by Cloe D Frost
Shadows were a special existence among mages – individuals who could completely conceal their presence and avoid all attempts of tracing them.
They were an existence everyone dreaded – ultimate spies, thieves, and assassins. Shadows usually worked for the Shadow Lodge, a mysterious quest lodge that Peacekeepers have unsuccessfully tried to root out for centuries.
A Shadow was the worst kind of mage to deal with. Just thinking about it gave Venric a headache.
There were only two ways to deal with a Shadow. One, lay a trap for the Shadow. Two, deal with the employer behind the Shadow.
But how could he lay a trap for Elaru Wayvin when he had no idea what she was after? Without knowing what she was after, how would he even find her potential employer?
The only thing he knew was that she was participating in Muni exams. However, Muni wasn’t his turf. He was limited with what kind of traps he could lay there.
Venric grunted. “Lawrence, send someone to see a Shadow Lodge agent. Find out anything you can about Elaru Wayvin including whether she is one of the Shadows. And if she is, information about her employer.”
He paused slightly before continuing. “Also, post a high priority Shadow Lodge mission. Surely they have agents inside Muni. I’d like to hire one of them to apprehend Kiel Rroda. Preferably without making a scene.”
Venric’s sharp eyes landed on Lawrence. “I don’t care about the cost. Kiel Rroda needs to be stopped from taking the exam.”
Tomorrow’s exam tested Mana Pool size. If he couldn’t stop his grandson from participating, it would be revealed that he is a non-mage. A stain in the Rroda family name.
Venric Rroda would spare no cost to wipe away that stain before it can sully the reputation of the Rroda family.
“Yes, your grace.”
* * *
Until the late hours of the night, Kiel and Elaru watched match after match inside the Arena. When they could barely keep their eyes open, they decided to call it a day and proceeded to camp in the woods as usual.
On Saturday, Kiel had mana tempered his body and ended up falling unconscious for the remainder of the night. On Sunday, he had consumed the Firebird Flame pill to temper his body, so he fell asleep without manually tempering his body.
Yesterday, on Monday, Kiel remembered to mana temper his body before sleep and would have done the same today, if it weren’t for the fact that tomorrow’s exams would require him to channel a large amount of mana.
He couldn’t risk lowering his performance in case his body couldn’t fully recover from his mana tempering. Therefore, he decided not to temper his body and instead proceeded to sleep away his fatigue.
* * *
◈ Wednesday, 29th of August 1449 A.W. ◈
Muni Exams: Day 3
Rau Eryey was calmly demonstrating the usage of a mana crystallizer, his silky gray hair floating about as if carried by the wind.
It was a device which looked like a large flower pot or a cauldron decorated with many intricate engravings. If one spread their mind over the crystallizer, they would feel layers upon layers of complicated spells rotating inside the thick walls of the cauldron.
To use the crystallizer, the mage would make their mana enter the cauldron. When enough mana enters the cauldron to support its activation, the enchantment inside the cauldron will start condensing a mana crystal.
Technically speaking, mana was an ethereal substance, energy itself. Therefore, a “mana crystal” wasn’t actually a crystal made out of mana. Rather, it was a special kind of crystal which could entrap drops of mana within it.
The crystallizer transmuted some of the mana into crystals that would trap the remainder of the mana within them.
The process of crystallization looked as if the water was being condensed from air directly into ice. Small ice-like shiny crystals would start forming, growing and expanding to fill the entire cauldron, making it look like a treasure trove of diamonds, glittering beautifully under the light.
The crystals looked precious and hard like gems, but in truth, they were neither precious nor hard. Like ice, they would melt easily, releasing trapped mana with every shed layer.
They were a commodity that was in high demand for powering enchantments and magical artifacts, however, they weren’t precious for there were countless people out there who made their living working on mana farms.
Like normal farmers worked in the fields to grow crops, mana farmers grew mana crystals by using up the mana within their mana pools until not a single drop remained.
Rau Eryey picked up the beautiful yellow crystal he had just formed and showed it to the examinees. The vivid color of the crystal attracted Kiel’s gaze and made him focus on it.
Today, Kiel found it hard to focus on the demonstration, his mind kept wandering elsewhere.
When Elaru and him checked their exam rooms today, they realized that coincidentally, Kiel’s exam was in the first timeslot of the day. When they saw the timetable, they looked at each other briefly and then, without the need to exchange words, made haste to reach the classroom in time.
They flew straight to his classroom without even removing their invisibility and Reflection barrier.
Thankfully, when they arrived, Rau had just opened the classroom door and was ushering them in. He slid in stealthily, unnoticed among the crowd.
And then, Rau Eryey started his explanation, that was completely the same as the test Kiel had participated in last year. Without a single change.
Somewhere along the line, Kiel lost his focus. His gaze shifted from watching Rau in the foreground to the windows in the background.
Unlike the previous sunny days, today, not a single ray of sunshine was allowed to pass through the thick curtain of gray clouds.
Kiel didn’t need to read the Sibyl’s Weather Forecast to be able to tell what’s ahead of them.
A storm was coming.
