Few Weeks Later
“Damian, give me the other orb,” Yuki directed, his voice almost a whisper as he focused on the task he had at hand. “And do not open it until I say so.”
“Got it,” Damian said behind him.
“Until I say so,” Yuki repeated, emphasizing each word.
“Alright, alright. I already said sorry,” Damian said. “Won’t happen again, I swear.”
“I hope so.” Yuki turned his head back a bit. “Or else I’ll tell Tobias about this.”
“Don’t do that.”
Yuki laughed and turned back, his eyes narrowing as he held his left hand steady. There was a glass orb nestled in his palm, different colored mana swirling around within it. There was a scarlet red, a golden brown, and a pale emerald twisting and twirling about. Though they were so close to each other, Yuki kept them millimeters apart through sheer focus.
“Anytime now would be great,” he grunted.
“I got it, I got it,” Damian replied, shuffling up beside him. Yuki glanced over and saw him holding another smaller orb. “Tell me when to put this thing in.”
“Right now,” Yuki said. “Slowly.”
Damian nodded and lifted the smaller orb he held a little above the one Yuki held. Clenching his jaw, Yuki forced the mana within the orb to separate even further. As he did so, Damian tilted his smaller orb and a thin stream of deep blue mana trickled out from it. It spread out within Yuki’s orb until it touched each of the other three colored mana.
Once the blue mana had settled, Yuki placed his orb onto a small cradle that was within a metal box, making sure to keep his control on the mana. Then he stepped back with his hand stretched out to the orb.
“Close the box,” Yuki whispered to Damian. He did just that. “Now back up.”
Damian quickly shuffled backwards and picked up a helmet which he promptly put on along with a pair of safety goggles. Yuki sucked in a deep breath.
“One.” His breathing slowed and he timed it with every count. “Two. Three.”
With a thought, he severed his connection with the three pools of mana that he was controlling and let them free. Though Yuki couldn’t see what was happening, he knew what should be happening. The different manas should have begun to intermingle with one another, mixing with each other.
He waited, staring at the metal box. Damian was next to him doing the exact same thing. Time ticked by and nothing happened still.
“Whew,” Yuki sighed. He turned to Damian. “Alright.”
“It worked,” Damian said, a grin sprouting on his face. “First try too.”
“Yeah.” Yuki let out another giant breath. “Shit. That could have gone really bad.”
“Yup. But it didn’t.”
“That’s good. Want to see what could have happened?” Yuki asked.
“Sure. We might need cover though,” Damian said.
“I’ll wrap a barrier around the box,” Yuki replied. “But keep that helmet and those goggles on. Can’t be too prepared.”
“Well. Go for it then.”
Yuki nodded and reached out to the metal box. He scanned the inside of it until he contacted the glass orb filled with mana. Once he made a connection, he created a barrier around the entire box.
“Here goes,” he said. Damian gave him a small nod.
With a snap of his fingers, Yuki sent a small pulse of earth mana into the orb. The reaction was almost instantaneous. The metal safe the orb was placed in exploded, the pieces of it being stopped by the barrier around it. The shockwave from the explosion hit the barrier at the same time along with what seemed to be a giant wave of mana. Yuki’s barrier vaporized, but it accomplished its task.
“Fuck,” Damian breathed.
“Yup,” Yuki replied, staring at the aftermath. “You know what.”
“What?”
“We should put a sign telling people not to mix more than two elements together.”
“I second that.”
“Thank you for finding the time to come to this meeting,” Yuki said, addressing the seven other people that were seated at the table with him. “It’s a very important one. I think you all have some understanding on what this about?”
“Yes I do,” Damian called out.
“Of course you know, I told you already,” Yuki replied with a wry smile. “But everyone else?”
“I think we have a general idea,” Akira answered. “Planning, right?”
“Exactly,” Yuki nodded. “But we aren’t really planning. The plan is already made. I’m just going to be explaining the plan. And answering any question you all may have. So let’s begin.”
