As they soared away from the chaos of the jungle, a strange mix of relief and tension hung over the group like a shroud. They were reunited, but the urgency of their situation pressed down on them with every passing moment. Tyler’s chest burned with each pulse of mana that surged through his core, the very power that had saved them now threatening to tear him apart. Every second, it churned within him like a furnace with no off switch, a storm of energy barely contained. The others could see it too—dark circles under his eyes, the sweat beading on his brow, the tightness in his expression. They knew time was running out, and something had to give soon.

When they finally landed, everyone was visibly fatigued. The journey had taken more out of them than they were willing to admit, and even the strongest among them looked worn down. Tyler’s sharp gaze swept over his friends, noting the exhaustion etched into their faces. They needed to stop, even if only for a brief respite.

“Alright, quick break here,” Tyler said, his voice firm despite the weariness creeping in. “We’re not sleeping—we don’t have that luxury—but let’s get some food, clean up, and get some clothes for Elric before we move on.”

The others nodded, grateful for the reprieve, though an unspoken tension lingered in the air. Tyler led them toward a mountain range looming on the horizon. Despite his calm tone, there was a steely determination beneath his words, a focus driven by something deeper than just strategy. As they approached, Tyler picked out a spot halfway up one of the cliffs—a place where they could gain a good vantage point while staying out of sight.

“Over there,” he pointed. “We’ll set up camp.”

But Tyler’s thoughts weren’t on tactical advantages or strategic positioning. In truth, he was running out of options. The cabin wasn’t just a place to regroup—it was his last-ditch effort to give his friends a moment of peace, to be with them in a semblance of normalcy before things took a turn for the worse. The mana coursing through him was a ticking time bomb, and deep down, Tyler knew he didn’t have much time left. He was holding on by sheer willpower, but even that was beginning to fray.

With a quiet resolve, Tyler reached into his inventory and pulled out the portable cabin. The structure shimmered into existence, filling the air with warmth and the comforting scent of home. Beds, a small kitchen, and everything they needed materialized in an instant, creating a stark contrast to the danger that surrounded them. But that was exactly what Tyler wanted. He wanted his final moments with his friends to feel normal, even if everything was far from it.

Elric wasted no time heading toward the shower, muttering under his breath. “Finally, a chance to feel human again,” he grumbled, disappearing into the bathroom as the sound of running water echoed through the cabin.

Meanwhile, Livia took charge of preparing a quick meal, her movements precise and practised despite the tension gnawing at the edges of her calm exterior. The aroma of something warm and savoury soon filled the room, an immediate comfort after everything they’d been through.

Darius took a seat at the table, leaning back with a heavy sigh, his sharp eyes never leaving Tyler. “You haven’t found a way to stop the mana, have you?” His voice was low, almost accusatory as if he already knew the answer but needed to hear it spoken aloud.

Tyler met his gaze, his expression grim but tightly controlled. “We’re too tired, too worn out. Better to take some time now...” He trailed off, the excuse weak even to his own ears. The truth was clawing at the back of his mind, but he wasn’t ready to confront it—not yet.

Darius’s eyes narrowed, suspicion brewing beneath his calm demeanour, but he let the matter drop for now. There was an understanding between them, an unspoken acknowledgement that time was slipping through their fingers. They couldn’t afford to waste any more of it, but they also couldn’t push forward without a plan—and Tyler’s plan was becoming more uncertain by the second.

As the others busied themselves with food and preparations, Tyler felt the mana within him spike again, a surge of heat that left him gripping the edge of the table until his knuckles went white. He took a deep breath, forcing the energy back under control. But he knew it was only a temporary reprieve. The storm inside him was getting harder to contain, and the calm, comforting atmosphere of the cabin was nothing more than a fleeting illusion.

Time was running out.

Livia, sensing something off, looked up from her cooking, concern shadowing her features. “Tyler, how much longer can you keep this up? You don’t look well.”

