Part 1

I didn't even notice my jaws dropping involuntarily as I continued to bear witness to events that shattered everything I considered to be common sense. I felt that I've finally gotten a glimpse of just how utterly absurd the predicament I've suddenly found myself in was.

"High Genion particle concentration readings detected. Closing in fast from 6 o'clock sir." a woman below us warned. The corners of the sharp eyed man's lips raised slightly.

"Just as expected. Set High-Phonon barrier to maximum output. All hands brace for impact!" he ordered loudly. Moments later, the ship violently shook and I was sent tumbling down to the floor.

I frantically tried to stand up but fell down on my haunches again. But it wasn't due to fear. I was just utterly shocked.

Demonic mana! How could there be such a powerful surge of demonic mana?! I thought the demon lord was defeated and killed by that idiot. Did the demon lord also get revived and sent to this world?

Huh?

No... Wait a sec... We got hit directly by that extremely powerful surge of demonic mana. The prejudice and hate for the demon race was mainly due to their innate ability to control this highly destructive force which is said to deny the divine and all of creation. I only had the chance to experience it once when we encountered a mutated monster which was able to control demonic mana during our training.

Even if what it could control paled in comparison to a true demon, Vance and I were still driven to a corner by its attacks. Even grampa Galvan had a relatively hard time killing the damn thing.

The demonic mana surge we just got hit with was truly far too overwhelming. If below average attacks utilizing demonic mana already posed a threat to even a former captain of an elite Royal Guard corps, then the attack we got hit with earlier, which was like a powerful and gigantic wave that engulfed the whole ship, should have utterly obliterated us. So... why are we still alive?

I felt someone lightly tap my shoulder. I looked up to see Ms. Nemu making a composed smile as she held out her hand towards me.

"Are you alright? Here, take my hand." she said in a calm, soothing tone. I felt slightly embarrassed but I grabbed her hand anyway, thinking it quite childish to brush her off just to keep appearances. And besides, her hand was amazingly soft and delicate.

Once I managed to calm myself down somewhat, I looked towards Dr. Saionji with a questioning expression. He only smiled lightly as his hands moved to make a placating gesture.

"Don't worry lad. I'll endeavor to answer all of your questions later. For now, just focus on observing and taking it all in." he assured. I decided to follow his advice for now and brought my gaze back to the images displayed on the huge glass window.

Everything that I've experienced so far ever since finding myself on this ship have been quite mind blowing. But the things that are occurring right before my eyes took it to a whole new level.

The steel giants which came out of the ship are still engaged in a fierce battle. I've heard of Magic Engineers and Alchemists creating and controlling automata and golems made out of various materials such as precious metals, stone or wood. But these steel giants felt like an entirely different existence unrelated to those things I've heard bards and adventurers talk about in town or read about on some of the books in my mom's small collection.

They were elegant yet brutal - fast, agile and powerful. They held strange weapons that spat out a countless barrage of glowing projectiles. They unleashed fiery plumes of bluish white luminescence that propelled them swiftly across that dark 'sea' called 'space' just outside of the ship. And they were capable of projecting a large and extremely dense mana shield that enveloped their gigantic frames.

This was another thing that left me quite speechless. The sheer volume of mana concentrated in those shields was absolutely shocking. Even highly proficient Archmages would find it quite hard to accumulate such absurd amounts and condense them into a proper mana shield unless one uses a spell array that gathered mana automatically in such quantities. Even then, the array should be of sufficient size to be practical. Although they were giants, the output being utilized on their shields is virtually impossible even if Magic Engineers imbued the entirety of their massive frames with a spell array. Just how had they done it?

In fact, you can't even call the shields those steel giants have proper, even as flattery. They were, in a word, crude. Quite so, in fact. It's like haphazardly piling up an enormous number of bricks without care for forming a sound structure in order to create a large wall. Although crude, the mana was quite densely packed, resulting in a massive and considerably tough mana shield.

Come to think of it, the demonic mana surge earlier was successfully fended off even though it was absurdly powerful...

Could it be?...

I shuddered at the thought. I tried to direct my sixth sense outwards, trying to perceive the surrounding mana in order to confirm my suspicion. I nearly doubled over once more due to shock.

"This... Ahahaha... Are you kidding me?... I can't even..."

My suspicion was right on the mark. The ship we were on is covered by a mana shield several times more massive than those used by the steel giants. And, unlike the giants shields, the one covering the ship seemed to follow some sort of spell structure.

It was still terribly simple, but the structure still bolstered the overall toughness of the shield. Coupled with the sheer amount and density of mana that constitutes the massive mana shield, it comes as no surprise that it was able to withstand the demonic mana surge earlier.

However, what really gets me is precisely the quantity of mana utilized in forming and maintaining the shield. It was really quite unreasonable to an absurd degree.