* * *
Author Note
Next several episodes are going to be tense. You will lament not being patrons when the cliffhangers start coming. ;) Better prepare now and try winning the Gold Tier subscription to Aethernea for free by participating in the previously mentioned event. If you intend to participate, better hurry, the event closes on 11th of December.
Details of the event.
This episode is dedicated to Seru. Thank you for devouring Aethernea episodes so greedily and making Aethernea Mythril tier patron only discord channel lively. ;) Thank you for suggesting numerous fantastic ideas how to improve stuff and of course, supporting Aethernea. <3
Coming up in the next episode:
Kiel’s eyebrows furrowed. If the guy had done it just to spite him, Kiel wouldn’t have been surprised. But there was something strange about his behavior.
“I don’t think I’ve introduced myself before. I am…” The guy offered his hand to Kiel.
Kiel’s thoughts started getting sluggish. His lids grew heavy. All he wanted to do was sleep.
No… I can’t miss this exam… if I miss it… I will fail the entrance exams!
Dusk Rose again blended in the crowd of examinees, keeping his target in his line of sight while not drawing any attention to himself.
Episode 71 – Sudden Illness
Episode 71 – Sudden Illness
Previously:
The third day of the exams arrived. Kiel and Elaru find out that Kiel’s exam is allocated to the first timeslot of the day. They hurried to make it in time, flying invisible and concealed the entire way. Only when they reached the classroom did Kiel exit the invisibility barrier and stop concealing his presence, blending with the crowd of examinees. While Rau Eryey and Kady Ailert explain the following exam, which tests their mana pool size, mana regeneration, and mana flow speed, Kiel finds it hard to concentrate on the explanation. Rau uses the mana crystallizer to condense a yellow mana crystal.
* * *
It was only when the light reflected off of the dazzling yellow crystal that Kiel’s gaze once again fo
cused on the exam. He had never seen a yellow mana crystal before. Mana crystals were usually either blue, red or purple. Their color depended on the structure of the crystal that the crystallizer produced.
Technically speaking, the crystal could be of any color, however, since the type of mana inside of the crystal was important for the future usage of the crystal and couldn’t be determined without using the crystal, the Association of Magic imposed a rule on mana crystallization that stated that crystals had to be colored based on the mana type they held inside. Blue for transmutation mana, red for augmentation and purple for pure mana.
The fact that the crystal in front of them was yellow, clearly stated that the crystallizer was neither issued nor certified by the Association of Magic. It was custom-made.
“Are there any questions?” Kady’s warm voice snapped Kiel out of his thoughts.
The examinees exchanged glances with one another, but no one spoke up.
“If there are no questions, then we can start the exam. Who wants to go first?”
When the question was uttered, Kiel immediately took a step forward to volunteer. However, mid-step, he noticed that someone had already volunteered.
It was one of the males in the room who didn’t particularly like Kiel. After noticing everyone staring at him, the male looked around himself in a stupor, before looking back at smiling Kady. After a few seconds of fidgeting, as if he was fighting an internal battle with himself, he caved in to peer pressure and walked towards the crystallizer.
Kiel’s eyebrows furrowed. If the guy had done it just to spite him, Kiel wouldn’t have been surprised. But there was something strange about his behavior. It was as if he ended up volunteering accidentally.
But how do you volunteer accidentally? Did his legs give out making him stumble forward just at the right moment?
Internally, Kiel chuckled and shook his head. Well, whatever. The test would only last between 5 and 10 minutes.
Kady Ailert and Rau Eryey proceeded to usher people out of the room, allowing only the first person taking the exam to stay in the classroom. They explained that the crystallizer doesn’t differentiate between mana of different people, so it was a measure to prevent any possible attempts of cheating.
When the doors to the classroom closed, the previously silent examinees again crowded around Kiel.
“Pfft, that blockhead! Couldn’t he tell that you wanted to go first!” a random girl sneered and batted her eyelashes at Kiel. At her exclamation, a bunch of other girls agreed and started cursing the poor fellow.
A scent of perfume assaulted Kiel from all sides, with difficulty he kept his facial expression unchanged and breathed through his mouth. Individually, the perfumes might have been pleasant but mixed together they only made his stomach turn.
Kiel’s nose had gotten extremely sensitive after the Aetherneal bond. While it did make the world feel more vivid and the food tastier, it had its drawbacks as well. When surrounded by people, it was easy to get a sensory overload.
Kiel smiled amiably. “It’s alright. There is nothing wrong with him wanting to go first.”
Inwardly, he was already cursing the guy. He minded it! He minded it a lot! If Kiel had gone first, he wouldn’t need to endure the torture called socializing.
“You’re a good guy.” Another examinee praised Kiel. “You don’t get agitated because of such small matters. I wish I could be more like you.”
Kiel turned to smile at the guy who spoke. He was among the denser looking ones.
He had a wide, fawning smile on his unremarkable looking face. His elibu ears were drooping down, making him look a bit comical. The man was wearing a subtle cologne that was the most inconspicuous scent in the horrid mix of scents.
Just as Kiel was deliberating how to respond as to keep his prince-charming image, the guy continued. “I don’t think I’ve introduced myself before. I am…” The guy offered his hand to Kiel.
