"Now, let's start with you two, since I know the others already have a much deeper understanding of mana manipulation; there is much less risk of something going wrong with them," he said, shifting his gaze from me to Neko and Marte, who grew pallid under the weight of his presence.
"O-Of course, Lord E-Erumon," Marte said shakily. I could tell from her build alone that she was likely from the same bloodline as Thorsen's, but to see someone of her stature tremble like that nearly made me giggle.
Don't you dare, Ysevel chided me playfully. I wasn't going to, but I do find the irony of it rather funny, I shrugged, giving her a wry smile. I know, but think about the first time we met him. You nearly shit yourself, she accented the word shit with a light elbow-jab to my ribcage. Alright, alright! I get it! I desperately held onto the laugh that was clawing at the back of my lips to escape.
Meanwhile, Marte was staring at the pearl with a mixture of curiosity and anxiety, but when she noticed Neko gently placing his hand on what I could only imagine was her arm, she immediately calmed down as she turned to see his supportive smile.
Aww, he likes her, Ysevel sent as she quickly tapped my hand. How did you understand that so quickly? Kalia asked, though I assumed it was because she was still trying to learn regular human expressions. Look at his eyes; they're practically glowing with affection, Ysevel sent, causing my Mom, of all people, to stifle a laugh at our light-hearted conversation.
It was abruptly brought to a halt when Ardrin scowled at us, forcing the four of us to quickly and non-verbally apologize.
After a nod of encouragement from Erumon, Marte consumed the pearl and washed it down with a few swigs of wine. We all held our breath to see what was going to happen, and like with the Wraith tincture, it took a few moments before her core began to glow brightly, then spread to the rest of her body.
The room was bathed in golden light for a few heartbeats before it slowly dimmed, returning her to her normal state. "How do you feel, Marte?" Thorsen asked, his concern for his subordinate obvious. "I-I can't explain it, but I can feel everyone's mana, almost as if I could reach out and touch it," she said breathlessly, causing Thorsen's, as well as everyone else's, eyes to widen.
"I'm glad to see it worked without a problem, then," Erumon said with visible satisfaction. I say visible, but in reality, it was only a slight shift in his eyes that told me he was. "Neko, please take yours as well," he directed. He followed the order promptly, probably excited to see what it would do to him after Marte's glowing display, and quickly washed it down with some wine.
Like Marte, his core and body began to glow, then dimmed a few moments after. "Whoo, what a rush!" he exclaimed, shaking his head as if he'd taken some kind of stimulant. "It would seem that the effects are different for each person," Ardrin noted to Erumon with a raised eyebrow.
As Erumon went around the table, each one had a different reaction. Gwili and Wyrran's were pretty similar, though Gwili's was more akin to Neko's than anything else. A bright smile showed on his face, but I could tell he was more than happy to take it. Wyrran, on the other hand, showed only graceful acceptance.
Thorsen had a similar reaction to Marte's, likely because they were descendants of the same line of giants. Still, his glow was much more orange and intense than hers, even making Erumon's placid expression shift into one of mild surprise. Leona was next, and while the amount of her glow was about the same as Neko's, it gave off a hint of scarlet and a secondary pulse before fading.
Why did that happen? Is it because she took the Wraith tincture from Ren? I sent Ysevel, but she could only shrug in response.
Bernar's expression didn't help answer my question, either, but since he was next, he gave me a knowing glance before consuming his pearl. "Time to catch back up, little shit," he grinned before his core began to glow similar to Leona's with a slightly scarlet hue interlaced with the gold. This was the first time anyone had seen one that bright outside of Thorsen's, although we all suspected it was due to his being a fifth-stage.
"I've always wondered what this might feel like," Taegin said idly as he carefully observed his own pearl before consuming it. He glowed brightly, but something happened that only I seemed to recognize.
His glow is the same as when we first met, I thought back to the fire-like tendrils of mana surrounding him as he argued with my father.
Nenvalur and Anwill had similar reactions to it. However, Nenvalur's was surprisingly brighter than Anwill's, making him puff out his chest victoriously. At the same time, Anwill pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing he would never hear the end of it.
Aurae and Elhael took theirs as well, and while Elhael's glow was slightly dimmer than Aurae's violet and scarlet, hers shifted and waved ever so slightly, prompting Erumon to raise an eyebrow, but he said nothing at the time. My mother then took hers, sharing a similar effect to Taegin's, nearly matching the brightness perfectly, with stronger hints of scarlet present than Bernar's.
Here we go, I sent Ysevel and Kalia before we took ours in unison. Like the others, our cores began to glow, but there was a sudden warmth that reached into me, one I welcomed like a long-lost friend. Ysevel glowed brightly, a beautiful mixture of violet and Scarlet, and I could have sworn her eyes were an even deeper color than before, though Kalia seemed to share a hue of scarlet around her like I did.
I couldn't tell whether Ysevel's eyes looked that way because of the effect the pearl had on her or the warm feeling I had earlier.
