Chapter Forty One: The Air Was Full of Sound

Fourth Tower Year 4776, 3.2.4

The Republic of Mevitra,

Clearwater

“Please, I need your help.”

Marc turned to look at his friend.

“What’s going on?”

He had never seen the other man so worked up. His eyes were puffy and manic. His skin was pale and clammy. Quickly, he checked the man’s status.

NAME: ENPII PERKANA-SEE

AGE: 34

BASE LEVEL: 8

RACE: HUMAN

ATTRIBUTE: NONE

RANK: NONE

AFFILIATIONS: THE GUILD

STATUS: HEALTHY

Nothing seemed to be physically wrong with him, but he appeared to be on the verge of collapse.

“It’s Beth.”

Marc’s face grew grim.

“Kira, Where are you?”

《With Safan, at the Guild Hall.》

“What the heck… Never mind. Come back now.”

As Kira had access to everything in Marc’s mind, she only took a moment to analyze his thoughts and memories.

《Be there in a few minutes.》

“Where is Beth now?” He asked the distraught man.

“Back at the house, with Mumay.”

“Kira, scratch that. Go to Enpii’s house. I’ll see you there.”

《Got it.》

“Let’s go. Tell me what is happening while we move. Kira is on her way to meet us there.”

“Marc…”

“What is it? Is Beth Okay?”

“Marc, It’s her core.”

Instantly, Marc realized the gravity of what was going on.

Enpii was a special individual. He was taken in at a young age, having been rescued from human traffickers. As he was being treated in Clearwater, it was discovered that he had a rare condition.

His core had been damaged during his early childhood and, was damaged in such a way that he never had an awakening. He had never acquired any magic or abilities, and to this day, had no affinity or magic.

That had been a giant handicap. Perhaps, in most people, an insurmountable one. But Enpii was a man of exceptional spirit. He had also been taken in and protected by the Guild in Clearwater. Ba’eth had personally intervened to ensure that he was cared for and protected.

Without a core, not only did Enpii have no magic, but he also did not benefit from the Mana that the core would process in the body. The presence of Mana had been a tremendous boon for this world. It prevented most illnesses and defects that were common in Marc’s home world. It also increased the speed of development and allowed people to grow faster, stronger, and more healthy than was possible in a Mana free environment.

But without a working core, Enpii had no mechanism to receive these blessings. Enpii certainly had severe hardships due to his condition. Illnesses that were all but unknown in this world, infected him, while injuries that were thought of as mere scratches by others, healed glacially slow. Marc was certain the man’s life had been full of pain and difficulty, but somehow, through it all, Enpii had not grown up bitter or fragile of mind. It was Enpii who taught Marc the value of labor and hard work. Although he had been handed a body, horribly handicapped compared to everyone else around him, it was Enpii who always pushed Marc towards virtuous actions, always extolling honest and upright behavior.

But what if his condition was not an injury, as the healers had surmised? What if it was a condition? One that could be passed on to his children. How could any parent face such a scenario?

Without another word, the two men rushed to the apartment that Enpii and Mumay shared with their little girl.

Marc was currently renting a small apartment in the same complex as Keri and the girls. A year earlier, he did it so that Safan would have a safe place to stay where his sisters and mother could not dominate him.

Unlike Safil and Sateem, Safan had never been attracted to the life of a hunter. He preferred the life inside the walls and had been trying to find a new path that suited him. He had begun to follow the old mad scholar Lehdze around. While the ancient librarian could lecture a stone statue to boredom, he was also an inspired and talented musician. Though his family could not see the practical benefits of pursuing this particular interest, Marc did what he could to watch out for his godson and rented the apartment, mostly to give the boy a place to be himself.

Of course, he had made sure to find a place close to Keri so that she could always keep an eye on Safan, her youngest. Marc also wanted to stay near the family should there ever be a need for him to help out.

