Rage

"MASON!"

Oscar shouted with all of his might. He rushed to his friend as his body slowly fell to the ground. He felt the world around him slow down as he continues to move. At every step he got closer to Mason, his heartbeats got louder.

When he reached him, he was already laying on the ground. There was a very clear bloodstain on his chest. The blood was constantly leaking from the wound the gunshot opened. Seeing this Oscar's face turned pale. He immediately cast a healing spell on Mason's wound.

"Mason!"

"Who is this kid?!"

"I don't know! We were only told that this Mason kid would be here."

Oscar sharply turned his head to the talking men. He had a deathly glare on his pale face. He saw the gun they held was still pointing at the Mason. And before anyone could say anything else he cast another spell with his other hand.

"[Rock Bullets]"

Forty bullets made of rock pierced the body of the two men before they could even comprehend what was happening. Both of them were dead even before their bodies hit the ground. Their corpses lay down on the ground where the boy they shot down a moment ago was laying.

Seeing that the threat is gone, Oscar put all of his focus back on Mason. His consciousness was already gone as he was knocked out the moment his body fell to the ground. His heart was also already stopped because the bullet pierced it. The only thing was keeping his body alive was Oscar's healing spell at that moment.

"He isn't getting any better. What should I do?! Do I bring him to a hospital? No, it's too far away. Even an ambulance can't arrive on time now. Then what!?! If I don't do anything he will die! Ugh... Wait! Kairi! If it's her, she can do this!"

In a desperate attempt, Oscar grabbed the body of his friend and start running to the old church. While running he also kept using the healing magic on Mason. It wasn't showing any improvement on him but at the very least it was keeping his body alive. Albeit barely, healing magic somehow was able to keep the body from succumbing to death.

Oscar quickly reached the church and pushed open the stone altar. He created a mana string and while he was descending the stairs he closed the stone altar with the mana string.

"Kairi! I need your help! Please help me! I beg you!"

When he reached the cave under the stone stairs he started shouting. Thanks to their connection Kairi could easily sense his mental state and from the depths of the mana lake come out her body.

Kairi had a worried look on her face. While they could communicate and even watch the world from each other's eyes, they weren't doing it all the time. Doing it every time of the day or just every day would quickly deplete Oscar's mental state and could harm his brain while his body experiencing mana growth.

So she didn't have an exact clue about what was happening until she saw the body Oscar was carrying. She immediately saw the blood and the wound. Thanks to Oscar she knew how fragile a human body was.

"Lay him on the ground. Quick!"

She cast her healing spell but when she noticed that there was a foreign and poisonous object inside the wound, she created a thin water tentacle and with it, she took out the object. It was a normal bullet. Still, bullets were poisonous to humans. From the moment they penetrate inside the human body they start poisoning them. They just pierce human flesh and be done with it. Maybe poisoning the human body was their greatest aspect.

"Oscar..."

About half an hour later Kairi called out to Oscar. For the last thirty minutes, she kept casting healing spells after one another on the body of the Mason. From her apologetic and sad face, he could guess the results. It wasn't anything good.

In the end, magic can't defeat death, he thought. He clenched his fist. The face of Nora's dead body appeared on his mind. Tears began to flow from his eyes. A sad smile appeared on his face.

"I couldn't protect Mason. I couldn't protect Nora. I altered Lydia's memory because I thought I wouldn't be able to protect her. I'm useless. I can't even protect those I cared for."

Oscar silently cried. He remembered every memory he had with Mason. They were friends from Middle School. Since the day they met, they get along pretty well. They played video games together, went to movies and arcades, and so on.

Akane silently got closer to Kairi. Her ears were down and in her crimson eyes, there was a deep sadness. Kairi slowly pat her head and released a heavy sigh. She couldn't understand the emotions he was feeling. She was able to perceive some of those emotions but it was difficult for her to understand them.

From a young age, Kairi never had a friend. She only had one friend and she knew him as her brother. And even then, he wasn't much friendly with her. And just a few years later she was put into her cocoon by her own mother.

"Oscar..."

She called out to him. Her voice was hesitant. She didn't understand his emotions but she didn't want to sound rude and hurt him, especially while he was this vulnerable. They were partners so she wanted to help him however she can. She wanted to ease his emotions but she didn't know how to. She never felt this powerless in all of her life. She despised this emotion.

"...Mana isn't something almighty energy that can create miracles. There isn't a way to reverse the natural cycle of life. Every living being is born and dies. This is the natural order. I'm sorry but mana can't change this."

Oscar silently listened to Kairi. Her words hurt him as much as losing Mason. He had a small hope of being able to bring back Nora and Mason. It was a small hope but he was depending on it. But now that hope was crushed. He didn't blame Kairi for this.

She was right. There was a natural order of life. Every living being is born and dies. Even mana has limitations. He took a deep breath and wiped his tears away. A desperate smile appeared on his face. Seeing it, Kairi was surprised.

"If mana has limits then I will use something else."

"...What?"

Oscar looked at his necklace. At that moment he decided. He would do whatever it takes to bring back his friends.