Meiyal-Charged Material

> “Technologies evolve. Organisms evolve. And so do Meiyal Arts.” ~Schrodie

Frein’s head ached as they walked back.

“So Vyndival isn’t behind this?”

The guards took the Nightmare away from the scene with instructions from Midan to keep the corpse secured.

“A Nightmare doesn’t show up in the middle of the protected zone—which is basically the entirety of Forimeyn Continent. As far as I know, Vyndival couldn’t possibly do something like that. If they could, they’d have used it during the Battle of the Vanguard.

“There’s no forecasted Hollowing Storms either…no Void Encounters as well…But why would there be one? How could it use a bow? Why did it look like a person?”

The Princess was too absorbed within her own thoughts for Frein to grab her attention. He had never seen anyone so immersed that she almost tripped on something as simple as a cobblestone pavement.

“Hey, come on, pull yourself together.” Frein ushered the Princess back to her feet when she finally lost her balance. “What do you mean by Void Encounters?”

“Sorry, I meant Nightmare Invasions,” Kristel replied as she dusted her legs off the dirt. “It’s the same thing. Void Encounter’s just the older term.”

“Right…”

They eventually made their way back to the outpost. The guards were already settled in their individual positions. Katherine and Frill were inside the main building with Xiv lying on a mattress, unconscious. Enza was also there, drinking milk from a bowl.

“Princess!” Frill came running with Katherine calmly walking behind her. “Are you alright? We could hear the roars from here, but I couldn’t leave because of the operation.”

“We fought Those That Fell Off a Cliff. But we’re fine. We managed to kill it.” Kristel did her best to refocus back to the present. Frein could see her desire to explore the theories swimming in her head.

“You had a Display for it?” Katherine asked, eyes full of amazement.

With a subtle sigh, Kristel tapped a light back hand over Frein’s stomach. “No, but this guy here figured it out. We can talk about that in detail later. How’s Xiv?”

“They shattered his meiyal core,” Katherine answered calmly despite her proud and excited eyes.

“Piercing meiyal arrow, something stronger than Lor could make,” Frill added. “It evaporated before I could preserve a sample. We were too busy trying to keep him alive.” She made a better showing of hiding her own amazement on the news regarding the Fallen, but Frein noticed it.

In fact, he couldn’t help but feel incredibly sensitive with everyone’s reactions and subtle facial expressions. Since the fight with the Fallen, he could feel his Siffera poised on a certain state, on a verge of something incredibly profound, but it kept teasing him out of reach.

“But he’s alive, right?” Frein asked, distracting himself from the itch at the back of his head. Enza appeared right next to him, whining in a hushed tone. “Oh, hey.”

“We should’ve just walked back together!” she complained; her voice falling in distracted ears. “And I can feel something really weird, but not in a bad way for some reason.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Frein said while scratching his yuma’s chin. He glanced at Frill to reissue his question.

The Aria’s face fell, she couldn’t answer. So, he turned to Katherine.

“We had to transplant Liona’s core.” The Lady of the Void controlled her tone. “We had no choice.”

“Are you okay with this?” Princess Kristel asked Frill.

“I suppose,” Frill said. “I’m just not in the mood to see more corpses right now.” Her eyes flared, purple with a mix of redness.

Kristel nodded. “Alright, then. We’ll keep him in Minaveil Manor for now. Can you keep an eye on him?”

Frill nodded in silence.

“I need to make a few arrangements with Midan before we go to Central.”

“That reminds me.” Frein’s mind raced. “He’s the guy who built the wall, right?”

“The Vanguard, yes.”

“They said he built it in ten days—just two weeks.”

“He and his crew. Yes.”

“I’m coming, too.”

“What for?”

Frein folded his arms, organizing his thoughts. “There’s something weird about that wall,” he began. “The meiyal in it looks different compared to a normal Meiyal Art.”

“What made you say that?” Kristel asked. By the read on her face, she was looking forward to some solitude, but Frein wasn’t having it. He had to talk to Midan.

