Chapter 140- That’s A Wrap (Patreon)

Olive gasped, her hand coming up to cover her mouth as she met Jiran’s eyes, “I am so sorry! I-I didn’t know she could do that.”

“It’s fine. A small price to pay for such a vital piece of information. Tell her thank you if she can’t hear me.”

“Vital piece?” Mayalyn parroted with a tilt of her head and a flick of her ears.

“Mhm, Olive’s… entity just confirmed that divination taps into the soul. I had my suspicions since it's similar to my foresight in so many ways. We know the soul is poisonous to the physical body, so divination techniques use an entity to… I guess mediate between the knowledge in the soul and the user. I have no clue how the soul gathers the information in the first place though.”

Cameron blew a raspberry and shook his head, “This is way beyond my stipend. I’m going to be sporting a headache for days if I hear another word. Let me know if you need me to hit something,” He walked back to the couch and reclined with a yawn.

“He is right, this is very complex. Can you please explain it again from the start?” Mayalyn asked.

Jiran nodded, taking a moment to make sure he left out any unnecessary information this time. “Shara’s divimancy technique is located directly on top of where her soulwall connects with her body. Because divination techniques access the soul already, it created a much stronger connection than normal which is causing it to stay turned on permanently, draining her mana. At the same time, she doesn’t have enough built-up mana to summon the entity that’s supposed to filter the information from her soul. This is causing her soul to leak out, damaging her body with each bit of mana that the technique uses.”

“Fascinating…” Niya mumbled before remembering who they were talking about.

When she turned to Shara and saw the woman looking right back at her with a stern frown, Niya turned crimson and her gaze fell to the floor. She recovered quickly with clenched fists and jaw, looking back at Jiran fiercely with an emotion in her expression he had never seen before, “We know what’s wrong. How do we fix it, fix her?”

“I’ve thought of a few options: We can try to refill her mana enough that her entity is summoned. However, that comes with the risk of her entity not showing up. All of that mana would release a huge chunk of her soul into her body simultaneously, which could easily kill her. I’m currently blocking her mana from entering the technique, hoping the hole between her manapool and soul closes on its own. The last option I can think of is that we find a way to convince her aura to sacrifice itself to seal the hole. That’s probably the worst option since I have no clue why each of us has a tapping spot that allows our auras to bleed into reality to begin with. Sealing it could cause new, and even worse problems.”

Seeing an opportunity to bring her formidable education to bear, Olive chimed in, “The prevalent theory is that the aura tap leads to Madra’s grace, which is pulled out and converted to aura as our density increases. The theory became popular due to how our auras displace our weight, which keeps us from sinking into Madra’s heart as we ascend. Of course, all of that is based on ignorance of what the aura actually is, so it's probably not that useful. Sorry,” She quickly lost her steam, falling silent again.

What’s up with her? First, she apologized for her entity, and now this. She’s not usually so insecure. Does it have to do with the question she asked her entity?

Seeing Olive’s downtrodden expression, Jiran stopped himself from mentioning how idiotic he thought the idea of aura being 'Madra’s grace' really was. He cleared his throat with a gentle cough, “If nobody has any better ideas, I planned on telling Shara everything and then teaching her how to claim density and control her mana manually so she can actively stop it from activating her technique.”

Olive’s head snapped up, panic widening her eyes, “That would not be wise. Master Filibree knows how your method works yet chose not to teach his own descendants. To go against his wishes on this matter would be incredibly disrespectful. If you wish to teach her, we should have her call for him first.”

“That’s not an option,” Jiran shook his head immediately. “I have no idea what he’s going to want from me and he’s too powerful to stop if he decides to keep me under his thumb again. It’s possible I could bargain some of my knowledge about the soul and our unique abilities for my freedom, but I’d rather not risk it. I doubt I could even run from him as I am now.”

“I didn’t realize you two had such a difficult relationship.”

“We never did. But there are too many unknowns now. Why didn’t he spread my method to a few trustworthy people? I suppose it’s possible he taught Empress Mesalay. The way she was controlling her mana would be impossible without unlocking coating, but she could have reached level fifty in molding on her own, so who knows. I don’t like it. Until I can at least have an even conversation with Lenton and the emperors, I want to keep my interactions to a minimum. Niya, what do you think? Should we call him?”

“No! Absolutely not. I believe we are close to solving this on our own, then… We should at least try. We have to try! Please,” She swallowed loudly while staring intently into Jiran’s eyes. He knew she was trying to communicate something, he just couldn’t figure out what.

