Chapter 49 The Core

“Arisen Grade 8.21 in mana force!” Meira exclaimed in shock.

After a few seconds, she calmed down enough to look at the data more thoroughly.

Meira turned her attention to her guilty kitten. “How are you feeling? This output of mana should have caused damage to your mana veins. Your mana system outputted a mana grade of over arisen 8 in force when under awakened 6. The peak output only lasted a thousandth of a second, but it was enough to cause this much destruction.”

“So you’re not mad?” Evernya questioned, still droopy eared.

“Of course not. Why would I? What I want to know is how you feel. Even I would have minor mana vein overload from such a dangerous output of magic.” Meira insisted as she pulled up Evernya’s data on her tablet.

“I’m fine. I was a little out of breath right after, but otherwise, nothing bad happened,” Evernya replied with her tail and ears a bit perkier.

“I’m glad. From your readings, you are fine other than a sizable dip in your mana pool. That burst of yours used over 25% of your mana pool.” Meira reported.

“Do you know what happened to me?” Evernya asked, curiosity overtaking her previous guilt.

“I may have an idea. What exactly were you feeling at the time of the explosion?” Meira inquired after rereading the readings at the explosion.

Evernya ran through the events from memory before responding, “I don’t know. I was too angry to think. I felt constricted by the range limitation, and I just exploded. I think I blanked out just before because the next thing I remember, I was standing at the bottom of the sphere.”

“I think your draconic genes are the cause. Usually, only half-dragons or purer have this trait, so I didn’t think you had it. Dragon rage is one reason half-dragon humans who stay with their human family are on a watch list.” Meira explained.

“Dragon rage? watch list?” Questioned Evernya.

Meira dematerialized her tablet as she turned her full attention to her kitten. “Dragon rage is when a draconic being feels a powerful emotion, usually anger. As a response to this emotion, their mana condenses temporarily to allow for a boosted response. Even full-blooded dragons have no control over when it happens. Unless you are a full-blooded Dragon, there is a cooldown period, which explains why your dragon rage didn’t show itself before now. Do you remember any other times you felt similar?” Meira asked

Evernya reviewed her memories before responding, “I think I felt a similar power awaken when I blew off my slave bands, but I was hardly thinking clearly at the time.”

Meira’s face brightened as she had an ah-ha moment. “We were wondering how you escaped. It makes so much more sense now! The weakness of a rubber band type mana seal is its inability to handle sudden bursts of strength. You were probably low grade 5, which is nowhere near enough power to break those limiters. You would need at least arisen one to strain the limiters. Few limiters could handle dragon rage while you are near a large mana source such as a lay line like you described. It also explains why the damage to your mana veins was so severe. There is no way your old mana veins could withstand arisen stage or maybe even ascended stage mana without damage.” Meira rambled as the pieces fit together in her mind.

Unlike Meira, Evernya was less excited as memories of her time in the dreaded lab flashed through her mind.

Unaware of her kitten’s darkening mood, Meira continued to ramble. “So your trigger seems to be the feeling of being confined or controlled. As long as you avoid those types of situations, rage and panic attacks should be minimal. It would be horrible if you accidentally hurt someone in one of these episodes, worse if the government found out you have dragon rage.”

Evernya catching the mention of government and watch lists interrupted Meira’s rambling. “You never answered my question about watch lists. What does the human government have to do with draconic issues?”

Without missing a beat, Meira shifted into answering Evernya’s question. “First of all, it would out you as draconic, bringing with it charges of falsifying your identity. The main issue, though, is they would put you on a watch list and outfit you with a tracker barring you from tier 2 and up cities. Humans don’t want someone who could fly into an uncontrollable rage at a moment’s notice in highly populated areas.”

Evernya’s eyes flashed with anger at the mention of being tracked and confined. “is there anything Humans don’t regulate!?” Evernya growled.

