The Runic Alchemist

The ethereal green leaf tasted weird. Some trace mana could be felt by him spreading all over his body. The same mana also resonated in Vidalia's body. He didn't have time for it right now though.

Damian took the last flower moments after the ritual ended and placed it in his mouth. The overwhelming sensations followed, and his mind blacked out for a moment. When his eyes opened, Damian felt traces of unknown energy inside his body.

It was everywhere. In mana veins, his vital organs, near his core, and even reaching up to his head. It was fleeting. Like clouds of smoke that vanished the moment he focused on it. He could sense it by not sensing it. Every particle of mana in his body can be sensed by him, so the places that were empty and blocking his senses were the ones that held these packets of unknown energy.

Divine Fragments.

Something mana can't penetrate. That was valuable information. Now that he thought about there were some things he had come across inside which he could not send his mana threads, no matter how thin he made them.

One of them being.. something he had come across in Eldoris in the past. Damian's eyes widened in realization. But he did not voice his thoughts. Even if he was right, there was no need to say it out loud.

He felt two hands holding him and supporting his leaning body. Vidalia.

Damian knew without asking that it had worked. He smiled at his new bride and stood up.

The golden mana thread was still on Ilarin's head, but the moment he stood up on his own, the dark part of his head also recived a stimulation. Till now, the empty fragment pockets were still like rocks, but now they all shifted like liquid flowing through his veins and organs.

Astraea had him in her control.

Damian tensed up, prepared to activate his ascension skill at any second. But after a little stimulation, the divine particles inside him settled down.

'Not bad for a rune shaper transcedent. The strength and control of mana is beyond impressive.'

A sultry female voice whispered in his mind. Damian kept his mind calm using his experience to suppress all his active thoughts. Controlling the part of his brain to have a private place of his own. In that, he thought about Astraea's naked form.

No response.

'It should have worked this time..'

He heard the voice again. But this time it sounded like it was spoken from some distance. Good. The method he used to push Asher aside when needed worked on Astraea as well. His mind was not completely in her control. But Damian felt like the amount of divine fragment packets could be increased anytime to push him out of his own mind.

So it was not a powerful protection from a fifth ranker. Just a small trick. He shouldn't let her get suspicious, no matter what.

Damian purposefully let some of his thoughts that reflected the worry about Sanctuary, Lucian's feelings, and his own excitement for a future with Vidalia slip into the controlled part of his mind.

'Ah, there you are. Can you hear me, boy?'

'Goddess? Lady Astraea?' Damian replied in his mind.

He let some of his insecurity about his mind's privacy enter the controlled part of his mind.

'Don't need to be cautious. I was just checking things. We will talk later when you are more settled in.'

Astraea said.

Even though she said she would leave, she lingered for several minutes, hearing his worried thoughts, before the divine energy became dormant again.

Lying bitch.

There were no indications other than her voice in his head that could be used to observe the control. He could not suddenly make a tool that increases the mana sense of everyone. Damian would have loved to see what drinking that potion did, but it was better not to mess with this for now.

They signed the mana contracts and left Eldoris. Before leaving, Damian invited Vidalia formally to the Sanctuary. This time, not for a job or temporary measure but to settle down there. Now that waygates existed, the distance wasn't such a big deal, but it still mattered what place the Spellmaster called home.

She asked for some time, and he nodded in understanding. Leaving one's home was always hard. Humans spend just two decades in their parents' house, and it's hard to leave; for elves, those decades were centuries.

When they returned, Damian stopped Lucian from leaving. He pulled her near him, held by the waist, and his other hand gently touched her face. He was leaning against the desk.

"Are you really okay? If you wish, we can marry tomorrow." Damian said.

"No," Lucian looked down, "I told you I don't want that. Besides, Vidalia is a powerful and beautiful woman. She is good for you."

Hm? Why did it sound like she was leaving or something?

"So are you. Powerful, beautiful, kind, a friend.. everything a man wants in a woman. You have always been good for me."

Lucian glanced up for a moment, then looked away.

"What is it?" Damian asked. "Is it because I asked for Vidalia instead of the Queen? Should I not have invited her here?"

Her eyes, with moisture in them, reflected the light of the glowing orb focused on him.

"Can you? Can you do that to her?"

Damian was surprised by the intensity in her eyes; it shouldn't have been unexpected, yet he was taken aback. He wanted to say yes, but that would be a lie.

His feelings for the Spellmaster were not easy to decipher. He knew Vidalia had seen too much loss in her life. From all aspects, the woman had just stopped living, making her the perfect soldier. Only when they talked about making spells, only when she was with Jacob, did Vidalia's face show rare expressions and smiles.

She knew him. The real him, years ago. And still to this date had never revealed that info to anyone. Not even to her own goddess.

No, he could not betray her. A part of himself wanted to do anything that would put a smile on that beautiful face. He was the one who had asked for her hand. The responsibility was his.

"No," Damian replied.

The features on Lucian's face soften even though tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I love you, Damian, and I always will. But because I love you, I know the importance Vidalia has in your heart. It was not a surprise to me. I knew you would ask for her; I always knew. It had to be done; it was necessary."

Something didn't fit right here.

"Necessarry..? What do you mean?" Damian held Lucian's face with both his hands and searched for the meaning of her cryptic words in the lake-blue eyes.

"Do you remember what Astraea said before?" She asked, then, seeing his confused face, she repeated the goddess's words,

"In time, you will realize I have done a favor to you. There is a reason why being a transcendent is the only choice."

"..that wasn't a lie. I missed my period three times since we have been together. Three times we conceived.. and all three times, it failed."

Damian's eyes widened in shock. She was pregnant! And never told him? But if it failed in weeks before she could confirm it.. Still..

"Why would you hide that?" His voice had an unexpected break that slipped past his control.

"I thought something was wrong with me. But then it happened again and again.. The gods confirmed my suspicion. Not just Sun God and Astraea. I asked that Pigman Sun God golem as well, when you weren't looking."

She paused for a moment, tears still trickling down her cheeks.

"Till second ranker, it is fine, but when a person evolves into something unique as a third ranker, they can only reproduce with someone like them. Astraea told us being a normal human transcendent was the only choice because.. that's the only way for us to keep reproducing."

'No! No, that can't be! It must be some scheme of those bastard gods! But.. Sunny gained nothing from lying. And why would Sun God push Lucian to let him go through this? It would only make him Astraea's follower because she had that relic.. that relic..'

"It's fine! It's fine! We can use that relic! If it works on Vidalia and makes us compatible, it will work on you too!" Damian said desperately.

The tears flowed even faster as Lucian shook her head.

"Sun God said The Sylvan Heartbind can only be used once in a lifetime. The two souls are joined together for eternity."

"You knew that?" Damian could not believe what she had done. "Why did you let me do that if you knew that!?"

Lucian sniffled, "The Sun God wanted me to tell you that. But if I did, you would never go through with this, and the Sun God would have been the only choice for you."

Even with eyes filled with tears, Lucian looked up, anger and frustration clear in her eyes, she gritted her teeth and let out like a growling animal,

"They do not get to choose our fate! I will not be a burden to you!"