Chapter 38 - Mavel's Dilemma P4
~38.4~
*****
"ELI!"
I rushed to catch her, but the twins were faster. Their ability to teleport was formidable. Stella caught Eli and Serah immediately wrapped her in mana. They set to work without a word.
Behind us, Lanti started taking control of the scene. "Guards! Lock down the building! No, the entire academy! Call for as many reinforcements as you need! Everyone immediately stop eating and drinking anything! Someone has been poisoned. Until we know the scope of the situation, nobody is to consume anything!"
"Poison?" "What?" "Why would a student be poisoned?" "Who was it?"
Prince Allen hadn't made it far from our table when Eli fell over. He froze in place, watching as we took care of her.
"Allen! Do you know anything about this?" Lanti asked.
I looked over and saw him fearfully shake his head.
"Sit down and don't touch anything."
I ignored the rest and turned back to Eli. Her face turned pale. "Serah, Stella, what magic are you using?"
"Healing magic, though we are no experts at it."
"Then stop. Allow me," I said as I dropped to my knees next to them. Eli was already lying on the floor.
"You are skilled in healing magic?"
"Very."
They actually listened to me and stopped. I was somewhat surprised that I didn't have to spend any time convincing them, but I couldn't waste time thinking about it.
I almost never used my pink mana because of how unusual it was, but I wrapped Eli in it without a second thought.
It was different this time - easier to control.
Think about that later, Maya.
"First, I have to identify the toxin." I closed my eyes and focused. I quickly filled her with my mana and isolated the toxin inside. "Now to destroy the toxin and heal the damage."
Her complexion started to return as soon as I got rid of the poison and healed the damage it had done.
"Thank you, Lady Maya," Serah said.
"Princess will be okay now," Stella added.
I nodded with a relieved smile. "Yeah."
She started to stir right away. "Mmmummmhh."
I looked up and saw all of our friends in a circle around us. Lanti, Cel, and Chris had worried looks on their faces, but what I saw on Aira, Rhia, and Lena's faces was different. It was like what I saw on Serah and Stella's faces.
Was that how I looked?
They were worried, but it wasn't like they were concerned for a friend, but for someone they couldn't imagine life without. That's how I felt, too.
I already know Aira and Rhia are interested in Eli, but is Lena as well?
"She's okay. I got rid of the poison and healed her."
Everyone seemed relieved, a few of them went, "Phew." Lanti gasped and held her hands over her mouth.
"Help me up," came Eli's voice. My eyes jolted back toward her. She was holding her hand up. Serah and Stella reached to help her, but I beat them to it. I took her hand, wrapped her in my mana, and helped her to her chair.
"Elysia!" came a familiar voice. I turned and saw Alice, Eli's aunt.
Elysia? She knows that name?
"Elysia?" Lanti asked.
"Never mind," Alice said as she knelt in front of Eli and took her hand. "Are you okay? I got Serah's message and rushed over."
"Serah's message?" Eli asked.
"I sent a long range telepathic message to Lady Alice while Lady Maya was healing you," Serah explained.
"Maya, thank you for healing her," Alice said. She stood up and took the cup Eli was drinking from. "This is the poisoned tea?"
"Yes," Stella answered.
Alice's eyes narrowed as she examined the tea. She used her mana to examine it, but her mana was dispersed.
"What was that?" Aira asked. "Why did your mana do that?"
"Eglantine," Alice said. "Send word to your parents immediately. I need to speak to them about this."
"Pardon?"
"This tea has a rather peculiar poison in it. A poison that reacts to mana."
"Are you referring to Aetherial Tonic?" Lanti asked.
"Yes. That's what is in this tea."
"I know what I saw, but what exactly does that do?" I asked.
"Aetherial Tonic reacts to mana, as you just saw when I examined the cup. The more mana one has, the stronger the reaction."
"That's about the only way to kill me," Eli said.
"That you survived long enough for me to arrive is a miracle. No healing magic should have worked." She looked at me. "That yours did is..." She shook her head. "I'm not sure, but I'm glad for it."
"She's right," Eli said, looking at me curiously, then she smiled. "Your healing magic is incredible. Thank you, love."
