Blood circling around my hand and slowly entering back into my body; after hours of careful healing, I managed to handle control of the mystical and spectral material. I decided to take it known as mana, atleast, it was closest thing to it.

'If there wasn't any mana, I would of probably been dead by now. With my little knowledge of medication arts and this enviro- Wait!'

I interrupted my own mental dialogue since I remembered that beasts of a fantasy world usually have a core inside them. To confirm it, I reached out my left hand towards the wolf's corpse. Extending parts of myself would help with detecting mana since my sixth sense reaches throughout my body.

As expected, there was a reaction coming from inside the carcass. However, it didn't have the same feel to it as the mana I was using to heal.

My hand wasn't done recovering, but my curiosity took over and I slowly moved towards the dead wolf. The dusty air burned my half-closed wounds as I took out my hand from the water, but I tolerated the pain with expectations of something great.

Moving closer, I saw an approximately small pebble sized orb resonating deep inside the carcass. I placed my left hand over the fur, according to the location of the orb, and started moving the orb out. There were obstacles, such as possibly organ flesh walls, but I was able to cut holes in the path with the use of mana.

It didn't take long for the orb to appear out of the wolf's broken mouth.

I picked up the bloody orb with my left hand and shook it so that the blood would fall off. Examining the orb closer, I saw it's true beautiful appearance with my own eyes. As if water and air combined, a gray substance danced around inside the orb full of bloom and light.

I used my sixth sense to try grasp what the orb was, but the moment I did...

"?!?!"

My consciousness was being pulled somewhere.

...

I awakened inside of a storm. A storm of a gray substance dancing around the center, which I was near of.

"I'm.. inside the orb?" My thoughts were voiced aloud, even though I didn't say anything. I looked at myself and saw an almost transparent body. In that moment, I realised what was happening.

The whirling gray substance started to gather around the center, deciding on some kind of a form. It all seemed familiar.

The substance took structure. A sharp and furry looking face appeared first, following that, the rest of the wolf's body formed. The shape stayed the same, but the flesh and bone was no longer there. All that remained was the slightly dancing gray substance.

I didn't have any time to do anything before the ghastly looking wolf charged towards me. The situation was almost the same, it intended to reenact the fight earlier.

I immediately cancelled my sixth sense and returned to my body.

"AKKGHH!"

A sharp pain took place inside my heart and head. Abruptly resigning from the orb resonated torment within my very being. It only lasted a moment, but it was extremely unpleasant.

'Shit...'

My right hand was bleeding again since I fell back after exiting the orb. I went and sat down next to the pond again and continued my healing process.

I also noticed something else when I looked at myself inside the orb. My soul's right hand had holes in it the same size as the physical wounds initially. Even though I was almost done healing my physical body, the soul form remained the same.

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'Looks like I have to go back if I am to resolve this issue' I thought.

I wasn't quite sure how I could defeat the wolf again, so I started tinkering around.

There weren't any tools around that I could use, so I stayed my hand in the water for healing. I looked at the glowing rocks in the depth and had a thought.

I placed my injured hand deeper, right ontop of the glowing rocks. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on my soul's existence.

Suddenly, power started surging into my soul through the holes made by the bite of the wolf. Mana invaded my body and I didn't need my sixth sense to feel it.

The warmth, the cold.

The light and the dark.

It felt like the mana before, but I was actually feeling it inside me.

Huge quantities of mana were piling up inside my soul. I felt as heavy as a hippo, but also as light as an ant.

Not only did the power surge fill me with mana, it also hastened my physical wound recovery by ten times!

Once I was full with mana that reached every corner of my soul, I took my hand off the glowing rocks which I named mana stones.

I didn't know what to do with all the energy I consumed from the mana stones, but I tried to absorb mana again without the use of the stones. I was able to absorb mana from the surroundings if I concentrated, but only through the holes in my soul.

Everything I learned so far helped me come up with a plan to defeat the soul of the wolf.

After half an hour of soaking in the water, I took my hand out and dropped the orb inside. Soon enough, the orb started turning from gray to blue. It took an hour for the orb to turn into a vibrant blue dancing storm.

I took it out and placed it between both my hands and utilized my sixth sense.

Once again, the stage turned into a whirling plasma storm, but it's color changed.

The soul form of the wolf didn't take long to appear, unlike before.

Both of us full of radiating mana, standing still.

I waited for the wolf to take the first step, and soon enough, it charged at me just like before. It's movement speed didn't change even with the energy it got from the mana stones.

"As I thought."

It came close enough to be within the range of my fist, but I didn't move. It was only after the wolf's head changed brighter that I striked my own strategy.

Coating my left hand with half of the mana reserves I collected, I punched forward. The wolf took the bait and bit right into the thick mana layer, it's teeth were shining vastly compared to the rest of the body. The wolf's soul energy was all concentrated in it's head, which meant everything below the neck was gray.

Even with all the power the wolf bit, it couldn't pierce through the thick layer and instead got stuck as I expanded my mana shield further.

Coating my right hand with mana while the wolf struggled, I stabbed right into the wolf's chest like a spear heading for impaling.

The soul of the orb screeched and quaked.

I was absorbing whatever I could inside the wolf's soul, with my right hand. In a split moment, I found what I looked for, grabbed it and kicked the wolf far away with the remaining mana I had.

Within my grasp was a piece of my soul that the wolf took away from me. I consumed it just like I consumed mana from the stones, and sure enough, the holes in my right hand were filled.

"I knew it. The reason why I wasn't able to recover my soul wounds was because you absorbed my soul with that skill when we were fighting earlier, in the physical world. That's also the reason why the orb didn't have a colorful tone to it, because you used up all your mana." I said with the intention of the wolf having to hear me.

"Thanks to the position of the orb in your carcass, I was also able to figure out where my own part was located inside you. That must also be where you absorb mana through, isn't it?"

The wolf angered. Since it wasn't able to use it's skill properly, the mana it used was only a little bit. With the wolf being full of mana, and me being all empty, it saw a chance and charged at me again. This time, it's speed was highly improved. The wolf abandoned it's ghoulish bite and reinforced it's body instead.

"Oh, you think you've won because I ran out of mana?" I asked.

I didn't know if this bravery was coming out of my perfect plan or my confidence in beating the wolf before.

"The mana I was using to heal my wounds prior to the mana stone usage, it didn't come from inside me. Do you know what that means?" I almost started to giggle at the wolf's planned defeat.

"It means that I am able to control mana outside my soul, and right now, you are in my grasp!" I yelled and focused the next moment. The mana inside the wolf left it's owner and started whirling around him instead.

Using the wolf's mana, I raised him up from the ground and circled it around him, creating a cocoon of blue energy.

"Now, I will absorb you!"

Between my palms, the orb's shell cracked and the soul inside it was absorbed through my hands. It's size was large, but using exterior mana, I was able to tame it.

I let out a deep breath while sweating vastly.

'I gambled. If I had less mana than the wolf, then I wouldn't have my left hand with me now.'

I looked at my right hand with my even more evolved sixth sense. The holes in the soul weren't there any more.

Trying to absorb mana, I failed miserably.

'I need openings in the soul to take in mana...' I thought.

Even if I was able to manipulate the mana in my surroundings, it wouldn't be enough to defeat a beast like the wolf without taking damage.

I laid on my back as I thought about a solution. The mental exhaustion caused by the battle took a toll on me and I fell asleep.