Chapter 1135: Tug Of War

Feeling the surge of power from melding with Luna, Alex felt his body undergo the usual changes as his appearance changed into a younger and more feminine version of him, with silver hair.

His mana capacity grew immensely, and that reminded him of just how large the power gap between the him outside of the New Eden and the him inside was. Not only that power gap but also the one between him and some of his spirits.

He couldn’t thank the universe enough that his own soul had been greatly strengthened by the passing of Psyche, or he wouldn’t be able to control most of them at all.

His mind was brought back to the matter at hand as the sky rumbled in fury.

"No time to waste," Alex said, sitting next to the barrier separating him from Rì-Chū.

’How do you plan on channelling the mana to him?’ he asked Luna inside his mind.

’I can feel some of his mana being drained from below where he is sitting. That means the barrier surrounding him isn’t completely sealed. We can use that hole to channel our mana into him.’

Alex slid his senses along the barrier and rapidly confirmed her statement as true. That made things easier for them.

But the hole was tiny and underground. Plus, there was truly a pull on Rì-Chū’s mana from below, and he had an inkling of a doubt that his would also be pulled downward.

The control he would need to exert would be another drain on his own mana supply. T make matters worse, he knew how exhausting compressing mana into Aether was in New Eden.

He couldn’t begin to imagine how taxing it would be in the real world. Nonetheless, he had to do it.

He could see the colour slowly draining from Rì-Chū’s face, and understood it was only a matter of time before he made another mistake and lightning blasted through the dome above their heads. And by the spot it hit, he knew it would blast directly into the boy.

He slid his hands on the ground, pushing them to the edge of the barrier between him and the kid, shortening the distance he would have to push his mana into the ground. He then began the process of forming Aether within his body.

The process of refining mana into Aether would usually be something he took his time with, to maximize return on investment. Time, however, was not on their side.

Therefore, he compressed it roughly, wasting much more mana than necessary, and forming Aether at as rapid a pace as he could, feeling his mana reserves already dwindling.

But he couldn’t spare the effort to contain the process.

As soon as he had his first bit of refined Aether inside him, he rapidly split his focus, leaving most of the Aether moulding to Luna’s mind, while he directed the refined energy toward Rì-Chū.

As soon as the Aether left him and travelled to the small crevice in the barrier, he felt the thing below latching its energy tendrils onto it. But he wasn’t about to lose in a control battle of his own mana to something that was inanimate.

Pushing through the suction force, losing about ten percent of the energy, Alex finally delivered the first bit of mana to the kid.

Instantly, the colour came back to his face, and he felt Rì-Chū’s mana become steady once more.

But there seemed to be an agitation from the source of mana below, who suddenly started pulling at Rì-Chū’s mana with more force.

’You hungry piece of shit!’ Alex thought, noticing the drain grow on the boy.

’Luna, we need to go faster! Whatever this thing is, I doubt it has the best intentions from draining Rì-Chū’s mana.’

Luna acquiesced silently in his mind, and they accelerated the refining process.

It quickly became a race between who could push and pull energy faster into the kid who, surprisingly, closed his mind out of the tug of war happening within his own body and focused on his task.

The minutes crawled by like an eternity to both humans locked in this battle of wills with the third entity, until a last note resounded in the grove, echoing far into the forest, a wave of mana blasting out from the center of the grove with it.

The beam of light left from the ground, right in front of Rì-Chū, and blasted into the sky. The clouds parted , making way to a black sky dotted with stars and a bright, full moon.

The beam seemed to head toward the moon, and God only knew if it ever made it there or not.

Alex heard a voice whisper to him as the barrier dissipated around the grove.

"Thank you."

His head snapped in the direction it came, which was upward, but saw no one, human nor spirit.

’The fuck was that?’ he wondered.

But the thought train left his mind instantly as his own exhaustion hit him like a train.

The meld with Luna undid itself from his lack of mana to sustain it, and his surroundings started fading in and out, his mind becoming foggy.

He felt his body fall limp and drop sideways, but the impact with the ground never came; his mind going blank before it could.

Kary had already been near him to catch him, as she could sense his mana leaving him at a rapid pace during the entire ordeal. She knew he would most likely faint from whatever he was doing the moment his focus broke.

As for the rest of the group, everyone stood at the ready, weapons out, mana channelled, as they looked at the center of the grove, where a spectral figure had just pulled out of the ground, a bow in its hand.

"Who are you and what are your intentions?" Kary growled at it, a blue flame swirling in front of her hand, pointed at the being.

As the being looked at her with scorn, Rì-Chū’s voice cut through the tension.

"Wait! I can explain!"