Chapter 58 - The Thunder Spear

Nathan Evenhart:

I was practicing, tossing a bolt of lightning from one hand to the other. The energy flowed from my fingers to the center of my palm, and I made it jump to my other hand. It might seem illogical, but I was trying to catch the energy with my hand and hold it.

"Even if you keep doing that, it won’t work. You can’t grab energy with your hand; you can only launch it," Adrihna said, reading her book.

That damn Zeus knew how to do this. I need to try to mimic him.

"I think I’m getting close..."

I kept tossing the lightning back and forth between my hands when an idea popped back into my mind.

"Adrihna, that stone you showed me the other day. Where can I get one like that?"

"You won’t find a stone like that anywhere. You can get an inferior version, but it turns to ashes after a while. Mine is special and will never fail."

She pulled out two stones from her bracelet and tossed them to me.

"Compare their colors," she said.

I caught the two stones and held them up to the crystal light globe on the ceiling, trying to spot the difference.

"One’s a bit transparent, and the other isn’t," I said, tossing them back to her.

"You summed it up well. The transparent one is a mineral found in the mines owned by my family called Akonium, which is also my last name. My full name is Adrihna Akonium. This mineral reacts with mana and is an excellent conductor, but it’s mostly for limited use. My family has been supplying the kingdoms with this mineral for generations, and we even have some magical creatures—giant rank-S worms—that produce this stuff."

I paused, thinking about what I was holding.

"Wait… is this… poop?"

Adrihna chuckled softly.

"Don’t worry, that’s the inner part of what they excrete, and it’s submerged in a boiling metal solution, so the ‘dirt’ was cleaned off a long time ago. After the metallization process, it becomes this stone that we sell to the kingdoms so they can produce magical items. The level of purity determines its usability, but my stone is special. This one comes from a rank-SS worm, and they hibernate for 100 years, meaning they only excrete a few times because they wake up to eat and reproduce, then go back to sleep. The dark stone is the purest form there is."

"So there’s no way I can find one for sale?"

She shook her head.

"This stone is exclusive to my family, and we don’t sell it when it’s produced. We don’t even sell it to the royal family. There’s no way for you to get one of these."

My plan to craft a weapon with this metal went down the drain, seeing as it’s so rare and likely too fragile to withstand blows. I’m back to square one, trying to figure out how to deal with the electromagnetism issue.

"Even if you managed to get one, it wouldn’t work as a weapon. They’re delicate and would probably shatter on impact with another blade. That’s why they’re used as components for magical items due to their fragility. There’s no way you could make a blade out of it," she said, returning to her book.

"How did you know I was thinking about that?"

"What else would you think of after seeing it float near you? You’re from a family of assassins—of course, a bunch of ideas must have crossed your mind," she replied.

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Indeed, I had planned out a lot if I could have made a sword from it. I could have created a sword that floated around me, controlled by my magnetism since it would store my mana.

Unfortunately, my plans didn’t pan out. I’ll have to go back to trying to create a lightning spear.

I focus on my hand, trying to go through the process as I create a small ball of light, shaping it carefully like a sculptor carving wood into a sculpture. As I applied pressure to the energy, my hand passed right through it.

"I told you... you can’t grab energy with your hand," Adrihna said.

"You're right..."

I sighed.

Wait... who said I only need to grasp the lightning energy with my hand? What if I were to... add the Wind Element?

Kinue:

We've spent these past few months living with the Evenharts in their castle. It’s been so much fun playing with Chloe and Nathan. They seem to understand me, have patience with me, and respect my sleep periods. I’ve accidentally fallen asleep a few times while teaching them and felt embarrassed when I dozed off in Nathan’s bed.

Luckily, he didn’t mind at all and didn’t scold me.

He was very respectful and even gave me some advice about the future. He told me not to dwell too much on the past and said that if my "sun" ever went out, he would help me not to become a bad person or let me be alone.

I don’t quite know what that means, and even though I’m older than him, it feels like he’s the one who’s older…

Nathan also told me that I’m a special person who earned his "divine favor." He said that if I ever needed help, he would be there for me, even if the whole world was against me. He mentioned it had been a long time since he granted this "divine favor" to anyone, and that I was someone who had earned it from him.

I’m not sure what that means.

After that, he acted normally, and I just figured it was some complicated words that I didn’t fully understand.

Everyone in the castle has been so kind, and the maids are really nice. Nathan and Chloe told me to stay away from them if I ever saw them covered in blood and smiling.

My teacher told me a bit about this family and mentioned how they helped her with a smuggling problem at her family’s mine in the past.

The mine in her family produces a valuable mineral called Akonium, which is used to create magical items. It’s one of the components melted down and used as wiring for equipment that runs on mana.

Back when Professor Adrihna had to be initiated into her family’s business, she spent ten years overseeing the mines as part of her training. During that time, there were many attacks, and the Evenhart family was a friend to hers, as they sold large quantities of a particular fish to the elves’ nobility—a fish that can only reproduce in this region. The Evenharts were dealing with a gang of smugglers who were also cutting down ancient trees in this area. Like the Evenharts, the elves detest the destruction of nature and consider some territories sacred because their ancestors lived there.

The Evenharts couldn’t do much because they were up against the jurisdiction of the elven kingdom. But around that time, my teacher was personally hunting down the smugglers who were causing her so much trouble. When their grandfather, Duke Evenhart, and my teacher met, they decided to "resolve" the situation together rather than take the criminals to justice, considering the severe crimes committed in two different kingdoms, which would have led to a jurisdictional dispute over who would try them.

In the end, they went after the smugglers and killed them without anyone finding out. That was when my teacher and the Evenhart family became closer, since neither of them ratted out the other. Over the years, my teacher has often visited this place because, despite being nobles, it doesn’t operate like typical nobility here. Everyone seems to have the shared goal of maintaining harmony, and there’s no internal struggle for power or attention. It’s almost like some kind of organized system where everyone knows their role and follows it naturally, without questioning it.

It makes sense. Even the families of the servants live here, and there’s even a village within this fortress. Why would anyone fight for privilege when everyone lives in the same place? The most that would change is whether you live in a room in the castle or a house in the village. From what I’ve seen, everyone here eats the same food as well.

I also noticed that they don’t really stay in the main part of the castle; instead, they reside in a more internal area called the mansion, where the rooms are more rustic and ancient. It seems like that place has been preserved as it was since it was built.

I’ve come to like living here. It’s more peaceful than the Academy, and I don’t have to worry about remembering proper forms of address with anyone. If I call someone by their name, it’s not considered disrespectful.

The only strange thing is the demi-human scent on Nate, but I suspect it might actually be from another animal that lives here. I’ve picked up on the scent a few times in the mansion, but it’s very faint. I don’t want to investigate further because it would be disrespectful.

The scent marking territory suggests that Nate is considered valuable property, but what kind of animal would do that? It would have to be an intelligent one, but I’m not sure if they usually do things like that.

I only noticed this because I’m a golden fox and have a bestial form. I think it might go unnoticed by other demi-humans.