When we got back to the hotel, the first thing we did was distribute our Awakening Stones. Since i Gui and I didn't need them, we ended up with three that could be given to others - two from finishing first in the preliminaries, and one from the IMF branch.
"So? Who's going to take the three extra?" Xiang Peng asked, leaning on the wall.
"Well… to start off, out of the eleven of us, only Flaria doesn't have any. So we should give one to her…?" Feng Mian suggested.
"I don't even know how that would work," I said, then turned to Obsidia. "Obsidia, what happens if an intelligent Magic Beast like you or Flaria used an Awakening Stone?"
She sighed. "We Magic Beasts are not the sa as any other race. Depending on the species, we are either born with one elent or multiple, but we cannot gain any other elental affinities beyond that."
"For example, I can only use Fire and Sky Magic," Flaria added. "Although I cannot use any other elents, my power in these two are insurmountable."
"Hmph. How coincidental yet unfortunate… I share the sa elents as this bird," Obsidia muttered.
The two of them glared daggers at each other as usual. Before things turned hot and violent, I interjected.
"So, you two both can only use Fire and Sky Magic?" I asked just to confirm.
"Yeah, but we have special, extra-powerful spells only phoenixes and dragons can use," Flaria said.
"Indeed. Normal spells do not even compare," Obsidia agreed with Flaria, for once.
"But… that makes curious. Both of you have been sowhat affected by my Chaos energy by being beside for so long. Is it possible for you to use other elents as well, like ?"
"This…" Obsidia looked down at the floor in thought. "… I have never actually attempted to."
"… Yeah, neither," Flaria admitted. "But maybe…? I think it's unlikely though."
"Well, it doesn't hurt to give it a try, does it?" Feng Mian smiled, then raised out her hand, pointing it at . My eyes widened slightly as I realized what she was going to do.
"Here, follow along, Flaria," she winked, then began channeling her mana.
"Level One Ice Magic - Skewer of Ice."
A thin and sharp projectile of ice shot out of her palm towards . I casually raised a finger, absorbing the spell into my body.
Flaria, seeing this interaction, bit her lip and mimicked Feng Mian's actions.
"Level One Ice Magic… Skewer of Ice!"
…
Nothing happened.
Flaria sighed dejectedly. "As I thought…"
"Aw, it's okay, Flaria…" Lan Xiao Su comforted, hugging her gently. "It's no big deal…"
"… Try using an Awakening Stone," i Gui suddenly interjected, which was unusual.
"Huh?" we turned to look at her in surprise.
"Like Master said, both the dragon and the phoenix have been affected by his Chaos energy. All they require is one last catalyst to share the benefits… the Awakening Stone may serve."
"Did you… rember sothing?" I asked.
Slowly, she shook her head. "It is… extrely hazy. I do, however, believe using an Awakening Stone on them is worth a try."
"… Are we sure about this?" Yu An Yan raised an eyebrow. "If the experint goes wrong, the Awakening Stone will be wasted. Those things don't grow on trees, y'know."
"Hm…" we all fell silent. Yu An Yan had a point - Awakening Stones were extrely precious materials that could only be used once. If the experint failed, we would have lost a powerful item while gaining nothing.
But…
I turned to look at Flaria, who had a nervous expression on her face. Obsidia was as nonchalant as ever, but I think she wanted to try using an Awakening Stone as well.
"I believe in them," I said, my decision made. "Even if it fails, we would have gained information. That way, the next ti we receive Awakening Stones, we'll know."
"Master…" Flaria looked up at with tears in her eyes. She reminded of Qing Yue, which made want to protect her as well.
"… Alright. Let's do it," Yu An Yan said with a sigh.
"Using Awakening Stones is most effective when alone, in a quiet environnt," Xiang peng said. "Let's take turns using the room, while the rest of us wait in the hallway."
We nodded in agreent. I took out an Awakening Stone from my Space Locket and handed it to Flaria.
"Flaria first, then Obsidia, then the rest in alphabetical order, starting with Amane," I said, walking out of the room. The others followed as Flaria remained in the room.
In the hallway, we waited silently. There was no telling who could be listening, so we all quietly agreed to not talk about anything here.
That is, out loud, anyway.
[i Gui.]
[Yes, Master?]
[About Ling Xin… is there any way we can contact her?]
[Yes, Master. I can directly communicate with her soul, via the Soul Shackles. If there is anything you wish to tell her, just let know.]
