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Of Arms and Arcane: Chapter 14
🕑 Added 2023-10-11 07:43:26 +0000 UTCAfter Luke fell asleep while suckling from Amara, and when his grandfather Rowan Silverbrook confirmed Luke was not going to die, Amara started shouting.
“What happened to Luke?! I want answers!” Amara said while looking like she was ready to bite off someone’s head.
Alden and Rowan looked at each other and exchanged a few questions and answers to confirm if they got the full scope of the situation, then they both nodded and Rowan spoke up, “Luke somehow managed to ignite his stamina to form aura. How he even managed to perceive his stamina without rigorous training, or the fact that he is still a baby is unknown. But all the same, Luke is now an Aura user.”
Alden then cut in, “How he managed to perceive his own stamina energy is unknown, but how he managed to ignite his stamina was most likely Luke observing me using Auta and sensed me using mana to ignite my own stamina to produce Arua.”
Rowan continued his explanation, “I have never seen this phenomenon before, but Luke managed to partially absorb the mana out of the aura back into himself and made the aura flowing through his body less potent, which takes a lot of the strain off his body, and if my diagnosis of Luke’s body is correct, his life is no longer in danger, for now, but I don't think we can totally extinguish the aura burning in his body without killing him. Only Luke would be able to turn off his aura safely, but I suspect he is too young or does not know how to do it.”
Amara still looking at the 2 men with a stormy face asked, “So what does this mean for Luke’s situation? Can we do anything for him? What if we bring Luke to the capital and use the Mana Depravation Chamber? We may be able to use it to do a total purge of the mana from his aura, that should solve the problem, right?”
This time it was Luke’s grandma, Isabella, who stepped in, “I am afraid we cannot do that dear. The Mana Depravation Chamber is strictly guarded and regulated. What are they going to say when they see Luke? They will see a baby less than a year old capable of using mana manipulation and aura. It would be bad enough to have nobles and mage towers wanting to kidnap Luke for research, but if the Holy Inquisition gets wind of Luke’s situation, we could be suspected of carrying out dark/unsanctioned research and possibly trying to turn Luke into an Abomination. In this case, both our houses, staff, and acquaintances would be interrogated, tortured, and then killed 7 generations down, not necessarily in that order.”
Hearing this, possibility made all of them go pale. The Holy Inquisition belongs to the Zagraf Theocracy, the Zagraf Theocracy is on a rather sizable landmass just off the coast of the main continent where they are now.
Besides the Kingdom of Hemton that had sworn allegiance to the Zagraf Theocracy, most of the kingdoms and empires on the continent tolerated them due to the believers in their own country, and besides the countries that totally rejected the Zagraf Theocracy and its religion, the Zagraf Theocracy’s Holy Inquisition was allowed to roam the land to root out heresy and the dark arts wherever they may be.
And the Argus Kingdom where Luke and his family were was among those lands the Holy Inquisition was allowed to roam, for now.
Unlike the previous king who had an amicable relationship with the Zagraf Theocracy and its religion. The current king, King Argus IV, looked none too kindly upon the Zagraf church throwing their weight around in local politics and the sway they held on his kingdom’s people.
But until the Zagraf church was expelled from the country, bringing Luke into the public before he could control his powers was not a wise decision.
“So what can we do?” Amara said weakly while holding the sleeping Luke tighter.
“First thing first, Luke is no longer allowed to be seen by the soldiers or the public until he can keep his Aura and Mana under control and concealed, only those we have signed a binding contract with are allowed to see and interact with him. Or until he is at least 10 years old, if he is able to resolve his aura issue, he can have a public debut at 5 years old where he will be hailed as a genius for being able to manipulate mana at such a young age. Other than that, the only thing we can do is make Luke eat and rest as much as possible to regain his strength.” Rowan said with finality.
***
I woke up with my mum’s tit in my mouth and milk dribbling down the side of my mouth. When I looked out the window, I could tell from the position of the moon that it was just a couple of hours from sunrise.
I lifted my hand to wipe the drool off my face and found my hand to be heavier than usual. When I saw the silhouette of my emaciated arm in the moonlight, the memories of what happened before I fell asleep came rushing back to me.
Holy Fuck! I almost checked out of my 2nd life before I was even 1 year old.
I looked inside myself to see if everything was fine.
Everything was not fine, the aura was still going but at a reduced rate of intensity, all my baby fat was gone, and I am even losing muscle mass as I monologue to myself and anyone in the universe listening to my thoughts.
That’s when the hunger hit me, I quickly latch on the nipple that I just let out of my mouth and sucked for all I had, and before I knew it, my mum’s boob was empty.
Damm, this boob was almost empty.
With all my strength, I desperately pull away the fabric of my mum’s nightgown that was holding back the other boob and latched on to the teat of the new breast.
My struggle for sustenance awoke my Mum, and when she looked down on my emaciated form, suckling like my life depended on it, because it did, she broke into tears while crying, “My Baby!” over and over again while holding me tighter, which woke Dad who then proceeded to hug and comfort Mum
