Chapter 138- Divimancy (Patreon)

Olive was next in line at the meat vendor when Jiran returned. “That was definitely her. She took off back to her house the moment I mentioned Niya was there.”

“Hmm, interesting. Any idea why? Do you think we should be concerned?”

Jiran shook his head, “Even if there is a problem, she’s harmless with the state her mana is in. Let’s finish up here before heading back.”

Olive stepped forward to order as the last customer left with a satisfied smile, “Two cuts of prime roferis and two ferilix shanks, please.”

“One gold twelve silva,” The butcher responded while slicing her order from two of the several beast carcasses hanging behind him.

“What?! Those prices are outrageous! Do I look like a princess to you? Thirty silva!”

Jiran wisely held back his laughter, then tuned out the man’s outraged retort as a group of children playing nearby caught his attention. They chased after a ball, laughing as they crossed the street while dodging feet amidst curses and shaken fists. Despite their grumbles, the higher-tier adults had no issues slowing their speed to avoid trampling the ornery children. It wasn’t their game or movements that had caught his attention. Instead, it was their auras as they entered the range of his manabody.

The tiny bubbles of soul-stuff surrounding them were so faint they were almost undetectable, yet each thrummed with energy and life. Mana Omnis revealed nothing unusual when his eyes scanned them. Usually, especially in adults and those above tier five, he could see the minute traces of mana within an aura.

So that’s what an aura looks like before ascension starts filling it with mana.

He observed the crowd, finding people in each tier and examining their auras in turn. He quickly saw the natural progression from tier zero through five; when the manabody was saturated with enough mana to be manipulated.

Olive saw him looking at the children and nudged his arm, “They are the future. Hopefully, we can create a better home for them, one without the threat of the Graymin,” She stood beside him with a satisfied smile, the cuts of meat hanging over one shoulder. Jiran noticed the butcher wasn’t nearly as pleased about the outcome of her purchases.

“Oh, the kids. I was observing their auras. I hadn’t realized I could detect them in people below the first tier.”

Olive sighed while rubbing her temples with her free hand, “Can you please not say things like that where so many can overhear? You have absolutely no idea of the implications of what you’re saying,” She whispered in his ear before shaking her head and grabbing his sleeve, pulling him along behind her.

Is it really such a big deal to notice that kids have an aura? I’ve known about mine sacrificing itself since I first opened Lenton’s cube. I would think it’s common knowledge that everyone has an aura before they’re born. It’s just an extension of your soulwall. Just because there isn’t any mana in it until around tier three doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Can’t wait until I’m powerful enough that we don’t have to worry about those two emperors anymore.

Jiran tugged his sleeve free from her grasp and received a narrow-eyed, brusque scowl for his efforts. Olive set a quick pace that left them blurring through the streets. Thankfully, the roads were designed with lanes reserved for higher-tiers so they were able to move quickly without any issues. They arrived to see Shara entering her house, her chest heaving from the effort of her sprinting.

The woman took one look around and immediately panicked. “I knew you would be in here making a mess! Who are all these-Dear Mother above what were you thinking? Y-you swept all the loess together? Now I won’t be able to sell them to the potter! Those herbs aren't for eating! They’re medicinal herbs for my backache, you imbecile! You broke my favorite teapot?!”

Jiran followed the sound of the woman’s angry voice into the kitchen. Mayalyn nearly ran into him in her haste to escape while Olive joined Cameron on the couch, the two nobles all too happy to stay out of the squabble.

Niya’s back was to the wall as she mumbled an excuse in an uncharacteristically meek demeanor, “I-I’m sorry, It’s hard to control my strength because my attributes keep increasing,”

When he walked into the room, Shara’s finger was inching toward Niya’s nose, “I don’t want to hear your excuses! I know you have forming. Fix it!” Niya held the crumbled pot in her hand, her posture slumped. She wore a deep frown and tears budded in the corners of her eyes. She nodded and sulked away with the pot as Shara yelled one more time. “Do it outside where you won’t make a mess and don’t try to make it stronger! Fix it exactly the way it was!” Niya blanched, clearly having intended to do exactly that.

Mana Omnis saw Shara’s heart flutter just before she brought her hand to her chest with a pained moan. Jiran arrived behind her with a chair as she collapsed. Before her butt hit the cushion, his mana reached into her, sending powerful waves of rejuvenating energy flowing through her. Jiran frowned when his mana swept across her burnt channels and damaged veins, repairing neither. They were just as black and scorched as before, though the quivering in her heart stopped immediately.

“What did you do?” She looked up at him with a frown.

“Mistress Shara!” Niya was there in a flash before he could respond, the damaged teapot abandoned to clatter on the floor.

“Ahh! Let go of my arm before you break it! What did I do to deserve this?” All the strength left Shara and she fell into her chair, completely exhausted. "At least tell me who all these people are before you run off and leave me all alone, again.”

Jiran’s aura firmed around them as he lost himself in examining the woman’s injuries, their words an inessential distraction. The damage was most severe directly around her manapool. With each breath, density would enter her lungs and be converted into mana that traveled normally to her manapool. In the next moment, the mana would vanish into a tiny spot that would flicker to life briefly before fading into nothingness. Then, a wave of darkness would ripple out from that same spot to wash through her body, slightly damaging everything it touched.

