142: A Company of Fools: Revolutionary Beginnings V

"How long are they going to be like that?" Nate asked as he gave Jane, Iris, Astrid, and Damon a worried look.

We were inside the shop in the backrooms, specifically the kitchen. Damon and the girls were seated around the kitchen table staring aimlessly into the distance. Baset and I were leaning against the kitchen counter, staring at the four of them while Jade, Nate, and Bo stood by the door. Bo crept over to Damon's side and reached his hand out like he was about to poke him only to get slapped by his mother and shooed away.

"Not sure, they've never been comatose before…" I said, waving my hand in front of Iris eyes and getting no reaction.

"They're simply trying to comprehend the what they just saw with Alpa'nagia and the thunderstorm." Baset said. "They'll come back to reality soon enough. In the meantime, since you have a moment, why don't you check out Alpa'nagia like I suggested."

"Yeah, I guess…" I said.

I closed my eyes and let my mind wander to the space where my evos lived. I opened my eyes and found myself in that station again. Only this time, there were five doorways instead of four. This new doorway was composed of large columns of solid gold that were etched with beautiful carvings and had lavish silk drawings covering the entrance. Like Fours doorways was it stood with a blank nameplate.

'This must be the biome for that divine gold qolitz it took the other day…I'll have to go in and check in it later…' I thought.

I looked to the door that belonged to Alpa'nagia and walked through. I was transported to a vast and endless desert under a bright and starry sky with a bright full moon lighting the night. It was a little warm but not too much to be uncomfortable.

"Alpa?" I called out.

"Star Shaper?" Alpa'nagia's voice called put from the distance. I looked in that direction and saw the evo flying towards me. He landed quickly beside me and smiled broadly.

"Hey Alpa. Thanks for taking care of those evos earlier and returning to my crystal when you saw how the others reacted to your new form." I said.

"Anything to help you, star shaper, but is there a reason you came here?" Alpa'nagia asked.

"Yeah. Your recent transformation. Baset suggested I take a look at you using mana and then talk to here after I do that. You don't mind, do you?"

"No, Star Shaper, go right ahead!" Alpa'nagia replied with a shake of his head.

"Thanks, Alpa." I smiled and walked up to him and placed my right hand on his tail. I channeled mana through my hand and into Alpa'nagia. Focusing not on recording his genetic structure but looking at his internal structure.

From his tail to belly, I didn't see anything suspicious or weird other than that he had a couple of extra kidneys now. When I got to his chest, I gad to take a double take. Alpa'nagia had two hearts now and a second set of lungs. Not only that, but there was a solid mass behind the second heart. I focused in on the solid mass and when I did I felt a pulse of mana shoot put from the mass and sent a wave of mana shooting up my arm. The sensation didn't feel bad, it actually tickled.

"S-s-shit!" I giggled as I pulled my arm away. Alpa'nagia squirmed and covered his mouth to keep from laughing.

"Star Shaper that tickles." He said.

"Sorry. That took me by surprise." I said and shook my arm.

'Why did that mass send a mana feedback wave?' I thought.

"Alpa that mass behind your second heart, do you know what that is? Are you aware of it?" I asked.

"Yes I am Star Shaper. It's been there since you healed me that a day in the desert." Alpa'nagia replied.

"Wait it's been there since the first day I modified you?"

"Yes though it's changed somehow. It used to feel like a cold weight behind my heart. Now it feels warm and bursting with energy. Every tike I use a lighting attack or summon storm clouds it feels like I'm draining from that mass." Alpa'nagia explained.

"Hmmmm….let me check that out one last time." I said then channeled mana into Alpa'nagia again. This time I didn't try to scan the mass directly but tried to get a feel for its size and shape based off the area around it.

I nearly gasped out loud when the shape came into focus. The mass wasn't organic, at least not in the traditional sense, it was a crystal. While not a farm crystal like I had it defiantly had mana inside it and Alpa'nagia was using that mana to create those lightning attacks. I took my hand off Alpa'nagia and opened my eyes.

