The two looked at each other at what seemed to be for an eternity, one shocked by the history of orphanage's caretaker, while the other was surprised to hear that someone is connected to the Prodigy of the Mind.
The light of each other's expression gleamed beneath their eyes as Jon was deeply astonished, he did not remember any sign of their old caretaker ever using magic even once inside the orphanage nor within the reaches of Meadow Cross.
"Had I known ya were orphans from Meadow Cross, I could have treated all of ya some luxurious meal here in Wesout!" Meyvil grabbed Jon by the shoulders as her eyes would gradually widen the more she thought of them being the orphans of the Prodigy of the Mind.
"Grama Bliss had that much significance for even us to be treated better than now?" Jon still could not get into his head that their caretaker was a mage with a title of "Prodigy" on her name.
"All prodigies within the world of wizards and alchemists are more than significant, they are treated as the same level as a Grand Wizard whom is about to be bestowed upon the title of Grand Magus."
"Although because of that, many are jealous of the privilege that a Prodigy have and some would even use underhanded methods to steal the mana soul of a Prodigy, basically killing them as well." Meyvil remembers the time when one of the newly announced Prodigies was murdered the night they were celebrating the appearance of a new Prodigy.
"I cannot exclude myself in that statement as I for one was jealous as well, but never I had thought about stealing their mana soul for my own gain." She avowed the dislike of prodigies she hid within.
Jon could not believe that the lady before him, a person of great power that even blocked the full force of a torbir with only a flick of her hand, would even harbor envy over a Prodigy. His understanding of Grandmother Bliss would change by the moment.
"The Prodigy of the Mind could have been a Grand Wizard a long time ago had she not secluded herself without the help of a Sorcerer." Although Meyvil was envious towards all Prodigies, but towards Grandmother Bliss she only felt pity.
"Did Lady Meyvil know of her personally?" Jon notices the change in expression the lady before him was making, sensing a hint of sadness in her soft tone.
She smiles as she returns to look at Jon, the thought of the two boys being orphans reminded her of a distant past, a sweet yet bitter period of time of her life.
****
It was noon, a time when Ora rose high in the sky and the third moon, Nerva, hid once more from sight. The winds blew gently along the coastline, behind the coast was a thriving city, filled with Mortals and Eltureans trying to make a living out of the coast.
Raised high on each wooden posts of the cobble-gated city were the banner that represented the pride of Wesout, an embroidery of a golden deer with four hands holding a staff with a crown as its tip, the crest of the Dukedom of Cristos.
A large harbor far out of the shallow coastline filled with vessels from all kinds of sizes, one that ventured out for fishing, while the other ventured out for transporting.
Out in the horizon, a sight that could be barely seen even atop a lighthouse was an island. However, this was no ordinary island, it was two separate islands large enough to harbor thousands of Numages to study within the walls of Spickloha Academia.
"Bliss, what is the reason for raising these street urchins whom have the weakest mana soul within them?" Within the city, a large wooden hall beside an inn filled with odds and ends, and dirty rags on the stone floor, a voice boomed all over the hall.
The children of all sorts of ages hid behind a middle-aged woman, wearing a distinctive robe meant for students in Spickloha Academia and a palm-sized crest of the "Prodigy" was embroidered by the left bosom of her robe.
"Headmaster, these children would have died of early age had they been left to starve to death!" Bliss replied, although she is able to put up a strong front, but within her there was fear.
"As a 'Prodigy', you must only focus on strengthening your mana control as befit of the title of a 'Grand Wizard'." The headmaster's expression showed that he was about to burst in anger once more, but he held back as he looks at the anxious expression of the children behind Bliss.
"Headmaster, I know I am a 'Prodigy', but I was only a Numage who took care of these children before I was found to be a 'Prodigy', I thought the Laws of Spickloha states that 'Prodigies are free to act as they will without any guidance, but not without the Grand Magus approval'?" She firms her gaze at the headmaster who was visibly taken aback by her remembering one of the policies meant for prodigies.
After a moment, the headmaster only smirked in reply as he whispers to himself, when suddenly a brown magic circle appears below Bliss and all the children, then a large number of roots came out of the magic circle and grabbed on to each individual's leg.
"What is the meaning of this?" She grimaced as she tries to remove the roots grabbing her.
"If you are going to waste your talent by raising rats on the streets, then I will gladly take your mana soul instead!" The headmaster extends his hand then a large blue hand jumps out of it and reaches out toward her heart.
Bliss remembers one of her classes about mana souls explaining that any living being cannot live without their mana soul, as the mana soul is an extension of the heart. Once the mana soul is ripped apart from a living being, the heart instantly stops beating and they die at that moment.
"Release." She mutters to herself then her body flashed in blinding light and repelled the large blue hand from touching her.
"Reverse." She loudly chants as she extends her hand toward the headmaster, directing the magic she conjured.
