Athra looked around with blurry eyes of someone who had just woken up from a long slumber. The first thing he saw was his elder brother’s visage sat next to his bed on a simple wooden chair, Desta’s experienced eyes were darting around the room as if he were a hawk searching for prey. Within moments, he noticed the younger prince was finally awake, and a warm smile formed on his face, marked with a large scar that served as a reminder of his dance with the dragon.
“You are finally awake, I see, oh almighty dragon slayer.” Desta said, poking fun at his little brother, his tired voice telling of the fact that he had been awake and watched over Athra for most of the time he was unconscious. He was after all worried about other houses trying something funny, targeting the younger prince in an attempt to make sure the power house D’lora did not reach once again to what it was akin to when the former queen still walked among them.
“How long have I been sleeping for?” Athra inquired upon hearing his brother’s voice, a strange sound, as he had seen his brother go three days without sleep and suffering no apparent exhaustion. He could only assume he had been out for maybe five days and that Desta had kept watch over him the entire time, an almost correct assumption.
“You have been out for a week” Desta answered him with a regretful tone caused by a feeling of incompetence as in his mind he had failed to protect his brother from harm, a truly foreign sensation for the elder prince.
“I would’ve been a dead man without your help, thank you brother.” Athra spoke in an attempt to lift the spirit of his brother up, he was not used to seeing his brother not wear the face of confidence that was always on his face.
“You might still be one, depending on your control over that new appearance of yours.” His words cautioned Athra while reminding him of his newly gained power.
Understanding his brother's words, Athra nodded. The confirmation of his fear weighed on him, preventing him from using the spell earlier when he was within the camp with his team. Athra turned his senses within himself and with deep concentration focused on his mana reserves, he could see that even after a week of resting his mana was not back to what it was right after Lumina’s divine power was channeled into his body. He could tell something within him was not letting him have access to the vast amount of the goddess’ mana, her power even when separated from her was still divine in nature and refused to bend to the whims of someone who had forcefully stolen it. It was clear he could only access the ocean of mana only when either the goddess allowed him or when the power acted to preserve the life of its host.
The young prince’s mind was already hard at work coming up with a plan to resolve that issue, after all he could not afford to not have control over such marvelous power now that he had a taste of it. Growing up in his siblings’ shadows, his greedy thirst for power was now unquenchable.
“Seems for the time being I don’t have a method to control when her power does its thing” Athra confided in his brother whilst confirming his suspicions. He had full trust in his elder brother just like he did with all his siblings, to stand by him no matter what he would do, as evidenced by the fact that they did not abandon him when he started using blood magic even though it was forbidden by their grandmother. Their grandmother was a hypocrite in their eyes, as she herself was an avid practitioner of that very same school of magic. It was her grimoire that he had found those spells in after all, and her own signature spell ‘field of end’ was just an advancement of the possibilities of that school, effecting the soul instead of the blood of a being.
“If I know you, and I would bet my life that I do. You will come up with a way sooner or later, just make sure to keep away from public eye if you can whenever you feel the surge of power.” Desta spoke as he got up from his chair and made his way to the door.
“Oh, one more thing, don’t forget your manners and make sure you thank the two that gave you their mana, also open your eyes and be more observant, sometimes you can truly be blind to the effect you have on those around you.” He turned his head away from his brother once again as the words finished coming out of his mouth, it was clear that he was leaving the room, possibly to go and get some rest himself. He had been awake for six days straight after all, a feat not so easy to perform as he himself had not finally recovered from his altercation with the dragon as evidenced by the scar which would normally have been healed by him using magic.
Athra remembered the sacrifice Ledros and Thalia had made very well and was planning to show his gratitude, even if it meant he had to do what he did with Tyrian and experiment on their blood to craft a potion brewed just for them. As for the other point his brother made, he simply chose to ignore it as he did not know what it meant.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
Now that his rest was over, he knew he would be required to return into the academy as soon as possible, a notion that made him breathe a sigh of relief as it meant he had an excuse to avoid his mother. Quickly changing into the robes he was wearing during the hunt, he created a portal directly leading back to his living quarters within the academy.