Kiel scanned the offered hand, hesitating in shaking it for a split second. Truth be told, he preferred not to touch or be touched by people. But alas, he had to keep his perfect image which meant that being rude and not accepting the handshake wasn’t an option.
Therefore, Kiel accepted the handshake and nodded his head at the… uh… he already forgot what the guy said his name was.
The guy seemed to pick up that Kiel wasn’t particularly interested in him, and apparently thought that the problem lied in his gender. Therefore, he stepped back with a sly smile, allowing several girls to take his place.
Kiel suddenly got a headache. Don’t tell me that he thinks that I actually enjoy being swarmed by groupies?? Which part of my act gave him that impression??
Kiel resisted the urge to rub his temples. However, it became harder and harder to resist. The loud, high-pitched voices of the females did nothing to improve his state of mind. The headache only grew until suddenly, Kiel felt a bit queasy.
The voices were too piercing, too loud. The scents were too nauseating. Kiel’s vision started blurring. He blinked his long eyelashes repeatedly as if he was trying to fan away the sickness. But it didn’t work as intended.
The headache turned into a migraine. His own pulsing heartbeat seemed to be hitting his temples like a hammer.
Finally, he couldn’t resist closing his eyes and rubbing his temples. A sudden silence made Kiel open his eyes, only to meet many inquiring gazes. Someone must have asked him a question that he didn’t catch.
Kiel smiled wryly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t quite catch that. I feel… a bit under the weather today.”
The crowd immediately agreed with his statement and started talking about how lousy the weather was today and how it makes the mood too depressing.
Kiel sighed a breath of relief internally and leaned back onto the railing. His legs felt weak. It was as if he had a fever.
Don’t tell me I caught a cold? You have to be kidding me! Isn’t this change of events too abrupt?
I can’t be indisposed right now! I need to be in top shape for the exam!
Blast it all!
The voices around him started blending together, and he had a very hard time piecing the conversation together. He thought he heard someone saying: “Mate, are you alright? You are looking a bit pale.”
Kiel’s thoughts started getting sluggish. His lids grew heavy. All he wanted to do was sleep.
For a moment, he forgot that he needed to participate in the exams. The world was spinning.
He didn’t realize that he had lost his balance until he felt someone’s arms catching him and holding him up.
The broken pieces of the words that entered his ears seemed to mention infirmary.
No… I can’t miss this exam… if I miss it… I will fail the entrance exams!
The world started shaking. Kiel felt the person he was leaning on saying something in a comforting tone. That everything would be alright. That the healers in the infirmary would fix him up in a ‘jiffy’.
That person held him up and pulled him towards a certain direction. Infirmary, one would think.
Kiel felt a sense of dread and insecurity. He didn’t even know who was taking him to the infirmary. Could he even trust that person? Could people in the infirmary even help him?
Ironically, in this moment of need and helplessness, the only person he could think of was Elaru.
A person that he knew very little about. A person he didn’t quite understand. A person that he wasn’t even sure he could trust.
And yet, in his darkest hour, her face was the first one that came to mind.
No matter how little he trusted her, he still trusted her more than anyone else.
The last thing Kiel did before his mind turned to mush was to call out to her.
* * *
When Dusk Rose received his mission, he wasn’t too thrilled about it. This type of mission wasn’t something he usually accepted. If he hadn’t been asked by higher-ups to take it, he wouldn’t have accepted it at all.
Appare
ntly, there weren’t many people qualified enough to take the mission, for the mission required one to be able to enter Muni. Since Dusk Rose was currently participating in the Muni entrance exams, he was one of the rare agents capable of taking the mission.
The mission details stated that there was a possibility of another Shadow interfering with his mission, which meant that they needed to send someone capable enough to handle a Shadow – another Shadow.
And thus, the task fell onto Dusk Rose.
Unlike the assassination missions he usually took, this mission required him to kidnap his target before they could take the exam and bring them outside Muni where they would be picked up by the client.
When Dusk received an image, name and entrance exam number of the target, he suddenly felt much more interested in the mission.
What a pretty boy! Such a pity…
Dusk clicked his tongue.
And they say that we assassins are devious. Plots of the nobles are much more devious if you ask me.
* * *
The stormy Wednesday morning arrived, and Dusk Rose too arrived in front of Muni.
The first thing he did was check when and where his own exams will be taking place.
Apparently, in the afternoon. Dusk had the whole morning to take care of his target.
Good. Dusk smiled.
His smile froze when he noticed when and where his target had his exam. Dusk almost swore out loud.
Why did it have to be the first timeslot?!
Initially, he intended to catch his target while he was waiting for his exam, but now his plans needed to change. He didn’t have any time to search for his target. If he ended up missing him, his mission would end up as a failure.
The only way he could ensure that he would cross paths with his target was if he waited in front of the target’s designated classroom.
Thus, Dusk broke into a sprint and quickly made his way towards the classroom of his target. There, he blended into the crowd and patiently waited for his target to arrive.
Time ticked too slowly. Before Dusk even knew it, the doors of the classroom opened, and the examiners asked them to enter inside.