Erumon seemed to know exactly what had happened to me and put a heavy hand on my shoulder before moving on to the next two. Irun and Athar shared a glance, having formed a strong bond during our time in the dome, and took it together. Erumon watched Athar more closely than Irun, but when the violet glow from Athar's core seemed normal, we were relieved that nothing had gone wrong.
I did notice, however, that when Ren and Thorn took theirs, I could all but see Thorn's Rivet mana begin to resonate around him like Kalia's had, though it was much paler in color. Ren, however, had a similar effect to Kalia's.
"I'm surprised that it went as smoothly as it did," Ardrin noted to Erumon, who agreed with a nod. "Indeed. I was mildly concerned about Athar, but nearly everyone else was within my expectations," he said, giving a quick glance at Aurae before returning to his seat. "I must say, I didn't know Elves could possess true ambivalence, but it's certainly a nice surprise," he said, giving her a knowing nod which she returned in kind.
What was that all about? I asked Ysevel. I'll explain it later, but you'll have to promise not to tell anyone else, she said in an even tone, but I could tell it was something serious that she guarded carefully. Of course, I replied immediately, but as I did so, I caught Aurae regarding me with a warm smile, as if she already knew Ysevel was going to tell me.
I didn't know why, but I felt much more at ease about whatever Ysevel had to tell me than ever before. I trusted her with both my heart and my life, and I knew that if she'd held onto that information for as long as she had, it was because she wanted to protect her mother, and not because she didn't trust me.
Aurae's smile seemed to indicate all of my thoughts on the matter were correct, and the feeling I got from my connection to her core seemed to let me know Aurae trusted me enough to tell me, too.
It made me smile.
"Now that you've all had your shares of the synthetic Authority, there is something I would like to test," Erumon said, forcing my attention to shift to him immediately, as I felt something ominous emanating from him. "W-Wait, you don't mean to sh-...?" I cut myself off, as he spawned a blackened pearl, just like the one he'd created with Nexis' shattered core.
"What is this malice?" Elhael asked, genuinely surprised he hadn't felt it before, getting similar reactions from everyone else. I immediately felt a sense of dread, though it didn't overtake those of us who were Wraithborn as entirely as it had the others.
"As I said before, your understanding of mana will deepen, and continue to do so as you develop your skills. However, this mana can only be sensed by those who have either innate or synthetic Authority present within them," Erumon explained briefly. "It is what we Wardens call Tyrant mana, the direct counterpart to nearly all mana, save one. This is the very same mana that corrupted Nexis' core, although his wasn't quite enough to be detected, even by most Wardens, as it was secretly embedded into the curse we'd placed on him," he gave Kalia a knowing nod.
Her expression visibly shook me, and whatever emotions were swirling in her core nearly bled over to the rest of us as she began to speak. "Lord, are you saying that this mana is one of the reasons behind the near-extinction of the Wraithborn?" she asked the question that was burning in mine and Ysevel's minds as well. "I would say that it's a good starting point, at least. Tyrant mana can disrupt, corrupt, and counter nearly all mana except for that controlled by the Wraithborn," he began to explain as I felt Kalia's emotions surge.
"However, the mission I mentioned I had for you all earlier will require you to find more information on this matter. There are dwarven records on the Gramm Isles that will help you all to unfurl the clutches of Mideia in Kavrass. Go to the capital city of Narin; you'll find much of what you're looking for there," he said loosely.
"I hate to be the one to ask, Lord Erumon, but why can't you go?" my mother asked bluntly. Anyone could see that his expression shifted dourly at her question, but after a moment of consideration, he looked back up at us. "There are matters beyond this realm I must attend to, as it was your son's reasoning that is going to lead me down this path," he said, surprising us both with his answer.
What the fuck did you do? Mom sent me immediately with uncontrollable curiosity. He might go looking for whoever put the seal on my core. Or, at the very least, someone who knew about it, I reasoned, recalling what he said when he interrupted my line of thinking.
"Nevertheless, I hope that you all train hard and that you build the strength necessary for the war that I'm almost sure will reach your doorsteps," he said gravely, giving each one of us a stern look of determination as he rose from his seat. He moved over to my mother's side and handed her four more of the synthetic Authority pearls.
"These are for the other members of your team. I'm sure they will accept the Authority without much issue, but in the event something goes wrong, crush this one, and I will be here in the time it takes you to blink," he said, handing her a fifth one that was pure white.
"Th-thank you, Lord Erumon. I will be sure to pass it on to them," she bowed as graciously as she could. With a single nod to me, then another to Taegin, he left the room and summoned a similar portal to the one we'd used to get back from Vareluth, disappearing shortly after he stepped through.
There was a silence in the room that hung heavily, but none of us truly knew just how important what he gave us would be in the coming days. But as our meeting came to an end and everyone was leaving the room, I heard a voice I didn't expect to call out to me.
"Thoma, would you mind staying a moment longer?" Ardrin asked.