"...It's not working." "What?"
Belle knitted her brow, as her tone had a tinge of worry.
Evelyn pressed her hands on Brandon's head.
"All he needed was for mana of the same affinities as his to cleanse his core."
At the mention of 'same affinities', Brandon peered his eyes open.
Looking around, his gaze eventually landed on Amy and Reinhard, who stood near the door beside Raven and Liam.
If he needed mages with the same affinities as his, then he needed Amy's [Water] affinity, and Reinhard's [Fire] affinity.
He didn't want to reveal his capabilities so soon.
Especially since he had finally cleared any link between him and Moriarty.
Amy's beliefs were questionable. But he left that all up to Raven to explain.
He had no other choice.
The pain was too much for him.
He had to save himself.
He wasn't sure what would happen if he allowed the symptoms to worsen.
'Should I do it?'
A wise man once said.
'Fuck it.'
He then locked his eyes with Evelyn as he opened his mouth.
"Evelyn..."
Evelyn knitted her brow since Brandon dropped all formalities with her, but decided to let it go.
"What?"
"Pour... Haa... Mana... Amy... Reinhard..."
"...?"
"Haa... Water... Fire... Affinity..."
"What are you-"
Oh.
Realizing, Evelyn's eyes shot wide open.
The same went for everyone else in the room.
Belle's shocked voice reached his ears.
"Brandon... You're-"
"Haa... Penta... Elemental... Haa... Mage..."
He finished for her.
Once he muttered those words, everyone's mouths contoured to a silent 'o' shape. Brandon could hear Liam gasp as well.
It seemed like the revelation had left them astonished.
But Brandon couldn't ponder on his decisions at the moment.
Closing his eyes, he pursed his lips.
"Help."
At his instructions, Amy and Reinhard immediately approached him.
The five stood next to each other, lifting their hands, and pouring their mana into Brandon.
Rumble... Rumble...
Due to vast amounts of mana condensing, the room began to vibrate.
As they continued to pour mana into Brandon, Evelyn inched close and scanned his face once again.
Letting out a sigh, Evelyn's voice reached his ears.
"It's working. I can't believe it."
"You have a lot of explaining to do after this, Brandon."
Knitting her brow, Belle chimed in as well.
The other seven people in the room nodded their heads together-including Liam.
'Why is Liam still here?'
There were too many people...
Brandon appreciated the amount of people that cared for him...
Including Liam?
He was unsure.
But regardless, he appreciated him to a certain degree.
'I have to talk to him after this...'
As they continued to pour their mana, Brandon could feel himself start to stabilize.
The beating of his heart began to slow down, and he was finally able to catch his breath.
Rumble... Rumble...
The room continued to shake.
Belle spoke up once again.
"Miss Evelyn, how long is this gonna take?"
"A bit more. The colors in his lips are starting to return."
She leaned even closer.
"It's starting to get moist as well."
"E-eh?!"
Everyone was left flabbergasted.
Evelyn leaned back and turned to look at them.
She tilted her head.
"What...?"
"N-nothing..."
Belle answered for her. Her mouth was twitching.
Brandon frowned.
"This woman...'
Evelyn just couldn't stop to think before speaking.
Brandon could hear Liam in the corner silently muttering to himself.
"...I should've left as soon as I got here."
Raven placed his hand on Liam's shoulder, nodding his head with his eyes closed.
He was as much of a bystander as Liam was at the moment.
Since Liam was in the corner, he could see the entire ordeal from the side.
Evelyn was bending down up close to Brandon, to the point where if you didn't look properly,
it would look like they were-
Yeah.
At the end of it all, everyone who contributed slumped down on the ground.
"Наа... Наа..."
They were all catching their breaths.
Noticing it, Brandon abruptly stood up and headed for the exit.
He turned his head to meet Raven's gaze who stood beside him.
He then muttered.
"Help me escape."
Raven sighed and nodded.
"Go."
Brandon then turned his head to look at the rest who were still trying to catch their breaths.
"Thanks everyone, I really appreciate it."
With his hand on the door knob, he twisted it slightly and turned his back to them.
"I'll repay all of you soon. I have another lecture to attend. So if you don't mind I-"
"Hold up."
He paused as soon he felt a hand pressed on his shoulder.
Turning around, what met his sight was Belle with an expression that said 'Where do you think
you're going?'
Brandon composed himself and flashed her a smile.
"Sis, I-"
"You have a lot of explaining to do."
Brandon slumped his shoulder down in defeat.
There was no winning against an angry Belle.
From beside him, Raven just gave him a shrug. Nothing I can do about that.
For the next thirty minutes or so, the only ones to have spoken were Brandon and Belle.
The others were quite taken aback that even Belle-Brandon's own sister didn't know.
They gave the two space while silently listening to them.
Seated face-to-face, Belle let out a heavy sigh.
"Haa.. So you're saying you've only recently awakened?" "Yes."
"How recent?"
Brandon pondered for a while.
Pinching his chin and looking up, he opened his mouth.
"Three weeks ago."
"You mean..."
"The start of the semester."
It was quite convenient that it happened on that day.
But Brandon decided not to lie.
It would further support his reason for not knowing anything about mana poisoning, since he
was a newly awakened Deviant.
Now that he's revealed all of his affinities, there was a possibility that Raven might link him
to Moriarty.
Not just him but Amy as well.
'As long as I don't use [Mana Disruption]'
If he told Belle that he had been hiding his abilities for a long time, he would lose the trust of
everyone around him.
In short, he would become suspicious again.
At the end, Brandon had asked them to hide it for the time being.
Everyone else understood and decided to keep it a secret for a while.
Once the government finds out about Brandon's existence, it would prove troublesome for
him.
'Especially if that 'man' finds out.'
Lucian Frost.
The strongest mage of the current era. Not only a mage but a duelist as well.
A complete package.
As everyone left the room, the only ones who stayed were Brandon and Evelyn.
Brandon had a few more questions for her, which is why he decided to stay.
Looking up, Evelyn was...
Well...
Unwrapping a lollipop.
Scrunch.
She gave it a lick before shoving it in her mouth.
Slurp~
She must've not wanted the others to see this side of her.
But Brandon respected it.
Though Lucian was the strongest known human.
Brandon had recently found out that it wasn't the case.
There was someone else.
Someone who had stayed out of the limelight. Brandon pursed his lips as he spoke with a serious tone.
"Evelyn."
Evelyn's expressions crunched up, knitting her brow.
"Where's the formalities?"
"Evelyn."
""
"Have you heard of the name..."
Brandon paused.
Taking a deep breath, he continued.
"Jin."
"...Jin?"
Evelyn tilted her head.
It seemed like she didn't know.
Thus, Brandon decided not to question further.
"Nevermind."
The reason he had asked her was because it seemed like Jin knew Evelyn, considering he had
mentioned her name twice.
But for some reason, Evelyn had no idea what he was talking about.
Which is why Brandon decided to change the topic.
"How do I avoid Mana Poisoning?"
As Evelyn was indulging in her lollipop, she removed it from her mouth and pursed her lips.
"You lack mana control. I've seen it in the Battle Royale. I knew this was going to happen
eventually."
"So what do I do?"
Evelyn tilted her head. Huh?
"Just learn to control your mana efficiently."
She spoke with a matter of fact tone.
"Don't worry, I'll teach you. I decided to take you under me after all."
"...What?"