"Alright, looks like you're getting the hang of this quickly!" Freya said as she held onto Raka's side as he went through rehabilitation.
*grunt* "Thanks"
His previously broken leg was healed in 3 days thanks to a combination of spells and modern science. This time, they used mana to power a machine that accelerated the body's natural healing process. First, of course, his leg was put back together.
Finally reaching the end line, Raka sighed in relief before waddling onto a bench to take a break.
You would think that healing with magic is an automatic fix. But people never account for the fact that it's still the same as healing for months; your body still needs to adapt to the new limb.
Panting on the bench, he heard shuffling before something cold touched his cheek. Opening his eyes, he saw Freya holding out a drink to him.
"You look like you need this."
"Thanks."
He drank half of the bottle in a few seconds before finally being satisfied.
"That was good-"
*BURP*
…
"Pfft- Seriously?"
"Hey, cut me some slack, rehabilitation is really tiring!"
Shaking her head, Freya took a seat next to Raka. They just sat in silence, enjoying the view and scenery of the facility. It wasn't much, but a bit of quiet was exactly what he needed after the embassy.
Looking to the far right, he saw a group of three people. Scientists, he assumed. They were carrying some files in their hands, until the one walking at the front stopped and tripped the one on his right.
Making him fall, throwing the papers everywhere. The two standing laughed so loudly that Raka could hear them almost clearly from so far away. Before the tripped one smacked the other two, they finally helped pick up the papers.
"Hey, you good? Staring pretty hard there…" But Raka didn't respond. Eyes fully focused on the tree, bantering scientists.
The way they acted was almost like how he and his siblings were.
How Sarah and Melody would pull pranks on him.
How Sarah would get mad when they talked about college, how they spend so much time goofing around, how-
"Raka!"
"Wuh!-" Finally snapping out of it, he shook his head and gave Freya a tired smile.
"Sorry about that, don't know what got into me."
"You sure? Because you're crying, you know?"
He was crying? Touching his cheek, he realized that they were wet. Quickly wiping them away, he gave her an awkward laugh before returning to silence.
…
…
"You want to talk about it?" Freya asked, but purposely not looking at him.
"Another time, maybe."
"Ok… Just talk to me when youre ready, almost nothing happens here so I'm basically always free, haha."
He looked at her with a raised eyebrow at that statement, but she just shrugged.
Sighing, he stared up at the sky. Looking up at the two suns covered by clouds, "Thanks Miss Freya… I really appreciate it."
"No problem! But what did I say about calling me miss? I'm still in my youth!"
"Are you sure about that?"
…
…
"I take back what I said."
/ - /
B̵̦̞̘͈͒̅̈́͆̀̔̑̈͑̈́̕͝e̵̡̠̟̲̻͉̻̠̤̻̤͕͕̟͖͆̇̀̇̔̓̃̏̈́͐̾̈́͂̉̅̅͝͠͝͝é̵͈͗̃͋́̈̒́̋̓̽̉̒̆͑̉p̷̨̛̳̫̱̲͚̩̳̼̫̪͓̤͈̄̾̽̒̾̿͑̓͗͌͒̎̀̌̾̕͝.̵̡̨̡̛͎̜̖̯̟̯̺̤̲̅̚ͅͅ ̷̬̙͙͖̬̭̼̰̹̠̯̼͉̯̥͐̈́̐͋̂̃̑̆̀̓̿̀̓̚
B̷̼̙̫̻͎̗͝e̶͉͔̺̰̲̺͈̽̑̔̔̐́̓͆͌̉͗̀͑͋̃̈́̉̚̕͝ȩ̷̨̢̳̩̙̬̲̜̭͎̜̜͕̻͉͍̐̄̈͌̊͛̎̀̉͑͛̂ͅͅp̴̡̘̯̜͙̤̪̯̘̯̓̅̋̓̀͗̈́͛͌̒͛͝͝.̴̨̪̟̙̱̥͎͈̰͓̣͚̳̙̏̾͒̇̅͛̀͑̑̌͗͋̈̃͛͒̚͝ ̴̧̫̞̰͎̭͕̮͖̹̺̣̪̂̆͋̾͂̽̆̊̔̇̉͆̊͒̀̊̉͘̕͘̚͜͝
B̸̧̺̠̬͚̥͓̥̖͍͍̼̰͈̹̦̆͌̌̒̽̈̚͜e̶̢̢͔̦̖̙̮̗̤̼̦̖̺̫̞͎̘͍̳̼̰͌̅̀͆̀̅̓̎̓̎̿̊̈́̀̈́̏̄̽̿̚͘ͅe̴̡͖̮͂͛͑̈́̌̃̍̒̀̈́̈́͘p̶̟̙͚͔͚̗̟̣͉͕͑͌̎̏̊́͛̌̀̓̈͐̈͝͝.̸̡̩̝̖̗͍̣͉̤̹̹̞̩̲̪̙̪̞̇͐̌̄̌ͅ ̶̨̱̬͎͚̜͙̭̟͈͈̺̠̟̆̒̊̉̈́͊͛̐̍̈̇̂̔̉͛͑̽͒̈́̽͑̕͝
