It was harder than I thought.

Kon kept saying to “give him time”. Or “he is almost there”.

But, for the life of me I couldn’t tell the difference from when we started.

Worryingly, Il was also silent the whole time. I could tell she was still there mentally, but apparently was not strong enough to project her thoughts.

Not a good sign.

The whole “ritual” was long.

Too long.

And it was draining.

Luckily, I was there. My mana was the only thing that was keeping the whole party still awake and doing their jobs. If not for that, I am pretty sure that after the first minute all of them would’ve been drained dry and lying unconscious on the floor along with Il.

Sure, they had more mana capacity than regular people, but at this point that meant nothing at all.

The strain was bad enough that even I started feeling the toll.

It took hours, but still.

-We need to do something - I finally announced. - If you’re not done in the next hour or so, I’ll be drained dry.

-Well… I don’t want to worry you… - mumbled Kon, still focused - but if it continues like that, I am going to need a full day at least.

-Full day!? - For was visibly exhausted. - I don’t know if I can last that long… even with Mor supplying mana.

-If I interrupt this, we lose all the progress.

-Not like there’s any progress visible… - mumbled For.

-Fine. I trust you - I replied after a moment of consideration. - But, if that’s the case, I need to regain my mana.

-So do it - said Ilma. - You can absorb stuff by touch, right?

-Yeah. But I don’t want to do it here. I might interfere with… whatever Kon is doing. - I pointed out.

-Yeah, that’s not a good idea. Can’t you… I don’t know, do it from a distance or something…?

-I don’t think that works like that.

-Damn.

But…

That gave me an idea.

Sure, my touch didn’t work remotely… but who said it had to.

If only I had the ability to split myself, it would be possible, right…?

Like my hand.

Too bad I already lost it…

But… I can try anyway, right?

In hindsight, I probably should’ve warned them. To be fair, I thought they were already used to the sight of my weird body and quirks that came with it and the experiments I did along the way, but apparently not.

Then again, it was more than just “an experiment”.

I am pretty sure that was an overkill. I don’t know what got into me, but I actually wanted to try that.

I attempted to detach my own hand. Again.

-Mi ordonas al no: Mocisohu ip noe nepqmevu.

It was a different method than before.

Then it was Kon and his strange body changing magic. This time, I just ordered myself.

It was a strange idea, one that I am not sure where it came from and why I did…

But it worked like a charm.

Maybe because it was still somewhat different? Thanks to her blood?

When Ilma saw my separated hand, she almost fell over.

Right, she was the least accustomed to the weird shit that was usually going on around us. Good thing that she wasn’t concentrating on anything vital, or it would’ve been a problem.

Hopefully.

Anyway, when Kon noticed what I did, he understood what I had in mind in a split second.

-You think you can drain something with just the hand?

-I am not sure. But, what I am sure of is that I can release mana without issue by using just my hand.

-You want to leave? - asked Ilma, already back to being composed as usual.

-”Leave”? It’s more I want to look for sources of mana to refresh you all.

-...

-You still don’t trust me, yet you’re taking part in this.

-I am doing that for her.

-Her? Finally came to your senses?

-Senses? Unlike you, I don’t have a reason to help someone in need.

-Uh-uh…

I wasn’t convinced by that, so I just shrugged.

-Anyway, I shouldn't be far off.

-Try to be quick - said For. - I am not sure how this works, but having more people is always better.

-No promises. But I’ll try.

And I stepped away, looking for something to drain.

But first, I had to get away so I wouldn't accidentally mess up his concentration and the mana he was controlling nearby.

Surprisingly, it was harder than I thought it would be.

I thought I’d just have to be a few steps away to get clear from the ritual, yet the mana he was commanding was stretching and stretching…

I was out of sight, and yet I could still feel the drain from him.

I mean, sure, we were in the corridors, but still…

Well, if I was just to step away and get above ground, I’d be in the clear for sure, and also have a great source of mana in the seawater.

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And so I did.

Outside didn’t really change.

The sea breeze was refreshing and nice, especially after being stuck inside for that long…

I mean, being stagnant was once, but the lack of air was another thing.

But, I didn’t come out there to relax.

Well, not entirely.

Just as I stepped away from the entrance, I started absorbing more and more mana. Even without using water, it probably would be enough, but just to be safe, I walked about knee-deep into the flowing sea and focused.

I mean, it’s not like I could walk any deeper: the island was ending there, and just a step later there was a sheer underwater cliff that ended in darkness.

It’s been the first time in a while that I actually focused on absorbing something that was not a spell flying towards my face.

While not entirely different, I had infinitely more time to focus, so the efficiency was through the roof.

Sad that I can’t say the same about the transfer.

That was not something I was used to.

Sure, coalescing mana into orbs was already my second nature, but to send mana through myself that is not myself and then turn it into orb?

A lot harder.

I thought the worst part would’ve been sending, but nope.

What I had the most difficulty was expending mana from my severed palm and enriching the orb that was already present there.

It seemed a bit weird that it was the hardest part, but it’s not like it mattered.

What was most important though was the fact that I was not leaking mana, so I just decided to keep at it as much as needed.