Even the Almadeus Theocracy's prided Divine Eight Pointed Star, the largest perpetual spell array in the world I'm from, pales in comparison. It allowed for the existence of a massive magic barrier encompassing the entirety of the Theocracy's capital. But the mana shield that's now blanketing the ship we're on dwarfs it in density, toughness and overall mana consumption.

Mana is said to be the breath of the world. It is the purest form of energy that comes from the wellspring of all life and gives the world its brilliance and vitality. However, there's a limit to how much mana a spell array can draw from the world.

The world has a natural ability to replenish mana within it. But it is by no means a fast process. There are times when consumption exceeds the world's mana replenishment rate, causing it to be unable to keep up, thus creating an barren area with dangerously low mana concentrations. This can only spell disaster for that areas environment as well as the beings living within it.

Mana shortage could spell the deterioration of the area in which it occurs, so perpetual spell arrays have always been regulated by the World Magic Association. Almadeus Theocracy isn't exempt from this either, especially since the Association's headquarters was located in its capital city.

I have a rough idea of what the benchmark is for arrays and spells which cause large scale mana consumption. I did properly study the basics because of my aptitude for magic, despite it being average at best. And even I could tell that the mana shield the ship was encased in has already exceeded that value by a very large margin.

Just how were they able to accomplish this? Does this world simply have an over abundance of mana? Or do the people here not know or care much about the danger excessive mana consumption poses?

In any case, I'll have to press Dr. Saionji for answers later. I just hope he'll be able to give them.

Part 2

The situation had finally settled down for the most part after a while. I found myself standing stock still with furrowed brows; caught up in trying to digest all that happened. The sharp eyed man seated at the center of the raised platform we were on continued to give out crisp orders to the others in the room. He's obviously this ships captain. Dr. Saionji stood beside him with that unreadable expression of his.

"Damage report." the sharp eyed man spoke as he directed his gaze towards one of the women operating strange contraptions.

"Aegis' High-Phonon Converter is showing some signs of a minor breakdown after the concentrated Genion particle attack. Other than that, we're relatively unscathed sir." the woman replied in a steady tone.

The sharp eyed man nodded slightly and turned towards Dr. Saionji.

"It looks like the 'Shield of Aegis' did live up to the estimated performance specs." he remarked with a slight grin.

Dr. Saionji nodded at the sharp eyed man's remark, and yet sighed and shook his head soon afterwards.

"It's still woefully flawed. Its stability and consumption rate remain unfeasible for defending against sustained barrages, especially from weapons utilizing Genion particles. The attack we got hit with earlier very nearly depleted our High-Phonon reserves. Although it managed to hold up in the end, that was still too close for comfort.

It also consumes a considerable amount of converted particles. It'll run our reserves dry fairly quickly, effectively turning us into sitting ducks in the middle of an engagement. It remains quite costly and impractical despite our best efforts. Truly unfortunate..." he complained and let out a disgruntled sigh. The sharp eyed man grinned helplessly.

"Still quite the perfectionist, I see. In any case, we did manage to get through quite a predicament with practically no losses. That's something to be glad about at the very least. That guys 'insight' is still as sharp and eerily accurate as ever. Pity he can't do it consistently." the sharp eyed man remarked once more. Dr. Saionji's mood turned slightly better.

"Mm... Blaise Olver truly has developed quite nicely. The entire groups progress is also quite remarkable. But I'm expecting our boy here to follow suit and possibly give us even better results." Dr. Saionji replied and tapped me on the shoulder, surprising me and snapping me out of my current thoughts.

"Eh? W-What?"

I could only react in a dumbfounded manner. I was still quite overwhelmed by the last series of events. The sharp eyed man threw me a scrutinizing gaze. I gulped involuntarily from the intensity. He then turned back to Dr. Saionji with a skeptical expression.

"You sure this guy can take it? He looks as plain as they come. Wet behind the ears too." he asked with a criticizing tone.

Ugh. I know I'm quite plain looking but but did he have to be so blunt about it?

Dr. Saionji laughed heartily and put his arm around my shoulder, acting all chummy.

"Don't worry. I can vouch for his ability. Given a little training, I'm sure he'll do quite well. Or do you not have faith in my eye for talent Lawrence?" he addressed the sharp eyed man with a teasing smile.

"Nothing of the sort my good doctor. Or should I say 'professor'? You've more than proven your scouting prowess already." the sharp eyed man retorted.

The both of them stared unblinking at each other for a few moments, then broke into hearty laughter soon afterward. Their behavior made it even more confusing and awkward for me. Just what were they expecting out of someone like me?

"Oh, right. I haven't really introduced you guys yet huh. This boorish fellow here is Lawrence Hill. As you may have noticed, he's the captain of this ship. The lovely lady over there is Miranda Hill, the woman unfortunate enough to have married this buffoon. She's also this ships Executive Officer. Lawrence. Mira. This young man right here is the latest recruit who agreed to participate in the Elysium project. He now goes by the name of Myst Evrard."

