[The Future of Mana]

RAMIELLE

I quickly set out towards the gate of the academy upon hearing the news from Sky, but my actions were halted when I saw Angel's wounded and unconscious body. Despite my worry for Prince and the others, in the end, my care for Angel overwhelmed whatever relationship I had with them.

As a friend, it pains me to see her in that state, but what pains me the most is the fact that I could have prevented her from such injuries if only I went with her. I know that my–our–decision was for the best. We thought for the people and what is best for them, but still, there is this lingering feeling of regret. 

Regret that eat me inside out. Maybe if I just... I don't know anymore. There are a bunch of what ifs and maybes going through my head right now. A part of want to blame myself, a part of me want to blame Prince and the rest for not protecting her enough, and a part of me wants to blame those monsters that did this to her.

But I know that I have no one to blame. This is a product of action and consequences. A cause and effect. This is the result of our adamant decision to strive, thrive, and to live. We wanted more than just an imaginary heaven, no. We wanted to grasp the heavenly miracle ourselves, so we willingly entered hell.

-

"Sam! How is she?"

"She suffered some noticeable injury, but fortunately, none of them are fatal. Although if she is not treated soon, I don't think her body would be able to sustain these wounds any longer."

'Why did our only healer have to be one incapacitated?'

I bit my fingernails as I think of a way to help Angel. I did not foresee this situation at all, because of that I didn't pay attention to improbable matters, such as what would happen if our only healer gets injured? I was too reckless, too arrogant. I focused too much on increasing my strength, so that I could eradicate those monsters for good. That was my mistake. 

'Ramielle, you dumb woman.'

"We have to tend to her right now then."

I was about to rush to get our emergency medical supplies, ones that we found on our school clinic, when Samanta suddenly stood up and stopped me. 

"I have already stopped the bleeding. All you need to do is to stitch the wounds and wait for them to heal, but if you can't do it, then I suggest to just cover it with a clean cloth. Angel's own immunity system and natural regeneration will close the wound for herself."

"Huh? Are you going to leave?"

Just as I asked that, I sensed two individual quickly rushing to the academy's gate. Recognizing their mana signatures to be Marvin and Ralph's, I quickly went outside to meet them.

"Marvs! Ralph! What are you guys doing here? Where is Prince? I have a lot to ask you guys!"

"Sister Miel, let's talk about it later. First, we must go help Prince."

"What happened to him?"

Marvin took the minute to explain the situation as briefly as possible. I doubt that he was exaggerating based on the worried tone on his voice. Although it was really hard to swallow that they encountered such a large number of monsters.

No, saying that their numbers are large is an understatement. I don't know how many monster came from the rift, but I can surmise that their number are thousands. A single monster is enough to wreck havoc in a school campus, and depending on its strength, would need at least an Elementor of my level to kill it.

And if the monsters that Prince is currently fighting right now was a monster of such caliber, and he is fighting a hundred of those... There is no chance for him to survive. Hell, even I have no confidence to came out alive in such a situation.

'I must tell Samanta.'

But when I was just about to tell her, she suddenly vanished. -

SAMANTA

Sneaking past the two men currently en route to the academy, I quickly dashed through the road to Viesyu. Stretching out my own mana, I tried to sense his mana signatures in the atmosphere. However, even after five seconds had already passed I still haven't sense his mana.

'Weird. Did he not use the affinity of fire or air? If I heard the guy from earlier right, there must have been at least a hundred monsters in where he went. Defeating all of them with just physical enhancement alone would take a lot of time and energy... does he want to exhaust himself?'

But it occurred to me that maybe the battlefield was just too far from me to sense any residual mana, let alone any mana from him. Still, the thought of losing his location came to my mind and I increased my speed unconsciously.

Fortunately, it did not take long before my mana finally connected to his. Unbeknownst to me, the fact that I know his whereabouts gave me a sense of relief. As someone who spent most of her life alone, it is not everyday that I go through such lengths just to find someone.

-

"Sam? What are you doing here?"

"You look rather well. I guess the enemies were not that strong."

