House of Amarin

In Lucian's office, Lia was looking at him with eyebrows raised while he was rummaging through hundreds of old, yellowed, faded, and dusty books. His office was completely filled with stacks of hundreds of codexes, maybe sitting unopened for thousands of years, protected by magic from turning to dust.

"You called for me?" She scratched her throat, walking closer, watching his face that was deep in thought, flipping through pages, searching for something.

"Yeah." He answered, without looking up, "You opened Somia's vault, yes?"

"Kinda." Lia nodded, not hiding the fact, "But we can't access it yet. Some kind of barrier is obstructing us from it."

"I know." He continued, "Sadly, time is short, so I can't let you and Opparu fumble around and try dozens of methods until you figure out how to operate it."

"Mhm?" Lia flinched, blinking her eyes, now truly surprised about what was happening.

"Here is a tip," Lucian said, raising his head, looking at her briefly, "Think of the tower as a one-way street. The bottom is the end; you just need to find the entrance of it."

"The telescope?"

"See? You are not stupid." He smiled, watching her think.

"There is a formation on the floor… do I need all elements to be… wait…." She stopped, starting to pace up and down, remembering all that Lucian taught her about No-Space and then recalling Ceiline's experiment, wanting to fuse the different elements into her plants to bring them to 'life.' "It depends on what I am looking for!"

"Continue," Lucian said, watching her, letting Lia describe her thoughts.

"Every holding bag is made by an artificer. But as the method of carving it out is not tied to any type of elements… the mana they used will have traces of their original element… which... is different…."

"From No-Space's fluctuations." Lucian nodded, confirming it for her. "It will be the beacon that you have to look for. Your lighthouse on a stormy ocean. The telescope will let you travel No-Space with your consciousness in a way that is… very unique."

"Have you ever tried it, Headmaster?" Lia asked, standing at his desk, leaning in with an excited look.

"Yes. I did. I discovered it after being the Headmaster for roughly ten years only. It was an experience that I can't explain, but you will see it for yourself. It will be a big help to your understanding of No-Space!"

"Oh? That is why you have been so strict lately? Wanting to prepare me for it? And look like being impatient? Silly Fox…"

"Yeah." He answered without knocking on her head which surprised Lia and made her feel like he wasn't being honest. "You will learn how to travel it with your mind with its help and how to look for abnormalities in it– Holding spaces. It will also help you recognize and differentiate all the elements of our Realm."

"How will I use the element of darkness and all those others if I can't use it myself?" She asked, furrowing her brows, thinking about it.

"Make someone who has it stand on its symbol in the tower. Let him or her feed it while you use the telescope. That simple."

"Ah…" Lia trembled as she was also thinking just about that. "Great! Did Somia use it that way?"

"No." Lucian shook his head, smiling a little, "She was our first teacher, and Headmaster, to master all elements. She was the witch that brought up the first teachers who could cast spells from all of the eight! The tradition of using those unique and rare individuals who can manage that miraculous feat as our core teachers comes from her. She only used clones of herself. Casting one from an element, meditating, switching to another, and casting a second clone. Then a third. A fourth. She used them as fuel sources when using the telescope and exploring No-Space.

"Wait… It won't hurt my friends, would it?" Lia asked, her face going a shade whiter.

"It would drain them. So you have to be quick and precise. The moment they are drained of their mana, it will eject them… and you too. It won't hurt any of you; learning how to regulate your mana flow and consumption is good training!"

"If it won't hurt them, that is great! Ahaha! Cool! Thanks, Headmaster!"

"Why are you calling me that only when you receive some boon from me?" He sighed, shaking his head. "That is it. Off you go!" 

"Teehee~! Sure, sure!" Lia giggled, already wanting to return home and try it out, skipping as she left Lucian's office. The moment the door closed and she left, Somia's figure materialized next to Lucian.

"Telling her how it works is robbing her of experience."

"I know." The old fox answered, glancing at the blonde woman, whose face was void of most emotions yet her blue eyes were like shining stars. "But we don't have the luxury of time anymore."

"That is why I did not object." She nodded, looking around the office that was once hers. It was hard to tell what she was thinking about as her expression remained placid.

"How far have you looked when developing the telescope?" Lucian asked suddenly, breaking their silence.

"Far enough…" She answered but spoke no more. 

When she started exploring No-Space in-depth, which nobody had done before, she thought she was the first to travel to the deepest parts of it. Yet, as her mind wandered to uncharted depths, she noticed the irregularities. The clues and, later on, traces. Hints of battles. It was baffling to find different, damaged parts of No-Space and residue of immensely strong spells being used in a place as foreign and unknown as she was lurking in. It was then she realized someone was already here before her. Who? The Undead? Could be. Were they battling each other? When she explored further in a few decades, she finally reached a point where it seemed that was the end of No-Space. A barrier stood before her, something that she couldn't pass over, no matter how hard she tried. As she recalled it, she also remembered that a voice greeted her when she tried almost everything to go through that strange barrier and failing at it.

"You can't." 

"Who?" She asked at that time, floating there in the same transparent, spiritual body she used now. 

"Only spirits can pass through it. This ancient barrier is not something that anybody can damage." The voice continued as Erias appeared in a similar, transparent body at the other side of the barrier.

"Erias Amarin!" Somia exclaimed, immediately recognizing him, her face showing true and real shock. "But…" She quickly recollected herself, "I am only here spiritually! I should be able to go through!"