Tyler forced a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I’m managing. We’ve all got our burdens to carry, right? Just focus on getting ready to move out again.” His words were steady, but the strain in his voice betrayed him. Every breath felt like dragging shards of glass through his lungs as the mana inside him twisted and surged. It was like trying to hold back an overflowing dam with his bare hands. But he couldn’t let them see the full extent of his pain—not yet.

Darius didn’t look convinced, his sharp gaze boring into Tyler like he was trying to peel back the layers of his excuse. But he didn’t push the issue. He just nodded slowly, his expression hardening as he took in Tyler’s condition. It was clear Darius was beginning to put the pieces together, but for now, he let it slide, a silent understanding passing between them.

As the group settled into the cabin, the constant tension from threats and relentless pursuit eased slightly. Showers, a warm meal, and a brief moment to breathe—these were rare luxuries in a place designed to break them down. Yet even with those fleeting comforts, the weight of their situation was impossible to ignore.

Tyler’s chest burned with every pulse of mana surging through his core. It was a relentless storm, tearing at him from the inside out, a force that felt like it was trying to rip him apart piece by piece. Each exhalation was a struggle to keep from gasping in pain. The others noticed it—Livia’s concerned glances, Darius’s tight expression, and Elric’s forced attempts at humour that only masked his worry.

“Tyler,” Livia said softly, her voice laced with concern as she watched him sway slightly while sitting at the table. “You’re barely holding on. This is more than just exhaustion.”

“I’m fine,” Tyler lied, though the tremor in his voice gave him away. “We’ve got a job to do. Focus on getting ready to move out.” But he wasn’t fine. Not even close. His mana core was a ticking time bomb, flooding his body with energy he couldn’t control. He had tried every technique he knew, every mental exercise to rein it in, but nothing was working. He needed to hold it together just a little longer, give them all the chance they deserved to face what was coming.

The others needed to be rested and sharp for what lay ahead, but deep down, Tyler knew his time was running out. The thoughts churned in his mind, swirling with the ever-present fire that threatened to consume him. He felt disconnected from his own body like he was looking at himself from the outside as he gripped the edge of the table so hard his knuckles went white.

As they sat around the table, forcing themselves to relax and eat, Tyler’s vision blurred at the edges. His body felt like it was caught between burning alive and shattering under the pressure. Every breath was a battle. He was barely holding it together, and the realization settled in his mind like a dark cloud: there might not be another way out.

Then, cutting through the chaos in his head like a knife through a fog, a voice pierced the silence—gleeful, laced with a twisted sort of cheerfulness.

“Holy shit, my guy! You’re lit up like a star right now! Are you trying to kill yourself? Because it’s working! If this is some kind of cosmic suicide attempt, I gotta say, it’s one for the history books!”

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Tyler flinched, startled by the jarringly upbeat tone. “Who—what—are you?”

The voice cackled with manic delight, like it was enjoying every moment of his misery. “Me? Just a friend of a friend who wants to help, thanks to your buddy Edward. Gotta say, though, you’re doing a bang-up job of frying yourself alive! What’s the plan here? Go out in a blaze of glory and leave a nice shiny mana core for your friends?”

Tyler’s frustration boiled over, his fists clenched so tightly they trembled. “You know what happened to Edward.”

“Yes, he went home,” the voice shot back, still annoyingly chipper. “Unlike Edward, who’s safe back in his cosy village, you’re about to explode into a gazillion pieces.”

Tyler’s heart pounded in his chest, desperation clawing at him. “Then help me! If you’re strong enough to send Edward home, tell me what I need to do!”

There was a pause, the voice shifting to a more serious tone, the manic edge fading. “Help you? Oh, sweetheart, I’d love to. But the fix you need isn’t gonna be pretty. You want to survive this and live through it? You’ll have to make a choice—something permanent, something that’s gonna hurt like hell.”

Tyler’s breath hitched, every word from the voice hitting him like a hammer. “What choice?”

