The Mechanical Era

Danial lies on his bed, surrounded by men in white silk cloaks. These were the great mages meant to cure Danial of his sickness. They had managed to list out a couple of suspects and had initiated treatment for them.

However, as more and more of their medicines seemed ineffective, the list started to narrow to the possibly most dangerous diseases known to the realm. They were getting desperate, trying to at least diagnose him with something.

One man, with long brown hair, with coco brown eyes, and fair skin with a purple armband, named Jared Jaguar. He was the head mage of Nexert, and had been tasked with identifying and curing Danial.

"What's left on the list?" he asked while looking at one of his assistant mages.

"We have so far ruled out 16 different types of sicknesses."

"Out of how many?"

"16, sir."

"What?" he was surprised.

"Yes sir. It doesn't appear to be from a curse or anything."

"What are the symptoms again?"

"So far the symptoms appear to be pale skin, fatigue, chest pain, headache, diarrhea, and loss of mana."

Jared stood still hearing. He was thinking of all the diseases that had those symptoms. He turned to the king and asked him a simple question.

"Is your majesty in pain?"

"Yes. Very much so. My whole body hurts like hell." he said in a deceiving calm voice.

pαndα`noνɐ1--сoМ He shivered at what it meant. All the other mages knew what it was when they saw his face.

"Call his Majesty Corel. I need to speak to him instantly."

They followed his orders. Corel came, leaving his black tea behind. "What is it head mage? What makes you want my presence?"

"Your majesty, I might have identified King Danial's condition. He appears to have been feed poison which has caused a severe case of mana fever." Corel froze. The whole room was in utter silence.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes. There is nothing else that I could view as a viable alternative to the symptoms that are present. Besides, our spells were starting to not take effect. Which is the major symptom of mana fever."

"How long does he have to live?"

"It is not guaranteed that he would die as it is curable at this stage, but I assume about 2 months. Either that, or he survives a weak frail man, with his mana reserves permanently damaged. We can go through treatment, but it could take a month to see its effectiveness."

"This is bad. Has anyone informed Queen Malinda yet?"

"No sir. We haven't."

"Then go tell her! She needs to be informed about the condition. But!" He pointed at Jared. "Don't dare tell this to anyone else. I do not want this information to leak out. Got it?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. Because the last thing I want now is for all the hard work we build up to counter Rose to go to waste."

With that, Corel left for his study to write a letter to Salvatore, which took about 45 minutes. It was when he finished his letter is whether he should write to Danial's children over at Vallina and the assistant minister and knight commander over at Hoverdam.

'Definitely not Vallina. The letters will all be checked upon notice. If I sent one over there to inform them, Rose will definitely get to hear about the news, who will then spread it over the entire continent.

But what about Hoverdam? The assistant minister and knight commander over there might need this critical information, but then again, Salvator Humat might get to hear of it. Not guaranteed, but it is a possibility.

'I need to consult Malinda on this.' he thought to himself.

...

Jared was walking alongside 2 other mages with him. He was walking to the guest room that she stayed at. When they arrived at the door, he first cleaned his cloak and then knocked on the door.

The sound of her voice consenting came through the door to his ears, and Jared walked right into the room. Malinda was seen praying to god. When she saw that Jared was the one that had arrived, she immediately stood up and walked over to him. Hoping for the best.

"Head mage Jared, how is my husband? Is he okay?"

"Your majesty. I have come here from the orders from his excellency Corel Gendelburg, to inform you of your husband, his majesty Danial Maybale, of his sickness."

He took a deep breath.

"I believe that his majesty Danial had been poisoned, and is currently suffering from a severe case of mana fever."

"What?" she asked.

"A poison. We call it anti-mana poison for now. It causes a sickness called mana fever."

"Are you sure?!? I mean... is there nothing else?" Malinda did not want to believe it.

"All the symptoms point to it at least. Our spells are starting to be ineffective against his withering health. If he manages to survive, he will for sure become a weak man."

"..."

"There is a treatment, however."

"There is?"

"Yes, though it is unlikely for him to not lose any mana reserves, we can minimize the amount lost and minimize suffering."

...

Meanwhile, at Hoverdam, Kristina had arrived back at her office. She had gone out with a team to take down a stone golem causing havoc on the other side of the river. A stone golem was, as it sounds, a rock creature with a giant mana crystal on its head.

She had her team distract it when she swooped in for the kill, breaking the tough rock with the tip of her sword with a high amount of mana added. When she returned, she had to go to a smith to get a new one.

She got back to the papers, and the many orders she had to give out to keep this city safe. It was when at her work, someone had to knock on the door.

"Come in," she said. Kristina was surprised to see who it was. Cora, the personal maid of Prince Kant.

"What you want Miss Cora?"

"I came here to file a complaint."

"A complaint?"

"Yes, about Prince Kant's safety."