Inside the Council of Elders meeting room, all head doctors and scientists were in attendance once more. “Explain from the top.”

“As I said before, Lord, the bacteria which is causing the sickness is sticking to the mana in the bodies of the infected. The bacteria is almost parasitic in nature and is feeding off of and evolving. When we checked the dead from the outside, we found a second strain that was the cause of their deaths. As you know, the mana in a corpse’s body does not leave, which allows the bacteria to keep feeding and evolving. Each strain is evolving at an astonishing speed. We do not even know if barriers can even contain it anymore if it were to get out. But we do know that it can live in the air almost indefinitely. It does not care for cold or hot. As long as there is mana, it can survive.” The head doctor replied.

“Okay, so treatment should be simple, no? Extract all the mana out of their bodies. Contain the bacteria into some kind of container, and we will figure out how to deal with it after.” Blake gave a simple rundown of what needed to happen. If it was feeding on mana and needed to be eradicated, it was as simple as extracting the mana from a person’s body. While it might be painful, as long as it was done with the person undergoing the mana extraction being put under a sleep spell, they would not feel the pain. Unlike evolutions, where one needed to be awake for as long as possible, this did not require one to be awake.

“Lord, if we do that, it might severely harm the patient.” The head doctor did not know the side effects of extracting all mana from a person.

“It is better than them dying, is it not!? Have you figured out a way to attack the bacteria on its own? If not, then for immediate recovery, we can only do this. I want to save as many lives as possible. We will give them a choice. And tell them the side effects are unknown, but if they are willing, then we can save them now.” No hesitation in his judgment. He was willing to take this head on even if it meant some might have some side effects. When that happened, he was willing to take the hate that might follow. But to him, the risk was worth it. He would choose to save lives over people dying any day.

“I will be the first to undergo mana extracting.” Mike suddenly announced. “I show no symptoms, but I do have the bacteria within my body.”

“So it has spread past those who are not just new arrivals?” Blake looked around to see many heads nod. He then looked at Ishtar, who gave him a warm smile. “Do not worry, I have protected the girls’ wing with a divine barrier, and a doctor is checking them every thirty minutes. They are all fine so are my sisters, who are pregnant.”

Blake let out a sigh of relief. “Alright, docs, I need you to teach our military teams how to check for the mana plague. We will have to do a door to door search. Question, does the bacteria die to our anti bacterial measures?”

“It does. Any kind of anti bacterial spray does work on it as long as it is not within the body. For how long, I do not know since it is continuously evolving. So if we are to check every citizen in the city, we will need to do it now and work fast.” The doctor replied.

“Can you tell me what needs to be detected? We can just use area search magic and find all hosts of the plague. This way, we will minimize the number of people we need to come in contact with.” Noa suggested.

“Noa is right….” Blake held his head. He wondered why he did not think of the same thing. “We will do it that way. We will use search magic to find those infected. Let’s do this quickly. If they are infected, we will need to bring them to a quarantine location. Make sure no one is mistreated. I am sure you all know how to handle things, so let’s do this smoothly. Mike, I will go with you for the mana extraction.”

“Alright. I will be sure to inform you if I feel anything off, so do not put me out.” Mike knew it might be painful, but he would rather make sure everyone got the data they needed.

Ten minutes later, Lillia and Blake stood in a room with Mike. Mike sat in a chair, waiting for the mana extraction to begin. Lillia had done this before, so she was going to be doing it. “Mike, I am not sure about the pain, so if you want something to bite onto, let us know now.”

“Alright, give me something to bite down on.” Mike did not want to seem weak, but he also did not want to bite his own tongue off either.

Blake gave him a trip of leather he had prepared just in case. “Try to feel everything that is happening. If anything feels off, let us know.”

“I know. You can start whenever.” Mike replied in a muffled tone. He gripped the arms of the chair and locked his feet around the legs while biting on the leather strap in his mouth. He was ready for the pain.

“I will start.” Lillia raised her hand and sent and created a magic circle that formed in the air. She did not dare use her mana directly in case she became infected, so she made a magic circle that could do the extracting for her. A bluish light began to radiate off Mike with tinges of red within it. Blake found this odd, so he amplified his vision so he could get a better look at the red spots. What he saw surprised him. The red spots were filled with bacteria. He wondered why it was turning red.

“Lillia, stop and seal off that bit of Mana there.”