I wake up to a noise in my ear. The fake is talking again. “What do you mean the child of Kane and Calliope?”

A familiar voice speaks. “Nova Allandis. She can absorb mana like no other. Even her blood is enough.” I sit up straight, wide awake. “Her blood… it almost acts like a high quality mana stone. If we can create mana stones from it, we won’t have to worry about the upcoming battles.”

“The project was successful?”

“Right. All we need to do is milk the profits. Only such a combination of Kane Allandis and Calliope Donatella could create such a beautiful specimen.”

There’s silence. Then, the fake Price says, “That beautiful specimen that you are talking about is dangerous. There’s no telling what she will do once she learns what happened. She had a battle today and used unknown spells.”

“What were they? Perhaps the child may be of assistance.”

“The words were raviga, vetida, and fonis.”

“Got it. I’ll let you know what I find.” The sound of someone falling heavily into a couch ends the conversation.

Looking out the window, I notice the moon still high in the sky. My limbs ache, but I don my school uniform and head to the woods. I reach an isolated area and set up anti-eavesdropping spells. After casting on my bracelet, it’s not long before I connect with my parents.

“Mama, Papa.”

“Nova, baby, it’s so early in the morning,” my mother murmurs, quite obviously exhausted.

On the other hand, my father’s voice is full of energy as he says, “Hello, Nova. What’s up?”

I relate what I heard before asking, “What combination could they be talking about?”

They’re both silent for a moment before my mother says, “The only thing I could possibly think of is the mix between your father’s talent and the Donatella Family’s inherent ability.”

“What do you mean?” I’ve never heard of any such inherent ability.

“Honestly speaking, your father and I have been relieved you never asked about the Donatella Family. It’s… not something to bring up lightly, but I believe now that it is relevant.” She takes a deep breath. “During a rebellion when I was still a child, I returned to my house one day to find all the maids and butlers dead and my family missing. They never reappeared.”

My father interjects, “None of the members were ever found, and my family took in your mother. We had no leads on the perpetrators. The militia caught all the rebels and assumed that one of them did it, but none of them ever confessed and the majority of them committed suicide in jail. Your latest information leads me to believe that it was actually the demon faction that caused the fall of the Donatella household.”

“I’m not following,” I say. “What does this have to do with Mama’s family’s ability?”

I can imagine the looks my parents are giving each other right now. My mother replies, “Your grandfather, my father, was a Tier Mage equivalent to at least five other Tier Mages. This is because those of the Donatella Family can absorb and purify mana much more efficiently than anyone else.”

So that’s why I seem to regenerate mana much quicker than my peers. I stifle my chuckle of delight and ask, “Is there any particular reason for this?”

“Well…”

The ball passes back to my father. “During the Demon War, the government experimented to create a human that had enough power to rival the demons. The experiment was shut down on the grounds of inhumanity, but not before the researchers broke through.”

“And the successful lab rat is the ancestor of the Donatella Family,” I finish drily. “Then what about you, Papa? What does Mama mean by talent? Why does it have to be a cross between Mama and you?”

Again with the silence. “Actually, there’s something we haven’t told you about Natasha Broffenberg.”

Cocking my head, I say, “What is it?”

“Nothing much, just that she’s my cousin.”

“What do you mean?”

“My father’s sister married into a family of Tier Mages, the Broffenberg Family.”

My entire body freezes as I process this information. “So you mean to say you are as proficient at magic as Teacher Broffenberg?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that. I never had much of an imagination, not like you, so I only learned the magi language. Besides, I much rather prefer strategy over magic. I don’t have enough innate mana.”

“Was there ever a time when Teacher Broffenberg was kidnapped as a child?”

“You would have to ask her directly. She was never one to take into account relations. Her parents were… a little cold, to say the least.”

“So a mix of you two becomes the perfect specimen that can rival a demon army.” I sigh and massage my temples. So they took my blood to create… what? More of my blood? But how would they manufacture my blood? Creating blood should be impossible. Unless… Are they creating clones of me? I take a step backwards at this thought, feeling the blood rushing out of my head.

My mother’s voice pulls me out of my reverie. “Only you would have the ability to defeat a demon army alone. Forget your talent, Nova. You are the most creative, most hard-working person I have ever seen. Only someone of your calibre would be able to save the world.”

“Mama, that’s cheesy,” I murmur, my heart warming at her words.

“It’s also fully what I think of you. Didn’t you say you wanted to be a Great Sage? The last known Great Sage died a millennium ago. If you don’t become one, it would be the world’s loss.”

I laugh lightly. “Thank you, Mama. I think I know what I need to do right now.” A sudden thought occurs to me. “Oh, I met Jakos.”

“Jakos? Who’s that?” my father replies.

“He’s Teacher Broffenberg’s Head Butler. He infiltrated the demon faction, and recently ran, saying that the people should know the threat that is coming.”

“What?”

“Have you heard that a demon appeared on campus?”

“I have received no such reports. Why? What happened? Are you okay?”

That group seems to have people everywhere. Even such news has been blocked off. “Jakos took a demon out with him as evidence and he tried to bring it to show the public that there is a huge threat, but the demon disappeared out of his hands and reappeared on campus. It was quickly subdued.”

“Where is he now?”

“I left him somewhere safe. Anyway, I thought you should know about this matter and sort out information flow.”

“I’ll look into it.”

“Okay. I’ll call you again.”