25.3. What Remains Human - Part 3

We start with revising basic level 1 spells and it turns out we pretty much mastered them. Liana and me can confidently cast all elements, except for the earth, of course. Only when it comes to water, we can't make it out of nothing in the real world but instead control existing liquid.

"Niiice," Liana produces three water bubbles and plays with them in the air.

"So is the incantation necessary or not?" Julia asks, watching us from some distance.

"When you're learning the spell, it seems to help a lot," I say. "When you master it and can concentrate properly, you don't need to speak it anymore. But it might be necessary for high-level spells that require a long preparation. We'll see."

"Are you moving the bubbles with water magic or telekinesis?" Julia continues her interrogation.

"Hmm... hard to say actually," Liana says, loses her concentration for a second and water splashes onto the ground. No harm done, the place was adjusted for this kind of purpose.

"Maybe all magic is just an application of our telekinesis?" I suggest. "It's still difficult for me to accept that such a fairy-tale concept as magic."

"You do have mana, though," Julia remarks.

"Mana... pure energy... call it whatever," I shrug. "It can have a scientific explanation, right? Just as my telepathy is simply an advanced ability of my mutated brain."

"Don't call it simple, Aefener," Julia rolls her eyes. "There's nothing simple about it."

"Heya!" Liana tries pulling one of the weights up. "Damn, that's hard!" she whines and the weight falls down with a loud thump. "How much is it?"

"Ten kilos," I look at the weight.

"I could hold it only for three seconds," Liana laments. "It felts like it was resisting me."

"There'll probably be a limit to how much you can lift off with your telekinesis," Julia ponders.

I try lifting it as well but I manage only three seconds as well before it falls down.

"At least something is normal for me," I'm actually glad I wasn't able to do it.

"You're far better at delicate manipulation like lifting several objects as once," Liana says. "How many things can you levitate at the same time?"

I focus on light objects like Julia's laptop, her medical suitcase and a few others things and I manage to levitate seven of them.

"Damn, I can do three at maximum," Liana laments.

"I think it's something you can train," I try to encourage her. "Come on, you're the second-best caster. You can do it! You're already way better than the rest of Celestials."

"And I have to stay that way if I want to remain the Viceroy," she sighs. "Working hard and training hard."

"Wait... so if someone else surpasses me I don't have to become the actual Emperor?"

"You already are one, stupid," she shakes her head, annoyed. "Ask Ingri who's monitoring not only the social media but also the current mood of our people. No one, I repeat NO ONE, doubts that you should be our Emperor even in the real world."

"And they have no idea about his telepathy," Julia points out.

"It better never get out or the EU government won't think twice about using brutal force just to get you," Liana says darkly. "It's the public that protects us, Aefener, not my security."

"N-no?" I'm taken aback. "But I thought that..."

"My security is making sure no one gets inside to sabotage us," Liana's tone is dead serious. "Or try luck, looking for loopholes. But do you think I could resist the army if they really decided to storm the place?"

"Oh... I didn't think of that," I admit and shiver.

"The EU is afraid of riots, we're kept safe by the current fragile peace," Liana continues to lecture me. "They know that should any of us be harmed, they can expect civil war."

We don't pursue the topic any further because there's nothing we can do about it at the moment. Instead, we go back to training as everyone is waiting for our progress and more instructional videos on spellcasting. Preventing magical accidents is also essential.

"Damn, it's difficult," Liana's level 2 ice spell keeps boiling the water instead of freezing it.

"Well, we're changing the water's state, it's bound to be advanced," I say. I managed to produce a few snowflakes but I'm struggling as well.

"Shit, I can't go on," Liana is panting in the end. "Too hungry."

"Me too," I second after I accidentally break one of the glasses.

"It has been pretty much confirmed that Celestials refill their mana through calories from food," Julia speaks up. "And rest, of course. Do you feel like totally out of mana?"

"Not totally, but at the same time I feel like continuing wouldn't be pleasant," Liana says. "We didn't do that many spells, though. I hope our mana capacity will grow because this is pathetic."

"Actually...," I'm trying to analyse our training session, "I think we're just clumsy channelling our mana. Remember when we were training our basic flame spells? If we gave out too much mana, the spell exploded. When we gave out too little, nothing happened. I guess mastering new spells is tricky because we never know how much energy is needed."

"Can you describe how having mana feels like?" Julia is ready with her fingers above the keyboard.

"It's like an omnipresent vibrating sensation I feel in my whole body," Liana says after a short consideration. "It's strongest in my spine and wings."

"Which reminds me to measure your wings again, Miss Richter," Julia realises and takes her laser measuring tape out of the medical suitcase. "I measured Aefener's when he was at my infirmary but I have yet to examine you properly."

"I prefer Liana, doctor," she reminds her and obediently spreads her black wings.

"Right, sorry," Julia nods and scans Liana's wings. She puts the number into her laptop and spends a while studying the data.

"As I thought!" Dr Stein exclaims.

"Though what?" we lean towards her to see the screen.

"The growth rate of your wings is gradually getting faster," Julia explains, pointing her finger at the statistics only she seems to understand.

