Chapter 96: The Mystery of the Cube 1
When the doors of the manor finally appeared before them, Adam felt a wave of the day’s fatigue wash over him all at once.
The conversation with Vespera had made the journey surprisingly pleasant, to the point that he had almost forgotten his aching muscles and the numerous sessions that had followed one after another since morning.
Almost.
As soon as they crossed the threshold, his body reminded him of reality.
Vespera finally released his arm as they approached the dining room.
Adam glanced at her.
"I suppose you’re starting again tomorrow?"
"Probably."
"At least you’re honest."
They went inside together.
As he expected, the others were already there.
Isadora was in her usual place.
Elena was chatting with Selene nearby, while Shiora was still consulting a document despite the late hour. Elaria had placed several sheets of paper next to her plate, and Lyriana, more composed, seemed simply to be waiting for their arrival.
Selene was the first to notice them.
Her gaze briefly drifted down to Vespera.
Then to Adam’s arm.
A particularly satisfied smile appeared on his face.
Adam saw it immediately.
"Don’t start."
"I didn’t say anything."
"You were going to."
"Maybe."
Vespera calmly went to sit down as if nothing unusual had happened.
Adam took his seat.
No sooner had he sat down than he grabbed something to eat, his motivation obvious enough to make Elena smile.
"Tough day?"
"I don’t even know which part of my body is supposed to be rested anymore." "
Elaria adjusted her glasses.
"Your injuries have been treated."
Adam looked at her.
"I never said I was injured."
"You came from the Tower with Vespera."
Vespera replied calmly:
"Several temporary fractures. Nothing serious."
Adam’s hand hovered over his plate.
The entire table turned to look at him.
Selene seemed particularly interested.
"Several?"
Adam immediately pointed his fork in her direction.
"Don’t take this as a competition."
"I wasn’t going to say anything."
"I know you well enough now to know that’s not true."
A few laughs rippled through the table.
Dinner began in this relaxed atmosphere.
Adam ate with considerable appetite as the conversation shifted from the day’s activities to the Reversi preparations, then to reports from the city.
After a few minutes, Lyriana put down her cutlery.
"I received a reply from my mother."
The sentence was enough to divert everyone’s attention.
Adam immediately slowed down.
"Astraea?"
Lyriana nodded.
"I contacted her today as planned. She’d like to see us."
Isadora immediately understood the implication.
"She still can’t leave the World Tree."
"No."
A slight weariness crossed Lyriana’s eyes.
"The situation doesn’t yet allow her to be away long enough to come to Valoria. She doesn’t even know when she’ll be able to do so without leaving too many responsibilities behind." "
Adam remembered the explanations about Astraea perfectly.
Chief Guardian of the World Tree.
Oversees the joint affairs of the High Elves and Dark Elves.
It wasn’t exactly the kind of position one abandoned for several days on a whim.
Lyriana continued:
"So she’s inviting us to come."
Adam put down his fork.
He had expected to meet Astraea soon.
But not necessarily in this way.
Shiora submitted her report.
"It’s not a bad solution."
Elaria agreed.
"I have to go back there anyway."
Adam turned his head toward her.
That simplified things considerably.
Isadora thought for a few moments before asking:
"How long would it take you to prepare for your departure?"
Elaria didn’t seem to need to think for long.
"One day is enough. I mainly need to organize the guild’s work while I’m away and prepare some documents for ongoing projects."
Lyriana added,
"Same here."
All eyes naturally turned to Adam.
He stopped eating.
"Why do I suddenly feel like this conversation concerns me much more than I thought it did?"
Selene smiled.
"Because it concerns you."
Isadora continued,
"Astraea wants to meet you. And since you yourself wanted to explore the elven realms someday, we might as well take advantage of this opportunity."
Adam couldn’t really argue with that reasoning.
On the contrary.
The idea intrigued him greatly.
He was going to meet the last important member of the group, whom he only knew through the others’ stories.
And most importantly...
He was finally going to leave Valoria to discover a new part of this world.
"So, Lyriana, Elaria, and me?"
"That would be the most logical group," Isadora replied.
Elaria had to go home.
Lyriana naturally knew the area and was going to see her mother.
As for Adam, he was the main person Astraea wanted to meet.
Elena seemed slightly disappointed.
"I would have liked to come."
Isadora glanced at her.
"You already have several military files to finish."
Elena sighed.
"I know."
Shiora immediately chimed in:
"And before anyone notices, I can’t leave either. The Reversi launch is coming up."
"No one was going to ask you," Selene remarked.
Shiora turned to her.
"I’d rather clarify before you make any bad decisions."
Adam smiled slightly.
The discussion continued for a few more minutes.
Finally, they agreed.
Tomorrow would be dedicated to preparations.
Adam would organize what he needed to take, notify the necessary people, and finish anything that couldn’t wait.
Elaria would handle the affairs of the Artisans’ Guild.
Lyriana would prepare the trip and check the information regarding the route.
And the day after tomorrow, the three of them would set off to meet Astraea.
Adam finally resumed his meal.