Marc’s apartment was not far from the Guild Hall, and Enpii’s home was in the housing complex immediately behind the large structure. They were able to live there because of Mumay’s position. She had performed well since joining the Guild as an administration intern, and now was a respected and valued official. Marc could remember her early days, a clumsy and excitable young girl, she was now a force to be reckoned with in the Guild.

Within minutes, they had arrived. Marc had sped them up with some strategically timed wind blasts. In front of the building, the could see Safan and Ledze just walking up from the other direction, having been somewhere nearby.

Kira was perched on Safan’s shoulder and hopped off, scrambling up the stairs.

The apartments here were smaller than the ones in the residential quarter. They were positioned to ensure that key Guild employees were ready and able to react quickly to the needs of the moment.

Opening the door, Enpii rushed inside, followed by Marc and Kira. Safan and Lehdze stood outside the doorway, not wanting to pack the room.

Inside, Mumay was sitting on a long sofa-like chair, the little girl lying across with her head in her mother’s lap.

Mumay looked up with worry and tears covering her face.

“Marc, please. Beth…”

Marc ran over and examined the child.

At five years old, Beth was not any larger than a child of a similar age in his world. It was usually around this age that children started to increase the rate of development along with the creation of the mana crystal that would become their core.

While it wasn’t unheard of to see little signs of development at this age, most children were already showing the effects of Mana on their bodies by now.

This was not the immediate concern, but her color and movement certainly were. Beth took after her father, light, pale in complexion with light colored hair. She lacked the darker, chocolate complexion of her mother and her thicker, silky hair, but she inherited her mother’s unique brown and golden eyes.

Right now, however, she was flushed red and breathing shallowly.

“Kira, what’s happening?”

《I’m not sure. I’ve never heard of anything like this.》

Marc pulled up the child’s status.

NAME: BETH PERKANA-SEE

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

AGE: 5

BASE LEVEL: 1

RACE: HUMAN

STATUS: MANA CRYSTAL INCOMPATIBILITY

“What does Mana crystal incompatibility mean?”

《I don’t know. Nothing I’ve read mentions it.》

“Did you say Crystal incompatibility?”

Lehdze had moved in closer and was now examining the child.

《We were at the guild. Ledhze was submitting a request for more materials for book fabrication and-》

“It’s fine, Lehdze, what do you know?” Marc demanded aloud.

“It’s… it’s very rare. It’s not something I would expect to see here in the Republic. It’s a condition, well, if you can call it such… It’s a condition I have never heard of outside of Sobric, or Ranobe. Or perhaps…”

The old man faded off into his thoughts, an annoying habit of his.

“Is it dangerous? What is the problem?” Marc demanded, shouting to bring the man out of his stupor.

“Dangerous? Or certainly. Very few of the subjects survive very- Ow!”

Kira had jumped onto the man’s head and smacked him on the back of his balding skull.

Mumay sobbed as the blood left her face. Enpii rushed over to and embraced her while cradling his daughter’s head.

“I’m so sorry, it’s all my fault. It’s all my fault,” he mumbled.

The old scholar was still rubbing his head as Marc dragged him out of the apartment and hauled him to a table beside the building. Kira was now perched on Marc’s shoulder, glaring at the librarian with fire in her eyes.

“What were you thinking? Do you have no sense?” Marc demanded.

“I was just answering…”

“Time and place. It’s a saying from my home: Time and place, you old fool.”

“What is that girl?”

As was typical, the scholar cared about nothing but the potential of new knowledge within his reach.

“What do you mean? What is wrong with her?”

Rubbing his head, he glared back at Kira.

“Not going to hit me, are you?”

“Talk, old man.”

“That hurt, you know-“

“TALK!” Marc roared.

“Fine, fine. But where did she come from? Who did this to her?”

“What? What are you talking about? She was born here. Those are her parents, you senile fool. You’ve seen her countless times.”

“What? I have. I don’t remember… Oh! The little girl of your friend… the cripple… what’s his name?”

“Enpii. And if you call him that again…”

The man was again lost in thought.

“Hmmm. A natural? How is that? Bloodline? If they didn’t do it, there’s no other… If thats the case… fascinating-“

“Kira, hit him again.”