[Ah, I see. Got it.]
[Anything else, Master?]
[Hm… yeah, one more thing. Can we sense when she's in danger? For example, if she is physically hard or whatnot.]
[Yes. I can detect if she is gravely injured, no matter how far away.]
[Great… this way, we can fully control her.]
[Master, I can also inflict pain on her soul from ti to ti to force her to speed up, if needed.]
[Nah, I'm not in a hurry. My goal right now is to just into Fragnt… I don't care when Ling Xin finds the information I want. If she stalls for too long though… you know what to do.]
[Understood, Master.]
Ten minutes later, Flaria ca out. There was sweat on her forehead, and she was visibly tired. The process to use an Awakening Stone was simple - hold the rock inside your hand, and begin channeling your mana into it.
However, this would eventually drain the user dry, thus making them extrely tired by the end of it. If soone doesn't know their own limits, they might even fall under S - Mana Exhaustion Syndro. It was rare, but people have died from using Awakening Stones.
"How was it? Did you succeed?" I asked, walking into the room with everyone else following behind. As stated before, the hallway was not suitable for conversation.
Flaria, instead of replying, held up her hand and pointed it at .
"Level One Ice Magic - Skewer of Ice."
My eyes widened. Slowly, a sharp projectile of ice shot out of her hand, followed by a burst of blue flas. I imdiately reacted, attempting to absorb the mana.
W-What…?! It's not working…?!
Gritting my teeth, I used both hands and increased the Chaos power I was putting into this. i Gui joined in as well to help, and after a few seconds of tension, the fla-trailing ice skewer was finally subdued, converted into mana and flowing into i Gui's and my body.
"What the hell was that…?" I muttered in shock.
"Hehe," Flaria smirked triumphantly. "I can use Water and Ice Magic now, in addition to Sky and Fire. But, as you can see, my phoenix flas still end up affecting my spells, so they end up being empowered."
My eyes widened. "So… not only did you gain two new elents, the power is also amplified like my own magic?"
i Gui was the one to respond this ti. "No, Master… the amplification abilities of her phoenix flas are even greater than the level of Chaos understanding you currently possess."
"Woah… for real…?" Qing Yue's mused in surprise. "Does that an… Flaria is stronger than Big Brother Xuan Kai now?"
"Not necessarily," Feng Mian said. "While in terms of raw strength, Flaria may be stronger now, but Xuan Kai still has access to all 21 elents, and of course, the ability to nullify other people's magic and convert it into mana for himself. That is an ability unable to be mimicked by anyone else - apart from i Gui, of course."
"Still… I can't believe it actually worked…" Yu An Yan murmured.
"Sis… sotis… you need to be… more confident… in your… allies…" Yu An Xue whispered, patting her sister's shoulder gently.
"Y-Yeah…" she replied softly.
"Well, if it worked for Flaria, then…"
We all focused our gazes on Obsidia. She sighed as she took out her own Awakening Stone. Once again, the rest of us exited the room to leave her in peace, and waited patiently.
Several minutes later, she ca back out and attempted to demonstrate her newfound powers the sa way Flaria had, but I quickly stopped her. I may have been able to block Flaria's attack, but I didn't know about Obsidia. The term 'holding back' did not exist in her vocabulary.
The other girls went in after that, one at a ti. Feng Mian, Qing Yue, and the Yu sisters all had two Awakening Stones each, so they took longer than the other girls. That said, I still had two Awakening Stones leftover - I decided to give them to Obsidia and Flaria respectively, since it worked out so well the first ti.
By the ti they were all done, our group's overall power level had increased by quite a bit. The girls all unlocked new elents, so one, others multiple. Currently, our party's elental affinities looked like this:
Feng Mian: Ice, Shadow, Poison, Curse, Necromancy
Qing Yue: Light, Blessing, Psychic, Enchantnt, Summoning
Yu An Yan: Fire, Sky, Ti, Void, tal
Yu An Xue: Ice, Water, Space, Earth, Void
Lan Xiao Su: Water, Blessing, Enchantnt, Light
Xiang Peng: Sky, Gravity, Light, Water, tal, Sound, Psychic
Obsidia: Fire, Sky, Earth, Water
Flaria: Fire, Sky, Ice, Water
Amane: Space, Ti, Fire, Shadow, Demon
Tomorrow would be the fight to enter Fragnt.
Were we ready?
Reviews
All reviews (0)