"Lady Alice, rather than send word, shall we go to the palace together? Usage of Aetherial Tonic at all is bad enough, but on a blank? That easily qualifies for an emergency meeting."
"Yes," she replied. "Let's go right away. Eli, you should come to the palace after school. I'm sure Their Majesties will want to speak to you."
She nodded. "Yeah. Okay."
"After school? Do you mean to go to physical classes after this," I asked. "You should rest!"
She shook her head at me. "I'm fine. Your healing magic completely healed the damage. I feel no differently now than before I drank it."
"Are you certain?"
"I am," she said. "Even if not, I can use magic to cleanse my fatigue and restore stamina."
I smiled and sat down next to her. "If you say so, I trust you."
Without another word, Alice and Lanti left.
*****
After Alice and Lanti left, I stood up and looked at the door, but I felt slightly dizzy. "Okay, I should go ahead and use the restoration magic."
"See, you're not okay yet!" Maya said.
"It's not so bad. One moment." I held my right hand up with my index and middle fingers outstretched and my thumb holding down my ring and pinky fingers. "<
My body was briefly covered in green mana, as the spell restored my stamina.
"Much better."
Everyone was staring at me as if they were surprised by something.
"What?"
"What language was that?" Aira asked.
"Hmm?"
"Love, when you cast that spell you did a hand formation and said 'Tairyoku Saisei.' I've studied languages, but I don't know what that is."
"It's from the Yamato continent. The one that is now covered in miasma."
"How in the world do you know magic from the lost continent?" Chris asked.
"Almost nobody is left that knows that language," Cel said.
"I have books at home from there. The continent was lost a little over twenty years ago. My guardians have been there before that. My mother, aunt, and uncle all know how to speak it, as do Serah and Stella."
"You're making me want to sit down with you and just talk about all kinds of stuff," Maya said with a bright smile. "You know so much and I want to know all of it, too!"
I smiled. "Of course, love. Anytime you want outside of class. But for now, I want to track down the source of that poison." I started walking toward the door. "I have a spell to cast. I'm going to find every trace it!"
Maya and our friends jumped up and followed me. The guard at the door didn't want to let us leave.
"Her Highness's order. I cannot allow anyone to leave the building."
I sighed. "I'm the one that was poisoned, and these are my and Lanti's friends. The lockdown isn't for us, it's for everyone else."
"There was nothing in her orders than allowed an exception. You must stay inside."
I sighed again. "Okay, you must realize that you can't stop me."
"You would use force?"
"Yes. What I need to do must be done outside, and you aren't going to stop me from doing it." I wrapped him in mana, moved him to the side, then put up a tunnel-shaped barrier so that my group could walk through the door unhindered by the guards.
Once outside, Stella asked, "Princess, what are you doing?"
"World Magic."
Those words sent a shock through everyone except Maya, Serah, and Stella. I didn't want to explain things, so I took to the sky and flew high enough to see the entire city and the surrounding area at a glance.
I clapped my hands together and began chanting. "I am Origin. By my authority as King, I command the World. I offer my mana. Illuminate all so that I may find the evil that poisoned me.<
My mana exploded outward in all directions. I made sure to use silver mana, rather than rainbow mana, to not reveal more to the public than necessary. In an instant, my mana covered the entire city and kept going until everything in sight was blanketed.
Eye of Providence is meant to find people and traces of mana, but since Aetherial Tonic rejects mana, I could find any trace of the poison anywhere in range. All I needed to do was look for holes in the mana after blanketing the area.
There was no such hole except around my cup that Maya was carrying and presumably a pot in the kitchen. I also detected a trace of mana within the kitchen that abruptly ended.
Whoever orchestrated this teleported.
With a sigh, I canceled the spell and returned to the ground.
"What in the world was that?" Aira asked. "Did you just cover the entire city in mana?"
"The entire city and twenty kilometers in every direction beyond it. I found two holes in the mana blanket. The cup and something in the kitchen, probably a pot by the shape." I glanced at Stella. "Go get it. Don't try to teleport with it without first wrapping it in void mana. But use Aetherial Mana, not Diluted Mana."