The voice let out a low whistle. “You’ve got a couple of options, big guy. Right now, that mana wants to expand, but you’re not strong enough to contain it. We could rip it out and connect the cord pumping you full of power straight to your soul, let this power reshape you into something... new. You’d lose some of who you are—your essence as a human—but hey, you’d survive! You’d come back as something... different. Or, you could cut the cord completely. That would extinguish your core—snuff it out entirely. Ambient mana might be enough to save you, I’d give you, oh, maybe a twenty percent chance of surviving that.”

Tyler’s blood ran cold, a shiver running down his spine. “Extinguish my core?”

The voice chuckled darkly, almost taunting. “Yep, snuff it out like a candle. But here’s the twist—your dimensional inventory? It’s tied directly to your core. If you extinguish that core, your inventory’s gonna go ‘boom’ in the worst way imaginable. We’re talking about a cataclysmic implosion followed by an explosion that’ll wipe out everything and everyone around you. You want to take out half the landscape? There’s your ticket.”

Tyler’s thoughts spun, icy dread pooling in his gut. “You’re telling me if I cut the cord, there’s a chance I could kill everyone?”

“Bingo! About a twenty percent chance you turn everything into a crater. That inventory’s a ticking bomb. Just saying.”

Tyler’s heart raced as desperation clawed at him. “There has to be another way!”

The voice hummed thoughtfully. “Well, technically, the issue isn’t the mana itself—it’s that your core is getting squeezed like it’s in a vice. Normally, a mana core grows gradually, expanding the space around it as it draws in more energy. But yours? It’s trying to expand faster than the space can grow. The pressure’s crushing the core, which in turn is crushing you—that’s why you’re burning out.”

Tyler latched onto this explanation, a spark of hope igniting within him. “So, if I could reduce the amount of mana my core holds, the space would match, and I wouldn’t be crushed?”

“Exactly! But you’d need to permanently offload a significant amount of mana—half, maybe more—to relieve the pressure.”

Tyler’s mind raced as he considered the options. Every scenario flashed before him: letting the mana explode out of him, destroying everything; trying to extinguish it and risk losing everyone; or finding another way. He couldn’t let this power consume him, but he also couldn’t doom his friends.

“What if I split my core and shared the load with my friends? We divide it, so each of us carries a portion.”

The voice paused, then burst into delighted laughter. “Now that’s a twist! You want to split your core and spread the risk across your whole group? Interesting! But your friends aren’t built like you. They couldn’t handle that much on their own—you’d have to split that half into even smaller portions so it could actually fit inside them. That’s the only way it works.”

Tyler pressed on, the idea solidifying in his mind. “So we split it, link our cores, and each of us takes part of the load?”

The voice’s tone shifted, more serious now, tinged with both respect and warning. “You could do that, but here’s the kicker—you share your core, and you’re linking all your lives together. If one of you dies, you all die. No take-backs, no do-overs. You sure you’re ready to roll those dice?”

Tyler didn’t hesitate. He thought of every battle they’d fought together, every sacrifice made, every bond strengthened in the fire of their trials. “I trust them with my life. We’ve been through too much together to back down now.”

The voice hummed in approval, a hint of admiration in its playful tone. “Bold choice. You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that. Fine, let’s make it happen. But remember, you’re not just handing out a piece of your power—you’re linking your souls. You’re gonna be connected in ways you can’t even imagine. You ready for that level of connection?”

Tyler’s grip tightened on the energy raging inside him. “We’re already a team. This just makes it official.”

With a wicked grin in its tone, the voice spoke with finality. “Alright, hero. You wanted a permanent solution, so here it is. Let’s split this bad boy and spread the load.”

Tyler took a deep breath, then turned to his friends, who were watching him with a mix of concern and unwavering trust. “Hold on, guys,” he muttered under his breath, his voice strained. “I’m sorry for dragging you into this, but it’s the only way. I need to share my core with you all—literally. If we do this, we’ll be linked in every sense, and if one of us dies… we all do. It’s the only way. Are you with me?”