Meira quickly continued before her kitten blew her top. “To be fair, most of these regulations are because of a major war or disaster. The Dragon rage regulations happened in the 1970s after a poor bullied teenage boy who didn’t know he was half-dragon entered dragon rage. He destroyed the high school, killing dozens under the influence of his Dragon rage. Luckily it was after school, so the school was mostly empty.”

“After the Martin high school massacre, the High Mage’s Council implemented regulations to prevent future incidents. A human and a half-dragon are impossible to tell apart until after the half-dragon has their second awakening. After their second awakening, which usually happens a few years after their first, a half-dragon grows horns in the shape of their draconic parent, easily identifying them. To weed out pre-awakened half-dragons, every teenager has their body scanned for strong draconic heritage before obtaining their ID. Luckily you skipped the scan, though I don’t think your draconic genes are potent enough to trip the scan.”

Evernya remained silent for several seconds, with her eyes closed to process the new information and calm herself down before asking her next question. “What will happen to me if they find out I am draconic enough for the watch list?”

“Unless you cause a scene in dragon rage, you should be fine. However, it is possible that a second awakening forces your heritage out in the open. A second awakening would explain your body’s need to stockpile nutrients coupled with the fact indicators were present, hinting your body has yet to reach full maturity. Either way, we will deal with it when it comes up.” Meira replied, showing no worry, easing her kitten’s growing panic.

A few tail strokes later, Evernya asked her next question to change the subject. “What happened to the boy?”

Meira leaned against the giant serpent lying in the yard as she told the story. “He gained public support when his repeated attempts to seek help from teachers and staff for the bullying came to light. During his trial, thousands gathered outside the Mage’s Council building to show their support. Unfortunately, since he awakened a few weeks prior, the mage’s council tried him as an adult, allowing for harsher verdicts. After a lengthy trial, the Mage’s Council ruled the ones at fault were the bullies and the faculty. Unfortunately, since all those at fault died in the dragon rage, the Mage’s Council had to blame someone to pacify the families of the victims. So they ended up punishing the boy.”

“Since he technically wasn’t at fault, they couldn’t execute him or cripple his mana core, so they exiled him from all cites in Sespina. His mother’s family tried to protest the ruling, but the Mage’s Council stood firm, implementing his exile a month later.”

“He later became famous through the Adventuring guild, completing many near-suicidal quests solo to atone for what he did. Unfortunately, around five years ago, he left for a quest to hunt a mana beast deep in the dawn mountain range and never returned. A few weeks after his departure, his link to the adventurer’s guild severed, officially reporting him dead. By this time, his mana grade was upper arisen stage, so whatever killed him must have been very strong. Over his adventuring career, he saved thousands of lives more than making up for his dragon rage. At the time of his death, he was the highest-ranked solo adventurer with a rank of S.”

By the end of the story, Evernya’s eyes were moist with unshed tears. “I hope his next life is better. He deserved to have a happy ending. I’m sure the massacre and the forced separation from his family traumatized him.” Evernya sobbed, feeling unusually connected to the poor boy’s story.

Meira, surprised by her kitten’s reaction, continued. “The adventuring guild, who didn’t agree with the ruling, gave him lodging for free. This act of kindness was one of the driving forces for him to become an adventurer. If they didn’t offer to lodge him, the poor boy probably would have died in the slums that exist between the city barrier and the outer barriers.”

After reining in her emotions, Evernya turned her attention to the giant serpent lying in the yard. “So, what is with the massive snake? That thing has to be over twenty meters long.”

Meira’s chest puffed up as she pet her prized catch. “Oh, this? Its called a Blue Serpent, a water-dwelling snake that can grow over thirty meters long. This one is a young adult of around twenty meters. I estimate him to be an arisen grade three mana beast. While I was fishing, he tried to make a meal out of me. So I plan to make a meal out of him instead. I wanted to catch some fish to cheer you up, but I got him instead. Unfortunately, I didn’t catch any, but this Blue Serpent will make a much better meal. Plus, since he is a true mana beast, we may even get a mana core out of him!”

