8. Syphon

Kai ignored the guard and focused on purging the corruption from within the mana weaver.

He sent waves of mana into the weaver's body. Parts of the man's body had fallen to the corruption and it had taken hold, so it resisted Kai's mana viscously, not letting him destroy it and even fought against it.

Still, it wasn't strong enough to stop his mana.

After coming to his era, Kai's mana had only gotten more pure because of the quality of the mana in the air here.

Beads of sweat gathered on his forehead as he focused. To the guard, it might have looked like nothing, but Kai felt like he was in the middle of a battlefield, fighting the corruption with his mana.

The mana weaver shook a few times during the purification, but it mostly stayed put, his Sleep spell doing its work. If it had woken up, it would have surely attacked him.

The whole thing went smoothly as Kai took deep breaths, consolidated his breathing and kept on working.

After an hour of it, Kai saw the black lines on his neck thinning. A few of them disappeared and even a few of his fingers returned to their normal state.

The black lines on his arms completely went away.

It was a gradual process, but it was a positive response to his purification.

The skin colour of the weaver had gone completely pale and it almost resembled a blood drinker. If Kai was right, it would take a week for the colour to return to normal.

The eyes had turned red alongside the face morphing into rotten flesh. Those would take extra care from him and he didn't have enough mana for it at the moment.

He touched the weaver's neck and sent a last rush of mana inside its veins before sighing. Taking a last look at it, he stood up and dusted his hands off.

Kai looked at the guard who still looked a bit shocked at what he had seen.

"I will come here regularly every day to heal it. For now, just keep it fed and don't do anything. I might just be able to save it," Kai said and paused, taking a moment to think for himself. He took a glimpse at the mana weaver and looked back at the guard. "I would prefer it if you don't go around using your mouth about me being a Mage."

Kai looked at him in the eyes, giving a 'did you understand what I meant' look. The guard nodded immediately.

For him, it didn't matter if people knew if he was a Mage or not, but there would be questions once it got revealed. He preferred to reveal it himself to others rather than them finding out about it from rumours.

Also, he was a bit wary of Actra.

Kai hadn't seen him yet, but knowing that he might be connected to the ritual and Arzan's death, he couldn't help but be cautious of him.

Moreover, being a Mage might just help him get support from Killian and Francis. Both of them had considerable authority around here, but Kai doubted they trusted him. It was more like they endured him and didn't dare to speak against him due to his family.

If he wanted to rule here, he needed retainers and being a Mage would certainly help with that.

"Lord Arzan, you said that you would come here to heal the mana weaver. Does that mean it could be saved?" The guard's voice brought him back to the present and he looked at him.

"Yes, I would be able to save it. The corruption hadn't spread so much that we would have to kill it."

Saying so, Kai turned around to leave, but as he was doing so, his eyes noticed something sitting in front of the walls. A unique-looking stone.

"Is that a Syphon stone?" Kai questioned as he fixed his gaze on it. He briefly recalled Killian mentioning it before.

The Syphon stone was a green, crystallised stone with the ability to draw mana from the surroundings. Kai had seen their fair share of them before.

It was kept far away from the mana weaver and he assumed it was to absorb the mana from the air, so the Weaver couldn't gather his energy back. It was a great tool for someone to be kept exhausted.

"Yes, it is, My Lord. We are using it to absorb as much mana as possible from the weaver. We haven't expected such a situation, or we would have already constructed cuffs made from Syphon stone," he said while glancing between the stone and Kai.

Kai kept looking at the stone before slowly walking towards it. Picking it in his hand, the Syphon stone tried to absorb his mana, but it wasn't able to. Kai's control on its mana was strong enough unlike the weaver who had transformed recently.

As he kept looking at the crystallised stone, Kai's mind started to spin. Almost as if leaves caught on fire, an idea ignited in his mind.

Can't I use these stones to make up a Heat stone? With their natural mana absorption, I only have to inscribe an Ignition seal on them. Though, it's easier said than done.

Kai thought in his mind and weighed the pros and cons before deciding on running a few tests.

Looking back at the guard, he asked, "What is your name?"

"It's Feroy, my Lord."

"Feroy, get a few of these Syphon stones in my room as soon as possible."

***

Inside his room, Kai looked down at the Syphon stones that were glistening in front of him. He smiled at them as they could be the answer to his first and most important problem right now.

As they were common and were easily found in the mountains, Kai was easily able to get a few of them to begin his experiments.

From what he knew, the stones were useless other than their ability to absorb mana.

It was also the reason common people didn't like them. There were a few tales of travellers touching them in the mountains and feeling powerless after the stones suck all their mana. Unlike him, commoners hardly have any ability to resist the pull of the stones.

From what he recalled, they were mostly used in prisons, especially against Mages as normal cuffs won't work against them. There were quite a few people he had read about who had experimented on the stones, trying to power them up or use them for other reasons.

Though, no one had tried to make them a Heat stone. He had only heard of them being used as Mana batteries before.

It was because they tended to blast if someone tried to use external mana to change their properties. Enchanting them was also not easy due to that.

Only the best Mages would be able to do that.

Kai had a few reservations because of that, but he had no other plan.

