Storm’s Path Part V

Leona stood atop of the giant monster Akamui soaked in blue blood. Having cut all four tentacles that were in her path all there was left to do was to end it. Her blade, however, was being stopped by a strange force as it dug no more than half a meter inside the red rubbery flesh.

'No! I can't let it end like this-!'

Her fingers clenched the hilt as her teeth grinded against each other, she had to put all she had left in that one strike. Her gums were starting to bleed between her teeth as she forced the sword deeper and deeper into the monster's head but as the blade dug into its flesh, so did the force acting against her weapon.

In that moment of do or die, she had run out of options. If she kept that up she would eventually run out of mana and not defeat it in the end. The blue sheen shielding her from the mana blade's backlash began to crack around her left arm.

'Do you promise me that you'll put your safety first?'

A soothing memory of her mother came to her mind as she smiled bitterly with streaks of blood coming out from the corner of her mouth.

"I'm sorry mom… I broke my promise yet again…" Her protective aura shattered as she used the output of the technique to fuel her mana blade instead. "Aaaaaaaagh!"

The tiny blood vessels from the top of her shoulder began to rupture open through her skin from the sudden burst of mana coursing through her limb; it was like an earthquake erupting across her entire arm as crimson painted all the way down her left fingers.

'My arm…!'

She couldn't feel her fingertips anymore from the intense burning sensation from the release of mana. A split second of doubt filled the back of her mind, if she failed to cut through it completely she would lose that battle.

'Don't give up my champion…'

Suddenly, warmth embraced her arm as if there was another person holding her left hand from above hers. Silver strings of hair tickled Leona's left shoulder as she finally felt her arm again.

At that point everything seemed to come to a stop as she uttered the words of a far past remembrance.

"Rend! Yoshitsune!"

At first there were bright flashes of mana that coursed through her shoulder into her arms and finally her hands. The veins of her limb began to glow from purple to a pale lavender color as they also erupted with mana, creating fissures between her muscles and ligaments.

Despite the intense pain she remained conscious through sheer force of will as the rampaging mana sharpened and became a singular point in the silver longsword.

The blade sung as it cut deep through the monster's head—the mana she had condensed into the tip of her sword was unleashed all at once in the form of a golden slash in front of her, splitting the beast in half while opening a rift in the ocean. Deep within the monster's head was a light blue crystal the size of a person that when cut by her attack, released a tremendous amount of mana.

At that point Leona's eyes rolled up, the last image she saw being the parted storm clouds and a beautiful blue sky before passing out.

"Pull her out of there! Quickly!" Charlotte frantically ordered from the helm with each word drawing everything she had from her lungs. "Do not let her die!"

"Haaaaaaa!"

Yuriel was pulling the rope as fast as he could when he noticed the red beast finally sinking into the ocean for good.

'You really did it, Leona.'

Charlotte had a confident smile on her face as she was now free to pilot the ship in order to get them out of the remaining storm that roared on top of them. Down on the deck, while Yuriel pulled the rope, Luka used a piece of leather to protect said rope from the attrition between the wooden railings and the cord in order to avoid snapping it.

Beside them, Kaeli stood in awe while looking at the rift created in the storm, above the dark clouds was a clear blue sky and below it, the remnants of the most powerful monster she had ever seen in her entire life.

She knew much about magic, studying under arguably one of the best mages in the world, allowing her to precisely assess one's potential simply by witnessing the use of a spell. However, Leona was a different case. The inadequate and inept noble young woman was nothing short than a disappointment the first time they met each other all the way back in the Great Forest of Arcadia and yet, not only she managed to defeat a monster that she herself failed to with magic but also through sheer power alone, she sundered both the ocean and sky.

'Magnificent…' She thought with a bitter smile forming on the sides of her lips. 'Who would've thought that she could do this much in so little time…'

"Almost there!" Luka yelled which broke the archmage's thoughts. "Don't pull too hard! We don't want her to hit the ship!"

Peering over the edge, she noticed Leona had already been pulled to the edge of the ship but if they decided to hoist her upwards in that manner, her body would inevitably collide with the hull.