Meira became even more excited as she continued. “As a bonus, we can use the skin to have armor made for you. The scales will look perfect on you! The scales are the same shade as your eyes! The scales won’t make fantastic armor since it lacks any unique attributes besides its beautiful color, but it will make excellent starting armor.”

Evernya stared at her Elven keeper, arms crossed, unimpressed. “I swear you hunted down this snake just because it matches my eyes. Does everything have to do with fashion for you?”

At being called out, Meira unconvincingly defended herself. “I’m telling you the truth! He tried to eat me! I may have seen him first and launched an air blade at him, but he did try to eat me.”

Evernya’s amusement grew as Meira continued to ramble in defense of her actions. “You need to care more about your appearance! A lady always has to look good, even while knee-deep in monster guts.”

I hate feeling indebted to someone. Without Meira’s support, I would’ve likely died, but her insistence on girling me up is annoying. Unless my parents forced me, I rarely wore a dress as a human. To be honest, I’m not sure why I just never liked them. I just felt uncomfortable dressing girly. I guess I can deal with wearing dresses occasionally, as I agree dresses do flatter my new body, though I probably could wear just about anything and still look attractive. That’s not arrogance, it’s just an unfortunate fact I’ll probably have to deal with the consequences for many times in the future.

Evernya interrupted Meira’s increasingly childish excuses. “I agree most things you give me are nice, and I won’t complain about free clothes as long as the girly is at a minimum. I refuse to wear colors like pink and definitely no-frills.”

A broad smile boomed across the beautiful elf’s face, causing Evernya to regret her decision immediately. “I can work with that. We will go shopping soon, maybe next week.”

Meira, having gotten her way, changed the subject before her kitten could argue. “So you said you were training. Did you make any progress besides adding a big round lawn ornament to my backyard?” Meira asked, running her eyes over the five-meter tall dome of compacted dirt.

Evernya perked up as she reported bubbling with excitement, tail rapidly swishing behind her. “Actually, I did. I can orbit six weighted balls at once now! You were right. Slowing the orbit down made it much easier to maintain while adding more balls.”

Meira pet her kitten on the head lovingly, earning a glare coupled with a quiet purr. “Good job, you’re a natural at telekinesis. You will be way ahead of others in your class in control. Next I want you to orbit ten at once.”

Evernya hid her disappointment as Meira stopped petting her head between her ears by commencing a question barrage. “Thanks, it’s fun controlling objects with my mind, but I am exhausted and hungry now. Did I miss lunch? I’m on the verge of devouring that snake behind you. It smells delicious. By the way, where did Elizabeth go?”

Amused by her kitten, Meira attempted to answer each question. “Elizabeth left soon after you passed out to do some research on ways to help you. We are trying to find a good style of combat to minimize your range disability. As for lunch, I have one more barrel of my venison concoction. The Blue Serpent is for supper, and probably for at least a week after that.”

Meira materialized the barrel of food before returning to the snake. Evernya watched her examine the Blue Serpent while sucking on her liquified meal. A few minutes later, Meira cut with air magic approximately a quarter down the snake from the head. Ignoring blood and organs spilling out, Meira stuck her hands into the hole to dig around. Meira’s face brightened as she pulled something out of the serpent’s body. With grotesque snapping of connective tissue, she extracted a glowing blue orb. With several precise air blades, the orb disconnected from the serpent’s body. Meira materialized a bucket of water to clean the bloody orb, but just as she lowered it into the bucket water, the orb vanished from her grasp.

The second Evernya’s blade eyes landed on the glowing orb, she lost all interest in her meal. She blurred toward the irresistibly delicious glowing object. Before Meira could react, she snatched the orb from Meira’s hands.

Prize in hand, she retreated several meters before biting into it with her fanged mouth to absorb her delicious prize. Her body flooded with pleasurable mana, causing her to moan. Within a few seconds, her legs gave out. The mana continued to rush into her body, causing smoke to waft off her feverish body.

Soon her body reached its limit and shut down, but the mana continued to flood in even after consciousness left her. Evernya laid limp on the grass with a blissful smile on her face as the mana core crumbled.