He clapped his hands and Uriel answered, a golden mass of particles appearing in the middle of the meeting room.
“Before going into the plan, I’ll let Uriel explain some of the backstory behind the reasoning behind the plan that we created,” Yuki said. “So please listen to her carefully. I would prefer not to have to repeat any of that.”
Uriel brought out the same files that she had shown to Yuki and launched into an explanation that Yuki had already heard before. Every now and then, he would chime in to give a little bit more information, but for the most part he stayed silent and watched the expressions of the others. Or the lack of expressions.
“And that about wraps up everything I’ve concluded as of now,” Uriel finished. “Any questions?” I’ll give you the best answer I can.”
“I think we got everything,” Erica said with a smile. “Thanks Uriel.”
“No problem~,” she replied. “Boss, need me to do anything else?”
“No. It’s fine. I’ll take it from here,” Yuki said. Uriel promptly disappeared. “Now then. On to the plan. Or more specifically, how we’ll be destroying the weapon.”
He tapped on the table and summoned a large holographic orb. Then he paused, considering how he would explain the plan.
“Do you want the abbreviated version or the detailed version?” he asked. “I can go on for sometime, so think carefully about your answer.”
“Abbreviated,” Erica immediately answered. No one objected.
“Alright then,” Yuki nodded. With a few taps he created multiple different colored balls. “To make this brief then, do you all remember the concept behind the multi-elemental beam that Mason Incorporated designed? The way of destroying the beam is just as simplistic as that concept.”
The colored balls went inside the larger orb that he had already created. They dissolved and began to mix together until they were a smooth mass.
“Here, the elements are equal in proportions,” he said, gesturing towards the orb. “They are unable to get an advantage against one another and are in constant conflict, but nothing will happen. The beam is similar to this. When the beam is fired, it will hold every element within it. Anything that the beam impacts will be destroyed. There’s not much that could withstand a magical attack at that scale.”
Next he created another sphere, this one grey.
“Now, how to stop this? Simple. We need to throw these elements out of balance,” Yuki explained. “The easiest way to do that would be to introduce more elemental magic of a certain attribute into the system. It would throw the entire balance out of scale.”
He sent the grey sphere into the larger orb and the entire thing exploded. Then he erased the projection.
“However, this pathway does have one problem. It’s the scale of the beam that creates some logistical problems. In order to throw off the balance of the beam, mana needs to be shot right into the system that exceeds the percent error so that the imbalance actually occurs. But because of how huge the beam is, that is no small amount of mana.”
“Can we have multiple people pool mana together and shove that into the beam?” Akira suggested. “That should solve that problem.”
“Yes, but then we’ll need to calculate the amount of mana we need as well,” he replied. “We can’t just go by feel. Then what happens if the beam needs more mana than we would be able to gather before it’s fired?”
“I see. Then I assume there’s another way?”
“Of course,” Yuki nodded. “And that way is also quite simple. All we need to do is remove one of the elemental stones that they have. One gem. And that will destroy everything.”
“Won’t they just replace the gem?” Erica asked.
“If they find out in time, yes,” Yuki said. “But that’s why you do it right before they begin the firing sequence.”
“Oh.”
“Which gem are we specifically talking about here?” Zoe asked, her voice sharp.
“The naturae jewel. The one that we failed to retrieve last time,” he said. She frowned. “You seem to understand why.”
“You know what might happen when you do that, correct?” she asked slowly, her eyes looking directly into Yuki’s.
“Of course. Don’t worry about those,” he said, forcing a small smile. “If you still have questions, you can ask them later.”
“I see,” she said. Then she nodded. “I’ll do that then.”
‘Good,’ Yuki thought, releasing a sigh of relief within himself.
He knew exactly what would probably happen when the elements are put out of balance. And that was something he needed to keep to himself. No one else needed to know about that. Especially one person in particular.
‘I’m sorry, Akira,’ he apologised, resisting the urge to look at her.
This was going to be a secret that he had to keep away from her.