B̴̢̖͕̮̦̤̣̻̘͑́͑͐̂̈́̈͌̔͆͊̃͜͜ͅͅę̷̛̞͉̻͉͓̹̲̜̫̙̳̠̳̝͎̪̅̐̉̆͒̓̃̀̂̈́̉̊̓͌́̓̓̚̕͘̚̕e̴͙͚̠̳̾̂͌́͌̈́͂̎̿̀̾̔͆p̴̲̼̳̞̜̲͆̋͂͒̏͐̀̂-̵̲̦͚͍̰̩͖͈͉̺̖̬̰̻̹̟̟͋͛ͅ
/ - /
After just a few days of rehabilitation, Raka was already able to walk with little difficulty using crutches. It took a bit of adjusting to, but he managed.
After being bored for a few days, the scientists watching over him offered to let him see their projects. He found it odd how a stranger like him was allowed to look at "confidential" experiments or projects.
But the more he thought about it, he realized that he was also technically an experiment.
After they found out that he could absorb the "Sunpiercers" mana, they conducted a lot of medical check-ups on him.
This is a nicer way of saying they plugged him into a machine for two hours daily. But he didn't mind since it gave him something to do instead of being bored all day.
It also helped keep his mind busy, so he didn't think about them—about his family.
*Smack!* Raka hit himself in the head at the thought of them. 'No, don't think about that right now.'
"Are you alright?" The scientist guiding him to the elevator looked at him concernedly. "If you're feeling unwell, we could do this another time-"
"No, no. I'm fine. Just uhh, don't know what to expect"
The man didn't seem convinced but said nothing of it. The two stepped into the elevator, and Raka saw the man hit a button that said B50.
'Wait.. B50? Like, 50 floors?'
The scientist must have noticed his confused expression because he heard him chuckle.
"Yes, it's pretty cool, right? Your eyes aren't deceiving you; this facility goes up and down 50 floors. Magic does wonders for technological innovation."
"Y-yeah, I can see that."
Though it has 50 floors, he wonders how long this elevator ride will be. 10 or 15 minutes maybe? 'And this thing doesn't have any music, this is going to be one awkward ride down-'
*DING*
They arrived at floor B50 in under a minute.
"How the fu-"
"Hahahaha!"
Raka looked at the scientist in exasperation, and the man was enjoying his confusion a little too much.
"Look, it's a long explanation. But the short version is magnets and magic."
"That explains nothing."
"Welp, I tried." He walked out of the elevator. Raka stared at him for a good couple of seconds before following.
They walked for a bit before reaching a large steel door. The man raised the keycard at the panel to its side, and the door opened with multiple clicking noises.
As they stepped through, Glass's eyes widened like saucers once he saw what was inside—a long, unnaturally wide corridor with rooms on each side. Glass peeked into each room, and he saw robots, fire, and someone flying in a suit of armour.
It was like something from a sci-fi movie!
Scientists and workers walked from room to room, not even bumping into each other once despite the large number of them. It was like they were all gears moving in tandem to run the facility.
With a smirk, the scientist turned to him and gestured to the place, "Welcome to B50, a place where magic meets science!"
"So what am I looking at exactly?" Raka asked the scientist as he stared at Professor Recca through the glass, pointing to the two giant machines pointing to one individual marked as 50 feet away.
He was slightly unnerved by the professor's wide grin as he charged up the device, which had started to be surrounded by sparks of yellow electricity.
The man, or in this case, the target, didn't even look the slightest bit afraid. If they're so used to the professors' behaviour, this kind of thing must be a regular occurrence.
