Taste of Magic: General's Echo [Slice-of-Life LitRPG]

Melina hesitated for only a second. Only for a brief did she wonder whether she should get involved. The next moment, she was already by Leon's side.

"Put on a hard surface like a table and make sure nobody else enters the room!" Melina instructed.

The adventurers looked confused at first, seeing her suddenly take charge of the situation.

"It's an order! Lay him on a table and get everyone who can't help out!" Alistair commanded.

Guildmaster asked in confusion. "W-What are two–?"

"I'll explain later! Every second counts if we want to save him," Melina said, running after the adventurers who carried him into a separate infirmary room. It had what looked like an operating table on which they laid down the convulsing mage.

Melina hurriedly took a feyfruit out of her and gave it to Sienna to eat. She had packed it along with a few other treats, expecting the wyrm to be exhausted after the fight. Sienna swallowed it almost instantly.

"I'm going to need your mana, my friend," Melina whispered to the wyrm, giving her a feyfruit tart next. It was a good thing she could eat so many tarts in such a short amount of time.

"We've laid him down," the adventurers.

"Everyone, besides Alistair and the Guildmaster—out!" Melina commanded.

"You heard her! Get lost. Make sure nobody comes into this room!" Arianne reiterated sternly.

With them gone, Melina hurried up to Leon and grabbed his hand to feel his mana flow. She nearly recoiled, feeling his mana roil within his body, going completely berserk. "How many mana potions did he drink?!"

"Six, I believe…" Alistair replied.

"SIX?!" Melina screeched.

It was a miracle that he was still alive after drinking so many. For beginner mages like Leon, who do not yet understand the mana flow within their body, drinking as much as three mana potions in quick succession could already be dangerous. Anything over that could lead to mana poisoning and eventual corruption.

Leon convulsed on the table as the mana raged within him, the blackness spreading from his limbs up to his torso.

"Dammit! Corruption is already setting in," Melina cursed and grabbed Leon's hand, holding it firmly. She took a deep breath and using Sienna's mana, gently probed into the mage's mana flow.

Normally such action would be highly invasive, but his mana was already so jumbled, it would hardly make any impact. Melina closed her eyes, and set to work. She slowly siphoned Sienna's mana into Leon's body, spreading it through every limb and body part.

The mage screamed out, nearly jumping upright. Alistair managed to grab him and push him back down.

"Hold him down!" Melina commanded.

Alistair grabbed the mage from one side, while Arianne held the other side.

"It hurts!" Leon screamed.

"I know. I know it hurts. I'll sort it out," Melina soothed the mage.

Just like she had with the portal, Melina took hold of Leon's mana, forcing it back into correct flow. The mage screamed, the process was very painful. But it was the only way of saving the man at this stage. Sienna let out a disgruntled chitter—the process wasn't pleasant for her either.

"Bear with me for a moment, Sienna. We need to endure this," Melina said, sweat beading on her forehead. She moved and circled the mana. The raging energy tried to break free, to burn and destroy. But Melina didn't let it—she forced it back into the proper flow.

"Make it stop! Make it stop! It hurts too much," Leon bellowed.

"Don't give up, you fool!" Arianne reprimanded.

"Pain is good," Melina said calmly, her eyes closed. "Pain is healing. Let it guide you."

She grabbed more of rogue mana and guided it into the right path. Leon screamed. This process continued for a long time. Leon screamed and trashed around at first, but soon he ran out of strength, merely whimpering as Melina circled the mana into its right flow.

But it was working. The dark aura surrounding Leon's limbs slowly settled down and the darkness receded. But Melina knew she couldn't give up. One slip up could cause the mana to go berserk again, causing instant organ failure. So she kept fighting for the mage's life, guiding his mana back into the right place, calming its flow, setting it right.

Melina didn't know how much time passed. She felt utterly exhausted for a long time. But the blackness had left Leon's limbs completely so she released the hold on his mana and slowly withdrew. When the mage remained calm, Melina exhaled in relief.

"He'll be fine now," she muttered, barely able to hold her eyes open.

"H-How did you even— You know what, it doesn't matter," the Guildmaster said, and bowed to Melina. "Thank you so much for saving him."

"It's the least I could do," Melina nodded and tried to take a step forward, only to stagger and nearly fall to the ground.

"Are you alright, Melina?" Alistair asked nervously, holding her up by her hand.

"I'm alright, but I think I need to rest now," she muttered. Sienna looked equally exhausted, laying limply on Melina's shoulder.

