Ha. Should’ve known. Now the mystery of that overwhelming mana was solved: it was just the ruptured leyline under our building…

What was more concerning was the fact that I was no longer blinded. Sure, I already have been here without being blinded more than once, but that was before I was fully turned into a crystal remnant, enhancing my magical senses. And that ability was not gone, meaning that I’ve just used an absolute humongous amount of mana.

I couldn’t tell if I should be scared or amazed.

Amazed, because I was able to take in and redirect that much of mana without being destroyed to pieces or rather disintegrated, like certain someone. Hell, I was even feeling pretty good, if not for the small buzz in my head, just like a slight hangover.

Scared, because I just dried up a rather very large piece of leyline.

I mean, sure, I was the one to break it in the first place and it was leaking, but it was still concerning. Utilizing it for Kon was definitely not the worst way to use it though…

Right! Kon!

In the aftermath I almost forgot the whole reason why I just did what I did.

I quickly scanned the surroundings to find his body, to see if anything changed and noticed a somewhat stronger presence right behind a broken piece of wall.

Not even bothering to stand up, I crawled towards it to see the effects of the ritual.

What I saw… was interesting to say the least.

First of all, the main change was the fact that in the middle of his chest, where I stabbed him with the crystal, his skin had changed color, to a bright green.

That was good news. It meant that at least the part that meant to meld the crystal with the body worked. The green coloration was probably because the massive amounts of mana that we used were mostly of nature attribute.

But besides that, there was not much of a change to his appearance. Sure, his body was no longer frozen. That amount of mana was definitely enough to melt an iceberg the size of a skyscraper, so that was not a surprise. The main question was, did it work?

-Kon?

There was no reaction. Did we fail? But the crystal did meld with him.

I was about to attempt to touch it and try to communicate the same way I did earlier, but before I managed to get in contact with him, he moved.

-Arggh…

He sounded strange and a bit strained, but it was definitely him.

-How do you feel? Can you hear me? - I asked, carefully watching him slowly wake up and try moving.

-Mor…? Is that you…? You sound… weird…

That was not the first thing I'd expected to hear, but hey, it was far from the worst.

-Yeah. Can you move?

-I think…

He groaned in pain, trying to lift himself up from the ground. It took him a good second before he managed to sit up, but he did it.

Meanwhile, I was observing him with my mana sense.

He looked… well, mostly normal, considering the circumstances. His presence, just like every other person I’ve seen thus far, was clearly visible to me without even trying, but there was also something strange with it.

Sure, it was strong, without any signs of weakening or being drained by the crystal in the middle of his chest, but that was also what was concerning.

See, usually, a person's flame of mana is one and singular, burning with different brightness, depending on power or current state of mind, or exhaustion, but his… looked weird. It was like he had two of them overlaid on top of each other… like there were two sources melded in one.

Was that the effect of the crystal? Did I look the same too? I was not able to check for myself, but judging by what I’ve heard before… it seemed possible. “There is something else within you” or whatever Jack said? Yeah, it seems like I had my answer.

As he sat up and looked at me, he flinched and seemed like wanted to move away.

-What’s wrong? - I asked, slightly concerned.

-You’re on fire! - he said, frightened.

-Ah, no, it’s just from all the mana that got through me… I’ll be glowing for a while I think, since I’ve lost my way to get rid of the overflow…

-No! I mean, yes, that too, but you are literally on fire! There is flame… inside you? - now he sounded more confused than scared, but I understood instantly.

-Oh… that’s interesting…

-What’s interesting!? Just extinguish it already, or you’re gonna burn the forest down!

It was nice to see that he was feeling well enough to worry about something like that.

-Nah, it’s fine - I stated calmly. - Listen. Look around us. Do you see something different?

He definitely was still confused, but complied and gazed at the forest. And, of course, instantly got startled.

-Everything is on fire! It’s too late! Quickly, water…

-Calm…

But before I was able to finish my sentence, a gush of water hit me right in the face, knocking me back on the ground

-...down - I finished my sentence, laying flat on the ground, absolutely stunned.

Hell, he was not only fine enough to worry about the forest, but also was able to cast spells without an issue. And what was more interesting, did he just use magic without saying a formula? Hah, he was definitely a talented one.

But there was no time to be amazed by his skills, because even though the stream of water that hit me was weak, it was not stopping, he instead was trying to extinguish the “flames” on some bush nearby.

-It’s not dying down! - he started sounding more panicked.

