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Mid Evening - Late Winter : Ampelos

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"Hm..." Staring into the set of papers in front of him, an older, silver-scaled Elder let out a conflicted breath. "I'm not sure we can do anything with this."

"W-What do you mean? You're telling me you're going to send your investigators into a place where the temperature can't be regulated by normal means?

We tested twelve different spells, and not one did anything!

Even if you surround yourself with the coldest air you can imagine, your body temperature will still skyrocket! "

Not amused, the older man's gaze snapped to the white-feathered girl with a mix of annoyance and hesitance. "Look, I know you're worried, but we don't have a choice. We need some kind of solution, but it's too large for containment solutions to work. You know that as well as I."

"Yes, but the people you send there are going to get cooked alive! You can't seriously be okay with that?!"

"We will take measures to make sure that won't hap-"

"IT WILL! Their blood will literally boil if they even try to approach the water."

"Haah..." Clearly not wanting to deal with her, the older man lowered his head with a sigh, flicking his tail as he thought.

"At most, we can postpone the expedition a few days.

The city doesn't have that many supplies left, and the team from Atlas should be here soon. We can't afford to delay them..."

"That's fine," Lowering her head, her feathers flared out before her gaze turned conflicted. "I just need.. more time..."

*Knock-Knock* Hearing knocking on the door, both of them quickly turned to see an armored guard lowering his head. "Sorry to intrude, but a valued guest has arrived."

"Huh?" *Creaaaak* Watching us walk in as the door opened, the older dragon's posture straightened and wings flared slightly. "I apologize if I'm being rude, but I wasn't expecting guests I didn't recognize today."

"I see," Flaring my wings out slightly as well, just as high nobility would, I spoke somewhat formally. "I apologize for coming without notice, then. However," Pulling out my ID, I quickly showed him the Ragnarok insignia. "By the sounds of things, you guys could use some help."

Suddenly jolting, the man tensed before pulling his wings into his side. "Ah, I see..." Likely assuming I was some sort of envoy or messenger, he eased after another moment. "Are you the one coming ahead of the Atlas team?"

Quickly shaking my head, I walked out into the middle of the office before stopping. "I am not, however, based on what this young lady just said, I think you guys might need me to take care of it."

The young girl's eyes immediately lit up.

But the man was hesitant. "As much as I'd wish to oblige, that may not be something I can agree to."

-Hoh?- Taken a bit by surprise, my eyes turned from the wall of books back to him. "And why is that?"

"You, regardless of your connection to the Ragnaroks, are of a status I cannot afford to be held liable for. If something happens to you, and I was the one to grant you permission, the liability would fall on this research tower."

-Ah, I see...- "So the group coming from Atlas must have certain qualifications then."

"Y-yes." His expression quickly darkened. "Because they are documented professionals, they are liable for their own decisions."

"Hm, I see..." -Should I just go on my whim then?- Taking a moment to think, I started skimming through a number of the pages scattered around the room to get a better idea of the situation.

But before I got any ideas, the feathered girl interjected. "S-Sir! What did I say that makes you think we will need you?"

-Hm?- Taken aback by her genuine tone, asking not condescendingly, but rather curiously, I paused my thoughts.

"The type of 'heat' you were describing is called radiation, likely a pretty intense one at at.

In some cases, it can heat up objects through vacuums or through cold air without heating the air up much. "

"But if that's the case, how is it contained?"

"With something dense. It's why your body absorbs it so much more intensely than the air you're trying to shield yourself with."

Pausing, the girl fell into thought before, with her eyes gleaming, she turned back to the older man.

"I will take responsibility for them!" Snapping back to me, she looked like she was staring at a mound of gold.

"If you'd like to come back to my research facility, I can have all our data organized for you within an hour or two, and if things go well, we can head out to the restricted area tomorrow. Does that work?"

-Woah...- Taken aback by her explosive ambition, I stared into her determined gaze for a moment before finally deciding to give it a go. "Alright, that does work."

"Perfect!" Hopping up, she immediately sucked up dozens of papers scattered around the room before turning for the door.

But she was rather quickly stopped by the older man again. "You don't have permission to do anything but observe and study the site. This gentleman will need permission from me if he wants to attempt to get closer."

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Stopping in her tracks, the girl lowered her head and fell into thought.

But I had an idea. "Then why don't we wait until the crew from Atlas arrives? I imagine I could get permission from them, yes?" Knowing full well I was just being formal, and wouldn't ask anyone for permission, Hera quickly shot me a glance.

But thankfully he didn't know me like she did. "That can work. In that case, you can't get within the inner barrier." Looking back at the girl, his gaze turned stern. "I trust you will ensure they do not cross the researchers' barrier."

"Of course." Giving a very shallow, formal nod, she quickly turned back to me with her gathered stack of papers in hand. "In any case, please follow me. It's not a long walk, but if you would like to stop somewhere to eat please feel free. I can head over and get things sorted while you eat."

