Siegfried Fors
"Elara!!! Pour more mana!!! Push it inside!!"
"Focus on the barrier!"
Shouting crashed into my head as consciousness dragged me back, pain pounding behind my head like a hammer striking bone.
"Young lord."
Blake's face swam into view, strained and slick with sweat. I could feel heavy, suffocating waves of mana striking me from every direction, raw and violent, rattling my senses.
"What is…" My voice came out hoarse.
I turned my head to see the chaos unfolding. I pushed myself away from Blake's arms to take in the area where the mana was rushing in. Unlike before, the entire room was spider-webbed with fractures, and at the dead center lay a large, jagged hole. Granny and Lady Serena were positioned right at the edges, glowing, furious golden mana flowing from their hands to surround the hole.
Mother, Uncle Erik, Tavian, Aifa, and Ashar were standing in a tight circle around them, their combined strength fueling a shimmering barrier that rattled with every pulse from the breach. Faux was there too, his small form radiating a surprisingly intense heat.
Another wave of raw, pressurized mana erupted from the hole, and I heard the sickening sound of the walls splintering further.
"Focus, Elara! Focus!" Lady Serena shouted, her voice sharp with urgency.
"Blake, what happened?" I asked, fighting back the urge to succumb to the headache.
"The Unending Demon detonated itself. Lady Valka and the witch lady smothered the blast before it could kill us, but the force still shattered the dungeon's foundation. They are trying to transmute the ground to seal the rift while the others hold back the energy overflow to stop the entire dungeon from collapsing." Blake's voice was tight, his forehead drenched in sweat as he braced against the pressure.
That bastard…
He meant it when he said we were going to hell together.
My gaze locked onto the hole. It wasn't closing at all. If anything, the cracks were racing toward the ceiling. Granny looked terrible. Her face was deathly pale, her mana was wavering like a candle in a storm, and her eyes were glazed with a level of exhaustion that terrified me. The ground beneath her feet was beginning to crumble.
No…
At this rate…
I didn't think. I scrambled to my feet and ran toward the barrier, ignoring Blake's desperate call behind me. "Faux, open a hole for me!" I shouted, sprinting toward the section of the barrier maintained by my familiar.
"Go, Sieg!" Mother's voice cut through the noise. She adjusted her stance, forcing a gap in the barrier right next to her.
"Sis! What are you doing?" Uncle and the others shouted in alarm, but I was already through.
The moment I crossed the threshold, my legs buckled.
I slammed down onto my knees as if the world itself had crushed me, the air leaving my lungs in a painful gasp.
The mana inside the barrier was nothing like the outside.
It was so thick and dense that the very space seemed to be twisting into knots. My head screamed, and a wave of nausea hit me so hard I thought I would vomit. Forget about emitting mana outside; even the mana inside my body was trembling and shaking... It's impossible.
"Sieg… get out."
Granny said it without looking at me, her breaths ragged, sweat pouring down her face like a river.
No.
Seeing her like that, I bit my lip hard, using the sharp sting of pain to anchor my mind. I forced myself up against the crushing weight of the atmosphere.
I will not lose when it comes to mana. I began to suck every drop of mana from my crucible, flooding my mana veins until they felt like they would burst. I pushed the mana outward in every direction, desperately trying to shove back the pressure bleeding from the rift.
"Stop! Do you want the floor to collapse under the weight of your own mana?" Uncle Erik shouted, his voice thick with panic.
"No, do not stop! Go ahead! We will hold the ground together, you transmute the floor!" Lady Serena's voice rang out with a sharp, commanding authority.
I slammed my hands onto the ground.
[Master Alchemist: Transmutation II]
The emerald light of my mana bled into a brilliant gold, flowing through the floor like molten liquid. I could feel the structure of the entire room through my fingertips. I tried to bridge the gap, extending the edges of the stone, but the hole was too vast. The matter was stretching too thin.
"Think of it like clay," Lady Serena said, her voice unnervingly calm amidst the chaos. "Imagine you have a house made of clay and you need to fill a hole in its floor. How would you do it?"
Clay…
If I just pull the edges together to connect them, the foundation stays weak and that's exactly what I've been doing… and it's failing.
Then…
I poured more mana into the ground, spreading it across the room... No, not just the room; even beyond it.
… Add more clay.
I pulled microscopic amounts of matter from everywhere I could reach. Walls, floor, ceiling—everything answered, moving toward the center. The jagged, broken edges of the rift began to extend in an instant, surging forward and weaving together. The hole vanished, sealed shut by the reinforced stone.
When it was done, my arms shook as I pulled them back. A breath escaped me, one I did not realize I had been holding. Heat burned through my body, and my legs barely listened anymore.
Two strong arms wrapped around me tightly, pulling me into a protective embrace.
"It is alright, Sieg. You did good. You did so well," Mother whispered, her voice uncharacteristically soft as she held me.
"Fua?" Faux hovered in front of me, his voice small.
But my eyes had already moved past him.
"Granny…"
Her body tipped forward.