-Calm down! - I said, raising from the ground and finally standing up. - There is no fire, just let me explain.

He did not look convinced, but the water stopped so I assumed that he’d at least try and control himself.

-Good. Remember what I said a while ago… as I can see the mana?

-Yes, but what…

-That’s what you’re seeing right now - I didn’t let him finish. - Those are flames of mana. See?

I gathered an orb of mana right at my palm, making sure to not turn it into any spell, realizing that I was still unstable.

-Wha…

-Look around you - I waved my hand, dispersing the mana. - Every plant, every creature, everything has a similar flame. Even you. Although, I have to add, the area is a lot less infused than it was before… - I muttered.

And I didn’t just mean the fact that it was no longer blindingly bright, no. Sure, the overwhelming light was gone, but now even the trees and grass were barely visible. At first I thought that it was me that was just weakened, but after seeing the orb of mana that I gathered and Kon’s presence, I realized that it was not it. It was barely noticeable.

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Hm. It was to be expected that I’d exhaust a lot of it. Considering the fact that the last time I was in the epicenter of a similar event, there was absolutely no mana left to speak of, I should think about this one as a victory.

-That’s… mana…? - he was now gazing in disbelief at everything he could put his eyes on. - You see the word like this…?

-Yeah. A bit confusing, isn’t it?

-Yes… it’s like… I’m seeing… I feel like I am going to have a headache…

-That sounds about right - I nodded. - But wait… weren’t you able to see the mana before… as in using the magic sense?

-I did… - he agreed - but it didn’t look like this… it was just more like a slight glow… like your crystal.

-Huh. Interesting.

Strange that his sense before was different from this, but it didn’t matter.

-In any case, you need to get used to this. It’s a bit annoying at first, but it’s an useful ability. So control yourself and don’t try extinguishing me again - I added jokingly.

-Right… Right! - he almost jumped. - Water! I used water magic!

-You did. So?

-I never was able to! I told you, I only could use life magic… and maybe some green, if my attempts at it can be even called that… But just now I used water like it was nothing!

-Ah, right. Yeah, that’s normal.

-Normal?!

-Yes. What kind of crystal were you using?

He suddenly started patting himself down.

-Don’t bother - I stopped him. - Even if you have it still on you, that’s not what I mean. I thought you’d realize yourself…

-...?

-Eh… look at your chest.

Not understanding, he gazed down, just to jump up, terrified.

-Calm down…

-Calm down!? I am a crystal remnant now! Why would I calm down?

-And why should you panic? Remnant or not, you’re still the same - I shrugged. - I speak from experience. Also, what the hell did you think was going to happen? That your soul just was going to smoothly move back to its body?

-Maybe… - I barely heard his answer.

-Ha. Bad news, it was never going to be a case. Hell, at least you didn’t lose any body parts, so that’s a plus.

-Why the hell would that happen?

I just waved my hand at him.

-Remember how I looked before?

-Yes, but… is that going to happen to me? - he asked, suddenly realizing what I meant. - Am I going to turn completely… into this?

I leaned back and gazed towards the canopy.

-Who the hell knows. Maybe not. Hard to predict with that kind of magic.

He fell silent, thinking. Probably trying to process everything that he just learned and what happened to him.

Meanwhile, I just wrapped my hands back and lied down on the grass, resting.

I wanted to let my mana calm down a little, I still felt the aftereffects of the stream that was abusing me for so long. I was not able to rest for long though, because maybe a minute later I felt someone approaching.

I tensed up and was about to spring back up, but I realized that those two presences that I felt were familiar: it was just Jack and Vendi.

-Kon? KON!

I heard screaming from the forest. I didn’t even bother looking up.

In the corner of my eye I saw Jack running right at him and leaping like some crazy predator right at him, hugging him tightly, followed quickly by Vendi who was observing him, intrigued.

-Are you alright? Did this thing work? What happened? Where were you?

He started bombarding him with questions, Kon barely being able to answer half of them before new came.

Vendi on the other hand was silent. Instead he was closely examining the piece of crystal melded in his chest.

Seeing how close he was getting I was considering if I should warn him at least, but I decided to not bother with it. He should’ve known better not to touch it by now, having the first hand experience of being drained by my crystal. Hell, it was also a good opportunity. How strong was his crystal exactly?

Just as expected, he couldn’t resist and poked him right in the crystal, making direct contact with it.

Kon suddenly shuddered, not sure what was going on, while Vendi definitely recognized the feeling. I was just quietly observing them both, paying the most focus to the amounts of mana they had.

