144

*****

 Silently the spirit disappeared, leaving no trace behind.

 The dark mouth of the breach, which before did not look very dangerous, instantly acquired a certain ferocity and "thirst" for blood. The whirlpool from the blackest void was spinning with mind-blowing speed, trying to suck in everything it could. His "hands" tried to reach everything they could.

 The air that had previously simply "existed" in the room suddenly rushed into the mouth, as if a new point of attraction had appeared there, much stronger than the earth's. His speed was so great that a fierce howl appeared.

 The mirror space made ominous sounds, somewhat reminiscent of the crunch of Glass during destruction. Small cracks crawled along it, becoming larger and larger with every second, weaving complex, terrible, but such beautiful patterns. A catastrophe was approaching us.

 Where several cracks converged, a rupture occurred. Because of it, parts of the mirror left their "nests", scattering to the sides in disproportionate pieces. Their brilliance was incredible.

 Hovering in place, they froze, as if waiting for something. It seemed like they could hang like that forever. However, it is not. As soon as the ominous mouth of the fracture reaches them, the fragments begin to crumble, leaving behind fine dust, which is immediately absorbed by the black void.

 The ominous force of gravity pulled in not only the wind, it also tried to swallow me, leaving no trace of my body. The clothes that had previously "protected" me from external irritants, and also hid my nakedness, now pulled me towards the ever-expanding mouth.

 All this flew through my head in some pitiful moments. My brain tried to find a way to cope with this danger. Thoughts were gaining momentum, racing at incredible speed. Ideas were created, but were immediately destroyed due to their defectiveness and unsuitability.

 As soon as I wanted to jump back a couple of meters, away from the portal, at that very moment I felt that my strength was leaving me. Having activated my magical vision, I saw how many runes woven into the walls of the hall surrounded me, gradually merging with my body, imposing one limitation after another.

 First, my abilities in metamorphism and ice magic went away. The prana current was blocked behind them. All mana stopped using any color other than spatial.

 "In this exam, you must cope with the problem only with the help of your abilities in the school of space," the voice of the Spirit sounded in the hall, for a brief moment silencing the howling of the wind. As soon as the voice died down, the wind howled with renewed vigor, continuing to pull me towards the mouth of the breach.

 Sharply raising my hands in front of me, I splashed out part of my mana. As soon as she was "free", I immediately, with the help of my will, subjugated a small area of ​​​​the space around me, simply stabilizing it. I can't do anything else with the space.

 The cracks on the mirror that had managed to get here before froze for a moment, and then began to narrow, gradually closing. For a few seconds I protected myself, but this would not last long.

 And the mouth continued to expand, continuing to devour the space, and with it the mirror. Now the fine dust from one of the pieces sank into his ominous mouth. With a loud crunch, a huge piece of the mirror tore from its place and headed straight into the center of the hole. A moment and it is dispersed, and the remnants are absorbed by "otherworldly hunger."

 Well, I don't have much choice. At the moment, I do not have such power over space to close this gap in a single moment. Moreover, the Spirit artificially expanded it to such an extent that even my reserve may not be enough. And this is already very bad. Perhaps there are spells aimed at closing such a huge gap, but I don't know of any. And there's not a word about such things in the library, which means that, in theory, I shouldn't even know about them. However, the Spirit thinks differently. We'll see who wins.

 Closing my eyes, I began to slowly (subjectively, but in fact incredibly quickly) plunge into the depths of myself. Body, palaces of the mind, seven sheaths. Finally, hovering next to the seventh shell, I prepared for something I had never done.

 Having looked around my entire magical shell (together with the source, mana channels, as well as the aura), I once again memorized the location of each individual channel (although I already knew it thoroughly. Every day I observe and correct their growth), I concentrated.

 A few moments later, my source began to pulsate with a much higher frequency. Mana poured into the reserve, and from it into each of the channels, as well as into the aura. In a matter of moments, mana filled my entire body, both physical and magical. One of my wishes, and all my mana changes its color to spatial. Slowly, I began to feel discomfort in my magical body, followed by aching pain. It is better to survive and then be treated than to die.

 Sharply opening my eyes, but this time in the real world, I raised my hands in front of me with a single jerk. Concentrate, it's going to hurt now.

 - Ha! - exhale and a burst of space mana bursts out of my body.

 Distortions began to spread across the mirror; my mana, having acquired the weight of space itself, changed the edge of the world by its very existence. If an outsider were here, he would have seen that the mirror was in a fever. There were ripples along it, cracks appeared here and there, but at the same moment they healed, simply absorbing a burst of mana.

 My whole body responded with pain. I felt how the small channels were torn, the larger ones were overstrained. Even my aura began to hurt (one plus, I began to feel it much better. Perhaps in the future this will be useful to me)

 One of my wishes and this entire ocean, taking the form of pseudo vines, rushed to the boundaries of the fault. If cracks appeared along the way, then part of the mana was spent on "merging" them. Of course, this wasted an unacceptable amount of mana, but I did not stop supplying more and more new mana, overexerting not only my body, but also my soul.

 Having reached their goal, the vines began to intertwine among themselves, forming a ring that completely surrounded the fault. Well, the first step has been taken.

