Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

An aging man with a long, white beard and balding head sat at a table surrounded with similarly decrepit old people. The table they sat around was octagonal in shape and each face sat a chair, with each chair hosting a person. All eight of them glanced about the room nervously, save one.

The only person who was acting as though nothing was wrong was the infamous Wally Carmichael. He had joined his colleagues of the Arcadian Royal Academy's Magical Studies branch in their main gathering hall. Each seat was meant for a representative of the different areas of study.

The primary studies performed at the academy included; Elemental Magic, Transcendent Magic, Light Magic, Dark Magic, Enchantment, Arts, Alchemy (which included the study of magical flora and fauna), and finally, Marks.

Wally was the head of the research on Marks and though he had very little in terms of staffing and facilities, he was an exceptionally powerful mage and that fact had earned him a 'seat at the table' so to speak.

"Has anyone pinpointed the source?" the head of the Elemental Magic department asked, finally cutting through the tension in the room.

What they were all gathered here for was that while classes were being held during the day there was a massive surge in an unknown energy source. Following the initial burst were a series of much smaller flashes.

Though the first was able to be detected by their most sensitive magical specialists, the subsequent smaller bursts were only detected thanks to specialized equipment installed in a number of labs that were used to monitor the concentration of mana in an object or area.

"So far no one has located the source location. There have also been no additional events since. Whatever it was that caused it seemed to have been a single occurrence." The elderly woman heading the Alchemy Department stated.

"Would it not be foolish to assume that such an event would be isolated? If it happened once, it is possible to happen again. And if it happens again then it can happen many more times."

"He's right, it is idiotic and dangerous to assume it was a singular incident, What if it happens again? What if the thing that caused it were to attack us?"

A few of the department heads continued to argue with one another while Wally just sat there patiently. When the voices started to calm down a little, he asked, "Has the Alchemy Department detected any movements or changes in behavior of the identified S-Rank beasts? It has been a long time since a few of them woke up.

I would not put it past Fenrir or one of the ancient dragons to cause something like this. At least from what I have read of the tales."

The alchemy head shook her head. "No that is one of the first things I had checked. I used our communication crystals to reach out to our monitoring teams and there have been no signs of any disturbances with the S-Rank beasts in Arcadios. I did find out that none of the other nations' institutions detected anything like we did, so whatever happened does seem centralized to our homeland."

Wally pondered for a moment. He felt something familiar about the sensation of the strange pulse that rocked the nation's leading academics. Thankfully only the most advanced of Magic and Arts users were able to detect the incident or panic might have been widespread.

The flow of the energy seemed similar to Mana Manipulation and Channeling, things that he was highly proficient at, but it also was not quite the same, simply a similarity. Similar was a strong word though, as the similarities between what he knew and this energy were about as comparable as an apple to an orange, both were fruit and both grew on trees, but that was about it.

"Director Carmichael, you seem lost in thought, care to share your opinions with the rest of us?" Wally was brought back to the space around him by the obnoxiously nasally voice that belonged to the director of the Light Magic Department.

"Mmm… not sure. It reminded me of Channeling in a way, but also not." Wally answered with a wave, though his hand froze halfway as a bolt of curiosity struck. "Say…some of us, namely me, can use Channeling… of course that uses mana…but what if someone used the same technique… on a mark!?"

Wally's eyes were wide with excitement, but no one in the room seemed keen on entertaining his flight of fancy.

Most likely the reason for that was that he had not so gently reminded them that he was the only person in the room who could use Channeling, a form of mana manipulation that circulated mana throughout the entire body evenly allowing the user to potentially even cast magic or use skills from Arts without using an activation phrase.

It also had the added bonus of increasing their strength and imbuing each attack with raw energy of the type of mana being channeled.

"You old coot! Are you simply trying to one up us again?" the Light Director shouted.

Others in the room grumbled with disdain at Wally who shrugged his shoulders in resignation before leaning back into his chair and beginning to clean under his nails in boredom. He waited patiently for the final guest to arrive.

The moment he felt the pulse he was aware of one other person who was sensitive to changes brought on by such events even though that person had no Compatibilities with any Arts or Magic.

As if on cue, the sounds of heeled shoes echoed through the halls outside the rooms. The reverberation of the distinct clacking sound also caught the notice of the other heads as they silenced themselves to wait for whoever it was that would enter. Due to the measured steps being taken, it was someone of some higher status.

Of course, Wally already knew who it was, he asked her to come after all!

The doors to their meeting chamber opened slowly, two guards entered first and flanked the door, followed by an exceptionally beautiful woman who wore a floor length dress that threatened to kiss the ground. Her steps continued to echo throughout the room as the Department Heads were in awe of who entered. She had long, blonde hair and bright, silver eyes.

"Hello, I am Adelia, the Oracle of Arcadios. A pleasure to meet you all." Her voice was as smooth as silk and captured the attention of all those in attendance. It was not every day that they would see the Oracle.

Normally she was never allowed to leave the castle, however Wally had many strings he could pull and he had started a personal relationship with Lady Adellia many years ago during his time as a court mage.

The woman turned to face him and flashed him a kind smile before continuing. "I also brought with me my daughter, Lyrah who will be attending this Academy starting today as an underclassman."

Behind her a pretty, teen girl with black hair and similar eyes to her mother came forward and gave a slight curtsy. Just behind her was yet another individual who wore standard maid clothes and had stark white hair.

"T-t-to what do we owe this pleasure, Lady Oracle."

Though many of the guards in the tower have long graduated past the shock of seeing the Oracle and now viewed her no differently than other Marked Ones, to most others she was still a nearly mythical being.

"My dear grandfather invited me to discuss the surge. I am here to attempt to divine a prophecy connected to this surge. Shall we begin?"

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