If the lift’s mana-eating ways gave the Empress any trouble, she didn't show it. Althea walked into the vault, heading for the Treasury, Pulsie left behind. The plant was too heavy for her to carry in now. But it did leave her with a little issue. How did she recognize which of these bracelets was the magic one? Pulsie was the one that could sense mana, not her.

Looking around in the room, she looked at the bracelets. A storage item was rare, it should be placed with the important objects. The center of the Treasury. Althea checked the pillows, finding no bracelets among them.

Now what? Althea looked around for some bracelets, trying to see if there was mana in any of them. But that was not how her sense worked. The mana sense was more of an instinct to her, not a visual thing. So now she was at a loss.

Althea started to check each bracelet, sending a little mana to each to see if they were magic. Well, this would take a while.

----------------------------------------

The Empress

Nerusia was happy. So happy. And a little irritated. But that would turn into happiness soon too.

"Empress Nerusia Solerian." her enemy said. "I am not a match for you. But I am also not fighting alone."

A bunch of people teleported beside him, as if she hadn't detected them already. A teleportation so close to her? Soleria would need a new Emperor if she missed this kind of stuff.

"Sect Master Ferrel." she said dismissively. "What makes you think I am alone?"

A light ray cleaved through one of the Sect Elders.

"The First Assassin." the Sect Master said, as if the death of his comrade did not bother him.

A little wind storm ate one Elder's bones

"The First Saboteur."

An Elder fell, burned to ashes.

"The First Thief."

And one just dropped dead.

"The First Spy." The Sect Master said, turning towards her. "And the Empress."

Nerusia let mana gather around her.

"The entire Shadow Squad just to deal with me." the Sect Master stated. "I would rather give up. Retreat."

The Sect Master teleported away, back to his home.

"Did I give you permission?" Nerusia said lightly, teleporting after him.

The Sect Master's eyes widened as she appeared right beside him, holding a finger to her lip. A black fog came with her, a slight smile on her lips.

An Adept level Elder died as her hand shot out, the black fog piercing through his cells and killing him before he could even react. Nerusia teleported away as the Sect Master's sword pierced where she had been standing. Another Elder died as she reappeared, in the fog relieving his body of his brain cells.

"Get in formation now!" the Sect Master yelled, his eyes widening as huge typhoons appeared around her.

Nerusia let her laughter permeate through the air, acting as if the typhoons didn't bother her. Oh, they did, but her enemy did not need to know that. Nerusia teleported right in the middle of three Elders, the black fog killing them as their typhoons broke apart. The fools had left a space open. And open space was fair game.

Nerusia gave the Elder a wink as she disappeared before his attacks collided. Having control over the battle was vital at her level. The typhoons could kill her, if she didn't kill them first.

The formation dissipated before it even began showing its power. The Elders ran for their lives, their loyalty running through. Nerusia targeted the ones remaining, teleporting around as the Sect Master and the remaining Elders targeted her.

The Sect Master's attacks got more and more frenzy as she continued. A few minutes later, they were the only ones left. Nerusia smiled, teleporting out of place as she struck the Sect Master.

But something changed. The space turned hard, forcing her back into place as a sword cleaved at her chest. The sword tore through her armor, the Sect Master's peak Adept cultivation finally showing its power. But it stopped at her skin.

"What…" the Sect Master explained as Nerusia shot at the offending Elder. A Space mage. The Sect Master must have had him hide and then restrict her.

The Elder died as her power separated his cells. And now it was time for the final act.

Nerusia flashed around, barely appearing to attack before teleporting away. The Sect Master stood still, taking the attacks, before attacking when he sensed her close. The attacks even grazed her a few times. The place where the sword had pierced her had begun bleeding, but it was hours away from being serious to someone of her level.

The Sect Master wasn't faring so well, and it was showing. Nerusia smiled, appearing right in front of the Sect Master. The idiot attacked her immediately, allowing her to dodge and touch the sword with her finger. A single touch. The black fog crawled through the sword and right into her enemy's hand.

The Sect Master let go of the sword, but he was too late. In his reluctance to let the sword go, he had let the fog take hold.

"How did you take-" the three hundred-year-old man died before he could finish his sentence.

"I got a little gift from my niece." Nerusia answered anyway. The Elara kingdom's precious manual was a fine gift indeed. Now she just needed one more suitable manual to get to Grandmaster.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Hmm, she should get Althea a good birthday gift for this. A new half-step Grandmaster put her Empire among three most powerful on the continent. Now, if only that old man in the Zun Empire died, the Empire would finally be safe.

----------------------------------------

Althea finally ended up finding the bracelet hidden in a corner. Why such a bracelet would be hidden there, she did not know. But she had it now. Two manuals went into it, a Poison one and a Space one. Pulsie had already told her they were here. The Shadow one would remain her. The two others she would carry out publicly. After all, she was going to make their presence public.

The Empress was waiting for her when she stepped out, but there was a bandage across her chest.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Just a few unwanted guests." the Empress said as a flash of light came from outside the window. "And apparently there are a few more."

Althea looked towards the window as the Marchioness suddenly appeared before her.

"General Qun of Alpen. That should be the last one." she said, dropping a head on the floor. "Not all of these were here for the Diery manual."

"I know." the Empress simply said. The Marchioness nodded and disappeared from view. Althea just stood there. The Marchioness was here to help her? Looking around, the other guards had disappeared somewhere.