"Oh, they were strong, all right. But compared to the previous monsters that we fought, those guys are nothing but cannon fodders."

Well, I already expected him to win. It hurts me to admit it, but even I am not entirely sure if I have the capabilities to defeat him. Yes, my Ice affinity might be stronger than his fire or air, but he has too many tricks up his sleeve that I can't afford to let my guard down.

'Still... does he not seem different?'

I'm not entirely sure, but I felt like his aura, more precisely the thin, miniature mana barrier that surrounds him seems to somewhat different. If before it was like a thin wall of paper that protects him, now it feels like a solid brick wall.

'Maybe he used more mana?'

"Sam?"

"You... What did you find?"

"Hahaha. I really can't hide anything from you, can't I?"

He laughed loudly before taking out a spherical orb from under his jacket. The sphere glistened like the sun, perfectly round as if it was sculpted by gods, but more importantly, it radiated a crazy amount of mana.

"What is that?"

"Not sure what it's called. Here, check it yourself."

He, like a careless idiot, threw the orb in my direction. I subconsciously created an ice bowl beneath me just in case I couldn't catch it. Fortunately, I managed to catch it without dropping it. I was just about to berate his stupid action when I suddenly felt it...

'My mana is stronger? No, better?'

"Ray! Where the hell did you get this?!'

"HAHAHAHA!"

Even though I haven't used any skill, I could already tell the difference that this orb brought. Mana is both quantifiable and qualifiable. These can be both in terms of amount and purity. For example, a person can have more mana but less purity, or he could have less mana but more purity.

Now, both are important in terms of fighting and using skills, especially for an Elementor like myself. But there are major differences between having more mana and stronger mana. The concept is vague but for you to use a skill, or what I like to call it, you must need sufficient mana for the skill to be conjured.

But! For a skill to be considered 'powerful' the quality of mana must also be high. Treat it like a car, for it to drive it must need fuel, but the efficiency of the car depends the fuel that you put in it. Now, the same goes for an individual's mana.

I'm not entirely sure how an individual will strengthen his mana nor lengthen his mana reserves, but as time progress and you use more and more mana, the understanding of your own power does lead you to have a much more control over mana.

Call it muscle memory or some sort. The more you use mana to fight or something, the more you will grasp how to use it. Although I have already learned how to use mana to fight, I still believe that we're just understanding the tip of it.

Mana is something precious yet illogical, but this illogical thing is important for the survival of humanity. We must do what it takes to fully understand what this energy truly is. That's why the discovery of this orb, is very vital for our world.

This orb may lead us to a better understanding of mana.

"Hey... have you looked enough? Can I have that back?"

'This guy... He has a world-breaking treasure such as this yet he casually throws it around? No! I absolutely can't let him keep this.'

"I'll hold on to it for the meantime."

"What? You can't do that... the orb belongs to me! I found it first!"

My lips twitched upon hearing the childish tone of his voice. I know that I am being unruly to keep the orb from his hands, as it is his possession, but I found it really annoying how he doesn't realize the importance of the orb.

'Why did he have to get it?'

"You have any complaints?!"

"You... Fine! But I have one condition."

"What is it?"

"I'll tell you later. First, we must go back and tend to this guy and his sister."

He pointed at Angel's brother who, like her, was in a ragged state as well. Although Prince's condition was much worse than Angel because not only was he suffering from severe injuries, his mana reserve was also depleted so his body's natural regeneration is currently halted.

"I have already treated Angel. We just need to treat him."

"Really? How did you treat her?"

"I just used my own mana to combine with her mana that has the affinity of healing. Treat it as me being a power bank to charge her."

"So, you just used your own mana as the energy? But the thing that treated her wounds was her own mana?"

"Directly on point."

"I guess, that's possible. Now, we just need to find a way to heal this guy as well or he'll die of blood loss."

"But how will we do it?"

"I have an idea, but first we need to return to the academy first."

"Got it."

And just like that we both head home.

-

Meanwhile...

"Kenneth. I have some bad news for you."

Something eventful was happening at Phase 4.

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