Chapter 131: Grand Duke

“Grand Duke Anselma, thank you for coming on such short notice.”

Talexia and Ikhor both greeted the man at their door. He came alone, but his mere presence was far beyond what most could ever hope to witness. 

Anselma was an Authority 12 Warlock and one of the strongest individuals in the Kingdom by virtue of his elemental knowledge. 

He allegedly had three perfect affinities and their respective enlightenments, as well as a fourth affinity that was infinitely close to perfect. He had effectively completed the path of a Warlock, standing at the pinnacle of the world. But he was a man of knowledge, responsible for pushing magical technology and enchanting leaps and bounds ahead to where it was today. He had done the work of generations by himself. 

Because of this, he was the head of the Magic Spire, the Kingdom’s hub for all magical research and development. This made him both very smart and very rich, far above even other Grand Dukes. 

And he was at the doorstep of the Talerria household, something that would likely never happen again. 

Anselma gave Talexia a small smile.

“Thank you for the hospitality. Unfortunately I’ve been extremely busy lately, so I can’t stay long. If you don’t mind, I’ll take a look at your daughter now.”

“Of course. Right this way.”

Talexia ushered him in, taking him straight to the bedroom. 

There, they found both Umara and John laid in the bed. They were no longer cuddled like how John had fallen asleep, but separated and laid out tidily. 

Still, Talexia was worried. 

“They came out for a short time before going back and having a conversation. Then they fell asleep and haven’t woken up since. They’ve been like this for 18 hours.”

“Hm. Their Auras are faint… but strong.”

Anselma peered down at both of them. His own Aura washed over them both and immediately sensed how stable theirs was. 

“Both of their Auras are incredibly powerful for their age. As for the boy’s mind, from what I can sense he’s doing something similar to resetting. I imagine the girl is doing the same.”

“Resetting? Why?”

“Because of Anarchy, of course.”

Anselma backed away. 

“Duchess Talerria, what I’m about to tell you is something of an open secret among those who have studied the Scourge Kings…. Simply gazing upon a King imparts their influence. Just because you may escape the King doesn’t mean you will escape what they are. In the case of your daughter and John Cooper, they have gazed upon Anarchy, and so their minds were filled with Anarchy. What they’ve been doing for the past few days is processing Anarchy, or more specifically, honing their Aura until it could handle and harness its concept.”

“… Did they succeed?”

“They have. But success may not look the same for everyone. They were forced to reconcile Anarchy with their lives and beliefs. The conclusions they’ve come to will therefore shape their personalities. As for what conclusions they’ve come to, and how it will affect them… we won’t be able to know that until they wake up. So long as they didn’t allow it to take over their lives, they’ll be able to operate relatively normally day-to-day. They’ll also be perfectly healthy physically regardless of what changed in their psyche.”

“… I understand.”

Talexia nodded, reaching out and stroking her daughter’s face. 

It seemed things wouldn’t be the same as they were. The encounter with Anarchy was life-changing in more ways than one. She could only hope that her daughter was able to handle herself. 

She also regretted not knowing this sooner. If she had, then perhaps she would have been able to help her daughter with processing everything. 

She recalled many hours earlier hearing some voices coming from this room. Perhaps John and Umara had been talking about Anarchy, getting through the plight together. In that case, she could only hope that John was a good influence on her. 

Anselma gazed at the two for a bit longer before closing his eyes. 

“Don’t worry so much, Duchess. Although they are in a deep sleep and their Aura is faint, I sense no abnormal influence from Anarchy. Of course, I’ve never met them before so I can’t gauge how much they will have deviated from their baseline… but I can say for certain that both of them have managed to work their way through the insanity well, especially considering their Authority. How they managed to escape in the first place is something only the Divine can know… but be at ease knowing your daughter will come back to you, and she’ll be even stronger than before. This experience is one that can temper even the Auras of Authority 11’s, let alone kids like them.”

“… I can imagine. Thank you very much, Grand Duke.”

“Of course. The two of them shouldn’t be asleep for much longer, but do try to feed them if you can. The longer they’re allowed the sleep, the more they’ll gain and the more stable they’ll be when they wake. We wouldn’t want them losing out just because they were thirsty.”

“Understood. Is there anything we can do for you while you’re here?”