"Faster? How come?" I'm confused.

"I reckon because your inner transformation is almost over so your bodies can accelerate the rest," she guesses. "It's actually similar to the Dragonkin whose horns are starting to grow much more quickly now. And high-level Earthborn are reporting being able to change colours."

"What about Emi and Clawfangs in general?" Liana asks.

"Emi has been avoiding me like the plague," Julia sighs. "And the second-ranking Clawfang Gin is still in hiding. But I bet their outer transformation is also accelerating."

"Hmm," I spread my wings and look at them lovingly. "I can't wait to be able to fly."

"Me too," Liana agrees. "Dr Stein, can eating nutritious food help speed up the process?"

"I would imagine so," the doctor nods and looks at me sternly.

"I know, I know. I'm doing my best," I want to assure her but then I realise that I left my croissant in the office. There goes my snack, Erik will certainly notice and will be pissed.

"It's half past twelve, let's go for lunch," Liana suggests. "We can have our brainstorming after that. To be honest, normally I'd push myself but it's in my own interest now to eat and rest properly."

I take my phone out of the robe. Ingri thought of everything when she was designing our clothes and all our robes have a practical pocket in the binding.

Ryuuto (12:32)

Lunch, yay! Let's meet in the restaurant.

Erik (12:33)

You forgot your snack, dummy. *rolling eyes emoji*

Julia excuses herself, telling us that she has a packed sandwich in her office and still needs to analyse the results she got from the newcomers. We leave the gym and four bodyguards that were waiting outside re-join us.

"Do we really need four?" I whisper to Liana. "I totally don't underestimate the possible danger but we're inside your skyscraper."

"I was actually thinking we might need more soon," Liana shakes her head. "And not because of danger but because our own people can't seem to leave us alone."

I can't oppose that, the morning cafeteria is still fresh in my memory. Are they so crazy about us because we're celebrities or because we're their rulers?

We get into the elevator and use this opportunity to train our connection again. It's much different than with Erik since Liana's mind is Celestial.

Can I maybe later... connect to you more deeply to explore in which aspects your mind is different from Erik's? I ask carefully. No pressure if you don't feel like it.

It's okay, I want to do it. It might say a lot about our transformation. Besides, I trust you won't look where I don't want you to.

I'm honoured that she trusts me so much but at the same time I'm a little bit unsettled. Sure, we've known each other for over five years but does ingame friendship have the same value?

It does for us, Liana answers in her thoughts. It was the only place we could be ourselves, remember? I could forget about my everyday worries with leading the company and you could... do whatever craziness crossed your mind. Like going solo to the hardest dungeons.

I realise I might be one of the lucky few who get to know the real Liana—not Laura Richter. She let her true self be expressed in our game. Can it be another contributing factor why our bodies started changing? That we believed so much in it that Draconia became reality?

Which reminds me that I have to ask Julia if she knows whether all players changed. What about those that just barely started the game? Or stopped playing months ago? I doubt that brains of those people were convinced enough to initiate the mutation.

We get off the elevator on the twelfth floor where the restaurant is. It's my first time being here but Liana sure knows her way around her huge property. We're both a bit nervous about what awaits us and it turns out our worries were justified. Even though the dining hall is huge, it's cramped with Draconians.

"We couldn't stand out more, right?" Liana remarks because our monochromatic wings are instantly recognisable. In addition, we're the only ones wearing Celestial robes.

We're spotted immediately and especially Celestials flock around us. We're trying to smile and greet everyone but it's cringy. Not even Liana, who must be used to social occasions, feels comfortable. Our bodyguards are trying to keep Draconians from touching us at least but still too many hands reach our wings.

Damn, this is definitely not normal behaviour, I use the commotion to brush Liana's hand. This is beyond crazy, Li. Did Celestials go nuts?

They might be influenced by our mana capacity, she suggests. And our status perhaps? We're the Emperor and the Viceroy to them after all. Can you imagine meeting the president of your country just like that in a restaurant?

Good points but still...

"Sorry, but can you let us through? We'd like to have our lunch," Liana says aloud and tries to sound both kind and urgent.

Fortunately, they do listen to her. The crowd starts to make us a narrow passage but just as we think that we can finally pass, I feel a new hand on my left wing. The mind of that stranger flows into me and I recognise that it's an Earthborn. I sigh, mildly annoyed. I don't feel any bad intentions, just pure curiosity, but that doesn't mean it's not rude.

But I decide to let it slip and twitch my wings to fold them closer to my back so that they're not so tempting. However, as I do so, I suddenly feel sharp pain and an ominous sound of something tearing. It lasts only a second but the shock is enough to water my eyes. The painful sensation is like nothing I've ever experienced before.

I get goosebumps under my feathers and for the first time get really angry at someone. Wrathful even...? I can feel something awakening in me. I violently turn around and see a bluish Earthborn staring at me with one of my white feathers in his palm.

THAT JERK DARED TO RIP OUT MY PRECIOUS FEATHER?

I hit him hard with telekinesis and send him flying across the room.