"This is actually why we offered to bring you down here." Pointing to the giant machine. "Those things are trying to recreate how your body somehow absorbed mana."
"Is absorbing mana that big of a deal?"
"Well, it's not the fact that you absorbed mana that's interesting. It's more because you were somehow only able to absorb the relic's ambient mana."
"I see…" He didn't fully understand, but from the scientist's explanation, his body must have purposely absorbed some powerful relic's mana, which should not be possible.
Turning to look back at the scientist, he had more and more questions he wanted to ask and so few answers given. "You guys still haven't told me what the heck the Sunpiercer is you know?"
The man flinched and let out a soft sigh, "Look, Professor Recca said that we would tell you once you're a little more physically and mentally recovered. Telling you now would not do you any favors."
That wasn't the answer that Raka wanted to hear, and the scientist noticed his displeased expression. Suddenly, he felt a hand land on his shoulder.
"I know you want answers, and trust me that we don't like keeping things from you as well. But please just wait a little bit longer."
He didn't respond to the man, but turned his attention back to Professor Recca across the glass wall.
Through the glass, he can slightly hear the professor yelling something at the man across from him, who gives a thumbs-up.
Finally, the machines settled and glowed brighter and brighter, so much so that Raka had to shield his eyes.
They fired two beams of yellow light, which hit the target right in the middle of the chest. It only took a few seconds before their figure was completely engulfed in the blinding light.
The machines kept firing for about 30 seconds before the light started to die down. Throughout this entire ordeal, Raka only had one thought in his mind.
'Did I just watch a man get incinerated?'
Blinking repeatedly, he was finally able to see the result of the experiment.
Which turned out to be absolutely nothing because the man looked completely fine, nothing burned or bruised, at least from what he could tell.
/ - /
B̵̦̞̘͈͒̅̈́͆̀̔̑̈͑̈́̕͝e̵̡̠̟̲̻͉̻̠̤̻̤͕͕̟͖͆̇̀̇̔̓̃̏̈́͐̾̈́͂̉̅̅͝͠͝͝é̵͈͗̃͋́̈̒́̋̓̽̉̒̆͑̉p̷̨̛̳̫̱̲͚̩̳̼̫̪͓̤͈̄̾̽̒̾̿͑̓͗͌͒̎̀̌̾̕͝.̵̡̨̡̛͎̜̖̯̟̯̺̤̲̅̚ͅͅ ̷̬̙͙͖̬̭̼̰̹̠̯̼͉̯̥͐̈́̐͋̂̃̑̆̀̓̿̀̓̚
B̷̼̙̫̻͎̗͝e̶͉͔̺̰̲̺͈̽̑̔̔̐́̓͆͌̉͗̀͑͋̃̈́̉̚̕͝ȩ̷̨̢̳̩̙̬̲̜̭͎̜̜͕̻͉͍̐̄̈͌̊͛̎̀̉͑͛̂ͅͅp̴̡̘̯̜͙̤̪̯̘̯̓̅̋̓̀͗̈́͛͌̒͛͝͝.̴̨̪̟̙̱̥͎͈̰͓̣͚̳̙̏̾͒̇̅͛̀͑̑̌͗͋̈̃͛͒̚͝ ̴̧̫̞̰͎̭͕̮͖̹̺̣̪̂̆͋̾͂̽̆̊̔̇̉͆̊͒̀̊̉͘̕͘̚͜͝
B̸̧̺̠̬͚̥͓̥̖͍͍̼̰͈̹̦̆͌̌̒̽̈̚͜e̶̢̢͔̦̖̙̮̗̤̼̦̖̺̫̞͎̘͍̳̼̰͌̅̀͆̀̅̓̎̓̎̿̊̈́̀̈́̏̄̽̿̚͘ͅe̴̡͖̮͂͛͑̈́̌̃̍̒̀̈́̈́͘p̶̟̙͚͔͚̗̟̣͉͕͑͌̎̏̊́͛̌̀̓̈͐̈͝͝.̸̡̩̝̖̗͍̣͉̤̹̹̞̩̲̪̙̪̞̇͐̌̄̌ͅ ̶̨̱̬͎͚̜͙̭̟͈͈̺̠̟̆̒̊̉̈́͊͛̐̍̈̇̂̔̉͛͑̽͒̈́̽͑̕͝
B̴̢̖͕̮̦̤̣̻̘͑́͑͐̂̈́̈͌̔͆͊̃͜͜ͅͅę̷̛̞͉̻͉͓̹̲̜̫̙̳̠̳̝͎̪̅̐̉̆͒̓̃̀̂̈́̉̊̓͌́̓̓̚̕͘̚̕e̴͙͚̠̳̾̂͌́͌̈́͂̎̿̀̾̔͆p̴̲̼̳̞̜̲͆̋͂͒̏͐̀̂-̵̲̦͚͍̰̩͖͈͉̺̖̬̰̻̹̟̟͋͛ͅ
/ - /
"Dammit! Why didn't it work this time?!" As Raka walked into the room, he saw Professor Recca yelling as he threw down a stack of papers.