The link between them flared as Darius’s voice cut through, firm and unwavering. “You even need to ask? Do it, Tyler.”

Livia was right behind him, her tone sharp with determination. “We’re not letting you do this alone. If this is what it takes to keep us alive, then we’re in.”

Elric’s usual humour was absent, replaced by a rare seriousness. “We’re a team. We’ve got your back, whatever happens.”

Tyler’s heart swelled with relief and gratitude. Even with the weight of the choice pressing down on them, his friends didn’t hesitate. They were ready to share the burden, no matter what it cost.

“Alright,” Tyler whispered, bracing himself. “Here goes nothing.”

The process began with a jolt that felt like being torn apart from the inside out. Tyler’s breath hitched as a pulse of searing pain shot through his chest, his core fracturing into shards. He gasped, struggling to keep his focus as the mana within him fragmented into four distinct pieces, each one tethered to his soul yet ready to be passed on. The energy churned like a storm, its intensity threatening to break him as the pieces sought out his friends.

The fragments shot out like comet trails, streaking toward Darius, Livia, and Elric. Tyler felt each connection snap into place with a visceral pull. Darius stumbled as the energy slammed into him, his eyes wide with shock and disbelief. Livia gasped, clutching her chest as the power fused with her core, while Elric’s grin faded, replaced by a look of awe as he absorbed the weight of the connection.

Tyler could feel his friends’ presence more intimately than ever before. Their thoughts, emotions, and even their physical sensations bled into his awareness, a subtle hum at the back of his mind. It wasn’t overwhelming, but it was undeniable—they were now bound in a way that went beyond anything they’d experienced before. The sense of camaraderie they’d always relied on had evolved into something deeper, more absolute.

A gleeful, familiar voice echoed in Tyler’s head, dripping with satisfaction. “Well, isn’t this cosy! You’ve all got a piece of each other now. But remember, this isn’t just a neat party trick—it’s a double-edged sword. You live and die as one. Better keep that in mind the next time you’re facing something nasty.”

Darius was the first to speak, his voice tinged with disbelief and concern. “Tyler, what the hell just happened?”

Tyler steadied himself, meeting Darius’s gaze. “We’re all connected now—linked by the core. It was the only way to stop the power from burning me alive.”

Livia placed a hand over her heart, her eyes wide with a mix of awe and unease. “I can feel it... a pulse of mana inside me. Like a heartbeat that’s not mine.”

Elric, who had regained some of his usual bravado, let out a low whistle. “Well, this is one hell of a team-building exercise. Do we, uh... share a mana pool now?”

Tyler managed a weary smile despite the lingering ache in his chest. “No, you each have your own mana pools. Each core should grow independently over time.”

The weight of their new reality settled over them, a sense of gravity none of them could ignore. They were no longer just a group of friends relying on one another in battle—they were bound together by life and death itself, their fates intertwined in the most literal sense. The bond brought strength, the potential to amplify each other’s abilities, to pool their power in ways they’d never imagined. But it came at a cost. If one of them fell, they would all fall.

The voice in Tyler’s head returned, this time softer, almost sympathetic. “You’ve made your choice, hero. Now you’ve gotta live with it. Or die with it. Let’s see if you can keep your team alive long enough to regret it.”

With the bond sealed, Tyler felt the turbulent mana within him stabilize for the first time in what felt like forever. The wild energy settled into a steady rhythm, no longer threatening to rip him apart from the inside out. But the gravity of their shared fate weighed heavily in the air. The stakes had been raised to a level none of them could have anticipated.

As the echo of the entity’s voice faded, the bond between Tyler and his friends solidified. For a moment, silence hung between them—a collective breath, a shared moment of acknowledgement. But the stillness didn’t last long.

A soft, amused chuckle resonated in Tyler’s mind, followed by the familiar playful tone of the being that had fractured his core. “Well, now that we’re all cosy and connected, there’s still the little matter of that shadow power hanging around. It’s looking for a new home, and lucky you, I’m here to help with that.”