That's why, he picked up one stone and slowly started enchanting it, keeping in mind to be delicate or else he might end up getting killed just a week after regressing.

First of all, to limit the mana that the stones would absorb, Kai thought of a specific enchantment.

He didn't want the energy to be drained from everyone surrounding the stone.

The Heat stone was supposed to provide heat, not suck all the energy.

Slowly, he inscribed the seal on top of the stone, making sure that he wasn't putting too much pressure on it.

It shook in his hand, but the mana stored in it didn't act strange. Slowly, Kai traced the seal on top of the stone and once it was done, it took a sigh of relief.

One thing is done.

Next, he decided to use the Ignition seal on the other side of the stone. That would make sure that the stone would turn all the mana inside of it to warm itself up and then the air around it.

An Ignition seal was harder to do, so Kai took more time in it.

The patterns were complex and despite being a basic version of the real seal he knew of, it would do the work. After each line, Kai kept a note on how it was behaving and continued.

The stone absorbed his magic, almost like sponges soaking up water.

It suddenly flickered a little and Kai immediately put it down and walked a few steps away from it, preparing to cast a defensive spell.

The next second, a noise came out.

Crack!

Kai looked on as the stone cracked and frowned. It hadn't exploded, but his efforts were ruined.

He had to start from scratch again.

For the rest of the day, Kai kept working on the stones, even eating his dinner in his room as he worked to enchant the stones.

After going through a few of them, he realised that the stones were cracking because of the pressure from the inscriptions he was doing. He also made other mistakes, both big and small.

Once, the stone even exploded because he messed up the Ignition seal.

He survived as he jumped out of the range of it, but he did attract the attention of Claire and one guard who was close by.

In his defence, it was only because he tried to limit the level of warmth that the stones would give out. He didn't want them to burn someone's hands. It had to be at a specific temperature for them to be a hit among the common public.

Like that, he kept working on the stone. Every try was him getting close to success and slowly, he mastered the Ignition seal and how to inscribe it perfectly.

He took breaks to recover his mana and went back to it again.

His whole night was spent like that, but Kai didn't regret any part of it as the morning arrived.

***

Killian looked down at his plate. He cut the bread into pieces. With his fork, he grabbed the meat and put it on top.

It was breakfast and he regarded it as the most important meal of the day. Today was the same and the food made by the cook was the same as every day, just how he liked it.

Still, he sensed a gaze on him and as he raised his head, he matched Francis's eyes on him.

"Do you have something to say, Francis?" Killian asked, looking at him. His brows furrowed in curiosity.

"Have you noticed Lord Arzan acting unusual lately? I mean-"

Killian nodded, chewing thoughtfully. "Yeah, something's off. I heard he's been hoarding those Syphon stones, doing god knows what in his room for the last three days. He only goes out to meet Mana weaver. We're neck-deep in debt, and he's tinkering with a bunch of stones."

He shook his head in disappointment.

Francis put the bread he was eating down, a puzzled expression etched on his face. "I thought he was going to do something about the debt. Maybe send a letter to the Duke's household for them to help us, but he's just wasting time with stones." His voice was thickly laced with disappointment.

Killian sighed and took a bite of the bread. "I don't get it. Maybe he's onto something, but we're in no position for experiments-"

He stopped talking as soon as he heard footsteps. Both of them turned their faces around to see someone familiar.

Arzan walked in with a smile on his face. He looked between the two.

"Good morning, Lord Arzan!"

Both of them said at the same time. Killian glanced at Francis and decided to ask about the Syphon stones.

"Lord Arzan, we heard you were-"

"I have something to show to you both."

Before he could continue further, Arzan replied.

His eyes glistened with accomplishment, and his upward smile showed that he was proud of what he had done.

From the cloak he was wearing, he pulled out a stone and placed it on the table in front of them. It was glistening with a green shimmer, and they could see energy shifting inside.

There were also strange patterns engraved onto them on all sides.

"What are those patterns on the Syphon stone?" Francis asked, looking up at Arzan.

"Why are you showing us a Syphon stone, Lord Arzan?" Killian also asked, his face scrunching up in confusion.

"Place your hands on it," Arzan looked at the duo and said. His attention immediately shifted to Killian, urging him to touch the stone.

Killian frowned but didn't dare to object. He slowly placed his hands on top of the stone. The cold surface of the stone made him wince as he felt it drawing his mana.

Slowly, the shimmer in the stone increased as Killian tried to resist. He flinched as the energy continued to drain from his body.

"Why are you trying to drain me early in the morning?" Killian asked and withdrew his hands immediately.

Arzan shook his head. "Place them back. And tell me what you feel."

Killian already knew what he would feel if he placed them back. "Lord Arzan, I still have the rest of the day left—"

"Just do so," Arzan insisted.

Killian and Francis locked eyes and both wondered at the same time. He hadn't seen the Lord being so forceful before. Mostly, he would just order and act aloof.

"Well-" Killian obliged.

This time, when he kept his hands above the stones, he could feel a strange warmth emitting from the stone. The cold surface completely changed and it felt good.

"What… is that? And how…"

Killian questioned and looked up at Arzan who smiled.

"This is a Heat stone. And this is how we will be paying back our debt. We are going to sell these."