NOVEL NEXT 80 – The General After Intimidating an Army
Chapter 80 - The General After Intimidating an Army
Nathan Evenhart:
I was in my aunt’s room with my mother, Chloe, and Kinue. After that incident in the forest, where I got a little too angry with the tigers and accidentally overdid it, we returned to the party. Since dinner had already been served, we ate just a little and received permission to leave without it being seen as an offense. The guests could continue enjoying the party, which would last until morning, but we decided to return to our rooms, where I was getting a scolding from my mother.
"You wanted to just scare the tigers!? You call that ‘scaring’? Do you realize the chaos you caused? Everyone was alerted, Nathan Evenhart!" she said, while pulling my ear again.
"Sorry, Mom! I swear I didn’t mean to…" I replied, pulling my head to the side, trying to escape the punishment.
It wasn’t my fault! It was that damn headache that irritated me, and my mana channels were a mess at that moment. I didn’t mean to unleash that much power.
Due to the period of awakening my Special Eyes, my power was becoming unpredictable because of the chaotic mana circulation. My mana was being consumed to create the eyes, but at the same time, as they were forming, it wasn’t using as much mana anymore, which caused an imbalance with the leftover energy in the Gem.
My goal was to intimidate the tigers with the threat of my killer gaze, but the pain activated my elemental mana, causing havoc with lightning in the sky. Last year, I accidentally discovered that I could mix the elemental mana of Wind and Thunder, speeding up a cloud in the sky and charging it with energy. Basically, if my lightning touched a cloud, it could cause a small storm.
My intention was to use the killing intent to make those tigers understand their place and not dare to challenge an ancient god again. The problem was that I activated my element through my eyes, not my hands. I didn’t even know that was possible.
Could it be because my eyes are creating a new mana channel? Maybe…
"What’s your excuse, Nathan Evenhart?" My mother asked, using my full name. She was definitely upset.
"I think it’s alright, Katie. No one got hurt in the chaos he caused, and you’re going to end up giving him elf ears from all that pulling," my aunt Margie said, laughing and trying to calm my mother down.
Thank you, Aunt Margie!
My mother sighed, visibly trying to calm herself.
"Nathan, remember our agreement? No showing off your abilities or drawing attention!" she said, with a tone of warning.
"Sorry…" I replied, lowering my head.
Kinue approached me and gave a few pats on my back. Seeing that, my mother seemed to relax a bit more, realizing that she might have been overreacting, even though she was right.
Thank you for saving me, Kinue!
Since my magical talent started increasing, I began creating more and more offensive spells. The problem is that the current power of my Gem, combined with my elemental power, is a dangerous mix. Since the Thunder element is naturally offensive, I was forbidden from using it unnecessarily while my mana channels are volatile, as it’s not safe… for other people.
"Is Nate in trouble?" Chloe asked.
My mother seemed to calm down even more, noticing that even Chloe was concerned.
Thank you, Chloe! I owe you one!
"He’s not in trouble... just barely. Whatever he did caused a commotion with the soldiers outside. They were spouting nonsense about a divine voice and other crazy things. They were so scared of the thunder Nathan unleashed that some said they’re afraid to sleep."
"Hahahahaha," my aunt Margie burst out laughing as she sat on the bed.
My mother shot Aunt Margie a stern look to stop her from laughing at the situation.
"In the end, everything turned out fine. My nephew is safe, and there were no accidents. I think it was fair, considering how they treated us at that party," Aunt Margie remarked.
My mother sighed, deciding to drop the subject. I chose to stay silent to avoid further scolding. She sat down and picked up a cup of water.
"Katie, there’s no need to blame Nathan. It’s over. No one would believe that thunder was caused by a little boy, even though he’s the only one here with that element. After what happened today, it’s better to keep Nathan’s element a secret for a while longer, just as a precaution."
They continued discussing other topics, and luckily, the incident resolved itself. Everything was seen as a strange weather phenomenon, and the drunk king even started rambling about how the heavens were congratulating his son since rain is considered a positive sign for the harvest.
"Nate... and what about the story with those tigers?" As soon as I heard Kinue mention it, I placed my hand over her mouth.
"Let that topic die... I don’t want my mother to start scolding me again," I whispered, and she nodded in agreement.
I can’t tell my mother about the killing intent or I’d have to explain where I learned it. But if she asked about the tigers, I had the excuse that the thunder scared them.
"I’m glad you managed to scare the tigers away. I wouldn’t want to lose you," Chloe said sadly.
I hugged my worried cousin. I could see that she genuinely cared about me, and I valued that.
"Don’t worry, I have no intention of leaving you," I said to reassure her.
Chloe nodded and smiled again. I looked over at my mother and Aunt Margie, who were now discussing the export of supplies and suppliers. Since the topic was complex, I took the opportunity to get up and leave before my mother’s anger returned.
"Where do you think you’re going, young man?" my mother called out.
Oops!
"I’ve calmed down, don’t worry. Come here, I want to see your face, I want to make sure you’re alright," she said.
I walked over to them, and both checked my eyes. My mother and Aunt Margie sighed in relief.
"Your eyes are normal. They’re not red, and they haven’t changed color," said my aunt.
"I want to go home as soon as possible. I know no one would do anything, but after so many years without anyone awakening the Special Eyes… it would draw too much attention to you," my mother said, worried.
She’s afraid someone might try to take them from me…
"You can go, my dear. It’ll probably be like before, and it’ll take a long time for you to feel pain again, but if you have another episode, come to us," Aunt Margie said.
I nodded and left the room, heading toward mine. It wasn’t far, as I shared the room with my mother.
"What a mess happened here. It suddenly started raining," someone in the hallway remarked.
I turned around and saw the mysterious red-haired woman passing by me.
"Very strange... you know how it is, nature is unpredictable, hehe," I said, trying to play it off.
I continued walking to my room, and she followed me, which left me intrigued.
"Are you also from the upper nobility? This area is exclusive to that class," I asked, curious.
The red-haired woman stopped and leaned slightly toward me, a playful smile on her lips.
"I’ll answer you if you tell me what you know about that rain," she said with a provocative look.
"Good night, miss..." I murmured, trying to avoid the conversation.
She let out a soft laugh and continued walking.
"Good night, kid... see you around," she said as she turned the corner of the hallway.
That red-haired woman doesn’t seem like an ordinary person.
I paused for a moment to analyze the situation.
Night Killers are spies... could she be one of those secret police agents?
I decided to let it go for now since I had plenty of other problems to deal with. When I finally reached my room, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
We could have taken a double room, but Kinue would have had to stay in a separate area, where the servants of the families sleep, so we got a second room in the mansion and left her with our aunt and Chloe.
"What a day... I really stirred up a mess," I murmured, exhausted.
If I had lost my temper like that inside the hall, I would have caused serious damage to the ceiling... My mother is right. It was risky to play with my powers during the pain crisis from the mana channel forging.
"I found it entertaining. It's been a while since there was any action," Athena said, sitting in an armchair.
"Leave me alone, I’m going to sleep. I used up too much mana, and now I want to rest," I muttered, throwing myself onto the bed and closing my eyes.
When will these Special Eyes finally awaken? I had to stop my advanced practice with the thunder element because of the chaos in my mana channels. I just want to get back to testing those dangerous things soon...