“They’re like in their natural state. Like they were never manipulated in the first place. I want to know what he did to make it look like that.”

Kristel gave him a long look, then turned to Katherine. The Lady, who was discussing something with Frill, noticed her gaze and just shrugged.

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“Well, as far as I could tell, when it was getting built, it wasn’t exactly through Meiyal Arts,” she sighed. “Fine. Let’s go.” She turned to Katherine. “Midan’s secured the Fallen in the dungeons. Can you check on it? See if you can harvest any materials or assess whether they should keep it or not.”

“Sure thing.” Katherine nodded this time. Frein could see a hint of regret on her face. He just wasn’t sure if it was because of the core transplant or if it was because of something else.

“Please take care, Princess,” Frill said and nodded towards Frein. “We’ll prepare a late dinner for you two, so don’t eat too much.”

Frein decided to have Enza go with Katherine so she could walk around. The yuma gave him a long hard look then mumbled something about ditching her on their first night. She went with the Lady who happily accepted the babysitting duties.

With the decision made, they—along with a couple of guards to carry Xiv—left the outpost and separated ways as they passed through the market place. Katherine, Frill, and the guards continued along the path towards the bridge, while Frein and Kristel entered the market proper.

The evening had fully settled and most shops were closing. Only some stalls selling quick-to-eat snacks or dinner remained, hollering at them as soon as they spotted the Princess. She declined their offers with a smile.

Some elderly folks hanging out together over some drinks called at the pair, teasing them as budding lovebirds. Kristel pouted and adamantly declined their accusations, but Frein simply laughed with them and went with the flow, effectively exacerbating the situation.

“Come, come, tell us about it!” said one of the grandmas—an aged yet healthy orc—pulling Frein by the arm. She poured a glass of liquor and gave it to him with a shaky hand.

Leaving the Princess speechless, the Visitor happily enjoyed the drink which surprisingly kicked him with its sour and spicy flavor. “Sorry, grandma. Kristel and I aren’t actually together,” he revealed after reeling from the liquor backlash.

He was met with disappointed groans.

With a smile, he returned the glass and took a few steps away from the elderly group before saying, “That’s because I’m already with Katherine.”

The reveal fell on deaf ears for a second, allowing Frein precious few seconds to create some distance, until one of the elders realized which Katherine he was talking about.

Frein and Kristel left before chaos ensued.

“That sort of behavior causes rumors to go around, you know?” the Princess said. Something in her voice told Frein she was holding herself back to deliver a reprimanding speech.

“Let them have their fun,” he retorted. “Besides, I cleared up the misunderstanding anyway.”

“I guess…”

They found themselves on a small square leading to three other directions. In the middle was a single huge tree with spiraling wood patterns surrounding its trunk. Some spirals were enveloped with different flowers while others covered themselves with leaves that left a soft humming glow. Its high branches were lush with more of the same leaves, reflecting the shimmering purple glow of the evening. It was vibrant, yet not overwhelmingly bright. Like an overgrown evening lamp, mesmerizing, hypnotizing, and calming all the same.

It had been a week, but the magnificent beauty of the purple night sky still took his breath every time.

“Never seen a tree like this?” Kristel asked, noticing Frein’s magnetized gaze.

He absentmindedly shook his head. “I’m not exactly a nature-guy back on Earth, but I doubt something like this exists back there.”

“You can ask it for a leaf if you want.”

“Like a lucky charm?”

“Sort of. Just open your hand to it.”

Despite the weird instruction, there wasn’t any hint of deception on Kristel’s face. So, Frein stood underneath the tree and presented his hand. He remained still for a good minute, wondering exactly what would happen. Just as he considered the Princess might actually be making a fool out of him, something caught his eye.

Meiyal coalesced around the tree in a slow swirling fashion. It began from its roots, spiraling a colorful combination of glitters along its trunk and travelling beyond its leaves. On a spot Frein could barely see, at the top of its glimmering leaves, one in particular twinkled a variety of colors instantaneously. The leaf snapped and swayed down towards him.

