Althea tried to change her schedule in the coming weeks. An activity made harder by the harvest. The largest harvest Diery had in millennia. A harvest so huge that she had hidden its size from even the Empress. The papers would remain in the vault.
But she was able to make some changes. To be exact, one change. Pulsie. The plant was the easiest for her to access. The poor thing had been quite overworked, something she detected the second she tried to.
The familiar bond practically screamed it at her, making her feel even more guilty. The two of them spent an hour everyday working on several issues, or simply discussing mana. The plant could literally speak for hours about the intricacies of mana if you let him.
The seasons changed as time passed, and soon enough it was the end of Autumn. The port in the Eastern Isles was ready. The ships were fully loaded. And she had received a surprising request.
Prime Minister Verest wanted to take Isa as a disciple. A request made even more surprising by the fact that Elder Bel was suggesting it. Althea hummed to herself as she ran her across the books in the vault. The books rarely responded to her, but from time to time, they would fall out, allowing her to read them.
At that moment, she wished that one of them would do it. Verest, being a part of a Grandmaster clan was the definition of unexpected. Althea didn't even know the name of all the clans, let alone what had happened to them. Not in the detail she wanted to know.
As soon as she thought of it, a shiver of mana ran through the shelf. Althea stepped back as the shelf started trembling. A row of books shifted forward as she hurriedly stopped them falling. The wind rose, bringing one of them down so that she could see what exactly had been unlocked.
The history and politics of the Grandmaster council, volume 23.
Althea looked up, seeing how the entire row was filled with books with similar covers. If this book was volume 23…then the one on this side had to be.
The history and politics of the Grandmaster council, volume 1
How nice, the shelf had given her just what she wanted. A full fifty volumes of it. This was going to take a while.
Althea stuffed the books into her spacial pouch, keeping the first volume outside as she walked outside the vault. A surprise visitor was waiting for her.
"I greet her majesty, the Empress of Soleria." Althea bowed, greeting her aunt. Why was she here? Was it because the food fleet was due to leave today? That was an important thing for the Empire. After all, the Elara Empire was now a military ally.
"The ancestral cave is about to open." The Empress said, going straight to the point. Althea paused, trying to remember what she was talking about. The ancestral cave…right. The Solerian thing. Nathan was supposed to try the Law manual.
"This should be interesting." Pulse chimed in. "I wonder what's in that cave. The Law clan is supposed to be obsessed with keeping records of every little thing. The cave probably has the largest collection of records known to humanity."
Althea could hear the excitement in Pulsie's voice. The plant was seriously obsessed with information, especially anything mana.
"I suppose you are here for Nathan, then?" Althea asked.
"Yes," the Empress said. "The process shouldn't take longer than a day."
For the first time since she had seen her, the Empress actually looked nervous. Althea knew why. The human treaty was a very serious piece of paper. And Nathan's very existence broke it. If it was any other Empire, he would already be dead.
"I shall be busy with the fleet leaving." Althea said. "Is it possible for you to teleport Vanessa to the Eastern Isles? Verest wants to take her in as a disciple."
The Empress nodded. "Of course. But are you sure about that? Vanessa would become heir, or even the head of another clan after this. That could cause a conflict later on."
Althea shook her head. "I trust her. And if she does become the head, then it means that there is another Grandmaster clan in the Diery territory. That could be a great support for me."
"I see." the Empress' eyes flickered downwards, looking at the book she held in her hands.
"Could I have that book after you are done reading?" the Empress asked.
"Of course" Althea answered, looking at the Empress strangely. "But don't you have records of your own? Pulsie told me that the Law had one of the best collection of historical records in the world."
"The Grand Emperor burnt every record of the Grandmaster council." the Empress said, staring at the book as if deep in thought. "On second thought, keep it. The Grand Emperor is still alive, he might take offense on sensing this book. Keep it inside the vault, even he can't sense in there."
"I must leave now, the two of us will have to talk later."
Purple mana erupted around the Empress as she teleported away. Althea stepped back into the vault, thoughts spinning in her head. The Grand Emperor. That was a title that she hadn't heard before.
Stolen story; please report.
But considering that he was alive, and held enough power to make the Empress fear, there could only be one person. Emperor Le, the first Emperor after the burning. This was not the first time she had heard of the Emperor burning books or restricting information. But the reason he did so was still a mystery. At least now she knew that the Grandmaster council was somehow related.
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Nathan
The Empress' teleportation was a hundred times more comfortable than his uncle's. Feeling like a light breeze instead of a passing hurricane. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was darkness.
A darkness only faintly dispelled by the light silver-ish hue of rocks in front of him. So light that he wasn't sure he was imagining it. A yellow light suddenly appeared above him, illuminating a rocky surface no different from any he had seen before. Nathan tried to sense it, to see if there was any difference he could detect.
But no matter how hard he tried, there seemed to be just rock in front of him. The mana in the surroundings was normal, and the surface did not have any difference to his eyes. Had the Empress teleported him somewhere wrong? Or was the cave higher up the mountain?
"Touch it." the Empress said, almost making him jump out of his skin. For some reason, he kept forgetting that she was here. Was she wearing some sort of artifact? Or was it just her skill? Why would she take measures like this here? Was the cave dangerous?