"Within the shell I am safe, within the rock I am strong, within the castle I am secured. Blinding Wall!" The headmaster quickly chants the moment he sees the 'Reverse' spell directed at him.
"I have read so much about you Bliss; all your spells are nothing to me!" Another brown magic circle above Bliss and the children then roots project out of the magic circle and tries to grab on to Bliss' arms.
The children's deafening screams as they feel that the roots are pulling them down. Bliss then sends out her "Reverse" spell to the children the moment she looked back at them.
The roots that were holding on to the children loosens its grip and instead attacked the headmaster.
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"Mey, Lead the others out of here!" Bliss yells out towards the eldest girl in the group, one with a beautiful brown hair that seemed to be at the beginning of her teenage years, wearing a noble-like dress unlike the children around her.
"Everyone, follow me!" Meyvil glances at Bliss for a moment before leading the others towards a secret passage underneath one of the dirty rags.
"No witnesses shall be left alive! Earth Collapse!" Yelled out the headmaster, as the inn shook and the ceiling above the secret passage crumbles.
Meyvil and the others barely escaped the ceiling crumbling on them, however, they were back inside the wooden hall. She looks at the predicament her Master was in, feeling utterly helpless.
"Die for me 'Prodigy'! The headmaster maniacally laughed, sending out a large blue hand once more while the roots above and below Meyvil were holding onto her legs and arms.
The blue hand finally enters between her bosom and reaches inward into her heart, Bliss feels the chilling touch of the hand spreading outward.
Meyvil grimaced at the sight of her Master squirming with her dear life and her complexion getting paler by the second. She digs into her memories all sort of things she learned about the basics of magic.
In a span of a second, she remembers the time when her grandfather was teaching her all about how mana can be converted into any element an individual want. Then she remembers Bliss teaching the street urchins about mana control.
She combines these knowledge during this time, a situation where even a moment could change the course of the battle. She then extends her palm towards the headmaster and focuses the movement of mana within her.
Meyvil feels a warm sensation flowing out from her heart and following the direction towards her palm.
'Wind' Meyvil thought to herself, then suddenly a gray magic circle appears on her palm and shoots out a fist-sized ball of compacted air.
"Wha-- Eugh!" Immersed in draining Bliss' mana soul, the headmaster was caught off guard by the wind magic hitting him on the face directly.
Due to this sudden disturbance, the large blue hand instantly dissipates and Bliss was released from the headmaster's grasp. In addition to the dissipation, her mana soul rushed back in, giving her back the strength she had minutes earlier.
"Headmaster this is too much! Reverse!" Cried out Bliss, as she directs her magic towards her spell above her.
The moment she was loose from the roots' grip, she charged towards the headmaster as she prepares a spell.
"Impudent!" The headmaster mutters his chants then a rock figure bursts out of the ground beneath them.
The rock figure formed the figure of a knight with it sword out ready to slash at a moment. Its eyes glowing in golden light as mana circulates within it.
Bliss grimaced at the rock figure, she remembers the headmaster's rock golems are unusual as they are almost invincible to all forms of attacks, whether it be physical or magical.
Before she enters the range where the rock figure would attack, she immediately strafed sideward and directs her spell towards the headmaster again. However, before she was able to release her spell the ground beneath her bursts open as another rock figure appear, about to attack Bliss with its sharp sword.
Not even a moment has passed when a wind spell struck on the craggy arm of the figure, allowing Bliss to have a moment to dodge the attack and released her spell towards the headmaster.
"Mind Block!" A purple magic circle appears above the headmaster's head and the headmaster suddenly froze while standing, the rock figures was able to slash before they crumbled, destroying the inside of the wooden hall also ripping apart her robe.
"Master!" Meyvil immediately approached her master and covered her bareback by pulling her robe back together.
"Mey, I am glad you are not hurt." Bliss soothing voice warms Meyvil's heart as Bliss hugs her tight.
"Master!" All the other children surrounded her as tears roll down their faces, thankful that their matronly master was not hurt nor killed.
Overwhelmed by the children surrounding her, Bliss could only smile and embraced the group as she silently casts a calming spell on everyone.
****
"And after that Bliss had to erase the headmaster's memory of ever meeting her inside that hall, which was found out by the council a few moons later." Meyvil softly said, feeling her heart-wrench after recalling the day when Bliss was publicly reprimanded by the Court of High Magical Appeal.
"But did she not defend herself? How could they reprimand Grama? Was there no evidence of her being hurt?" Jon could not find the justice from the outcome, thinking that the headmaster may have done something for it to influence the reprimanding of Grandmother Bliss.
Meyvil could only sigh at how smart the child raised by the "Prodigy of the Mind" is, normally children or teenagers could not understand the laws of the world but the one before her seemed to understand that there was something done behind the scenes.
