CHAPTER 88: MANA

"Arthur! What are you doing?" Liam jumps to Aldriana’s defense immediately, positioning himself slightly in front of her.

Arthur smirks. "You stay out of it, Young Master Monfort. If she’s really as powerful as you said, a little human male like me isn’t a threat to her."

Liam is flabbergasted. He’s heard Arthur is cold, calculative, manipulative, and suspicious, but he never thought he’d witness it like this.

Arthur turns to Aldriana. "Well?"

Aldriana’s eyes glint with pure annoyance and a hint of anger. She crosses her arms and lifts her chin in a clear challenge.

"And if I am, can you do anything about it?" Her voice is cold, more challenge than malice.

"You!" Arthur grits his teeth.

She unfolds her arms wide. "Come on. Take your best shot. Don’t you want to save your brother? I took him. You’re not going to do anything about it?"

She keeps taunting him, pushing him.

Liam shifts his body, fully blocking Arthur.

"If you take one step, I’ll take you down." His voice is firm.

Arthur laughs. "You? You think you can take me? You may be a skilled Sentinel, but I’m way above you, boy. And more importantly, why are you defending her? She’s a stranger. I might end up being your brother-in-law."

Liam doesn’t budge. "You may end up as my brother-in-law, but she saved my life. And she’s my teacher."

Arthur laughs harder. "Teacher? She’s barely taught you anything. All she’s shown you is how to feel your surroundings. What the hell is that supposed to be?"

"You..." Liam starts, but he stops the moment he feels a hand on his shoulder.

He turns and meets Aldriana’s clear, steady eyes.

"It’s okay, Liam. I can handle this. Thank you. Now move aside."

Liam looks unsure.

"Move aside, Disciple." Her voice leaves no room for negotiation.

Liam does as she asks.

She looks straight into Arthur’s eyes. "Take your best shot, CEO Montrose. This is your last chance. If you don’t, I will."

Arthur’s breaths turn heavier. He can feel power radiating from Aldriana, which should be impossible. No human radiates anything like this. But he feels it. His instinct screams at him not to take the shot.

But Arthur is not Arthur if he backs down. He steps back with one foot, posture closing in to strike.

On the side, Liam can only watch and shake his head. "Crazy. You’re all crazy," he mutters.

Aldriana stands in a relaxed posture, legs open shoulder wide.

Ready.

Arthur launches his attack. He moves so fast Liam gasps. In less than a few seconds, he’s already in front of her. And he throws a punch to her face, fast and accurate.

But in front of Aldriana, it’s useless.

She catches his punch with one hand. No, not even that. Arthur’s punch doesn’t touch her. It stops about five millimeters from her palm.

She shifts her hand aside, and Arthur feels the force of his own punch being redirected. He stumbles back several steps, nearly falling to the ground.

"You can come again," Aldriana says calmly.

Liam looks at her with a mix of shock and admiration. He never knew she could move that fast. He knows she can redirect heartstone energy, but martial arts? He had no idea.

Arthur regains his balance before he hits the ground. He stares at Aldriana the entire time, half in disbelief, half in admiration.

"You... what did you do? How... did you...?" He has no idea what to say.

"This is mana. The thing I want Liam to learn to feel. Mana is everywhere. If you can feel it, only then can you start manipulating it," Aldriana explains.

"I use mana. And yes," she turns to Liam, "it’s magic energy."

"There’s no such thing as magic in this world." Arthur is still in denial.

"You said it existed a long time ago. I’m telling you now, it’s still here."

Arthur can only open and close his mouth without making a sound. He looks like a fish trying to breathe out of water.

"Wait," Liam says. "You’ve been teaching me how to do magic?" He sounds excited.

Aldriana takes a deep breath. "You asked me to teach you what I did in the Beachwalk dungeon. That’s what I did. I used magic."

She sighs. "Actually, this world has been using mana already, you just don’t know it. The heartstone energy you’ve been extracting and using to power your cars, your lights, your Aegis, the Horizon, your bracelet. All of that uses mana."

