Steel and Mana

Chapter 50 – Morningstar

As Mikan slowly recovered, her weird 'affliction' had also returned, beginning to spill out from her body. I already had a few guesses about what this meant, but I kept my mouth shut as I wanted to hear it from her or whoever was living inside her. I didn't need to wait for long as Luna came running over later that day because the energies of the Priestess were stirring.

It wasn't just me who hurried over; Sasha, my Father, and my Mother also accompanied me, wanting to know what was going on. We watched, just as wide-eyed as Mikan, as her mana coalesced into the form of a young girl.

"Mhm... That was longer than I expected." She moaned, stretching as if she just woke up from a pleasant dream.

"Who are you?" Asked multiple voices at once, belonging to me, my Father, and Mikan.

"A valid question! It needs a bit of explanation, so sit down; I will tell you everything. First things first, my name is Elyzien Morningstar, or Ely for short. But most of the scriptures probably only have my family name, Morningstar, recorded down."

"The Morningstar?" I asked, familiar with her name, thanks to Luna. "From 300-something years ago?"

"Yours truly!" She giggled, bowing a little.

"What are you?" Sasha blurted out, trying to see through her, which wasn't hard but only in its literal sense. She was not a physical entity but purely made out of mana.

"Another good question! Nothing less to be expected from a witch!" Looking at her appraisingly, she grinned, "Still a bit rough, but what you displayed was powerful. You have raw potential and would be a golden egg in the hands of the Empire! If mages are rare, one who can control one of the elements in its most primal form, without incantations or concentration, is one out of a hundred. Good thing you haven't been discovered, or you would be already locked away in secrecy or brainwashed."

"I knew you were unique!" I chuckled, feeling proud to be her husband. "But I guess you were too?"

"Of course!" Elyzien replied with a harrumph, taking offense to the mere fact I dared pose such a question.

"Then how did you end up like this?"

"Ugh... As I said, it is a long story. Let me start from the beginning. When my powers awakened, I was taken away by the Church, and soon, I was indoctrinated to serve the Imperial Family. I was a good little soldier, and with my support, we had our biggest expansion of territories seen in the last 1000 years. I was that good!"

"Should I clap?" I asked with sarcasm, but she wasn't getting it. Or she was but decided to ignore me.

"Go ahead, I allow it! The thing is, I grew too powerful. I was so good at healing that I not only halted my aging but also managed to reverse it. It was giving the Emperor weird thoughts. The bastard was already old, and he was jealous of my abilities but hid it well. Together, we devised a new spell, one that would help him borrow my mana and rejuvenate himself just the same."

"There is something like that?" I murmured as it was yet to be discovered even in my old world.

"There wasn't before, and there shouldn't be one now. The thing is, I managed to come up with it, but the bastard was greedy. He wanted immortality! So he decided that he would rob me of my soul and powers, consume me, and use me for the spell. He wanted to transfer my abilities onto himself, but I wasn't keen on letting him do it."

"Let me guess, you killed him?"

"Worse." She smiled, looking into my eyes, "I obliterated his soul. Of course, I knew my time was up as killing an Emperor is not something you can get away with, so I initiated my own reincarnation."

"Reincarnation..." I couldn't help but repeat her words, making my soul shudder as that was what I was going through. Is Merlin really a reincarnator, too? I am talking with the proof that I may not be the only one!

"Exactly. It is, of course, a field that has yet to be properly investigated, and I have been studying it for multiple decades. Yet, as you can see, it is a domain that maybe only the Gods have control over... Haaaaah!"

"You are here, are you not?" Father interjected, looking at her and then at Mikan, who was just as dumbstruck as us, listening with her eyes wide open.

"Yes and no." She continued, "What got transferred over in the end was my consciousness and mana. It was a failed reincarnation, as I should have been reborn into one of my descendants' nascent souls right after inception. I should have been starting from scratch with my mind and memories intact. Instead, I ended up waking up with Mikan here, who already had a wholly developed mind, a formed and completed soul. I just... got tagged along as an extra, so... I'm stuck."

"B-b-b-but, but... but... but!" In the end, Mikan finally found her voice, trying to say something, but her thoughts were just as scrambled as her expressions, "But, I, I but, but!"

"Slow down!" Her ancestor giggled, snapping her fingers as the golden light from her body soothed Mikan's mind, "I know it is hard to get it, but that is the truth. Why do you think you are such a bad witch, failing all spells no matter what you try? You are trying to use MY powers! Of course, they are not working; it's not yours to wield! It is mine."

"Wait a minute!" I interrupted them, grasping on the core issue, "You want to tell me Mikan here is not a witch then?"

"Yeah. She is not capable of using spells. She sometimes manages to tap into my powers when I don't pay attention, but she is not a witch."

"..."

I don't know which was a bigger shock, that she had the soul of her ancestor living inside of her or that she was not a witch. Nobody said anything for a moment, and we just watched as Mikan lowered her head and looked at her fingers, falling silent once again.

"I know it is hard to hear, but it is the truth." Elyzien continued, breaking the silence, "I hoped you would give up on it after failing to use any spells for the past 20 years or so... but you are a stubborn girl. Well, you are my descendant, so that is to be expected, ahaha!"

