes to try to find Esther's magic trace, but it's futile, there's too many traces in this city.
A guard follows Katsumi, shouting his name
"SIR KATSUMI!"
Katsumi turns back, hearing his name
"Lady Esther told me to tell you that she is at the station, and for me to lead you there."
"What about the gate?"
"We have multiple workers there."
"Lead the way."
The guard moves in front of Katsumi, leading the path
..
There's not enough, there's not enough air.
Katsumi dispels his air bubble, creating another air bubble as quickly as he can before the water floods the bubble. Half of it is filled with water, making Katsumi bend his neck upwards to move his head so that he can breathe through the half filled air bubble.
"Are you alright sir Katsumi?!" The guard panics, with a concerned look
"..I'm.. Fine, please, lead me to Esther." Katsumi struggles
"Understood." The guard replies, speeding up his movement
Katsumi straightens his head, opening his eyes and feeling the burn of the salt water on his eyes.
Nevertheless, he keeps his eyes open and follows the guard, reaching the station in a minute. Katsumi bends his neck to breathe again, taking a huge breath, before setting it normally again.
"Lady Esther!" The guard calls out while running near the interrogation room
"Your friend needs help!"
Esther runs towards the guard, leaving the cops that were interrogating her.
"Where is he?" Esther asks, trying not to let her panic show
"Over there, in the lobby."
Esther can see Katsumi with a half waterlogged air bubble, seeing the incompleteness of his work and then pulls out her MID and makes a new air bubble without any water and removes Katsumi's air bubble and changes it to the one she made.
"Why did your air bubble break?"
"I hit my head."
"Surely it can't break from just that."
"Well, it did, but don't worry, I'm back safe." Katsumi giving his utmost to speak normally while looking like a drug dealer because of his bloodshot eyes from the salt water
"You are going to sleep on the way back, sir."
"What?"
"You are going to sleep." Esther insists
"Fine by me." Katsumi responds
"Please sir, sit down, I simply have some things to handle for now."
"Do not leave us in such a hurry, your highness, we simply have some questions." A female cop says
"I'm sorry, I had to take care of my friend here." Esther responds
"Let us head back."
"Understood."
Esther and the cops go back to the interrogation room, leaving Katsumi at the lobby for the meantime.
"Tell me, why did they attack you?" The guard interrogates
"I am not certain, but I can presume it is because of my heritage."
"You mean, your existence as an elf?"
"Precisely."
"Well, everyone knows elves are rare to be seen outside of the Mystic's territory, so I suppose it does make sense that they would try to capture you."
"Ah, but I don't mean it is justified." The cop slightly panics
"It is alright." Esther softly speaks
"Well, we can dismiss your act as an act of self defense, as it was clear to be like that, and the criminals did confess as well."
"You are free to go."
"Understood, goodbye then, have a good evening.." Esther thanks, standing up from her chair
Esther walks outside the door, going to the lobby, to see Katsumi sleeping soundly, with a small drool.
"I don't want to wake him up." Esther thinks to herself
She takes out her MID, and taps a few buttons, and carrying Katsumi on her back
She goes outside and taps her MID, letting them float above the ocean, reaching the corey she called over using her MID from earlier.
"This is quite illegal, to not exit properly, but I'm sure they can let it slide." Esther thinks to herself
The corey is filled with water, from them opening the corey underwater.
"Disperse"
The water from the corey slowly drains, and a pipe protrudes from the back, letting the water flood out.
"Open."
The glass cover opens and a ladder protrudes out, instead of stairs, Esther climbs the ladder, and places Katsumi on the passenger seat.
She summons a magic circle and cancels the air bubbles she put on Katsumi and herself.
"Close."
Esther drives slower than usual, letting the cold temperature of the ocean let Katsumi sleep longer.
-CoP-
"Error, forcefully logging out user." The system reads
"What is happening?" Karuka asks herself, while she sees the simulation crumble to pieces.
"ERROR, ERROR, ERROR."
Karuka is forcefully logged out, and she takes off the device.
"How long was I in the simulation?" Seeing the moonlight pierce into her room, scattering beautifully.
"I feel quite.. Weak." Karuka thinks to herself
Karuka walks out of her bedroom, to go swim. She opens her door and sees the passed out Li Zhong.
"What is he doing here?"
Karuka kneels on both knees, to try to inspect his condition, he's burning up. The floor is filled with sweat and he's not waking up. His eyes seem strained even as they're closed.
Karuka conjures a magic circle to lift Li Zhong off the floor, hovering him off the floor. She walks towards one of the doors, opens it, and lays Li Zhong on the bed.
She walks around the hallways for a while, reaching a door labeled "Medics" and opens the door.
"The queen! She's here everyone, please, be on your best behavior." A girl a few inches shorter than Karuka shouts to everyone
She has blonde wavy hair, with "Zhiliao Shi" on her nametag
She's wearing a white coat, the usual wear for a doctor, and a small chime she wears on her neck, supported by a band.
"Thank you for your help during the Impurus invasion everyone, if I may ask, would one of you care to go to the guest room? I left a guest there, he may need some seeing to."