She teleported directly into the kitchen and returned a moment later with the pot. "Here it is, Princess."
"Good." I took the cup from Maya and engulfed it silver mana, specifically Radiance, forming a spherical barrier with a saucer shaped from the mana to hold it.
This nasty poison only reacts to Diluted Mana. Aetherial and Radiant Mana can effect it. Most people can only use Diluted Mana, though. And within our bodies, Diluted Mana is what is constantly circulated to strengthen our bodies, thanks to the system. The poison is so effective that even somebody like me with a high VIT stat can die from it in a minute or two.
I started compressing the inside of the barrier. The cup cracked instantly, but the liquid didn't splash.
"What are you doing?" Rhia asked.
"Atomizing it. Using aether so it won't react, I'm forcing the contents of this barrier into a smaller space, pushing all the air inside to the center to prevent the liquid from splashing around. The more I compress it, the more it breaks down. Until..."
A few moments later, the inside of the barrier looked empty.
"I pressurized it at the extreme and forced the molecules to break down into single atoms. The molecules inside are no longer Aetherial Tonic or the cup that held it. It's simply a mix of simple atoms, such as hydrogen, oxygen, and other such elements found in the air we breathe." I released the barrier and allowed the harmless molecules to float away into the air. "No longer dangerous."
"Should you not have kept that for evidence?" Lena asked.
I shook my head. "The pot will suffice. Stella, deliver that pot to Alice and inform her of the contents. She knows how to handle it. I will speak to her at length after school. Come right back once you're done."
"Yes, Princess." She teleported away with the pot still wrapped with her void aether.
I sighed as I thought about the possibilities. I couldn't think of anyone that would go to such an extreme to do me harm.
"I have a question," Aira said.
"Hmm?" I looked at her.
"What is this Aetherial Mana, which I presume 'aether' is short for?"
"Yes. You don't know what aether is? I understand it's not taught in grade school or academy."
"I've never heard of it."
"I haven't either," Maya said.
"Well then. My family knows about it." I shrugged. "I'll give you a crash course on what mana is another time."
"Sure," Aira said.
"Well anyway, I survived. I doubt this is the end of it. Whoever wants me dead will likely not stop with a single failure." I glanced around at everyone present. "I want all of you to be checking anything you consume with mana first. Make sure it's not laced with more of this poison."
"Do you really think that's necessary?" Rhia asked.
"Yes. Without a doubt. At the very least, it would set my mind at ease knowing all of you won't be harmed by that poison. While it is extraordinarily dangerous, it's easily detected with mana."
"If you'll feel at ease, I'll do it," Lena said. "But I'm worried about other forms of poison."
I shook my head. "No other poison will work now. I'll teach everyone how to do it. While infusing mana to detect Aetherial Tonic, you can simultaneously cast magic to cleanse any toxin that does not resist mana. And if it does resist mana, you'll know right away. Either way, I mean for us to be unpoisonable."
"Why are you talking like this is normal?" Aira said, pointing out something I didn't want her to notice.
I shook my head, refusing to answer. "Recall the conversation we had last week. It's got something to do with that."
She was reluctant, but didn't push further. "Okay."
Stella returned and reported, "Poisoned pot delivered and quarantined for forensic examination. Lady Alice asked about the big spell you cast. I told her you'd explain after school, and she left it at that."
I nodded. "Thanks, Stella." Not a moment later, the bell for the next class sounded. "Looks like it's time for class... but the lockdown..." I glanced at the direction of the palace, even though it couldn't be seen from the courtyard we were in. "I'll be right back."
After a quick conversation with Lanti and assuring her the culprit was no longer in the city, she canceled the lockdown and allowed students to go to class. She instructed her guards to inform the teachers so that nobody would be marked late due to the lockdown.
*****
"Isn't she the one that was poisoned?" "What's she doing in class? She should be in the infirmary or something." "She's a noble, she probably has her own doctor." "But still, that's a little crazy, coming to class after being poisoned!" "And why is the school still operating today after that?"
Annoyed, I snapped my fingers and placed a soundproof barrier around them.
