27 Mana Metropolis II — Ambrosya

The car hovered just above the pavement as mana programs glowed from all across its frame. Any other person from Earth would think that those carvings on the car's body were simply a part of its design, but no. Here in Emerallia, every carving had a function.

Protection, Mana Shield, Levitation, and many more. Those were the programs that were inscribed upon its material.

I made my way to the car and pressed the button to open the door. The door thus opened upwards, and I was free to enter.

"Aethercaller University, if you please," I spoke as soon as I got in.

The driver nodded, surprise laced his expression. Nonetheless, he seemed unfazed by the time he opened his mouth to speak,

"A student, huh? We'll be there in about forty minutes."

The driver, dressed exquisitely with mana programs across his suit and clothes, was a man of sizeable wealth in this city. Now, you might wonder why he worked as a taxi driver despite his wealth.

The answer would be simple:

It was his hobby.

No one expected such a man to be like this, which made him quite the fun character to write about. I remember giving him a lot of secrets and connections that triggered events. He was an integral character in the second volume of [ Evergreen Passage ].

After all, his car was absolutely gorgeous, which deterred many from even thinking it was a taxi for hire. But to those who do accept that it was indeed up for hire, it would seem all the more interesting.

Other characters always expressed intrigue when they met this man.

His name, simply put, was King. It was his alias. His favourite title.

His real name was Reffeyer Inscipthal Parthiem. A name that would get me killed the moment it would leave my lips. Thus, I kept my silence as I looked out the window of the high-end taxi.

I watched as buildings passed me by and counted the streets that came and went. There wasn't much traffic in this part of Aelthrie. Only the occasional mana car and mana bike. After all, it wasn't rush hour yet and everyone was still working indoors.

Though, it was partly because King also had access to the mana highways that were exclusively for cars like his. It was a highway that charged his car with mana so that it could stay floating and moving indefinitely.

The amount of mana being spent by this highway alone was already way beyond anything I could wield at this current moment.

I smacked my lips. If I could exert enough mana to rival Aelthrie's expenditures, then I would surely be a powerful figure.

...

"Here's 10G," I handed King a wad of 1G bills. "Thanks for the ride."

Forty minutes had passed as I rode the taxi in silence, speaking only now as I got off the hovering mana car. Throughout the ride I had my eyes closed in meditation, grasping at every piece of mana that I could cling to. I had lost my immense mana sensitivity, making the world duller all of a sudden.

What felt good, however, was that I could tangibly feel the increase in my talents. After dropping off my bags in Aethercaller's dormitory and confirming my participation in the entrance exams, I thus decided to have my talents checked.

Of course, as I walked through the university, I admired the beautiful elven architecture I crafted. Buildings that felt organic and meshed magically with the dense yet well-maintained greenery populated the campus. A perfect canopy that created a mana program out of the shining light of midday covered the streets and pathways. Every twelve o'clock, mana would thus flow from this mana program to send a cool breeze throughout the entire campus.

Every curvy building was in ivory white or immaculate silver. Pillars and arches were such a common sight.

Elegance and grace were the impressions exuded by the campus as a whole.

I smiled, satisfied with my creation. It was good.

Exiting the campus, I was met with the very modern look of Aelthrie once more. A breeze of mana flowed past my gaze as I asked around, searching for an Appraisal Shack.

It took me a few minutes of navigation to locate the nearest one. Thus, standing in front of me was a small, single-room store that was on a street corner. It looked like any 80s barber shop on Earth, just replace the colours with neon blue and brass.

Tiring~!

The sound of a bell chiming notified the storekeepers of my arrival.

"Hello! Are you here for an item appraisal?" The sweet voice of a young woman in her teens greeted me.

"No," I shook my head, keeping the hood of my cloak low and hiding my face. "I'm here for a profiling."

"Ah, very well, sir! Please wait a moment."

The girl gave me a long, deep look for a moment before turning around abruptly. Her ponytail swung with her spin.

I chuckled. I couldn't get enough of looking suspicious. The stares people gave me and their restlessness was quite appealing.

It took a few moments before the girl popped back behind the counter.

"Please follow me, sir." She gestured, and I followed after a nod.

I was then led to the corner of the establishment where a glass cylinder with a bronze cap was humming with energy. It looked like some magepunk vat used for storing humans... save for the liquid... and well, the human.

The girl fiddled with a few knobs and a lever as we arrived before its visage. With a pillar of steam, the vat opened up.

"Please step in, sir."

I stepped in, and instantly I was met with the sensation of being inside a mass of soap foam. I knew then that this was the mana within the vat clinging to me.

The girl closed the glass door and then began fiddling with the instruments some more. Her hands flicked switches and pushed buttons in a well-practised manner. It was clear that she had done this many times before.

"Sir, please exert your mana at the count of three,"

I nodded.

"Three,"

"Two,"

"One,"

Whooooooom—!