an illusion of mind

Bella received a letter from her father telling her to go back to the barony, and she had a feeling of why that is.

She walked through the streets, of prism, her eyes roaming over several students who just left class and were enjoying their time, she let out an audible sigh as she made her way to the warp gate.

She arrived and showed her royal class insignia to the guard, he let her walk through, she mentally inputted the coordinates into the gate, truly they were a marvel of magical development.

These warp gates only needed the coordinates of another gate and they will allow one to travel through space to get there.

Now all she needed to do is walk through the gate, Bella walked forward and felt the ground under her feet change as she walked out of the gate in another city, the barony she was born and raised on.

She made her way through the familiar streets, spotting a couple of familiar people on the way and greeting them, a shop store owner she used to frequent smiled at her and waved his hand.

"Bella! It's been such a long time! you've grown since I last saw you! Time sure flies by when you're not paying attention... anyways how's the academy been treating you?" The shop store owner asked her as he offered a warm smile.

"Well, I've made a lot of friends, and my studies are going well, Mid-terms are coming soon maybe in a few weeks... well it's been nice meeting you again mister Jeremy." Bella waved him off as she started walking away, "But I'm in a hurry, my father called me back to the barony..."

"ah, well say hi to the baron for me!" mister Jeremy waved at her as he continued sweeping the front of his store.

Bella didn't have time her father must have summoned her for something important if he's calling her at this time.

She finally arrived at a mansion so familiar to her, it was her home the place she spent most her time when she was younger...

She walked into the mansion and a couple of servants waved at her as she walked in, she greeted them back making her way to her father's office, where he usual stays.

She knocked on the door two times.

"Enter." a deep voice said from the other side giving permission for her to enter.

Bella opened the door slowly as she walked in, "I have arrived father." Bella bowed slightly.

"So you're back?" The baron smiled as he raised his eyebrows, "Why are you back so soon? did you miss us?" her father continued rubbing his well trimmed beard as he eyed her curiously.

Bella tilted her head in confusion looking around as if her father was joking, "But father... didn't you summon me back to the barony?" She asked tilting her head to the side.

The baron frowned, "I don't recall ever summoning you back to the barony..." he said as he looked down in deep thought.

"Then who sent this letter?" Bella fetched the letter from her back pocket and handed the letter to her father.

her father took the letter and read it, "It isn't me who wrote this..." Her father's frown deepened.

"Then who could ha-" They were interrupted as a new presence could be felt with them in the room.

"Hello, mister Cadell." Bella hair stood on end as she looked down at the chair in front of her father's desk, sitting there was an individual wearing a suit with a necktie, he sat as if he owned the place he had brown hair with dark brown eyes, he looked to be no younger than 19 years old.

Bella couldn't even sense him, yet he was sitting there like it was nothing.

She almost drew her sword when the boy held up a hand, "I'm not here for any hostile reason... I'm just here to deliver a message..." The boy spoke up.

"Who sent you?" Her father spoke up in a cold tone as he looked at the boy who simply fetched something in his pocket, he held up a device that simply looked like a metal rod and handed it to the baron.

The baron was cautious with the device not knowing what it was, he took it and the boy pointed at a button in the side of the device.

"press the button."

The baron paused, "Not until you tell me who sent you..." He glanced at Bella who was standing there confused her hand on her sheathed sword.

"press the button everything will be explained..."

The baron finally decided to comply, he pressed the button and a blue hologram extended from the metal rod displaying a message.

Greetings mister Cadell.

Our organization has noticed a couple of unusual activity occurring in your territory and we have decided to extend a helping hand, and in return you will fulfil one simple request of ours.

The baron's eyes widened as he looked towards the boy, "Who sent you?" He practically spat at the boy who simply waved a hand in annoyance.

"It doesn't matter, now answer, yes or no?" The boy spoke up.

"I want to hear this request of yours first..." The baron spoke up, Bella was confused she was not following the conversation at all.

"and I would also like to know why you brought my daughter here..." The baron turned his eyes towards Bella, the letter she had received was a forged one they had somehow replicated her father's handwriting and baited her to go back to the barony...

