Sustaining The King's Life 147 Moving Forward Alone

All of them.

Faustina's blank, brown eyes stared into nothingness as he stood in the dark—all alone. Her eyelids were heavy, daring to close and shed imperceptible tears. Faustina was frozen in the spot, like a hollow doll left alone in the obscure night. 

Faustina couldn't catch up to Anakin. 

Mana revitalizer? Manipulator? Apologize?

Faustina remembers correctly that mana is something that couldn't be stolen! How in the world is there a gem that could absorb other's mana?

"I don't get it . . . I never stole any people's mana . . . th-that's impossible," Faustina said. It was true. She really did not know that mana can be stolen. But Faustina didn't deny that she was the cause of other examinees' fail. 

"You didn't," it was Mich.e.l.le who spoke. 

"Mich.e.l.le . . ." Faustina exclaimed, trying to smile.

"You just converted the breaths we are exerting and the energy we let out from our movements to mana," Mich.e.l.le exclaimed, looking at Faustina with pair of disappointed eyes. 

"You're a fraud, Miss Feuerlon."

Faustina felt her heart stop with Mich.e.l.le's words. She couldn't believe it—she believed Anakin? Faustina waited, waited so bad for another word. But she was hopeful to hear even another. Mich.e.l.le, whose eyes had tears unshed, turned away from Faustina.

"S-so it's true?"

"I still can't believe it."

"But we've seen it with our own eyes. She HAS that crystal in her pocket. She's stealing our mana without us realizing it."

"I will all come with you," Anakin exclaimed. "I don't want to be left behind too… please… take me in,"

The group exchanged glances until they all agreed. When they set off to leave, Faustina trailed behind to follow.

However, …

"Don't you follow us!" Anakin exclaimed, his brows furrowed as his eyes fixated into a deep glare. "After what you did, who knows IF you can be trusted? No one. It's hard to take chances right now because we're having exams." Anakin said with chin held high. "It would be better for all of us if you would get rid of the mistrust by separating yourself from us. Do you understand, you fraud?"

Faustina thinned her lips, and then, her eyes met Mich.e.l.le's, who averted her gaze shortly after meeting hers. Faustina, seeing this, felt her heart clench in a pain she couldn't understand. Mich.e.l.le then turned her back and walked away from Faustina. The others, even looking reluctant and looked at Faustina with pity, ended up doing the same.

Anakin was the last to go.

"How does it feel?" He asked. 

Faustina lifted her head, confused whether he was worried or… he was mocking her. Anakin's eyes were looking down at Faustina with contempt, rage, taunt, and hate. Faustina felt her heartbeat speed up from the dark emotions she had seen in his eyes.

"You're admired by everybody because you're a Feuerlon, and you're the famous mage Lucas' younger sister," Anakin exclaimed. "But I can see through you, Miss Faustina."

Faustina felt a white silence piercing through her ears as she listens to the words Anakin spats. Did he know…? Did he see right through the glamour?

"You're a talentless fraud on the inside," Anakin sharply exalted. "Even if you cover your inept.i.tude with your cute face and that innocent act, you still cannot fully hide what you are."

Faustina lowered her gaze as her shoulders trembled. Anakin observed her, and he received s.a.d.i.s.tic joy from it. Anakin snaked his fingers to Faustina's chin, and leveled his head onto her. 

But then, instead of receiving the s.a.d.i.s.tic impulse Anakin so enjoyed, he felt something different as Faustina's chocolate-brown eyes stared back at him with fierce determination.

"Even so… even if that's the case," Faustina said, with her face brightening up as Anakin slowly drew away from her. 

"Even if you call me a talentless fraud on the inside…" Faustina started. "I'm trying more than anyone… It's true that I'm inept, but that doesn't mean I'm not trying to improve. It's true that I'm lacking in all areas and there might not be potential in me… But even so!"

Anakin blinked, beholding the girl who he had taunted stand up for her own—gleaming like a star in the night sky.

Diamond in the rough.

"Even so… I'll do my best to be the best mage there could be. The best mage that is worthy of standing beside Eulalia Fortunatorum…" Faustina bit her lips.

That's right.

She'll improve. She'll follow her master's footsteps and be exactly like her. After all, following Eula's steps would bring her closer to the truth. And truth—is the one Faustina should seek.

