Getting Stronger

Vol and I have been hard at work these past few days. I think we're getting close. We've been sleeping in the magic academy, only leaving it when Elizabeth told us we were starting to look pale, and asked us to go get some sunlight.

We were outside for about an hour before we promptly shut ourselves back in the testing chamber at the academy.

The testing chamber is relatively small, and covered in extremely hard, white tiles. As I throw away a small jewel-like stone into a corner, there's a knock on the door.

"Hello, is master Vol here?" a young elf outside the door asks me.

"Vol," I turn back and wave him over. I notice that he's starting to look kind of tired.

"Yes, can I help you?" he asks.

"I'm here to f-fulfill your request for a thousand mana stones."

"Ah, yes, thank you."

"Please sign here, m-master Vol!"

I look around the little room. Mounds of precious stones litter it, many cracked or in pieces. When we started, we'd go through about 150 in a month, but the number has been steadily increasing, along with the pace of our research.

Vol finishes signing the paper and I see the young elf hesitate for a second before speaking up.

"Uhm, master Vol, I'm sorry to ask, but do you think you cou-could sign my arm?! I'm, ehm, a big fan."

"Sure, no problem at all."

Right, Vol is apparently kind of a big deal here. A celebrity, in a way.

"Thank you so much, master Vol! I'll leave the mana stones here for you."

We continue our work for several more ours, but nothing seems to be working. The sun has gone down and I'm getting a bit tired. Realizing that we're doubtful to get anywhere, I decide to head back home. I could use a rest in my own bed for once.

"Oh, of course. Say hi to Elizabeth for me. I'm sure she will be happy to have you back home for a bit."

"Will do. Maybe you should take a nap, too."

"Ha-ha-ha, yeah, maybe I'll do that. Goodnight, Sebastian."

"Goodnight, Vol."

As I wait on the lift down from the floating academy, it occurs to me that, at some point, Vol stopped calling me "kid" or "my boy." Thinking about it, Vol knows more about me than anybody else in this world. He knows both about my identity as Stencil, as well as my broken mana store. More than that, he's the only person who has seen the varying forms of mana within me.

In the back of my mind, I dread what might happen if he were to turn on me one day. For now, though, at least, he is my friend.

I open the door to the small rosewood cottage Elizabeth and I live in.

Elizabeth isn't up. To avoid waking her, I tiptoe up the stairs to my bed.

This turns out to have been pointless as, 5 hours later, quite a while past midnight, our front door slams open. Tripping out of my room, I spot Elizabeth entering the hallway from her own room. She looks just as confuddled as I am.

Half sprinting, half crawling, Vol accidentally bumps against the walls on his way up the stairs.

"I did it!! It's done - it's here! Look! LOOK!!!!"

In his hand, held aloft in triumph, is a medium-sized mana stone. There's a slight glow in the center and, as he fumbles his way up beside me, the light gets stronger.

"Here - here! Hold it! Come on - here - hold it!!"

Confused and tired, I let him place the mana stone in my hand and get an *immediate* wake-up call.

The purplish stone suddenly spikes in brightness. It feels like somebody turned on a flashlight and is shining it directly into my eyes.

"Argh," I shout, covering my eyes, and dropping the stone.

"Look-look-look! Look!!! See!! I told you!!!"

I look out through my fingers to see Vol pointing furiously down at the bright stone, excitement and pure joy written across his face. I peek down at it.

The mana stone is still unbelievably bright.

Wait. I dropped it. Which means I'm not holding it.

Which means...

I look down upon the jewel-like stone. My eyes are starting to adjust to the bright light, but it's still irritating to look directly at it.

But the stone is still just as bright as before, despite me not holding it. It isn't leaking out the mana like Elizabeth's sword did. The stone is retaining it perfectly! It's-

"We did it, Sebastian!! An artificial mana store!!! WE'VE DONE IT!!"

I can barely believe my eyes; probably because they're still hurting from the bright light. No wonder he was in such a hurry to get here.

The mana stone was a big step in the right direction, and Vol and I rushed back to the magic academy to replicate it. By sunrise, we had made two more. We had also broken nearly 100 mana stones, beating our previous daily record.

The mana stores all reached their storage limit within a few seconds of their creation, since I was in the room, but still. Three successful artificial mana stores that could pick up mana and contain it, theoretically, forever.

We began brainstorming ideas. Now that we had finally made the stones, it became clear to us how much they could be used for.

I threw out a few ideas from my previous lives, but one thought in particular stuck with both of us.

What if there was a way for Elizabeth to use her sword, but using the power of my mana, instead of her own?

In other words, a rechargeable battery.