Olive’s brow was heavily furrowed as she looked between them, “Your decision is disheartening. They are the very bedrock of the empire, to not trust them is… likely wise,” Olive relented with a sigh, “Considering your time constraints,” She then squared her shoulders, her voice returning to normal, “I have something important I must discuss with you but it should wait until after we try to resolve Shara’s injury.”

That doesn’t sound good. Well, whatever it is, we’ll figure it out together.

“Alright, we’ll talk again later then. As far as Shara goes, I won’t teach her to claim density or reveal anything I learned about her soul while trying to figure out some way to either close her tap or get her skill to shut off.”

“Thank you for respecting my input and Master Filibree’s wishes,” Olive nodded before leaving his soundproof bubble of aura and heading toward the kitchen.

Mayalyn snatched his hand before Jiran could head back to Shara, meeting his eyes with a light smile, “You can save her. I know you fear for her life so you are being cautious but that does not suit you. Be yourself, trust your instincts.”

“I… thanks, Princess,” Jiran squeezed her hand, returning her smile before she joined Olive.

Jiran and Niya approached Shara, the hopeful expression on her face falling to a frown when he minutely shook his head. “I am beyond saving, after all? I shouldn’t have allowed myself to hope.”

“Nobody said that. I have several theories to try and we’re just getting started. Oliviala doesn’t think I should tell you everything, though, as it’s information that Lenton specifically chose not to tell you. We decided to respect his decision.”

“What?! Things he hasn’t told me? What does that mean? Don’t look at me like that, boy. I heard what you said and I don’t expect you to change your mind. If you think there’s a chance to cure me, I’m not about to fight you on some random tidbit of knowledge that codger decided not to tell me,” Seeing his raised brows and half smile, she waved her hand back and forth between them, “Don’t mind my grumpiness and just tell me what you need from me.”

“Nothing for now. Let me know if you feel any changes in your condition.”

“I’ve been feeling much better since whatever you did a minute ago. That could be because of how awful you made me feel and now I’m merely back to normal… Hard to say.”

“Heh, sorry about that. I put a… temporary block on your technique so it hasn’t been poisoning you for a few minutes. ”

She pursed her lips while leaning back in her chair, “No, you’re not sorry. But that’s fine. It’s only pain. Compared to living another day, a little discomfort is nothing. Please, do what you can. I’ll assist in any way you deem necessary.”

Jiran squinted suspiciously, “I didn’t expect you to be so willing. Actually, from the very beginning, you’ve been far more cooperative than warranted.”

“Between the stories from Niya and Lenton, and your ability to diagnose me instantly without touching me, why would I have a shred of doubt that you’re my best chance at survival? Besides, I’ve known for a very long time that Niya would bring you to me eventually and that you would ‘find a way,’ whatever that means,” She mumbled the last bit, Jiran only catching her words due to his aura.

Right, divination and cryptic messages about the future go hand in hand, don’t they? Guess I’ll start by seeing if there are any changes in her technique with it being denied mana for a few minutes.

Jiran allowed a trickle of her mana through the blockade he had created within her manapool. Her energy was sucked into the technique, then down the whirlpool as normal. A few seconds passed before a trickle of soul-stuff came out, polluting her body and making her frown in discomfort. Slightly disappointed, but not overly surprised, Jiran moved his own mana toward the shining beacon of her technique with the active intent to activate it. His mana passed right through it, unable to interact with it.

So my mana can’t activate her technique. Why not? It’s just mana, so long as it’s the right concentration, it should work, shouldn’t it? Unless techniques take something other than mana to function. Maybe a specific kind of intent, will, emotions, or the framework?

He tried them each one at a time while his mana sat atop the whirlpool, occupying the same space as her technique which was currently dormant. When nothing he tried worked, he sat back in his aura with a frown.

I’m missing something obvious here. What makes a technique a technique? They are basically the system's way of rewarding you for figuring something out on your own. Is that all the little light is? A cluster of instructions the system places inside the manapool that direct mana and intent toward a specific outcome? If that were the case, I would think it only needs an input of mana to function.

“What are you trying?” Niya asked softly, “Maybe I can help?”

He blocked their conversation before responding, “I’m trying to activate her technique with my mana to learn more about how it functions. My thinking is that if I can turn it on, then maybe I can turn it off, too.”

“Well, divination techniques are unlike most skills and techniques, maybe try one of her skills or a different technique and see if it’s any different?”

Jiran nodded and turned back to Shara, “Activate your molding for me,” His no-nonsense tone had her commanding the skill to turn on without thinking.

Realizing she hadn’t had enough mana to use any of her skills in ages, she opened her mouth to remind him, only to gasp as her Molding sparked to life within her chest. It was barely a flicker of mana that coursed under her command, yet being denied even that for seasons on end, sent tears streaming down her cheeks. Niya reached out and held her shaking hand while giving her a reassuring smile.

