Chapter 116 The Inheritance

Evernya appeared in a dark room. Within a second, her eyes adjusted to the darkness, revealing her location to be behind shelves stocked with crates. Despite the near-total darkness, Evernya scanned her surroundings with near-perfect clarity.

Upon realizing her return to Sespina, Evernya tried to communicate with Aya through their bond, but like in the facility, something blocks her. Next, she pulled up her phone screen through her AI to call Meira, but the call function remained grayed out, forcing her to give up.

Unable to contact her family, Evernya hopped off the bench seat to investigate past the shelves. Upon entering the next room, Evernya stopped dead as tears gathered in her glowing eyes. “What happened to my treasure!?” Evernya exclaimed as she took in the empty dust-covered vault. Where priceless valuables once sat, now piles of dust resided as if everything disintegrated.

Evernya’s shoulders slumped in relief as she spotted Nekomata resting on the pedestal where she left them, ruling out thievery. “I’m sorry, my lady, but it appears your inheritance couldn’t withstand your father’s mana core,” Kya stated, after borrowing her host’s senses, to find all display cases and shelves devoid of mana.

After a moment of mourning her lost fortune, Evernya recovered. Damn, so much for living the high life without putting the work in. If only I stored away some jewelry pieces on my way to my father’s mana core. Oh well, I can’t do anything about it now, though I wonder how everything got destroyed. Was everything a mana bound artifact? But why did Nekomata survive? They were closer to the epicenter than everything else. To be honest, I would rather earn my way through life than have everything handed to me anyway, but it still hurts to lose so much because of one careless mistake.

While trying to keep her eyes off of the dust-covered displays, Evernya approached Nekomata. The moment her hands contacted Nekomata, mana shot into her mana core, rebranding her ownership of the artifacts. However, the binding process did not stop there as she felt something deeper link with the artifacts, binding them to her on a deep fundamental level on par with her bond with Aya.

After the bond completed, a bright blue glow encompassed the artifacts as they shot out of her hands, causing her to take a step back in surprise. Both artifacts came alive with the legs wriggling, as if they weren’t solid only a few seconds ago.

Evernya’s eyes widened as the artifacts beamed toward her. She moved her arms up to protect her face only for the artifacts to target her arms as if that were their target all along. The artifacts latched onto her inner forearms before she could defend herself. Stabbing pains burned through her arms as Nekomata’s razor-sharp legs dug into her forearms.

Evernya gritted her teeth as she watched helplessly as the artifacts dig themselves under her skin, burying themselves until only the glowing half cylinder remained exposed a few millimeters above the skin.

After embedding themselves in her inner forearms, the exposed portion shined brightly, lighting up the vault. A new, far too familiar burning pain speared through her arms, originating at the artifacts, prompting her to close her eyes and bring up her mana system.

She watched as mana from the artifact forced its way through her arms, creating its own mana vein linking to her mana system at her shoulder nodes. After establishing connection, the mana continued to travel through her mana system until it reached her brain, her body to freeze.

Knowledge flowed through her deep bond with the artifacts, triggering a trancelike state as her body began to move on its own. Glowing two meter long sapphire blue wires shot out of the artifact embedded in her inner forearm just beyond her wrists as her body burst in motion.

Her body gracefully flowed through the podiums while the wires gain a life of their own, lashing out at the podiums, cutting through them like butter as she danced past. Upon the right and of the podiums, her body spun before planting her right foot firmly on the ground, blurring back through the podiums, this time clearing the twenty meter distance in less than a second, leaving cleaved podiums in her wake. She continued on back to gracefully dancing toward the dust filled displays along the left wall, lashing out with her silent but deathly sharp glowing wires at any and all targets as she passed.

Over an hour later, Evernya finally stilled, red-faced and panting from the exertion. What the hell just happened? It’s like I turned a key, unlocking the first stage of my Nekomata. I mean, I won’t argue against the gift, but how did it happen? Meira mentioned I should know the basics about my mana bound artifact, so maybe that’s what happened. Ugh, always more questions than answers. Whatever happened at least gifted me a solid understanding of how to use my Nekomata, though something tells me I have a long way to go before I can master them.