"Well first off, this request involves your daughter, that's why we brought her here, second off, we want to insert a certain medicine that will help your daughter strengthen herself..." The boy said as he prepared himself, he knew that suddenly asking a father to let some shady people inject his daughter with an unknown medicine would not bring about the best of reactions.

"Absolutely not! Even if you would help me with the problem I will simply not hand over my daughter to some strange people!" The baron practically yelled.

seriously why did they send him on this mission? And it's from the big boss too so it can't be rejected... What the hell are they thinking...

"Okey... hear me out, I know this sounds strange but this medicine will help your daughter out in the long run! You might not believe me but your daughter has... Mana Fever... and it could act up at any moment..." The boy leaned in closer and whispered in his ear.

The baron's eyes widened and he gritted his teeth, "I know she does! But it is simply impossible to cure her of this, do you really expect me to believe you have the means to do it?"

"You don't have to trust us you can simply just see the results..." The boy pulled out a paper sheet from his pocket and handed it to the baron.

"This is a graph of Mana fever patients before and after the cure was inserted into their blood stream." The boy said.

The baron's eyes bulged showing a little hope but then he shook his head, "This can easily be fabricated, How should I trust you?" Bella's father glared at the boy.

"haa~ alright, I have two of these cures for a reason, I will inject myself with it and show you that it's not poisoned." The boy said as he took out a syringe with clear liquid and injected himself with it, he pushed the syringe's contents into his blood stream and put the syringe back on the desk, the baron watched with baited breath as he waited for anything to happen.

after a few minutes of nothing the boy spoke up, "see? it's not poison, so let us just try this on your daughter and we would see immediate results."

The baron pursed his lips before he sighed, "Fine, Bella come over here."

Bella obeyed and walked over, If what the boy was saying is true... that she would finally be rid of this sickness... She hoped with all her heart that the cure was actually a cure for mana fever...

Mana fever was a sickness that one received from birth, It causes the victim to not be able to use their mana and if they were to ever try to, their mana would go on a rampage and they would simply destroy themselves along with their surroundings.

There is no proven cure for this sickness so Bella couldn't hope more for this supposed cure to work...

she stretched her arm out and waited as the boy injected the syringe into her blood stream, she waited and waited but nothing happened, she opened her eyes and looked around, "Am I not supposed to feel anything?"

The boy answered her, "No that's normal, You should be able to use your mana now." he said and Bella in her excitement immediately tried to do it, a small blue tendril extended from her finger tip outwards and wiggled around before dissipating.

Tears streamed down her face as she finally broke down and started crying, Finally... Finally... I can finally improve more... I can finally fight Arron on equal footing now...

The baron's eyes bulged as he watched this, he turned to the boy and yelled out, "How?!"

"That information is confidential, And as stated in the deal, we will also help you with the certain 'situation' in your territory, five days from now agents from our organization will be sent to eradicate the undead brewing in the territory."

The baron gritted his teeth, "What is the catch?"

The boy turn back and raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?" The baron glared at him, "You cured my daughter and are willing to get rid of the undead gathering in my territory, there has to be a catch, there is no possible way that a selfless organization could exist..."

The boy shrugged, "I couldn't even tell you if I knew, Information is confidential, I think only our boss knows..." He said before he walked out of the office.

Bella continued to cry as she finally rid herself of the only thing holding her back.

Normally a warrior must improve their physic first before improving their mana or mana quality, Bella had already improved her physic plenty but she could not improve her mana quality as she could not use it because of the sickness, So she was obviously incredibly happy to finally be able to improve her mana and get stronger.

She had thought that she no longer would be a match for Arron because she no longer was able to improve, but now... Now she can finally get stronger.

Her father crouched down next to her and put a hand on her back, "Don't be too happy yet Bella... There is no way that organization is simply gonna leave you alone now..." He narrowed his eyes on the door as he sighed.

"Go back to the academy... You still have to study.

Bella wiped tears of joy from her face as she nodded.

She would go back to the academy and she would first... she would go into solitary training and self study... she would make sure to apologize to Arron afterwards for not being able to train with him...