Chapter 97 The Mishap
Outside the room, the nurse who had been waiting this entire time took one look at Aya before her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. “How is she awake!?”
At the sudden loud voice, Aya panicked, clamping onto Evernya’s arm even tighter to the point a human arm would have snapped in two. Evernya tried to comfort the shaking Kitsune by hugging her with her tail, but the girl wouldn’t let up on her death grip.
Evernya pumped mana into her arm as she continued to calm her mate down telepathically. “Calm down, Aya! You are safe. I won’t let anyone hurt you! She is just surprised you are awake. She doesn’t mean any harm.”
The words seemed to have made it through to the panicked Kitsune as her death grip loosened slightly. Evernya gave Aya a head pat with her free hand as a reward. “Good job Aya! I know it’s hard, but please bear with it.”
Aya’s grip let up a little more after Evernya’s encouragement, but Evernya could still feel her mate trembling with anxiety. Evernya glanced at Meira, who seemed to understand that they need to get this over with quick.
“Did I do something wrong?” The concerned nurse inquired.
With her kitten busy calming her mate, Meira took control of the conversation with the nurse. “No, she isn’t ready to meet strangers yet. I can’t even get close as she only seems comfortable with Evernya.”
Understanding dawned on the nurse, prompting her to apologize. “I’m sorry I yelled. It’s understandable with what she has gone through.”
“We would like to get their bloodlines registered and their IDs updated. Is the tier 1 overseer still here? As you can see, it would be best if we can take care of this in private.” Meira inquired.
The nurse answered immediately, understanding the urgency, “Yes, he is waiting in testing room five.”
“Thank you. Have a nice rest of your day,” Meira stated, before leading the two girls down the hall.
A half a dozen doors down on the right, Meira stopped at the door labeled testing room five. “This is as far as I can go. The laws say only those under testing, and the tester may be in the room. They say it is to protect the privacy of the testee, but I think it’s so the tester can take advantage of a young testee, maybe pressuring them into revealing something they normally wouldn’t. Legally, you do not have to reveal anything beyond what type of bloodline is, which the test will find out anyway. Same with the mana bound artifact. All you have to do is show him you have one, that’s it.” Meira instructed.
“Won’t he know my artifact is special?” Evernya questioned.
“Most definitely, but with no recorded numbers, it doesn’t matter. Even if he is an enchanter, it won’t matter if he touches since even I can’t read it. I am curious what the results would be though. Maybe Thomas could get a hold of a tester.” Meira replied.
“Well, hopefully we can get this over with before my arm breaks,” Evernya commented, voice stuttering slightly from nerves.
“Sorry.” Apologized Aya telepathically as she loosened her little clamps to a more comfortable pressure.
Evernya opened the door and walked in with Aya, awkwardly pulling her left arm behind her back, refusing to let go. Inside the room, they came face-to-face with the man who was to be their tester. The man in question was wearing in an expensive-looking black suit with a white shirt and dark blue tie. He appeared to be in his 30s, but from the alarms going off in Evernya’s head, he must be much older than that.
“About time you show up, but I suppose I should expect your tardiness considering what you are.” The man commented with a tone lacking interest, without even bothering to look up from the tablet he was reading on the table.
Suddenly, the lock on the door behind them clicked shut, causing both girls to jump. Aya renewed her death grip on Evernya’s poor arm, causing Evernya to wince.
“Can we leave? He feels dangerous.” Aya begged.
One whiff of his mana instantly dissuaded. “I would love to, but I doubt we could escape if he didn’t want us to. I don’t know if you can feel it, but he is much stronger than even Meira, maybe even close to the ascended stage.”
“Ascended stage? What’s that?” Aya questioned in confusion. Before Evernya can answer, the man interrupted them.
“Wonderful, the other one woke up.” The man commented without even looking up.
“Please sit down. We will begin momentarily.” The man ordered.
Scared to anger a man who could kill them with a snap of his finger, they shuffled toward the two provided chairs on the opposite side of the table and wait.
After what seemed like an eternity, the man finally closed the folder he had been reading and looked up at the girls. “I’m impressed. Most of your kind wouldn’t have the patience of an average adult human.”
“Will you stop with the insults!? We came here to get a few tests done, not to constant insults.” Evernya snapped.
“Oh, there it is, your kind’s famous lack of emotional control. Now Kitsune, on the other hand, are masters at it. You should learn from your mate and be quiet.” The man prodded, causing both girls to growl.
Done with the subject, the man introduced himself. “My name is Arch Wizard Archibald Fleming of Buran. Let’s proceed with your bloodline test. I still don’t believe some random shifter stumbled upon a bloodline, but the scans don’t lie.”
Multiple devices appeared on the table, one of them a familiar-looking crystal orb while the devices remained unknown.
