Chapter 14: A crazy idea
Since the day I met Freydis things didn't really change that much apart from my occasional meetings with her in secret, we have similar tastes and mentalities so we get along very well, although I still doubt if telling her about my plan, I could end up dragging her into a lot of trouble and although we get along well I don't think we are that close yet.
My reputation as always keeps getting worse with the days but noticeably slower than before, well it was to be expected, there is not much more to ruin, the council even warned me that if I continued with my current behavior they might expel me, which gave me hints that the 'main event' was about to start, and after that I will finally be expelled
On the other hand the training with Professor Lucius was intensifying rapidly, now we had to face him while enduring an even stronger pressure than before, the first time he released her we automatically fainted but we adapted quite fast, I think the previous training paid off
The classes with Miss Vivian were also progressing well, I was absorbing all the knowledge she was throwing at me like a sponge, she even said that in a short while there would be nothing left to teach me.
Just now in fact, I was on my way to Miss Vivian's class after training, when I arrived in front of her office I simply walked in without knocking, she told me to do so because we would lose class time if I stopped to knock, a rather strange and meaningless reason, but that's how she is
"Hello my disciple~ how did your training go?"
"My muscles are all in pain."
"Haha so you did well then, no pain no gain they say."
We chatted for a bit before the atmosphere suddenly became very heavy, this seemed quite strange to me as Miss Vivian usually has a relaxed and carefree aura around her
"What's wrong?"
I asked her to find out what was on her mind.
"Well, today will be the day I pass on the most important knowledge I keep in my brain."
She said as she gave herself light hits on the head with her index finger.
"But first *Click*"
With a snap of her fingers she created a barrier that blocked any sound that might leave this room.
Seeing that what she was about to say would be very important Arthur straightened his back and paid maximum attention
"Tell me, how do the two methods the beings have for controlling mana work?"
She asked a fairly easy question but Arthur didn't question and answered.
"Mana circuitry that distributes mana throughout the body to enhance physical abilities and mana heart that concentrates it in a single area to better gather it to cast spells."
"Exactly, these two methods as you know allow people to use the mana from the atmosphere to either enhance their bodies or to cast spells, however, the limitations of these two methods are very clear, warriors are not capable of condensing enough mana to cast very powerful spells and even the ones they are capable of casting are much less powerful than those of a normal mage. Mages on the other hand, having their mana concentrated in a single point, are as physically weak as a normal person."
She explained the weaknesses of the two methods of using mana as she leaned back in her chair, but after that she rested her elbows on the table and clasped her hands together as she looked straight at me with her purple eyes
"But here's a crazy idea, the limitations faced by these two methods are mainly the fault of how they distribute and condense the atmosphere mana inside their bodies, so wouldn't it be possible to compensate for these shortcomings by directly utilizing the atmosphere mana?"
"You mean!?"
When I understood what she was getting at I couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
"Yes, a method to be able to directly utilize the mana of the atmosphere to complete formulas or improve the body temporarily."
"But that's not possible!, the atmosphere mana has many impurities that could permanently damage the body and if we wanted to use it to complete formulas then the result would be even less potent than a spell cast by a warrior!"
What she was proposing was unbelievable and illogical, there were many things that could go wrong with this method, and under a normal person's point of view it was something stupid that was not worth researching
But Vivian Estrade was not a normal person.
"What you say is true, very true, this sounds very silly, illogical and impossible, a complete nonsense nonsense."
"You don't have to say it like that either-"
"But!!!"
-Bam!
Vivian suddenly hit the desk and stood up from her chair as she looked at Arthur with a huge grin on her face.
"It's possible!"
She then walked over to one of her shelves and pulled out a small bag which she threw on the table and took out a blue colored stone.
"What is this?"
"A mana stone"
"Exactly, the beloved mana stones, these small ones are used in a lot of things, creation of artifacts, scrolls, barrier formations, weapons, etc, tell me, why is this possible?"
"Because they can store mana inside them."
"Exactly!!!, mana stones are minerals capable of storing mana inside them, although when the stone runs out of mana it breaks but that's not the point."
Vivian gave a pause before continuing
"...Tell me, dear disciple, mana stones, do they have impurities?"
"No..."
Said Arthur with a twinkle in his eye trying to decipher what Vivian was getting at.
Vivian who saw this smiled more broadly and continued with his explanation.
"Exactly, they have no impurities, but how is this possible? Isn't all the mana in the atmosphere, no matter how small the amount, supposed to have impurities? How are these little stones able to absorb it so cleanly? Stones are not living beings so we can rule out the fact that they refine it before absorbing it as we do. But not only mana stones, plants, animals, monsters themselves and even we unconsciously, all things in the world have mana, but this mana is not formed out of nothing but absorbed involuntarily, that's why a grown man even if he has not been trained has more mana in his body than a child."
