Beast Gacha System: All Mine-Chapter 248: Unclear

In the meeting of the professors this afternoon, after the disaster at the conference’s last day, the present professors explained to Lazuardi what they had seen with their own eyes.

Remembering the almost-catastrophe just hours prior, one by one, they had spoken.

"Her power as she suspended everything in place was hard to explain." A professor shook his head slowly. "I’ve never seen ambient mana control that strong and precise. Never."

"To manage to do that without being able to produce mana via her body and soul..." another added, trailing off.

A student. Just a student, had outperformed every mage in that hall. Had taken control of a situation that should have been beyond anyone’s capability. And did so in a split second.

"It was also why it was difficult for us to help her in any way." This from a woman with sharp eyes and a sharper mind. "She took over the control of all ambient mana in the room. Every professor there knew that the moment they did something big, it could potentially disturb her control. Cause even more disaster."

Lazuardi listened. They were telling him that the moment Cecilia took control, it became too risky to try to wrench that control back. She had become the linchpin. The keystone. Everything depended on her. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"No."

Hargrave’s voice cut through the murmurs. The old professor had been quiet until now, listening, thinking. Now he shook his head slowly.

"In the first place, could any of you even begin to take control of your own body in that situation?" He looked around the room, meeting each face in turn. "From what I could see, only a couple of professors were able to do anything at all."

Lazuardi frowned. Perhaps Hargrave was misunderstanding something. Cecilia had taken control of ambient mana, not the signature mana each person produced from their own bodies. Unless they voluntarily released it to the air, which they had done to help her, their personal mana should have remained untouched.

But the mana still within their body and soul should’ve been fine, right?

Hargrave turned to him directly.

"Perhaps, as professors, assessing the situation at the time, we thought that interruption might cause disaster." He paused. "But I tried to move my body. Tried to do more than just release my mana to the air to help her." Another pause, heavier this time. "It was difficult."

Lazuardi’s eyes narrowed.

"I couldn’t even circulate my mana properly." Hargrave’s voice was quiet, but it carried. "It was as if... as if I was trapped. Like swimming in honey."

Silence fell over the room.

So—

Cecilia’s telekinesis had been able to take partial control of other people’s mana? The mana they were supposed to be able to control best inside their body and soul? The mana that was theirs, bound to their souls, inseparable from their very beings?

That would be...

Monstrous.

Lazuardi sat back in his chair, feeling another headache settling in.

Such immense talent... the world would start to covet it.

Lazuardi had lain awake that night, staring at the ceiling, turning the implications over in his mind. A mage who could control ambient mana with that level of precision. Who could, if Hargrave’s experience was accurate, even partially influence the personal mana of others.

She wouldn’t just be a prodigy. She was a phenomenon.

And the news had certainly spread. Today’s incident had been witnessed by hundreds. Students from a dozen academies. Professors from across the continent. Diplomats, scholars, the curious and the powerful.

By now, word would be traveling through every channel, official and otherwise. The International Magic Student Conference had just created a legend.

The next morning, Lazuardi faced Cecilia, standing in his office, right beside Arkai.

Even he wasn’t sure what to tell them.

He studied her first, the girl who had lifted a hall, who had bent reality to her will, who now stood before him looking tired but intact. Whatever lecture he had prepared, whatever warning or praise or something, would have to wait.

"How are you today, Miss Araceli?" he asked.

For the sake of the world, he hoped this prodigy hadn’t suffered any lasting effects from what she had done.

Cecilia smiled. That same gentle, warm smile that seemed so at odds with everything he knew about her.

"I am quite alright, Professor. You are a very good magic healer." She answered.

Lazuardi nodded, filing that away. Good. She was fine. Or at least, fine enough to function.

"And what did you get from visiting the Dawnoro?" His voice shifted, becoming sharper. "A new enemy?"

Cecilia shrugged. "You already know what’s up with the pigeon anyway."

Beside her, Arkai flinched.

Lazuardi saw it. Of course. The boy thought he might still be in the dark about some things. About Sienna. About her "prank." About the truth behind that locked room.

But Lazuardi had spent the night connecting dots. He knew more than Arkai wanted him to.

"Can you not involve yourself in the Dawnoro Family’s fucked up dynamics?"

The question was directed at Cecilia. Deliberately. As if Arkai weren’t standing right there.

Arkai’s expression flickered. Now he knew that Lazuardi knew about the drugging too.

But Cecilia just shook her head.

"I can’t." She said. "I am already involved the moment Mr. Dawnoro was harmed."

Huh?

Arkai blinked.

Cecilia shrugged again, as if the explanation were obvious.

"Professor, didn’t Oathran already tell you?" Her voice was light, almost casual. "I love all my boyfriends."

***

Cecilia walked out of the headmaster’s office with Arkai close behind.

The corridor stretched before them, empty and quiet, the kind of silence that only existed in academic buildings during break. Her footsteps were soft, unhurried, and as she moved, she yawned.

It was a small thing. A hand raised to cover her mouth, a brief closing of those sea-glass eyes, a tiny sound of exhaustion.

Arkai’s heart squeezed.

She was still tired. After everything... the conference, the disaster, the journey north, the carriage... she was still running on empty.

He opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.

He wanted to ask about his father. Wanted to understand what had happened in that office, what words had passed between them, what deal had been struck. He wanted to talk about everything else. About Sienna, perhaps. Or about the future...?

Ha. What future was he even talking about...?

Or maybe he wanted to say nothing at all. Maybe he wanted to chicken out before thinking about speaking about what had happened yesterday in the carriage. About the way she had looked at him, touched him, taken him. About the hours he had held her in the dark.

But now, seeing her tired—

Yes. Perhaps he was just chickening out.

"The winter break is about to end in three days."

Cecilia’s voice pulled him from his spiral. She smiled up at him. That gentle, warm smile that made his chest ache.

"Will you tell people about us then?"

Arkai blinked.

Huh?

Cecilia grasped his hand and pulled him along.

The touch was warm. Her fingers laced through his like they belonged there, like this was the most natural thing in the world.

"Let’s talk about us."

Arkai’s feet moved without his permission, following her lead, his hand gripping hers as if she might disappear if he let go.

Us.

She had said us.

Cecilia walked beside him, their hands still intertwined, her pace slow and unhurried. The corridor stretched ahead, and for a long moment, neither of them spoke.

Then she turned to face him.

"And I’ll apologize to you about a lot of things." Her voice was soft, sincere. "And explain to you why I’ve been taking too much control of the pace of our relationship."

Arkai stared at her.

She wanted to... apologize?

After everything she had done for him—saving him from the drug, protecting his family’s secret, facing his father, holding him in the dark—

She wanted to apologize?