The faint green lines turned into large ones, and then covered her sight as mana pooled into her, from the air, and land, pouring into her as the core glowed, the glow spreading through her body and shining out. A few seconds later, the glow subsided, still lurking in her body, but no longer spreading out.

Althea opened her eyes to the crowd, their eyes staring at her. And then she smiled.

"I hear a ball is in order." she said as the guests began filing out, giving her a bow as they left. The hall emptied in minutes, even with them having to greet her individually. Althea remembered the faces.

A lot of them were just important people in the county. But each member of the royal council had sent an envoy. And so had her neighbors. After all, she might not be powerful or influential, but she was still a Guarding Countess. And she was rich.

Althea sagged, heading straight towards her rooms. At least she could sit for the rest of the day.

"Countess, there is something I want to ask." Steward Ven asked.

"What is it?"

"Not now, when we are in private." Steward Ven replied. ALthea rolled her eyes, why say it now when he wasn't going to ask.

The entourage reached her room and the Steward cast some sort of spell, looking at the maids with irritation.

"Tell me what manual did you choose, Countess?" he asked. Althea paused. The Diery family was supposed to have only one manual.

"The only one the family has." Althea said, acting dismissive. "Now, if you will excuse me, my feet hate me for standing."

"Countess." the Steward said, not letting the spell drop. "The Diery family has more than one manual. The royal family does not know how many, but we do know you changed manuals a thousand years ago. To a significantly manual."

The Steward neared her, towering over her. "A manual that did not take so much mana. A manual that could not use land mana." The Steward's glare made her want to take a step back, but she couldn't. The spell's border was too close.

"A manual that certainly would not lead to such a splendid phenomenon." the Steward continued. "Did you cultivate the older manual, Countess?"

"What if I did?" she asked. "The Diery family owns that manual."

"Yes, but you do not have the power to hold it." the Steward said, clicking something on his bracelet. Althea did not sense anything happen, but the Steward seemed satisfied.

"The vault is safe, but as soon as the manual comes out of it, the other empires will pounce." the Steward said. "And you will have to take it out for your seclusion. The Solerian Empire will protect you."

So, tradition once again took precedence over common sense. Althea rolled her eyes inside, but she was happy that the Empire was going to protect her.

Getting ready for the hall was a thankfully shorter process. Althea entered the room with as little disturbance as she should. The entire ballroom still stopped for her. But that was normal for when a ranking noble entered the room.

The dancing began again once she took her seat at the top of the ballroom. A bit reminiscent of how a Queen sat. At least, that was how Bridgerton went. Althea knew heck about what happened in reality. The balls of this world were complex, varied affairs, this one was simple by their standards.

And it was still a seven-hour-long affair. The first three would be boring events with only 'people of importance' attending. The other three would be open to everyone in Diery. The last hour was technically supposed to involve dignitaries and her dancing, but that didn't seem to be happening.

The dignitaries were certainly missing. Althea was one of the few nobles in the room. The others were the envoys from the royal council and Steward Ven. Althea could, as Guarding Countess, avoid dancing with them.

The first three hours were boring. Althea looked at the dancers, picking at the appetizers while trying very hard to not eat too much. At least the music was interesting. A bit slow for her taste, but she could live with it.

Perhaps she could be a patron to artists. That was a thing, right? Althea searched her memories, and yes it was. But it was rare. The world was obsessed with war, music, writing and other things took a back turn.

Well, she could probably fix that. Having some pop to listen to would be nice. Or rock, the two were similar anyway. The ball would be a lot better with some of those songs from Austin and Ally… But that was not to be.

Althea went back to attacking her appetizers as she watched time tick away. Well, she could cultivate. But that would attract attention. Or would it? How many people here could actually sense mana well enough?

Althea called on mana to come to her, the mana responding faster than before. The glow in her body began to spin as the core glowed brighter, mana coming into it. Althea was pretty sure her eyes were glowing again, but they were already so bright.

Mana flew to her as she twisted it around, making it turn around and do things before letting it spiral into her core. Now this was fun. Althea let the mana spin around the room, finding it growing stronger.

The more the mana moved, the more mana seemed to come into the room. And the happier she felt. The mana wind blew through the curtains, messing with a particular old lady s hairdo-wait a second. Why did the wind have physical presence now?

Althea looked at it closely, spinning it on her finger. The mana was largely intact, but a little of it was turning into normal wind. The manual. Or the breakthrough. Althea thought really hard about it, wishing the mana to not turn to wind.

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The next time the wind blew through the curtains, it did not move them, nor did it mess any hairdos. But it was a lot less fun. Althea frowned and looked at the big windows. A little wind wasn't that difficult to believe. Smiling, she told the mana to turn to wind just a little. The mana seemed to get a new lease on life, spinning through the room at speeds a bit too fast.

A couple of the guests looked around, but in the end continued being their usual boring selves. Althea ignored them. The wind had just reminded her of something. The mana wasn't under her control, even mana did not come under complete control. A mortal simply could not do it. Not even a Grandmaster. And this was wild mana that was just answering her call.

Althea called to more of it, wanting to test out her other elements. The manual told her she had at least five. Four known. Fire, water, earth, and air. So she asked the fires to burn brighter and the air to spin faster and higher.

The chandeliers made noise as a gust blew through the room, and the people wandering around the corner were startled when the candles suddenly had bigger flames.