While Vivian was explaining all this she didn't stand still for a second as she walked with her arms behind her back, something she always did when she was very immersed in something
"But we're not dying from absorbing all this mana that's supposedly full of impurities right?"
-Step
Vivian paused and stared at Arthur, she kept silent for a few seconds before speaking
"There is a flow."
"What?"
"There is a flow, constant and undisturbed, I am not sure if there are several, just a few or if they are all connected from the same source, I am still investigating it but of one thing I am sure. There is a flow of pure mana from which all that mana with impurities that we absorb is released."
"!!"
What Vivian said was something that surprised him enormously, after all, of all the books he read, all the theses of famous magicians and even the novel itself, he had never heard of this so-called flow
"Are you sure?"
If what she is saying is true, then the whole world could change completely.
"Totally, after years of countless calculations, theories, speculations, tests and a bit of luck I was able to confirm its existence."
She said all this like it was no big deal while making a V sign with her fingers.
"Sigh~ this definitely can't come to light."
"We think so too."
Although this information could turn Vivian into a mage that will go down in the history books the risks are immense
This so called flow is literally an infinite source of energy that could be used for both good or very bad things, it could be used to make giant leaps in the development of new technologies and bring the world into a new era, but of course, there is the flip side of the coin
Weapons development and greed.
The leaders of kingdoms and empires would not think twice to find a way to use this unlimited energy to create a weapon of mass destruction to reign over the other kingdoms, not to mention criminal organizations or the demons themselves.
Greed could also lead the kingdoms to start wars to completely own this flow, and if they come to know how to use it before that then the world would be practically lost, either by ourselves or by the gods themselves who surely know of the existence of this flow, and I doubt they would want mere mortals to use it to potentially challenge them
'Maybe that's why it didn't make it into the novel.'
Vivian must have realized the risks involved in revealing this information so she destroyed it or stored it in a place where no one could find it.
"But why are you telling me this? I could just walk out of here now and sell this information."
"Pff, you even have to ask? you're my cute little disciple, of course I trust you, and I really doubt anyone will ever believe you because of your infamous reputation, and even if someone does I'm the only one who has the necessary means and proof to prove its existence"
"Haha, you're right."
"But, if all else fails then I don't have to worry much either."
"Why?"
"This wonderful flow as you see it is practically impossible to use, well, for everyone except you, or at least I think so."
"Me?"
That statement left me shocked, because I could use that flow and everyone else couldn't?
"Yes, if I'm being completely honest with you, there is another reason why I accepted you as my disciple."
She said as the mood turned serious again.
"For some reason unknown to me, you seem to be somehow connected to this flow."
"What?!"
That was something I definitely wasn't expecting
"When I first noticed it I was also surprised, and I hope you don't get too upset but during our classes I have been using various devices created by me to analyze you and find the relationship between you and the flow, and what I found was something that left me quite impressed"
Vivian then turned in the most serious manner I had ever seen from her and said.
"There is something inside you Arthur, something that shouldn't be there, something that was implanted in you."
"...What?"
***
Inside a dark office, a man with a big beard and long deep red hair, looked at his subordinate with his bright golden eyes as he asked with his gravelly voice
"How's the situation?"
"He continues to tarnish his reputation sir, this week alone he has been taken to the student council office about 8 times."
Answered a middle aged man with empty eyes.
"Hum."
Looks like he's still acting eh?
"And what about 'it'?"
"...Still doesn't wake you up sir"
Replied the empty-eyed man with a bit of hesitation.
"That's really troublesome, he was the only person who survived 'it' after all."
Although they tried it on several children, adults and young people from the slums, none of them have been able to survive the implantation of 'it', Arthur was the only test subject who managed to survive.
At first I thought it was because we implanted it in him when he was still a fetus in his mother's womb, but we have tried it several times and the result was always the same, either the baby died before it was fully developed or was stillborn.
"Keep watching him, I could wake him up at some point, and if he doesn't make it let's just wait for him to be expelled from the academy, after that we can take him to study him and perform experiments."
"Yes."
The empty eyed man nodded before being swallowed by his shadow and disappearing.
"What are you planning?"
He asked himself as he leaned back in his chair.
I had been monitoring him since he was a kid and knew that his whole act of being a jerk was just that, an act, behind the scenes he was diligently studying and training his sword skills along with that maid he took from the slums
Although he doesn't know what his goal behind this is, something tells him that it's not a good thing for him
But he didn't intervene until now because he wasn't sure if 'it' would ever wake up or not, but the way things are going he'll have to intervene to make it wake up
"Do you think you'll be able to escape my clutches?"
He couldn't let the specimen that had survived 'it' escape, if he survived, it meant that there were also very high chances that he can wake it up as well
And when that happens
"He will become the weapon that will help me dominate this empire."
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