It took me a moment to understand that I was awake and very, very low on mana.

Good thing that I was still crystal, so my body instantly started getting magic from the environment.

What exactly happened…?

I focused on my surroundings…

I could sense things around me without issue, so I guess I was still well enough.

Where was Mike…?

I quickly scanned the nearby area…

I was lying on the ground. Surrounded by something… Trees…? Still in the forest, I guess… But I no longer was up top.

Makes sense. I did remember falling down… I had to break through the canopy somehow…

What else was nearby…

There were two things that felt different.

First was way above me. I guess it's still on the canopy.

That had to be Mike. I guess his crystal had fallen out of my hand when I was fainting and got caught up somewhere up.

Strange that it didn’t drain the branches and fall down as well, though. I thought after this process it would be a lot more hungry.

Hm.

About the other one…

It was nearby.

I reflexively wanted to reach towards it, but it was right outside my reach.

But, just as I did, two things happened.

First off, I felt a lot weaker. It was like moving had drained a lot from me. And it was just a simple movement…

But, more importantly, the piece in question has immediately moved away, almost like on its own volition.

Was that…

He was still there…?

-You…?

I definitely reached him, because he got startled even more. I swear, that was a bit of an overreaction…

-Instead of running, better tell me what happened. Did it work…?

Why was I even asking?

He had no idea. I mean, I had no sure way to confirm anything, so how could HE do that?

But, his answer was even more strange.

-Who are you!?

Oh no.

Did he get caught in range?

My mind transfer should’ve only affected the other crystal, though?

He was made out of a similar piece, sure, but… no, couldn’t be. I definitely would notice that I connected to the wrong one.

Besides, why would it mess with his memories? It’s not like he had much of those remaining?

-What do you mean “who”? You already forgot?

Or maybe it was time dilation again?

Would be strange that it happened during this, though… It’s not like I was teleporting anywhere…

What am I talking about, that’s not it! Besides, it would’ve meant that he also was waiting here for whoever knows how long.

No, it had to be something else.

-Mor…? Is that your voice?

-Duh? Were your memories jumbled again? Did I somehow catch you in the spell? - I asked.

-No… but why… Why is your voice coming from THERE?

-What do you mean “there”? - I asked, finally trying to raise myself from the ground, but…

Again.

This weird feeling.

Like I was being drained out completely.

Hell, I had to catch myself to not black out and fall back down again.

But I did manage to stand up.

At the same time, though, our little crystal Steve has ran away even further from me. Was he trying to hide?

I mean… why?!

At the same time talking and trying to escape? What’s the point?

-What are you doing…? I know where you are, you know… - I said, fully standing up and turning towards the direction I knew his soul was in.

I was still feeling weak.

I mean, I did use a lot of mana, so I guess that was normal. I just needed time to adjust…

And, there were a lot of trees nearby. I can just regenerate quicker if I was to…

I leaned on the nearest tree and tried getting some mana, just to be safe and not black out again…

Oh…

The drain… was strong.

Hell, I was hungry. Because one simple touch was enough for me to darken the bark and turn it into gray dust a moment later.

Just like my first time…

I probably should control myself…

I quickly removed my hand and stopped.

If I wasn’t careful, I’d get through the whole tree and maybe even make it fall on top of my head.

I mean, I’d probably survive, but… better not.

-Is that really… you…?

His strange worries were now worrying me.

What was wrong with his head?

-Yes, that is me. I think I succeed, but I can’t see where the crystal I made is. You can fly, can you reach the canopy?

-I… I can…

-Can you check for me? I don’t feel like climbing, and besides, I am pretty weak now, so…

-I… yes. I will.

That… was strange.

And I don’t mean just his strange demeanor.

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Sure, my magic was a bit out of this world, sure, if you even can call something that, but…

Nah, it was probably just because of his lack of memories. I bet any magic would give a reaction like that from him.

I was more worried about the drain.

Did I miscalculate that much? That I got drained to the point of my body not even responding properly?

The fact that just moving a bit was taxing was definitely not normal.

And, just as to confirm that, I felt another jolt of weakness the moment I tried moving a few steps forward.

Hell, this body was not used to something like that. Which was weird. After all, it used to belong to the “most powerful mage” or something. I mean, if we add ILMA to the mix, it’s hard to tell who it belonged to, but that’s besides the point. Hell, if we go with that train of thought, it should be even more resistant…

But again, she did try to change into a more fleshy body…

I don’t know any more.

I probably should focus on what was in front of me, not trying to dwell on the past.

And maybe regenerate a bit: having more mana wouldn't hurt…

-How is it going up there? - I asked, sitting down in the most inconspicuous spot and focusing on slowly regenerating my magic. - Did it work?

The answer didn’t come immediately, but I did get a reply in the end.

-Body seems intact, but I don’t know if he’s breathing…

Breathing?

Damn. I went overboard.

I guess that explains why I felt so drained.

I managed to create a full body for him? That was overkill and a half.

But, at least I didn’t have to worry about him not having enough space for his memories.

Hopefully.

-Crystal doesn’t need to breathe. If you feel a soul, he should be more than fine.

-I think… there’s one, yes… - he replied slowly.

-Good then. I guess that’s a success.

-Yes… I can’t believe it.