“Let’s get the simple one out-of-the-way. Please place your palm on the crystal orb and feed your mana into it until it turns green. This will give an updated reading on your magical capabilities. Evernya Draorxia first please then Aya Draorxia.”
“How do you know her name!?” Evernya questioned in surprise, having just found out herself.
Archibald peered down his nose at the shifter with disdain. “How do you think I knew? I scanned you both the moment you entered. With interesting results, you two are most definitely not just a mix of feline shifter and Kitsune.”
Both girls instantly stiffened in fear, causing Archibald to smile widely. “How interesting I seem to have hit the mark. There seems to be more than meets the eye with you two.”
Trying to keep her composure, Evernya pressed her palm against the orb, acting like what he said getting didn’t get to her. After the orb reset, Aya followed suit. A momentary pause followed before their results displayed on a large screen behind Archibald.
Name
Evernya Draorxia
Aya Draorxia
Mana grade
Awakened stage 6.54
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Awakened stage 6.54
Magic class
3T Psion/warrior
Fire sorceress/Illusionist
Elemental Attunement
Space
Fire
“Fascinating a Psion with an elemental attunement. How rare. But aside from linked mana grades, the rest is what I expected.” Archibald commented before gesturing to the next device.
This device was yet another crystal object, but this time a clear crystal slab with a handprint in the center. “Like the magical capabilities tester, press your palm onto the crystal in the hand-shaped indentation and push mana into it until it turns green. This device will send your mana signature into the system to compare the signature to other known bloodline signatures to find its type and origin. If the previous scans showing you two had a bloodline were wrong, the crystal will instead glow red, indicating no active bloodline present. As before, Evernya Draorxia, please go first.” Archibald directed with a bored expression, fully expecting something mediocre at best.
Evernya placed her hand on the crystal device until it turned green, followed by Aya. Then they stared up at the screen to see the results. However, this time the results took several minutes to appear, causing Archibald to frown.
Finally, over five minutes later, the results appeared.
Bloodline name
Draorxia
Current head
Unknown
Origin
Unknown
Known members
Evernya Draorxia, Aya Draorxia
Classification
Spatial/combative
Archibald’s previous disinterest evaporated as he leaned toward the girls. “How unusual. I never heard of a bloodline with missing information. The system should know everything there is to know. On top of this, your bloodline has dual classifications hinting towards a hybrid bloodline.” Archibald drilled into the girls as he inquired, “What does your bloodline give you?”
Afraid to anger Archibald, Evernya replied, “I don’t know. I didn’t even know I unlocked it until the detective asked me my name. I haven’t had time to work through all the information yet.”
Archibald rubbed his chin as he stared at the girls with keen interest. “Fascinating. Your bloodline is complex enough to require time to process even with your Psionically enhanced brain, though your kind weakens the effect significantly.”
While trying her best to quell her anger, Evernya said, “Look, I get you don’t think highly of shifters, but you could you please stop insulting me to my face. I’ve had a very stressful time waking up in a cell then interrogated directly after. Could we move on to registering my mana bound artifact? My big sister tells me I should register it to avoid situations like this from happening again.”
Archibald’s interest increased a tick as he commented, “I heard rumors of a shifter stumbling upon a mana bound artifact during the festival, but I didn’t think much of the rumor. Even if you have one, I’m sure it’s a low tier one. I find it highly doubtful someone would sell even one of those at a lowly tier 2 festival.”
Does this guy have to sneak in an insult or put down every time he speaks? Sure, he’s powerful, but that doesn’t mean he has to be so rude. Evernya complained mentally before speaking while trying to keep her anger in check, aided by a comforting white fluffy tail hugging her waist. “See for yourself. Low grade or not, I don’t want my mana bound artifact tested as is my right.”
“Go ahead, I doubt a low-grade mana bound artifact like yours will need testing anyway.” Archibald directed with a wave of his hand.
Evernya stood from her seat, taking a few strides away from the table, quickly followed by Aya, who reattached herself onto Evernya’s left arm. With some hesitation, Evernya summoned her artifact. As her translucent black Neko materialized, she swayed, lightheaded from the mana loss. Aya latched on tighter to keep Evernya upright, earning a thankful smile from her mate. When Neko fully materialized, the lights in the room dimmed as if the artifact sucked the life out of them.
A moment later, a rejuvenating pulse of mana rushes through her body, instantly removing any weakness. The next second an overwhelming rush of knowledge invaded her mind, causing her to blackout for a second only kept upright by her personal Kitsune shaped arm accessory. After almost ten seconds, the flow of information finally died down.
Woah, I knew I had a spatial ability, but this is crazy. Did I become a spatial mage too? Also, what is this kinetic aberration ability? It seems similar to my turbo mode, but so much more. I’ll have to dabble in them when I get back to Meira’s.
