It took a good shaking and a splash of water, but Velora's awakened.
Eyes wide, she stared at Ezra. "What happened?"
Raising her head up, he smiles. "Congratulations, you've advanced to Expert rank"
Her mouth forms an 'o' from shock.
"Now, go and check out your new limits while I help the others advance"
Still in shock, she gradually stands and exists with her hands clasped on her mouth.
Roxanne came in next, and the previous events repeated themselves.
For her, the process was smoother, having gotten experience from Velora's advancement.
Her advancement session was ten minutes long.
Then, Ezra rested thirty minutes to recover to peak condition.
Like so, Ashton, Johan and Theron advanced without a hitch.
As at this point, it was two hours after noon.
With the vassals having advanced, it remained but one person, Ezra himself.
Along with it, the mana stone had its luster fade away entirely, looking more of a transparent crystal of faded blue colour.
But Ezra didn't throw it away, he absorbed it back into the space ring.
Apart from holding mana of high quality, the mana stone had one more feature, and this was the one that made it an item to die for.
Its usage was seemingly infinite!
Unlike mana crystals, the encasing of mana stone does not shatter-unless of course, one sucks every last bit of mana from it.
Such was what the Emperor did.
The stone Ezra put away still had mana within it, because a mana stone at its base form-is just a coalescence of mana!
Then, if mana stones were a coalesce of mana, what would happen if the mana ran deficit? If the mana in the stone was unable to allow it to sustain its form.
Simple, it'll begin absorbing mana from the atmosphere, as that was how it was formed in the first place.
Meaning, left alone for decades, or even centuries-depending on how deficit the mana was-the stone would regain its luster as it refined and filtered the absorbed mana.
Which, theoretically-because no one confirmed it yet-made it an infinite source of energy!
And what would you know, Ezra had a lot of them, and only two had lost their luster.
Enough of that, Ezra went on to nap for another hour, to revitalize his tired mind.
He awakes, fully revitalized, he sits in a lotus position and puts a, no, thinking it over, he takes two mana stones.
'I can control the mana flow of a single one just fine, and since my body's adapted. It might achieve the best effect'
He nodded, 'And with the cultivation path set in place, I have no need to worry about deviation'
With that done, Ezra begins his own advancement session, his heart pounding with nervousness and excitement.
On one hand, things could go wrong and he ends up with internal injuries, and on the other hand, things go right and he advances beyond the early Expert rank.
He begins, throwing the stones in his mouth, and immediately, mana gushes into his body.
With his mana pathways set in stone, he didn't need to actively guide the incoming waves of mana, only increase the circulation speed and focused on adding the mana gushing in with that already within him.
"Ugh!"
Even with his reinforced physique, his veins and muscles being stretched brought pain.
Also, he'd underestimated the power an additional mana stone would bring.
His body glowed blue with his veins popping, the runes engraved on his body activated without his will.
Then, impurities were expunged, though little, still surprised Ezra.
But now was not the time.
With precision, the intruding mana was absorbed as fast as it came and the circulation sped up, condensing an already condensed mana with those uncondensed.
Still, Ezra didn't miss the sound of sand falling in the nearby hourglass.
'Three minutes'
He felt like he was going to be ripped apart, but he held on. He knew his body, and he was sure he could endure more.
'Four minutes'
His body was nearing its limits.
'Just one minute more' he calculated.
'Five minutes!'
Once the chosen time struck, Ezra opened his mouth to spew the mana stones.
Only…
'Huh?!'
There was a problem.
'Why can't I move my lips!'
Ezra wanted to shout in rage, but quickly shook away his emotions, now was not the time, because the mana stones were still pumping in mana!
'Shit!' he thought, his veins would pop if he held it any longer. 'I have to advance now!'
He didn't know what the consequences of advancing while mana invaded his body would be…but anything was better than death!
With maximum concentration, he began.
The mana didn't need to be directed because the pathway was set.
Ceasing absorption of the incoming mana, he had the mana within spread through to the meridians on each limb.
He began the tempering.
Moving the mana within like a spinning grater, the meridians cracked and then healed by absorbing part of the mana, thereby growing.
The gap between Expert and advanced ranks was immense, making the hurdle to overcome was also a bar higher than the previous ones.
Ezra's element orbs absorbed mana as well, as they were located in his arms.
The Darkness orb absorbed the most, being directly below the throat, where mana gushed out from.