"What about the old spell?" Sasha asked, looking at me first before turning towards the two Morningstars.

"Destroyed. It should not be known to anyone!" She answered with a dark, cold voice, "And I won't teach you; it is not something that this world needs to have!"

"Not that we need it." I added with a smile, and to my surprise, Elyzien returned the gesture, nodding at me.

"My instincts are still sharp, it seems. Are you working against the Empire, yes? Otherwise, you wouldn't have a witch at your side and be using self-developed spells! Girl, how you engraved formations into stone tablets reminds me of my younger days! Ahahaha, it is something that I did a lot as a novice. A crude, ineffective but fun way to pursue magical knowledge." She laughed happily, saying it to Sasha, who was a bit taken aback, pointing at me.

"I didn't make them..." She mumbled, drawing closer to me.

"You didn't? Then who? Are there more mages here?"

"Only one other. And... Thanks? I guess?"

"You?" She looked at me, finally registering all the signals Sasha was giving her. "But you are magicless! How could you? I don't believe it."

Her voice was harsh at the end, feeling as if we were taking her for some amateur witch, trying to fool her, but then I recited a complex formation from one of the books in my memory. I didn't know if my pronunciation was correct or not, but her figure flickered, and the smell of vanilla intensified greatly within the room.

"No way! I never heard of someone magicless utter incantations! Some of it was way off, but... daaaamn, are you some kind of genius?!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

Well, it was two different answers, one from me and one from Sasha, making Elyzien laugh.

"A magicless noble and a witch, working to rebel against the Empire... now I have a feeling I was made to arrive here!"

"Well, we are not in open rebellion, but one day... I know it is inevitable."

"I can help you with that." She hurriedly stepped forward, speaking directly to me, "I can give you knowledge. I know their city in and out... I know many things about the Empire and its powers. We can destroy them!"

"Woah, woah!" I stood up, waving my hand, "Look, Miss Morningstar! I am not here to start a war. I am trying to lift my people from the mud first and foremost. Whatever comes next, I will deal with it, but I won't go and provoke a sleeping lion; I am not an idiot!"

"Sorry... yes. I got ahead of myself." With a quick clear of her throat, she recollected herself, nodding while crossing her hand, "Still, I will try to assist you. First things first, seeing the village, I will teach you how to make a proper sewer system. Then-"

"Already done." I interrupted her, and I could see she was skeptical. "When our Priestess recovers, you can come with me and visit my new city. I am not against ideas and a new eye critiquing my works, so feel free to do so."

"Oooh?" To my surprise, she didn't doubt me. Instead, she looked even more interested in what I was saying, wanting to go at once, but one look at poor Mikan made it clear she was not in the best headspace right now.

"We will leave you two for a little... Let's talk when everyone is back to normal."

Everyone agreed with me, as it was not just Mikan who had to go over a lot in her head but us, too. I was about to leave when she finally spoke up, asking me to stay a little. I didn't know what she wanted to say, but her voice was frail and thin.

"We will wait for you in your room." Sasha whispered to me before I was the only one remaining in the room, not including Elyzie, who slowly disappeared, but I knew she was still listening.

"I guess... this was a bit too much."

I didn't know what else to say to break the weird silence, making her nod. Looking at her crestfallen look, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor Priestess. It was one thing to know you are a useless witch, but then learn you are not even one. I don't know how I would take it.

"What should I do... Young Viscount?"

"Good question." I hummed, walking over and sitting down on the edge of the bed, gently reaching out and starting to stroke her head, and trying to ignore the falling tears staining the sheet below her. "I don't really have an answer for you, Priestess Mikan. But I do have a question for you. Who are you?"

"Huh...?" with difficulty, she raised her head, looking at me through her clouded eyes.

"Simple. Who are you? Are you your magic, or are you Mikan Morningstar? You can't use spells? So what? I can not either, yet here I am, learning magic because I want to! It is exciting and fun! Your abilities are not what determine who you are; it is your actions that do. You told me you want to help everyone, no? Then do it! So what if you can't use magic? There are multiple ways to help people. Are you magic, or are you Priestess Mikan Morningstar? Because right now, I am stroking the head of a beautiful woman, not an incorporeal string of mana!"

"Hey!" Echoed Elyzien's annoyed voice, but she didn't appear this time.

"Ehe... t-thank you... Young Viscount..." She murmured, her tears slowly stopping rolling down her cheeks.

"Leon will do. You don't need to be so caught up on protocol with me." With a smile, I finally stood up from next to her, but before leaving, I had to make sure of something. "Can I ask you not to report back anything you saw here?"

"Not that my ancestor would let me, I guess..."

"Damn right." Elyzien's voice was strangely commanding; I could already feel how much she hated the Empire. Well... In her shoes, I would too.

"Ehehe, don't worry, Leon! This Priestess swears on the Gods themselves to keep your secret!"

"I thank you for that. Rest for now; believe me, everything will be much clearer the next time you wake up!"

With that, I finally left her room, having a lot to go through myself.