After her inner monologue, Evernya turned her attention to her AI for her input, “Any chance you know what just happened to me?”

Kya appeared in Evernya’s vision with an apologetic expression as she responds, “I’m sorry, my lady, but aside from some miscellaneous files, my current knowledge only covers subjects related to Draecath and maintaining your health. All I can tell is the bond with your artifacts is beyond a simple mana bond, but I’m sure you already know that.”

“Well, I guess we will find out eventually together. For now, I’m just glad they survived.” Evernya commented as she stared down at the now dormant embedded artifacts.

She surveyed the carnage of diced podiums and displays in awe. I have a long way to go before I master them, but damn, they are deadly as is. I don’t really get how near weightless wires have enough cunning force to slice through stone like butter, but I won’t complain. I’ll have to experiment with them once I get back.

Evernya sent a command to un-summon the artifacts, but to her surprise they remain embedded in her forearms as if a part of her body. She flexed her wrists, finding no limit to her mobility while running her finger along the left artifact she knew as Neko, finding her skin perfectly merged with an artifact as if it belonged there. I guess I have another addition to my body. At least these aren’t too noticeable and they would be easy to hide if I needed to, as they are only ten centimeters long and barely stick out.

Evernya returned to the cart. No longer rushed by the impending doom of the facility shutting down, Evernya eyed the six-meter high stack of crates with curiosity. “So, what’s in the crates that is so important that it was worth delaying my escape?” Evernya inquired.

Eager to make up for her previous failure, Kya immediately answered, “11/12 crates contain chilled four-liter jugs of mana held in stasis to ensure freshness while the last one contains clothes your previous self preferred.”

At the mention of delicious mana, Evernya’s fangs descended as she stared at the crates with hunger in her eyes. Unable to help herself, Evernya hopped on the bench seat of the cart, but unfortunately, even on the bench, she found the latches of the crates out of her reach. Undeterred, she used to telekinetically pull the latches open, only to pull not only the latches but the entire crate. Evernya ducked as the crate flew over her head, grazing her ear tips before slamming into the wall behind her with a thud.

Evernya spun to survey the damage but breathed a sigh of relief when she found the crate ajar but otherwise undamaged. Crisis averted, Evernya turned a questioning look toward her AI, who promptly explained. “Do you remember when I said you would have control issues? This is one of those control issues. When your mana system wiped away, it took your affinities with it, resetting your progress.”

Confusion marred Evernya’s face as she questioned, “my control wasn’t this bad when I first started. If anything, the control part came naturally.”

A ‘are you stupid,’ expression flashed on Kya’s virtual face before she schooled her features. “Do you have any idea how much more powerful you are? At the moment, you are practically a drag car running on narrow bald tires. Sure, you have a ton of power at your fingertips, but without extreme care, all you will do is spin your tires.”

“How powerful? I don’t feel any stronger aside from the near weightlessness, but that’s probably because of my unnaturally lightweight.” Evernya inquired as she approached the crate resting against the wall just under five meters away.

Kya performed a quick scan before answering, “I can’t say for sure as your available mana grade fluctuates because of the seals, which also affects your already abysmal control. It doesn’t help that after awakening a full mana system, your mana grade doesn’t follow the same ranking as those in the Sespinian Federation. However, if I were to give an estimate, I would say power wise, you are above your elf friend Meira.”

Evernya stumbled forward in surprise just within reach of the crate, forcing her to reach out to steady herself. With widened eyes, Evernya directed her attention to her AI’s avatar standing to her right, exclaiming, “I skipped an entire mana stage!?”

While trying to keep a professional expression, Kya reiterated, “Well, the Sespinian method of gauging mana grades doesn’t apply, but yes, your assessable mana is on par with the upper arisen stage based on your memories of meeting those of that power level. But I suppose your quark prevents even you from feeling your own mana grade.”

