Success

Mino endured the pain, which was growing every moment. He

had already abandoned that earlier idea of his because he found it to be

futile.

He imagined the drop of Mana going inside his body. As it

went deeper, nearer to the imagined vortex, the pain grew more

intense. He was already sweating buckets again, his veins were

bulging out from his temples, hands and feet.

Furloc and his

gang looked worried, but they knew that Mino could make it.

Soon, Mino started to clench his fists tightly. The fingernails dug

into his exposed knees, leaving marks.

It was evident that the

pain was becoming intolerable with every passing moment.

However, Mino didn't dare give up. He was scared. If he gave

up now, a gut feeling told him that he wouldn't be able to do it

for quite some time. He would be pushed back and would lag

behind even further. No way he would allow that!

"Graaaaaaahhhh!"

Mino gave out a bestial roar as he flared up

his imagination. A second drop was added...then a third....then

a fourth one started flowing too...and the pain kept on

multiplying.

But Mino wasn't done yet.

"THIS IS A DAMNED PIECE OF CAKE!!!!"

Clenching his fists tighter, he contorted his face, wrinkles

forming on it as his body started to grow red. He was shivering

wildly, as if he was suffering from a serious fever.

And then, a

single drop of blood trailed down his nose. It kept on going

down and entered the gap formed by the parting lips. But Mino

was too focussed to notice the metallic taste.

The drops being sucked into the vortex now started to clump

together, forming a continuous stream! It was very slow at first,

but soon started picking up pace.

But just like Mino's imagination was picking up pace, so was the

pain. The white hot, electrifying pain had disappeared. It was replaced by a dull, fluctuating pain assaulting the insides of his

brain.

The fluctuations were even more agonizing compared to

a constant pain. His head started throbbing, Mino felt his skull

would burst open any moment, splattering the contents all over

the open field.

The tiny capillaries in his eyes burst, making them bloodshot, as

bright red like a ripe chilli. There was nothing to be said about

his body, which was getting worse every second. Blood flowed

down both his nostrils with a steady pace. Some rose up

through his throat and leaked from the corner of his lips.

But Mino's fight was yet to be finished.

He met more and more resistance, the imaginary mana stream

felt more viscous and heavy the more he tried to increase its

speed.

Wondering what to do, a bulb flicked up in his brain.

He manipulated the shape of the vortex to increase its height

and loop length, thus effectively increasing the distance to be

covered.

But the mana quantity had reached a constant, so the

stream of mana was reduced to a thin string of it as it covered

the entire path.

Smiling in satisfaction, he moved on to the final state of his

plan! The string of mana was significantly easier to propel. It

gradually started accelerating, till the entire amount of imagined

mana gathered at the lowest point of the vortex, its origin in the

form of a small bead.

And lo! It worked out just as planned! Mino exerted the last bit

of his strength with another howl, tried to set the tiny bead in

motion.

But it felt like he was trying to make a heavy spherical

boulder spin on a rough ground.

"I HAVE TO DO IT! FOR ME, FOR FUCKING MYSELF I HAVE

TO DO IT!! C'MON MINO YOU CAN DO IIIITTTTT!!!"

Shouting like a madman, Mino finallymanaged to turn the bead

a little bit.

Everyone had stopped their activities to look at Mino. Even Iso

was inwardly rooting for Mino.

[Go Mino go! Fucking gooooo!]

Eustus was hopping around madly, shouting out

encouragements. Furloc was silently looking at Mino with fists

clenched as tightly as Mino's. He was shivering, even if a little

bit. Afraid what would happen if Mino failed.

[Do it Mino. For yourself. Show that willpower crushes fate!

Show that being stubborn changes destiny! Prove it to me! Tell

me that I will be able to defeat that Zay one day too! Tell me that

I'm not destined to lose to him everytime!]

He had felt defeated in every aspect after being humiliated by

Zay. One could say, Zay succeeded to break Furloc from the

inside, at least damage if not break completely.