Why won’t the destroyed cells regenerate? Are they being reprogrammed to heal incorrectly? It’s not creating any cancerous growths, it looks more like a burn than anything else. That flicker of light in her manapool isn’t a skill, maybe it's a technique? Why would she be constantly using a technique that’s turning her mana into something that’s slowly killing her?

Jiran had only been paying enough attention to their conversation to know that they were making introductions, and he abruptly interrupted, “Why do you keep spending your mana on that technique? It’s clearly killing you,” The woman froze at his statement, looking up at him in complete shock.

“What?! How could you possibly know that without even touching me? Wait, Y-you can see my mana? And you say it’s activating a technique?”

She didn’t know? Does that mean the technique is draining her mana on its own? How is that possible?

“You really didn’t know?” Jiran’s confused mumble echoed as it bounced within his aura.

“No, even Grandfather could only tell my mana was altering its form and spreading out to poison me.”

Jiran was immediately lost in deep thought once more, tapping his chin while mumbling to himself. “Hmm, that might not be totally accurate. I don’t think it's your mana that’s hurting you. Your mana is vanishing into your technique, and then some kind of dark energy is coming from the same place. I’m not getting the same feeling from that energy as I do from mana so I think it’s something different. What’s the name of the technique you’re using?”

Her mouth opened and closed several times as she tried and failed to keep up with him, eventually mumbling a response with drawn-down brows, “Divimancy,” She met his eyes, her body trembling in complete shock, her next question the barest whisper, “Who are you?”

Divimancy? That sounds like divination. I wonder if it’s similar to my old revelation.

Niya spoke with an adamant tone, interrupting Jiran’s thoughts, “Give her your real name. She deserves to know the truth and she means you no harm. Neither does the person she’s going to tell.”

What person? What’s that supposed to mean? Wait! That’s why she’s so familiar, of course!

Jiran looked between Shara’s tilted head and Niya’s resolute eyes. “This Grandfather you mentioned… What’s his name?” Jiran asked Shara. Though he already knew what her answer would be, he needed to hear it.

Swept away by the conversation flowing completely outside of her control, Shara answered without hesitation, “Lenton Filibree, The Sage of Salandor.”

“I knew it! How is Lenton? Oh sorry, my name’s Jiran, Jiran of Feylon.”

The wrinkles across Shara’s face deepened when she heard his name, “Feylon? You’re Niya’s cousin?! The one everyone’s been looking for?”

“The one and only cousin, unless Micah’s been busy the last year, which wouldn’t surprise me,” Jiran’s aura wrapped gently around Shara’s hand, freezing it in place as she extended a finger toward her necklace. When her hand stopped moving against her will, her mouth fell open and her eyes once more met Jiran’s. “I’m not ready to meet with him again just yet. Knowing him, he’d be here before I could leave. I’ll be holding on to this until I figure out what’s wrong with your mana,” His aura unclasped the jewelry and it floated into his pocket.

That necklace is just like the ring Samris gave me. Except for the little needle tucked inside to draw her blood. The formations inside it aren’t as advanced as Lostrifar’s. Did Lenton make this himself?

“Jiran! What are you doing? You can’t take Mistress Shara’s belongings like that!” Niya lunged for his pocket only to be stopped by his aura.

“I don’t have time to be tied down by Lenton right now. You know why.”

“I understand that, but why take her necklace? What does that have to do with Master Filibree?” She grunted against his wall of force, the house around them creaking ominously from the forces of her struggle.

“It’s some kind of communication device. If she put any of her blood on it, he would know,” Jiran said matter-of-factly.

Niya’s eyes widened as she gave Shara a look of absolute betrayal, “You could have called him at any time? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It was only to be used if I was dying or if I met him,” She lifted her chin toward Jiran. “I could not have used it at any time. He'd know the difference.“ Shara scoffed.

“That’s-that’s…” Niya stuttered as she tried to process Shara’s answer.

“Stop standing about flapping your gums, girl! Go fix my blasted teapot!” Niya jerked back at the woman’s harsh tone before she dashed across the room and retrieved the abandoned teapot with a sheepish cringe.

They certainly have a strange relationship. I’m sure Niya will tell me about it when she’s ready. She sounds mean, but she must trust Niya a lot to allow her to bring so many strangers into her house.

As Niya crept out of the room to the backyard, Jiran happily changed the subject away from Lenton, “Why don’t you tell me about your technique. I assume it’s some form of divination. Did your illness start right when you discovered it, or after?”

Shara glared at him for several seconds before relenting with a sigh, “You’re really him. No wonder he likes you so much, you two are very similar. I first became sick shortly after I evolved my divination technique to divimancy. You said the technique is still active? That can’t be possible, I don’t have nearly enough mana to activate it.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s been active since you learned it. I have a couple ideas to at least see if I can unveil the problem. This isn’t something I’ve ever done before. I don’t think it'll be harmful, but I’ll only proceed with your permission since it’s going to be slightly invasive.”

Shara leaned away from him while holding her hand over her heart, “Care to elaborate?”

“Sure, I’m going to push some of my mana into your technique and see if I can trace it to wherever your mana is going.”

“You’re going to use your mana for my technique? Is that even possible?”

“No clue, but let's find out, shall we?” Jiran’s eyes glowed as a creepily excited smile crept across his face.