Speaking of that, because Ezra was unable to spit out the stones, mana was gushing into his body.
Only, thanks to the set mana pathway, the mana did not deviate, and instead added to the absorbed mana.
'Dammit!'
Everything seemed to go bad, but Ezra couldn't stop here.
'What can I do? What can I do? What can I-
At the sight of his plight, a viable solution popped up.
'Maybe?' he thought, fear in his heart left him hesitating. 'If it goes wrong, I could die!'
Looking at his swelling arms, it hit him. 'If I don't do it, I'll be crippled anyways'
A new fear wiped away all worries.
'Oh, in Raikan's name, what is this?!'
But the swelling muscles did not stop swelling.
'Just dammit all'
Faced with a hopeless situation, he couldn't care what happened anymore.
With precision, he began circulating the mana again.
But this time, he cultivated while doing so.
Like a worm, mana travelled his meridians, tempering it all through.
Since the pathway was set, he didn't need to actively absorb the incoming waves of mana-they naturally joined the circulating bunch!
Ezra pushed the circulation to the limit. His eyes closed in case he exploded.
His body grew hot as his meridians were tempered faster than they could recover,
It was excruciating, but Ezra could bear this much.
In turn, the meridians absorbed more mana to heal, before being tempered again.
Three minutes passed, Ezra's eyes hurt even while closed, the pain increased as the circulation got faster.
At some point, Ezra thought, 'The pain is too much! Should I just die?'
But shook his head vigorously moments after. He would have slapped himself if the situation allowed for it.
'No. I can't die here. I definitely can die here. I have to see that guy's face, and put an end to Red Spawn'
His resolve had him going strong when he should have collapsed, but that was all.
He couldn't move a muscle in his state, so he could endure.
And endure he did.
When the tenth minute arrived, Ezra was on the verge of a mental collapse.
'Why?!' He couldn't understand. 'Why haven't I advanced?!'
He should have advanced to Expert rank. The conditions were more than satisfied…so why?
At this moment, he felt something. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on.
The feeling got strong enough that Ezra opened his eyes.
'Ah?' His eyes widened.
From his body, light blue particles of mana came out.
'Huh?'
It was a phenomenon he'd never witnessed.
His body shook, subsequently a vibration passed through his limbs, and then, mana began coiling at the left side of his chest.
Ezra was startled. Trying to stop it, he became even more baffled.
His mana…wasn't listening to him.
Both the mana circulating and that gushing in stopped listening to his will and began coiling beside his heart, condensing at a single point and like the weaving of a yarn, grew bigger.
As it did, the particle coming out of Ezra's body increased.
As mana coiled, Ezra's element orbs subsequently dissolved into particles and like mana, condensed into the growing yarn.
Two minutes passed or was it three? Even Ezra's ears were tired.
The mana grew into a swirling mass of blue in the shape of an orb.
Then, the orb began dissolving into particles, only to be absorbed by the heart.
The moment the connection was made.
Ezra's heart pounded, and he lost consciousness.
Slapping his lips together, Ezra's eyebrow part ways.
'Hmm?'
Inherently groggy, Ezra's eyes were the only thing to move.
His head was dangling, skull facing the floor covered in a dark red liquid.
With effort, he rubs his eyes. And slowly raises his head.
The moment he did, a headache came upon him.
'My head!' He snapped his neck, setting it in place.
'What happened?'
Only now, did his eyes clear up. Memories of the events right before he blacked out started coming up.
For one, the chamber was dark again. Making the magical scene of it being lit up with mana particles seem like a dream.
Slowly, his gaze pervades the chamber.
He notices something.
'Was it always this bright?'
It felt like his dark sight had increased in clarity.
He saw in Darkness almost like he did in light.
'What's going on?' he wondered.
"M-
He tried to speak, but was unable to.
'Wait' it hit him. And with quivering hands, he touched the insides of his mouth.
The mana stones were still there!
'What?!' he was alarmed, but left the mana stones in his mouth out of caution.
Touching his body all over for the next few seconds. He eventually stopped when he verified that truly…
'I'm not dead'
He wasn't dead.
That filled him with joy, but added even more bafflement. 'But how?'
The mana from two mana stones wasn't something his body could withstand…at least to his knowledge.
So, what changed?
Ezra went into cultivation pose, shutting his eyes to explore his internals.
'Huh?'
Trying to use his mana, he was instantly baffled.
'It feels different'
