Ch #20

"Just keep smiling"

Aria accidentally spilled the tea in her hand, nearly spitting it out in shock. "You have what?"

"Three months," Kai said, sighing at the predicament he found himself in. "I don't know what I should do, but..."

"Wait, hold on a second. How on earth do you know this?" Aria couldn't fathom how he could be overloaded by mana. "The tower ensures its newly awakened are safe and protected until they sign up for the Diomedis. You must've gotten it wrong."

Kai stared hard at the girl in front of him. He had never wanted to punch someone in the face so much before. "Do you think the tower would give me wrong information?"

She sat up straight, crossing her arms. "Why do you insist the tower gave you the information?"

"If it wasn't the tower, then someone just blasted my mind with images, words, and thoughts." She was right to be skeptical, but by her own logic, it had to be the tower.

"If I'm under the so-called protection of the tower, that shouldn't be possible, yes?" Kai actually didn't know if it was the tower. It could have been that administrator too.

"Is Big Brother in trouble? I want to help too!" Lumi asked, fear and anxiety apparent in her eyes. Kai hadn't forgotten about the little girl. Without him, where would she go? Maybe Aria would take her in?

Kai patted her head, ruffling her hair. "I'm not in trouble, Lumi, it's just a little problem. Don't worry, okay?" That seemed to calm her down. "How about this," Kai handed her the silver coin Aria had given him, "I'll let you help me if you can do stuff by yourself."

"But I can do stuff by myself!" She pouted, crossing her arms.

"I'm not saying you can't... See that lovely old lady over there? Give this to her and tell her this is our payment for the drinks. Count the coins she gives you back and tell me later, okay?"

Lumi jumped off her chair and walked over to the lady. Kai turned to Aria, "She'll be back soon."

Aria sat in silence, contemplating his words. Picking up the cup, she put it down again; the tea had already gone cold. "Let's say that you are correct, and the tower is telling you that you are going to die in a few months, but how exactly are you going to die?"

Kai sighed, shrugging. "Do I have to repeat myself?" He tried explaining the jumbled-up images and thoughts packed into his head. It made perfect sense to him, but trying to explain it led to a tangled mess. "My core... um... has an input too large for my body to handle?"

Holding his head, he tried to focus, attempting to express it in an understandable way. "Currently, it is... sealed. Soon it will... rip me apart? In a torrent of mana, I suppose? Much like an implosion."

A somber stare. The atmosphere turned gloomy, a heavy feeling descending upon them. "There has to be a solution, right? If the tower told you about it, then it should have also told you how to fix it..."

"That's why I asked for a quiet place." Kai didn't know why or how, but the tower had helped control his core and further provided him with information too. Was it just the tower protecting newly initiated as Aria had said? "The tower did tell me a solution. Even labeled it as the simplest one."

"And?" She leaned forward, waiting.

A whooshing sound. A dagger flew towards their table. Aria got up, hurtling a hidden knife towards it. They crashed together, diverting their path. The knives embedded themselves into the fine wooden floor. Kai jumped up, casting a barrier.

"Aria Nightshade. Sharp as ever..." A charming and beguiling man stood in front of the doorway, leaning on the frame, clad in a sleek, form-fitting leather jacket. The man seemed entirely harmless if not a bit of a punk. But his eyes gave way to a predatory and sharp mind hidden behind his pretty face. A swirling green mana around him.

Kai raised his arm, and a small blue flame popped up, dancing in the middle of his palm. He spoke out in a grim voice. "Who the hell are you? Did no one teach you manners?" Lumi had come back, hearing the ruckus. Pulling her away, he shielded her behind him.

"And who's this? A newcomer? Ever the chivalrous Nightshade, huh? Babysitting little children." The man addressed Aria, taking out another knife from the compact assortment of throwing knives strapped to his chest. He twirled the hidden dagger, engraved with arcane symbols, around his fingers.

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"What are you doing here, Evan?" Aria demanded, taking out her sword. She seemed to know the guy and not in a good way from how they were addressing each other.

The guy, Evan, chuckled at the inquiry, "I heard a rumor, that Aria, the great champion herself was on the run... "

An air of arrogance around him. "But as I can see, you're not... on the run. Chilling here, babysitting, when you're knee-deep in danger."

"Tell me is it true?" A sudden vague inquiry. Kai observed Aria's brows slightly furrowing at that. "It is, isn't it! My gods! How the mighty have fallen... " The guy, Evan seemed to have caught it too.

"Don't try my patience, Evan." Kai felt the mana around Aria condense, flowing onto her blade. The edges lit up in a white glow.

Evan, however, had no care in the world about the hostility directed at him or the murmur of the crowd around them. "And what are you going to do about it?" Evan smiled, his mana concentrating on the knives, the writings on them glowing as well.