"Give me space." Yuriel locked his right leg behind the railing while hanging above the open sea. He then used both hands to pull the rope, dangling Leona from her makeshift harness. "Keep the extra rope out of my way."

"Roger."

Luka pulled the leftover cord to the deck while he managed to bring her up.

"Heave-ho!"

He grabbed the knot behind her back and brought Leona onto the deck, where Luka threw the rope. He then ran beside her.

"Leona! You're-!" A gasp cut his sentence short. Kaeli went over to see what happened and the moment she walked up behind him—her eyes went wide. "What is this?!"

Leona's left arm was completely torn to pieces with ruptured skin, torn flesh and fractured bones. Her hand was missing as if it was eroded away with no sign of tearing from the wrist, pure concentrated mana was pouring out of her arm as the blue light liquid mingled with blood, creating a strange mixture of deep purple liquid. The fissures near her shoulders were crystalized with small light blue shards coming out of it that contained veins of red, which was safe to assume it was also from blood.

"Make way."

Kaeli pulled Luka from over her and observed the crystallization on the tactician's biceps. Normally mana crystals are created in nature when the concentrations of mana are extremely high or within creatures of unprecedented magic reserves such as Akamui itself.

'This… may have been my fault…'

One trait that made those crystals different from other mana conductive materials was their propensity to drain mana from the environment, more specifically when in close proximity to a source of mana. That source being Leona's exposed mana circuits.

'I need to get this out of her.'

She raised her right hand with mana gathering at her fingertips, when suddenly, Yuriel grabbed a hold of her arm.

"What do you intend to do?"

"Save her." She didn't change her pose but her eyes shifted to him in a menacing glare. "Don't get in my way if you don't know what to do."

After a few seconds of staring at one another, he let go of her arm and she quickly brought her hand down with a wind spell, lopping off Leona's right arm right above where the crystals were forming.

Despite the brutal efficiency, the tactician didn't seem to feel anything since she didn't show any reaction to the dismemberment as the limb rolled to the side gushing out blood and liquid mana. All that remained was part of her shoulder that was starting to bleed anew from the necessary amputation.

Luka wanted to intervene but he wasn't sure if his actions could cost her life instead of helping so there he stood with his hands clenched into tight fists.

"Now…" Kaeli kneeled and began to silently chant under her breath. "Great power of the sea, mend this battered body, Heal!"

A gentle blue light began to create what seemed to be water that permeated what was left of Leona's arm and the cut limb. While the healing did its thing to seal the wound, she began to pull out the smaller shards from what was left of her shoulder with her left hand.

It took a few minutes until she was done with the first aid as she stood up.

"You, get her inside, quick." She ordered Yuriel after which she turned to Luka. "Tell your captain that I'll stay with Leona for the time being. If I don't personally treat her, she will die."

Both of them wanted to rebuke her but considering the tactician's state there was hardly anything they could do to reasonably defy her orders.

"Very well."

"Yes…"

Yuriel knelt before putting his hand behind Leona's back and under her knees in order to lift her. Luka climbed up the helm to talk to Charlotte. Kaeli picked the dismembered limb and turned her attention to the big man in front of her to follow where he would take Leona.

She noticed the tactician's right hand was still holding the frostburnt silver longsword with a tight grip. Both the gauntlet nor the rope that was attached to the blade were there, presumably destroyed with the release of mana, but despite how intense it was, Kaeli couldn't understand how the blade itself was able to withstand it.

Yuriel took Leona to the dining hall where Sylas had arranged a makeshift resting space for the wounded. The broken table served as a bed of sorts after being covered with pelts, Krieg was hastily dragged on top of it while Cecile rested on a couch.

"Sylas, where can she rest?"

He asked with a tone of concern.

"Huh?! Is that lady Leona?! Bring her here." The doctor seemed to be in a slight state of panic while he quickly adjusted another couch for her to rest on. "What happened to her?!"

"Severe mana overload." Kaeli explained from behind Yuriel. "Not only that, but she also went beyond her limits into mana shock. Her arm circuits were overloaded; it even resulted in crystallization."