Before she could hit the ground, Uncle caught her. "Ma! Wake up! Ma!"
I tried reaching out, but a hand covered my eye. "Rest, Sieg. Rest."
Mother's warm breath touched my ear as exhaustion caught up with me.
I eventually woke up in Mother's lap, her thighs unexpectedly soft beneath my head. Exhaustion clung to the room like a second air. Everyone else was resting, slumped where they could, eyes closed or half lost. Only Mother and Lady Serena remained alert, standing watch. Even though we were technically in a hurry, there was no way we could continue in our current states.
Mother slowly caressed my forehead, pushing my damp hair back with a tenderness I rarely saw from her. "Still feeling hot?" she asked, her voice quiet and unusually motherly.
"No longer," I said, realizing the feverish heat that had consumed me after the transmutation had finally subsided. "What happened to the demon?"
Mother's face turned grim, her eyes darkening. "Not sure. I can't feel its presence any longer. It simply vanished after the explosion."
Looking at her expression, I don't think she believes he's dead either. A creature like that doesn't just go out in a flash of light.
I turned my head toward Granny. She was sitting against the wall with her eyes closed, her head resting heavily against Uncle's shoulder. Mother told me that Lady Serena had already checked on her. Granny had weakened significantly after draining her mana so completely, and the physical toll had been immense. She should be fine after some rest, but seeing her so fragile sent a pang through my chest.
I lifted my gaze a little farther. Lady Serena was standing a few paces away, speaking in low tones to the blue orb. She glanced at us and walked over.
"You were outstanding, Siegfried," she said, a small smile touching her lips. There was something restrained in it, like frustration buried beneath everything.
"It was all thanks to your hint," I said, my voice sounding hoarse and strained.
She shook her head slowly from side to side. "You understood the explanation and figured out how to close the breach from a single clue. I must say, I am impressed by your intuition."
"You are being weirdly kind with your words," Mother said, raising a brow as she continued to stroke my hair.
"Credit must be given where it is due. He has the making of a True Master Alchemist... unlike someone else I know."
Huh? Who is she talking about? Is there another master alchemist here, or is she taking a jab at Granny?
"T-teacher..."
We all turned as Granny slowly pushed herself upright with Uncle's support, her staff trembling as she used it to stay standing. Her shoulders shook, breaths uneven, eyes unfocused yet stubbornly open.
"I... I am sorry. I..." Granny's voice trailed off, weak and cracking with an emotion I couldn't quite name.
"So pathetic," Lady Serena said, her voice sharp and dripping with annoyance. "And why have you even been using this?"
Before anyone could react, the staff was yanked from Granny's hands. Her balance faltered, and Uncle caught her just in time. The staff flew cleanly into Serena's grip.
I sat up, the lingering dizziness forgotten as the tension in the room spiked.
"Where is the Spaff I gave you?" Serena demanded, her eyes boring into Granny.
"It... it broke. During the stampede of the Beasts of Cataclysm. In a fight with a human shaped insect type beast..." Granny whispered, her head bowing as if she were a scolded child.
"You?" Serena scoffed, disbelief laced with mockery. "Fighting an humanoid?" Her eyes narrowed. "Elara, Elara. Always trying to save the world even if it costs you everything. Does your family even know about your great sacrifice?"
Sacrifice?
Mother pushed me up gently as she stood up, her silver mana beginning to ripple around her like a warning. "Are you not running your mouth a little too much?"
"Do you know what the youngest age a person has officially become a master alchemist is?" Serena asked, her voice cutting through the heavy atmosphere like a sharp blade.
"It is sixteen, right?" Aifa said as she stood up. "A noble named Count Dimnell. He teaches at Celestara University. I still remember how he spent the entire first lecture bragging about how he is the youngest master alchemist in the history of the world."
"Yes. A noble pig," Serena replied flatly. "One who ended up becoming a master alchemist after stealing someone else's work. And the most tragic part of this is that our Elara could have shattered his record by becoming one at fifteen." Serena's eyes narrowed as she looked at Granny. "But she decided against it. Do you know why? Because she deemed her work too dangerous for society."
"Her work?" Mother asked, her brow furrowed. "You mean the special inks she created?"
"Pfft, the inks? Those were just her distractions, her stupid little side projects." Serena spoke with a mocking edge that made my skin crawl with anger. "Her original masterwork was an invisibility potion."
"An invisibility potion? But those have existed for a long time," Ashar noted as he joined us, Tavian and Blake following closely behind him.
"They have been. Though they are of limited use," Tavian explained, his captain instincts taking over. "Invisibility potions can hide someone from the naked eye and erase heat signatures, but they have never been able to completely hide a person's mana signature or the sound of their footsteps. Only high-grade assassins who are already capable of hiding their presence use them."
"That is exactly the point," Serena declared, her voice filled with a twisted sort of pride. "The potion she created under my great tutelage could erase a person's mana signature, their footsteps, and their heat signature entirely. Even if an amateur used it, they would become completely undetectable. She created a potion of Absolute Invisibility."
