"Ngh..." Lena groans as she opens her eyes. Her long hair spreads across the pillow.
A familiar roof stands before her and a wave of relief washes over her.
"I-I'm alive..." she mumbles.
Lena tries to pull herself up until a servant outside sees her and stops her. Her body is too weak.
The monster's strike barely missed her heart but punctured her lungs. The elf's healing patched up the wound but her body hasn't recovered.
"Ma'am, don't move too much!" a maid insists.
Lena nods with a smile.
Then, she realises something is off. Her smile fades away.
"I...what," she mumbles.
A special ability that only a mage can develop is to detect mana near. It's not a skill like the one gained from a Fairy's Blessing but more of an instinct.
However, Lena no longer feels anything. Not even a drop of mana.
=================================
Mages and workers alike are trying their best to erect tall rocky structures outside the broken gate of Chael. The structure funnels into the broken gate, protecting everything except for the "vulnerability".
I supervise their work standing on top of the inner curtain wall.
The walls facing outwards are coated with magic arrays that reduce the wall's friction. I test it by running my finger across it and my hand slides by easily as if I am touching ice.
In addition, they start to dig a deep trench surrounding the wall and fill it with water.
Buildings near the gate are being demolished and many ditches as tall as a human replaces.
---------------------
T1 Defence Potion Absorbed.
Absorption rate: 100%
+3 Def stats
---------------------
I pop another vial of green liquid out of my coat and gulp it. Tier 1 Defence and Dexterity potions have the same description as the Attack one with a limit of 30 stats.
"Ugh...damn it..." I groan and use the wall as support. That is my 6th vial of potion and I'm starting to get used to it. My muscles are jacked by this "legal" doping with no long-term consequences. If I somehow get the formula and return to my original world, gyms would not exist.
However, I notice every worker near has been mumbling and staring at me. I ignored it thinking it must be about my reputation. When I tried to question some workers, they try to wheeze their way out of the conversation quickly and leave politely.
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...
Hmm...
---------------------
Mana sense(lvl 1)
A mythical sense of the higher life forms.
Detection of, control and affinity with Mana greatly increase.
---------------------
I close my eyes and try to gather mana within my ears;
A thread of mana forms.
*HWIWISKSKSKDJJZJSKAOZLLAPPSOLSS*
!!!
"ACK!?"
A haphazard barrage of sound explosions burst into my ear. I quickly cover my ears and dissipate the mana.
"Okay...huff...too much mana...how about a little bit..." I mumble.
I try again, closing my eyes. This time a thinner thread of mana forms.
*Thud thud thud*
Footsteps, dragging, munching and thousands of conversations... ring in my head.
When I focus, I can pinpoint a specific conversation.
"I'm worried. Is this plan not made by that bastard?" someone says.
"It is but what are you worried about?" another person replies. "It seems like a plan that might work."
"Lena, the young and pretty mage that volunteered to help our city a year ago, was crippled by Samuel."
"What?! That bastard?! What did he do?"
"No one knows...remember the heroic red hair warrior? He had this grim expression ever since his return yet that bastard Samuel can still leisurely smile and stroll."
"That fucker! I want to beat him up!"
"Go ahead, I will clean your grave once every year."
...
"A pity...her dream was to become a renowned mage."
!!
I disconnect the mana thread.
...
Without saying anything, I just stood there dumbfounded.
"I mean...of course...she will be sad...why did I do that?"
*EEEEEE!!*
"Argh?!"
I grasp my head, throbbing with a headache as a piercing sound invades.
Looking around, nothing seems to be happening, the sound was just in my head.
...
I decided to visit Lena.
Radz sees me near and stops me.
"You are the last person Lena wants to see."
I ignore his warning and step into the room.
Lena sits on her bed with her knees up, hands over her head and stares down at the bed.
"Y-Young master..." a maid says when she sees me. "I don't think Lena-"
"Leave," I say.
...
The maid complies and left.
...
"I'm sorry," I say.
"What for? You saved my life," says Lena. When I finally get a good look, her eyes are red.
"Sniff...I'm fine," she says.
"Uhm...I can try to help you. Although I am not entirely sure, there is a way to restore an energy core..."
"..."
Lena looks at me.
"I heard it," Lena says. "You wanted to call out to me but stops suddenly."
"That..."
She clenches her fist and glares at me. "Was my sacrifice even necessary...you could have just shot the monster attacking me."
...
"I don't get it. Who even are you?" Lena exclaims. "The bastard that sacrifices people without hesitation or the kind man in front of me. Which is the real you-"
"SHUT UP!"
!
...
"I-I'm sorry."
I rush out of the room into the corridor.
"Young master?!" Radz says but I ignore him and run past him.
"Huff huff..."
I grasp my chest. I can't breathe.
===============================
6 years ago...
===============================
I sit on a chair with a handcuff on my hand in a dark interrogation room. In front are a single table and a chair opposite. Some sort of one-way glass is constructed at the left wall.
Police officers on the other end looking through the glass pick up some documents.
"Samuel Turner..." an officer says. "He...is diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder?!"
Another officer looks at the officer with the document. "Hm? You a newbie?" he says.
"Ah yes! Today is my fifth day."
"Fifth day and already handling this case? Do you have some sort of connection with the higher-ups?"
"Haha...sadly no."
"I see...Anyways, this brat has two very distinct contradicting personalities you need to look out for. Know which 'Samuel' you are talking to. If I am to describe the Samuels, one is a normal teenager with a slightly bad temper and the other one...is a sly and selfish son of a bitch."