She tossed the mana blood infused crystal to the doctor who struggled to catch it at first but after taking a good look at it he could tell that it was indeed a mana crystal.

"Do you know how to treat it?"

Sylas asked with a serious look on his face.

"Yes." She answered with confidence brimming in her deep blue eyes. "I'm sure I can save her."

He nodded before turning to Yuriel.

"I don't know her but I can tell she means no harm to Lady Leona. Please let her work in peace."

The man reluctantly nodded before heading outside. Taking a deep breath, Kaeli focused on what she could do.

First she settled the severed arm beside the couch as she mentally prepared herself. Mana overload and mana shock, two completely different states yet not at all uncommon in practitioners of magical arts which thankfully she was all too familiar with.

Since she had addressed the cause of mana leakage by removing the crystals from her body the only real thing left to do was to replenish the lost mana. Kaeli turned around and asked Sylas while he was treating Krieg.

"Do you have a mana potion? One will suffice."

"I'm sorry but we don't normally carry them since none of the crew uses magic."

Without saying a word she turned back to Leona who was beginning to have beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She touched her skin, both the sweat and her head felt cold to the touch.

'This isn't good…'

The only reasonable option left for her was mana transference, a technique uncommonly practiced between mages because of the existence of mana potions.

Normally it would be an unnecessary dangerous gamble because one's mana concentration could differ greatly from person to person which could easily cause overload of mana again and it was even more dangerous to Leona that was missing the whole circuits of her arm.

But there was no time to waste thinking about the ifs, Leona's life was already hanging by a thread as it was and Kaeli didn't have much of a choice either.

'I'll just have to improvise…'

She sat down on her right side. First she reached for her hand that was still clutching the longsword tightly, it was then when she noticed the blade was made of frostburnt silver.

'She's holding something quite dangerous…'

After prying the blade off her hands she settled the weapon beside the couch alongside the dismembered limb. The second step was to stabilize her mana reserves which was easier said than done.

She touched the middle of her chest with her left hand and what remained of her left arm with her right hand. After a deep breath Kaeli began to slowly and carefully channel her mana through her wrists in order to transfer it to Leona.

It was a delicate process that required every ounce of her attention. As a mage who had undergone extensive training, her own reserves were astronomical compared to those of a normal person and as such, the concentration of said mana was also vastly different.

Upon closing her eyes, Kaeli pictured a wide but empty glass cup in her mind; she then imagined her hands holding liquid mana above it. Outside, her body was emitting a faint light blue glow from both of her wrists.

As she tried to pour the blue liquid directly into the cup of her mind, the glass cracked on the sides. Kaeli's muscles around her eyes flinched.

'I must go slower…'

After swallowing dry and taking another deep breath, she resumed the transference. This time tilting her hands just enough to make a single drop land in the glass which was enough to keep it from shattering.

'I just need to keep this up.'

Outside in the dining hall, Sylas had finished administering healing potions to Cecile and Krieg. He turned around to check how Leona's treatment was going and he could barely believe what he was seeing.

"This is…" He leaned around and noticed the faint glow coming from Kaeli's hands. He covered his mouth as he uttered silently. "A bona fide mana transferring technique…"

"How is she?!" A loud familiar shout came from the entrance to the dining room. Sylas glanced at the Captain that came running to the treatment area. "Sylas! Where is Leona?!"

Having traveled many times with her before, he was not unfamiliar with her outbursts of anger but today was different. Her widened desperate eyes, frowned brows and forceful grip against the collar of his clothing was something he never witnessed before.

"She- she's being treated by that lady over there."

Once he pointed to the other side of the room, she turned her head and glanced over her shoulder and the moment she saw what had happened to Leona, her eyes were bloodshot. The crystalized bloodied arm and longsword beside the couch were enough evidence in her mind as she let go of Sylas's clothing and fully turned around.

"KAELI!"

Charlotte reached for the revolver from her holster and pulled the trigger the moment she had it out.

"Captain! Don't!"

A loud and dry bang echoed in the dining hall. The acrid smell of burnt gunpowder mingled with the sickening iron scent of blood.