"Don't be afraid, the cave will open once it recognizes your bloodline." the Empress said. Nathan grimaced, he'd forgotten to listen to the Empress's words.
The cold air seemed to hover around him as he stepped forward, suppressing shivers as he pressed his hand to the rock face. The hand fell through, as if the rock wasn't there.
"Go on." the Empress said. "I cannot follow, the cave will only allow those of the Law bloodline to enter."
Nathan looked back at the Empress, seeing her silhouette in the darkness for a moment before stepping through. The rock face was exactly like the Empress' teleportation, like a fresh breeze, and a second later he was within the cave. Four people stood before him, dressed in white and gold dresses that showed exactly who they were. The royal family of the Empire. To be exact, the ones that were already adults.
Nathan recognized his father, and the Second Prince, but he did not recognize the other two. But he could guess who they were. The other teenager was probably the first prince, and the older person had to be…the Emperor of Soleria.
"I greet his majesty-" Nathan began bowing, only to be stopped by his father.
"There is no need for that here. This is a place for family." he said, lifting his head up.
The Emperor did not waste enough time for it to get awkward, stepping deeper into the cave instead. The cave split several times, but the Emperor seemed to know exactly which turn to take. The other people in the room weren't surprised either.
Nathan seemed to be the only one that feared the darkness around them. A circle of light followed the Emperor around, lighting their way forward. At first, he'd thought it was an artifact, but soon it became clear that it was a part of the ceiling instead.
The cave got lighter as they seemed to approach their destination, and Nathan felt like he could see thin sparkles of gold twinkle as they walked.
At first, he thought he was merely seeing things, but the sparkles increased in number as they walked, morphing into hazy lines, and then clear ones. The lines grew thicker, and their surroundings became more illuminated.
The lines began to merge as they walked, covering entire portions of the wall with gold. In the end, the entire cave was awash with a golden glow as they walked into a cavern.
A book floated in the middle of the cavern, the floor below it sparkling like a golden diamond. The entire room was tinted golden with mana, and he felt strangely restricted by it. A twisting pain emerged in his stomach as he stepped into the cavern, forcing to fall onto his knees in pain. The pain was sudden and powerful, as if it wanted to take his intestines away from him.
A gentle hand touched the back of his neck, and removed the pendant he had been wearing. The pain disappeared as his wings emerged from his back, the golden lines glowing brightly. The black seemed to have become a shade of gray in this light.
"I apologize." the Emperor said. "I did not expect the cavern to react unfavorably to a Fae artifact."
Nathan coughed, lifting himself off the floor. What the heck? Was it really safe for him to do this if the cavern almost killed him over an artifact?
"Hirlen should go first since he already knows what to expect. Nathan can follow later." the Emperor said, not waiting for his response. Perhaps it was safe. After all, his father was here, and he wouldn’t let him be in danger…right?
The Emperor and the Marshal looked at each other as the Second Prince walked towards the manual, his eyes staring at the floating book with intent.
Now that he thought about it, how did he know that it was a manual? There were sure to be magical books other than manuals in this world. The book could have been a defensive artifact for all he knew. Why was it that he thought it was a manual from the get go? Had the book…influenced him?
The Second Price touched the book gingerly, and then chanted.
"I pledge myself to the Empire of Soleria, to its people and its honor. I ask the power of my ancestors to stand judge, and beseech them to find me worthy of their power." The Prince chanted, and the book trembled.
A shiver ran down the Prince's spine, and he suddenly kneeled. The books' golden glow grew stronger, and then shot towards the Second Prince.
Nathan gasped as the ray hit the Prince, but he needn't have worried. The Prince's aura grew visibly stronger as he broke through into the Journeyman stage. The glow faded as quickly as it came, leaving behind a smiling Second Prince.
"I did it." the Second Prince said, his voice disbelieving. "I did it!"
"Yes, you did." the Emperor said, smiling as the Second Prince ran forward to hug him.
"Well done. I am proud of you." the Emperor said, patting his head as the Second Prince hugged his father like a little kid. Nathan wasn't sure what had happened, but he was sure it was clearly momentous. Perhaps the manual was very hard to cultivate?
"Congratulations, your majesty." Nathan said. A small part of him felt jealous at the affection the Prince got from his father. Even he had cultivated a rare manual, but…no. There was no need to think like that. The two of them were different.
The Second Prince looked at him, escaping from his father's embrace with a huge smile on his face as he said. "Thank you, brother." Then, looking towards the manual, he said, "I think it's your turn. Don't worry, the words don't matter, just ask the manual to judge your heart."
Nathan nodded, and took a deep breath, walking towards the manual. The seemingly long distance was covered far too quickly, not giving him enough time to prepare for what was to come. But he did have one thing he had inherited from the fae. A near photographic memory.
And another thing he had learned from the Countess. Even if the world was crashing around you, you had to move forward confidently.
"I pledge myself to the Empire of Soleria. To its people and its honor." Nathan's voice seemed to reverberate across the room as he took another deep breath. "I ask the power of my ancestors to stand judge. And beseech them to find me worthy of their power."
"Test my heart as you wish. I hope you find me worthy."