Zhiliao Shi raises her hand, volunteering for the task
"Oh please, you are the head of medics, I do not think it would be fit to use you for such a small inconvenience."
"Please my queen, let me serve you." Zhiliao bows, expressing her willingness
"What about your team? Don't you have an expedition in a day?" Karuka raises her concern
"They can handle it without me, it would be good manners to show respect to your guest."
"Then I leave it in your capable hands." Karuka says while leaving the room
Karuka walks to go outside and takes off her robe and dematerializes her crown, diving into the water and enjoying the ocean's serenity.
She sees a corey heading to her island, and casts a magic circle on her eyes, seeing it is Katsumi and Esther.
She pays it no mind, she didn't set a time limit on the mission after all. She keeps swimming and reaches a stone wall, seemingly natural, she summons a magic circle and the illusion breaks and she enters the cave.
There comes to view a creature that uses its tentacles to move around, looking quite small, like a plushy.
It jumps around the room, grabbing certain materials using its tentacles from cabinets and grabs beakers along with it.
"It has been a while since I've been here, master."
"Finally paying your teacher a visit huh? You're so cold, my student, leaving me in solitude for so long."
The octopus looking creature turns into a woman, her height only growing to the size of a midget, her hair is tied into a bun and the color is an aquamarine color, with it fading into a light purple. She has gloves dangling below her neck and her clothes are black pants and a blue shirt that reads "AMOGUS" and a weird red alien looking spaceman beside it.
"I can't just visit you every holiday, a queen has her duties."
"But at least visit me every new year or something, not every decade."
"I taught you nearly everything you know, yet you can't care enough to bring me to your fancy castle." her master complains, with their arms crossed and with a pout on her face
"It isn't that I don't care, you'd endanger everyone in my castle with your weird experiments."
"Remember the time I nearly died from you mixing a carkus with a sofrei?" Karuka recalls, flinching from the memory
"It was for science, I'm only human after all." she childishly replies, spinning around while mixing a blue liquid into her beaker with a drop of an orange liquid.
Her master finally sits down on her chair, setting the beaker aside and putting the test tubes back in their rack.
She puts her arm on the chair's armrest and lifts it, leaning her head on her hand. She crosses her legs and says,
"Well, tell me, what is it you need from me then?"
-CoP-
A little before Karuka's talk with her master, the corey arrives on the docks.
"Open."
Esther carries Katsumi, being careful not to wake him, and takes a walk through the road lit by the moon.
They arrive at the castle, she moves towards the guest room and sees Li Zhong in the room, with Zhiliao Shi beside him, holding his hand and saying a prayer. She greets Zhiliao
"Good evening."
"Good evening Esther, whose arm is that?" Zhiliao can only see Katsumi's arm that Esther is holding, to make sure he doesn't fall.
"A friend's."
"That's good, please, use another room, I am currently treating this gentleman."
"I trust it won't be much of a bother?" Zhiliao asks
"It isn't, please, keep treating our guest."
"Goodbye then." Zhiliao waves
"Goodbye, get some rest after treating him." Esther replied.
Esther heads to her room, the room is plain, purely white and a desk with a chair and a bed.
She taps on her wall, opening the wall on the left of it, springing it and readying another bed. She places Katsumi on it and gives him a blanket, before going to her own bed, and sleeping.
-CoP-
"You say you want my support?" Karuka's teacher asks
"You are renowned, despite your extravagant way to entertain yourself." Karuka replies
"You are far more known than me, the Queen, the Greed that takes all."
"The kingdoms do not respect me as much as you, Raine, the mad scientist."
"It's been so long since I've heard someone call me that, any time I leave this cave, no one recognizes me anymore!" Raine whines, sounding like a child throwing a tantrum
"Do you come out with your adult body?" Karuka questions
"..No.."
"Then they won't recognize you."
"Still!" Raine complains
"You're older than me and can still act a hundred years younger, how are you like this?" Karuka inquires, with a concerned look
"Hush!"
"It's boring to be an adult!" Raine complains as she spins her chair
"You should have your own responsibilities, yet you're just down here, like an introvert hiding from a party."
"Shutty." Raine nags, still spinning her chair
"But what exactly of my support do you need?"
"To convince the other kingdoms."
"You know that's impossible." Raine turns serious, and stops spinning on her chair
"You've tried for decades." Raine adds
"The ocean belongs to my people, I do not tolerate them eating my people and letting them call it an exotic." Karuka lashes out
"You can't do anything, that is not your territory." Raine responds
"You cannot retaliate with something as weak as a tsunami, you may be the strongest, or rivaled with King Jonas, but the other kings are more resourceful than you, they are crueler."
"Your strength isn't enough, the Atlanteans will fall, should the deals go wrong." Raine advises
"Why are you telling me the same thing as he is?" Karuka mumbles, with a tint of disappointment
"Who?"
"The one that ran away."
"You of all people should understand, it is not his fault."