 In response to my actions, the whirlpool from the void accelerated its rotation, increasing the strength of the agreement several times.

 Crap! Damn this Spirit. He will answer me for everything! Just wait!

 The once dormant rage woke up again, giving clarity of thought and new strength. Now I have a new goal. And I won't back down!

 By increasing the pressure on my source, I achieved an even greater speed of mana production. To the best of my ability, I directed it into the resulting ring.

 At first there was no reaction, but after about five seconds it appeared. Slowly the ring of "living" vines began to narrow. Its boundaries decreased, thereby healing the space, and with it the passage closed.

 For the next three minutes, everything happened exactly like this. Gradually the gap decreased, leaving our reality, and my strength gradually left me.

 Finally, when the last push was left to the end, all the mana that I had ran out, and at the same time the source died down. He could no longer supply me with so much mana, and if I increased the pressure, I would simply die, simply "burning out."

 As if sensing the weakness, the emptiness began to make its way into our reality with renewed vigor. Cracks began to creep across the mirror again, and some of the vines were swallowed up by the hungry mouth.

 No! I will not die! If so, then we will do things differently. Equal exchange, right?

 There was a sharp flash and my prana seemed to "catch fire." Inside my soul, the energy from the first and second shells began to flow like a stormy stream into the seventh shell, supplying it with energy.

 Mana flowed with renewed vigor. The source was restored, even more, it became much stronger. The torn and exploded channels grew together and became thicker. New canal branches sprouted.

 - RA! - Roaring from the pain that gripped my entire being, I threw out all the mana that appeared in me in exchange for prana and my life in a single jerk.

 I was like a geyser, a moving source. All the mana rushed to the "living ring". One moment, and they began to glow from all the power that overwhelmed them.

 The moment and the boundaries of the circle grow together, closing the passage into the void. The vines intertwined, creating a beautiful picture of a hedge.

 With a ringing sound, the mirror returned to its former self. There was no more otherworldly hunger, no more mouth that tried to swallow me. There was no emptiness, cracks or fragments. Everything has disappeared. Everything became the same.

 Slowly raising my hand in front of me, I saw how it turned into a wrinkled limb. My old hands were no longer there, just the limbs of an old man. I really wanted to laugh. I was overcome by laughter and fun.

 - Ha-ha-ha-ha! — my crazy laughter broke the silence. - Equivalent exchange! You have to pay for everything, right?! Ha ha ha ha!

 I don't know how long I laughed, but gradually the strength left me. I was consumed by weakness and apathy. I survived, but at what cost?

 I swayed in place and began to fall forward.

 *BANG* My body fell to the ground.

 Oh. It's so hard, I want to sleep. The eyes close on their own. The body became clumsy and heavy.

 I want to sleep... I'll deal with everything later. Sleep…

 *****

 And the guy's soul was in a fever. Excess energy bubbled within her. My soul was full of her. Look, she will explode from this.

 However, right at that moment, the barely visible veins that pierced each shell began to glow. All excess energy was absorbed by these veins. She went somewhere, only to return a moment later, trying to return the first and second shells to their previous state.

 In reality, at that moment the guy's body became a new point of attraction. The winds howled, their hair flew up, as if gravity had ceased to mean anything to them.

 Everything—matter, wind, energy, even runes—began to crumble into small pieces and be absorbed by the guy's body. It was absorbed by him, like an all-consuming beast, leaving no trace. Everything was eaten by him without a trace.

 A few seconds later, the gray hair and decrepit body again acquired their true appearance. There was no longer an old man, only a young man with an unrealistically proportional and beautiful face.

 And in the palace of the guy's mind, that same anomaly began to absorb itself with even greater force. Its borders became ephemeral, like fog. All the matter of her shell was absorbed by him.

 A minute passed and everything became quiet. There was nothing to remind us of the madness going on, only a crater in the floor with a diameter of twelve meters.

 With a light flash of light, the old elder appeared in the room. His once dead eyes looked at the unconscious guy with hatred and impotent malice. His hands were shaking, and light ripples were going through his body.

 "Youyyy..." he drawled ominously. - How did you survive? How!? - the Spirit cried out to the wounded beast.

 Waves of mana began to spread out in all directions from him, trying to destroy everything. One moment later, chains rushed from the walls of the room in his direction, piercing right through him.

 The Spirit's eyes regained their dead look. He calmed down, slowly lowering his hands. Looking at the lying guy, he opened his mouth and said:

 "Congratulations on passing the rank promotion exam, Calder Wilson," a calm and insinuating voice escaped his lips. - From now on, you are a five-star apprentice. Congratulations.

 Having finished his speech, he began to slowly disappear, and with him the chains. Only at the end did his eyes regain their former hatred, and their gaze witheringly fell on the guy's body.

 "It's not over yet." Even though I am sealed, I will destroy you at any cost. Then... - there was a flash and he completely disappeared.

 The room fell silent. Slowly it began to take on its previous appearance: the runes lit up again, mana flowed like a river, and the pit disappeared, leaving behind a flat floor.

 And only the guy's lying body remained the same, continuing to lie on the floor. 

 *****