"Oh crap!" I exclaimed.

"Something wrong?" Alpa'nagia asked.

"No but I might accidently piss everyone off…again…" I said then offered Alpa'nagia a reassuring smile and patted him on his head. "…Thanks Alpa, this really helped."

With that I turned and left Alpa'nagia's biome and went back to reality. When I opened my eyes I saw that Jane, Iris, Astrid, and Damon were no longer comatose. The moment I flinched all eyes went to me.

"Well, what did you find?" Baset asked without pause.

"Umm...how can I say this calmly…" I said.

"…ALPA'NAGIA HAS A CRYSTAL THAT SUPPLIES HIM WITH MANA!"

Everyone stayed silent for several moments then everyone in my class groaned and threw a fit. I gave them all a concerned look. While it was a reasonable reaction it wasn't the one I was expecting.

"Are they okay?" I asked Baset.

"Yes, I just finished explaining the circumstances surrounding Alpa'nagia's transformation and my hypothesis." Baset said with a smile. "You must proved it right."

"You figured put he had mana already?" I asked.

"I sensed it the moment you summoned Alpa'nagia. However I figured or rather hoped that it was just excess mana that you needed to burn odd and Alpa'nagia's summoning did that. It seems I was wrong and right at the same time." Baset answered.

"Alpa'nagia said that from the moment I finished modifying hos body he felt that Maa crystal inside him." I told Baset.

"That tracks, prior to the body modification there was no time when he could have had the crystal implanted. This probably happened because you used your DNA as part of the modification." Baset explained.

"My DNA?"

"Yes! You are a rare Star farm crystal bearer, who knows what secrets lie in your DNA? You already have shown a natural connection to evos that most people spend their entire lives trying to cultivate. Maybe adding your DNA to a evo supercharges it and enhances it!"

"Wait a second! What about that evo that Bo created in class? It has Chase's DNA in it!" Jane exclaimed.

"It will probably have the same transformation as Alpa'nagia did a few days ago some point in time. However that is unlikely. Based off What Chase told me of the circumstances that lead up to the transformation it requires a lot of mana. More mana than even Chase has. He was suffering from a massive mana overload at the time. Unless Chase or Bo can recreate that overload I don't see Gargesh transforming as well." Baset explained.

"Then we might want to look for Grimm-Guard transforming in the future. I used my DNA to repair his just like I did Alpa'nagia's." I said.

"That thing is already massive I can't see it getting any bigger…" Astrid said.

"You do realized you just jinxed it, right?" Damon said.

"Either way this is cool! I didn't know that evos could have mana and use it!" I exclaimed. My words were followed by a loud sigh from everyone in class and a giggle from Baset.

"He still hasn't realized it…" Astrid groaned.

"There's never been a evo that could use mana before Alpa'nagia…it's the first." Jane said. My eyes widened as realization hit.

"Alpa'nagia is officially a world class treasure." Iris said. I groaned and ran my hands through my hands.

"Of course! I end up with a one of a kind and overpowered evo but that won't help me finish this shit assignment or splice!" I grumbled. Nate and Jade just shared a look then look to everyone else in the room.

"Did he just complain about having a powerful evo that countries would literally start a war to get their hands on?" Jade asked.

"Yeah, it doesn't immediately help with the current problem that he's dealing with so his mind glosses over how mind blowing what he just did or what he just figured out is until it becomes relevant to his problem…you get used to it." Iris groaned and Shot me a glare. I pretended to not see the glare and clapped my hands together.

"Well lets bench all this for now and deal with the company business for now." I said then pointed at Jane and Iris and looked to Nate and Jade. "Nate and Jade Kestrel meet Jane Yearwood, Chief of Logistics and Iris Stone, Chief of security. You'll be seeing a lot of both of them in the future."

I made sure to point to each of them as I said their name. Jade stood up and walked over and shook both Jade and Nate's hands. That obviously had a positive effect as they both look surprised and grateful for the show of respect.