"Countess." Steward Ven warned. Althea looked at him, irritated, and then asked the mana to calm down. The mana came back, like a disappointed child, seeping into her core readily.

"Ask the singers to sing a faster song please." she asked.

"Countess, such songs are usually reserved for more…informal events." the Steward said. "The guests will not appreciate-"

"Open the doors to the people then. A half an hour early isn't that much." she said.

The Steward looked like he was about to protest, but decided not to after seeing her look. And she was the one in charge now anyway. Ok, fine, she was being a bit bratty. But stuffy, boring events that lasted for hours? How did people enjoy these?

The Steward came back with a host of maids bringing in more appetizers, and two of them carrying a particular plant. Althea nearly didn't recognize him. Pulsie had grown to nearly a meter. Or three feet.

"As it turns out, I grow when you do." Pulsie said as the servants sat his table next to her, heaving a sigh of relief. Althea asked a nice breeze to blow by their face, and for the sweat to go off. The glow inside her extended out, the act taking more mana than she thought. But she didn't mind. The mana recovered quickly enough.

"I see someone has been practicing." Pulsie noted.

"Yes, elemental manipulation is very easy." Althea said, making the man spin around her finger. The mana turned more into wind, spinning around, and then back to normal mana.

"I will take what the books say with a grain of salt, then," he replied. "Now, why are people coming in before planned?"

"I am bored." she stated.

Pulsie tried to hide his laughter, failing miserably. "I see. Was it this or accidentally setting someone on fire?" he asked.

Althea looked away, not wanting to admit how close she had been to that.

A veritable rush of people poured into the room as the singers finally started a faster song. A ballad from the looks of it. The 'guests' pulled away in disgust, whether at the music or the people she did not know. Althea might regret that later, but she did not like people that found either more commoners, like them, or a bit of livelier music. If they found different music horrible, she was sure they would dislike her thoroughly.

The new faces were nervous, and varied. But not too shabby. Not a single person that looked like they had walked off the streets. A slew of dresses from cheap to more expensive than the 'guest's' but there were clearly an entire batch of people that just hadn't come.

"Did you notice something different since yesterday?" Pulsie asked.

"Yes, I can sense mana better." she said.

"Yes, so can I." Pulsie said, his leaves moving up and down with the music. The music still didn't hold a candle to the songs she had heard, but it was catchy. The singers were talented, she could already see the crowd getting into the mood.

Wait a second. Did he say he could sense mana better? Althea turned towards him suddenly.

"What can you sense now?" she asked. Pulsie could already sense so well, now his sense must be something else.

"I can tell you what elements your guests have and how much mana likes them." Pulsie said., turning towards her. "Well, I could if you would let some of it go.

Althea laughed, letting her cultivation which had been going on silently stop. But she did notice one thing. The room had much more mana than before.

"How…?" she asked, but she knew the answer. Just like before, in the room. The people produced mana, and plants absorbed it. Now that there were a lot of active, dancing people, there was tons of mana being produced.

"The people produce mana, and plants absorb it." she repeated.

"Yes, and the people get their mana from the plants and things they consume." Pulsie said.

Althea nodded along. A mana cycle. How scientific.

"So, you were saying something about how you could catch people with talent and rare elements?" she asked.

"I did not say anything close to that." Pulsie stated.

"But you meant it." she dismissed. " Now about people with talent."

"Well, that woman there has little talent with any of the nature elements, but she has a lot of love for the sword." Pulsie pointed. Althea nodded. "So she could cultivate the manual we have?"

"Yes, but she would need a better one if she wants to become powerful. A sword one." he said.

"What manuals do we have? I didn't read the list so well." she asked.

"I did, they were weird. The Diery family collected a bunch of rare manuals that can't really be used for the more common talents. Like the shadow manual, it needs both Shadow and Wood." he asked.

"I see." she repeated. "Do you think we should recruit her?"

"Well, you can't exactly walk to her. The Countess talking with her would just make trouble. I don't think it would be a good idea." the plant said.

"Well you don't think any of my ideas are good." she said, waving Mira over.

"What is it, your grace?" Mira whispered. "Are you uncomfortable? Do you want more food-"

"No, no." Althea waved her questions away. "I want you to go to that woman and take her name secretly. Tell her the Countess wants to meet her after the ball is over. Do it secretly."

Mira looked confused. "Why, your grace? The Steward-"

"I don't answer to the Steward anymore, and the woman there has enough talent to earn herself a manual." she said, not clarifying. Mira's eyes widened, the information enough to have her go running to inform the woman.

Althea gave Pulsie a telling look. The plant ignored it, telling her about the next woman. The two of them spent the next couple of hours picking out people with talent that could cultivate the manual.

Althea was pretty sure that people had realized something was going on. Mira wasn't the most discreet, and her coming to her and then approaching a few people was pretty obvious. But people didn't dare question her, and she was happy about it.

The last hour approached, and Althea was pretty sure they would just cancel the plans. The supposed dignitaries weren't showing up. Ok, maybe that was a bit too jinxing. But like, what were the chances they would turn up now.

The Steward rushed to her side as Althea felt something vague happen in the distance. No, it couldn't be.

"The Queen of Elara just teleported to the city gates, Countess." the Steward said. "I think she is attending the ball to get to the manual."

A bit too low. The odds of dignitaries suddenly teleporting in to make her life worse were a bit too low.