Frein could see the meiyal around the wind as it guided the shining leaf, as though the world itself placed it on his open palm.

It settled to a brilliant emerald green and was surging with tremendous power, filled to the brim that it seemed to overflow. A single piece, barely half of his palm, and yet so heavy it took all of his Siffera just to hold it without flinching.

He turned to Kristel who looked just as surprised and dazed as he was. When their eyes met, she quickly shook herself awake.

“Quickly, put it on your Exhibit!” she said in a panicked voiced.

“How do I do that?” he asked, barely hiding his own frantic voice.

The Princess rushed towards him. “Bring out your own meiyal and surround it. Then slowly absorb it back. Use your core as your anchor when you visualize it in your head so you can lead it straight to your Exhibit. Don’t worry, it’s not that complicated.” She quickly Drew a barrier Meiyal Art around the two of them. “Just to be one the safe side.”

Frein didn’t ask further and sat cross-legged on the ground, holding the shining leaf with both hands as he relaxed and allowed his meiyal to surface. Again, he could only credit it to the complicated Milling form he had already mastered. It was as easy as lifting a finger.

It was also the first time he saw his own meiyal and it took him by surprise. A deep seeping dark red, almost the color of blood. It felt malevolent. But there was no time to question it now. He focused on surrounding the leaf. He could feel it disintegrating, almost melting from his meiyal’s touch.

“Good,” Kristel observed. “Now slowly pull it back. Don’t rush it, take as much time as you need. Midan can wait.”

Every tug felt like he was going to explode. Even for someone like him—with all the fantastical experiences he had had so far—the feeling was beyond comprehension. It wasn’t just power.

It was understanding.

A true sense of the world.

A realization of limitless growth.

Divinity, authority, whatever it was called. Something reserved for gods. He was pulling at fragments of its slivers, atomic in comparison to the whole; a mere strand within the threads or weaves or fabrics of the entire cloth that spanned the entire universe.

Yet it felt too much to hold.

Frein didn’t know how long it took, but Art fatigue had settled in by the time he was done. He was still filled to the brim with meiyal, but Drawing right now was an impossibility.

“Don’t Draw or Mill until you’ve recovered,” Kristel said, reinforcing his assessment.

“How long did I take?”

“A good ten minutes. Pretty impressive, actually.” The Princess erased her barrier Meiyal Art and held out a hand. Frein took it and got up on his feet.

“What happens if I Draw or Mill? Is it because of the leaf?”

“Not exactly,” Kristel replied, tempering her excitement. “It’s just that Drawing with Art fatigue complicates your recovery and risks injuring your meiyal system. Only do so when you’re really desperate. There have been records of people trying to make it work, but the results only gave us one conclusion.”

“Make it so that you don’t suffer Art fatigue too fast?”

“Exactly. Now, if you Mill, you might accidentally integrate the material on your Exhibit and finalize it. You can still actually Mill without doing that, but it requires some extra precision. It’s better to have Katherine teach you about it.”

Frein nodded. “So, what was the leaf all about? It doesn’t look like it happens that often based on your expression.”

“No, no, it doesn’t” Kristel began, organizing her thoughts. “It was supposed to be just a lucky charm. The Favoring Tree always gives a leaf when people ask for it. It feels good, but usually it’s just a placebo.

“But that leaf, that’s called Emerald Guidance. It’s one of the Colors of Power, a collection of powerful meiyal-charged materials. They’re known for their incredible effects, but procurement has always been a mystery.”

“So, what does Emerald Guidance do?” Frein obviously had more than just one question, but it didn’t look like he could interrogate Kristel about it now.

“We need to get going, Frein. Besides, it hasn’t fully integrated on your Exhibit yet. And I think Katherine has more knowledge with it. I just know it helps with Drawing Meiyal Arts, which might be exactly what you need.”

Frein risked one more question as they left the square. “How many materials could I put on my Exhibit?”

Kristel just shrugged.

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