Althea woke up to chirping birds. Wait a second. Chirping birds? The blanket got thrown onto the floor as she rushed to her garden, surprised to find birds lounging about.

The garden seemed more lively. And there were indeed birds there. Just small ones, a few sparrows and other birds she did not recognize. Mana spun around in the area, its power wafting through the air.

Althea breathed it in, feeling the chill in the crisp morning air. The sun was just rising in the air, and the garden was just waking up. The plants’ leaves were slowly rising towards the sun. The trees were beginning to sway with the wind. The world itself seemed to call to the mana around, as if asking it to enjoy morning with it.

The mana entered her, swirling around her as if greeting an old friend. Althea ran her hand through it, feeling like she was holding her hand in water. The feeling was probably imaginary, but it felt good.

Althea took a deep breath and let the power sweep through her, letting its force buffet through her. Feeling the wind flit through her hair. The freshness of the soil. The dampness of the air. The heat in that bucket of wate- wait, bucket?

Althea turned around to find a maid walking into the room with a bucket of hot water and a sweeping brush.

Oh, right. The day had begun. And there were things for her to do. Like start on the academy, take reports for the expedition, attend to the Scribe…and that was just for the weekend.

Althea let the maid do her work, the poor girl seemed spooked that the Countess had noticed. The more Althea smiled at her, the more scared she seemed to get. In the end, she just decided to focus on naming the academy. What should the name be?

Althea walked to the main office, ready to meet whoever was ready.

The Diery academy.

No, that was too stale a name. Perhaps ‘The treedemy’ ? No, that was cringe.

The cabinet had, of course, not arrived yet when she got to the office. The Steward was there though. Althea looked up at him, waiting for him to begin.

As expected, he had something to say. “The Selorian Duchy is powerful.” he stated.

“I know.” Althea replied. “Do you want me to withdraw my order?”

“No, it is too late.” The Steward said. “I just hope you are ready for what is to come.”

Althea sighed.

“Ven Solerian, Steward of the Empire, could you please clarify? The cryptic advice you give me is not helping. Just speak what you want to say. I won’t take offense.” she said.

The Steward just looked at her. Well, this wasn’t going well.

“Just be careful. The Duchy will sabotage you more than it would before.” he said.

Well, that was nice to know.

“And things are strange.” The Steward continued. “The Elves shouldn’t be here. The beast hordes have come too early, even with your trait. The mana is acting strange, there is too much of it. “

Althea frowned, remembering her experience just before. The mana was more active than before.

“I will tell you if I have something to say. But if I were to interfere too much, you would be taken for a puppet.” he said. “Now, I am not the only one awoken by the increased mana. I think someone wants to meet you.”

Althea raised her head in confusion as there was a kick on the door.

“Come in.”

Nathan, the poison boy stepped in, this time without his companion. Althea put a fake smile on her face.

“Nathan, what a pleasure.” she said.

The boy paused, as if reconsidering what he wanted to say. But continued in the end.

“I just wanted to ask what was going to happen to the half-Elves, your grace.” he asked. Althea should stop calling him a boy, he was probably older than her. But he had such a babyish face. Well, half of a face anyway.

“The half-Elves will settle down on an island just east of the Reh Duchy. I am buying it so that it will be a part of the Diery county. The Emperor has already given permission.” she said. The Empress had anyway.

Nathan paused again. “If it is possible, your grace, could I have the land as my fief?”

Now this was curious. Why would he want the island? Pulsie had mentioned he met one of the requirements for a manual, but she hadn’t had the time to read through the requirements. Perhaps she should do that later.

“That will not be possible.” she said. “I have already promised the half-Elves that they will have their own government.”

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The boy’s eyes widened, but she couldn’t quite make out his expression with the mask.

“I see. Thank you for your time, your grace.” he said, walking out.

“Does that mean you are considering my offer?” Althea interrupted him.

“Of course, your grace, it is tempting.” The boy was already gone before she could reply to his words. Althea just shook her head and looked towards the Steward, who seemed deep in thought.

“I want to go to the vault and check something out. Could you please start the lift?” she asked.

The Steward nodded and they left for the vault. The others should be awake when they came back.

The vault was on the twenty-first floor, far too high for her to climb up. Hmm, ‘The Wooden Stair’. No, that wouldn’t be a good name for the academy. But she wanted a wood or nature themed one.

Oh, she knew it! ‘Trees and Thorns’! No, that sounded too much like a tavern.

The two of them arrived at the vault. The Steward took his usual position at the entrance.

“I will be in there a while” Althea warned.

The Steward simply shook his head and took a seat. Althea entered the vault, heading straight for the Manual hall.

The hall was, as usual, full of books. Not a single page seemed to have turned since she had left it. A place of peace in the chaos.

