“That’s all I can do for now,” Riya said, the golden glow of celestial magic fading.
As the internal warmth of healing magic faded, the simmering pain from Glade’s mana poisoning resurfaced.
“The Captain’s HP is topped up again,” Kedryn said, steadying the exhausted elf. “You are a true miracle worker.”
Given his current situation, Glade couldn’t agree more. That he was still alive showed not only how much Riya’s capabilities had grown, but also how much she cared. Not for the first time, he wondered who the real protector was out of the two of them.
Noises that had been muted before came to the forefront, highlighting how his heightened awareness from the mana running rampant in his body was both a blessing and curse. The fact he could sense others around him without the use of Telepathy was incredible.
The downside was he felt everything. Every dwarven empowered strike as mining picks struck rock, boots tromping to and fro as rocks were carried or carts pushed, and all the other noises associated with excavating the tunnel. Not to mention the near constant roar of Krazzik’s voice.
“Put yer back into it lads! We’ve been given a second chance, let's be sure we take advantage o’ it!”
Knowing he needed to find a solution to his problems before the enhanced awareness drove him mad, Glade dove back into his prompts. There had to be a way to undo the damage, or at the very least, minimize it.
Congratulations! Your use of Mana Manipulation to free the life from the spell Abyssal Chains of Servitude was a success! Your dangerous and ill-advised use of magic has earned you +1 to Chance.
Warning! Your continued disregard for personal safety has resulted in oversaturating yourself in Astral mana while telepathically linked with an unknown entity. The mental bridge created between yourself and the abyssally chained creature has now been permanently seared into your psyche.
Note: Openings, once created, can never truly be closed. Good luck!
Instead of the message filling Glade with dread, an overwhelming sense of relief washed over him. The innocent being he had rescued was safe! More than that, now that he was paying attention, Glade could feel the tentative connection between himself and the little ember. Like a small candle alight in the back of his mind.
No sooner had his mind shifted toward the link than a sense of welcoming joy flooded into him. Flashes of emotion flitted through their connection so fast Glade could barely keep up. Awe of being free of pain, excitement to have met a soul that didn’t cause it pain, concern for Glade’s suffering, and a tentative thread of willingness to share its strength if it could help.
The ember’s warmth of unrestrained adoration bypassed Glade’s many layers of emotional defense, achieving something he had been actively denying for what felt like an eternity. It touched his heart.
Overwhelmed with the mental equivalent of a bear hug of absolute pureness, Glade was caught off guard, doing the only thing that came to mind. He lightly embraced the loving light right back.
Wonder and inexpressible joy filled him as the ember of light basked in the attention. Several minutes passed, and for the first time in what felt like an eternity, Glade relaxed.
Sometime later, the little ember of light dimmed and went to sleep, slowly letting its mental awareness slip back into its own mind.
Glade let it slip into the rest it needed, the feelings of warmth and belonging still radiating through their link.
More time passed as Glade pondered what he was going to do about this very unique situation.
A new notification appeared.
You have been offered a quest - Another Chance I. The egg you rescued from Harnek the Black’s enslavement is failing. This poor creature has been enslaved, forced to enable dark mages in conquests long forgotten. Its most recent master used far more of the creature’s power than it could effectively regenerate. If left untreated, the egg will die. You are hereby given a choice:
1. Mercy - You may allow a tortured soul to pass from this life to the next. The egg has not yet hatched, meaning it will not be given the opportunity for rebirth, but it will be free from further torment.
2. Pain - You may use your mana to sustain this creature’s life, prolonging its suffering as it continues to fight the remaining dregs of the Abyss’s corrupting touch. The ramifications of this choice remain unknown seeing as the damage done has gone well beyond the physical.
Rewards vary for either choice, but know this – your decision will have consequences beyond your understanding and will significantly mark you in the days to come.
You cannot reject this quest as you have already taken responsibility for the egg.
Glade stopped scrolling, the emotions of peace he had felt moments before turned to ash.
The ember of light was dying.
Icy tendrils of fear wormed their way into his heart as the realization of the quest’s choices sank in. Mercy or pain.
The challenge was that both choices resonated with him, both logically and emotionally. The little ember had suffered for what sounded like generations. It would be beyond cruel to allow it to suffer any longer than it had to.
Yet, just the thought of letting go felt like he was once again teetering on a precipice of darkness that he doubted he could pull himself back from.
A memory of white walls and the smell of disinfectant rose unbidden, projecting a quiet voice that he could still hear to this day.
“Would you want mercy if your roles were reversed?”
Glade may not have been able to move, but he could feel the tear that slipped down his cheek.
Life was unfair. It always had been, and would likely remain that way. And here he was, presented with another choice to selfishly keep someone close, or to be the stronger person and let them be free.
As Glade wavered in his decision, a tendril of warmth bled over the mental bridge he shared with the little ember as his newfound partner dreamed. It felt of hope, with an undercurrent of trust. And an iron will bent on seeing tomorrow with its new friend...
In that precious moment, Glade realized there was no choice at all.
You have chosen to save the egg.
Warning! Please pay attention this time as waiting will have severe ramifications. The lifeform within the egg is fading and will die if left untreated.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Anticipated life expectancy: 27 hours, 15 minutes, 43 seconds.
Required mana for the egg’s -
Minimum Stabilization: 0/654 MP
Acceptable Stabilization: 0/981 MP
Optimal Stabilization: 0/1308 MP
A sliding bar appeared, ranging from 0 - 100%.