"I arrived in this world not so long ago, and I’m already starting to have diplomatic trips."
Isadora replied calmly:
"It’s not officially a diplomatic trip."
Shiora smiled.
"Not yet." "
Adam looked at her.
"Why did you add that?"
"Because you’re going to meet one of the most influential people in the elven kingdoms."
He thought about it.
"Okay. Put that way..."
"Eat," Selene advised. "You can think about it tomorrow."
For once, Adam decided it was probably the best advice of the evening.
So he started eating again.
The conversation could have turned to lighter topics.
But Isadora suddenly seemed to remember something.
She put her hand under the table.
Then she pulled something out.
A cube.
Adam immediately stopped chewing.
The object was roughly the size of his two fists put together.
Its surface was made of a dark metallic material, crisscrossed by very fine silver lines.
No handle.
No obvious opening.
No external mechanism.
Simply a perfectly compact cube.
Isadora placed it near Adam.
"Here."
He swallowed what was in his mouth.
"What is it?"
"That’s precisely what I’d like to know."
This answer was enough to attract the attention of Elaria and Vespera.
Adam looked at the cube.
Then at Isadora.
"Is it from the treasure?"
"Yes."
He held out his hand.
The moment his fingers touched the metallic surface...
Something changed.
Not in the object itself.
In his understanding of it.
Weapon Mastery reacted instantly.
Information began to take shape in his mind.
Position.
Deployment.
Power supply.
Activation sequence.
Lock-on.
Aiming.
Projectile production.
Adam remained motionless for several seconds.
"Ah."
Elaria leaned forward slightly.
"Did you understand anything?"
"Yes."
His gaze returned to the cube.
"It’s a bow."
Silence.
Selene looked at the cube.
Then at Adam.
"This?"
"Yes."
Adam turned it over in his hands.
"A mechanical and magical bow."
This time, even Vespera moved slightly closer to the table.
Adam instinctively followed the information provided by his skill.
He injected a very small amount of mana.
Nothing happened.
But he immediately sensed several internal circuits.
Most of them were locked.
He then altered the path of his energy.
One line.
Then a second.
A branch.
Back to the center.
A short pulse.
Finally, a last circuit in the opposite direction.
Click.
The sound was extremely faint.
But the entire table heard it.
The cube lit up.
Elaria sat bolt upright.
"Wait."
The thin silver lines began to glow.
Then the object changed.
Several parts of its surface slid apart.
Some separated.
Others rotated on their own axes.
The cube seemed to literally dislocate itself in Adam’s hands.
The internal elements spread out on either side.
Two metallic branches appeared.
A central mechanism unfolded.
A mana cord formed between the ends.
In a few seconds...
The cube had vanished.
Adam now held a bow.
A compact, dark bow, covered in extremely fine circuits.
No one spoke immediately.
Elaria was the first to react.
She almost pushed her plate away to get a better look at the weapon.
"This mechanism..."
Her eyes scanned every visible joint.
"It’s impossible."
Adam raised the bow slightly.
"Apparently not."
"I’m not talking about how it works."
She seemed genuinely fascinated.
"This type of mechanical contraction technology disappeared over a thousand years ago."
Vespera also examined the circuitry.
"The runes are ancient."
Elaria nodded.
"But the mechanics are just as ancient. Look at the joints. No space is wasted when the weapon folds."
Isadora, however, was mainly observing Adam.
"This is one of the weapons stored in the duchy’s treasury."
Adam looked up.
"One of them?"
"There are over five thousand."
His hand settled around the bow.
"Five thousand?"
Elena nodded.
"All the same model."
Adam looked at the weapon, then at Isadora.
"And you have five thousand of these just sitting in storage?"
"For a very long time."
Isadora continued calmly:
"They were discovered in an ancient ruin, locked away in some kind of large storage chest. Almost all of them were in their cubic form."
She paused briefly.
"Until today, no one had managed to use them properly."
Adam then understood why Isadora had brought him this one on the very first day after he received his Weapon Mastery.
"Have you tried to open them?"
Elaria replied this time:
"Of course."
Her expression clearly showed how much the subject annoyed her.
"But in this form, there are practically no access points. The joints are locked from the inside. Trying to force the mechanism risks damaging the circuits."
Adam inspected the open bow.
Now that it had taken its full form, several dividing lines were visible.
In cubic form...
Everything interlocked to conceal them.
"Clever."
Selene pointed to the mana cord.
"And it actually works?"
Adam nodded.
"Yes."
He obviously didn’t try firing it into the dining room.
He simply positioned his fingers correctly.
The Weapon Mastery technique had already shown him the principle.
"It doesn’t use physical arrows."
Elena immediately became interested in the weapon.
"It creates them?"
"With the user’s mana."
Adam injected a tiny amount of energy.
A luminous shape began to appear against the cord before he immediately stopped the flow.
The arrow disappeared.
"Mana is compressed, structured, and then transformed into a temporary projectile."
Vespera examined the weapon more closely.
"So it depends directly on the user’s reserves."
"Yes."
Adam then ran his finger along the central part.