-Gloriana Mengral's point of view.
It being a normal, quiet day, Gloriana walked through the halls of the academy.
She was not sure where she was going.
However, Gloriana was immersed in her thoughts, remembering what happened yesterday.
Still, she kept walking and, without realizing it, she reached the disciplinary committee room.
"Mmm."
Seeing the door, she instinctively tried to open it.
Crunch.
The door opened easily.
Gloriana then walked in and looked around the empty place, but right next to her was the secret door that led to the room where the teleportation door was.
Seeing it open meant someone was there.
Who could it be?
Asher.
Maybe it was him, but... why would he be there right now? They had agreed to wait a little longer until they had enough mana to activate the door.
Yet there it was, the door open.
Gloriana decided to go down the stairs.
She was not used to the place; it was unpleasant, and worst of all were the cobwebs, but worse would be if there were any insects.
"What happened...?"
He had come downstairs, and the first thing he saw was a rather intense light.
As he moved closer to see what it was, his eyes widened as he discovered that the teleportation door was activated, and on its sides were several purple mana crystals.
A crystal with immense amounts of mana.
They were all floating around the door, and the mana in the crystals was slowly being released.
This meant that someone had done it recently.
"Could it be Asher...? No, I don't think it's him."
"It's impossible to have that many purple crystals."
Certainly, having even a few purple crystals would mean that a mage possessed a large amount of money.
But, of course, Asher is not the type to enjoy money or to brag about something like that.
However, seeing so many crystals, this was really surprising; it would put you in one of the richest positions on the entire continent.
Mana crystals are not only a source of resources to advance to the next circles, but they are also means of exchange, like money.
And yet, there they were, several mana crystals.
Then, Gloriana approached the door.
"Should I go in?"
She questioned herself.
But it was really dangerous to enter the door without knowing where it would lead her; still, she decided to enter.
She closed her eyes as the light from the door was intense.
However, when she opened them, the first thing she saw was an amazing place, but....
Explosion.
Near the place, mana crashes could be heard, and as she got closer, she could see a curtain of dark mana covering a thirty meter radius; she couldn't see anything, and yet, Gloriana knew who it was.
"Asher."
Exactly, it was Asher, but Gloriana was curious as to what or who she was fighting at that moment.
***
-Scene change.
-Asher Frostblade's point of view.
"So, human, would you like to play for a while?"
The fairy's voice reached Asher again.
The situation was dire.
He didn't know if the fairy had evil intentions or if he could trust a being that was neither human nor monster; however, she seemed harmless at first glance.
"But her power..."
Her power was simply enormous; he didn't know to what extent, but Asher guessed that this fairy was just as strong, if not stronger, than the mysterious woman.
Still, he didn't know exactly what the mystery woman's power was, but he could draw certain conclusions about it.
The fairy was on his left shoulder; at the moment, she was looking him in the eyes as she sat there.
Anyone would say it was adorable or cute to see a fairy on your shoulder, but in reality it was completely different.
Asher then spoke up.
Whether the fairy was an enemy or not, he would have to ask first; at the moment, it didn't seem to have any murderous or harmful intent.
"Will you kill me?"
"Uh, that depends on how you are, human."
"Then, if I do nothing..."
"No, nothing will happen to you... but I want to play with you for a while."
"..."
Despite more or less understanding her situation, the fairy seemed really strange.
Why did she want to play?
However, it was no time to hesitate when the fairy suddenly disappeared from Asher's shoulder.
Asher quickly turned all around, but couldn't see anything.
"It's like she disappeared."
"No, she's here."
Asher could feel it.
It was slight, but he could feel the strange mana around him, as if someone was manipulating him. However, Asher at the moment has absolute control over the mana thanks to his ability.
But still, there are limits to how much he can control his ability.
It was new and had barely reduced mana consumption, and he had not yet put it into action. But this was the moment, perhaps the only chance.
Asher could accomplish something.
He quickly left his thoughts when he felt the mana suddenly begin to disappear.
Looking around, his eyes widened.
"What the hell...?"
It looked like an ability, and yet, it was just mana coming towards him.
It was like an oversized wave of mana rushing towards him, and in an instant the wave of mana reached him.
He quickly covered himself with both hands and imbued them with mana.
"Burst!"
Asher backed up several steps.
"How the hell does mana have mass?"
Was his first question.
A mana wave was not an ability, and Asher knew that immediately.
An ability has certain characteristics; however, the wave of mana Asher had in front of him was just that, mana.
Mana cannot be touched; it is like air that cannot be touched.
However, what happens when mass is added to the air? Exactly, it is possible to touch the air.
That was the case with manna.
The wave of manna had mass and could touch Asher. It was unexpected, but something really extraordinary for him.
"Still... I must not lose sight of this."
Asher quickly created several mana shields in front of him.
The wave of mana kept pushing him back.
Asher tried to get out of the onslaught of the wave, but a new wave appeared right next to him.
Crunch.
He backed up several steps as he pressed his palms against the wave.
He was relatively pushed, and yet Asher grabbed the same mana from the wave as he tried to stop the push.
But it was impossible.
Burst!
Asher was pushed even harder.
However, at that very moment, three mana blades appeared in his sight from the sky.