"Your son said that you were in the middle of buying some property for Chase as well as have an expense report for materials Jade and that you were making some designs for the shop Nate?" Jane asked the couple.

"Yes, we'd like to go over them with Chase…" Jade said looking to me.

"Go over them with Jane. It all falls under her purview anyway. I don't really have any specific vision for the look of the shop other than it look professional and be secure. I plan to sell enchanted items there and meet with clients. As for the properties Jane I want an apartment building, warehouse, and a couple of small easily converted buildings, preferably all in the same block or neighborhood of you see any." I said then walked over to the doorway.

"Where are you going?!" Iris snapped.

"Sin said he took care of some gangsters that were threatening the shop and found a bunch of machines in their base. I'm going to go see what machines and see if we can't sell them for cash. Iris you should familiarize yourself with the shop and the neighborhood to see if there are ways we can better security." I said.

"What?!" Iris exclaimed.

"That's actually not a bad idea Iris…." Jane said then narrowed her eyes at me. "…delegating and making sound decisions at that. If I didn't know any better I'd sat you were from a noble background Chase."

I scoffed at that remark and looked over my shoulder at her.

"You don't have to be from a noble background to use a little common sense. There are too many things for me to do by myself so break them into smaller tasks that others around me can do. Simple." I said cockily.

"He can understand that but can't comprehend how valuable his evo is?" Astrid groaned and rubbed her forehead as if she was getting a headache.

"Speaking of Alpa'nagia, Chase. It might be best if you don't summon him for a while." Baset spoke up. "If too many people found out about him it would put a massive target on your back…even bigger than the one you already painted in neon paint…"

"I figured that out already. Alpa will come put when shit hits the fan and I need to quickly unfuck it." I said. "Bo you know where Sin is?"

"A office building a few neighborhoods over." He replied then walked over to me. "I'll show you the way."

"Bo be careful!" Nate and Jade warned.

"I'll be fine! I'll be with Chase!" Bo exclaimed.

"I'll watch out for him. I've been saving hos behind all the time so far." I said. I patted Bo on the back and left the kitchen. "Let's go."

The two of us left the kitchen area and made our way put of the back rooms of the store and into the main showroom. It was still a mess but the mess this time was because of the obvious signs of early construction. Nate had stripped the room to its barebones, nothing but drywall and cement floors, not bad for two days work. It was obvious he wanted everything ready for whatever renovation was to take place.

As Bo and I left the shop and started down the street with Bo leasing the way I heard the shop door open behind us.

"Hold up!" Astrid exclaimed as she raced after us, Damon was right behind her. Bo and I stopped and watched them as they approached. "We want to come with you."

"You know this isn't some walk through a perfectly manicured garden on your family's estate, right?" I asked. Astrid frowned and slapped me on the arm.

"Obviously! I'm not an idiot! I'm interest to see how you deal with your new responsibilities as a Boss." Astrid said.

"I just want to see you get in over your head an fail." Damon said bluntly.

"This is why I keep calling you ass lord." I said narrowing my eyes at him. Damon frowned at me but I stopped paying attention to him and looked to Bo and motioned for him to lead the way.

Bo lead the impromptu group down the street, unhurried or sneaking around from alley to alley like we had to a week before. While there were no other shops in the neighborhood there were still plenty of apartment buildings and homes. As we made our way down the street I saw plenty of people rush inside the nearest building or call their children into play. Considering that there weren't any children playing outside a week ago I considered it progress.

"Everyone seems afraid of us?" Astrid observed.

"Not us, Chase." Bo said. "It's gotten around that he beat the leader of the red Dragons and that he has a bunch of powerful evos on his side so people naturally are afraid that he's going to be like Draco."

"Well I can't have that…we'll have to figure out an outreach program to better neighborhood relations. Eventually I might end up having to hire people from the neighborhood as workers. I can't do that if they're terrified of me." I said.

"Just what are you planning to do with this company?" Astrid asked suspiciously. I smiled deviously and stroked my chin.

"You'll just have to wait and find out." I said.

"That smile again…." Astrid groaned.