"Yes, there were pieces of evidence that were in favor of Bliss, but because she erased the headmaster's memory of that time, the council used that evidence to defeat her claims and pitted to her the case of 'Staging the Scene' and 'Abuse of Power'." The more Meyvil recalls the news about the Council's judgement, the more her anger rose against the injustice against her previous master.
She took a glance at Jon and felt some sort of anger boiling within him, but his face showed none of it. She smirks and returns to recording about Jon's special case of "Lom's Curse".
"Grama never told us about that." He looked as if he was deep in thought, staring blindly at the distance.
"In one of her letters she sent me the day after she was casted out of the Academia and all other Academies around the world, she wrote that the night before the court appeal, she secretly met with the Grand Magus of Wesout, Alingoth, and gave almost all of her mana soul to him in exchange that when she would be banned to enter any Academia she would be given protection by the Grand Magus to never be found by all other mages around the world." Meyvil finishes her recording on the scroll and rolled the scroll.
"The Council of High Magical Appeal were angered the moment they notice that most of Meyvil's mana soul was taken by another mage, as they questioned more about whom she gave the rest of her mana soul to instead of the 'Power Abuse' case. After a long argument with Meyvil, also angered by the fact they could not punish her with death as opposed by the Laws of Spickloha, she was casted out instead." She continues, as if expecting Jon asking more about Bliss past.
"A northern season later, I received a letter from her, although no name or symbol was written on it, I knew her handwriting better than anyone else, she wrote last that she built an orphanage in Meadow Cross and enjoyed her new life there. And that was the last time I heard of her." She softly said, she chokes as she recalls Bliss death.
Jon looks at her with sympathetic eyes as he recalls the time when Grandmother Bliss would tag along with the other orphans to play out in the village, sometimes teaching them how to read, and for infants she would tell them the tales about the stars and the moons.
"Grama truly loved her life lady Meyvil." Jon places his hand on her hand and gave her an assured look.
"If you were Grama's apprentice, why did you not leave with her?" He politely asks.
"Bliss left us without even telling us about it, when I learned that she was casted out it was already too late." She bitterly replied, but her eyes showed longingness.
Jon smiles at first, but he suddenly remembers the fire brewing during dawn and the distant screams from all directions as the loguards were run down by Supriar's cavalrymen.
"Those Supriars will pay for taking Grama Bliss!" He says out loud, which caught Meyvil off guard.
"I... I also learned about the destruction of Meadow Cross, but at that time, I was out in the continent of Diharta researching about the special Staurkrei ore which does not appear in other continents. When I returned to Wesout several moons later, that was when I heard that Meadow Cross and several other villages were pillaged by the Supriars." She feels her heart ache even more, the more she remembers what she has done in the past.
"When I was about to leave the Academia to avenge Bliss, Grand Magus Alingoth stopped me on my track and advised me not to cause any problems for the Academia." She continues.
"At first it was suspicious why he suddenly interfered, but when he explained to me the dangers of interfering with political affairs without guidance or worse, the dangers of aimlessly acting out of revenge, which would end up making me a national threat for all rulers in Wesout."
Jon was taken aback when he heard that the Grand Magus was the one who personally stopped her from storming out of Academia.
"So after I graduated, I brought along Halungr and their siblings with me and ventured around the world for five northern seasons, which lead me back to here, but the guilt of not being able to do anything for Bliss haunted me every night I live here by the border of Dukedom of Cristos." The light refracted from the crystal around them bounced back to her eyes and Jon then sees a tear slowly falling from her face.
Without hesitation, Jon embraces Meyvil startling her. At first she tries to push him away but Jon never loosened his embrace, then the feeling inside overwhelmed her and she finally burst into tears as she returns an embrace to Jon.
She feels the warmth of embracing Jon familiar, the warmth of her master that she resented for a long time until she passed away.
Behind Jon, there stood an invisible figure that both Jon and Meyvil felt, the figure resembled the young Bliss smiling as she sees the two children she raised have finally met.
"May he guide you on Jon, Verna, Mey." The invisible figure mouthed and as she approaches Jon and Meyvil for an embrace, she slowly dissipates and returns to Solvana.
****
A few hours have passed, Ora still shone brightly as it does in the sky and Halungr is seen guarding the cave entrance into her domain. The wind gently blew along the trees, heading eastward, and the branches dancing along to the wind.
However, Halungr's eyes suddenly flashed in red as it feels the ground shaking as it uses its mana to check on what is causing the ground to shake.
Grrr! It sees about twenty cavalrymen speedily approaching its master's domain and immediately sends a part of its mana to Meyvil, alerting her of approaching intruders.
A few moments later, Meyvil and Jon arrived at the entrance and at the same time the cavalrymen, with the crest of the Cristos on their breastplate, arrived at the same time.
"Lady Meyvil, we have come by the order of Baron Slies and the permission by the Duke to question this lady about last night's occurrence, cooperate or face yer downfall!" The knight captain brandished his sword, then the others followed as well.