The man continued his tantrum for a minute before straightening up and taking a deep breath. "No matter, this is just part of the process! I can feel it, I'm getting closer to the truth!"
After quickly regaining his composure, he walked towards the console on his right to look at the results.
*mumble* "I see… so-" *mumble* *mumble* *mumble*
"Excuse me, professor."
"Ah, who? Oh! It is you, my dear Raka!" Quickly shuffling towards him, the professor gave Raka a big and painful hug, which knocked all the wind out of his lungs.
"Uhg-!"
"Haha! Glad you could make it." Finally letting him go, Raka can finally see this half-robot-faced man's signature smile. "Has my coworker told you what I am trying to achieve here?"
Turning to the scientist and then back to the professor, Raka slowly replied. "Something about trying to recreate how my body absorbed the relic's mana?"
"Close enough!"
"?"
The professor grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the machine's console. On the screen, he saw many numbers and words that he didn't even bother trying to understand.
But then the professor swiped the screen to show a human body, his to be exact.
He gave Professor Recca a look before his body became transparent, and he could see that multiple branches of yellow light were coursing through his body like veins.
"What am I looking at?"
"That, my friend, is the mana you absorbed. Seeping throughout your body with no observable side effects. My theory is that you may be able to access this mana if you are trained correctly, or with a given set of modifications."
'Wait, hold on just a minute.' Taking a few steps back, he suspiciously eyes the professor and the scientist around him. "Did you just bring me down here to dissect and experiment on me?"
There was silence for a moment before the professor started slowly inching closer to Raka.
"Listen, Raka-" *smack!* "Ouch!"
"Professor, I told you to stop playing these types of games!"
Raka was just about ready to book it out of the basement somehow until someone smacked the professor at the back of the head.
It was Freya.
"Sorry again about him, Raka. No, you are not going to be experimented on or dissected." She said while giving a jab at the professor's stomach, making him groan in pain.
That was pretty terrifying because, from what he heard, the professor had a metal plating protecting his stomach. Freya must be pretty powerful to even hurt him.
/ - /
"I apologise, Raka, I couldn't resist," Recca said as he rubbed the part where Freya hit him. "But it was pretty funny, right?"
"No"
"Fair enough."
Sensing that the conversation was not productive, Freya decided to step in. "Back to the topic, we theorize that your body should be able to access this if we train you."
"Do I have a choice in this?"
Recca looked slightly offended and exclaimed, "Of course you do, we're not the government!"
"But I thought this was a US research facility?"
The professor looked smug. "Ah, ah, ah. This is a US-funded research facility. They actually have no idea about the basement floors here."
'They're experimenting without government permission?' That was something that Raka didn't expect to hear today.
But after thinking about it, he was surprised how he was even allowed to walk around freely when he absorbed the mana of some powerful relic.
He remembered being paranoid that they would abduct him in his sleep to experiment on him.
But if they hide things from the government, there must be something the government wouldn't like here. Something pretty significant to make 50 fucking basement floors.
He felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Freya's. "We have something we'd like to ask of you, Raka."
"With how this conversation is going, I'm guessing it's a pretty big ask?"
This time, the professor answered, "We'd like to know if you'd be willing to help us with our biggest project."
"Biggest project?"
Freya nodded, "As you know, the world is in complete chaos after the merger. Over 4 billion people from Earth have been reported dead or missing because of it, and the people from Arche, and their gods, have been exploiting this to use our people's resources and knowledge."
'I can't tell if this is an evil villain speech or not…'
"So we decided to create something to put us on equal grounds with Arche, specifically their gods."
The console lit up again with a different screen, "Magic nullification."
/ - /
Professor Recca cleared his throat, adjusting his coat before leaning forward, excitement gleaming in his mechanical eye.