But Hera was quick to shake her head. "That's alright, let's head straight back."

Nodding, the girl quickly, but nervously, continued through the door. "As you wish."

Just like that we started making our way out of the spire, saving conversation until we finally got outside where she turned around to introduce herself.

"Sorry for my rudeness earlier when we passed each other here at the entrance, as well as my informalities up to this point.

" Bowing, she raised her tail and spread her wings.

Exactly as lower nobility would.

But she straightened up and continued before I could think much.

"My name is Chioni, Chioni Psychros. I'm a mana and magic analyst who recently graduated from the Academy, specializing in Natural Research and Mana Studies.

" Adjusting her glasses with the claw of her wing, she looked me in the eyes with a very calculated and unwavering look.

"In the few years I've been working though, I can't say I've ever spoken to someone. . of your stature..."

Tilting my head, I motioned her to get moving so we could talk while we walked. "What do you mean by that?"

"W-Well, when you spoke about 'radiation' a moment ago, you spoke about it like it was common knowledge, yet it's something I have never heard of, even in concept. The only people who speak about stuff like that are far more knowledgeable than they let on."

-Hm...- "How are you certain it isn't more common knowledge?"

As if knowing I was testing her, she responded without hesitation. "I read every book in the Academy library while I was there. Even when it comes to the latest studies, I can at least connect them to some older theories. However, with radiation, I can't even connect it to a proposed concept."

"Ah, so you must have graduated before everything went down."

Knowing exactly what I was referring to she quickly nodded with a somewhat remorseful look.

"Yes... Thankfully, I've heard recently that a number of noble families, including the Ragnaroks are contributing to repopulating the library.

Some have even said they will replace every book that was destroyed but I'm not sure that's possible. .."

-Ah, we must be using the Library of Eternity for it...- "I wouldn't be so pessimistic. Even if the books they're replacing won't be the originals, the content will still be the same.

Tensing a bit, she quickly turned her gaze to watch where she was walking. "I'm glad you're hopeful..."

Continuing down the street, we rather quickly made a few turns while maintaining more idle conversation before eventually reaching a smaller building that looked like a repurposed tavern.

According to her, it was where her study group generally worked, and while she apologized for how small and messy it was with tens of thousands of sprawled-out papers, it was a fairly cozy place.

"Sorry for the mess..." Cautiously moving stacks of papers out from the middle of the room, she made a path for us up to the bar before pulling out a number of boxes and sorting papers from them.

"This was the only place I could afford after spending nearly every coin my family saved to send me to the Academy.

.. I know it's a bit rundown, but I'm hoping to renovate everything when I get the money. .."

-I see...- Looking around the place with my aura, I quickly found that she was essentially living off nothing, with a makeshift bedroom where she slept on the hard floor, and a freezer full of self-caught food that was so crudely processed she had to of done it herself.

"Did you buy this place for the festival? "

Quickly shaking her head, her wings clamped to her side. "I can't afford to celebrate in that.. although I do plan to go to Atlas to see the 'Announcement Of The Monarch', I really don't have the money or influence to get anything from traveling... In any case, please look at this."

Handing me a small stack of papers laden with data, I quickly shifted gears.

Generally, the information was observational data, things from look and temperature to mana levels and scale. -It's a lot bigger than expected though...-

Stretching about eight kilometers, and evaporating water so fast a slope could be measured in the surrounding sea level, it was a colossal mass of heat.

So colossal, my original theories of it being a burning reactor core were thrown aside.

-That much heat... It almost reminds me of antimatter burnoff.

..- Thinking back to the Sirathan Acardi lab letting its battery drain in a burst, I started questioning whether this wasn't something similar.

-I don't remember any facilities being near there though.

. and antimatter shouldn't give off much hard particle radiation like she described. ..-

To be blunt, it sounded more like what I would expect from neutron radiation than gamma rays. -But unless it's a giant vein of uranium burning off, it makes no sense...-

It even puzzled Hera.

But it only got worse the more we read.

Continuing to look through other data, reading that material decay was accelerated in the area, and that the mana levels seemed to directly correlate to the changes in heat from the radiation, I was honestly at a loss for words.

Looking over at Hera, I was literally throwing darts at a dart board. "I couldn't just be a huge uranium vein that was set off.. could it?"

Shaking her head, she couldn't shake the puzzled look from her face either. "I.. have no idea... Is that kind of thing possible?"

Nodding, I showed her another datasheet talking about the weirdly steady heat intensity as you approached the water.

"With how steady it is, it almost feels like the output of a fission reactor, but to put out that much heat it'd have to be massive and to have that kind of radiation, there is no way it's lined.

.." And well, uncontained reactors weren't something even I could start.

So, after some more discussion and theorizing, we decided to travel to the site itself, making our way out to the island just across the channel.

But what we ended up finding was the last thing we could have imagined.

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