"Take these both back home. We'll discuss exactly what happened in the Monster Realm tomorrow," Arianne commanded.

Melina didn't catch much of what happened afterwards. Alistair gently guided her out of the Guild, but her eyelid grew heavy and her limbs gave out. By the time she came to, she was already back in her bed.

She got up slowly, her body felt quite pained after guiding all of that rogue mana away from Leon. Sienna was sleeping right next to her, looking rather haggard and tired.

"How you holding up, Sienna?" Melina asked, gently picking up the wyrm.

Sienna let out a long, tired yawn and slowly stretched out her body. Once done, she looked up at Melina and let out a tired chitter.

"It was a hard day yesterday. How about some hearty breakfast?"

Much to Melina's surprise when she went down into the kitchen, she saw Arianne chatting with Master Gilbert and eating bacon and eggs.

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"Good morning?" Melina greeted cautiously as she walked into the kitchen.

"Morning," Gilbert grumbled.

"Good morning," Arianne said cheerfully. It was an odd sight, seeing the Guildmaster so happy. The woman usually had a grumpy expression that could rival Gilbert's.

"May I ask why are you here first thing in the morning, Guildmaster?" Melina asked, as she sat down at the table.

Gilbert scooped some still warm bacon and eggs from the pan and set it in front of her, then set another plate for Sienna. The wyrm dug into her meal without hesitation crunching at the bacon with great enthusiasm.

"To celebrate, of course!" Arianne announced, take a bite from the bacon. "Thanks to your wyrm, my adventurers managed to take down a cragjaw drake. A cragjaw! Imagine all the money we're going to gain from the teeth alone, not even talking about the scales or claws. We're basically rich!"

Gilbert rolled his eyes dramatically. "I swear, in some regards you haven't grown at all. Still the same reckless girl."

"Master, I'm thinking about the well-being of the whole town here. With that much money, we'll be able to get the best equipment. Heck, we could even hire more adventurers, entice them to come to Sunglow. Wouldn't that be something?"

Arianne continued her happy chatter for a while, talking about possible growth prospects of the town. Melina was skeptical at first, but soon joined her, also thinking of various ways of improving Sunglow. They talked about how it would be nice to have a carpenter and perhaps another inn and more specialized start. It was a fun little debate.

But Melina also felt that she was missing something. She doubted the Guildmaster had come here so early in the morning just for a friendly chat.

"Alright, Arianne, enough. Tell us why you're here already," Gilbert muttered angrily.

Guildmaster's expression became serious again. "To be honest, I wanted to thank Melina. Without you we without a doubt would have lost Leon to corruption."

"You already thanked me. There's no need to go out of your way to come here."

"I just wanted to show how truly grateful I am. Quite honestly your arrival has been a blessing upon our town, but…"

I knew there was more to it. Without a doubt she'll ask for an explanation.

"I cannot help but wonder how you managed to save Leon. From my understanding only someone highly skilled in magic could do that. I asked Heilia and she confirmed that no healing magic would be able to stop mana from corrupting."

Melina looked anxiously at Gilbert. How could she explain this? She was tired of telling lies at this point, and it wasn't that she didn't trust the Guildmaster. If Gilbert trusted her, then Melina was willing to believe that she really was trustworthy. But how much of the truth could accept?

"Just tell her, lass. I think it's best if somebody in Sunglow understands your situation properly. There is nobody better to trust with your secret than Arianne," Gilbert assured.

"So there's more secrets? Are you actually a [Mage] class?" Arianne questioned.

"No, not anymore," Melina said.

"Not anymore? Can classes be changed?"

Melina took a deep breath and then explained to her how she had actually lived as an [Archmage] before. She didn't admit that she was the one who rewound time—that information was far too dangerous to spread around. But she did tell that she had extensive experience in magic before and could still manipulate mana with Sienna's help, even if she had none herself.

"I swear, our town has some curse set upon it to always attract the weirdest and most powerful people. First, the [Holy Knight] prodigy who establishes the Guild and next his apprentice is a time travelling [Archmage]. Not to mention all the elves and the nobleman with the System."

"You don't seem very upset about it," Melina noted.

Arianne smiled. "Why would I be? I have a town full of the most talented people. Don't worry, Melina, your secret is safe. In return, I ask that you keep making your magical pastries. And don't you hold back on us. I want you to show us the extent of your abilities."

"I'm quite honestly not sure of them myself. I've been trying to lay low."