Althea sighed and plopped down on a stool near her manual. But she would attend to that later. What she wanted to check was the other manuals there.

The two she had offered Nathan and Vanessa. The first was the Space one. Althea opened it, looking at the requirements. The requirement was simple. The person needed to have great affinity with the Space element. And a woman.

The manual wouldn't let her read more. The page just wouldn’t turn. As expected, the magic wasn’t foolproof, but it wasn't something she could break.

Althea turned her attention to the other manual. Now this one was a far more interesting read.

There were three requirements. The person must have the Poison element. The element must have scarred half of their face. And finally, they must be half fae. Not just any fae, a mind fae.

Althea nearly dropped the book when she read its intent. Vanessa wasn’t the most dangerous of the two. Oh, no. The manual specialized in making mind viruses. The kind of poison that targeted the mind and was transmitted psychically. If Nathan cultivated this, he would be one of the best assassins on the continent.

And it told her why he was so interested in what happened to the half-Elves. Pulsie had said that he met the requirements. And this was the only manual of the poison element, she had checked that much before picking it up. If he was a hybrid himself, it made sense that he felt a certain kinship to them.

Now, why had that bloody plant not mentioned? Nathan’s Fae part made problems for her. As a hybrid he could not hold a noble title, or be a citizen. Granted, he had managed to hide it till now. And probably could in the future. But if, or when, he was discovered, it would come back to haunt both of them.

Althea shook her head, suppressing her urge to march back down and demand answers. No, she had other things to do. Like check the other manuals. Stretching her new powers, she asked the wind to bring the manuals to her, finding the use empowering. The feeling of using magic was quite addictive.

The manual wanted a five feet tall half-Giant with the wood element. Althea shook her head. Where was she going to find a five feet tall half-Giant?

The next one wanted someone over seven feet tall with the fire and sword elements. Isa met the latter two, but not the first one. The trend continued. The manuals were very different, but they had one thing in common: they were hard to cultivate. So hard that one could wonder if it cultivated.

Now she knew why Pulsie had been so shocked that they had found someone that could cultivate this manual. There were twenty-eight manuals in the hall, and only two she could cultivate. And only one was suitable for mass cultivation. The one already in use.

Why exactly had the Diery family collected these types of manuals instead of some more useful editions. Perhaps they were more powerful? ALthea did not know how to tell the power of the manual. Pulsie might, but he was not here at the moment.

So she went ahead and checked the other books in the room. The books were dusty, and old, as if they had not been checked in decades. But that was weird, the barrier protected the inside of the vault from dust. Why was there a layer of it here?

Althea looked around for the offender, and soon figured it out. The stone slab and other fixtures. The barrier prevented outside interference, but things inside were still getting corroded. But just how much time had it been since people pulled these books?

Althea stretched her hand, trying to remove a book labeled ‘Sensing mana and its technicalities’. The topic was basic, and would have been better suited in her private library. But it was here, in the vault. Why? Well, someone thought the book was very valuable.

But the book did not budge. The harder she pulled, the harder the book seemed to stick. Not even the dust had dispersed. Hmm, so this wasn’t a show of strength. Althea withdrew her hands, looking at the book closely.

How would you secure a book? Magic? Yes, that much was apparent. Could mana be the answer? Althea called on the wind, a little mana responding to her call. The wind breezed right past the book, and she was still not able to pull it out. Now what.

A different element? Althea tried water and earth, the latter being a bit difficult to maneuver. But mana was quite mobile, even if its base element was not. The book remained unmoved. In the end, she brought a little fire close to the book, just enough for the mana to be felt. The book was still there.

The elements radiated mana, and a powerful mage could use that mana to project an element even thousands of kilometers away. But she could only manage centimeters right now.

Well, since sky mana did not work, perhaps land mana would. The land mana was harder to sense here, separated as it was by the barrier, but there was still some in the observation room. The mana swirled around her, easier to project. Althea could go as far as thirty centimeters.

The book remained unmoving. Althea groaned, calling on more mana as she conjured every element she could. The Emotion element was still beyond her grasp. The book finally reacted as the mana combined, her inner mana reaching out and fusing the two types. The book popped out of the shelf as she looked at it eagerly. So she had to demonstrate that she had both types of mana and could combine them? Or was it something else?

Well, either way, she now had access to this book. Hmm, perhaps she should share some not very secret information to the college students. Sensing mana better was a very useful skill, the very base of magic.

Nodding to herself, she sat down, aware that she had to officially announce the start of the college this evening. Not that it was planned. But she was a Countess, and she could do stuff like that. The classes would start Monday anyway.

Hmm, mana. Magic and Mana. Yes, that was a good name. Maybe. Perhaps a little tavern-ish too. But she liked it and other people weren’t the Countess…but she should probably think on it a bit more.