Chapter 3-14: Say It Isn't So!
Malleus' powers continue to grow the same as his anger.
Grim yelps, "All my fur's standin' on end! It's static-city over here!"
"Hrk! He's radiating so much power I can't move…" Deuce says, sending the power.
"It feels as though anyone who took a step toward him right now would get sent flying back... Rgh!" Riddle says as he lets out a grunt.
Even Trinket feels strong magic and becomes so frightened that she hangs on to Sereia's hair and hides in it in fear.
Trein calls out, "Cease this at once, Draconia! All this power will draw in more flowers!"
"Mal, please! Calm down!" Briar calls out, and tries to get Malleus to move.
Briar grabs Malleus by the wrist and tries to get him to move.
"Please Mal, we need to go!" Briar cries out.
However, the fire lotus continues blooming from behind them.
Sebek notices, "Look, more flowers! Scores of them!"
"Malleus, please stop! You're putting all of us in danger!" Silver cries out.
"Please Mal! We gotta get out of here!" Briar calls out.
Suddenly, Malleus uses his magic on Briar, forcing her back. Silver and Sebek manage to catch her. Silver and Sebek suspect that Malleus doesn't want Briar to be put in danger from the blast of magic he's about to perform.
Malleus turns to see the plants and his anger and magic reach its peak.
He angrily says, "THESE WEEDS. THAT BOY. THEY WILL ALL RUE THE DAY THEY MOCKED ME."
And with that, Malleus blasts his magic all at once, and it's a powerful blow.
Everyone cries out, "WHOA!"
That also causes clouds of smoke to surround everyone.
Grim coughs and sputters, "That kicked up so much dirt I got a bunch of it in my mouth! Mrah, I can't see with all this dust!"
Sereia cries, "Wah! That sent me flying and I hit my head!"
"What incredible power…" Riddle says.
He then searches around and calls out, "Deuce? Everyone? Are you all right?!"
"Yeah, I think so…" Deuce says.
"That was some blast," Jasper says.
Trinket tinks, coming out of Sereia's hair.
Briar looks around, "Wait, where's… where's Mal…?"
"After that burst of power, the flowers must've devoured him," Jamil says, fearing the worst.
Briar is on the verge of tears, "No…"
Silver is also shocked, "Oh, no…"
"No... Say it isn't so!" Sebek says, shocked and devastated. He cries out, "MALLEUUUS!"
"What?" Malleus speaks up.
Sebek turns to see Malleus, "Huh?"
Turns out, Malleus is able to stand, and seems to be fine.
"You're safe?!" Silver asks, shocked.
"I'm perfectly fine, as you can see," Malleus says.
Grim shouts, "Geez, don't scare us like that!"
"You scared us half to death," Jasper says.
Professor Trein then sternly says, "How could you be fine after all those flowers swarmed you...?" But soon notices, "My word! Everyone, look around Malleus."
Everyone soon looks to notice that all the flowers that have surrounded Malleus have darkened and wilted.
"What's this now...?" Azul says, shocked.
"The firelotuses are… Wilted?!" Idia says.
"How… How did this happen?" Taznantie asks, shocked.
Trien huffs and says, "I'm glad we're all safe and sound, but…" and lectures Malleus, "DRACONIA. How could you forget yourself in a fit of pique?! Have I not repeatedly outlined how Night Raven College students are expected to always remain calm and maintain proper decorum—"
Soon, Sebek rushes over as he cries out, "AAAH! MY LIEGE IS SAAAFE! Oh, if anything had happened to you, I don't know WHAT I would've done...!" And is soon in tears of relief.
"Malleus, I must ask that you NEVER give in to your anger and expose yourself to danger like that again," Silver says as he rushes over.
Briar soon rushes and hugs Malleus, and he gently hugs her back.
Briar sighs and says as she looks up to Malleus, "You had us so worried!"
Malleus says, "I apologize. When I saw the rest of you in a panic, it helped calm me down somewhat."
"Mental note, never make Malleus mad. Like, ever," Idia whispers to Azul.
Azul whispers back, "Agreed. I like being alive, thank you very much."
Then Trein asks, "But why did the flowers wilt? Draconia, care to explain what you did?"
"It wasn't intentional. I simply unleashed my full magical might," Malleus says.
"It wasn't intentional…?" Trein questions, "But the fire lotuses leaves are clearly drooping. Some of them have yellowed as well. SOMETHING damaged them…"
Jamil says, "I've seen similar things happen to plants back home in the Scalding Sands. The temperature's drastically different during the day than it is at night. When someone sets out plants during the day and forgets to bring them in at night, a frost forms on them and they wilt like this."
"Frost, you say? Considering Malleus's power, it's possible. Perhaps you froze them when you unleashed your might," Riddle says.
"I don't recall doing anything of the sort," Malleus says.
"Then how...?" Silver asks.
Soon, Epel says, "You know… I think I know what happened."
"Hm? What was that, Felmier? Have you identified the cause?" Malleus asks.
"Uhm, yes sir, I think so," Epel says and explains, "This same thing happened to some veggie seedlings I was growing back home. Going by just the symptoms, it looked like frost had got 'em, like Jamil described. But when I looked into it more, I found out it wasn't frost at all. The seedlings had wilted because of fertilizer burn."
"Fertilizer burn?" Grim asks.
"Yup. Too much fertilizer can mess with a plant's roots. It can cause 'em to decay or get all misshapen. I bet the roots of these flowers look the same," Epel says, and picks up one of the wilted flowers, "See here?"
"The roots of the flower you just pulled out are blackened and disintegrating…" Malleus says.
"Exactly. I think that's what wilted the firelotuses," Epel says.
Rook smiles, "Très bien! What fantastic knowledge you've shown, Epel. I couldn't be more proud of my fellow dormmate."
Epel giggles with a smile, "Eheheh. Oh, it's just 'cause I grew up on an orchard around lots of plants and stuff."
"I beg to differ. It was an incisive insight drawn from personal experience. Fine work, Felmier," Trein says, "The firelotuses absorb all kinds of magic. In this case, they eagerly devoured all the power Draconia radiated… And as a result, they became overnourished and decayed naturally."
"Uh what does that mean?" Grim asks.
"I think it means the flowers absorbed so much of Malleus' powerful magic that it became too much for them, so they withered and died," Briar explains.
"Like a balloon popping when there's too much air," Jasper says.
"Exactly," Briar says.
Then Ruggie says, "Well that makes dealing with 'em way easier. If our esteemed companion here just unleashes one of his absurdly powerful spells… He could make all the firelotuses in town wilt at once, right?"
"Sounds easy enough to me!" Grim says.
But Malleus says, "I'm afraid that's not feasible. Unfortunately, most of my power was absorbed during our initial encounter with the flowers in the lecture hall."
"WHAT?!" Everyone cries out in shock.