Chapter 282 - M-Jammer

"M-Jammer, short for Mana Jammer, is something that the Empire had been able to develop only recently."

Rowan quickly explained to the girls about the functions of the M-Jammer. The weapon was created only recently by the Empire and he had been able to get information about this because of the Kingdom's information network.

There was also some news about the weapon on the human's Mana Integrated Network, but they were mostly just rumors and hearsay. However, the kingdom was able to confirm that such a weapon indeed existed.

It functioned to jam and block the mana in the air. This meant that magic spells, which needed mana from a person, could also be jammed. To invoke a spell, a mage needed to exert control over his mana, bring it out of his body and create the spell formation using said mana by way of incantation.

Because the M-Jammer could block all mana forms of mana in the air, this naturally meant that magic spells couldn't be used. Any kind of magic tool that was powered by mana would also cease functioning.

Rowan honestly didn't believe that the Merkruz Principality could buy off such a weapon from the Empire, so this could only mean one thing, the Empire was using the Principality to conduct experiments for the development of their weapon.

What better experiment could there be other than live testing?

When Lucia and Serilla heard this, they too couldn't help but be astonished...and at the same time remorseful. The Empire was able to develop this weapon only recently...and this could only mean one thing...

"I-I'm sorry..." Lucia said quietly.

"Huh?"

Serilla was also a little uneasy. "W-well, you see, back when we were passing by the Empire, we had struck a deal with them. They would give us resources and access to their Empire's library in exchange for the knowledge Cecil had in his brain about artificing..."

Rowan was still puzzled, but he immediately widened his eyes in understanding.

"S-so...this knowledge that Cecil gave to them was what enabled the Empire to develop the M-Jammer..."

"Y-yeah..."

"Oh...gosh, I don't know what to say to that...but all I know is that it isn't his fault, so don't mind it," Rowan replied. He could get why the girls were a little apologetic, but in all honesty, it wasn't theirs or Cecil's fault.

"Ima, we have to get moving...I'm not sure how wide the range for this weapon is, but we have to get out of this range...I'm worried about our main forces on the frontlines, this weapon could spell disaster for them."

"Yes, we should get everyone ready then."

Rowan and Fatima immediately went to go rally their forces, leaving Lucia and Serilla behind.

"Seri, can you still use your body enhancement?" Lucia asked.

"I can still use my Ki, but not my mana..."

"..."

"Lucia, how are you? You rely on mana the most in our party..."

"I can't use any of my skills anymore...my Ki body enhancement isn't as great as yours, I'm no different to an ordinary soldier right now...well, maybe an elite soldier...I can still fight using my weapons."

"...this is bad..." Serilla said worriedly. Without her mana, Lucia was vulnerable. If anything were to happen to her...Serilla didn't even want to think about it.

Seeing the worried look on her sister's face, Lucia immediately grinned and said, "Hey, Seri! Don't worry so much, I can take care of myself just fine!"

"Y-yeah...but how is Quinn going to find us?"

"O-oh yeah...I almost forgot about him...the tracking bracelet for the Wanderer probably isn't functioning anymore..."

"Don't worry Madams, I'm already here," Quinn said as he suddenly popped out from behind the bushes.

Some soldiers who were on patrol immediately noticed him and moved to surround him. Quinn merely ignored those soldiers and walked towards Lucia and Serilla. His intimidating glare had frozen the soldiers so he was able to saunter out of their encirclement with ease.

Fatima who saw the commotion was able to recognize the butler and had the soldiers stand down.

"Quinn! You're here!" Lucia exclaimed.

"Yes, I have returned Lady Lucia... I was able to make a quick investigation and I found out that—"

"Don't worry Quinn! We already found Cel's family!"

"—Yes?"

Lucia quickly pointed at the young woman who was busying herself in distance and said, "Remember Fatima, the War Saintess? It turns out that she was Cecil's elder sister! We found Cel's family!"

"I-I see... congratulations Madams, you have found Master's family as well as your own, yes?" Quinn congratulated as he bowed respectfully towards the two women.

"Ah! You're right!"

"Quinn, did you find anything else in the capital?" Serilla asked.

"Yes, I was able to find that there were already people looking for Master Cecil. When I made contact with them and told them that I was serving under Master Cecil, they asked for his whereabouts and gave me information about how to contact them or his family."

"Really? They didn't interrogate you on how you know Cecil?"

"They did, but my answers and explanations were able to alleviate many of their suspicions."