"It is not, but he did not tell me, not even leave a letter, he simply disappeared." Karuka rambles on
"It was your fault for falling in love." Raine snaps Karuka back into reality, with a cold tone
"It is, but that does not matter right now, he has agreed to help me take back the seas." Karuka gets pulled back to reality, forcing her to realize her mistake
"You will get nowhere." Raine replies
"As my master, you don't feel obliged to help me?" Karuka asks
"I will help you, but you should know, it is futile." Raine strongly points out
"Now leave, I will prepare some things, you are making me grow older.." Raine gripes, spinning on her chair again, but her tone unchanging
"Understood, come to my castle once you are ready." Karuka responds
Karuka leaves the cave, swimming back to the docks, and sees the light of the moon, and it looks beautiful. She sees the corey and walks back into the castle after putting on her robe and crown.
She checks into the room with Li Zhong and greets Zhiliao.
"Good evening."
"Good evening, my queen."
"How is he?"
"He should be fine, his condition is stabilizing."
"His mana flow seems chaotic, dispersing onto different parts of his body, instead of being focused at the head like the usual." Zhiliao explains
"What? That's abnormal." Karuka is slightly taken aback
"Well, it is quite normal to see this effect on patients that are conscious and have expended too much of their mana, though it is the first that I've seen an unconscious person still have their mana scattered."
"The normal treatment still works, and his condition has stabilized, I am just merely interested in how this happened." Zhiliao letting her curiosity ask a question
"That is classified, I am sorry that I cannot tell you, but please, do look after him. I will be sure to reward you."
"That is unnecessary, your highness."
"It is necessary to reward your workers, especially for overtime." Karuka replies, then leaves the room, not leaving room or negotiation
Karuka walks to her bedroom, and sleeps.
-Morning, Katsumi's POV-
The light of the sun strikes my eyes, the harsh light waking me up.
I notice I'm in a bed, but I don't remember how I got here.
"It was Esther wasn't it?"
I look around and sees another bed, neatly fixed, with a note on the table, written with a very clean and neat handwriting,
"The shower is on the door near the table, and I have prepared some clothes for you. Come to the magiforge when you are ready."
There are clothes near the paper, with clothes similar to mine, loose black pants and an aquamarine colored tunic.
I just realized that my clothes should've been soaking wet, yet they still look dry, though not too clean.
I head towards the bathroom, seeing a relatively large bathroom, but with very little to it, only shampoos and soaps.
-TS-
Katsumi is walking towards the magiforge, seeing the vision of Esther along with Daruc holding a sword coming into vision, with a more battle ready suit equipped, with the suit looking white and green lines radiating mana flowing down.
"That is one cool suit sis!" Katsumi calls out
Daruc bursts into laughter after hearing Katsumi say sis.
"Sis?" Esther questions, tilting her head slightly, to show her confusion
"A shorter way to say sister, it's like, really popular in those comedy novels I read." Katsumi explains
"That is.. Interesting." Esther still confused by the meaning
Daruc laughs again, wiping a tear off, as he stops laughing and stops to catch his breath, he says,
"Ahh, the forges can get really boring sometimes, having a guy like you would spice up the place."
"Look at that, you stopped calling me kid." Katsumi acknowledges
"Oh no no don't get me wrong, you still are a kid, in my tribe, if you want to graduate from childhood, you need to chug 5 beers down!" Daruc laughs
"I'll take you out to some drinks when you get older, you better not be a lightweight!" Daruc adds
"Here you go, your MID." Daruc says as he hands Katsumi a blade
"You really made it an MID?"
"Well, Radeon wasn't fit for making an MID, it is an unchangeable law that it has to be made with an onyx and pure thorium, but with some integration, you should be able to make it morph into a Radeon sword."
"Though I'm sure that the MID itself can handle more stress than a Radeon sword can, I still made you a Radeon sword, in case you find it difficult to morph one." Daruc explains, with another sword beside him
"How would I make it morph?"
"Sir, do you remember my sniper? It is created through a lengthy process to merge the main weapon into your MID." Esther asks Katsumi
"The MID will absorb your weapon, and then act like a storage for it."
"So it isn't technically summoning a new weapon?"
"For most people, like myself, that would be the case. But sir Katsumi is a rare case, your ability to materialize your swords out of your mana alone, I can't say I know how you do it, so I may not be able to help."
"Well, I kind of just think of a sword and it pops up if I concentrate my mana into my palm." Katsumi demonstrates, letting his mana flow to his palm, and a sword appearing onto it
"The summoned swords took a while to master though, it was a weird process of thinking my mana was transforming into a bracelet with my swords attached with strings." Katsumi flips his sword to make it disappear, and then summoning his other swords that float above him
"That is incredibly simple, but it is only with your talent that you can do it without proper teaching."
"Am I that talented?" Katsumi slightly blushes and scratches his hair
"You sir, are 1 in a million, or maybe 1 in ten million."
"Arcane magic is common, appearing in half of the population, but only a rare few individuals can command it as well as you." Esther adds
"Thank you for the compliment sis, but can I summon Radeon swords with this MID?" Katsumi asks, with a small glitter in his eyes
"Well, I don't think the MID can help you." Daruc replies
"The MID isn't that advanced, it's to help beginner to intermediate magicians cast easier and act as a pocket storage for people who haven't obtained a skill to help carry their items."