The instructor gave me an apologetic glance. I shrugged. It didn't bother me, I just didn't want to hear the rambling.
He started class with a lecture about what he meant to go over today. While he was lecturing, I sensed something far off in the sky coming from the east.
"Eli?" Maya said, wondering what had caught my attention.
Once I realized what it was I shouted, "Instructor! This is an emergency, take the rest of the students to shelter." I summoned my black katana and held it at my left hip.
"What? An emergency?"
"Yes! GO! Maya, help them with the evacuation. Stella, send a message to Lanti and Alice. They need to know right away."
"Yes, Princess. What am I to tell them?"
"That a phantom beast is coming. One powerful enough that it exceeds SSS. I'm clocking it at S9."
I didn't like having to say 'S' three times then a number, so I shorted it and suggested an amendment to the ranking system. S, SS, and SSS would remain, but SSS would become synonymous with 'S1'. S1 merely meant equal to SSS level power. SSS2 would simply be S2, meaning 'S Rank with power double that of SSS.' Technically SS and SSS were just classifications within the overarching S Rank to differentiate people with significant enough thresholds over the minimum for S Rank.
"What in the world are you talking about?" Prince Allen said. "S9? What is that?"
"Never mind, Your Highness. Go with the class. Get to safety."
"Who are you to tell me wh-"
"GO!" I released my mana, enough to put everyone on their knees except Maya and Stella. "If you can't stand up under this pressure, you need to get to safety. Go!"
As I finished telling them to leave, the phantom beast dropped out of the sky and landed in front of me. Its appearance was very humanlike. One could mistake it for a human in light purple armor. It had a masculine appearance.
"Found you," it said, with a deep masculine voice.
"Found me?" I asked. "A phantom beast with the intelligence to speak is unheard of."
"You simply haven't encountered a commander until now." It had a sword, which it drew and pointed at me. "You shall die now, human."
I chuckled. "First poison, and now an assassin? Today isn't my day."
The monster released its mana, and soared well past the S9 rating I had initially clocked it at.
"S15." I glanced toward the class. "For those of you who don't know the adjusted system we're adapting, S15 is fifteen times the power of SSS. All of you leave! NOW!"
"They'll die soon enough," the beast said. "It matters not if they stay here or scamper off while I kill you. They may do what they want until I'm done with you."
In the face of the immense mana the monster was releasing, Maya and I both raised barriers between the class and us so that they could run away without being bogged down by the pressure the monster was giving off.
"Eli, I can barely stand right now," Maya said. "That creature's mana is incredible."
I smiled. "Don't worry. I'll take care of it."
"Just how much mana do you have, Eli?"
Before I could answer, Alice appeared. She didn't have any trouble standing.
I knew she had a lot of mana. Impressive for a mortal.
"Elise, what's the situation?"
"I was just about to destroy this monster."
"It's quite powerful. Let me han-"
"That's S15, Alice. And I can tell it has an even higher ceiling. I know you have a lot of mana, but you should leave this to me."
"Overconfidence will-"
"The only one overconfident is the one standing before us. It's overconfident because it has no idea how powerful I am."
I took a few steps toward the beast, drew my sword, and raised it to the sky, releasing my mana in one massive burst. I quickly exceeded the phantom beast, stopping at S20.
I could go well beyond that, but it's not wise to unleash Transcendental power in a mortal world unnecessarily.
The beast looked at me curiously as my silver mana swarmed around my body. "For a human to possess so much mana… You are truly a monster among your kind."
With the class gone, Maya tried to stay behind until I unleashed my mana. She gave me a nod and left. Only Alice remained to watch.
"You came to kill me, beast. This is the second attempt on my life today. Pardon if I skip the warmup. Come at me and I shall feed you the dirt beneath my feet."
"Yes. You shall die. I know of your antics on the battlefield. I know of how you easily defeated even our most powerful soldiers. My lord has sent me to eliminate you."
I smirked. "Come then."
"It's surprising a human can possess so much mana, but it's still a far cry of Lord Phantom."
I smirked. "I have more mana than your boss, too."
The beast released another burst of mana, increasing its output to match mine and leaped toward me. I parried it with no trouble and exchanged many blows in only a few seconds.
