As soon as his talk with Ssalythia ended, Morpheus descended below the deck. Nothing on the airship was truly hidden from the world serpent's senses, both Greg and Morpheus were perfectly aware of this. That said, neither thought it a good idea to pass out in front of her. She had already shown herself willing to cause more trouble for him if she believed the following spectacle would be amusing. Though the time he passed out was shortened drastically since Greg got stronger, he still wasn't powerful enough to take control back from Morpheus without passing out. The burden that the deity put on his body was just too great. It would only be a few minutes of unconsciousness before Greg was back, but there was no telling just what kind of mischief a being as powerful as the world serpent could get to in that window. And that was even before one considered the fact that Morpheus had just essentially threatened to kill her if he was forced to take over Greg's body once more.Once back insi

It shouldn't have come as a surprise to Greg when his sister opened her eyes at the sound of his voice, it wasn't like the formation put one in a soundproof bubble or anything. He'd just assumed she'd be so lost in whatever was going on with her that she wouldn't hear him. A smile, however, crossed her lips as she opened her eyes to look up at him. Some of Greg's worries must have bled through in his voice as she seemed ready to rise to her feet, her arms already open to hug him. A sharp order from his teacher, however, seemed to stop her dead in her tracks, the intended hug abandoned. "The process you are undergoing is a rather delicate one. To interrupt it before it's done would be very unwise," she explained once she was certain that Tayani wouldn't try to rise. "It'll only be a few more minutes before you are done," she additionally reassured with a warm smile on her face. Greg couldn't help but feel like a block of ice had settled in the pit of his stomach. The healer wasn't by

H... how is the city not already destroyed by a cataclysmic mana storm?" His voice slightly hoarse, Greg heard the question tumble out of his mouth. "Better yet, how is it that we are not drowning in an unrelenting tide of mana?" He asked. The question would have sounded strange to him a few minutes back. But after listening to his teacher lay out her suspicions, he now realized that the amount of mana flowing into him that had made him panic was nothing compared to what it should have been. They were in the equivalent of a mana gathering array the size of a whole nation! Not only that, but it had been running for over a thousand years! Forget eighty magic points a second, given the size and age of this 'formation', even a billion points a second, if he could survive exposure to such, wouldn't have been beyond the realm of possibility! It shouldn't have come as a surprise to Greg to find his teacher shaking her head, admitting her ignorance. The healer had put her brilliance on disp

In that moment when the deity had been roused and he looked upon them like the insignificant worms that they were, Lorae had felt a despair so visceral she could almost taste it on her tongue. Right to the root of her being, she'd known that her life was no longer her own. All of a sudden, she was no different from the lower-tier mage she'd once been. What little power she could lay claim to was insignificant in the face of the overwhelming power that now stared her down. Though no one present would admit to it, they didn't survive the encounter because they were smart or powerful or because of anything to do with them. They all drew breath simply because they were spared. The benevolence of others was not something any of them had had to rely on in hundreds of years and it was galling to say the least. A tier-zero mage wasn't a new concept to any of them. A majority of them had never interacted with one before yesterday, but they'd heard enough to know what they were dealing with.

It was a treacherous thought, but Lorae couldn't help but find herself agreeing with the woman. The mage world wasn't one of sunshine and rainbows. Those who had risen to the heights had done so by overcoming innumerable challenges and setbacks. Many times in that journey, the odds had not been in their favor, sometimes severely so, and yet here they were. Whatever the situation would be after Roka was out of the picture, it wasn't a sufficient reason for them to give up without a fight. The gazes of everyone in the room turned in Kenro's direction. Even those in his own faction couldn't help but be swayed by Mage Ethia's words, and wanted to know how he would answer them. "I..." Whatever else he was to say, they'd never know as in that moment, something else drew all their attention. The room where they had this meeting didn't have any guards. The most powerful individuals in the whole city were, after all, already gathered inside. The upper levels of this tree, however, were cov