"To put it simply, you can put a few spells that the device can register, and it will help you cast those spells, disregarding the need to conjure a magic circle.
"However, it cannot help with a skill like yours, that skill doesn't exist in any of the modules I was given during my time at our academy. Daruc explains
"So I can't conjure Radeon or Adarium swords?" Katsumi asks, with a slightly depressed look
"You can carry one, but I cannot say whether you can conjure one or not, the only person that defines your limits is you after all." Daruc encourages Katsumi, along with a thumbs up
"Sir, please take the MID and the Radeon sword, I may be able to help you on our way to Lilliputian territory."
"The Lilliputians? Isn't that where Daruc originates from?"
"Oh boy, that will not be fun." Daruc shakes his head
"Why not?" Katsumi asks
"The shift in leadership started with the Hunter Glaze, he's notoriously known for being a ruthless leader, and the kingdom followed along his steps, that is why I am here in this castle."
"Our old leader, King Dwarven, was a kind leader, but the switch in leader was quick, and it is known that the Hunter Glaze was the reason for the seeds of chaos that started the Race War."
"So essentially, we're gonna get robbed?" Katsumi jokingly responds
"Well, yes." Daruc laughs
"Come back safe, I still need that drink with you!" Daruc adds
"Will do!" Katsumi replies, waving goodbye to Daruc, and heading towards the entrance, following Esther
They reach the dock after 2 minutes, staying quiet until they reach the corey
"Open." Thee glass cover opens and stairs protrude out
Katsumi enters the passenger seat and Esther is in the driving seat.
"Close" The glass cover closes and the stairs recoil back
"Your suit, where did you get it?" Katsumi asks, as the corey dives in the water
"The queen made it for me, she commissioned the dwarves to make me a suit similar to hers."
"It is lined with mana, enhancing a magician's performance."
"That's cool! I wonder if I'll get one."
"It took me months to get mine, I don't suspect the queen will let you stay long enough to get yours."
"Awe, that's too bad." Katsumi mutters
A silence occurs, with Esther thinking of something to say, eventually giving up on the idea of responding to Katsumi and bringing up another topic.
"Sir, how much do you know about magic and its theories?"
Katsumi thinks for a few seconds, reflecting on the fact most of the books he read were novels, and the fact that the books of magic theory are collecting dust on his shelves.
"Only a little, the novels didn't really have much."
"Novels? Have you read a book on magic theory once?"
"..No." Katsumi murmurs then whistles
"Did you not have access to them?"
"They were boring!" Katsumi complains
"I see." Esther responds, with a tint of disappointment in her voice
"Oh it's not that bad! How much could I miss?" Katsumi asks, with a dumb grin
"About everything, sir."
"I was curious as to why you didn't conjure any magic circles, letting your mana have nearly no trace."
"It seems you just lacked the very understanding of magic to even cast a spell."
"And is that a baddd thing?" Katsumi asks, dragging on the word bad, as if expecting a different answer
"In the context of stealth, you would be one of the finest if you were trained in the arts, but seeing the way you fight, this type of training is completely unsuited for you." Esther responds, with the cold truth
"Well, I did have to learn how to hunt, and whenever I tried to overuse my mana, the animals would run away, they don't taste tasty like that."
"So I kind of just learned how to conceal my mana better."
"That is a skill learned by a natural predator, something you'd see only animals do, to learn it on your own, did you frequently hunt?"
"About every day, unless my dad goes to hunt, but he wanted me to learn."
"Your origins are interesting, may I hear about them perhaps on our way back? I'm sorry I cannot discuss it right now, it is more important that you learn magic at the moment."
"It's alright, it makes me happy that you are starting to show more of yourself." Katsumi smiles
"That is not important, what do you know about the main trees of magic?"
"Well, the novels usually split them into 3 trees, Arcane, Elemental, Holy, but if I remember correctly, you told me yesterday that there is a Dark tree, so I guess that is 4 of them."
"That is correct, how much do you know about the branches?"
"Branches?"
"The subcategories of the main magics."
"The novels didn't really tackle that, they simply labeled it as one of the three and the effect it did."
"The branches are subcategories of the main trees, letting you have more personalized magic, and more specific effects."
"Mine, for example, is electric and shadow magic."
"They are both subcategories of elemental magic, being a more diverse form of the traditional elements of fire, water, wind, and earth."
"But your answer to my question about the trees in magic was only partially correct."
"Why?"
"Well there is a 5th tree, or I suppose it is the fourth, a tree focusing on pure mana, it doesn't take a form in an image that you want, it simply involves you using mana in its purest form."
"Your magic seems to either be this or Arcane, with your swords made purely of your mana, but it has a shape and form, making me believe it is Arcane."
"Why bring up the idea then?" Katsumi tilts his head slightly, confused
"Because I think it would be more effective for you to use the Mana tree." Esther advises
"After going through the effort of the Radeon and MID, you tell me this now?"
"I did not have enough data to confirm it with simply a single fight, but the way you summon your blades is wasted on a metal."
