In my opinion, a semester has gone by quite fast. My sister and I have been on edge these past few days. It seemed, from the news that reached us that there was a gruesome site eagerly expecting us to return to the shadow of what once was the peaceful Vansneath Domain. It all began three days ago... ... it was a shocking suprise that father and mother sent a letter addressed to us through Regis instead of the usual avian delivery system. The look on Regis' face as he handed the letter over to us was of pure sorrow. Evidently palpable as he excused himself immediately to attend to a certain gathering as my father's proxy. Usually, he wore a stiff upper lip expression, showing his proper background. But this time round, he seemed lack- luster.
[ THREE DAYS AGO... ...]:
A letter arrives to Room 254 of the Ophelia Hall via Regis Alteus, the Black Family Head Butler. A signature symbol that whatever contents were inscribed in the parchment of letter held bone-chilling magnitude.
August opened the letter, His sister leaning over his shoulder as he pealed the family seal off the envelope.
[ A letter Written by Lord Black ]:
" Dear Children,
I'd hate to welcome you back home in the current state of the village. I fear you should only anticipate the fulfillment of the promise of sorrow upon your return home. Although I hate to involve you in the matter, I fear we require as much vigilance and aid as possible .
As of a week ago, a disaster crept into the peace of Hart Village and began to corrode it. During the usual monthly harvest of Cray Fruit, the farmers noticed that most of them had begun rotting. Deciding to investigate, I gathered as much trivia on the Cray Fruit as I could. What I found, was that a Cray Fruit Tree requires mana as well as the usual abiotic conditions to grow and bear fruit. But, there was one keen point. In the presence of the slightest change in mana purity, the Cray fruit whether ripe or not, will rot. This arose some controversies and speculations. A day later, we concluded that a monster was releasing measma near the village. We sent search parties looking in every nook and cranny but found no monster capable.
Soon after, the measma's thickness increased. Every night, exactly nightfall, a thick fog of measma would sweep through the village. In fact, the measma has begun so pungent that it has killed almost half this year's livestock. The air has become virtually unbreathable.
Before you ask what happened to the barrier towers, listen to this; they've some how simply stopped and seized to function. No faults, no problems, they just won't work.
To manage the issue, we were able to provided the townsfolk with Mithril dust lamps to form an anti-measma barrier around their households. each household got one. Which I'm sad to admit took quite the dabble in our expenses for the year.
The perplexing aspect of this whole situation is that the measma only spreads at night. As such, there has been a curfew issuing. I fear the village might crumble to this effect. With your vacation approaching, I'd rather not disturb your well deserved break with this issue. As such, should you choose to remain in the capital until the issue is resolved, there will be accomodations. Likewise should you choose to come to the village. I am in no position to ask of you this grave request, but please. we need the both of you. Ensure that you both arrive in the day time for your own safety. if not, use a Mithril Lamp for maximum protection.
Your Father, Lord Black ".
Although it was classic for my father to over emphasize on things just to get us to come home, but mother would always stop him from going through with it. If mother allowed him to send such a grimm message, there must be something strange a foot.
[ Back to The Present ]:
The carriage arrived at the Mansion finally. Without the Measma Towers in operation, inter distance teleportation was near impossible. This lead to just one conclusion, there was obviously an evil master mind pulling strings. The only question now, was which one? Asides the letter I received from my father, Karen delivered a message to me personally.
" The raven society plans to claim the Arch-Wind Province through nepotic negotiations and disaster creation". According to her, if all else failed, they'd push for he disaster creation and rule in the chaos. It was unlikely that they were behind this issue.
I thought to myself, " could this be a natural migration of beasts and monsters then?". " or perhaps the Holy Knights attempting to act heroic?".
All these thoughts ran through my mind as we stepped off the carriage.
In my past life, there was always the dark and lonely feel of an empty apartment complex each time I got home.
But now, I had something to protect, a family that needs me. I'll do anything if its for their sakes.
The warm smiles and excited looks on my family's faces was the reassurance I needed.
[ In Lord Black's Study ]:
" Ah! There they are, I'm sorry I couldn't give a proper welcome. Have you two spoken to your mother yet?", his words were a mix of worry and disorientation. He tried so hard to keep composed, but his crack still showed.
"Yes father, we have" I responded, trying to reassure him with the brightest smile I could muster.
" so what's the situation now? ", Noel asked.
" It's bad, really bad. As of Today, we recorded 30 casualties and 20 deaths. Those with casualties all have the same condition, MANA OVERLOAD!
As for the deaths, they were reported to have lost all their life force; probably due to the measma's weakening effects".
" [ Thinking to himself]: Mana Overload huh? I think I can do something about that".
" Umm father?!, might I see the injured? There must be something doable about their condition. Maybe, a means to absorb the excess Mana in their bodies? I never knew Hart village had a large populous of dark magic users".
[ Chronicles of The dark ]: Dark magic responds to Measma, amplifying a person's Mana by deadly levels. The process of Mana over-amplification causes Mana Overload... ...