Chapter 123- A Seed Planted

Jiran brushed Ravenna aside, ignoring her salacious comment as he entered and took a seat at the only table in her suite's sitting room. She closed the door behind him, locking the bolt in place with a resounding click.

"Seriously?" Jiran deadpanned, "Enough games. You want answers, and I have them. In return, you'll help me with a project of mine."

"You honestly think you have the power to negotiate with me?"

"You're the one desperate enough to raid a princess's bedroom after her ascension. If you're not interested, then I'll go," Jiran stood, ready to leave, but she was quick to interject.

"I'm interested, it's your terms I have an issue with," He motioned his hand for her to continue as he poured himself a cup of tea, warming it with a thought. "Answers aren’t sufficient. I need the traitor. Without him, there is no room for negotiations," her eyes narrowed, mana churning behind them as she intently watched his simple act of heating his tea.

He tracked her every move as she sat opposite him, pouring her own cup awkwardly before readjusting the cloak covering her missing arm. Not seeing a skill activate, Jiran wasn't concerned about the building mana behind her eyes. Though he was careful to make his observations of her manapool less obvious this time.

"You only need the traitor, or something of equal value."

"Phaw," She spluttered. "What could you possibly have to offer that would equal the traitor's head at Dominus's feet?"

There's no way the things I've done here aren't going to spread like wildfire. No harm giving people a plausible explanation. At least if I put the right rumors out there, it should curtail the wrong kind of people coming to investigate me.

"Knowledge. My molding skill recently reached level one hundred," Ravenna spat her tea with a hacking cough and bulging eyes. Jiran caught every drop of the liquid in his aura and spun it lazily through the air before leaving it in the wastepan. "There's more: Aura control, subskills, technique evolutions," Jiran drew her in, then threw the killing blow, "Methods to extend willpower…"

"Impossible, your mana didn't even flinch. How can you be telling the truth? The molding alone would land you a sea—No, no one has ever exceeded seventy-five molding and even that is just a legend! Extend willpower? T-that's…" Despite his racing thoughts as they poured over her words, Jiran caught the telltale flash of conniving greed in her eyes as her breathing hitched and her pulse accelerated.

It's possible to tell if someone's lying by the way their mana fluctuates? That must be what she’s doing with her eyes. Wait, I'm not using any mana right now, can her eyes see through my body as well? That can't be the case, she would know I'm not human. What could she be seeing then? My aura? I’m getting distracted. The whole point in coming here is to get her off my back and learn about teleportation, I can’t let her derail the conversation any further.

She cleared her throat, returning to a semblance of calm that they both knew was a sham. “It would appear I spoke somewhat hastily. If you can prove the veracity of your claims, I would be willing to enter negotiations."

"If I can prove you would be willing to enter? You're not big on commitment, are you? I know you're hoping I'll perform some grandiose demonstration where you’ll have a chance to glean some hidden knowledge for free. Not going to happen. I'll help you improve one skill of your choice, you'll do one favor for me, and forget about the traitor."

"As if I'd agree to such an open-ended bargain. What if you chose to take advantage of me? Why, I would be powerless to resist you," Her hand came to her chest which she puffed out with a deep inhalation.

Dream on, you've got about as good a shot as Markhiss. Might as well use her ridiculousness to my advantage though.

Jiran clenched his jaw, pretending to be furious. He growled out his demand, leaving no room for further posturing. "Use a skill of my choosing in front of me, once. That's my price. Take it, or this conversation ends."

She clicked her tongue several times while shaking her head. With Mana Omnis running at full blast, he easily noticed the minuscule twitches of muscle beneath her skin. Her responses only appeared calm on the outside, below the surface, she was seething with impatience. "So hasty to reveal your pieces, what a disappointment. Here I was just beginning to have fun. Very well, one skill, once. In return, you will teach me… channeling." Jiran's brows shot up at the unexpected request.