"Do you think you can infuse your floating blades?" Esther proposes
"I'm not sure, but it would be difficult, controlling them is a difficult task in itself."
"Then having control over them is the first step, you have an abundance of mana, you should be able to effectively use the Mana Tree."
"It isn't efficient to use, as it burns through mana quickly, that is why most mages prefer to go the traditional routes."
"However, the Mana tree is potentially the most destructive, aside from Dark magic."
"With enough control and some help with your MID, you should be able to make your blades move along with the MID."
Esther summons her MID and a book slots out of at the bottom of it, she grabs it and gives it to Katsumi,
"This should contain all of the basic things about magical theory, I highly recommend you read it."
"But they're so boring! There's no fights or anything."
"We have a long drive ahead, if I see you slacking, I will have to use more forceful measures." Esther threatens, forming a magical circle and making a spark appear
"Eek! Alright alright I'll read it!"
"A wise decision, sir."
-TS-
"So it's like this?" Katsumi moves around his body, it stems from his brain and then flows smoothly like a river, reaching every corner of his body. Mana is like blood, and to a magician, it quite literally is. Mana flows like blood, just slightly more abstract.
"That is correct."
"And I need to say some funny words for magical circles?"
"Every spell has a verbal component, without one, they either lose power or they don't work. The more closely tied your incantation is to your spell, the better it gets. A theory goes by that the reason this is the case is because words are closely tied to how we imagine magic itself, as a whole. For example, if you say fireball, you can imagine what it looks like from the word itself, but if you say something like explode, it becomes vague and you can make multiple things from that word itself. To simplify, words are an image, and that is how our mana forms, from image."
Even though Katsumi said that it will be boring to read this and learn that, he looks like he's having fun.
"That's why we follow usually the same type of chants, but there have been geniuses."
"However, people like me tend to use a singular word. It's faster, and if you're experienced, it can replicate the same results."
She surfaces the corey for a bit and opens the glass cover. She aims her fingers up to the sky like a gun.
"Bang." A quick magical circle forms on the tip of her fingers before a wave of electrical stream fires off, like a bullet.
"This requires you to ingrain a single word and image to your brain through constant process."
"Can I try it?" Katsumi eagerly asks
"When we get to the shoreline, sure." She closes the glass pod and dives back in the water.
"Sir, may I ask something?"
"What is it, sis?"
"Have you never tried to learn the concept of magic before?"
"No, never."
She eyes his mana flow closely, its practically mimicking a talented magician.
"Can I create something here?" Katsumi asks
"Just mind its size."
Katsumi smiles and nods.
He moves his hands closely together, as if grabbing a ball, and moves his mana around in his mind. In his mind, it moves like a waterfall, or a rushing river, its fast, and it converges into a spot, all he has to do is control that movement.
A magical circle forms in his hands and a small orb made of blue mana appears.
Esther eyes it suspiciously, Katsumi didn't use an incantation, but the concept worked. His work is nothing more than shoddy, its barely been a few hours since he started learning, of course.
"Sure, he's learned how to conjure swords, but it wasn't even until now that he knows there was even mana flow. Most people take weeks to just master controlling that flow, talented people take about a week. While I myself only took roughly two days, he's too abnormal, what kind of child is he?" Esther thinks to herself
"May I admit something, sir?" She says
"What is it?" His eyes are glowing and focused on the orb.
"I merely told you to learn the mana tree out of curiosity, after all, not everyone has affinity with this. It takes too much control to use that mana without getting hurt." She showcases her point by trying to do the same thing herself, but on a larger scale.
Katsumi's mana sense picks up on it and her mana seems to be fluctuating, not as calm as the river he imagined, more like a rampaging storm.
"Your affinity with mana, is nothing short of divine."
"Of course, there are others just like you, but you are rare. Please, hone those talents of yours." Esther looks like she's pleading even, her eyes sparkle at the thought of Katsumi growing, for some reason that is inconceivable to her.
"I will! I like this too anyway! It feels like it was just right for me. It feels.. Perfect. In fact, I'm shaking with excitement." His hands are shaking, as he said.
-CoP-
"Your highness, Zhiliao is asking for your presence, she has something to say." One of the people in the medic room calls out while knocking at Karuka's door
"Understood, you may head back now, thank you, Francois."
"Understood, your highness." Francois replies, moving back to the medic room
Karuka tidies her bed and changes her clothes using her magic, and heads out of her room and heads to the guest room.
She opens the door and sees Li Zhong with a more weary look, and still asleep. His mana is scattering very chaotically, to the point it's visible by the naked eye.
"What's happening Zhiliao? I thought you said his condition is stable!"
"Well, it was, your highness, but throughout the night, his condition continuously became worse and worse. I can still hold it off for now, but I am afraid he may demonize or be stuck in a coma."
"I think it is time for you to explain to me, your highness, how he got this way."
Karuka bites her finger, contemplating her choices
"He forcefully deleted a contract."
"HE WHAT?!" Zhiliao snaps
"Ah! Forgive me your highness, I didn't mean to snap."
"It is understandable, I did not expect that it would affect him in real life, he did it in Novum Militia."