"What actually happened?" she asked.

"That is a story for some other time. Now, I hear you have a few people to meet and a school to start." the Empress said, winking at her.

"Wait, what school.-"

The Empress presented her with a piece of paper. "Happy birthday Althea. A good army needs a good elite force. And a good elite force requires a good academy. The professors are your problem, though."

Althea looked at the paper in her hands in shock. Why did people keep thinking she wanted a school? The Queen and then the Empress? Wait a second. The two of them were rulers…was this something obvious she was supposed to know, and they presumed she already planned it?

The heck. Althea walked into the lift with the waiting Empress, wondering if she should broach the subject. In the end, she decided not to.

The two of them walked into her room to find Mira waiting, fidgeting with impatience.

"What happened?" Althea asked.

"The people you asked to wait are getting impatient, your grace." Mira said. "The city gates have already closed, and it is quite late…"

"Tell them they can stay in the castle tonight. I can sleep during the seclusion." she said. The seclusion would begin at dawn tomorrow and may just be the most boring part of the coronation.

"Oh, I see-" And then, this frantic, clearly tired Mira realized who had just entered the room. The squeal that emerged from her was something Althea would remember for a long while.

"I- your majesty!" Mira bowed." I greet her majesty the Empress!"

"Please, I am just here as Althea's…well-wisher at the moment." the Empress said.

"As you wish, your majesty." Mira said, not raising her head.

"Please tell the-" Althea looked at the Empress beside her. "The ones I chose last to come."

A confused expression appeared on Mira's face.

"The guy with half his face covered in a mask with a girl with him. Please bring both. And then tell the other to come in five minutes. Oh, and don't tell the m the Empress is here." Althea instructed. Now she would love to tell Mira to go to sleep, but she needed someone she could trust. And someone that wouldn't reveal that the Empress was lazing around in her room.

The Empress made herself home as Althea removed the manuals she had gotten.

"The two of them have some strange requirements." Pulsie said, finally speaking. "The Space one is still ok, but the Poison one just troubles me."

"A manual might require things from its user that you cannot anticipate, but the author did." The Emperor paused. "Or experienced. And some just do so for the fun of it. That is the trick to learning the art without the manual, meeting the real requirements."

The two people in question entered the room. The boy looked around in suspicion, clearly distrustful of them. The girl was more amicable. Or just better at acting.

"I assure you, your grace, that we did not mean any insult by coming to the ball. The fliers said that-" the girl began. Althea cut her off as soon as she started.

"The fliers were correct. The ball was open to you and your presence there was not a problem." she said.

"Perhaps you could tell us then, your grace, why you have asked us here." the boy asked. Althea looked at him. The boy wore rags, but his mask told a different story. The thing was made of wood, but good quality wood. Not something a random person off the streets would wear. Althea wasn't surprised. A Poison and Space mage together? The two had a story.

"Oh, it is simple." Althea picked up the Poison manual. "I have an offer for you."

The Poison mage looked at the manual with suspicion.

"Is that…?" the girl asked.

"A cultivation manual? Yes." Althea replied.

"The Diery family only has one cultivation manual." the boy stated.

"And every family is truthful about their foundation." Althea replied, sarcastically.

"After all, it makes great sense that the ten-thousand year old family with the only palace to survive the burning has only one manual." she continued.

"The Emperor will hunt us if we accept these manuals." he said, pulling the girl away. The girl pulled away, slapping his hand away. But Althea noticed how his eyes turned to the Empress.

"The Emperor will do no such thing. The Diery family owns these manuals, has for millennia." the Empress lazily said.

"And who are you to say this?" he said, looking towards the Empress warily. Althea wondered what he was seeing. At this point, it was clear that he was sensing something that told him something was off about the Empress.

"How interesting." Pulsie said. No, Pulsie, don't ruin this entertainment. Just let the boy try to guess, it makes him more likely to trust us anyway.

"I think we will take our leave." the boy said, pulling at the girl. The girl followed, clearly confused but believing him.

"Oh, please, there is no need to be scared." Althea said leisurely, as if she wasn't desperate to poach these two. "I would be foolish to harm a Poison and Space mage."

The two of them paused, and then made a run for it. The Emperor's guards stood in their path.

"I just have one thing to say. I won't stop you after that. How about it?" Althea asked. Well, she was officially being a cliché noble. At least she was being honest, she wasn't going to jail them or force them.

"I am starting an academy here." she said. "The Empress has been kind enough to give me this…letter permitting me to do so."

The boy peered at the paper, his eyebrow climbing into his overgrown hair.

"I can let you join this academy as foreign students. I won't ask your names, or why two talented people of your backgrounds are here. A month of safety and a roof to live under. What do you say?" she offered. "A month later, you can either accept these manuals and become nobles of my county, or go on your way."

Althea could not make them nobles of the Empire, but the Emperor would do it if she gave the manuals required. What? Even tradition was good sometimes. And it was tradition for the Emperor to allow nobles to do this.

"And as Empress of the Solerian Empire, I will vouch for the Countess' words. As long as you have not committed a great crime, the Empire will welcome you to our rank." The Empress said, letting her power flow. The power was more subtle than the Steward's, but she seemed to be far more powerful.

The boy's widened eyes told her he felt it too. At least that increased her chances. A powerful aunt sure was nice to have.