"That's good then."

"Here are the information I was able to get from them." Quinn handed over a written report to Serilla. Lucia scooted over to her side and read through his report together.

"Silvaria Kingdom...so that's where his family is at?"

"Yes, Lady Serilla. It would seem so. I came back in a hurry once I acquired this."

Serilla nodded before she began explaining the current state of affairs and why they couldn't contact Cecil just yet.

"I see...so Master's knowledge was what lead to this...and this M-Jammer is what's hindering us from communicating with Master?"

"Yes, that's indeed the case."

Quinn nodded in understanding before he excused himself to prepare the wagon for his two Madams.

After Fatima and Rowan organized their forces, they immediately began marching out of the forest and decided to take a roundabout route to the kingdom's main forces on the frontlines. The injured were treated to a fair degree by the army's priests so their marching speed wasn't hindered.

Since Lucia wasn't able to scout out the area around them using her mana, Serilla took it upon herself to act as a lookout. Fortunately or unfortunately, she wasn't able to find any large Merkruz forces after marching for days until they eventually met up with the Regulus Kingdom's main force.

It was fortunate because they didn't have to experience any attacks, but it was unfortunate because this meant they couldn't go and try to destroy the device that was jamming their ability to use mana.

They did come across small contingents of Merkruz soldiers, but it was obvious that they were only coming to hinder their march towards the main army. It did impact their speed to some degree, but they were still able to regroup with the main army.

Lucia and Serilla could simply go back to the kingdom and try to contact Cecil there since by then, they were sure that they'd be out of range of the M-Jammer, but Fatima had received reports that a large detachment force from Merkruz had appeared near the border checkpoint and had begun to siege the fortress located there.

The force was much larger than the ones pursuing them the first time, so Rowan decided to go regroup with his kingdom's main force. Lucia and Serilla followed their arrangements because in their current circ.u.mstances, they wouldn't be able to forcefully break through the large army of Merkruz soldiers.

Without mana, Lucia wouldn't be able to use any of her spells and a majority of her Sword Skills. Despite her Ki cultivation being on the same stage as her Mana cultivation, but her usage and control over Ki wasn't anything commendable.

Lucia struggled to properly control her Ki to use in combat and had only relied on the passive upgrade to her physique all this time. Everybody had something they were good and bad at, and this was something Lucia was bad at.

She had genius talent in using her Mana, but was a total idiot when using her Ki. It was vice-versa with Serilla, she was a genius at using her Ki, but was a little slow with her mana. Only a freak like their husband could be talented in using both Ki and Mana at the same time.

Even now, Cecil was hardly even using Ki or Mana in combat. He had started using Ether to power his techniques and skills which only served to increase his combat prowess even further.

"Lulu, have you tried using your Ether?"

"I did try...but the quantity is too little that I'm only able to use my Elemental Burst and none of my spells..."

"At least with Elemental Burst you'll have some form of protection...it's better than not being able to use it at all!"

"Yeah, you're right...I wish I was as good with Ki as you are Seri... I also wish I had my Weapon Intent already! At least this way, I won't be so useless in combat!"

Even after 4 years of training with her katana, Lucia still hadn't been able to grasp her Weapon Intent just yet...she felt that she was close and only needed one final push to attain it, but this final bottleneck was hard to cross.

She could only remain hopeful and motivated, but right now, Lucia desperately wished that she already had it. This way, she'd at least be able to better help Serilla and Quinn in battle.

Fatima was surprised to see that despite not being able to use mana, Lucia's group was still able to fight normally and contribute to the skirmishes that they fought during their march to regroup with the main army.

Fatima was extremely surprised to find that Serilla was able to use Weapon Intent, something that was doc.u.mented in her family's martial arts manual. Her father had it and so did her little brother.

To see that even her sister-in-law had it only further improved Fatima's favorability of Cecil's wives. Although Lucia didn't have it, Fatima's favor of the girl still grew when she saw that Lucia was fighting her battles using the Silvaria family's sword arts.

They were refined to perfection and Fatima could already tell that Lucia had seriously practiced her family's techniques. If not, then how would Lucia have such refined swordsmanship?

The more she looked at the two girls, the more she approved of them. Fatima was really glad that both women were of great match to her brother.

Once the Prince's forces had regrouped with the main army, Fatima and Rowan separated from their contingent and went to report to Rowan's older brother, the First Prince of Regulus, Albert, who was the high commander of Regulus Kingdom's main army.