Glade stared dumbfounded at the screen for half a breath, then pushed the bar all the way to 100%. This was exactly what he needed to survive!
The pain suffusing his mind and body rolled back like the tide, providing near immediate relief. Even though the little ember was resting, it projected the mental equivalent of a contented, hopeful sigh.
The unlikely coincidence of his choice saving both him and the egg was not lost on Glade, and for the briefest of moments he wondered if his brands, and the associated connections to the Eight, had anything to do with what was happening.
Knowing he would likely never find out, Glade simply basked in the hopeful warmth of his new companion for a moment before returning to his notifications. He had work to do.
Congratulations! You have diverted 100% of your mana flow to the egg. Your saturation of Astral Mana will remain at 52%. Heightened awareness and stamina regeneration mirror your current saturation rate. HP loss per hour is reduced to 0. Current mana levels: 0/120.
Note: Mana levels will not increase as long as your channels remain damaged.
Note: Mana points diverted to the Egg: 12 per hour.
Focusing solely on how he could provide the egg with the best chance of survival, Glade began working a solution. Which required math.
After doing some not so quick mental math, he figured out that his mana regeneration rate of 12 MP per hour equated to 324 MPs total for the egg at the end of the 27-hour time limit. Not even half of the minimum required MP for the little ember to survive.
And he was not satisfied pushing for the minimum stabilization.
Needing more options, Glade pulled up his status page and found that his mana had bottomed out because of his ruptured channels.
So much for trying to transfer mana.
Next, he tried pulling some mana from Kedryn. The Kid had used their bond without talking to him several times before, which, in his opinion, gave him tacit permission to do the same.
Warning! The current level of your Shared Bond is not high enough to permit sharing mana.
If Glade could have rolled his eyes, he would have. Of course, the bond had levels. Everything in this entire system had levels! Kedryn was never going to give him a moment's peace once he learned this tidbit of information.
Glade briefly considered using his perk but dismissed it just as quickly. A 4% increase in wisdom wouldn’t help him with the numbers he needed.
After several minutes, Glade found only two viable options. He could drastically increase his wisdom attribute, which might get him to the bare minimum the egg needed to survive. Or he could focus on his mana processing technique.
In theory, the processing technique should reduce his saturation levels while helping the egg, afterall, any mana produced was supposed to go to the little ember. It should also help him drop his saturation levels below 50%, which should release him from his paralysis.
Not seeing a downside, Glade focused on using his Twin Root and Branch technique to begin processing the rampant mana throughout his body.
After several minutes, a notification appeared.
You have reduced your mana saturation by 1%.
Anticipated life expectancy: 27 hours, 9 minutes, 12 seconds.
Required mana for the egg’s -
Minimum Stabilization: 6/654 MP
Acceptable Stabilization: 6/981 MP
Optimal Stabilization: 6/1308 MP
A sense of profound relief filled him as he read the notifications. It had worked! Sort of. Only 6 mana had been pushed to the egg, which meant he had to do math in his head again to see if it was enough. There was a reason he had chosen history as his major in college.
It took him a little over 10 minutes to make a general calculation. He reasoned that every percentage of mana saturation equaled roughly 5 MP, which he could process about every 7 to 10 minutes. If he focused on nothing but processing mana, he could net a total of about 460 points, give or take. That meant just over 7 hours of doing nothing but processing mana.
Doable? Yes.
Was it practical while trying to survive? Not really.
Besides, 460 points wasn’t enough to save the egg. Not alone.
His mind quickly reoriented on his natural regeneration, adding the projected 324 mana over the next 27 hours, bringing the total to 784 MP.
Glade spared himself a congratulatory moment. While the math may have been easy for some, it was a big enough moment that he let himself feel proud. His little ember would live! Now to work a more optimal solution.
He either needed to increase his wisdom to enhance regeneration or his intellect on top of processing the mana saturating his body.
There were obvious down sides. Namely, his channels were still torn. If he increased his wisdom or intelligence Glade would essentially be poisoning himself that much faster after the 27 hours was done. Add on the challenge of finding a viable solution in fixing his channels within the next 27 hours… well, neither option was what he would call optimal.
His only real hope was that he could continue to feed mana to the egg after the elapsed time.
If not, well, he was screwed anyway, might as well make sure one of them survived. And there was the option of falling back on using one of his supposed rebirths.
Knowing this was likely a terrible decision, Glade made his choice and willed 10 of his 21 remaining attribute points to wisdom.
Note: You have allocated 100% of your mana regeneration to the unknown entity, the equivalent of 22 points of mana per hour. Anticipated regeneration after the time limit: 594 points.
Glade smiled at the prompt. That, combined with the mana from his processing technique, should at least get him to the acceptable stabilization level. He could most definitely work with that.
After 15 minutes of intense focus on his Twin Root and Branch technique, Glade received a welcome message.
You have reduced your mana saturation by a total of 3%. Current saturation is 49%. You are no longer paralyzed.
Warning! While you are no longer paralyzed, you still have mana poisoning. Due to your continued healing with Celestial mana, symptoms have been negated for another 2 hours. Reduce your mana saturation below 25% to eliminate all symptoms.
Egg’s anticipated life expectancy: 26 hours, 42 minutes, 58 seconds.
Required mana for -
Minimum Stabilization: 20/654 MP
Acceptable Stabilization: 20/981 MP
Optimal Stabilization: 20/1308 MP
Glade breathed a sigh of relief. This was going to work.