"But breaking a contract usually means instant death, how did he survive?"
"I do not know, even his origins are a mystery to me."
"There is not a known way to breach a contract, everyone knows that is a law upheld by the will of Gaia."
"I did not know that Gaia still upheld its laws in Novum Militia."
"Gaia's will is absolute, your highness, you should know this."
"I do not know what to do right now Zhiliao, just keep him alive and human for now, if you feel that it is too difficult, please alert everyone to leave."
"I will put him down myself, should it come to it." Karuka promises
"..Understood, your highness."
"I must excuse myself, stay safe, Zhiliao." Karuka gives her goodbye
Karuka moves towards one of the rooms, "Announcing department"
She walks in the room, the room filled with a lot of screens and sliders on the panels, and a few mics along with a boxed room with a glass to see through it.
"I have something to say to everyone." Karuka declares
"I will be gone for a few days, please be on high alert." Karuka adds
The workers in the room are a mix of humans, atlanteans and some gnomes, just staring at her for a few seconds, leaving the control panels untouched for a few seconds of silence.
"But, your highness, why?!"
"I cannot discuss the details, but please alert my people, and stay on high alert in case of invasions."
"I trust you can do this."
"Your wish is my command!" The atlantean wearing a very formal suit calls, with him doing a military salute
"Dude, that's cringe." one of the workers sitting on a chair near a monitor and some panels say
"Shut up, just ready the channels." The one with a suit retorts
"Whatever you say, boss."
"I am glad you all get along, I must excuse myself now." The queen chuckles slightly and leaves the room.
The queen walks out of her castle and goes to the docks, she stops and looks back to glance at the work of her people and dives into the water.
-6 hours later-
The corey surfaces, after a long journey.
"Open"
The glass cover opens and the stairs protrude out, landing on the shore.
Katsumi and Esther leave the corey, smelling the fresh air again.
"Close."
"Dive."
The corey closes and dives into the water
The view shows a road and the thick foliage of trees accompanying the road.
"Where are we?" Katsumi asks
"This is the only neutral place in all of the kingdoms, we can't directly go to the Lilliputians territory, they will attack our vehicle."
"So where is this exactly?"
"The Mystics territory."
"The Mystics?"
"They are neutral people, they do not engage in wars, nor do they try to invade."
"They take the uninhabited territory, and claim it as their own, they own about 4% of the world, and the remaining 96% belong to the kingdoms."
"So we need to pass through here on foot, is what you mean?"
"That is correct."
"We will only take a small path here."
Katsumi and Esther walk through the road, and reach the end of it, seeing the view of the Lilliputian territory, with many of their houses being built inside of the mountain, supported by wood and stone poles and their houses peeking out of the mountains.
"This is the Lilliputians territory?"
"Correct."
The foliage of trees is gone and the view is clear, a very flat grassland and massive mountains.
There is a lake separating the Mystics territory with theirs, running as long as the eye can see.
The smell of smoke is apparent, it's nearby.
One of the villages about a hundred meters from the border of Lilliputians can be seen, with the houses on fire, spreading towards the grass fields and creating the thick smell of smoke.
"What is going on?"
"That sir, is the invasion of the Lilliputians."
"What do you mean by that?!" Katsumi raises his voice a little, not meaning to get angry
"The Hunter Glaze has commissioned multiple invasions, and has pillaged multiple places. He has been violating the peace treaties lately, but starting a war is too dangerous, so the kingdom's have only placed defensive measures."
"But the exiled people can't do anything to defend themselves, they aren't worth enough for the Terra's to use resources on them, after all."
"That's too cruel." Katsumi comments, sickened by the reality.
"It is the way of the world right now, the queen has done her best to migrate everyone into cities, so that she can protect everyone."
"Her ability is still limited after all, so we have lost a few settlements due to this."
"That is why the envoy came to the castle, the queen asked for them to send a representative."
"We're going to save them, right?" Katsumi hurries Esther
"The other kingdoms are inconsequential to our mission, sir." Esther replies coldly
"I refuse to believe that, I refuse to believe that they are." Katsumi claims, then runs towards the village, going faster and faster.
"Sir, do not run off in a hurry..!"
As the view of the perpetrators comes into vision, it is a group of goblins with technology made by dwarven minds, capable of scorching multiple men at once. It has a bracelet shape, being attached to their small wrists and with a red gem attached onto the middle of it.
Katsumi summons his MID, recalibrating it to his chip during his ride in the corey, and adds another gear to his speed.
SLASH
One of the goblin's arms fly off, with blood spewing like a fountain from their torso.
The ugly screams of the goblin are heard, alerting the gang, with one of them aiming the tool at Katsumi, while they laugh uglily.
BANG!
The goblin's head blows up, with the ground behind the goblin having a massive dent in the floor.
Esther is on top of one of the burning houses, seemingly unfazed by the heat, and she charges another shot and looks into her scope again.
The army of goblins try to escape, seeing the two clearly overpowering them.
Instead of a loud sound like thunder, it was silent, but it was like death creeping up on them, the goblins could feel it, blades aimed at their throat.