“No, thank you. The appearance of Anarchy has me busier than I’ve been in 30 years. Though, there is something I wanted to mention. Here.”

Anselma suddenly took out an envelope from his coat, handing it to Talexia. 

“Don’t open it now, only if you need to. I wanted to ensure that John could come under your wing in the military. In exchange, I want you to make sure he will be taken care of. He need not be coddled, but so long as you keep an eye on him, I’ll be at ease. I’ve heard from some… contacts say that he’s a summoner paving a new path, and I would hate for him to fail prematurely or get unsavory attention from his enemies. If you have trouble taking control of him, just hand this to Intama.”

“I-I see…”

Talexia held the letter carefully. Something like the paper in her hands meant a lot more than just taking John under her wing. It involved another level of responsibility and scrutiny. 

She asked meekly. 

“Is… there anything you want in exchange for this letter?”

“Yes, but nothing you can give me. John Cooper’s life could be said to be one big experiment. The farther he goes, the more value humanity as a whole will gain. Those who want him dead are nothing more than shortsighted fools. Only now have they started to realize that the Scourge is still a massive threat to our very existence, and there’s still an enormous well of power that humanity has yet to tap into. Perhaps he will be the key, but we can’t know unless he’s allowed to grow. If a little letter will open a door, then I don’t mind writing it. Don’t be afraid to use it.”

“… Yes.”

She nodded, stowing the letter away. 

After that, Anselma brought out a coin. 

“Then I must go. Good day, Duchess.”

“Good day, Grand Duke.”

She quickly bowed a bit, watching as Anselma flicked the coin into the air. 

When it came down, it grew in size and created a portal that fell over his body, warping him away to an unknown place. 

The coin vanished with him, and Talexia let out a sigh. 

……

…

My eyes fluttered open when I heard some groaning. 

I discreetly tilted my head over to see Talexia holding Umara’s head, a floating stream of water flowing into her mouth. 

Umara was trying to dodge it, apparently aroused to consciousness. Once Talexia saw that, she stopped and took Umara’s hand. 

“Umara? It’s okay, you can keep sleeping.”

“…”

Umara didn’t respond, just laying there. She was definitely waking up, but obviously not in the mood to give anyone the time of day. 

I watched with half-lidded eyes as Talexia set her hand down and stood, walking over to my side of the bed. 

A ball of water floated around her, turning into a stream as she sat down by my side and cradled my head. 

Just as she was about to give me some water, we made eye contact, her brows raising. 

I spoke after a few awkward seconds. 

“… You can continue.”

“Tsk. Haven’t changed, have you…”

She smiled a bit before setting my head back down, standing back up. 

After that, she just let us both naturally come to lucidness. I sat myself against the headboard while Umara shifted under the sheets. 

Her arm snaked around and found me, grabbing my shoulder and pulling herself up so she could lay against me. 

She snuggled against me for a while, her eyes still closed. 

Once her eyes opened, she stared at her mother for a long while, as if deciding on something. 

Once she came to her conclusion, she sighed. 

“Hi mom.”

“Hello. How are you feeling?”

“Amazing, actually. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this clear headed in my life. Are you feeling this too?”

“Mm. It’s pretty nice.”

I nodded when Umara looked up at me. 

Clear-headed was one way to put it. I certainly did feel like my entire mind had been power washed and made squeaky clean. Everything flowed smoothly, and that was saying a lot considering my Psyka.

But what was even more prominent was my Aura. It felt completely different than before, and not just due to its newfound power. 

It was difficult to describe, but it felt like it had risen to another stratum. Almost like advancing Authorities, or perhaps being enlightened. 

I suddenly turned to Talexia. 

“Duchess, are there levels for Aura? Perhaps something along the lines of… proficiencies?”

“… Yes, there are. There’s no official categorization, but the military generally recognizes three levels of Aura. From lowest to highest they are Sensory, Visionary, and Clairvoyant. Sensory Auras are just that. They can generally sense the people around them and their mental states. As for visionary, this level is entered when someone develops an Auric technique. I heard that you used illusions, so that would place you within the Visionary level.”

“And the Clairvoyant level?”

“Well, it’s like its namesake. That level allows someone to effectively predict the future. They can see and feel things before they even happen. And vague feelings of anxiety or danger aren’t enough to place you within that level. It’s… more so a matter of being able to read the… fabric of reality, almost, and tell with certainty when something specific is going to happen. It also comes with the most profound Auric techniques known to man, something only found around the level of the Scourge Kings.”