“Quark? What do you mean feel my mana grade?” Evernya questioned.

“I’m sorry, my lady, but did you misplace your brain somewhere?” Kya teased with a straight face.

Evernya flashed an annoyed look as her AI continued. “Your lack of mana leakage and scent isn’t normal, even among Draecath. Most Draecath have high mana leakage to the point they stick out like a sore thumb. From my logs, your parents had a hell of a time keeping track of you when you ran off, even going as far as to lock trackers on you, which you somehow always removed. Unfortunately, this quirk is also why it was so difficult to track you down during your enslaved murder spree.”

Evernya’s annoyance morphed into curiosity as she turned toward her AI’s avatar, putting off the investigation of the crate temporarily. “You know about the previous me?”

A teasing smile spread on Kya’s virtual face as she spoke, “of course, my lady, your mother gave me several juicy files.”

Worried, Evernya demanded, “show them to me.”

Kya’s smile stretched further, replying, “I’m sorry, my lady, but your mother ordered me only to reveal essential information as she was afraid of affecting your decisions if you knew too much about your previous life.”

While staring at her AI suspiciously, Evernya questioned, “then why are you smiling?”

“You would be to if you knew all the embarrassing secrets I know.” Kya replied.

What does she mean by embarrassing secrets? Did my mother fuel her with a ton of dumb decisions I may or may not have done as my original incarnation? Either way, my pride as a feline being asserts, I must know everything no matter how cringy for curiosity’s sake! With a determined glare, Evernya proclaimed, “I will suck those secrets out of you if it’s the last thing I do!”

While smiling, Kya pointed her virtual arm toward the crate. “Why don’t you get dressed. I know as a Draecath, you don’t care about your lack of clothes, but I doubt human society will share your view.”

Evernya glances down, just now noticing her state of undress. I wonder, could I get away with just my natural armor? It isn’t any skimpier than a training suit, plus unlike the training suit, it probably provides some protection.

Curious, Evernya shifted her natural armor without her wings. She elongated her sapphire claws on her right hand and slashed her left forearm above Neko, leaving five scratches but otherwise minimal damage. A few seconds later, the scratches disappeared as her armor healed itself. Curiosity satisfied, Evernya shifted away her natural armor before turning her attention to the ajar crate, teasing several black garments.

Evernya flipped the lid open, revealing stacks of neatly folded black clothing ranging from undergarments to even several dresses with sapphire blue accents. As soon as her hands contacted the first garment, Evernya let out an excited squeal.

While clutching the silky smooth fabric against her chest, Evernya exclaimed, “I thought I lost you forever!” Unable to resist, Evernya pulled on the bodysuit, which automatically conforms to her body shape without inputting mana. Evernya danced, relishing in the silky smooth hug of the familiar material against her now much more sensitive skin.

Kya watched her host make a fool of herself for several minutes before revealing, “apparently some things never change. As a child, you refused to wear any clothes, no matter how expensive or fancy, forcing her parents to get creative. Desperate, they sent your mana and any high-end material they could think of to the best fabric makers in the area. What came back was a black scentless silk-like material composed of dozens of different materials woven together with your mana used as the binding agent. Not only is the material velvety soft and resilient, it takes after your mana, causing it to appear scentless and manaless. They named the creation Evernium.”

Evernya’s eyes widened in realization, prompting her to dive headfirst into the crate filled with the silky material. Like a pig in mud, Evernya rolled around in the four square meter crate with a smile of contentment on her face.

A purr resonated throughout the silent room as the girl nestled in her makeshift nest lied still with a slack expression as her body relaxed into the now messy piles of silky material in the crate.

Evernya’s thoughts became increasingly loopy as sleep took hold. I need to have my sheets made of this amazing stuff. Better yet, why don’t I convert everything I touch? No one will steal it away from me ever again. Speaking of steal, I should hunt down the nurse who stripped my original outfit. The nurse deserves punishment for the grave crime of stealing my beloved Evernium. One thing is for sure, I’ll never wear anything else ever again!