《With pleasure.》

“No! Stop. It’s just. That child. She is extraordinary. If no one made her, then she is a natural. I’ve heard stories, but in my life, I have never heard of an actual case. I can’t believe I have a chance to study-“

“You will ‘study’ that child over my dead body.”

Lehzde gave him a strange look. The idiom had clearly not been translated.

“She is the daughter of my best friend and under my personal protection. You will do nothing to harm a single hair on her head. Is that clear?”

“Well, this is an extraordinary opportunity-“

“IS THAT CLEAR?”

Kira jumped on Lehdze’s back and grabbed his ear.

“Yes! Yes! I understand. But…”

“But?”

“I would never do anything to harm that child. But I said she was in danger. I can’t stress this enough. She is in terrible danger. If she is what I think she is.”

Marc sat down on the table across from the old man.

“Talk. What is it that you think she is? What is the danger? Tell me everything. But be quick about it. I don’t have the time or the patience for one of your endless lectures.”

With that, Lehdze began explaining the phenomenon. For the most part, he kept it relevant and only required two more raps to the skull from an impatient Kira who maintained her perch on his back.

Lehdze explained that over the millennia, the Tower had conducted countless experiments on Mana cores and Mana crystals. Some of those experiments had been truly monstrous, and there were now many forbidden topics of research as a result. Of course, rules and morals ebb and flow with time.

Some of those experiments had focused specifically on how Mana crystals and Cores were formed. The details of what some of those researchers did disgusted and appalled Marc. To his credit, Lehzde shared the sentiment, but these were things done thousands of years ago, in other ages, with only notes and legends remaining.

Even the current corrupt Tower organization would not dare to step on these taboos, he assured them, but Marc could see there remained a shadow of doubt in the former librarian’s eyes.

Forcibly removing Mana crystals and Mana Cores. Transplanting cores from person to person. Even attempting to swap Mana crystals from one species to another. The crimes of the Tower seemed endless as they were without conscience or restraint.

Marc just bit down on the bile in his mouth and urged the man to continue.

There were legends of others throughout history who exhibited strange reactions to Mana or had atypical formations. This is why Lehdze had studied the topic so thoroughly. Some of the legends were related to individuals who did not form Mana cores naturally.

At the mention of that fact, Marc’s attention and curiosity peaked.

Lehdze told a story of someone who was thought to be a traveler who had wished to gain a normal mortality. He had wanted to live as the people of this world did, including gaining a normal body, growing a Mana crystal, and experiencing an Awakening, even at the cost of his immortal body.

The story had several variations, however. Some tellings say that the attempt failed completely. That the traveler had disappeared from the world entirely, having died in a foolish attempt to obtain mortality.

Another version said that the traveler succeeded. That he was reborn as a normal human and lived a normal human life.

A branch of that story hinted at a possible outcome that was of particular interest to Tower researchers.

There was a version of the story where the Traveler had superficial success, but a tragic twist. The traveler was able to change his form, gaining the mortal body he desired. But it was not a perfect transformation. There were, in fact, subtle differences. It was not clear at first, and with the seemingly normal human body, the Traveler lived a normal life. That included getting married to a human woman and having children.

In this telling, everything was fine at first, but generations later, children of this bloodline would occasionally exhibit problems. Namely, a rejection of the formation of a Mana crystal.

When he heard this, Marc immediately realized that this may very well be the origin of Beth’s problem. A Mana Crystal incompatibility.

As the Mana crystal inside of her was trying to form her Mana core, her body was rejecting it. Traces of a traveler in her DNA, or whatever remained of that conversion, were fighting the creation of the boon that was granted to every sentient being on the planet.

“Many experiments to understand the process, to capitalize on the idea of perhaps creating a being with the power of a traveler artificially, were attempted over the millennia. They all ended in failure. To my knowledge, no subject whose mana crystal was removed or transplanted has ever survived to the age of awakening.”

“None survived? None at all?”