“That’s an awfully large gap.”

My brows raised. The difference between a Visionary and Clairvoyant seemed to be the same as the difference between an Authority 6 and an Authority 12. It was so massive that there was space for plenty more Quanta between them, yet it was barren… much like the Kingdom’s information on Aura. 

I had yet to hear anything definitive about Aura and its various stages of advancement, which was only driving home the thought that the Kingdom really was holding information close to its chest. There were no techniques at the Magisterium, and the military probably only handed them out to loyal and strong soldiers. Even that was most likely a lie.

Chances were, all the Aura techniques were in the hands of the nobles, and you’d need to be born into or pledge fealty to them to gain access. More than that, you’d have to be someone worth giving a technique to, both a valuable asset as well as someone who they knew wouldn’t threaten them. It was no doubt a bootlicking shitfest among those who tried to advance. 

I understood why though. Aura was a powerful thing. It was the one thing that scared nobles, which was why they kept its information behind lock and key. 

I most likely wouldn’t be getting anything that could help me keep track of how developed my Aura was, not even from Talexia. Even if she wanted to give me something like a technique, it probably wouldn’t be something that would fit me. Information on Aura was as scarce as it was tightly guarded. 

Seems I was on my own, though perhaps Maxwell would have a bit more insight. He came from the Church and they no doubt had just as much if not more information on such things. 

I simply shrugged and dropped the topic. There would be a time for questions later. 

There was a long minute of silence before we heard a knock on the door. 

“Mom, I’ve got the broth.”

“Faey!”

Umara’s face brightened when Faey walked in, a look of surprise crossing the young girl’s face. 

“… You’re awake.”

“Are you disappointed or something? Come here!”

“O-Oh.”

Faey stifled a smile as Umara waved, handing the bowl of broth off to Talexia before getting grabbed and lifted onto the bed. 

Umara planted Faey between us, giving her a big hug. 

“Mm, you’re the cutest little sister in the world, you know that?”

“… Yes.”

“Hahaha! I love you, Faey. Don’t you ever forget that, you hear?”

“… John, I’m scared.”

“I’ll protect you.”

“Hey!”

Umara pulled as Faey tried to escape to me. Laughter rang in the room as we fought over our hostage. 

Even I could see how uncharacteristic Umara’s sudden proclamations of familial love were. She was usually quite reserved, even if it was clear that she cared about Faey. 

It seems she changed more than I thought… although I certainly wasn’t complaining. It was a world of difference from the doubt and mistrust she held within herself previously. 

If she had finally learned to open up to and trust those who really mattered, then she would be much better off. 

We would be much better off too. It’s not like I had ever asked for blind trust from her, but what I gave her was expected in return. If she couldn’t trust me, then none of this would work. But that was gone now. I’d have to watch her for some time to see just how much Anarchy had changed her, but my initial thoughts were leaning toward definite improvements. 

We had woken up in the afternoon, it seemed, and were still feeling fine, so eventually we jumped out of bed and went about our business. 

One of the first things I did was send some messages to my squad, including the Puppet Master and Vetsmon’s parents. It was from them that I received status reports and exchanged information on what was going on. 

Feiden had woken up like us while Tana was still in her coma. Vetsmon was also still asleep. He had passed out in the streets while walking to the Verga Tower, so nothing had been done about him yet regarding his punishment. 

Since Feiden was awake, I talked with him a bit. Our brief conversation about how he was doing was concluded with a promise to meet up soon. From his messages I could imagine that he wasn’t much in the mood for conversation, but it was still him that asked to meet, so I was thankful that he wasn’t pushing us away. 

Still, he seemed different. I was hoping that he handled Anarchy well, because like Umara and I, the rest of the squad had seen that monster… except he didn’t have anyone left to help him handle it.

I was especially worried about Tana. Unfortunately, I could only wait for a report from the Puppet Master about her. 

Seemed like everything was just a waiting game now, although I did have one other thing that I could do. 

I had yet to really start on the next advancement formation, and I had a lot of inspiration to put to use. With the hours and days of free time I now had, I decided to start taking a look and see if I couldn’t crack open that can of bullshit. 

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