"Yes, I've noticed it, too. I'm glad he made good use of my gift, even going so far as to share it with Lady Ysevel, it seems," Ren said, his voice was quiet but just loud enough for everyone to hear it. "Wait, what gift?" Siraye asked with a look of genuine confusion on her face. Ren immediately reached into a pouch and pulled out a cerulean flask, holding it up for everyone to see.
"I gave both Thoma and Bernar one of these before they left, but it seems they forgot about it when they came here to train," he said plainly, holding it out to Siraye from across the table. "I have more, but I brought this one for you if you want it. Hopefully, it gives you some peace of mind," he said with a warm smile.
"For me?" she asked, awestruck by the gesture and what it could mean. With more grace than she'd ever used before, she gingerly took it in her hand and regarded it carefully. "I-I don't know what to say, Ren, truly. Thank you," she said, slumping back into her seat. "Please, drink it," he said with a gesture. "Is it alright if I do? I don't know what will happen," Siraye said with a bit of concern on her face. "You'll be fine," Aurae said comfortingly.
"If anyone here deserves to drink it first, it's you, Siraye," Eirenne said, getting nods of agreement from the other members of her squad. Siraye unscrewed the metal cap to the flask and watched as a thin tendril of scarlet mana rose from the open vial.
Not at all how I thought today was going to go, she thought with a mental chuckle.
"Bottoms up!" she said, raising the vial before drinking the entirety of the contents. After setting the empty vial down on the table, she sat back in her chair as Ren approached her. "Give it a moment for it to work. When you feel the pu-..." his words cut off as a massive sphere of scarlet mana erupted from her core, spreading to the far reaches of Myrdin before dissipating.
"What the fuck?" she said with a chuckle, breathing heavily as if her adrenaline had spiked. "It's alright," Ren said calmly as he moved in a little closer. "I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting a pulse that strong, but I should've taken into account that you are who you are," he said, scratching his cheek with a nervous smile.
Siraye regained her composure as she looked at him carefully. "What was that?" she asked bluntly. "That was your first step. There are, technically, three, but we'll have to move somewhere else for the final step. For now, please excuse the intrusion, as I need to put my hand on top of your core," Ren said, beginning to blush a little.
"My bare core?" Siraye asked, reaching for the buckle on the side of her armor. Ren's eyes opened widely as his face turned a bright red. "N-no, no. Just…" he trailed off, pointing to where her core would be. "Haha! I'm sorry, but you should've seen the look of absolute horror on everyone's faces," she said, patting him on the shoulder, eliciting an awkward smile from just about everyone present except Nenvalur, who laughed heartily.
"Please, go ahead," she continued, grabbing his wrist and putting it right between the ridges of her breastplate, eliciting another chuckle from the rest of the group when Ren's face turned red once more.
This is why I don't talk much, he thought briefly with a mental sigh.
"H-hold still and focus on the mana, please," he stammered, trying his best to focus. She followed his order and began to feel the scarlet mana flowing through her body as her consciousness was sent to the translucent forest.
She immediately began to gather information about her surroundings, even going so far as readying her fists for a fight in the unfamiliar territory.
My hands, she thought as she stared at her balled fists.
She looked around, noticing that it wasn't just her that looked that way, but even Ren and Aurae, whose phantasmal forms nearly blended in with the surrounding vegetation. She shifted her gaze to the sky and stared at the scarlet globe far above her.
Ren, you son of a bitch, she thought with a chuckle, glancing over to her side as she beckoned the mana from the sky towards her.
The mana recognized her as one of its own and began to flow down towards her like a river after a rainstorm. She welcomed it with open arms, feeling it move through and around her entire body warmly as she would with Ethereal mana. Breathing in deeply, she grew accustomed to the feeling but was quickly distracted when another familiar presence came to her mind's eye.
Thoma! Ysevel! Wait, what are those things with them? Fuck, they're too far away to tell, she thought, feeling their presence somewhere off in the distance.
Forcefully breaking her connection to the mana, she sent consciousness back to the study, where everyone seemed to have not moved at all during her voyage. She breathed heavily, but there was a glint of hope in her eyes that wasn't there before. "Ren, I need you to tell me everything," she said, regaining her composure after a few moments.
