36 The End of the Calm (1/2)

It was late in the night. The old master-at-arms had finally managed to get the young masters and mistresses off his tail, and was now qietly sitting at his desk, with a look filled with worry.

He was currently thinking of what he should do with Mea, his old student's daughter.

Within his mind, he was thorn between a few different choices. The first, was to send her away, and find a way for her to live safely someplace where she wouldn't be recognized. Unfortunately, at the moment, the old man was being watched carefully by many.

So far, none of the young men and women that had occupied the building had either left or had been sent away, so, the first one, would definitely rise some people's brows in curiosity.

His second choice, was to keep her within his building. Only then would he have the chance to protect her in case she would have been recognized. And if she did end up being found out, he could still try to plead with the king to spare her.

Another choice, proposed by the old alchemist himself, was to make her join the Gold Cauldron, where the old alchemist would have been able to protect her for him, but he crossed that idea out right away. The old alchemist was one of his oldest friends, and asking him to take care of someone related to a traitor, was too dangerous of a favor to ask.. Even if he had offered.

On the other side of the building, within a room just as big as the old master-at-arms, the old alchemist sat in silence.

In front of him was a large cauldron, and under this cauldron, a dense green flame slowly danced.

The old alchemist seemed focused on preparing something. A big wooden ladle stirred the content of the cauldron gently, while one ingredient after another appeared right next to the old alchemist's hand, and slowly floated into it.

All these ingredients were spiritual plants, and their worth was extremely high, but the old alchemist didn't appear to be feeling the burnt on his wallet. And instead, he looked like he had been simply cooking breakfast.

The night was a quiet one. The neighborhood festivity had just finished, and the streets were peaceful and devoid of people.

The only noises came from the very same building, inside and around which, various groups of disciples, young masters and mistresses mingled under the bright moonlight.

Amongst these various groups, one composed of two young men and four young girls, sat at the feet of a large tree.

They were Reila, Finn, Mea, Riri, Miri, and Nilo.

The six were chatting happily under the moonlight, while enjoying small servings of food which Reila and Mea had prepared.

”So.. what's wrong between the two of you?” Asked Reila curiously while looking at Finn and Miri.

Riri couldn't bear to listen to Finn and Miri bicker anymore, so, the moment Reila asked, she hissed and looked away. She tried to change topic and start a conversation with Mea, but then she heard Nilo's laugh.

”Hahaha! You've got to hear that story.. So..”

Nilo then recounted the story behind Finn's and Miri's bad blood. Apparently, the two had been an on and off couple since they had been kids, and each of their breakup had a funny story behind.

For the next few minutes, laughter and shouts could be heard in the building's garden.. Until suddenly..

Within the city of Phyrri, the heads of each and every cultivator above the sixth rank rose rapidly. They had all collectively felt an abnormality coming from the direction of Master Kye's building.

The first ones to notice this abnormality, were the old alchemist and the old master-at-arms. The old alchemist immediately gave up the control over the flame, completely ruining the ingredients within the cauldron, and therefore failing the process of making whatever he was trying to make. He then disappeared from his room and reappeared in the air above the building.

The moment he appeared in mid air, the old master-at-arms appeared as well on the opposite side of the building.

The two seemed to be keeping watch on the hotel, while also observing what was happening.

-----

The abnormality which attracted the attention of every expert within the city, was not visible to the eyes, and for anyone who wasn't in the immediate vicinity, it was only a faint feeling. Yet, the shock it caused was beyond what anyone had felt before.

A huge vortex had formed within the building.

What picked people's attention was the nature of this vortex, as it did not attract physical items, but instead, attracted mana.

Mana had always been omnipresent in the world, as everything that existed had his distinctive type of mana. Including men and beasts, whose types of mana were called Ki and Beast Essence.

This vortex did not forcefully absorb the Mana in the surroundings, it simply attracted it. What the expert within Phyrri had felt, was a sudden faint instability within their ki, which seemed to be slowly moving to the direction of the building, as if magnetically attracted.

Unable to extract the mana from physical things, the only mana that forcefully made its way towards the center of the vortex, was the one that had the ability to move its carrier's body, like the essences of wind, starlight, moonlight and that of the water particles present within the air.

That had caused a beautiful phenomenon around the building. A massive number of droplets of water which shone with bright and multicolored light, were being carried by the wind into the vortex.

It looked as if millions of small stars were merging into a massive and brighter one.

The cultivators within the building felt their ki forcefully pressing against the skin in the direction of the middle of the vortex, but ultimately unable to push its way through. It was as if their body had become a huge compass, whose needle constantly pointed in the direction of the vortex.