"Your skill with the sword is also monstrous. You can only be described as an anomaly."
I shrugged and jumped toward it with black lightning crackling around me.
I'll give my onlookers a bit of a show. The class and other students have left, but they can still see me. Combining magic and swordplay is something that takes a ton of practice. Might give them a goal.
Now backed up with black lightning, my attacks were faster and heavier with lightning striking all throughout.
The monster stood no chance against me. Even an elementary combat style such as fighting with melee and magic at the same time was overwhelming it. Every time it parried, I hit it with lightning. Every time it blocked my lightning, I cut its body.
As I continued to hit it, a storm cloud was form above us. Once it was complete, I raised my sword and dropped the most powerful bolt of lightning on the monster I'd ever cast in this life.
"<
The impact from the gigantic lightning bolt shook the very ground and scorched the surrounding area. I was being careful to keep the damage to a minimum, but some was inevitable.
As powerful as that lightning bolt was, not even that did any lasting damage. Its regenerative abilities were very potent.
I'll have to hit it with something big. A Detonation would do, but I need the explosion to be far away. The Detonation catalysts can carry it far, but it's likely to get off of them before it gets far enough. There's one other good option.
"You're a tough one," I said. "But unfortunately for you, that means little against me."
"You talk a big game."
"Shall I back it up?" I smirked. "In the face of endangering the people, I have no interest in a fair fight. So I'm going to overpower you now."
I released another huge burst of mana, skyrocketing my output from S20 to S100, and rather than Diluted Mana, I switched to Radiant Mana. Nobody would feel an immense pressure around me with Radiance, but in my presence, that much Diluted Mana would outright kill anyone below SSS Rank.
The beast looked utterly shocked, but I didn't give it time to react. I slashed it across the chest again before kicking it high into the air. As it soared, I sent a wave of mana from my blade at it that carried it far into the sky.
"Did you just launch that thing into the stratosphere?"
I chuckled. "Sure did. I'll be right back. I have to hit it with a massive attack to ensure it's destroyed. Damn thing has powerful regeneration."
"Don't strain yourself."
"Heh." I floated into the air and looked back for a moment. "Even the lower floors in The World Tower puts this to shame, just so you know. And you recall what I told you I'd do sometime in the next few years?"
She smirked and flicked her hand at me. "Yeah, yeah. Go on and kill that thing."
I gave her a lazy salute and soared into the sky. As I flew, I pulled the mana from my blade that I had infused when I slashed the beast's chest. Taking that mana, I formed a super-compressed mana catalyst. Once I was high into the sky, I held the catalyst toward the monster and continually pumped mana into it.
"I am Origin. By my authority as King, I sentence you to death. No longer shall you threaten this world with your evil. Begone, monster.<
With a deafening thunderous boom and a blinding flash of light, the catalyst launched at the monster at the speed of light, catching up to it nigh instantly and carrying it far beyond the atmosphere and into space where it exploded violently.
The explosion was enormous, but it was far enough away from the planet that it seemed like a mere fireworks display in the sky. There was no rumbling, no fallout, nothing.
Satisfied, I teleported back to the ground in front of Alice. "It's done."
"Indeed."
She seems rather unimpressed. No... more like it's normal to her. Even as strong as she is, what I just did should have put some level of surprise on her face.
I reigned in my mana and searched for Maya. I teleported to her, surprising her a bit from my sudden appearance.
"Eli!" She hugged me right away.
"The monster is gone."
"That thing was powerful, but the mana I sensed from you at the end completely dwarfed it."
I smiled. "Yeah. I went way harder than usual." I embraced her, and it felt like all my stress faded away. "I need to go to the palace. I'll be skipping the rest of the day."
"I had a feeling you might. I'm coming with you."
"I want to say no, but after two attempts on my life today, I really want to have you with me. And I imagine you want the same."
She nodded. "Yes. And I have something I want to talk to you about once we're alone."
"Anything you want, love."
I took her hand and teleported us back to Alice. Without a word I grabbed her wrist with my other hand and teleported to the palace. I quickly located Lanti and teleported once more to her.
