Post by Seren on Sept 17, 2020 20:12:38 GMT -5
It'd been about a week since the forced retreat from Kikka that Seren had called, and the decision still weighed on her. But even so, even in all of her self-proclaimed wisdom, after examining it from every angle, Seren could not find a solution that did not involve the sacrifice of each of her comrades. Worse yet, Seren had calculated in that one and only stratagem that only she alone would remain. It wasn't acceptable. Even if there was considerable risk involved, Seren would only move forward with a plan that could save everyone, so long as one presented itself in her mind.
The counterassault was beginning its preparations, and so, Seren was forced to rush. She had great faith in her comrades, that they would push back the demons and win the day, but what after? The land seemed as if it would remain tainted, and who was to say that the demons they had seen would ever be the last? There could be endless numbers of them waiting in line, each stronger and more terrible than the next, for all of eternity.
"No~ niho~" Seren thought, "We must break that cycle~"
And so began her grand and haphazardly rushed scheme.
"If the magecraft of the wells in Kikka could be reversed~ it might be possible to create the opposite outcome niho~ if demons can corrupt a land to make it antithetical to humans~ who is to say that we of this land could not go and do the same~ a land of mana antithetical to demons~ if this works~ we may even be able to invade their realm someday niho~"
Seren mused as she continued to pour her mana into a pool of water. Using what she'd learned of the demon lines, Seren created her own witch lines to act as an array of mana canals, cycling the mana entered in an endless downstream over and over into itself, continuously increasing in speed. It was as much a well as it were an endless chasm, and the mana from the surrounding areas was siphoned by her own base ethereal element bit by bit. Never too much to drain the land, but even so, one could feel a pull...
"There isn't much time niho~ I can't get sleepy yet~"
The witch's eyes drooped...
"Is it working~ niho~? ~To think that the healing magic that I struggled with might just be the key in the end~ niho~ only~"
Seren made a face.
"It's waning~ niho~ the core I procured wasn't good enough~ but is the theory sound~?"
The witch sighed.
"I don't even fully understand the theory niho~ but I feel so close~ and yet~ if I lose this project I'm not entirely sure what the conditions were that caused it to activate in this way~ nihooooo~"
The witch clicked her tongue as a realization came over her.
"Heh~ so that's the solution~ niho~ but it's a gamble niho~ humanity can't afford to lose this knowledge~ but even so~ I don't think it is wise for humanity to be the one to complete it~ niho~"
Pointing her finger at a nearby boulder Seren fired a beam and began to carve witch letters into it. At the top of the sign were the words:
"Witches' Homework from The Greatest Sage"
"Final wisdom of the greatest sage~ niho~"
Seren strutted towards the well.
"If you think in terms of a year~ plant a seed niho~ so that someday we might never go hungry~ If you think in terms of a hundred~ plant a tree niho~ so that someday we might know shade~ if you think in the terms of infinity~ plant a well niho~ and have faith in the minds of those who come after~ for none may know what will happen when you plant something new~ In these thoughts there are no wrong answers~ I know this for I am wise~!"
Seren began to tread into the mana pool she had cultivated from copied, forbidden magics, and felt herself begin to fade away, first into mana and then into dust. There was a grand reaction beneath the flash of Ethereal Light, but whether the witch's project stabilized for future study is a question even she would never be able to answer.
--The End--
The counterassault was beginning its preparations, and so, Seren was forced to rush. She had great faith in her comrades, that they would push back the demons and win the day, but what after? The land seemed as if it would remain tainted, and who was to say that the demons they had seen would ever be the last? There could be endless numbers of them waiting in line, each stronger and more terrible than the next, for all of eternity.
"No~ niho~" Seren thought, "We must break that cycle~"
And so began her grand and haphazardly rushed scheme.
"If the magecraft of the wells in Kikka could be reversed~ it might be possible to create the opposite outcome niho~ if demons can corrupt a land to make it antithetical to humans~ who is to say that we of this land could not go and do the same~ a land of mana antithetical to demons~ if this works~ we may even be able to invade their realm someday niho~"
Seren mused as she continued to pour her mana into a pool of water. Using what she'd learned of the demon lines, Seren created her own witch lines to act as an array of mana canals, cycling the mana entered in an endless downstream over and over into itself, continuously increasing in speed. It was as much a well as it were an endless chasm, and the mana from the surrounding areas was siphoned by her own base ethereal element bit by bit. Never too much to drain the land, but even so, one could feel a pull...
"There isn't much time niho~ I can't get sleepy yet~"
The witch's eyes drooped...
"Is it working~ niho~? ~To think that the healing magic that I struggled with might just be the key in the end~ niho~ only~"
Seren made a face.
"It's waning~ niho~ the core I procured wasn't good enough~ but is the theory sound~?"
The witch sighed.
"I don't even fully understand the theory niho~ but I feel so close~ and yet~ if I lose this project I'm not entirely sure what the conditions were that caused it to activate in this way~ nihooooo~"
The witch clicked her tongue as a realization came over her.
"Heh~ so that's the solution~ niho~ but it's a gamble niho~ humanity can't afford to lose this knowledge~ but even so~ I don't think it is wise for humanity to be the one to complete it~ niho~"
Pointing her finger at a nearby boulder Seren fired a beam and began to carve witch letters into it. At the top of the sign were the words:
"Witches' Homework from The Greatest Sage"
"Final wisdom of the greatest sage~ niho~"
Seren strutted towards the well.
"If you think in terms of a year~ plant a seed niho~ so that someday we might never go hungry~ If you think in terms of a hundred~ plant a tree niho~ so that someday we might know shade~ if you think in the terms of infinity~ plant a well niho~ and have faith in the minds of those who come after~ for none may know what will happen when you plant something new~ In these thoughts there are no wrong answers~ I know this for I am wise~!"
Seren began to tread into the mana pool she had cultivated from copied, forbidden magics, and felt herself begin to fade away, first into mana and then into dust. There was a grand reaction beneath the flash of Ethereal Light, but whether the witch's project stabilized for future study is a question even she would never be able to answer.
--The End--