When she saw his surprise, she released a deep chuckle and a malicious smile spread across her face. "Of course I heard about your exploits with the rooks. That was a form of very advanced channeling while telling me your molding level was merely a diversion. Your word that it will be me who brings this knowledge to Dominus?" When Jiran nodded, Ravenna leaned back in her chair, delicately sipping her tea. "Very well then, I will cease my pursuit of your… acquaintance in exchange for your knowledge of channeling and a single use of one of my skills."

Perfect. No point in delaying.

"Are you aware of the exact process the body uses to convert mana into an element within your channels?"

"Who can say for sure, why don't you enlighten me?"

"Because if you don't know, and I do enlighten you, that will be the end of our lesson. If you know, we will continue. If you know enough, we will make it to the end where I reveal exactly how I killed those rooks, despite them being a higher tier than me."

Ravenna's composed persona shattered the instant he revealed he was lower tier than the rooks. Her body began to shake as she licked her lips. Her breaths came heavy and fast and she leaned toward him with dilated pupils, teacup forgotten. She couldn't get the words out quickly enough, haughtiness but a memory before her rampant desire for power.

"Minsillea within the channels absorb mana, convert it, and then release the desired element."

Interesting, guess I finally know the name everyone else uses for the papules. It's convenient she can tell I'm not lying. This conversation would be so much more annoying otherwise.

Jiran repeated her earlier gesture; shaking his head while clicking his tongue, "Incorrect. Minsillea indeed exist within the channels. However, there is no absorption."

"Preposterous! It is a well-known fact that mana is absorbed and released by the minsillea as it travels through the channels."

"Your information is both flawed and incomplete. Separate minsillea for each element resides within the channels. When an element is chosen by the caster, only those minsillea coded to that specific element are activated. As mana passes over them, intent stored within the minsillea are injected into the mana, converting it into the specified element and only that element. The Minsillea are merely containers which hold your intent and a fraction of your desire, nothing more."

Jiran watched her manapool carefully as the spark of a skill blossomed. Subtle waves of energy radiated outward, passing through her flesh and beginning multiple chain reactions which resulted in her channels flooding with mana, then elemental fire. He watched it course outward, away from her core and a stirring of hunger within him flared at the thought of taking that delicious mana for himself.

What the hell is wrong with me? Why do I keep having these urges?

Ravenna's eyes closed a moment later and she flopped ungraciously into her chair. A soft groan escaped her half-open mouth. "Unbelievable. Decades of effort, made moot in a moment."

Finally! I’ve only been here three minutes but it feels like an hour.

"C'mon, up and at ‘em. You can have your little moment with yourself after I'm gone. Stand over there and teleport to this exact spot." Jiran hopped to his feet and motioned to the far side of the room while pointing to a spot beside him.

Her face crinkled in confusion and she shook her head. "I don't have enough mana to teleport," Jiran saw through the lie instantly as her manapool quivered in tune with her aura. Now that he knew what to look for, he could see subtle hints of it in the air as she exhaled as well.

So that’s what she’s been looking at, well minus my manapool as I doubt she can perceive that. Unless there are more signs I'm not aware of. Either way, I'll not be allowing particulates of my mana to so easily escape now that I know they can.

"Is that so? Are you quite certain? Because if I find out you're being dishonest, I'll be taking something quite precious from you." Jiran allowed his mana to seep into his voice and pollute the room with his intent. A hundred tendrils of coating sprouted from his skin to lash the air like an army of snakes. The room quaked as a whirlwind of mana circled around them, leaving eddies of power awaiting a single command. Ravenna gulped audibly, her eyes wide as saucers while her heart began to hammer madly in an effort to escape from her chest.

Charisma: + 1

Why glaze-coat it? Stupid attribute should be called intimidation! Hopefully she won’t give me any trouble after this.

Her words came out in a breathy quaver as she hopped to her feet and scurried to the other side of the room. "It's a short teleportation, surely it won't use as much as the full distance. Such a silly miscalculation on my part. I am ready to begin."