Noticing my awkward expression, Dr. Saionji jerked me towards the sharp eyed man and made an abrupt introduction. The sharp eyed man nodded towards me and the woman with the cold demeanor slightly smiled.

Eh?! They were married? It looks to me like the woman named Miranda was the ships vice captain or something. Is that even allowed? Dr. Saionji lightly chuckled at my reaction.

"Nice to meet you kid. And I take offence to that other statement! I vowed to make Mira the happiest woman in the galaxy the moment I decided to marry her." Cpt. Hill retorted in a surprisingly sincere tone.

"I'm sorry gentlemen, but I don't think this is a proper time to be engaging in tomfoolery. We still have the aftermath of the earlier engagement to deal with. The Wyvern squadron is also awaiting further orders sir." Ms. Miranda pointed out after getting our attentions with a light cough. Although she sounded quite harsh, she couldn't hide the faint blush on her face, prompting Cpt. Hill to smile unabashedly. Dr. Saionji chuckled once more.

"Of course. Well then gentlemen, my queen has spoken. Back to work I go." Cpt. Hill cheerfully exclaimed and immediately turned his focus back towards giving out commands.

"Nemu, go ahead and guide Myst to his new quarters. I'll stay here and observe for a bit more. I'll hurry over to answer any question you have after I finish my business here lad." Dr. Saionji instructed. Seeing my reluctant expression, he said some words to reassure me.

Ms. Nemu immediately complied and dragged me out of the room. Even if I was still a bit reluctant, the sweet, flowery scent and the soft sensation on my arm made my misgivings go down the drain. I was successfully led out of the room with a still somewhat bewildered expression.

Part 3

The atmosphere instantly became heavy as soon as Myst got led away by Nemu.

"Are you really sure about this? You're planning to make him the primary test pilot for Unit E-S right? Will he really be up to snuff? He looked so confused and lost earlier. It's hard to imagine him having high potential." Cpt. Hill asked Dr. Saionji with a grave tone. Dr. Saionji smirked slightly.

"I'm quite sure about this Lawrence. That guy's quite interesting after all. I've observed and studied many latent espers in the past ever since we started this project, and he's one of the most remarkable I've seen in a while. Truly fascinating." he replied excitedly. Cpt. Hill's brows knitted after hearing it.

"Are you saying he's got potential on par with Blaise and the rest? What's his ability?" Cpt. Hill asked curiously.

"I haven't had the chance to find out what his ability is yet. But even now, I think his potential is outstanding." Dr. Saionji answered.

"Oh. How so? What made you become so taken with him?" Cpt. Hill probed further.

"His capability to sense and control High-Phonon particles is already at a very advanced level even without any formal training. That alone already makes him quite unique. Even Blaise and Izuho, two of our most outstanding subjects, couldn't exert such fine control over the particles at first." Dr. Saionji elaborated. Cpt. Hill's expression flashed with interest after hearing it.

"How high is his talent for particle control? To what extent is he able to influence them?" Cpt. Hill urged Dr. Saionji to elaborate further.

"He's already quite proficient in the particle refinement and integration stages. We had the opportunity to observe him doing just that the other day. It got us quite excited. I was also observing his reactions earlier, and have confirmed that the degree on which he's able to interact with High-Phonon particles has already exceeded our expectations." Dr. Saionji explained.

"Just what did he do earlier? I only saw him looking all confused." Cpt. Hill remarked.

"He actually probed Aegis' particle field Lawrence. I kept observing particle activity around him all throughout the engagement. There was a slight spike in particle activity as he was looking up at the hull earlier.

He managed to grasp them Lawrence. Regardless of distance. Regardless of several layers of reinforced composite armor plating between the bridge and the hull. Regardless of the interference from the aftermath of the Genion particle surge we got hit with earlier. He still did it. Do you understand just how remarkable that is?"

There was an obvious tinge of expectation in Dr. Saionji's voice as he talked. His eyes shined with barely repressed fervor.

"If all of that's true, then we've possibly encountered a real golden egg. The project's been stagnant for a while now. Even if our current subjects are progressing quickly in terms of developing their respective abilities, we haven't really made any significant progress with our main objectives. We have to proceed carefully and ascertain the extent of that guys ability. I assume you'll personally take charge of developing him."

Cpt. Hill's eyes flashed with anticipation as well. He finally began acknowledging Mysts value. He's known Dr. Satoru Saionji for quite some time even before they were drafted to participate in the Elysium project. He's quite confident in Dr. Saionji's analyses if nothing else.

"Of course. Now, if you'll excuse me. The guy's probably getting all anxious. It's time I take the opportunity to probe him a bit more."

Dr. Saionji made a playful salute, turned on his heels and headed out of Aegis' bridge to meet up with his new promising subject.

-Chapter 10 End-