Few Weeks Later
“Damian, give me the other orb,” Yuki directed, his voice almost a whisper as he focused on the task he had at hand. “And do not open it until I say so.”
“Got it,” Damian said behind him.
“Until I say so,” Yuki repeated, emphasizing each word.
“Alright, alright. I already said sorry,” Damian said. “Won’t happen again, I swear.”
“I hope so.” Yuki turned his head back a bit. “Or else I’ll tell Tobias about this.”
“Don’t do that.”
Yuki laughed and turned back, his eyes narrowing as he held his left hand steady. There was a glass orb nestled in his palm, different colored mana swirling around within it. There was a scarlet red, a golden brown, and a pale emerald twisting and twirling about. Though they were so close to each other, Yuki kept them millimeters apart through sheer focus.
“Anytime now would be great,” he grunted.
“I got it, I got it,” Damian replied, shuffling up beside him. Yuki glanced over and saw him holding another smaller orb. “Tell me when to put this thing in.”
“Right now,” Yuki said. “Slowly.”
Damian nodded and lifted the smaller orb he held a little above the one Yuki held. Clenching his jaw, Yuki forced the mana within the orb to separate even further. As he did so, Damian tilted his smaller orb and a thin stream of deep blue mana trickled out from it. It spread out within Yuki’s orb until it touched each of the other three colored mana.
Once the blue mana had settled, Yuki placed his orb onto a small cradle that was within a metal box, making sure to keep his control on the mana. Then he stepped back with his hand stretched out to the orb.
“Close the box,” Yuki whispered to Damian. He did just that. “Now back up.”
Damian quickly shuffled backwards and picked up a helmet which he promptly put on along with a pair of safety goggles. Yuki sucked in a deep breath.
“One.” His breathing slowed and he timed it with every count. “Two. Three.”
With a thought, he severed his connection with the three pools of mana that he was controlling and let them free. Though Yuki couldn’t see what was happening, he knew what should be happening. The different manas should have begun to intermingle with one another, mixing with each other.
He waited, staring at the metal box. Damian was next to him doing the exact same thing. Time ticked by and nothing happened still.
“Whew,” Yuki sighed. He turned to Damian. “Alright.”
“It worked,” Damian said, a grin sprouting on his face. “First try too.”
“Yeah.” Yuki let out another giant breath. “Shit. That could have gone really bad.”
“Yup. But it didn’t.”
“That’s good. Want to see what could have happened?” Yuki asked.
“Sure. We might need cover though,” Damian said.
“I’ll wrap a barrier around the box,” Yuki replied. “But keep that helmet and those goggles on. Can’t be too prepared.”
“Well. Go for it then.”
Yuki nodded and reached out to the metal box. He scanned the inside of it until he contacted the glass orb filled with mana. Once he made a connection, he created a barrier around the entire box.
“Here goes,” he said. Damian gave him a small nod.
With a snap of his fingers, Yuki sent a small pulse of earth mana into the orb. The reaction was almost instantaneous. The metal safe the orb was placed in exploded, the pieces of it being stopped by the barrier around it. The shockwave from the explosion hit the barrier at the same time along with what seemed to be a giant wave of mana. Yuki’s barrier vaporized, but it accomplished its task.
“Fuck,” Damian breathed.
“Yup,” Yuki replied, staring at the aftermath. “You know what.”
“What?”
“We should put a sign telling people not to mix more than two elements together.”
“I second that.”
“Thank you for finding the time to come to this meeting,” Yuki said, addressing the seven other people that were seated at the table with him. “It’s a very important one. I think you all have some understanding on what this about?”
“Yes I do,” Damian called out.
“Of course you know, I told you already,” Yuki replied with a wry smile. “But everyone else?”
“I think we have a general idea,” Akira answered. “Planning, right?”
“Exactly,” Yuki nodded. “But we aren’t really planning. The plan is already made. I’m just going to be explaining the plan. And answering any question you all may have. So let’s begin.”
