107 Origin Mana (1/2)

Ed returned to the settlement. No one paid any attention to him as he walked through the streets, and everything seemed to be business as usual. However, there was an invisible pressure in the atmosphere. Everyone seemed on guard or nervous, ready to act at a moment's notice. Ed ignored this and travelled to Mr. Long's mansion.

Two guards blocked the entrance with their manullium spears. ”Who are you?” One of them questioned in a loud voice.

”Tell Tai that Ed is here to see him.” He replied.

”You dare call Mr. Long by his first name?!” The other guard pointed his spear forward, rage covering his face.

”Annoying.” Ed frowned as he grabbed the spear by the blade, purple flames appearing on his palm. The manullium spear blade turned into purple smoke as his fingers dug into it. 'I really do like these purple flames.' He grinned. 'I wonder if I can convert them to other elements somehow?'

The guard stumbled several steps back, his eyes widening in shock as he stared at his destroyed spear. The other guard bowed and apologized, ”I'll inform Mr. Long of your arrival. Please forgive my friend's rudeness.”

”Mm.” Ed nodded lazily while flicking his hand in a shooing motion.

Several minutes later, Tai came out to greet him. ”Ed!” He called in a delighted voice. ”I thought you were dead! Come, we have much to discuss. In fact, I've got the perfect role for you in our upcoming plans.'

”Alright.” He agreed.

Tai hurriedly led him to a conference room on the 2nd floor. There was only one other person in the room. It was an old man wearing a purple sombrero. He nodded towards them while tilting his hat.

”Carlos?” Ed said in surprise.

”Mm.” He nodded. ”Do I know you?”

”You helped me once in the past, about six months ago.” He replied.

”Good!” Tai clapped his hands. ”It makes things easier if you already know each other. Now then, before we get started, I'd like to confirm something. Ed, my guard reported you using a strange power. Can you show me it?”

Ed hesitated a moment before nodding. 'No point in keeping it secret, I guess. It's almost guaranteed I'll end up using the purple flames during the escape anyways. Not to mention I just used it on that guard's weapon.' He raised his hand and created a small flame on the tip of his finger.

”You really have it!” Mr. Long shouted with excitement. ”And it's even the purple flame! PERFECT! The heavens are truly helping me!” He hurriedly glanced at Carlos. ”Show him.”

”Alright.” Carlos nodded and rose his hand. Small blades of purple wind circled around it.

Ed's eyes widened in surprise. He looked towards Tai. ”Care to explain what exactly you know about purple mana and mana-cores, as well as how Carlos gained the power?”

”Ah, of course.” Tai nodded while taking a seat, gesturing for Ed to sit as well. ”Purple mana. In the east, we call it origin mana, though that's a heavily debated topic. It is by far the rarest mana in the world, with only a few espers publicly known to have it. In a way, it can be considered as the next step of esper training. All cultivators wish for nothing more than to obtain origin mana.”

”And how does one obtain it?” Ed questioned.

”That's... complicated.” Tai frowned. ”There are cultivation techniques geared towards gaining it, but very few succeed. I've been trying for over a decade with no success. It requires something akin to enlightenment. You must truly connect with the element on an emotional level. Only then can you obtain purple mana and control over one of the seven purple elements.”

”That's a bunch of hogwash.” Carlos frowned. ”I could use purple wind from the day I became an esper. Not just that, but I can use normal wind too.”

”You're an unusual case.” Tai countered. ”Freaks like you are rarer than qilin feathers and unicorn horns.”

”I know somebody like that as well.” Ed countered. ”She can snuff out any elemental powers using a purple domain.”

”Humph.” Tai snorted. ”You mean England's royal princess? She's a freak amongst freaks. I've never even heard of someone being able to control more than two purple elements until she awoke her powers. Anyways, enough about that. Origin mana is a complex topic and I'm not really an expert on it. You should ask the sect leaders in China about it. All of them wield purple mana. Moving on...”

”Wait.” Ed interrupted. ”What about the purple mana-cores? You said they were extremely valuable. Are they related to training purple mana? If not, then what's their value?”

Tai sighed. ”They are valuable, but only for the creation of mana-artifacts and mana-potions. I don't know how to create them, but they sell for a fortune in China. Enough about all of that. We don't have a lot of time, and we need to discuss the prison break.” He pulled a map out from his robe and spread it out on the table. The map outlined thousands of tunnels within the maze, as well as the entire settlement. ”This plan began two years ago, but I started planning it over five years ago. This is both a mission my sect has given me and an opportunity to prove myself. I absolutely cannot fail!”

He glanced at each of the two men, making sure they were paying attention. ”The Warden would have us believe the only way in and out of the cage is through the hole we're all pushed down when we first arrive. How could we possibly escape from there? Ignoring the problem of height, there's the more serious issue of it being a chokepoint that exits into their fortress. It'd be impossible for any of us to escape that way without inside help.”

”And you've got inside help?” Ed questioned.

”Mm.” He nodded. ”However, that was just a backup plan for my own escape if everything else failed. Now that you're here, we no longer need it.” He picked up a red pen from the table and drew a circle on the map. ”The hole obviously isn't the only exit. How could they possibly extract large volumes of manullium through it? Not to mention the luxury goods they sell us. There's no way they could even push this conference table through such a small opening. Fortunately, I know the location of the only other exit.” He pointed to the red circle. ”It's here within the maze. All shipments are carried out by esper slaves and guards there.”

”Esper slaves?” Carlos replied. ”Aren't they worried they'll escape?”