107 Origin Mana

Ed returned to the settlement. No one paid any attention to him as he walked through the streets, and everything seemed to be business as usual. However, there was an invisible pressure in the atmosphere. Everyone seemed on guard or nervous, ready to act at a moment's notice. Ed ignored this and travelled to Mr. Long's mansion.

Two guards blocked the entrance with their manullium spears. "Who are you?" One of them questioned in a loud voice.

"Tell Tai that Ed is here to see him." He replied.

"You dare call Mr. Long by his first name?!" The other guard pointed his spear forward, rage covering his face.

"Annoying." Ed frowned as he grabbed the spear by the blade, purple flames appearing on his palm. The manullium spear blade turned into purple smoke as his fingers dug into it. 'I really do like these purple flames.' He grinned. 'I wonder if I can convert them to other elements somehow?'

The guard stumbled several steps back, his eyes widening in shock as he stared at his destroyed spear. The other guard bowed and apologized, "I'll inform Mr. Long of your arrival. Please forgive my friend's rudeness."

"Mm." Ed nodded lazily while flicking his hand in a shooing motion.

Several minutes later, Tai came out to greet him. "Ed!" He called in a delighted voice. "I thought you were dead! Come, we have much to discuss. In fact, I've got the perfect role for you in our upcoming plans.'

"Alright." He agreed.

Tai hurriedly led him to a conference room on the 2nd floor. There was only one other person in the room. It was an old man wearing a purple sombrero. He nodded towards them while tilting his hat.

"Carlos?" Ed said in surprise.

"Mm." He nodded. "Do I know you?"

"You helped me once in the past, about six months ago." He replied.

"Good!" Tai clapped his hands. "It makes things easier if you already know each other. Now then, before we get started, I'd like to confirm something. Ed, my guard reported you using a strange power. Can you show me it?"

Ed hesitated a moment before nodding. 'No point in keeping it secret, I guess. It's almost guaranteed I'll end up using the purple flames during the escape anyways. Not to mention I just used it on that guard's weapon.' He raised his hand and created a small flame on the tip of his finger.

"You really have it!" Mr. Long shouted with excitement. "And it's even the purple flame! PERFECT! The heavens are truly helping me!" He hurriedly glanced at Carlos. "Show him."

"Alright." Carlos nodded and rose his hand. Small blades of purple wind circled around it.

Ed's eyes widened in surprise. He looked towards Tai. "Care to explain what exactly you know about purple mana and mana-cores, as well as how Carlos gained the power?"

"Ah, of course." Tai nodded while taking a seat, gesturing for Ed to sit as well. "Purple mana. In the east, we call it origin mana, though that's a heavily debated topic. It is by far the rarest mana in the world, with only a few espers publicly known to have it. In a way, it can be considered as the next step of esper training. All cultivators wish for nothing more than to obtain origin mana."

"And how does one obtain it?" Ed questioned.

"That's... complicated." Tai frowned. "There are cultivation techniques geared towards gaining it, but very few succeed. I've been trying for over a decade with no success. It requires something akin to enlightenment. You must truly connect with the element on an emotional level. Only then can you obtain purple mana and control over one of the seven purple elements."

"That's a bunch of hogwash." Carlos frowned. "I could use purple wind from the day I became an esper. Not just that, but I can use normal wind too."

"You're an unusual case." Tai countered. "Freaks like you are rarer than qilin feathers and unicorn horns."

"I know somebody like that as well." Ed countered. "She can snuff out any elemental powers using a purple domain."

"Humph." Tai snorted. "You mean England's royal princess? She's a freak amongst freaks. I've never even heard of someone being able to control more than two purple elements until she awoke her powers. Anyways, enough about that. Origin mana is a complex topic and I'm not really an expert on it. You should ask the sect leaders in China about it. All of them wield purple mana. Moving on..."

"Wait." Ed interrupted. "What about the purple mana-cores? You said they were extremely valuable. Are they related to training purple mana? If not, then what's their value?"

Tai sighed. "They are valuable, but only for the creation of mana-artifacts and mana-potions. I don't know how to create them, but they sell for a fortune in China. Enough about all of that. We don't have a lot of time, and we need to discuss the prison break." He pulled a map out from his robe and spread it out on the table. The map outlined thousands of tunnels within the maze, as well as the entire settlement. "This plan began two years ago, but I started planning it over five years ago. This is both a mission my sect has given me and an opportunity to prove myself. I absolutely cannot fail!"

He glanced at each of the two men, making sure they were paying attention. "The Warden would have us believe the only way in and out of the cage is through the hole we're all pushed down when we first arrive. How could we possibly escape from there? Ignoring the problem of height, there's the more serious issue of it being a chokepoint that exits into their fortress. It'd be impossible for any of us to escape that way without inside help."

"And you've got inside help?" Ed questioned.

"Mm." He nodded. "However, that was just a backup plan for my own escape if everything else failed. Now that you're here, we no longer need it." He picked up a red pen from the table and drew a circle on the map. "The hole obviously isn't the only exit. How could they possibly extract large volumes of manullium through it? Not to mention the luxury goods they sell us. There's no way they could even push this conference table through such a small opening. Fortunately, I know the location of the only other exit." He pointed to the red circle. "It's here within the maze. All shipments are carried out by esper slaves and guards there."