Oh, it was strong alright. Of course not as deadly as mine, but I definitely noticed a good amount being drained from him, before Jack, the only one paying attention, managed to split them both. He himself only managed to dodge the drain thanks to the fact that he never directly touched his chest.

Vendi, pulled away from Kon, staggered back and, unlucky him, tripped on my leg. It was an accident, of course, I have not moved since they arrived.

Actually, I think that that was the first time they realized that I was still here. I was not exactly hiding, but I guess the green piece of crystal was somewhat hard to spot in the tall-ish grass that was covering everything nearby.

-Careful, or you’ll get drained - I said unenthusiastically, sitting up.

-Oh! You’re here! - said Jack, finally noticing me.

-Warn sooner! - I heard from the grass, muffled.

-I am not exactly hiding… Also, Vendi, after so many times I thought you’d have known better not to touch crystal people by now…

I stopped and realized what the hell I was even talking about.

-And do you really think I care about either of your well-being? For all I care it’d be better for both of you to just get turned into mana to feed him now.

Even though I said that, I was feeling… strangely torn.

I mean, sure, both of them were the source of all the recent problems I had, their magic was giving me a headache, and above all, they definitely were not understanding what they were even doing.

But then… that’s also why I was somewhat sympathetic for them.

Sure, they were poorly informed, to say the least, sometimes bordering on insanity, but at least they weren’t as annoying as Goldie…

Also, Jack had somewhat good intentions…

The silence that fell after I said that was broken by Kon.

-I don’t think I need to… I feel fine. A mana fruit or two and I’ll be fine.

-Right! River! - said Jack, happy that he changed the subject. - Should be even better.

-Why not - agreed Kon.

He was about to lean towards the water but I stopped him.

-I know a better spot. It’s not far. Come with me.

-Err… okay…?

-You two. Stay here.

None of them protested, Jack just nodded.

It was obviously just an excuse to ditch them both. Even then I led him a bit further away, taking a slightly roundabout way, to “avoid most of the bushes, thorns and other flora that was blocking the way”.

-You know this place? - asked Kon, as we were going through one particularly dense bush..

-Of course. But why are you so interested?

-I mean, isn’t the look enough?

-Look?

-This place is like nothing I’ve seen before! - he explained, excited. - The strange structures, the amount of mana it has…

-Had - I corrected him. - You managed to eat most of it. And you are still hungry apparently… Oh, speaking of, I wonder how much this thing is going to affect you…

-What…? - he stopped, suddenly worried.

-Oh, don’t look at me like that. It’s not that bad. At least your throat wasn’t changed.

-Now I am really worried. What do you mean by that?

-Eh… Let me explain. Like our friend here demonstrated, you are not exactly pleasant to touch.

-Of course - he nodded. - That’s because of that crystal, right?

-Yeah. Seems like it works similar to mine… well, it was technically part of me before so it’s to be expected. It’s going to try and drain mana from anything it touches. Say, if it was in your throat and you were about to eat something, what would you think would’ve happened?

-It would’ve drained the mana from the food… but so what…? It would’ve tasted bland then I guess?

-Bland? - I chuckled. - Well, it’s not untrue… - And as he was clearly still not understanding I added - It would’ve turned to ash.

-Bleh. I guess you are right, I am lucky that… - He stopped mid-sentence, realizing something. - Wait, does that mean that you cannot eat anything but ash? That is disgusting. And absolutely horrible!

-Oh, I am so touched that you worry about me. Did you get it from your father? - I asked. - Nah. I mean, sure, you are right…

-How the hell aren’t you starving then…? Do you drink only? You have to make cocktails to somehow survive? Smoothies? Does that even work?

-Hm, that is a good question…

I never thought of that. Sure, the crystal would be able to drain mana even from the food that was turned to paste, but… would it somehow separate from water then? Would it be a watery ash, or something different?

-But to answer your question - I continued - no, I am not. I just simply do not eat. That’s why I was curious.

-Wait… you don’t get hungry?

-Nope. Since I’ve gotten this - I tapped at my crystal hand - I’ve never felt like I needed to. Even before I turned completely crystal. That’s why I was wondering if it’s going to be the same for you.

-Oh… that’s… both amazing and horrifying at the same time…

-I don’t know how not having to eat is horrifying…

-Not not having to. Not being able to.

-Eh, it’s not that bad - I shrugged. - I never even notice it, to be honest. But I guess I never was a big eater… Working overtime would do that for you…