He clapped his hands and Uriel answered, a golden mass of particles appearing in the middle of the meeting room.
“Before going into the plan, I’ll let Uriel explain some of the backstory behind the reasoning behind the plan that we created,” Yuki said. “So please listen to her carefully. I would prefer not to have to repeat any of that.”
Uriel brought out the same files that she had shown to Yuki and launched into an explanation that Yuki had already heard before. Every now and then, he would chime in to give a little bit more information, but for the most part he stayed silent and watched the expressions of the others. Or the lack of expressions.
“And that about wraps up everything I’ve concluded as of now,” Uriel finished. “Any questions?” I’ll give you the best answer I can.”
“I think we got everything,” Erica said with a smile. “Thanks Uriel.”
“No problem~,” she replied. “Boss, need me to do anything else?”
“No. It’s fine. I’ll take it from here,” Yuki said. Uriel promptly disappeared. “Now then. On to the plan. Or more specifically, how we’ll be destroying the weapon.”
He tapped on the table and summoned a large holographic orb. Then he paused, considering how he would explain the plan.
“Do you want the abbreviated version or the detailed version?” he asked. “I can go on for sometime, so think carefully about your answer.”
“Abbreviated,” Erica immediately answered. No one objected.
“Alright then,” Yuki nodded. With a few taps he created multiple different colored balls. “To make this brief then, do you all remember the concept behind the multi-elemental beam that Mason Incorporated designed? The way of destroying the beam is just as simplistic as that concept.”
The colored balls went inside the larger orb that he had already created. They dissolved and began to mix together until they were a smooth mass.
“Here, the elements are equal in proportions,” he said, gesturing towards the orb. “They are unable to get an advantage against one another and are in constant conflict, but nothing will happen. The beam is similar to this. When the beam is fired, it will hold every element within it. Anything that the beam impacts will be destroyed. There’s not much that could withstand a magical attack at that scale.”
Next he created another sphere, this one grey.
“Now, how to stop this? Simple. We need to throw these elements out of balance,” Yuki explained. “The easiest way to do that would be to introduce more elemental magic of a certain attribute into the system. It would throw the entire balance out of scale.”
He sent the grey sphere into the larger orb and the entire thing exploded. Then he erased the projection.
“However, this pathway does have one problem. It’s the scale of the beam that creates some logistical problems. In order to throw off the balance of the beam, mana needs to be shot right into the system that exceeds the percent error so that the imbalance actually occurs. But because of how huge the beam is, that is no small amount of mana.”
“Can we have multiple people pool mana together and shove that into the beam?” Akira suggested. “That should solve that problem.”
“Yes, but then we’ll need to calculate the amount of mana we need as well,” he replied. “We can’t just go by feel. Then what happens if the beam needs more mana than we would be able to gather before it’s fired?”
“I see. Then I assume there’s another way?”
“Of course,” Yuki nodded. “And that way is also quite simple. All we need to do is remove one of the elemental stones that they have. One gem. And that will destroy everything.”
“Won’t they just replace the gem?” Erica asked.
“If they find out in time, yes,” Yuki said. “But that’s why you do it right before they begin the firing sequence.”
“Oh.”
“Which gem are we specifically talking about here?” Zoe asked, her voice sharp.
“The naturae jewel. The one that we failed to retrieve last time,” he said. She frowned. “You seem to understand why.”
“You know what might happen when you do that, correct?” she asked slowly, her eyes looking directly into Yuki’s.
“Of course. Don’t worry about those,” he said, forcing a small smile. “If you still have questions, you can ask them later.”
“I see,” she said. Then she nodded. “I’ll do that then.”
‘Good,’ Yuki thought, releasing a sigh of relief within himself.
He knew exactly what would probably happen when the elements are put out of balance. And that was something he needed to keep to himself. No one else needed to know about that. Especially one person in particular.
‘I’m sorry, Akira,’ he apologised, resisting the urge to look at her.
This was going to be a secret that he had to keep away from her.
