Adept of Chaos Ch. 28

Let's see what Fya's plot is, shall we? We already know Evelyn won't approve. And another week closer to the release!

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Chapter 28

“What are you up to, Fya?” Evelyn demanded.

“Whatever are you talking about?” Fya asked, batting her eyelashes at Evelyn, which just caused her glower to grow stronger.

“Don’t feign innocence, Fya. I know you and Zel have something in mind with all of this.” Evelyn said, her eyes narrowing. “Spit it out. Now.”

“You’re no fun at all.” Fya said, rolling her eyes dramatically. “Isn’t it obvious, though? You’re not willing to hire any crew members who volunteer, so I had to go looking for a new harem member.”

“That’s what I thought.” Evelyn said, reaching up to pinch the bridge of her nose. She inhaled slowly, then continued. “However, the answer is no.”

“While I’m not surprised, I should mention that you may well have caused her to fall in love with you when you offered to cleanse her mana.” Zelirana said softly, nodding to the window facing the medbay, where they could see Bian talking with Ilyra excitedly. For her part, Evelyn was unmoved. Mostly.

“Which is not my problem.” Evelyn replied, shaking her head firmly. “I’m not going to let anyone who’s in love with me into this harem that Fya is obsessed with. If I did, I’d have thousands of people in it, and it makes my skin crawl to even consider that. Besides, what role would she play aboard the ship? She’s a model.”

“True, she isn’t a diplomat or anything of the sort, but you said she had lots of potential.” Fya argued, and Evelyn rolled her eyes.

“And? That doesn’t mean that she’d reach it quickly, or that she’ll have the willpower to push through all the obstacles in her way.” Evelyn retorted. “Yes, she has a high starting point, but she didn’t start young, and quite frankly? Of those who have that potential, I’d guess that fewer than one percent of them ever live up to their full potential. Most mortals, including me, have a tendency to reach a plateau and simply coast along without pushing further. I don’t know Bian well, and the only reason I’m helping her is that you two brought her to me, and it didn’t look like you were deliberately causing problems. I do not want this happening again.”

“As you say, Evelyn.” Zelirana acquiesced, bowing her head. “In all honesty, I was just curious about the model when we looked into her. I thought she might fit in after meeting her, so you have my apologies.”

“Fine, then.” Fya said, visibly pouting. “First you wouldn’t let me act as your second for whenever your arena match comes up, and now this.”

“You’ll get over it.” Evelyn told Fya, rolling her eyes again. Turning her attention to Zelirana, she continued, a touch more gently. “Perhaps you’re right, but I’m still adapting to having this many people around me constantly, Zel. I’m not comfortable with allowing just anyone to accompany me. If it weren’t for the fact that I knew the old crew of the Worldwaker so well, and that I enjoy their company, I doubt I’d have accepted Willow aboard. And you’ll note that I have no interest in getting to know her intimately.”

The succubus inclined her head slightly, looking in at Bian before asking. “Are you certain that what you’re planning is wise? I’ve never heard of someone cleansing mana corruption in the way you’ve described.”

“Very certain.” Evelyn replied, without a hint of doubt. “While I’ve never done anything quite this extensive before, it’s simply a matter of scale. The amount of mana she has won’t cause any issues at all.”

“If you say so.” Fya replied, still pouting.

Evelyn rolled her eyes, ruffling the blue-haired djinn’s hair, then turned and walked into the main chamber of the medbay. Ilyra and Bian stopped talking, the latter’s eyes lighting up.

“Are you ready, Bian?” Evelyn asked, flexing her hands unconsciously. This wouldn’t be that difficult, assuming Bian was able to follow instructions, but it could take a while. Evelyn wasn’t entirely sure, since this time was more extensive than the last time that she’d done something similar.

“As I can be, yes.” Bian said, flashing her a nervous, worshipful smile. “How will this work, anyway?”

“Yeah, is it something I could do?” Ilyra asked hopefully.

“Maybe, Lyra, but I’m not sure.” Evelyn replied, shrugging slightly. “As I mentioned before, my mana breaks down and absorbs curses. That applies to polluted mana as well, so what I’m going to do is drain all of Bian’s mana, purifying it in the process, while replacing it with the mana I’ve cleansed. I’ll do this until the blockage has been broken, which may take a while. It might be easier to do it by draining all of her mana at once, then replacing it afterward, but completely emptying someone of mana isn’t always safe, especially those who aren’t trained in using their mana. It can cause unpleasant side effects.”

“Oh. I… suppose the question is whether I’d be able to cleanse the mana, then.” Ilyra said, blinking.