“None to my knowledge. But those are the experiments. There are some who think that if we can find someone of the original bloodline, an actual descendent of the traveler, then perhaps they might be able to live through the trauma, though what kind of a life they would have, I can only guess. Not a pleasant one, I would assume.”

Marc gritted his teeth.

“Old man, what if I told you that Enpii, that girl’s father, has no Mana core.”

Lehdze’s eyes widened, and his jaw dropped. After a moment, he grabbed Marc’s arm tightly.

“You must tell me who that boy is. What do you know of him? Please, I must know.”

“If I tell you, is there something you can do for his daughter?”

Ledzhe thought for a moment. Then he shook his head. He looked sincerely saddened.

“I don’t think so. To be honest, I can’t see how she could possibly live past the age of awakening. Her life until then would likely be full of pain and complications as her body continues to reject the Mana.”

“Then what about her father? How did he survive? How is he alive now?”

“That… that is truly a miracle. I can’t explain it. Nothing I know would lead me to believe that it is possible. Please, what do you know about him. Where is he from, and what happened in his childhood? Perhaps you have a clue.”

“I don’t know. Even he doesn’t know. He has no idea about his own family or even his country of origin. He was taken as a slave by traveling merchants. How he survived is a mystery, though everyone thought that his damaged Mana core was caused by an injury of some kind.”

“Nonsense. A damaged core leads only to one outcome. Mana Panic. Days, maybe weeks at best, but once a core is breached, death will be quick and guaranteed.”

“Lehdze, Have you ever heard the term ‘Perkana-See’?”

“What?”

“Perkana-See. Have you heard of it?”

“Of course I have. How could I not? More importantly, how have you not learned this term? Are you an illiterate?”

Marc wanted to give the old grump a smack of his own, but he needed to know what this was about.

“Just tell me what it means.”

“What it… are you serious? I know I have already gone over this. How can you not know the name Perkana?”

“It’s a name?”

“Of course. I could have sworn I explained it when we went over the Fall of Sett.”

That was a familiar topic. Both Rynan and Lehdze had mentioned it numerous times. The country where greed and corruption had ended up destroying the entire continent, burning it into the sand. There had been warnings of how the foolish pursuit of progress, coupled with greedy royals and nobles, along with the Tower, attempted to take the power of the Towers for themselves.

The entire Path philosophy had been born and propagated as a direct reaction to that disaster.

“I’m sure you never mentioned the name Perkana.”

“I must have… Well, Maybe I didn’t, still you should know it.”

“Just tell me.”

“The House Perkana, the hands of the Altairan Dynasty. The architect of the Empire. Perhaps one of the most influential and tragic families to ever live. To explain, I really must tell you the entire story.”

“No time. Who are they? Where are they now?”

“Now? Gone. Extinct for thousands of years. The entire house perished in the Cataclysm, along with the rest of the Empire.”

That statement gave Marc an opening. Perhaps a clue.

“What if they survived? What if Enpii is one of them? Would that mean anything?”

“What? That’s impossible! The entire… Wait…”

Lehdze started rubbing his head while murmuring to himself.

“No… but… the exile? Could it be?”

“No. There would be no way to verify it. No one remains. There are no records. But if somehow… If this is connected to Sett, then maybe…”

“Maybe?”

“I don’t know. But maybe. If such a thing were possible. Then, there is someone who might have some insight. If such a story were true… it could change our understanding of…everything.”

“Who, who are you talking about.”

“The one who started it all. I can’t even be sure he is still alive. If he is, he would be the oldest being on the planet. But, if it is related to House Perkana, perhaps he would know.”

“Who is it?”

“The Founder.”

“Founder? The founder of what?”

“The Path. The originator of the Path philosophy. The teacher of your teacher. The Great Liar.”

“The Great Liar.”

“That’s his name and his title.”

Marc found it infuriating and confusing. Still, he owed it to Enpii to find a solution. Some way to help his daughter. If Enpii is truly a descendant of this Perkana, then maybe there would be something that could help Beth. He needed to talk to Rynan to see what she knew about this Great Liar.