Steel and Mana

Chapter 49 – Winter Experiment (4)

When the monster's claw hit Leon, his body immediately broke apart. Still on the ground, in the middle of standing back up from his push, Sasha saw Leon's limbs fly off, and a pool of blood was already gathering below him as she slumped down, lifeless.

The beast wasn't paying any more attention to him at all, its eyes turning back to the shocked and paralyzed Mikan. It was raising its bloody paw right until fear rushed through its body, stopping it from swiping down. It was nothing that it had ever felt before, and when that sharp, falcon-like cry came from behind him, it simply pissed itself.

The bestial roar's source was none other than Sasha, who now looked completely different than usual. Her clothes were burnt to ash at a moment's notice while a ginormous, blood-red magic formation appeared behind her, rotating at an incredible speed. Her hair was no longer fiery but fire itself, raging without control, licking her naked body.

As their eyes met, the beast burst into flames without any chance to cry, turning into ash in the blink of an eye. Sasha wasn't done yet, and when her cry echoed out once again from the formation behind her, a red firebird flew out, washing through the pass. It didn't harm the walls or the soldiers; they couldn't feel its heat, but the monsters were all turned to bright torches, consuming them instantly.

"Noooo!" This time, Sasha's voice was her own, torn apart by terror as she returned to normalcy while rushing to the broken body of Leon.

"I... I..." Mikan stammered, barely able to stand, swaying left and right, horrified of what had happened in a moment's notice.

"Heal him! Please! Heal him!" Begged Sasha, holding Leon's bloody, mangled, lifeless corpse, looking at her pleadingly, but Mikan barely could form a coherent thought.

"My, my, my... what an unexpected turn..."

The eerie, somewhat ethereal voice was new, appearing from nowhere, belonging to a woman. As to where it came from, at first, it was hard to tell, right until the golden, vanilla-smelling mist from Mikan's body poured out, taking the shape of a 14-year-old girl wearing a loose robe.

"I didn't expect to find something like this here, in the butthole of the world."

"Huh?" Mikan flinched, floored by what was happening.

"Son!" Arrived the devasted shout from afar as Kalash rushed over, already witnessing what he did not want to see at all. Not even in his nightmares.

"Can you help him...? Please! I give you anything you want!" Sasha pleaded to the new figure, not even questioning why she was there or who she was, what she was.

"I can. It is in my best interest, so you are in luck!" She smiled amicably and began chanting in a tongue that was unknown yet familiar to Sasha's ears. She realized the girl was speaking out the pieces of runes that made up magic itself, and a moment later, a golden formation appeared above the castle, covering it in its entirety.

Soon, it was snowing, but this time, it was golden. Wherever it fell, soldiers were rejuvenated and healed, and as Leon's body was being covered in it, it began reconstructing itself. His blood flew back into his body, his torn limbs reconnected themselves, while his skin regrew at a rapid pace right until his heart began beating once again.

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"Okay... this is new." I mumbled to myself, floating in space, surrounded by what I could only call the cosmos.

Wherever I looked, stars were glittering, colorful nebulas were swirling, but it was different. It was different from what I learned about space. Something was... not right. I mean, it was way too dense, way too filled with... life. Turning around, I saw a star behind me, but it was not a star... I can't describe it, but I was looking at a whole world from above, not a celestial body. It wasn't making any sense to my brain and previous knowledge. This was not how stars formed and acted; it refused to acknowledge universal laws. Was I tripping? Huh... Probably.

Before I could think about more, a golden light stretched out towards me, enveloping my whole being, beginning to slowly pull back into that 'realm' below me. Was this another reincarnation? Am I that lucky? Or am I being sent to hell after being shown what heaven looks like? Not that I have any chance to fight against it so be it. I can only let it happen! Maybe I will become a Demon Lord next?

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"Ugh... what...?" I groaned, opening my eyes, feeling weak, and I could barely move my head.

"Leon!"

"I know that voice..." I whispered as Sasha threw herself at me, crying, hugging me close, not wanting to let go.

"Son!"

"I know that voice, too..." I smiled, glancing up at my Father, who was whiter than the snow itself. That was when I noticed the new, ethereal figure standing close by. "Although I don't know you... but thanks?"

"You are welcome." She replied with a proud smile, placing her hands on her hips. "You almost slipped so far out that I couldn't bring you back. Lucky! You can thank me later, but now I feel spent! I will have to go to sleep for a few days; keep Mikan with you until then. When I recover, I will talk with you; we have a lot to go over."

"For sure..." I whispered, seeing her disappear, followed by a thud as Mikan herself fainted. "What... the hell... happened?" I asked, but Sasha was not answering, just hugging me even tighter.

"A miracle." Father mumbled, wiping his eyes, "The Six Gods' miracle... that is what happened, son!"

"Gods... huh?" I mumbled, starting to feel my strength return to my arms, and began stroking Sasha's hair. "Maybe my city does need a temple..."