A crowd had already gathered, watching the exchange. The atmosphere tensed more and more at the standoff between the two. The homely environment ruined. Kai tried piecing together the circumstances unfolding around him, but he could only assume...

Slam, a massive pressure descended upon the people in the cafe, forcefully dissipating all the mana the two had concentrated. The old man had come out of the kitchen, probably because of the ruckus they caused. "Ahh youth, so much energy, so little thought." He smiled at the jacket-knives guy. "Young man, I expect you to pay for the damages before you leave."

"Tch... just my luck." He dropped a couple of silver galleons before picking up his knives, turning around, and leaving. "I'd suggest you watch your back, Aria, the masters have not taken lightly to your transgressions."

Kai tended to the scared girl behind him, "Are you alright, Lumi?" The girl nodded with a slight smile. She'd stopped talking much after the mana awakening. Kai could see golden mana around the girl, and a highly concentrated spot twice as large as Aria's on the girl.

Aria thanked the owner. Picking up her knife, she led them out. "You were saying something." Aria asked as they were leaving the old-fashioned cafe.

"What?" Kai looked at her confused at the sudden question, still mulling over what that guy had said.

"Pillar, time limit, solution, ring any bells?" Aria asked, walking along the street. The exchange had surely rattled her or something along those lines, Kai thought.

"Oh, yeah. It told me to become Kindled." Kai said, trying to hold on to Lumi while keeping pace with her. She came to a sudden halt, pulling them to a side.

"What's with that face? What's wrong?" Kai did not like the reaction of the girl in front of him. Aria had stiffened up, a solemn and almost sorry look on her face.

"Do you know the record for the fastest person to become a Kindled?" She asked gently.

Kai shrugged. "I don't know, a month or two?"

Holding up 10 fingers she said solemnly, "It's 10 months, Kai, and that's the fastest. People take years even decades to become Kindled. Some never reach it in their lifetime."

"That's over three times longer than I have." Kai stood there. A silent whisper as the situation sank in. He held Lumi's hand tightly, slightly shivering. The little girl looked up at him, "Big brother will be okay, right?"

Forcing a smile, Kai picked the little girl up. Wiping a little tear from the corner of her eyes he assured her, "Of course! Nothing will happen to me. The tower only said it was the easiest and not the fastest or the only one. There must be other faster ways out there." He'd smile even if was all just a front.

Keeping his smile, he looked at Aria. She looked sad, upset even at his predicament. "What do you think?"

"The guild is just around the corner, let's go."

***Break***

A large five-story structure, reminiscent of an ancient pagoda, loomed before Kai. Crafted from stone cinder-blocks, the building bore a distinct dark grey hue, setting it apart from the surrounding wooden houses and shops. The pagoda's broad base gracefully tapered towards the sky. Even magic couldn't help make better buildings, it seemed.

"When we're inside, just follow me; no need to talk to anyone else right now," Aria guided them in. The vast hall in front of them reminded him of the military base he'd visited.

Kai held Lumi's hand, walking behind Aria. Observing the place, it seemed a lot more impressive inside. The floor was covered in a massive inscription, mana flowing through it, glowing in an ethereal light. The people inside were all suited up in armor, and everyone had mana around them. Some were a lot more condensed and vibrant than others.

Kai had found something peculiar already. Most of the people here had yellow mana covering them, a small area below their naval holding concentrated amounts of it. A few had greenish mana covering and the same concentration below their naval. Only a handful had golden mana like Lumi and Aria, and none of theirs shimmered like his own...

Weaving in and out, Aria led them to the side hall in front of the stairs. "Everyone here is an unofficial member... The real members are on the second floor."

"Real members? Are they all Kindled?" Kai hadn't seen a Kindled before. Maybe the old man Reinhardt was one? And the owner of *Cafe de Lime* had to be one too...

"Kindled? No, there are too few Kindled, only a hundred thousand or so, spread across the entire first floor of the tower," she said, raising up the steps.

"That's few?" Kai could not help but be surprised at the number and what it took to call it too few.

"The parts of the first floor we've explored and mapped out are over ten times the surface area of Earth, and that's not taking the oceans into account. So, yes, it's too few."

Reaching the second floor of the guild, Aria swung open the doors, revealing a much more polished floor, but a lot fewer people inside as well. As they entered, curious gazes turned towards them.

"This way." Ignoring the onlookers, Aria led them to an inconspicuous corner. The room ahead was devoid of people, its walls and floors adorned only with books.

"Where are we?" Kai asked, not understanding what they were doing in an abandoned library of all places.

She regarded him with an incredulous look, "Where else are we going to find a way to fix your core?" Seating them on what appeared to be a glorified bench, she ventured deeper into the library. "Wait here; I'll go fetch a friend."

*Kai Mock-up*

[https://i.pinimg.com/736x/49/68/66/496866ec06f5389613564f4453224fd0.jpg]