“Mm, likely, though it would probably take you a great deal more time. The very act of using your mana slowly cleanses it, though if it’s as sluggish as Bian’s, it’s entirely possible you won’t get far.” Evelyn said, smiling slightly. “While I don’t believe there’s any danger to this, I would rather be here in the medbay just in case I’m wrong.”

Bian’s nose wrinkled as she looked down angrily. After a few seconds she spoke softly. “So, since I gave up on trying to use magic, I stopped using the method which could fix it?”

“Perhaps. There’s no guarantee that you’d have been able to use enough to fully cleanse your mana.” Evelyn replied, shrugging helplessly. “The best solution would have been to have someone examine your magical potential before the classes, but doing that isn’t easy. Well, not for most people, from everything I’ve heard.”

“Right. So… what do I need to do?” Bian asked, a hint of anxiety in her voice, but she looked more relieved than anything else.

“Lyra, activate the scanners, please. Just make sure they’re monitoring Bian.” Evelyn instructed, approaching until she was standing next to the table, pressing the button to reshape it into a chair, and Bian yelped as she had to adjust her position quickly, so as to avoid falling. “As for you, I’m going to take both of your hands, Bian. One hand to draw mana out of your body, the other to return it. It’ll take you a little while to relax enough to let me draw on your mana, but I’m sure you can do it. Any other questions?”

The elf paused, thinking for a few seconds, then shook her head. While they were talking, Ilyra tapped a few keys, and Evelyn saw the lights on the scanners above the table flick from red to green. That worked well enough, and she smiled, reaching out with her implants to monitor Bian’s status. She had a slightly elevated heart rate, but otherwise the elf appeared to be doing fine.

“In that case, there’s no time like the present.” Evelyn said, offering her hands to Bian. She was mildly curious if this would work the way she expected it to. And, if she was being honest, she was vaguely hopeful that Bian could reach the same strength she possessed. It’d be nice to have a peer she could get along with.

Bian took Evelyn’s hands, though she did look a bit nervous. Evelyn couldn’t really blame her, considering everything. The woman spoke softly after a moment. “Thank you. I… never expected this.”

“Which is half the reason I offered. If you’d expected it, I’d probably have booted you from the ship so fast your head would spin.” Evelyn told her, grinning. “I don’t deal well with people making demands of me.”

That prompted a giggle from Bian, who visibly relaxed. With that, Evelyn began to gently tug on Bian’s mana through her left hand.

The mana didn’t come to her call, though Evelyn felt it shift slightly. That was normal, since it was almost impossible to take someone’s mana unwillingly in this way. There were items to drain people’s mana, and some spells, but actually taking it for your own use was difficult beyond belief unless the other person cooperated… and that didn’t even consider how the process usually lost some mana along the way. Evelyn planned to make up for that with her own mana if she had to, though she preferred not to change Bian’s internal mana too much.

Bian’s brow furrowed as she concentrated, and Evelyn waited patiently, knowing that this wasn’t something that could be described to someone else. The feeling of openness that it required to allow someone to tap into your mana was almost impossible to describe, especially since she’d heard that it varied from person to person.

It took a couple of minutes before the first hint of mana began to flow into her, and Evelyn’s eyes half-closed as it brushed against her mind.

It was like… a refreshing spring breeze, shortly after the winter had ended and new growth had begun to emerge from the soil. It was a sense that Evelyn was so familiar with, after growing up on a farm. Yet at the same time, there was also the faint sense of rot, like piles of leaves or other vegetation had made it through the winter and was slowly decaying as well. That was the corruption, Evelyn knew, and she drew in a breath.

“Just like that, Bian.” Evelyn murmured as the stream of mana strengthened. Then it hit her own pool of mana.

The spring breeze vanished, along with the sense of new growth and the rot. It was like they’d been fed into a star, for all her mana cared, and Evelyn winced internally. That wasn’t what she’d intended to happen, and she quickly modulated her mana, trying to preserve the sense of the breeze and growth. It didn’t work, as her magic didn’t seem to care what the new mana was supposed to be, it just… consumed it. Broke it down into raw potential that she was only barely able to keep from merging into her mana pool.

Evelyn resisted the urge to sigh again, and praying that it wouldn’t cause any problems, she guided the transformed mana down her left hand to Bian. It was much easier to accept mana than it was to give it, so she wasn’t surprised when the elf absorbed it instantly. She was surprised by the way Bian gasped, her eyes snapping fully open, and her heartrate jumped, massively. The mana flowing into Evelyn cut off at the same time, and she quickly stopped pouring more mana into the woman.

“Are you alright?” Evelyn asked, frowning in concern. Was that a bead of sweat on Bian’s forehead?

