Almandine lay limp on the bed for several days.

Her circuit stretched to its limit, akin to human blood vessel being strained by a sudden surge of blood flow that not supposed to be in the body. For humans, such strain would be fatal, but Almandine, with FayOra as her core, could repair her wounds, allowing her to resume her routine once she felt fully healed. Throughout this time, Bahyun watched her every move with meticulous scrutiny, as if fearing she might disassemble at any moment.

Meanwhile, a pile of a hundred and one charged mana batteries sat in the corner of the living room, awaiting Bahyun’s decision on what to do with them. He was unsure how to proceed. Clearly, the runes inspired by Almandine were now unusable, and purifying them with his old runes would be a time-consuming task.

Bahyun knew he should hand the batteries over to the Special Mage Armed Force for analysis. They were experts in such matters and would know how to investigate them thoroughly. However, doing so would require him to explain himself, and he was unable to reveal why he was so skilled in magic without any record of his abilities. Moreover, disclosing Almandine’s existence, her body functioning based on a circuit run by dark forces, could lead to dire consequences. The authorities might even decide to eliminate Almandine, as they had done with her four comrades who were born alongside her.

The story of Almandine and the other four, the correspondent of the Precaria Gem Squad. Those four had vanished, and the FayOra stones that once served as their cores were now used by other Mages to counter the dark forces. From Almandine’s perspective, Mages, her enemies, utilizing the remains of her fallen comrades.

Now, only Almandine remained, possessing only half of a FayOra. If discovered by the authorities, they might choose to eliminate her to claim the stone and recruit a new Mage. Therefore, Bahyun couldn’t afford to let the authorities learn about Almandine’s existence.

One potential solutions was to return the dark energy to its origin – the portal leading to the dark world. However, this proved to be an extremely challenging task. Only five successful cases were recorded, and three wizards had gone missing in the process. The First Mage, with extraordinary luck, had managed to pass through the portal twice, making her the sole exception. Replicating her feat seemed impossible, leaving Bahyun in a dilemma. The dark energy within the batteries were corrosive, and he was uncertain how long the batteries could withstand it.

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Almandine found him in the living room, seemed lost in deep thought (or maybe zoning out) in front of the batteries, probably contemplated the challenges and potential consequences of his next move.

She vividly recalled the moments after she had channeled her excess energy into the batteries and lost consciousness. When she regained awareness, her gaze fell upon the back of Bahyun’s head, and later, she observed the chaos of the room with batteries scattered about. Attempting to move, she found that her limbs remained unresponsive, as if the signals from her brain were unable to reach them. With each passing moment, the sensation intensified, as though her limbs were being torn apart by thousands of blades.

In her mind’s eye, she envisioned herself as a cracked porcelain figurine teetering on the brink of collapse, fragile and vulnerable. The thought of shattering into a thousand pieces filled her mind, and the anguish she imagined on Bahyun’s face if anything happens to her, as clear as the moment she vaguely seen yesterday before her fade out.

Thus, she remained silent and still on the bed, waiting patiently. It wasn’t until noon that Bahyun stirred awake, his head bumping against the edge of her bed before he straightened up and rose from the floor with a slight twitch. As he turned towards her, she noticed the dark circles under his reddened eyes for the first time.

As she observed Bahyun’s haggard and disoriented appearance, Almandine realized why humans often felt compelled to apologize in such situations. Despite the urge to express regret, she refrained from doing so. Instead, he bombarded her with questions about how she was feeling and if she needed anything.

She sensed that Bahyun might not welcome an apology at that moment. Just as now, when she saw him contemplating something amidst the piles of batteries, she resisted the impulse to apologize, thinking it may not sit well with Bahyun.

Silently, she gazed at his silhouette, reflecting on the unexpected difficulty of expressing a simple “sorry” to a person.