Wow…
At those words, the room fell into a stunned silence. Tavian and the knights turned their gazes toward Granny, their expressions a mix of awe and terror.
"Ma," Uncle Erik said softly, his hand still supporting her shoulder.
"I understand Lady Fors's reasoning," Ashar said, his voice deep in thought. "If such a potion became public knowledge... no, even if she kept it secret and the rumors alone could have put her life in danger. People would kill to obtain that recipe."
"It is not an alchemist's place to worry about what their creations do to the world," Serena said coldly. "Even if it burns the world to the ground, something new will always rise from the ashes. It is such discoveries that push humanity forward, forcing them to develop countermeasures and deepen their understanding. But in the end, what did she decide to do? She wasted nearly two years crafting dull, harmless inks."
"Seriously, Elara, why did you even come here? You have been stuck at the Delta stage for more than two decades, and you still refuse to use your Master Alchemist abilities to their fullest."
"I-i…" Granny tried to speak, her words tangling before they could form.
…She is saying way too much now
"Hmph. There is no point in being all bark and no bite," Serena said as she tossed the staff back. It clattered against the stone, landing right at Granny's feet.
"So having a conscience is a crime?" I stepped forward, my voice rising before I could stop it. "At least she wasn't so cold-hearted that she let the people of the village she lived with die, unlike a certain someone!" My chest felt tight, hot. "When the beasts arrived, did you even think about going back and checking on them? Even once?"
I did not look away.
"Do not stand there barking at her just because she has morals and wishes to live as a human!"
Serena's eyes widened, her gaze locking into mine, but I didn't back down. I felt the weight of everyone's stares on my back, but the words kept pouring out.
My hands clenched.
"As for being a master alchemist, it doesn't matter who holds the title of being the youngest in history right now. It doesn't matter because soon it will be me. ME!"
I let everything out in one go, the frustration and the protective instinct I felt for Granny boiling over. My chest heaved as I stared at the ancient mage, my hands balled into tight fists at my sides.
"Hah." Serena let out a short, dry scoff as she turned around, her robes swirling. "True. She is a far better human than me… It looks like everyone has recovered enough to stand. Let us continue, we cannot afford to waste any more time." She started walking toward the Time Veil in the distance, her pace brisk and indifferent.
Did I end up saying too much? But I couldn't just stand there. I couldn't let her look down on the woman who raised me with so much love and care.
"And boy," Serena said, looking over her shoulder with a sharp glint in her eyes. "Don't forget the words you just said."
She didn't look displeased or insulted. Instead, a trace of amusement danced on her face.
Eh? Is she talking about what I said about becoming a Master Alchemist? Now, for some reason, I don't feel quite so sure. I have not even decided on my original invention yet.
We slowly followed after her, the atmosphere among our group shifting from exhaustion to a strange, unified tension.
"Young Lord, that was really cool," Aifa whispered softly next to me, her voice filled with genuine admiration.
"You think so?" I asked, feeling the heat rise to my cheeks.
She nodded with a bright, supportive smile.
"She is right," Granny said from my right side. She was still being supported by Uncle Erik, but she looked a little more present, a little more like herself. "Thank you, Sieg."
"I am sorry if I overstepped and spoke too much," I muttered, glancing back at the others. "But Mother and Uncle looked ready to jump her."
My eyes moved between the two of them. They still looked like they were choosing where to strike.
"Oh, I haven't let her off the hook," Mother said, cracking her knuckles. "I am definitely punching her after we get out of here."
Uncle Erik nodded in grim agreement, his eyes fixed on Serena's back as we stepped toward the veil.
I can't deny that a part of me would love to see Mother and Serena fight. It would be a clash of powers, a spectacle worth witnessing just to see where the peak of the magic truly lies.
We moved without much trouble into another timeline, arriving inside a long tunnel. At first glance, nothing felt different, except for the cracks running along the walls and ceiling.
Could this be because of the breach in the previous time period? But the cracks back there were completely sealed by transmutation.
Serena studied the cracks for a brief moment before pressing forward, the blue orb guiding the way.
Everyone remained weirdly silent as we moved deeper, but I couldn't blame them for the lack of chatter. I was getting chills all over my body—a cold, prickling sensation. It was the same feeling I had when I was near the source of the darkness. Judging by the way everyone had their weapons readied and their eyes darting around, they felt it too. Our pace kept getting faster as we walked, until eventually, Uncle Erik simply lifted Granny up into his arms to keep her from falling behind.
Then, the sound of water flowing reached us. It wasn't the sound of a clean stream, but a heavy, viscous slithering.
Ugh not again.
From the cracks all around us, the black liquid began to pour, dripping and spreading along the stone.
"Move," Mother said as she swept me up under her arm.
As our steps quickened into a sprint, Serena touched the wall while moving. Golden mana surged from her fingertips, sealing the cracks ahead before they could drown the path in black.
"Time Gate, fifty meters ahead," the blue orb announced.
All of us jumped into the veil at once. The transition was violent, and the sudden brightness washed over my vision, nearly blinding me.