New Home (Part 1)
A year before the Great Ruler, Saint and Mage Soledad had reached this land, the difference from how it is now was unparalleled.
There were three continents in this vast world divided by the great sea of Lemur which were named as the big regions of the Living Forest, The Mountain Range of Wicked Weathers, and the Land of the Exiles.
Living Forest is a dangerous deformed mass of land with a clearing at the center of the woodland. It is unknown how people had managed to get inside the forest and got trapped there.
According to the Cromwell lady on our random talks inside the carriage; 'It was rumored that a heretic from unknown origins had guided the people safely through the forest.
They were given the idea that the mass of land surrounded by the horror-like trees was sacred, and that the Living Forest was where mana beasts and trees that attacks people within specific range moves'.
However when Soledad had appeared quietly and purified the desolate continent, the forest quieted down and mana beasts stopped attacking people located at the clearing, and a large tree with icy-lilac leaves bloomed at the center.
The unknown mage 'Soledad' later on founded a proper system to help the inhabitants, dividing the surrounding area into six parts for better crowd control and distribution of food and water.
Soledad later on had chosen six chiefs and exactly for 60 days she had shared her mana daily one-by-one.
The six chiefs was led by Soledad to perform a private ritual of consuming a very small portion of the Sacred Tree and acquire their first magic ability, 'Heart of Mana'.
After a hundred years to which Soledad was still luckily alive, an empire had been built and 'Soledad Empire' was established with Soledad as its first ruler.
To which the throne had been blessed once again to become the Golden Throne. A prophecy was given by the Sacred Tree's guardian, a white misty fox that span about quarter the size of the Sacred Tree, had brought forth a scroll.
[ Build an open temple with mana.
And once an altar is built, music will shower the hallways and a mana beast as big as the guardian will resurface from the Living Forest.
Let it be, and it shall sleep for years.
Waiting for the next ruler like Soledad to appear.
If those conditions are not satisfied, then no one shall sit on the Golden Throne.
If ever unrighteous ones dares to, they shall be poisoned by the mana poured unto the throne. ]
Aside from the ruler's position, the six chiefs had become a duchy that stands with the people and leads them.
[Aurelia Duchy]
[Cromwell Duchy]
[Guisen Duchy]
[Malafur Duchy]
[Obiel Duchy]
[Zarosa Duchy]
After another hundred years the gigantic Sacred Temple was built around the Sacred Tree, occupying the centermost area of the Empire and had consumed a portion of the Emperial Palace.
Coincidence or not, the area which was built connectedly from the palace and the temple was the location of the Golden Throne.
It was rumored that the Sacred Temple glowed golden for a month after it establishment and Soledad, after existing just until the Sacred Temple had welcomed her, died at the altar and her body evaporated as mana, according to the Cromwell lady.
"I don't care if it's Soledad or another person but... please get me out of here!!!" My voice echoed on the empty dark and murky halls of the dungeon.
I found myself inside the dungeon as soon as I woke up. Lanessa had knocked me out and now I'm in this situation.
"Please help me!!! Aaaahhhhh!! Get me out of here!! Damn it... Damn it all. I was scammed!!!" Scratches had already marked my hands that refused to tirelessly push and pull on the gate.
Slowly my body staggered and I finally let go of the rails after badgering it forcefully for almost three hours.
'I think I was transported here a bit after twelve. I haven't slept a wink. Fuck.'
The cell wall and floor was cold, and the only comforting thing was the bed but it smells morbid as if someone had just died on it a few days ago.
The wind fluttered softly as if answering my plea. "Ple-please save me whoever you are." I prostrated my body towards the unknown visitor with no hesitation. "I'll do any-anything you ask me to, just please get me out of here."
"Anything I ask you to? Really?" a playful voice answered back but when I peeked towards the person, her face was completely expressionless.
'The Cromwell lady... Somehow she resembles her greatly but she didn't have the ebony hair, beauty mark, and the alluring eyes of a Cromwell.'
Instead, a mature-looking female wearing heavy make-up was distinguished. She, with blazing sunset-like ginger hair that barely reached her shoulder in an unusual cut and wearing a red lipstick, looked down on me.
"You don't seem to recognize me. How amusing. Where are you from?"
"That... I don't remember exactly."
"Your story matches with what Lady Lanessa mentioned. Are you a runaway?" Her hands produced a transparent key and open the cell with no effort, sauntering towards me as if observing a newly identified animal.
"Are you aware that your mana storage is open and leaking? No wait, do you even have mana storage in your system?" The ginger-head flicked her hands here and there before staring at an empty space as if reading some invisible material.
Due to the weird situation I found myself in, I couldn't utter a single word at all but she continued talking more to herself anyway.
"You really aren't registered in our database. Unusual. No database record except for the error from my office. A child who does not know how to control her mana leakage. Rose gold hair that doesn't seem to be fake too and it coincides with the error that you're affiliated with the Obiel Clan." She murmured while using a pen to move my hair or head from side to side.
I couldn't complain even if I wanted to.
'She's strong.'
"Oh my, did you just appraise me?" Her honey-like eyes smiled as it shone gold and the air seemed to be sucked out of me.
'I ca-can't breathe. Ugh.'
Kill. She's trying to kill me, what is this? I've never felt such dangerous and powerful magic before. 'Naive', that's right. The Cromwell lady was right.
I was naïve for thinking that I was already the strongest mage in my timeline when monsters like the person in front of me had died earlier than needed.
"I was— I was insolent. Please... ugh. Please forgive me." How absurd. I've never felt so humiliated before.
Thick tears dropped to the ground without consent and I was convulsing at the dangerous sinking of my air levels.
"At least, you know. Well you are indeed a blessed child so I can't kill you thoughtlessly." Just before I blacked out, my breathing normalized and her expressionless face finally wavered, revealing a stern face with a small smile.
"Although there are no physical trauma, I can probably speculate that you're a hidden child of nobles within the extended families of the Obiel Clan. Probably been raised to conquer the seat of the family instead of being trained as a mage since you tend to recognize Lanessa who's the most closeted member of the Duchy Families but you don't even know basic skills like controlling your own mana. And as if revealing you to the world, an unknown mana had distorted official records to apply you as a student of the Exodus Magic Academy under the banner of blessed children."
"I can give three towns farthest away from the sacred tree and least developed on technology-based magic where you could have been born or raised. Well, it's your choice either way if you want to go home 'cause it seems like your other parent or maybe relative is using you as a leverage." She continued with her own special deduction.
"Before you decide, as I mentioned you don't have a physical trauma but there should be a reason why you ran away. Rakhiel just finished hunting anyone in his clan who might have thrown away a mana-blessed child. He found a lady and two men who had a cheating record where they had children and thrown them away without even checking. Due to Khiel's anger about it he immediately beheaded the three people and he's probably just finished rattling on and on to his grandmother about the issues." After the long explanation, she smiled with her whole face as if satisfied but I couldn't share the sentiment.
'May those poor souls who died because of my appearance in this timeline rest in peace or burn in hell for being irresponsible parents. '
I rolled my eyes internally at them. My arrival was merely a karma for them so I shouldn't feel too guilty.
"I wanted to ask if my deduction from earlier was right but since you have no recollection whatsoever, guess it'll be blown out the window instead." She crossed her arms and sighed. "Oh that's right, you don't know me, yeah?"
Her slender figure moved closer and pulled my body up with no issue, then shook my hand as if in greeting. "Nice to meet you, Tabitha with unknown origins. My name is Lilith Aurelia."