Mino was the

crutch he so desperately needed.

Jesoph was sweating, every muscle in his body tensed up. As

for Clarq, his gaze was still, unmoving. His confidence in Mino

was even more than Ambroxia's or Furloc's.

"What are you looking at, HEAL him!" Caladea cried out upon

seeing Mino's condition.

"My collar's not deactivated you fool!" Calibri pointed out. Inwardly, she was panicking as hell too.

She herself didn't know

why. Perhaps because she was going to witness something she

had never before.

Ambroxia muttered to herself under her breath,

"Seems like I

underestimated him. Damn, that persistence... I shattered from

inside out, plunging into hopelessness and despair after that event. How pathetic I was... this crippled boy here is stronger

than me."

Then all of a sudden, a crazed grin appeared on her face,

"I'm SO pathetic, so so SO MUCH pathetic I am!"

She continued comparing herself with Mino even though there

were no adequate grounds and berated herself like anything.

The little bit of push was enough. The imaginary sphere was set

in motion. It started gaining momentum, with a slow start, then

rapid a gain. Finally, the vortex, or rather the whirlpool, was

automated, attracting the mana towards itself.

Mino imagined the vortex origin to be the centre of his mana

meridians.

Finally... he opened his blooshot eyes. They were covered in a

film of red.

He managed to utter only one word...

"Gotcha"

...and collapsed on the spot.

Calibri's collar clicked and deactivated. She might have tried to

escape into the wilderness, but she didn't. Such a though didn't

enter her mind at all!

Calibri instantly understood what she was

required to do. Within seconds, she rushed towards Mino

whose face was all bloodied. He was breathing faintly.

"[Light Magic] <Heal Astra>!"

Astra imbued light spell, thus even more potent. But it was

nowhere near Barn's, since neither her level, nor her experience

or expertise was as high as his. Also, it was a magic and not an

ervass. But it did its job pretty seamlessly.

Mino breathing soon became comfortable.

Furloc and the others had gathered around him, kneeling down

by his side.

*Clap clap*

Someone clapped, it was Zay.

"Woooo! Seems like that cripple managed to pull it off! Well, but

a cripple's always a cripple isn't it? Furrylocks, don't motivate

him, you will end up breaking his heart!"

Finishing words with an arrogant snort, he jostled his way to

Mino.

"Don't dare to touch him Zay."

It was Clarq who said that with a hateful tone, even before

Furloc could open his mouth.

"Oh! Blackie doggie got angry? Fufu, try to bite me, I'll break

your teeth and grind them into meal, you Dickpelt."

Clarq didn't even bother listening to Zay's snide remark. His

stoic face was back on.

Zay walked away, not bothering to spend his time with trash.

Right then. Iso's voiced sounded,

"Everyone get back RIGHT NOW! I won't mind giving EACH

AND EVERY ONE OF YOU an ass whooping!!"

It worked like magic. Everyone scurried away like rats.

Iso came up to Mino, who was lying on the grass and asked,

"You okay?"

Mino smiled radiantly and said, "Do you think I am?"

Iso chuckled before declaring,

"Okay, you will feel better after I

beat you up. Don't think I am joking."

"Damn..."

"One thing." Iso stopped.

"Never gonna give you up."

Mino involuntarily blurted out,

"Never gonna let you down."

Iso looked quite surprised, but chuckled and moved on.

After experiencing such pain, Mino was unwilling to get hurt

again. But he had no choice.

Even then, his spirits were not

dampened. He could feel Mana flowing in his body, albeit very

less. Mino could feel the mana in his surroundings too. Just

aware that it was present, nothing more.

"It's impossible to have such a low affinity and get control of

Mana and observe it despite having damaged meridians.

Unless... the system is showing a wrong thing...due to some

cause in his very body...Very Sus..."

Erudin remarked, following which she resumed her exercise.