"That was you trying to lay low? System, I can't wait to see what you're going to accomplish once you go all out," Arianne said, looking very pleased. "With your help we're going to turn Sunglow into a force to be reckoned with. Not even the Church will be able to mess with us anymore."

Melina liked that thought very much. Increasing Sunglow's strength and prosperity could greatly improve Melina's own chances of peaceful life. After all, when a strong town sides with her against the Church, they'd have to think twice before doing anything to her.

"I'll do my best," Melina said, her voice filled with determination.

"Excellent. Start with the festival. My people brought back some Zephyr Root and Scorchvine Peppers. Use those to blow people away!"

Sienna wiggled her tail excitedly at the mention of peppers, tapping her little feet on the table.

"Yes, yes, you can have some too," Arianne nodded, at which the wyrm let out a happy chitter.

"I'm not sure how I could use peppers, but the root is already giving me some good ideas," Melina confirmed.

"Good. Thank you for the breakfast, Master. I'll be going to work now. Have a ton of paperwork to sort out after that mission," Arianne said, not at all dismayed by the work ahead of her. "Oh, but if you have a moment to spare, do stop by the Guild. Leon wanted to talk to you."

"I will," Melina confirmed and watched the woman leave.

"I do have to admire how you manage to make a splash everywhere you go. I expected that nothing could happen if you waited at the Guild, but here you go with your miracles again," Gilbert noted.

"I couldn't just let Leon die," Melina countered, narrowing her eyes. "Besides, didn't you make quite the splash yourself when you arrived in Sunglow."

"So I did. We're more alike than I thought," Gilbert noted with a warm sort of smile.

Melina took a step back. All the grumpy people were smiling this morning. She pinched herself to check whether she was having some fever dream from exhaustion.

"What are you doing?" The old baker raised his eyebrow.

"Nothing. I'll go stop by the Guild real quick and then return to start working on those pastries for the festival," she said and darted out of the door, after Arianne.

The two ended up walking to the Guild together, chatting along the way. Arianne told her about the other useful materials they found in the Monster Realm—namely Glittershale bark and Silkglass fibers. Melina explained the possible applications of the two.

In the end, Arianne decided to entrust the Silkglass to Etrian, hoping to create sturdier clothing for the warriors. The Glittershale bark, however, was a problem. They had no dedicated carpenter to give it to, so for the time being, they'd keep it and hope to find somebody who'd be willing to utilize it for Sunglow's sake.

Melina enjoyed brainstorming with the Guildmaster. She was an intelligent woman and they were on the same wavelength—thinking of how to improve Sunglow. Perhaps, it was also easier to speak with Arianne because Melina had been around the same age as her before the time rewind.

Once they arrived at the Guild, Arianne showed where Leon was staying. He was in a private room for a time. The Guildmaster had decided that it was for the best if people didn't know what happened yesterday. The official story would be that he was healed with the combination of Heilia's healing magic and Melina's pastries. But the mage himself, of course, knew the truth.

As Melina walked up the room, her heart beat nervously. She never thought it would happen because of Leon of all people. But once again she was faced with the dilemma of how much to reveal. The man wasn't exactly good at holding his tongue.

It's okay, I'll think of something.

Melina knocked on the door.

"Come in," resounded the rather weak voice of the mage.

Melina stepped into the room, seeing Leon gaze out of the window as he laid in bed looking haggard. His eyes had deep rings underneath them and he looked pale. But given the situation he was in yesterday, his condition could be classified as great.

"How are you feeling?" Melina asked.

Leon turned towards her, his eyes lighting up in an instant. "Miss Melina! Oh, forgive my appearance! I should greet you properly."

The man tried to get up to a sitting position.

"No, don't get up! You must be feeling tired. Stay in bed. I don't mind really," she said hurriedly.

Leon slumped back, but still looked at her eagerly. "I should be grovelling beneath your feet. You saved my life!"

"It's nothing really. I just did what I could to help," she replied nervously.

"No, I believe you always go above and beyond to help others, Miss Melina. Yesterday, in the Monster Realm, I did my best to help others but I realized how utterly helpless I am. I had to chug six mana potions just to move a little bit of water to a different location…"

"That was very reckless. You could have died," Melina chastised.

"I understand that. But you know… I want to actually be helpful. I call myself a mage but I barely know anything…" Leon said, his eyes downcast. "I want to be stronger. To actually be worthy of being called a mage."

Suddenly he looked up, staring at Melina with determination. "Miss Melina, please teach me magic!"