Jiran eyed her suddenly docile attitude suspiciously for a second before pulling all of his unaspected mana back into himself.

Enthralling Touch: + 1

Oh, that’s what that does. So it’s like Mana Siphon for unaspected mana? No it definitely works on elemental mana too, though I didn’t get any levels for reabsorbing my elements earlier. Odd. With how bullshit the other Remalon skills are, it probably has a ton of other uses and subtleties. Time for that later.

Jiran nodded, "Go," He studied the space she would appear in. Having seen Reihnhardt's teleportation earlier, he was familiar with the process of the body linking its intent to the framework. What he didn't know is how it looked on the other end.

A single synapse glowed for a split second before Ravenna was pulled from one side of the room to the other. It was so quick and minute that if his manabody wasn’t concentrated over the area of arrival, he would have missed it. When her intent arrived through the glowing synapse, she popped out from within the synapse itself. Her entire body was coated in a bubble of mana, much like a coating, which expanded from the size of a needle head to her full size almost instantly.

That was unexpected. Well, maybe not. Guess I had no idea what to expect. But shrinking and expanding magic while traveling with little more than intent through wires that nobody can see? So cool! There must be more going on inside the synapses than I thought. They can’t just be for intent.

Her mana was nearly depleted after appearing next to him. She stumbled forward, nearly colliding with him but a tug of his aura set her upright on her feet.

As if a tier seven could accidentally trip. Give it a rest, woman.

"I don't want to see you interfering in our affairs again. If you push me or endanger my friends, it will not end well for you."

"I understand, Master Mortemer," She caressed his alias with a honeyed voice as she bowed low, revealing far too much skin. For the first time since Cameron coined the name, Jiran was infinitely grateful to have it.

He spun away from her without another word. His aura forced open the lock and swung the door wide before he arrived, then slammed it shut behind him. The last he saw of the woman was a pouting frown before he put her and her antics from his mind. He took rapid steps down the hallway toward the stairs leading back to Mayalyn's suite. Before he arrived, his mana was no longer leaking out with each breath. He also discovered subtle leaks in his skin, especially around the eyes and nose.

Barely a noticeable trickle. I would be surprised if it amounts to an entire manapool over a lifetime. Besides, my skin is also dragging in tons of ambient density. I’m recovering far more than I waste. Not the point, my mana is mine! I'll not allow it—

There I go again. Something is seriously wrong.

Jiran shook his head as he entered their sitting room. He splayed across the largest couch which was far too small for him. He floated one of the city's formation tablets to himself, skimming its surface to check up on the wards.

I've always been paranoid of losing my mana but this is a whole new level. It has to be related to being Remalon. Every time I see mana surging through someone, I want to take it. That coupled with what Daughter said about Remalons being notoriously greedy with their mana.

It's not only this mana hunger that's different. My thoughts are clear and calm. I don't need to constantly churn through my emotions just to use my mana so I’m less on edge. I’m confident in my power, but it’s more than that, I feel… no, I know I’m superior. So far it's been fun but I don't want to be that way with my friends. I'll let them know when they wake up. If anyone can keep me in line, it's Niya and Mayalyn.

Jirans' aura wrapped protectively around all four of them with a soft, delicate touch. Cameron's snoring softened into steady breaths. Mayalyn smelled deeply through her nose as she snuggled deeper into her blanket. Olive and Niya released soothing sighs. Jiran's cheeks hurt from how wide his smile stretched as tingles of thankfulness spread through him.

Tomorrow’s going to be a good day. I can't wait to find out what May's tier four skill is.

Reassured by the nearby presence of several of the people most important to him, he closed his eyes, allowing his aura to maintain vigilance while his mind rested. His last thoughts were of what he was becoming and what he had already become, both the good and the bad.

None of their weaknesses, huh? Just how awful are these impulses for a Kemalon?