I. Beyond the Debt
Arthur's body, leaning against the cold stone floor of the cell, shuddered at Anna's words. Shock, fury, bewilderment, and a lingering spark of old affection—a tempest of emotions collided within him.
"Anna... You... Are you truly her?" Arthur's voice was thin, laced with disbelief.
The Elven Commander—Commander Anna—knelt gracefully before the iron bars. The emerald glow in her eyes seemed to carry the collective weight of millennia.
"That life, in that body, ended long ago, Arthur," she said. Her voice was no longer the spirited chirp of his memories; it was melodic, measured, and grave. "After you saved me, my existence in that world lost its meaning. The accusing stares of family and friends... the gnawing guilt... I couldn't endure it."
Arthur's brow furrowed. "Did you... take your own life?"
Anna bowed her head in a pained nod. "I am sorry for that. But that choice carried me to this life. I was reborn as Anna Eldoria, niece of the Queen from the High Elven Council. A Noble Elf."
She extended her hand, and a vibrant, pulsating emerald Flora Mana gathered in her palm. Arthur instantly felt its potency—a force many times greater than even human high nobility. It was incomparable to his own flickering F-Class spark.
"As you can see, I have power and purpose here. And I had to settle my debt. I would have no peace if I had let you be slaughtered in that camp. We healed you and took you captive. You are safe now."
II. Behind the Veil of War
Arthur struggled to digest the chasm between them. He was a Sealed, impoverished human; she was a powerful, sovereign Elf.
"Why are you fighting, Anna? Are humans truly that monstrous?" Arthur asked.
Anna's expression grew stern. "They aren't monsters. They are afraid. The Human Kingdom lives with the insecurity of races born with frail mana. They fear anything of greater strength—especially our abundance of mana and our harmony with nature."
She gestured toward the bars. "This war is not over land; it is over Mana Sources. The Human King envies the longevity and magical wealth of the Elves. He aims to seize the ancient mana within our sacred forests to empower his own nobility."
"And what of the poor souls dragged from Barren Town? What is their crime?"
"They are the King's sacrifices," Anna replied softly. "The King uses weak and ignorant peasants to fill his ranks. He cares nothing for their deaths. To him, the loss of an F-Class commoner like you is merely the removal of a burden from his Kingdom."
Arthur felt a sharp pang in his chest. The way Alex and Satella looked at him now made even more sense. They weren't just afraid for his life; they were afraid of his perceived worthlessness in a kingdom that valued only power.
III. The Revelation of the Seal
Suddenly, Anna's eyes sharpened, focusing on Arthur's chest. As an Elven Commander, her mana-perception was extraordinary.
"Your body... it is peculiar. Your mana level appears to be F-Class, weak as a flickering candle. But near your heart, there is something else... something dense and suppressed. Like a sealed well."
Arthur was taken aback. Even among the humans, few could perceive the Seal so clearly. "It is my Seal," he whispered. "An innate anomaly. The grimoires call it a Forbidden Element."
Anna was momentarily stunned but quickly regained her composure. "Forbidden Elements... those are usually acquired later, dangerous sorceries that warp the very nature of mana. But to be born with one? That is an impossibility."
She realized then that Arthur's destiny was far more intricate than she had imagined. He wasn't just a weak human; he was a miracle struggling against a supernatural shackle.
"Listen, Arthur," Anna said, rising to her full height. "Old friendship aside, you are currently my prisoner. However, an F-Class peasant should not rot in the dungeon of an Elven Commander. That Seal of yours must hold a secret."
She called out to the guard at the door: "This prisoner is now under my personal jurisdiction. Remove him from the cell. Relocate him to the vacant chamber adjacent to the Palace Library. And treat him with respect. He is the Special Guest of Commander Anna."
Arthur watched in dazed silence as the bars slid open. The person for whom he had once sacrificed his life had now rescued him from a foreign dungeon. But his fate now rested entirely in the hands of this noble Elven Commander.
lV. The Gilded Cage
Arthur's new quarters, granted by Anna's command, were far superior to the damp dungeon, yet he remained a captive. He had been settled into a modest guest room adjacent to the long, vaulted corridor leading to the Palace Library. The room carried the faint, lingering scent of jasmine, kept perpetually fresh by Flora Magic.
Early the next morning, Anna visited Arthur, dressed in a simpler, more understated Elven robe. She carried a silver tray laden with fresh fruit and a pitcher of water.
"I trust your accommodations are an improvement, Arthur," she said, setting the tray upon the table. "The guards have been informed. No one may lay a finger on you without my consent."
"Why are you doing this, Anna?" Arthur asked. "The debt is paid. You saved me from death. Now, let me go."
Anna shook her head gently. "No. Firstly, you are a Human prisoner of war, and you cannot leave until the conflict between our races is resolved. Secondly... you possess the Seal. And I will not release you until I understand exactly what that Seal entails. Perhaps it is a fated connection carried over from our former world."
She walked toward the window. "Elves value history and knowledge above all else. Our Library houses the most primordial wisdom of this continent. If that Seal of yours is a congenital version of a Forbidden Element, we shall find the answer there."
V. Clandestine Access
Anna personally escorted Arthur to the Library.
The Elven Palace Library was magnitudes larger than anything Arthur had ever seen in Barren Town. Shelves stretched toward the high ceilings, teeming with scrolls and leather-bound tomes that held the wisdom of centuries. The air was thick with the scent of aged parchment and purified mana.
"This sanctum is open only to high-ranking Elves," Anna whispered. "You may conduct research only under my direct supervision and only within this chamber."
She gestured toward one of the furthest, most shadowed corners of the library—the section dedicated to 'Forbidden Magic Theories' and 'Anomalies.'
"Under normal circumstances, even touching these books would be forbidden for a human. But your Seal might just validate the theories within these pages. I will bring you texts specifically regarding Mana Architecture and Elemental Density. Your focus must not be on why the Seal repels your mana, but how it condenses it."
For the first time in his life, Arthur would use knowledge rather than brute physical strength to seek power.
Vl. The Theory of the Seal
For the next several days, Arthur was buried in ancient Elven scrolls. Though his mana was frail, his intellect and the learning discipline he had carried from his previous life served him well. Through exhaustive research and Anna's occasional insights, he finally arrived at a cohesive theory.
One text in particular, titled Theories of Forbidden Elements: Mana Compression, caught his eye. The book explained that the Seal element typically manifested when a mage consciously shuttered their own mana or was forcibly sealed by another.
However, a sub-header perfectly described Arthur's condition:
...Should Sealing occur at birth (a phenomenon theoretically deemed impossible), the rate at which the body releases mana to the external world will be significantly lower than the rate at which the internal mana reservoir replenishes. This causes the mana within the Seal to remain under perpetual high pressure.
This constant, natural compression alters the elemental structure of the mana. Water, a simple and fluid element, crystallizes under extreme pressure and cold. This is the birth of Frost...
Arthur's eyes ignited with realization. He finally understood his own nature:
Mana Reservoir (Quantity): F-Class. Still frail and limited.
Mana Quality (Density): Extremely High. Purified and transmuted into Ice through the Seal's natural pressure.
Ice Magic: This was Arthur's true power. But because using that high-pressure mana completely drained his small reservoir, even a single kilogram of ice was exhausting.
Arthur's problem was not to break the Seal, but to expand his Mana Reservoir. If he could increase his F-Class capacity, his density would remain constant, allowing him to wield his Ice Magic with far greater frequency and scale.
Arthur looked at the tome in his hands and let out a long breath. Now, it was time to put theory into practice.