SLASH
All of the goblins' heads fly off, with Katsumi's blade untainted by blood, the only possible reason being that he was simply moving too fast for his blade to gather blood.
Katsumi's sandals, however, are tainted by blood, making it sticky and difficult to wear.
The remaining survivors can be seen running, with there obviously not being another place for them to go, their entire village is already burning.
Esther appears behind Katsumi,
"Sir, let us go now."
Katsumi looks at the fleeing crowd, unfazed by the blood he shed,
"Okay!" Katsumi responds, with a grin
One of the earlier goblins, the one with his arm cut off, tries to run away but Esther looks down her scope again, and shoots.
Surely enough, the goblin's head explodes, and no survivors from the gang remain.
Esther bends over slightly, to pick up one of the ears of the goblin, and stores it inside of her MID.
"Yuck, why are you taking those?"
"These are impossible to reproduce through magic, it is important to have leverage."
"How would you use that as leverage?" Katsumi questions, with his face contorting from the disgust
"Are you familiar with the art of war?" Esther responds, with her own question
"From the hit book Sun Tzu?"
"No no, something more ancient, "
"You cannot call yourself truly peaceful, without being capable of great violence. If you are not capable of violence, then you are harmless, not peaceful." Esther recalls
"That's cool and all but I still don't get it."
"They might not consider fighting us if they know what we are capable of."
"So, you want to be a fearmonger."
"Essentially, that is the plan."
"This sheds the least blood and gets us our goal, but I don't suppose it will be that easy."
"Still it is best to have a plan." Esther adds
Esther and Katsumi leave the village, passing by the lake with Katsumi washing the blood off his soles and basking his feet in the cold water.
"Do we actually know where Levronn is?" Katsumi addresses Esther
"Not necessarily, but we have picked up reports that he has been frequenting one of the smaller nations closer to the border."
"So he should be near us?"
"If our information is correct, yes he is."
"So we just need to either convince him to give us the pearl or kill him?"
"Correct."
"Then let's head over there now!"
"No, let's rest for now, sir. You haven't had anything to eat for a while."
Katsumi's stomach growls.
"Hehe, you're right."
Esther asks Katsumi to prepare firewood while she goes off and disappears into the shadows.
-TS-
Sat on a log are Katsumi and Esther, they look closer now, they sit next to each other, instead of across. The fire sparks slightly, and the food that Esther hunted herself, is being grilled by her as well.
"You may practice your magic now, sir. This is a good time to rest."
Katsumi's eyes brim with joy and he goes off to a tree and gets ready.
"Sir, may I say something, before you start?"
"What is it?"
"I was wrong to assume your ability to cast magic without a chant was because of your inexperience."
"What's with the sudden change of heart?"
"I saw it. You finally learned how magic truly worked, perhaps even more than me. Back in our ride earlier, you didn't do an incantation. I tried doing the same, but I failed. This only means that you yourself can do it."
"So.. I can use magic without using any funny words?" His eyes brim with joy.
"Essentially."
"Sweet!" He summons his MID and starts to chant magic while holding it, and uses it as a conduit. He practices a few magic spells he saw be described in the book Esther gave him, one of them had him shoot a mana lazer from the tip of his sword.
In this, he learned it was better to think of the sword like it was part of his body, he is the sword, and by extension, the sword is him. The sword is just him, but sharper.
He started finally learning how to create magical swords that hovered over him, just like his old style. It was crude, and the control he had over them was mediocre, at best. But they cut through the bark of trees like butter, they were much sharper, much stronger, than whatever swords he had in the past.
By the end of the session, he learned how to infuse his sword with magic, it glowed blue, and it felt sharper.
"We'll go there by morning, sir." She summons her MID and pulls out a small device with a capsule like shape and throws it down. It creates a tent and its rather spacious.
"Go now, sir, get some rest."
"I'll pack up." Esther tells him, and Katsumi goes into the tent.
"Goodnight, sis."
-Later that night-
Katsumi wakes up, the disturbing sounds of crickets and the waving of the trees were a little loud.
At the far side of the tent, was Esther. She chose to be rather far, but it was understandable.
Katsumi gets out of the tent and the moon is in full view, he sat by the grass and stared at the moon and stars.
"Are they as beautiful as they seem? I want to know." He says to himself.
"It's not hard to go to the moon, sir." Esther appears behind him, though rather far.
"You woke up?" His dizzy mind couldn't fully process everything.
"I couldn't hear you breathe anymore, so I woke up."
"So sharp, those ears of yours."
She sits by Katsumi.
"The stars, sir, are you interested in them?"
"They're beautiful, they shine brightly. It's unlike the soul, the soul is dark, its greedy, it only wants what's best for themselves. That's been everyone I met, at least."
"Am I like that, sir?"
"No. Your eyes are pure, like an emerald. I love them, they dazzle like the stars. They were just dim, they just rested, until now."
Esther looks at Katsumi, and he meets back her stare.
"Goodnight, Katsumi." Esther stands up, and walks back to the tent.
Katsumi watches the stars again.
"I wonder what God made them, he must be benevolent, to bless me with such a pretty sky."