"Mana is essentially the planet’s life force. It should be everywhere. I say ’should’ because somehow, this world’s mana disappeared. A planet’s life force shouldn’t be this low. It’s like... um... how do I describe it? Ah. Like being at high altitude. There’s less oxygen up there than down here."

She nods to herself. "Yes. That’s a good analogy. So out here, I’m weak, because there isn’t much mana for me to access. But in the dungeon..." She smiles widely. The men can’t see it, but they can hear it in her voice.

"I’m basically invincible."

------------------------------

"Duck!"

Maeve ducks just in time. Julian fires his heartstone gun and kills a horse haelion. Maeve gets up quickly and starts running again, with Julian right behind her.

They’ve been running around for hours. They are both exhausted, but more than that, they are pissed. Especially Julian.

He didn’t think he would end up in this situation. When he left his lab, he was only concerned about the missing people.

Liar. His inner voice chimes. You saw an opportunity to test your new gun, and you took it. Stop lying to yourself, Julian.

He regrets not bringing a team. This dungeon is too dangerous for him to explore alone. And now, he knows he’s doomed. The gate has closed, and no one can save them except themselves.

He doesn’t know if his voice message went through. And now he has another life he’s responsible for.

"Here!" Maeve grabs his arm. She makes a sharp turn, ducks under a massive tree, and drags Julian down to crouch with her.

While crouching, Julian looks at Maeve. At first, he thought she was another fragile, easily frightened woman who got sucked into the dungeon by accident. This woman surprises him. She turns out to be competent, with better-than-average stamina and a quick mind.

Her pixie-cut ginger hair is covered in dirt. Her freckled face has small cuts. Her black blazer, white shirt, and black pants are torn in places. There’s a long gash on her lower arm, but it has stopped bleeding.

Julian’s condition is no better. His long pants are no longer long. They’re now knee length. His long-sleeved jacket is shredded, but he insists on wearing it for "extra" protection. His hair is no longer light brown. He’s not even sure the current color has a name.

"Your lights," Maeve reminds him.

Julian does as he’s told and stays as quiet as possible. He turns around, facing the other way. Their experience has taught them that these horse haelions are smart. They often approach from behind.

------------------------------

Arthur scoffs, but there’s no malice in it anymore. He just doesn’t know what to do with himself. He doesn’t know what to think or whether he should believe her. But the way she deflected his attack... that wasn’t a fluke. That was real. Except that felt like skill, not magic.

Then it hits him. The light orbs.

He blinks several times and looks up at them.

Aldriana and Liam follow his gaze. She smiles, and Liam grins. They can’t hear Arthur’s thoughts, but they can guess what he’s finally questioning.

Aldriana nods. "Yes, you’re right. Those orbs are made with magic. I can’t produce bigger or brighter ones. The mana out here is too scarce. I’m struggling."

She knows she’s rambling a little, but she can’t help it. She hasn’t had anyone to talk to about these things since she arrived here. Now that a part of the truth is finally out, she feels relieved.

"So... wait. You said ’out here.’ You mean... ’in there’ is inside the dungeon?" Liam tries to wrap his head around it.

She nods. "Yes. That’s why I could do all those things you saw me do. The dungeons are filled with mana."

She sighs. "Out here, sometimes it feels like I can’t breathe."

"So that’s why you asked me to explore the dungeons!" Liam finally gets it.

She nods again. "Yes. In there, I feel alive."

"You’re saying the heartstone energy is actually mana?" Arthur asks slowly, his brain finally catching up.

"Exactly. Your space bracelet is actually using magic theory. It’s space magic. And your Aegis is magic too. I can produce a shield similar to your Aegis. They’re the same concept. Your people are using magic without doing magic. It’s amazing."

Aldriana can’t help expressing thoughts she’s been suppressing for so long.

Arthur falls silent. He’s processing everything, connecting pieces in his mind.

Aldriana sees it and says, "We need to move again. Julian’s waiting."

Both Liam and Arthur look at each other, then at Aldriana.

They nod.