"Esper slaves?" Carlos replied. "Aren't they worried they'll escape?"

"No." Tai shook his head. "There's no purple smoke in that section of the maze., so they can be killed with the simple press of a button due to the mana-collar." He pointed to his own neck. "And so can we. Speaking of which, what happened to your collar, Ed?"

"Huh?" He replied while grasping towards his neck. "Ah, I guess it melted off when I went swimming in the purple lava rivers."

"Ah, that makes sense." Tai nodded. "I planned to remove mine the same way, minus the swimming portion. That would kill an ordinary esper."

"So, how do we escape from the shipment area?" Carlos frowned while rubbing his mustache. "The place has gotta be guarded to hell and back."

"It won't be easy." Tai agreed. "We should expect extreme casualties. We'll be lucky if even one in five men make it out alive. Fortunately, I've got all the other espers participating. They don't even know the plan yet since I refuse to give any details to them. As of now, only the two of you are being informed, as you are absolutely essential to our success." His face darkened as he looked at the map. "The real challenge is not just the guards. There's a giant manullium gate blocking the exit, and a fortress beyond that. My informants have let me know that the gate's at least 100 meters thick, literally the size of a football field. High-powered steam engines are required to even open and close it."

"And how in the hell are we supposed to bust through that?!" Carlos replied in shock.

Tai glared seriously at them. "That's where you two come in. I was truly at a lost until now on how I could break through. I figured that by coming to the cage, I might discover some espers that could help. As a result, I've wasted two years here searching for the right espers. And just when I was about to give up, I found the perfect combination of you two." He glanced at Ed. "Your purple flames will easily be able to melt through the wall, but from what I've seen, you likely won't be able to produce enough of it for it to be effective." He turned to look at Carlos. "Fortunately, Carlos is different. He's a purple wind powerhouse. His wind could also wear down the manullium gate, but it would take far too long. But with his wind feeding Ed's flames, we'll have a real shot at escaping this hellhole."

"Hmm." Carlos rubbed his chin. "It might work, but is that tiny fire really enough? I'll probably just blow it out."

Ed frowned. "It's all I can make. I tried training, but I couldn't gain any more of it."

"How'd you get it in the first place?" Tai questioned, excitement gleaming in his eyes.

Ed hesitated a moment, debating whether to trade the valuable information. Always on the lookout for potential gains, he put on a stern face and crossed his arms. "I can tell you, but it'll cost you. After all, this is a completely new method and it might even work for you."

Tai's breathing grew rough as he struggled to contain his desire. "I'll give you 10 purple mana-cores! That's 10 percent of all my stock!"

"Make it 50." He replied.

"11!" Tai countered.

"60." Ed smiled.

"I'll give you 15! No more!" Tai ground his teeth in anger.

"Let's make it 75." He put a hand to his mouth, trying to stifle his laughter.

"20!" Tai's eyes turned red from rage as he pounded his fist against the table. "That's my absolute final offer! It took me two years running the Fire Dragon Clan to collect that many! I'll escape by myself before giving you more than that!"

"Deal!" Ed grinned as he leaned over the table, shaking Tai's hand. "Also, I want delivery up front." He leisurely sat back down, waiting for a response.

"Grr." Tai suppressed his rage as he left the room. Soon, he returned with a small sack and tossed it towards Ed. "Take it!"

"Good!" He laughed while checking the contents. Satisfied with the results, he answered. "I got my powers by eating a purple mana-core and entering hibernation afterwards."

"What?!" Tai replied in shock. "That's impossible! I've tested it! Others have tested it! That'd even kill Carlos, not to mention ordinary espers."

"Right." He agreed. "But it didn't kill me, and what's unique about me compared to other espers?"

Tai rubbed his chin in thought for a moment before guessing. "Your chimera abilities?"

"Yup." He smiled. "So you better make sure I escape alive. You'll need me to make you a chimera if you want to try it."

"Naturally." Tai nodded while pulling out his fan, waving it towards his face. "Can you eat more of the mana-cores to increase your amount of purple mana?"

Ed frowned. "Probably... but I haven't tested it. Also, I went unconscious for months last time. Who knows what'll happen if I do it again."

Tai smiled. "I can delay the plan if absolutely necessary, and with Carlos here you have no need to fear the ordinary guards. Only the Warden would be a match for him."

"Alright." He agreed. 'I guess I might as well do it here. They need me alive and I don't really want to go unconscious exploring in the maze again.' Just to be safe, he activated his chimera form. Then he reached into the pouch and pulled out a purple mana-core. 'Come to think of it, purple mana-cores are indistinguishable regardless of the elements the original mutant used. Did I develop flame powers because the lion was a flame mutant? Or because of my emotional connection to fire like Tai implied?' Shaking his head from the thoughts, he placed the mana-core in his mouth.

Tai was on the edge of his seat as he watched, curiosity gleaming in his eyes. Carlos leaned back in his chair, appearing laid-back, but there was a spark of interest hidden within his eyes as well.

'Mm. It's kind of like a jaw breaker.' Ed thought as he sucked on the mana-core, waiting for something to happen. Several minutes passed, and nothing happened. Growing bored, he finally decided to swallow it. It felt like a burning rock slammed into the pit his stomach.