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What followed my, well, resurrection was the fact that I was made to stay in bed. Nobody wanted to let me get up, even when I finally got some strength back. The most adamant about it was Sasha, who, along with Luna, continued looking over me every second of the day.

"I'm fine already!" I murmured, trying to get out of bed, but truthfully, I felt like someone recovering from a high fever.

"Stay put!" Sasha commanded sternly, "I can easily push you down, meaning you are not right yet!"

"I need to pee!" I argued, and it wasn't a lie.

"Luna!"

"Coming, Mistress!"

"What's the meaning of this?" I asked, but I already knew it the first time I looked at the bottle in Luna's hands.

"I will hold it Master, and Mistress will aim; you just need to let it out." She answered me with a perverted yet happy smile while Sasha fished my member out, taking aim.

"..."

Nothing happened. Of course not, because the situation was weird and perverse... so instead of peeing, I felt myself becoming hard.

"Thank the Gods!" Sasha sighed, watching it happen, "It means you are really alright!"

"I told you..."

With a grumble, I tried to focus as I had to pee, so I finally worked my mind hard to let it out. I have to say, their duo worked perfectly, as not one drop spilled out, and they even helped clean me with a wet sponge.

"Never do something like that again..." Sasha whispered into my ear, hugging me while Luna hurried away to bring dinner for us.

"I am not planning on picking up peeing into a bottle as a habit. Sounds unhealthy."

"Idiot! You know what I mean..."

"Don't worry, I have no intention of dying again. Once was enough."

"It was too much!" She countered me, not knowing what I meant, but that was okay.

"Tell me, what happened after that beast smacked me? I couldn't see or hear anything as I slipped away."

"Ahm... um... well..."

"You don't need to hold back the details; I can take it."

"I don't remember all... I... I had a blackout when I saw you like that... I only remember coming back to normal a little later and asking Mikan to help you! She... she had another girl come out of her, forming from her magic!"

"Yeah, I remember that part. Well, it seems I will have to wait until she is back to normal and finally learn what the fuck happened because that shit wasn't normal."

"No, it wasn't. I spoke with Louise, and she is taking care of her for the time being. So far, she looks like she has fallen sick. Her fever is really high, and she is barely conscious. I visited her only once, but I think it is some kind of magical backlash; I could feel her body struggling with it."

"Hmmm... I read about magical backlashes, but the books the Empress had in her library only mentioned that those could exclusively happen when a mage overexerts themselves by trying to cast a spell above their talent. They tend to say that every mage has a fixed talent at birth, and some simply are never able to use more significant, more powerful spells, no matter what. Their magic goes berserk if they try, and it can even kill them."

"Do you think she will die?" She asked, horrified at the notion.

"No. Otherwise, that manifestation of mana wouldn't have told me we would talk later. I have a few ideas, but I will stay silent until I hear it from her."

"I'm back!" Shouted Luna while coming in with a big, rolling tray filled to the brim with food, and before I could complain that I would not be able to eat THAT much, they began hand-feeding me. Oh well, once in a while, I can let it go, as it does feel nice to be pampered.

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Three days later, Mikan's fever finally subsided, and she was starting to regain consciousness but needed constant attention. I ended up telling Luna to keep accompanying her, spy on her, and try to get some preliminary information out of the woman.

We didn't really learn much as she was just as lost as we were. By her words, something like this had never happened before, and she couldn't even fathom what triggered it. I believed her as scouring through the books in my head while resting, I also couldn't find any mention of sentient magic. No spells took human form and began speaking. Ever. There was no decoy magic that I could find, nor 'clones' created or split consciousness manifesting itself. Whatever happened to her and me that day was unique.

On the other hand, what was interesting was what Father told me. After pulling Mom off me, who was barely holding it together when she heard what had happened. The recount of what Sasha did surprised my wife just the same as she didn't remember it at all. It seems such a wild emotional shock triggered something in her, releasing a spell inherent to her. Was it a manifestation of her will? Was every mage capable of it, or was it unique to her? So many unknowns and no real answers.

"Weird." I murmured, sitting on my bed while Sasha was next to me, still adamant about hand-feeding me my soup for dinner.

"What?" She asked curiously, smiling because, by now, I could move around by myself; I just got tired way too quickly. It seems my body still needed rehabilitation before I was back at 100%.

"I was searching for your spell and found nothing about it. Huh... That is the second in a row."

"Even if the Empire is powerful, they can't know everything, or they would have already conquered the world."

"Well, you are right in that. At least there will be things left to me to discover, huh?"

"Ehehe~ Yes! Just be careful... don't die... okay?"

"I told you already, I won't." I answered with a kiss, and she happily returned it, putting down the soup and laying back on the bed. Without saying anything, she was already undressing, climbing atop me, grinding against my body.

"You just rest! I will do the moving..." She whispered between two kisses, and I agreed. Although my stamina was not there yet, at least my actual sword remained unbroken.

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