Upon arrival to his room, he glanced out the window to check if they were back to floating or still on the ground. Seeing that the usual blue skies present during the flight of the island greeted him, he was even further relieved, even though he knew if his mother really wanted to see him there was no real way to avoid it. The reason for this need of being away from her was due to his suspicion of not being able to hide what he had done from his mother’s experienced eyes, the woman’s eyes much like her own mother’s were rumored to be able to see through certain secrets arcane after all, and he did not want to take that unnecessary gambit.
Athra started wandering around in the halls, making his way to the infirmary, in which he assumed he would find the two teammates of his whom he had drained of mana. In his presence, the students once again turned their gazes on him as he made his way to his destination, much like what had happened a decade ago. However, this time the murmurs among the cloud were not of ‘the coward prince’ but of the ‘dragon slayer’, a title that was thought to be unattainable as the creatures required to be slain to earn one were thought to be extinct.
He finally was standing in front of the doors of the infirmary with a crowd gathered around him, filling the hall carved out of ornate marble. He knocked on the door with an uneasy feeling akin to a premonition of an ugly sight behind the doors, something which he really did not wish to see. One of the academy’s head teachers, renowned for his healing, opened the door with tired eyes. One could see the effects of mana depletion starting to take effect on the man.
“How may I help you, young prince?” he asked, irritation was clearly audible in his voice after all his own niece was laying in there unconscious possibly with a crippled mana circuit and the young man before him was the reason. Still, he knew he could not be reckless when speaking to the prince, especially now that he had power and subsequently a chance to be the next ruler.
“I am here to see my teammates, if you don’t mind sir” Athra spoke politely, doing his best to ignore the man’s impertinent tone when he was speaking to him earlier as he knew it was somewhat justified.
“I don’t believe that is such a good idea, unless of course your highness knows of miraculous healing arts and can cure them” Harren spoke, his tone even more impatient and irritated than before. He did not wish to let the reason for his niece’s injury to be in the same room as her, especially when he was this drained and possibly could fail to protect her if the prince decided to deal a major blow to house L’rial and kill her.
“Perhaps I do sir, but I can’t tell without seeing them now, can I? Athra’s voice also carried the tone of someone who was trying to hold back their annoyance, an undertone lost on all but the experienced ears of Harren. Not wanting to push his luck and annoy a member of the royal family too much, Harren with a sight took a step back and made room for the prince to walk in.
Upon entering the room, Athra's eyes widened in shock at the dire condition of his two teammates. Both appeared deathly pale, grappling with labored breaths. Their mana reserves, usually adept at replenishing as all undamaged mana reserves were, now showed signs of a slow and irreversible closure, with Ledros' reserves particularly affected. It was clear that Harren was playing favorites when it came to trying to help injured students. Athra’s eyes narrowed in silent anger, anger against himself for letting things get as bad as they did and anger against the teacher who was clearly failing and even showing favor to one student over another.
“I have a way to help them both, but I must remain inside alone and without distractions.” He did his best to control his voice in order to not let his anger seep into it, and actually succeeded.
“I am afraid I can not…” Harren was in the middle of saying a sentence as a sudden overwhelming power enveloped the room, his experienced senses in awe of the amount of mana that was pressing around him as well as the intensity of the clear killing intent of the prince directed at him. He believed, confidently, that in a fight he could win against the prince if he was in top shape, even if he wasn’t sure if he could match the prince’s raw mana. After all, the gap in experience was simply too much to think otherwise. However, as he was now it would not be even a contest, he would be slaughtered.
“Leave, now” Athra spoke in a cold, authoritative voice that sent shivers down the spine of everyone who heard it, forcing Harren to take his leave in fear for his life.
The doors closed as Harren left, leaving Athra alone with his teammates. He would make sure they were better than before, he would do his best to pay this debt of gratitude he felt for the two who had saved his and his brother’s life if not every other students’ without those saved ones even knowing about it except himself and Desta.