She was in a meeting room with her parents.
"My word!" Their Majesties jumped up from their chairs when we appeared.
"Eli, good gracious," Lanti said. "You're already done with that monster?"
"Yeah, I turned it into an astronaut."
"What's an astronaut?"
I gave her a blank look. "This world has so much magical technology, but very little scientific technology." I sighed.
"What do you mean by scientific technology?" the king asked as he sat back down.
"Before that, I would like the three of you to call a meeting with the other Arcadian monarchs. I have something to inform all of you about."
"Lady Elise, we can't simply summon the kings and queens of Arcadia on a whim."
"I just launched a phantom beast into space with a force one hundred times that of an SSS Rank. I would suggest doing it anyway. If not, I'll go fetch them myself."
"Just do it," Alice said.
"Lady Alice?" the queen said.
"Father, mother, you should do as she says," Lanti said, looking at me. "I trust her. If she is asking for this, it needs to be done."
"You trust this girl?" the king asked.
"She did just launch an extraordinarily powerful phantom beast into space. The mere fact it was here qualifies as an emergency. This is as far from the frontlines as you get."
The king and queen exchanged glances, then looked back at Lanti, who nodded. "Very well. I will send a summons to each monarch."
"I'll assist." I snapped my fingers and created a portal to each throne room.
"I'll go fetch my parents," Maya said. She went through the portal to Weltwald.
"I'll go talk to King Serendell," Lanti said as she headed to that corresponding portal.
I glanced at King Gallia, "Would you be so kind as to speak to King Wavecrest?" He hesitantly nodded and went through the portal I gestured at.
At the same time, Maya came back through the Weltwald portal with her mother in tow, and her father came through the Nacht portal on his own, curious about a portal that suddenly appeared in his throne room.
"Mother, father," Maya said, "did you perhaps sense a large spike of mana?"
"Actually, yes," Mabel said. "The capital of Weltwald isn't far from here, though. Velarus?"
"I'm much further and I sensed it, too. I also just saw what looked like fireworks in the sky, but I could tell it was extremely far away."
"We'll explain in a moment, okay?" They nodded and took a seat. Soon, Lanti came back through her portal with King Serendell.
"What is happening? Why did a portal suddenly appear in my throne room?"
Before anyone could answer, King Gallia came back through with King Wavecrest. I snapped my fingers and dismissed the portals. Serendell and Wavecrest started to protest, but I spoke first.
"I'll make new portals to send you back once we're done." I curtsied before introducing myself. "Greetings, Monarchs of Arcadia. I am Elise Aindrea, a blank. Two attempts were made on my life today, both very egregious breaches of security."
I looked at Maya for a moment, then at each person at the table.
"Because of how dangerous today's events have been, I am going to divulge a very important bit of information about me. To give credence to my words, I would like to first inform you what I just did to repel a phantom beast that appeared here in Aristide."
"A phantom beast?" Velarus said.
"Yes. You all are aware of the ranking system from E rank to SSS Rank. Lord Velarus and Lady Mabel, you are both SSS Rank, for example." They nodded and I continued. "To go beyond that, I and my friends, including Eglantine here, have come up with a nomenclature. SSS is S1. S2 is twice the power of S1. S3 is three times the power of S1. And so on. Each number is that many times more powerful than SSS. That beast had power up to S20, and I launched it into space with a mana attack called Light Nova with the power of S100."
"S100?" Velarus said, standing up. "How in the world? I know you're a blank, Lady Elise, but you're saying this phantom beast had twenty times my power and you killed it with one hundred times my power?"
"Yes, she is," Maya said. "I witnessed it and I was able to sense how much power she used."
"To say that's incredible would be an understatement," Serendell said.
"And you have something more important than that to say?" Wavecrest asked.
I nodded. "Elise Aindrea is the name I was given when I was born into this world. Before that, I resided in another world on a higher plane."
"This is getting difficult to believe," Mabel said.
"I'll explain everything. But first, a reintroduction." Without a curtsy, I continued, "I am from the Transcendent World known as Eden. My name is Elysia Alexandria, and I am King of the World."
*****
Revision: 2025-4-12