Aya interrupted her mate’s thoughts as she commented, “Nya’s artifact is so much cooler than Aya’s artifact. Aya’s only blows things up.”
In surprise, Evernya’s head swiveled toward her mate, telepathically asking, “Wait, you have a mana bound artifact too?”
Aya nodded as she replied, “Yes, it is Aya’s only possession they could not take from her. May Aya show her weapon too?”
“Of course, it’s yours. No need to ask for permission. Though I am worried what this guy would do if he finds out you have one too.” Evernya said, gesturing with her right hand toward Archibald, who was staring at Evernya’s artifact with a predatory gaze. “I don’t like the way he is looking at my artifact. He looks like he’s about to pounce on it like I would in a pool of pure mana.”
“Aya’s staff is weak. They only gave her to Aya because no one else wanted her.” Aya assured before unlatching herself from Evernya’s left arm.
After taking a few side steps, Aya lifted both arms in front of her to summon her staff. In a fiery explosion, a beautiful translucent white crystal-like staff appeared in her hands. The staff itself was relatively plain in design, lacking any decorations. The area around the staff was another story, however. Little fiery sparks floated around each end of the staff, causing the dim room to brighten significantly. Aya swayed after summoning her staff, prompting Evernya to use her free hand to support her. A few seconds later, much shorter than Evernya’s own blackout, Aya returned to her senses.
“Did you get something like I did?” Evernya inquired.
“Yes, Aya feels much more confident in using her staff,” Aya commented.
Evernya’s eyes examined the staff with a hint of envy, gushing, “what did you mean my artifact is cooler? Yours is awesome. I don’t know why anyone would reject such an amazing weapon. It’s powerful too. I can feel the sheer power radiating off that thing. Even my Neko isn’t overpowering it.”
Aya stared at her staff in shock, telepathically replying, “She wasn’t like this before. She feels much more powerful now, though not as powerful as Nya’s pretty artifact.”
“I bet that was one of my so-called mother’s gifts,” Evernya commented.
Archibald interrupted their praising session after spending the last couple minutes silently observing. “I have to say, I am impressed. I didn’t expect such powerful weapons in such young under qualified hands. Just from feel both of your artifacts are at least upper high tier.”
The sudden comment from Archibald startled Aya, causing one of the seemingly harmless sparks to escape. The escaped spark flew through the air before exploding just above the table with a blinding bright eardrum shattering explosion. Within a split second, Evernya surrounded the explosion in a hastily constructed sphere of force before it could do any damage.
Evernya’s head instantly pounded from the strain of suppressing the enormous amount of power. She dropped to her knees, losing grip of Neko, causing it to clatter to the floor. Darkness invaded the edges of her vision as the strain became too much. A moment later, her sphere shattered, rebounding her mana through her mind, causing a severe backlash.
Archibald waved away the explosion with no apparent effort as he observed the scene before him with a hungry expression. Evernya was curled into a ball on her side, clutching her head in extreme pain as blood dripped to the floor from her nose and ears.
Several seconds later, Aya finally came to her senses from the shock to dematerializing her staff before rushing over to her ailing mate with an expression of sorrow. Aya tearfully hugged the barely conscious shifter while surrounding them both in a white furry cocoon.
Dismissing the girls from his thoughts, Archibald turned his attention toward the translucent black artifact laying a meter in front of the huddled girls. He stood from his seat and strode over to the fallen artifact, ignoring the girls only a meter away. With a greedy expression, Archibald bent down to pick up the artifact, but as his hand contacted it, an unrelenting suction force assaults’s mana system. He pulled his hand away, but to his horror, he found his hand glued to the artifact.
Within a minute, he too dropped to his knees as the artifact greedily gulped down as much mana as it could. Archibald materialized multiple bottles of MEL, downing them with his free hand. This cycle continued for another couple of minutes before the artifact became satisfied, releasing its victim. Now free, Archibald scrambled away, pale as a ghost.
As if summoned, Evernya weakly crawled out of Aya’s embrace, reaching for Neko. When she contacted the artifact, an overwhelmingly pleasant sensation of powerful mana floods her system. Within seconds, the injuries to her mana channels in her head healed, but the mana kept on flooding her system, rejuvenating her entire body. She let out a moan of ecstasy at the feeling of the tidal waves of mana raging throughout her body. Her moans continued to become louder as she approached a climax, showing no sign of stopping.
A couple of minutes later, the mana slowed down to a trickle, mercifully, just before forcing a third orgasm. Evernya laid limply on the floor, occasionally twitching for several minutes after the mana stopped flowing into her. A meter away Aya was also sprawled out on the floor, a sweaty and panting mess having experienced Evernya’s pleasure secondhand through their bond.
Meanwhile, Archibald, still terrified from his encounter with Evernya’s artifact, refused to approach the incapacitated girls, instead opting to wobble, as dignified as possible, back to his seat.