They were coming towards him at an incredible speed.
Unable to defend himself, the three mana blades slashed Asher all over.
"Kag..."
Blood splattered everywhere.
Asher was left with wounds, but it was strange.
"They're not deep."
The fairy clearly said she wouldn't hurt him, depending on what he did.
"So, that's what this game is all about."
Asher gritted his teeth.
He closed his eyes and then...
Muffled sound.
More than ten different types of mana weapons appeared, each with a large size.
"This will use up all my mana."
But a great cost of mana was necessary.
More waves of mana surged toward Asher.
He could not see where the fairy was.
Asher could only defend against its attacks.
It was certainly amazing to see the mana with mass and to be able to touch it.
However, Asher could not stop their attacks.
He was pushed hard, and although he exerted more force, so did the waves. The swords floating around him moved at great speed; however, they were repelled by the mana blades that also had mass.
Asher moved as fast as he could.
More mana waves approached, but he zigzagged and avoided a few. Just then, the fairy appeared.
Her finger touched Asher's forehead and then she spoke.
"Amazing, human. You amuse me quite a bit."
Pop!.
The fairy's middle finger touching Asher's forehead threw him backwards at high speed.
He couldn't stop, the earth around him rose up as it slowly buried itself. Asher gritted his teeth.
He was pushed at a speed he couldn't stop, and so it continued until again the fairy's voice was heard.
"Okay, I think that's enough."
In that instant, Asher was paralyzed.
Everything stopped, even his backward thrust, and everything was still. Nothing around him moved.
It looked like a frozen place, but he quickly realized.
"She was able to freeze the mana."
Asher's eyes widened. The mana itself was frozen, not moving, and the mana fluctuations were still.
Asher couldn't believe it, but this got him excited.
"Hehehehehehe."
He laughed loudly.
Something was changing.
Of course, it was his new mindset.
Slowly, he was becoming corrupted and a new personality was appearing.
But at that moment, he felt a wave of mana hit him right next to him.
Burst!
Asher was again pushed to the side and quickly stopped.
"What...?"
He came to his senses and looked around again.
"What the hell was that?"
"Hey, human."
The fairy's voice came back.
"You... Why do you have two personalities?"
"..."
Asher didn't understand anything she said.
However, in a split second, he had seen darkness, but before that he could sense that she was laughing like a lunatic.
"I don't know... what you mean."
"So, it's been happening to you for a little while."
In that instant, Asher didn't understand anything.
"What do you want...?"
"Asher."
It was just then that Asher recognized the voice coming from a little ways away, just in the area where he had entered.
He turned his head and saw her.
"Gloriana, what are you doing here?"
"Another human..."
The fairy spoke as well.
Asher paid no attention to her and stood up, as he was on his knees.
"Mmm, that human too.... Her mana is..."
"It's the opposite of mine."
"It's not that, human. You two... Her mana looks familiar, but I don't remember it."
Asher, of course, had an idea, though he wasn't sure.
Gloriana finished approaching and quickly glanced at Asher; however, she turned her head and saw a diminutive being right next to him.
"Hua! W-what's that?"
"How rude! I'm a fairy, human, so respect me."
"S-sorry."
"Yes, yes, I had a lot of fun, human. Now I will take you to the queen. You too, human."
"Huh? Me? Where to?"
Asher looked at Gloriana.
Like her, he too was confused by the fairy's words.
Asher wanted to ask the fairy some questions:
How can she give mass to the mana.
Who is this queen.
What is this place.
They were several questions, but he refrained from asking them.
Perhaps this "Queen" could answer some of his questions.
However, the title "Queen" implies someone with great power.
If the fairies are strong, then....
"The queen will be even more powerful."
It was a curious question, but it was not yet the time to ask it.
"Excuse me, what is your name?"
Gloriana spoke to the fairy.
"A human asking my name? How rude!"
"..."
What the hell was that?
Asher looked quizzically at the fairy.
Just before, he had been beaten up, but the fairy seemed different at that moment.
"But that's not being rude."
"Mmm, you even lie."
"But it's true, we usually ask each other our names."
"Now that I remember... There was a human who asked the queen her name. Well, I'll tell you."
The fairy paused.
Then she spoke quickly.
"My name is Cifer, the queen's right hand."
"..."
Right hand of the queen.
"Then you have a position close to the queen."
Of course, that doesn't mean he has the same authority as a king, but it does mean he is closer to the king than anyone else, such as a prince.
However, the hierarchy of fairies might be different.
Asher then asked a question.
"Why will you take us before the queen?"
"We have a rule: every human who enters our world must be brought before the queen."
"And where is she?"
"In the center of the world. See that tree? That's where the fairy castle is."
So, that was the tree that surpassed the height of the clouds.
But something was curious to Asher.
"If they are so small, why do they live in a tree that is even bigger than a human city?"
Asher looked up at the sky. The tree appeared to be a few thousand miles away, but it was so big that, even standing at a considerably long distance, the tree looked gigantic.
It was like being an ant looking up at a tree several tens of meters from the ground to the top of the tree.
"Come on, the queen must already know of its existence in this place."
Asher and Gloriana followed the fairy. It seemed to be a long way, but there was no objection....