Earthling in Uncharted Dimensions

Chapter 214: The Conspiracy Behind The Curtain

'D, Hudson, are you seeing this?'

[I had a hunch that the Cultivator's Guild is behind the suppression, and it turned out to be right.]

That one particular memory which caught Lee's attention was related to the Alaqvier academy. In those fragments of memories, a large list can be seen, and it has above 100 names in it. At a glance, it was nothing more than a list of targets. But there was more to it.

All the names in the list were people with Mana affinity! Along with the name, there are remarks given in brackets. They were 'confirmed Mana affinity','assumed to have Mana affinity' and 'vague Mana affinity'. From these remarks, it was evident that this list was a highly personalised one.

By the dull lighting of the room, the face of Xavi Godson could be partially seen. Opposite to him, next to the beast folk woman, was the person named Musk. The name ringed familiarity and Lee recollected his identity.

[This memory is from yesterday, and the windows show the daylight of dusk. That means we still have time to save at least half of these people.]

Agreeing to D's evaluation, Lee quickly skimmed through the memories and collected the names. It was then Hudson gave his opinion.

[Why waste time to save those in the list, when you can catch the mercenaries and halt their attempt?]

'That sounds more practical and quicker.'

The EsGen opened its mouth, and the two women disappeared. Before sending them for Essence harvesting, Lee had made sure to acquire the faces of all the members in the mercenary gang.

The faces of four orcs, five elves, three goblins and six beastfolks had been acquired, and D immediately ran the faces through the Map. Not too distant from where he was, the remaining members of the gang stood spread out and stationary. They behaved as if they were expecting some sort of signal.

[If they find that their members are missing, then they will be very alert. Proceed now and finish the task.]

The Light element and the Flight were activated. Lee became one with the air, and flew to the nearest target. Silently sneaking from his behind, Lee took him into the EsGen.

Lee travelled around the city, and the remaining 15 people were no longer in reality. They were standing in the darkness of alleyways, which was favourable to Lee. Their leader, Musk, was the easiest to take down, as he was ogling at the breasts of a mature lady, when Lee sneaked behind him.

=====

3 PM.

444,55 Essence harvested.

=====

A few minutes later, the hourly notification appeared. Lee dismissed it and found the increase in harvest was lesser than expected. But, he was glad to have a bunch of mercenary bastards as his Essence farmlands.

---

Without wasting a second, Lee flew towards the academy. From a distance, the Map showed him a crowd of students at the training grounds. He saw the familiar faces of four students among the crowd, and a gist of the situation was known to him.

Lee walked through the gates of the academy, and a few students ran away at the first glance of him. Wondering whether he has become a monster, Lee walked to his residence area, which was beyond the training grounds.

As he entered the ground, the crowd of students became silent and gave him a way to pass. Lee saw a reluctance reflecting on the faces of the students, and he asked to the crowd-

"Is there anything that I should know?"

For about a minute, nobody replied. Then, a boy with five golden bands on his cuffs stepped forward and spoke-

"Professor, is it true that you can truly manipulate Mana?"

Lee turned to the boy and scanned him from top to bottom, and raised his right palm to the height of his elbow. Vague ripples and fluctuations manifested inside his palm, and Lee asked-

"What do you think?"

The boy was literally shocked to see such an amazing feat done with ease. His eyes expressed exclamation and shock. As Lee turned around to show all the students of his ability, muffled gasps and faint cries of shock could be heard around him.

"Professor, can you teach us?"

Lee looked to his right and saw a nerd-looking girl with round spectacles. Her hands were clasped in front of her, as if a request was being submitted.

"I cannot teach you how to manipulate Mana. I can only guide you to sense it and be creative in Magic."

The nerd girl brightened up like sunshine on a hot summer day. Not only her, but everyone around him was excited to hear these words. Lee added-

"But don't think that you can quit halfway. This will be extremely tiresome that you will have to go through rigorous training and have to be diligent and sincere at practice. Your mind may yell at you to stick to the spells, but you cannot quit once your foot is on the board."

Lee spoke as he turned around and walked to the indoor training stadium. The excitement of students were drenched in buckets of cold water. The seriousness in his voice was evident, and Lee made sure that only those with the strongest will should step forward to this process.

As Lee walked away, the students began to murmur and discuss. While many found the necessity of being sensitive to Mana an unnecessary accessory, a few among the crowd were ready to step forward.

Lee had entered inside the stadium and was walking to the center of the arena, when he heard footsteps running towards him. He looked over his shoulders and saw 13 students with determination and desire written on their faces. He turned around and gave a smile of encouragement, and spoke-

"Let me remind you, the foot that steps forward should not be taken backward. If you are one hundred percent ready to learn, then I shall help you. Are you ready or not?"

"We are ready, professor!"

The thirteen cried in unison and Lee was pleased.

"Now, go and sit in the gallery, and observe me."