Well, me neither. It was an experiment, after all. For it to work so flawlessly was definitely unexpected.

-What… What are we doing with him?

That was a great question.

So far, I haven’t considered that.

In my scenario, he would’ve just been a piece of stone that I would be able to collect and move on without much of a thought.

I probably should’ve expected that it wasn’t going to be that easy.

Even though his situation was a bit unexpected, he was able to fly, so maybe…

-You think he’s going to wake up soon? - he asked.

-Hard to tell. I mean, you were pretty quick to wake up.

-Yeah… but I was a lot less… shapely.

-So?

-I don’t know… it’s strange to look at him like that… this body…

-Yeah, about that… - I remembered. - What shape is he in? I mean I didn’t aim to create a full on replacement, but it’s there. But how much?

-What do you mean…? - he asked after a moment of silence, confused.

-Exactly what I asked - I replied, a bit puzzled by his question. - How much of a body did I make? A torso? Just a head? I didn’t get to see it.

He went quiet.

For a longer time than I thought necessary to answer.

-Hello?

-I think you don’t understand… It's the whole body.

Well, that explains my exhaustion.

I wasted a lot…

-Oh. Well, he’s…

-It’s your body. You left it.

-...

I had to process what I just heard.

What was he talking about?

I left a body? What did he mean? I had my body right here, still with me…

For the first time in a while, I looked down.

And, what I saw was quite unexpected.

I was no longer in Mike’s body.

When I looked down, I was no longer seeing the mostly-familiar body that I was borrowing. Instead, I was now fully crystal.

When… How?!

Did I convert the body somehow?

No…

I just… grew this one.

No wonder that the guy was surprised and was asking those strange questions. I was completely different from before…

Was I?

To be honest, that wasn’t really the case.

The body I had now was mostly as I remembered before: before all that swapping and changes.

It was a copy of my own body.

I guess that made sense… I had to subconsciously meld it to the image I remembered having before…

It also made me realize how lucky I was.

That I fainted only for so long and was still able to move despite the fact that I wasted that much magic on something like that.

Last time I did a similar feat, I was barely even able to move…

But back then I didn’t have anything to drain.

This forest was lush enough for me to recover relatively quickly.

But, this was just half the problem.

What about Mike?

If I understood the confusion correctly, I did leave behind the other body.

The one that originally belonged to him.

Was he there? Or rather how long till he was going to awaken inside?

And what’s his reaction going to be?

-Oh. Well. Yeah, that’s a bit unexpected.

-What?

-No, nothing, nothing. Just give me a moment to collect myself. I’ll be with you in just a minute.

-Okay…

I said a minute, but moved as fast as I could without getting dizzy again. I honestly was thinking that it’s going to take me a while, drained on mana, but nope. Of course not.

I already forgot how quick this kind of body was resistant and easy to regenerate.

Why would anyone ever want to get rid of it?

Anyway, I moved as fast as I could, trying to scan my surroundings for the spot where the body I left was.

Quite easy. Especially with another beacon shining my way, being the janitor that is of course.

-How’s the situation up there?

-Still the same… just lying unconscious. Are you sure he’s alive…?

-You’re up there. What do you think?

-I mean… I feel mana, but…

Yeah, I could tell that much too.

Even from far away, I could tell that he was barely hanging around. Or at least that’s how it looked from his mana presence.

I’ve been surprised before, but I didn’t like his chances.

-Allright, allright. Can you get him down here?

-Er… how? I don’t have hands…?

-So? It’s not stopped you from slapping me with water.

-I mean… yes… But…

-Just imagine. I don’t know, a piece of stone that moves him down like…

But before I was able to finish my sentence, I suddenly heard a grinding noise and a lot of rustling above me.

That and I definitely felt some curses that were mingled within his leaking thoughts.

And then a body fell right on top of me.

-Ouch.

I didn’t feel pain, but groaned reflexively.

My new body was as durable as you’d expect and even though I was hit by a part of his body that was already crystal, I was unharmed.

But, what about him, though?

He seemed… fine?

I mean, I couldn’t really check for broken bones and such. His limbs were pointed in the right directions, though, so I guess that’s something.

-Sorry… I lost control…

The culprit of my concussion has floated back down towards the ground, breaking through the canopy through the hole that was just made by the falling body.

Speaking of, the hole…

It was still there.

When I first got up there II had such a hard time even getting through. And after moving the branches instantly moved back into their spots, filling the gaps.

And yet now those were completely gone?

And… darker on the edges.

Ah.

Makes sense.

Even though the body had “floated down” or rather fell thanks to Steve’s power, it didn’t mean that it didn’t affect everything else.

And drained everything on the way.

It was even more visible now when it was on the ground: I could tell how the grass was getting darkened and turned to dust in just a moment he was lying there.

I mean, it wasn’t completely unexpected.

He was crystal. And clearly weakened.

A bit strange that this transfer weakened him, though. Seeing how this turned out, I thought I was the one who would be the one completely drained and sucking everything around dry.

And yet, it was him.

It might have been just because he was unconscious, though.

He had no way to control himself. Nor really even knew that this body was back in his own control.

I know, a bit of a stretch, but that was the only one explanation that I could think of at that moment.

And not like I could check…