"You see, Raka, originally humans from Earth had no mana at all. None. It simply didn't exist in our world. But when our reality merged with Arche, something unprecedented happened. Our bodies were suddenly inundated with mana."
Raka raised an eyebrow, leaning back slightly as he processed this information. "So that means?"
"Think of mana like radio waves. Different worlds, different frequencies. Humans from Arche have spent generations adapting to their world's mana frequency. Their bodies evolved alongside it—greater muscle density, lung capacity, even neural connections optimized for mana manipulation. But for us, for Earth humans, mana entered our bodies at a frequency completely alien to our biology."
"Wait, so you're saying our bodies handle mana differently because it's on some different frequency?" Raka asked slowly, attempting to simplify it for himself.
"Precisely," Recca confirmed, excitedly tapping a finger against the console, "Mana, like energy, vibrates at a specific frequency. If mana has a frequency, logically, there could be an opposite—an anti-frequency if you will."
"Anti-frequency? You mean something that would nullify mana then?"
Recca nodded vigorously, "Exactly. But here's the fascinating thing: according to all known Arche history, complete magic nullification doesn't exist. They've managed magic redirection, barriers, even complete restriction of spellcasting—but total eradication of mana itself? Never. Even their gods couldn't manage that."
He paused for dramatic effect, staring directly at Raka. "But I believe we can."
"You think you can do something that literal gods can't? How?"
Recca smiled knowingly. "This is where you come in. For reasons we're still trying to understand, your body absorbed mana from the Sunpiercer—an ancient relic filled with mana so pure and dense that it would normally obliterate anyone trying to contain it. Yet, somehow, your body didn't just survive; it adapted."
"Adapted?"
"Yup, before you absorbed the Sunpiercer's mana, our scans revealed that your body practically had none," Freya interjected softly, stepping forward to join the conversation.
"Where everyone else from Earth has at least some mana absorption and is already experiencing its benefits—enhanced health, strength, minor magical abilities—your mana levels were close to zero."
"So… I was basically mana-deficient compared to everyone else?"
"Precisely," Freya confirmed gently. "Your body absorbed mana incredibly slowly—so slowly that we theorize that there may be something in your body that is effectively slowing the mana absorption process."
"Another thing we found was that your body was also expelling at least 90% of all your accumulated mana, so it was actively stopping you from being able to absorb more mana, until the sunpiercer, of course.
"Because of your unique condition," Recca continued eagerly, "your body's response to mana, specifically its slow absorption rate, gives us an opportunity. Your unusual interaction with mana might be key to discovering a way to nullify it entirely."
Raka was silent. This was a lot to take in. It made sense why they'd been so interested in him, but everything was still extremely sketchy. "You really think that's possible? Completely erasing mana?"
"That's exactly what we intend to find out," Recca stated confidently, his voice lowering as he leaned closer, his mechanical eye gleaming in the dim lab light. "We're on the brink of something monumental, something that could rebalance the scales between Earth and Arche. But we need your help."
"And if it works?"
Freya's voice softened reassuringly, sensing his internal struggle. "Then humanity might finally stand a chance against the gods of Arche."
Professor Recca clapped his hands once, excitement bursting forth again. "So, Raka, what do you say? Ready to help us change the world?"
Raka took a deep breath, brows hardening while he thought about his options. On one hand, there is a part of him that still feels that they are going to pull a fast one on him and mind control him after they finish experimenting on him.
But on the other hand, there was a part of him that was... thrilled at the prospect of power. He tried to bury it, but after the embassy, he kept thinking of the battle that had happened there.
Why did it happen? Who started it? Why did it have to be them?
Back then, he was too helpless to do anything. But with this, he could get the chance to find out the person behind the attack at the embassy. He wanted justice.
He wanted revenge.
He opened his mouth to respond, but Professor Recca suddenly held up a hand to stop him. "Before you decide, there's something crucial you need to know."
"What is it?"
"You need to fully understand what the Sunpiercer is, and more importantly, who placed it in the embassy—Karthzion."
Raka's eyes widen. He did not expect her name to come up in this conversation. "Wait, Karthzion? But she wouldn't. It doesn't make sense. Why?"
Professor Recca sighed, a shadow passing briefly over his face. "It's complicated, Raka. You must understand exactly who—and what—you're dealing with before committing to this. Let's go to my office, I will explain everything there."