Chapter 8
The Mana Reactor is leaking? My first reaction was—that’s impossible, right? Although I don’t know much about magic and stuff, I’ve never heard of the Mana Reactor having any problems in my entire life.
Sister Aijieliya had been in a pretty good mood, but her expression immediately darkened upon hearing this news. She opened the door and let Teacher Mei Lin in. Lian Qi and Qifeng were also standing outside the door.
“What’s a Mana Reactor?” Lian Qi asked.
“You’re a transmigrator from another dimension, so it’s normal not to know. Simply put, the Mana Reactor is a large-scale magic transmitter that wirelessly delivers magic power to all the Magic-Crystals in the kingdom,” Teacher Mei Lin replied.
“Like the lights we use every day, the Flame Magic-Crystals for cooking, and the hot water for bathing—they all use magic power supplied by the Mana Reactor,” I said, my bottom still a little sore, so I leaned against the wall… speaking listlessly.
“Huh? It can actually do wireless transmission!?” For some reason, Lian Qi looked very surprised. She turned to look at me, her brow furrowing— “What’s wrong with you?”
“It’s nothing—!” I gave a weak laugh. Although what just happened in the room was only Sister collecting my saliva for research… the process was indescribable. I didn’t dare tell Lian Qi…
“What are we still standing here for? Has Professor Einstein of the White Tower been contacted?”
As soon as Sister mentioned the White Tower, I remembered I still hadn’t told her about the Druid matter.
“We’ve already sent someone to find him,” Teacher Mei Lin replied.
“Then you and I will head to the scene first—”
“I want to go too.”
She glanced at me quickly but didn’t reject my request. She probably figured that time was of the essence and she didn’t have time to argue with me, right?
Sister waved her magic robe, covering all of us inside it, and in the blink of an eye, she took us all away.
I felt like I was swept away by a gust of wind, traveling rapidly through the dark night. The buildings on both sides flashed past my eyes like a revolving lantern.
I heard Teacher Mei Lin loudly reminding Sister Aijieliya: “Don’t get too close to the Mana Reactor! It’s too dangerous!”
Hearing Teacher Mei Lin, Sister Aijieliya abruptly halted the teleportation magic. I looked out. The high tower of the Mana Reactor was about a hundred meters away, towering into the clouds.
Following that, even though smog shrouded the night sky, it couldn’t hide the reactor’s shell, which was glowing red-hot.
“Why does the Mana Reactor… look like a piece of red-hot iron just taken out of a furnace,” I sighed softly as I looked up at it. The continuous waves of heat washing over us made it hard for me to breathe.
“The magic array that keeps it running has malfunctioned! But there’s no way to make it stop! That’s causing it to overheat! And then—” Just as Teacher Mei Lin finished speaking, the reactor’s red-hot tower shot out colorful coils of magic power in all directions! They struck nearby buildings, which burst into flames one after another! One of the beams happened to strike the ground just a few meters away from us, blasting open a deep crater. That was close! “—the magic power is leaking out just like this!”
“Have the nearby residents been evacuated?”
“Yes! We have to find a way to cool it down first! Otherwise, the entire Royal Capital will be in danger,” Sister said calmly and collectedly.
“Right now, the reactor’s shell needs to be cooled with water!” Sister Mei Lin reminded loudly.
“Cooling magic power with water—? …”
“That tower is so high it pierces the clouds… How much water would that even take?”
“Leave the water part to me.” As soon as Sister Aijieliya finished speaking, she rose into the air amidst the relentless waves of heat.
“Sister is going to…?”
In the blink of an eye, Sister had flown as high as the Mana Reactor. To be honest, I was quite worried about her. Those colorful magic coils the reactor was shooting out from time to time don’t have eyes!
“Children, it’s too dangerous here! You should get away from this place!” Teacher Mei Lin advised us.
“Qifeng! What’s that?” Qifeng pointed in one direction. fix
We looked in the direction she was pointing. It was near the bank of the Lucerne River. Lian Qi exclaimed, “A waterspout?”
It turned out Sister Aijieliya had used magic to create a tornado, sweeping up the water from the river, and it was moving toward the Mana Reactor! This was the first time I’d ever seen a tornado cross a road so orderly, without disturbing the houses on either side at all. It was enough to see Sister Aijieliya’s mastery over magic.
While we were staring up, stunned, the tornado got closer and closer to us.
“Hey, what are you still standing there for?”
Just then, Sister appeared behind us and teleported us away in the nick of time, just as the tornado was about to crush us.
I, Lian Qi, Qifeng, and Teacher Mei Lin were all moved to a safe place. The moment my feet touched the ground, I looked toward the Mana Reactor. The waterspout collided head-on with the red-hot reactor. Accompanied by a blood-curdling sound of metal cooling, steam engulfed everything before my eyes!
In the vast expanse of white, I grabbed the hand of the person next to me… This feeling… it’s Lian Qi’s hand, right?
Lian Qi didn’t pull away; instead, she gripped my hand even tighter.
“Did it cool down?” she asked.
“There’s too much steam, I can’t see clearly—”
As soon as Teacher Mei Lin finished speaking, Sister gave a light wave of her hand, using wind magic to disperse the steam in front of us.
We saw that the Mana Reactor’s shell finally no longer looked like a piece of red-hot iron just taken from a furnace.
“The Headmaster is so amazing,” Qifeng couldn’t help but exclaim.
“It’s just fortunate that the Lucerne River flows through the Royal Capital.”
“But the problem is, this has only cooled it down temporarily. The magic array keeping it running has malfunctioned. We can’t stop it at all. It will overheat again later!” Sister Mei Lin said, her face full of anxiety.
Sister asked, “Professor Einstein isn’t here yet?”
“He’s on his way!”
“If we forcibly interrupt the magic array that keeps it running, will it stop?” Lian Qi asked.
“Yes… that’s right.” Sister Mei Lin looked at Lian Qi with some confusion, seemingly not understanding the point of her question.
Lian Qi formed a fist and held it to the corner of her lips, coughing lightly. She spoke with great earnestness: “Since he isn’t here yet, then let me give it a try. I’m pretty good at destruction magic.”
“Ehh!?” I stared at her in surprise. “Isn’t that dangerous?”
“No matter what, it’s not more dangerous than you taking on the Death-Wielder alone, is it?” She looked at me with one hand on her hip, looking a bit defiant.
“Sister, isn’t it dangerous to approach the reactor’s interior right now?” I asked again.
Sister glanced at the Mana Reactor, which had just cooled down but was already starting to heat up again.
“I’ll use magic to take Lian Qi inside. If it doesn’t work, I’ll bring her right back out.”
She turned to look at Lian Qi. “Are you willing to try it?”
Lian Qi nodded.
“Time is short!” Sister glanced again at the gradually heating reactor.
“We should only have a few minutes left before it overheats again. Enough talk. Let’s go.”