Jiran didn’t notice any of their actions. His glowing green eyes were glued to her manapool and the dimly radiating light of her activated molding skill. He pushed his mana toward it, hoping for a different result than when he tried to use her technique, only to once more be met by disappointment.

Shrelkpiss! It’s not because it was a technique instead of a skill and it doesn’t make a difference if she's already turned the skill on or not. There’s something else that’s needed. What is it?!

Jiran released another mote of her mana again, allowing it to dip into her Divimancy technique. His nose was centimeters from her skin as he watched with bated breath, hoping to see something, anything that might give him a clue. Her mana slipped into the technique, causing a flicker of light just like each time before. It then fell from the light into the tap to her soul. Frustrated, he leaned back with a sigh, only to jerk forward again when the trickle of soul-stuff filtered into her technique, making it flash a dark color, before spreading through her body, straight through the defenses he had erected to block her mana.

The soul? Is that the answer?

He grabbed a fistful of her aura with his and wrapped them both around her technique. Ever so carefully, he pushed a trickle of his mana through his aura, where it inverted into the ephemeral material of the manabody. Then, he forced it out of his aura and into hers before finally moving the mana into her technique. When it glowed with a light orange and green energy, Jiran shot to his feet and fistpumped the air.

“Haha! Yes!” His jubilation only lasted a fraction of a second before he eagerly awaited the returning soul matter. It appeared right on schedule, trickling into her technique before spreading out to poison her.

“W-what did you discover?” Shara asked, a glimmer of hope returning to her countenance.

“Sorry, can’t say. But it’s a good thing. I’m one step closer.”

“At least tell me!” Niya poked his arm impatiently but Jiran waved her away as he tried his initial idea of shutting off her technique after manually activating it. He pushed a large amount of his mana into the skill until it glowed with a brilliant light. Then, all at once, removed his mana and willed it to turn off. A moment later, Shara’s freshly converted wisp of mana entered the technique like normal, vanishing and quickly being replaced by poisonous soul-stuff. He clicked his tongue, only slightly annoyed.

The soul is definitely the missing ingredient. Does that mean all skills and techniques are interacting with the soul? That’s such a huge revelation that I can’t even begin to process the ramifications of it. I know willpower is drained from each skill and technique a person unlocks, are they putting pressure on the soul in some way? Or maybe the soulwall? I could spend hours thinking about this but I don’t have the time to waste. How can I use the connection between techniques and soul to help Shara?

Now that I can interact with it, maybe I can move her technique so it’s not directly over her tap. It’s not the technique itself that's broken, it's the location.

Jiran firmly wrapped divimancy in Shara’s aura and gave it a gentle, but firm tug. Shara’s complexion immediately turned ghostly pale as her mouth opened in a silent scream. She clutched her chest, unable to draw breath through the tremendous pain wracking her body and soul. To Jiran’s horror, her technique dislodged completely, turning into a solid crystal that began sinking down the whirlpool toward her soul. He had no idea what would happen if it fell beyond the barrier, but his instincts were screaming at him to not let it out of his reach.

He scrambled to catch it, but it slid through his aura like an oiled-up eel. Even Shara’s immaterial aura was no help. Jiran's heart thumped with a single, powerful beat that awakened a hunger in him unlike anything he had ever known. The desire from the challenger density was a pale shadow compared to the all-encompassing need to consume the crystal slipping from his grasp. He threw everything he had at it, demanding it become his.

I can see you and you’re within the range of my mana, you belong to me!

He nearly plunged his hand into her chest before Enthralling Touch gripped it tightly in a fist of pure mana and tore it from her body. A trickle of blood flowed down her skin as the crystal the size of a pinprick zipped into his palm. Healing energy filled the hole he had created even as he gazed longingly at the gem resting against his skin. It was beautiful, pristine, everything he could ever want and more and it was all his. He swallowed the saliva building up in his mouth. His hand brought the crystal closer to his lips, his eyes unable to look away from its resplendent perfection.

“JIRAN!” Mayalyn’s shout snapped him from the possession his Remalonian instincts had placed on him. His hand clamped down on the crystal, blocking it from his sight and releasing him from the last of the spell’s hold. He gasped, feeling like he hadn’t taken a breath in hours as he looked between each pair of eyes in the room, all locked on him.

Shara’s cracking whisper echoed through the silence, “I-it’s gone. I can see my status again, and my technique isn’t there. What have you done?”

Enthralling Touch: +12

Mana Omnis: +7

“Oops,” Jiran cringed with a nervous chuckle while rubbing the back of his neck.