〖 The Banquet is about to begin 〗the mana fluctuations that appeared during twilight notified 'Negary' of this fact.
During this short period of one day, everything in the world would remain the same for the normal people of the Academic City; but for Mystics, this was going to be a completely different world.
Some spells that usually required rituals or spell casting components to use would be easily performed, and magical rituals that hadn't been supplied with enough energy would begin to smoothly operate.
The air itself would become filled with mana, truly heaven on earth for these mages who had been parched of mana for such a long time.
Mana itself was nothing but a source of power, but when an individual sensed their power increased, certain belligerent thoughts would become especially easy to carry out.
Just today alone, various conflicts continuously broke out between all sides: Independent Mystics hiding in the city, evil cultists, the Seven Churches' enforcers, the hosts that were House of Mages, and even some from the Impure Hermit Order.
With 'Negary's' spirit sense, he was able to see the mana clashing all over the city, which would cause the mana tide's flow to somewhat alter. Due to these alterations, many of the magical rituals that had been established inside the city must be adjusted.
It would be this time that a mage's expertise and preparations were put to the test. If adjustments weren't done well enough as the mana flow changed, having the entire ritual explode and inflict you with recoil would already be the best-case scenario. In the worst cases… it would create miniature mana whirlpools.
These whirlpools would always be stronger than anyone could expect, extracting all the mana from your body to add into the mana tide, your entire body would then also join the intense mana tide, becoming the spoils of war for someone else.
Each Mana Banquet was an upheaval, and there would always be unexpected occurrences, so no matter how confident someone was, they would still not guarantee that they would live through a Mana Banquet, especially when this time's Mana Banquet was highly extraordinary.
…
"This is highly unusual" sitting in a luxurious living room, a middle-aged man with a curled moustache commented in a heavy tone as he sat on his sofa.
"When has there ever been a mundane Mana Banquet, Master?" Kalanci placed a glass of wine in front of the middle-aged man, then poured one for himself and took a sip.
His Master was his father's best friend when they were young, which was why he became the most favored disciple among all of Master's disciples. Completely unlike the other disciples who were essentially no different from lackeys and spare mana sources: "We've already made all the preparations we could"
"Indeed, we've made all the preparations we could" Marche nodded, then looked up at this blond young man's face, which looked very similar to him when he was younger, after all, this was his son: "Are your mother and father still well?"
"They're healthy, sir" Kalanci nodded.
"What about Cade? Is he still disobedient?" Marche then asked.
Cade was his former true disciple, who was currently helping him manage the Mud Water organization. The reason why this disciple became 'former' was Kalanci's appearance, so these two disciples of his had never really gotten along.
Marche felt a bit guilty of his treatment of Cade, so he had yet to do anything to deal with this disciple; right now, it seemed that he had gotten a bit too unruly, if he still couldn't see his standings clearly, then Marche would have no choice but to use force. After all, one of them was a Sediment that he picked up, while the other was his biological son.
"He simply took advantage of this morning's incident to demand a bit more benefits" Kalanci was a smart person, so he reported this without mixing too much of his emotions into it. He knew that he had the absolute advantage when it came to currying favor with his teacher, so it wouldn't be a good idea to appear too petty at a time like this.
"Hm, I'll give him a warning. There are certain things that would only belong to him if I give them to him" Marche nodded and said.
And then, Kalanci suddenly recalled something and said: "I went to meet that 'Negary' today and handed the Blood Crystallization to him. He's very similar to the previous Dean Michael, but I also feel like there's something off about him"
"No need to care too much about him. There's not much conflict of interest between him and I, and what he needs to think about right now is how to face Brali" Marche didn't care too much about Michael. Just as he had said, there wasn't much conflict or overlap between their interests.
Marche wasn't a member of the Academy faction, but he also wasn't part of their opposition. Kalanci's involvement in the Mobis Institute was nothing but a mutual transaction between them.
"Doesn't 'Negary' hold the absolute advantage?" Kalanci naturally knew what happened yesterday at the institute's gates: The city enforcers came to escort someone away, only to be massacred in return.
He heard that Field was currently still causing terror everywhere, specifically targeting those with status and authority. This was because such people couldn't be easily silenced with death, so they were more likely to survive and support his ability with their fear; in turn, this had caused such people to begin criticizing the enforcers, having them take responsibility.
It didn't matter to the enforcers how many Sediments were killed by Field or because of Field, but the nobles of the Academic City were more or less connected to the city's mages, so faced with their criticism, the enforcers had to deal with it somehow.
Under such circumstances, either the enforcers have to catch Field and bring him to justice, or compromise and admit defeat to 'Negary' so that Field stopped his rampage. Anyone with a bit of knowledge could clearly see that Field was 'Negary's' handiwork.
"Not at all. While 'Negary's' actions have forced Brali into an uncomfortable position, he has also offended many others. No one is truly idiotic, Field was a dog that 'Negary' let loose, so even if they were currently criticizing the enforcers, they would also mark 'Negary' on their blacklists"
"Once Field is captured by the enforcers, 'Negary' would instead fall into a disadvantageous position. That mad hag Brali isn't quite as simple------" right as Marche was explaining something, he heard a painful desperate scream resounding from outside.
"Michael, no, 'Negary', I curse you! Your heart will be eaten by beetles, your brain will be filled with maggots, your soul will be captured by an Evil God! And you, Brewer, your death won't be any less horrific!"
Hearing this scream, Marche touched the mirror on his side, which then displayed the scene happening on the outside streets.
It was already past sunset, so there was almost nobody on the dimly lit streets of the Academic City, even if there were, they would be an insane thief or a Mystic. What Marche saw in his mirror was a woman who appeared to be around 30 years old, her clothing was graceful and neat, but her originally well-kept hair had become completely unkempt and quickly turning white. The color of blood was quickly spreading on her precious clothing.
Standing not too far away from her, Brewer was sprawled on the ground, one of his hands could be seen holding tightly onto a bloody dagger, the blood on it was also giving off a strange glow that seemed like it would never fade.
The corners of Marche's mouth twitched, feeling as if someone had just slapped him on the face. The insane-looking woman over there was Brali, but unlike previously when Marche called her a mad hag due to her slightly unorthodox methodologies that didn't adhere to their rules, she was now truly going insane.
"Why is she here?" Kalanci saw through how awkward Marche was feeling and swiftly changed the subject.
Aside from necessary gatherings, mages very rarely came into contact with one another. After all, every mage was always dreaming of the other mages' bodies, the flesh and bones filled to the brim with mana was nothing less than a mage's favorite taste.
This region was in the vicinity of Marche's ritual, so other mages would not easily approach it unannounced, since this would cause unnecessary misunderstandings. Everyone knew just how dangerous a ritual being disturbed during the Mana Banquet would be.
Also for this reason, an excellent mage would make sure to strictly manage their territories.
"During this period, Brali only had to deal with 'Negary', she herself doesn't have any big plans either, so the only reason for her to head out at this point in time would be the cause of her headache, Field" Marche replied, then suddenly froze: "Field is near us"