-The morning after-
They pack up and agree to go to the nation hastily, to get the mission over with.
Esther runs quickly, making sure not to use her shadow magic so that Katsumi may be able to follow.
They run for about an hour, coming into view with a city in closed walls and an entrance with futuristic looking gates. The buildings look far more modernized, with some buildings reaching above a hundred meters and there being miniature cars flying about.
"This is the renowned city of Termnar. This is a smaller nation if we count the scale of the territory of the Lilliputians. However, this is renowned as this is one of the closest cities to the border between Terra and the Lilliputians, this is also one of their main trading centers, and is where Levronn is supposedly hiding."
"Sir, do you know how to hide your killing intent?"
"My dad taught me something to that extent before, why do you ask?"
"Because those guards they have and that tech is far beyond anything we had at the Farmin city."
"Farmin city?"
"Ah, I forgot to tell you, it was the city that we went to."
"So, what would hiding my intent do?"
"You are here to kill Levronn, the guards will see it if you let it show, so it is best that you seem as innocent as possible."
"What about you?" Katsumi asks
"I have already been trained since my birth, it is a menial task."
"Then we can pass through?"
"Provided you can hide your intent."
"Easy peasy." Katsumi smugly replies
They walk towards the entrance, seeing the view of centaurs as the guards, the guards have a massive battle axe, with a small gem embedded in the middle of the blades. The guards look at them and shout,
"HALT!"
"What is your reason for entering this city?"
"We are here to do some sightseeing." Esther replies
"Stay right there, we have to identify you first."
The centaur's eyes turn an onyx black color, with a blue spiral converging onto his pupil
"Esther from the Mystics, Katsumi from Terra."
"Walk through the scanners."
Katsumi first enters, and the scanners start beeping loudly, the guards, which are centaurs and minotaurs, quickly surround him
"SURRENDER YOUR WEAPON NOW!"
Esther walks through the gate, without any problems, and tells Katsumi to give them the Radeon sword.
"Oh, that's what they wanted." Katsumi takes his Radeon sword out of its sheath and gives it to the guards,
"Walk through the scanner again."
Katsumi follows the guards orders and walks through the scanners again, without any problems
"You are cleared to go."
Esther and Katsumi walk past and see the plaza, with a fountain in the middle and a statue on top of the fountain, suspended in air, with the name "Hunter Glaze" written on the bottom of it.
The city is filled with many buildings, all very modern like, and the people are a mix of humans, goblins, dwarves, gnomes, leprechauns, duendes, and more.
Katsumi proposes a question to Esther,
"Why were the guards centaurs and minotaurs?"
"They are properties of the kingdom, spoils of war from the countless invasions."
"So they are slaves?"
"Precisely."
"That is just sick."
"It is how the world is balanced right now, in a time where power is above all, there is nothing that they can do when an overwhelming power topples them."
"But the goblins we killed were really weak."
"Those were only the weakest of their ranks, they have a chain of command, starting from basic foot soldiers to the highest rank of warlords."
"Where would the Sadaya gang be placed on that scale then?"
"Above average I'm afraid."
"So they're stronger than most of the military?"
"Well, the gap only becomes bigger the higher the scale goes, for example, the Sadaya gang, which is only at the knight level, would easily fall to an enemy a higher rank than theirs, which would be the commanders."
"So they should be light work." Katsumi says, with a confident look
"It is still best not to underestimate them."
"The goblins have been known to be crafty." Esther explains
An explosion occurs a few hundred feet from them, with screams of terror and scraps of metal flying everywhere.
The smell of smoke is overwhelming, and the fire is quickly spreading to more buildings.
"What's happening?!" Katsumi panics
"I do not know sir." Esther coolly responds
"I didn't mean like that!"
Katsumi jumps on the windows of the buildings, climbing his way to the top, and tries to find the source of the explosion.
It's hard to see because of the distance, but his senses are heightened due to his years in the mountain and he can make out a goblin leading the pack of goblins, centaurs, minotaurs, and a water sprite.
Water sprites are usually a creation of a high degree of elemental magic, they act as a secondary mind for the caster and are similar to an MID, only much more advanced.
"That's.. That's Levronn isn't it?"
"Correct sir, I do not suppose we can threaten them anymore." Esther appears beside Katsumi and answers
"Then that makes our job easier!"
"I am unsure how well he can command the water sprite, but we are lacking in numbers."
"Then we even the fighting ground!"
"How do you suggest we do that sir?"
"Your sniper, take a few of them out first, then I'll flank them."
"Simple, crude, but effective, very well." Esther says as she materializes her MID
Not enough space in the author's thought sadly, so here are the other words.
Gaia- The will of the world, or more specifically, the world itself.
The Mystics- Typically the magic entities in fantasies such as elves, pixies, fairies, etc. They are neutral in wars.
Sun Tzu- Go to youtube and search, "The Great Potato War"
Farmin City- The name of the city that was mentioned in the last chapter.
Termnar- The name of the city in this chapter, is incredibly technologically advanced. It is also a center for trading.
Water sprites- similar to an MID, but made purely from the image of the caster and acts as a second mind.