“I… I think so, it’s just… what is that?” Bian demanded, shivering. “It’s so… so potent. Like it’s burning through my veins, but not at the same time.”

Evelyn refrained from cursing, instead channeling mana into her eyes again. When her vision snapped over to being able to see mana, she almost failed in her attempt to swallow her cursing.

Instead of the green mana threaded with brown she’d seen before, the mana within Bian was shot through with a blazing crimson mana that surged and pulsed like fire. No, not like fire, fire was too… simple by comparison. This was something simpler, more primal. As Evelyn watched, the crimson began to shift and change in hue, slowly changing to a blazing neon green that was so much brighter than the mana within Bian. Where it touched the brown mana, the blockage evaporated.

What perplexed her more than anything else was that the new mana was spreading, consuming the mana which already existed within Bian, which… shouldn’t have happened. Evelyn had shared her mana directly with dozens of mages over the years… okay, maybe not dozens, but more than twenty. Regardless, despite all the times she’d shared mana before, nothing like this had happened. Even if other people said her mana was insanely potent.

“My mana is having an unanticipated reaction with yours.” Evelyn replied, frowning as she looked at Bian. Her heart rate was still elevated, but it was slowing back down. “It appears that my mana is fusing with your own and clearing the corruption, just… burning it away. I’m not sure how long it’ll take, but we’d probably best not add more mana to the mix, just to be safe. How do you feel?”

“It burns, but… not in a bad way. It feels like I’m getting lighter, somehow. No, like I don’t have as much trouble breathing.” Bian said, inhaling deeply, then let her breath out as she smiled nervously. “It feels kind of… good?”

“I’m glad to hear that, since this isn’t normal at all. I’ve shared mana several times before this, and I’ve never seen a reaction of this sort.” Evelyn said, frowning.

“That’s because you’re not looking at it the right way!” Fya interjected, and Evelyn glanced behind her to see that the djinn had entered the room while she’d been distracted. It didn’t help that the doors on the ship were almost perfectly silent, which made it easier for her to manage.

“What am I missing?” Evelyn asked, straightening and releasing Bian’s hands. The other woman didn’t seem to want to let go for a few seconds, then finally released them.

“She idolizes you, and she hasn’t used her magic before. So when you gave her some of your mana, hers decided to change to match yours.” Fya said, grinning widely. It was strange to see her smile while looking with mana sight, so Evelyn let her vision return to normal. “I’m guessing it’ll make her magic a bit more potent, though not as incredible as yours is. I don’t think anyone can really match your power, anyway.”

“If you say so.” Evelyn replied, frowning as she turned to watch Bian again. After a couple of seconds she asked. “Are you still feeling okay?”

“I’m fine.” Bian replied, a huge smile on her face. “It hurts a little, but like I said, not in a bad way.”

“It’s always weird when I hear things like that.” Ilyra murmured, causing Evelyn to crack a smile.

Evelyn considered for a few seconds, then nodded. “Regardless, if you’re sure it isn’t hurting, we’ll just watch and wait for everything to finish. Based on what I saw, it shouldn’t take much more than an hour.”

“That sounds good to me.” Bian said, still smiling.

Evelyn opened her mouth to reply, but at that moment she got a message over her implants as Adria spoke. “Pardon the interruption, Captain, but you have received a comm request from the arena. According to Director Rhett, he needs to discuss your match request.”

“Oh, of course he does. When it rains, it pours.” Evelyn murmured. When the others looked at her, she explained. “Director Rhett wants to talk to me about my match request. I don’t want to leave, though, in case—”

“Go ahead!” Bian exclaimed, sitting up in the chair suddenly. “I’m sure they can watch me for trouble, and I’ve been hoping to see you compete! I don’t want to interfere!”

Evelyn paused, then glanced at Ilyra, raising an eyebrow curiously. She didn’t even need to say anything, since the young woman seemed to realize what she wanted.

“I’ll keep an eye on her.” Ilyra promised, grinning as she added. “And I’ll make sure Fya doesn’t do anything too weird.”

“Hey! I’m not weird, I’m eccentric.” Fya protested.

“You do that. Hopefully I’ll be back soon.” Evelyn said, turning to the door as she activated her comm. “Adria, please let him know that I’m on my way to a console.”

“Yes, Captain. He has acknowledged the message, and is on hold.” Adria reported calmly.

“Thank you.” Evelyn replied, stepping out of the room and turning to the nearest privacy booth she knew of. Fortunately there was one in the medbay, just not in the room she’d been in. She passed Zelirana, who gave a seductive flick of her tail as she glanced toward Bian, and Evelyn rolled her eyes. She didn’t like Bian, not that way. If anything, the woman idolizing her made her uncomfortable.

First, she needed to deal with the call.