Anakin blinked several times, frozen on the spot. His heart was thumping loud and fast, like horses galloping in the meadows. It didn't feel painful—instead, it felt pleasant. Pleasant, yet bugging. Anakin's eyes met that of Faustina, and then his cheeks turned red. 

"What the h.e.l.l," Anakin murmured, turning away from the girl. "Whatever. I don't care about your ambitions. That doesn't change the fact that you're a fraud."

That's right. He shouldn't be swept away by trivial things. He still has an exam to pa.s.s, and glory to conquer. He should not be distracted by newfangled feelings now. He could deal with them later, surely.

But these feelings… 

Anakin gripped the fabric around his chest. His heart was thumping too loud it was ringing to his ears. The last time he had this much adrenaline is when he raced with Claire—and that was due to exhilarating exhaustion he received by continually overdriving his magic. He didn't even do anything now. He was just talking to Faustina, who just made a face that he didn't saw coming. 

She was, after all, so gloomy the first time she arrived. And he couldn't help but compare her to her other siblings who made no resemblance to her. But then again, her looks derived from the d.u.c.h.ess who barely came out on public since the duke's scandal…

Anakin shook his thoughts away; and with a final glance to Faustina, he made his leave.

**

Faustina gripped the wood of her staff as she began to walk back to the castle walls. She, after all, couldn't afford to follow the group now. They were wary of her. And as she walked, she saw the fragment lying on the ground. 

Faustina knelt to pick the red crystal.

"Mana revitalizer…"

Orwell told her about this before, but he didn't give so many details and he didn't express much interest about it which is why it only lied on the archives in depths of Faustina's head. It took a while to remember, but she does now.

Mana revitalizers convert substandard mana or the mana that was from arbitrary things such as breathing, moving a muscle, or even in some cases, thinking. They're considered substandard due to the fact that they are only considered as leftovers. These leftover manas cannot be reconverted again because they were exalted from an individual's body.

Mana revitalizers, which are crystal gems said to contain dark magic inside, reverses this substandard mana to their unused form and then reconvert them to be usable.

"But there's a danger to it, too," Orwell said. "When you convert leftover mana using dark magic, there is a huge chance it will be contaminated. And when that happens, if you absorb the contaminated mana…"

"What will happen?"

"The mana originally produced by your body will clash with the contaminated mana and then your bodily functions may fail," Orwell exclaimed. "There're tendencies when people have their heart bursting inside as their mana clashes together with the leftover. This is why it was banned the moment it was proposed."

"Well, they're even rare than Opus users these days, especially when there are no more warlocks around to create them." Orwell yawned. "The black market is filled with those orange crystal fragments, but they hold not much threat considering they're super small."

Faustina stared at the crystal fragment on her hand. Orwell said that the crystal fragment of mana revitalizers ought to be orange, and sometimes blue. But this one… "It's red." Faustina murmured.

Faustina was able to walk back to the castle walls by climbing the vines and heading back inside the fortress through a certain balcony. Although she didn't remember this part, she was still relieved she was back inside. The threat of having vultures devour her wouldn't be good, so she needed to be back inside no matter what.

Faustina's heavy heart was replaced with a determined one. Maybe she could thank Anakin for that. 

There was no use to cry over spilled milk. Everything he said was true, but how she would handle his words made the difference.

If she would be weak and let fear rule over her, then she's no better than the Faustina who couldn't even handle her own questions back at the king's castle. Faustina clenched the wood of her staff as she opened the balcony doors wide, welcoming the ghosts with her presence—

Faustina thumped her staff on the floor, summoning a magical circle that illuminated the room with a bright light, killing the apparitions in an instant.

There was no going back now to the weak person she once was.

"I won't always be around, Faustina." Eula's voice echoed in her mind. "Sooner or later, you will be on your own…"

"Yes, I know. I know, Eula." Faustina answered the voice resonating inside her as she saunters while swaying her staff to the apparitions that kept on advancing towards her.

From the start, she knew. When the king made it clear he would only give her orders, when Sheila displayed her distaste towards her, and when Orwell gave her the push saying it's all up to her now.

Faustina knew she couldn't rely on people all the time.

Which is why…

"I have to move forward alone!" 

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