"No." He shook his head. "You are still connected to your flesh. You can't. I applaud you for coming this far. You are my first companion in years!"

"Years?" She furrowed her brows, "It has been already two thousand years…."

"That long?" Erias asked, releasing a very long sigh, "Time is very different in here. For me, it may… only have been like what? Five? Six years? A decade at most. Haaahh… Never mind. You can't come, not until your body is destroyed and your spirit transferred over."

"What is over there?" Somia asked, already inferring a lot of things from his words.

"The source of the bane of our Realm," Erias answered in a cold voice, his incorporeal body suddenly glowing with an overwhelming power that made Somia almost recall her spirit at once, afraid of getting shattered into small pieces.

In the end, Somia did not ask more questions and left but returned time after time while Erias always appeared, teaching her just as much as Somia taught him. Together they perfected many theories and new spells until, finally, Somia came up with the idea of the bracelet for the Institute. She made them in a way that would anchor her spirit after destroying her body and enabling her to exist in two places at once.

When she succeeded, she destroyed her body without hesitation, and from that day on, she was traveling the other side with Erias, who helped her pass over. Thanks to her invention, now she could instantly travel between the real world and Erias's side, bringing news back and forth.

"Continue as is." Somia said in the end, breaking the silence between Lucian and her, "You are doing well. Just don't tell her things she should not worry about yet."

"Mhm." Lucian nodded, acknowledging it and watching her transparent body disappear. "It is the adults' job to worry anyway, not theirs!"

…

….

……

When nightfall came, Lia was up in the observatory with all of the leaders of the Misfits. She explained everything to them, making them swear they wouldn't tell this to anybody, not even their subordinates, or they would be kicked out of the group.

"And I will be watching. Even if I graduate." Sion said, warning mainly the three latecomers, Novac, Sadamo, and Xin. Yet he was looking at someone else.

"Why are you looking at me?" Raufon asked back as Sion was eying him. 

"Because you always run your mouth and boast about this and that to your men," Sion answered coolly. 

"Tsk… That does not mean I can't keep secrets…." He grumbled. 

"Which of us is going to try it first, Boss?" Keily asked, excited and curious as to how it would play out.

"I think we should try it with all of us participating first!" Lia answered, watching the telescope in the middle of the room. "By the Silly Fox's words, you will be drained of mana. If we do this together, it may last long enough to get a feel for it! Opparu is down there, watching the vortex and seeing if anything changes!"

"Good for me!" Koa moaned, stretching.

"And it is much safer." Ceiline agreed, "Even if it goes awry, with so many of us present, it should be safe to take a step back!"

"Mhm! Let's do it!" Lia clapped, not wanting to wait anymore.

After everyone was standing on one of the eight elements' symbols, Lia stood behind the telescope, looking around with a puzzled gaze.

"Um… how are we going to turn this thing on?" She asked, making the others grimace.

"You don't know?" Aurora signed, looking surprised.

"N-no…" She said, blushing.

"Well… we failed even before starting!" Raufon laughed, further increasing the brightness of Lia's blush.

"Try looking into it." Sion shrugged. "Maybe that helps?"

"O-okay…"

The moment she pressed her blue eye against the little eyepiece at the end, she felt something rush through her body. It was a weird, uncomfortable feeling, something that she had never experienced before. It was as if an invisible force pushed her mind and soul out of her body, and before long, she was floating amidst the swirling clouds of No-Space. Looking around, she was zooming forth with incredible speed, traversing the endless cloud fields around her. She tried focusing her mind to stop or just slow down but it barely responded. The whole experience only took a few seconds to end, and she was back in her body, returning so abruptly that she staggered backward, falling onto her butt. 

"W-what?!" She gasped for air and as she looked around, everyone was also on their knees, barely able to stay seated.

"What happened…?" Ceiline moaned, taking out a rejuvenating potion with a trembling hand while the rest copied her.

"I felt my mana being sapped away in an instant!" Koa groaned, uncorking her vial with her teeth. "This was horrible!"

"Help…" Keily groaned, lying on his back, barely audible, and it was Raufon who helped him drink a potion.

"What happened?" Pinged Lia's bracelet as Opparu sent a message to her, "The door slammed shut, and now it refuses to open up."

"Come up…" Lia sent back, trying to think and recover just like the others.

After arriving and seeing their sorry state, listening to their experience, he remained silent for many minutes before crossing his arms and watching the telescope.

"I have a guess." He started speaking when his thoughts finally settled down, telling them, "I read it in her book; A whole volume is centered around the idea of will and the control of the mind over No-Space. You most likely were not focused enough." He looked at Lia, "By not looking for something specific, your thoughts drove your will forward without a goal or purpose. By your words, you were traveling with incredible speed, yes?"

"Um." Lia nodded, "Faster than any ship I have ever ridden!"

"It probably was the reason why everyone was so quickly sapped of energy!" Opparu watched them slowly getting to their feet. "You need to learn to focus, and you must learn not to let it draw all your mana at once!"

"Ugh…" They answered, looking at each other.

"Lia," Opparu walked towards the element of earth, "I'll stand here… try again. Now try focusing on standing still. Think not about No-Space or treasures. Just focus on being stationary."

"..." Everyone silently watched as Lia wobbled to the telescope with a determined look, nodding at Opparu. “Okay… get ready…” She said, taking a deep breath before leaning in for a second look.