What, ten minutes or so? Normally that would be enough for me to be filled to the brim and then have a bunch to spare.

That was not the case here.

I stood there for minutes and minutes, yet there was barely any change in mana in both me and the orb that I left behind.

Odd.

By this point it should’ve changed, at least a little bit. But I couldn’t feel a difference. Was my connection spotty or something?

Couldn’t be the case… So then, what exactly…

As I was thinking about what was going on, I suddenly felt a tug.

At first I just thought that was a thought communication from someone. But for it to be tug like that, it had to be either someone far, or someone very distracted.

I mean, that could just mean one of my companions back with Il, but that wasn’t it.

It was just my mana…

It was leaking?

Something was draining mana from me.

It was the first time I felt something like that.

At this point I already was assuming that my Origin Crystal had blocked all and any attempts at draining me, but it looks like it was not the case.

Was it just Kon’s spell that suddenly needed more fuel?

Yes and no.

Sure, some of the drain definitely came from my detached hand and the orb of magic I was maintaining, but there was also another link.

More… subtle.

It was like something was pulling at my own magic slightly, but constantly.

Not thinking much, I immediately directed my thoughts towards Kon

-What’s going on? Problems?

But, there was no answer.

-Kon?

Yeah, he was not responding.

-For? What’s happened?

Nothing.

-Ilma? Iloa?

No one was responding.

Whatever happened, it had to affect them all.

Were we attacked by something?

But who?

I focused, trying to pinpoint any mana signatures underground.

I found… Nothing?

Even my companions that were definitely there, at least a minute ago, were hard to notice. Was it because of that rock?

I have found myself in quite a predicament.

If I was to stay here, I would barely be in a balanced state… I mean mana-wise. The amounts I was drained by were barely enough to be refueled by the water near the island.

Sure, that was our plan in the first place, but since the contact’s been lost, there was no telling if the spell was not just going wild over there.

Who can tell what exactly went down?

What if someone had attacked and they were just using my orb of magic to… I don’t know, do something?

On the other hand, I could race back underground and see what happened by myself.

That had a lot of other problems, though. Besides me getting drained, it’s possible that I could’ve interrupted the ritual at the peak and made them fail…

If only I could take a look remotely…

What the fuck, of course I could.

Was I stupid?

Sure, they were not replying to my thought communications, but that doesn’t mean our contact was completely cut off. I am not sure if that was even possible.

The link was definitely there.

I focused on the person that first came to mind: Kon.

The link was stable and healthy, which was good. I guess that was not suppressed by the rocky layer below me…

Honestly, it was a lot more healthy than it was ever before… Was that because of him using magic…

Oh…

Yeah, it was.

That was what I was feeling.

It wasn’t just some random tug. It was my mana being drained… but why was it happening via Origin Crystal connection?

Something was not right.

That made up my mind.

I was not going to wait.

At first, I thought I was going to have plenty of time to deal with whatever was going downstairs, but as soon as I left the water, I realized that the situation was worse than I thought.

It seemed like the closer I was to the rest of them, the stronger the pull and the drain was getting.

It still meant I had time, but not as much as I thought: it could get dicey if something was to go wrong. But I still should have time to get back away from there.

Even if it was worse, I could always teleport away… Wait, no. I couldn’t. I didn’t have an anchor, nor did I have anyone I knew and was connected to outside of this island…

That could be problematic…

I was in full spring when I finally reached the place where Kon was last time.

And… Well, I was not sure what to expect, but…

Nothing was going on.

Yeah.

When I felt that something was wrong, I thought I was going to find them unconscious on the floor or something, but nope.

They were just as before, standing there, still focusing on the ritual.

-What’s happening?! - I asked aloud, a bit confused by the sight. - Are you having some difficulties?

-Everything is fine. We are making progress.

It was Kon who answered, not even turning towards me.

Sure, he was the main person who was leading the ritual, so I guess I should be happy that he even replied at all, but…

-What about this drain? How much more mana do you need?

-I am not certain. If you need to, you can go back and absorb more - he said, still with his back turned to me.

-Well… okay… How about the rest of you? How are you holding up?

-Well enough - replied Ilma. - Your orb is helpful.

I nodded, but looked at her more closely.

It was a bit strange that she was the one replying… So far, she’s been the most reserved one…

Also, I thought that the first thing I was going to hear was going to be For, complaining about the difficulty or something… but she was silent…

I decided to ask.

-How about my spell, For? Can you handle it? Are there any problems?

-I am fine.

Her answer was short and concise. No hesitation, no distractions, just… clean answer…

That was… unusual.

And on top of that… none of them were looking at me.

Sure, you can say that it was because they were focusing on their respective tasks, but…

I couldn’t place it, but even without the additional drain, I had a feeling that something was going on.

I looked closer at Iloa.

Despite his assurances, she was still looking exactly the same as before. Still wrapped in roots, unmoving and unresponsive.

Unsure if she was going to hear me, I focused on her.

-Il… how are you doing?

But, I got no reply. Not even a hint of response.

Last time I could at least tell she realized I was there, but now… Was her consciousness fading?

Just as I thought about it, Kon spoke up.

-Sorry, but it’s not going well. I might be having more problems than I thought…