"We will, Siraye," Aurae said with a smile. "You're officially one of us, now," she continued as Ren took a few steps back towards his seat. "Us? What the fuck does that mean?" Siraye asked, throwing all formality out of the window. "By us, I mean the Wraithborn, those who can manipulate the mana that resides in the spaces between life and death. Although, that's not even scratching the surface of what it can really do," Aurae explained briefly.
Siraye exhaled heavily, putting her head in her hands as she stared blankly at the floor. "Well, I guess that explains a lot about your abilities," she said with a half-hearted chuckle. "Well, when you take my ambivalence into account, yes. I suppose it does," Aurae said, putting a finger on her chin.
"Sometimes I forget you have that," Siraye said with a slight tinge of envy in her tone. "Thank you for the gift, Ren," she said, putting a hand across her chest and bowing slightly. "At this rate, you're going to end up having a whole squad of us," she said half-jokingly. "Well, I can always make more," he said wryly, gesturing to his satchel.
The silence was deafening as everyone quickly realized that he wasn't joking.
"But how does making me Wraithborn, I think Aurae called it, help us contact our children?" she asked, breaking the silence. "That's where I come in, cousin," Thorn said with a bright smile. "As you are now aware, the Wraith realm allows you to perceive other Wraithborn," he began to explain, prompting everyone to listen intently.
"However, Ren and I have discovered, through much trial and error, I might add, that using Rivet mana, we can establish a connection to others whose presences are acknowledged by the Wraith realm, just like how I can form solid weapons from pure mana," he said, getting a number of confused stares from the others.
"Ah, I see the research we've been doing in Soule really has been kept a secret from the rest of you," he said awkwardly. "It's alright, Thorn. We knew it had to come out at some point since we heard you were coming," Elhael said. "What do you mean, Rivet mana?" Vyra asked, genuinely interested.
"There's not much that I can say if the knowledge hasn't been published yet, but know that it's the main reason we were able to help Taegin and the others when they tried to activate the Portal Stone beneath Coltend. Nenvalur and I were the pioneers of this realm, though I can wield it much more efficiently than he can," he said briefly.
"That's because he spends all day meditating like a monk," Nenvalur said under his breath, getting a light chuckle from Ren sitting right next to him.
So that's how they did it. I knew it couldn't have been done through Anwill and Roburn's mana alone, Vyra thought, recalling the story she'd heard from Thoma about his fight with the golems.
Did you know about this? Haldir sent to Siraye and the other members of the squad. I did, but I didn't expect him to say it so openly. It's why the mission we went on near Soule was so vital, Siraye said briefly.
"We'd be more than happy to help you acquire it, but since Thorn is the only member of the Arwydus to wield it at such a high level due to its complicated manipulation methods, we cannot guarantee anyone's safety, even after having taken the Gwynnleaf tincture," Elhael explained.
"In any case, what I'm getting at is that before the Great Partition, there used to be a large number of these runic stones that had all kinds of capabilities. However, much of the knowledge on how to use these stones was lost alongside much of the other research during that time," Thorn explained.
"With that concept in mind, we're here to help you make contact with Thoma and Lady Ysevel by using our combined mana in a Focusing chamber. However, to do that, we need to use one of those ancient stones," he said, briefly gesturing to Ren.
Haldir whistled critically as he leaned back in his chair. "Gods above, this is a lot to take in," he said, rubbing his temples. "Imagine how it was for us to figure this out," Thorn said with a light chuckle.
Siraye leaned forward and interlocked her fingers as she rested her elbows on her knees. "I think I know the place you're talking about. The only problem is that the Dericoed heavily guards the path to it," she said gravely. "And that's where you come in, Siraye," Aurae said with a wry grin.
They spent the better part of the morning discussing the plan, and any contingencies that might need to be accounted for. Once everyone was satisfied, Aurae and Elhael took their leave, as there were a number of things to put into place to make sure that no knowledge of this plan escaped the confines of the study.
Well, as satisfied as they could be, anyway.
"Are you sure you're alright to go through this after such a long journey? It's okay if you want to do it tomorrow," Siraye said, placing a hand on Thorn's shoulder. "The sooner we do this, the better. Time works differently in the Underworld and it is never on our side," he replied gravely. "Thank you," she said kindly, replying with a single, understanding nod as she turned to face Ren. "What about you? Will you be alright to do this?" she asked in a kind tone.