"This is not looking good at all..." Ailas paced back and forth.
The trio was back at Julian's house. In his bedroom.
Julian slept soundly in his bed, his cheeks still wet from the tears.
"If you're back here... that must mean that our body... has lost consciousness."
"That means we're gonna die soon! Damn it! If only Julian wasn't so sensitive! We could've used his smarts and devised a plan or something like that!" Ailas yelled out, panicking.
"Aren't you smart, too?" Gulian asked.
"I am, but not to Julian's level!"
Things were in fact getting dangerous.
Gulian sighed. "Hmmm... ahh, damn it. This might be the end."
Ailas grabbed Gulian by the shoulders, shaking him.
"You idiot! Why would you give up now? Do you have no desire to live?!"
"Not... really. I could care less about living."
"... Then do it for Julian's sake. If you aren't fighting for yourself, then fight for Julian."
"..."
Gulian couldn't disagree with that. To an extent, he admired Julian.
"Alright. I have a plan, then."
Gulian led Ailas outside the house.
"What... the? What is this place?"
"This is the mental representation of the Velian. Where all the mana is stored."
It was an infinite white void. A large, glowing red center, with several branches stemming out of it.
"It wouldn't make sense to try and visualize a Velian. But I can do it like this. The Velian is the center. The branches are the [Spirit Casts]. Don't try to make sense of it."
Ailas nodded. "Right. There's so many branches."
"Indeed. I'm an artificial spirit. These branches make themselves. You see this branch here?"
"Yeah. It says [Spirit Cast: Flame Control]."
"This branch leads to [Spirit Cast: Fire Ball], [Spirit Cast: Flame Sword], and etc."
"So... the [Spirit Cast: Flame Grab] is just a successor of Flame Sword?"
"Something like that."
"So why are you telling me this?"
"Just as a basic guide. Very recently, I felt something new enter this... tree of mana."
Ailas walked with Gulian to a separate branch. In comparison to all the other branches, Ailas could tell that it was different in a way. The aura it gave off.
"[Spirit Cast: Envy: Mirror]."
"This strange new cast entered the system. It's nothing like I've ever seen before."
"And the branch right next to it?"
"[Spirit Cast: Synchronization]. Our trump card. Once you use this, Ailas, you'll be set. I just hope your combat skills will be sufficient."
"What kinda question is that?" Ailas smirked.
. . .
. .
.
"Huh. He's not responding anymore. I think the girl was a much better piece of art, though."
Beiric sighed, genuinely disappointed. He placed his daggers back into his sheathe, gently.
"I'll just have to pull him out of the dirt, and do what I can."
He grabbed Julian by the hair, roughly pulling him out of the dirt.
To his surprise, Julian was indeed conscious. His eyes glared at Beiric.
"Eek!"
[Spirit Cast: Synchronization]
Black, bubbly-looking mana wrapped around Julian's body. It stopped just at his neck.
The bubbling stopped, but the black mana moved uncontrollably on his body.
Julian's eyes returned to his piercing red color, though his hair stayed white.
"H-h-huh?" Beiric took one look at him.
Though he had never been a religious person, nor would he even know what that person would look like, he came to one conclusion:
"Th-the devil... he's the devil!"
[Spirit Cast: Blade]
Made of the same energy that cloaked him, a large sword appeared in the palm of Julian's hand.
Clang!
Beiric was quick to pull his daggers out, overcoming his fear. He used both daggers to clash.
Pwsh!
"Behind you."
The sound of Julian behind Beiric petrified him. But, he quickly turned around, slashing at the air.
Julian threw a quick kick, sending Beiric into a tree.
"Gaaah!-" he yelled out.
Pwsh!
Julian threw the large sword at Beiric.
Beiric narrowly dodged it.
[Cast: Grand Light Beam, Compressed]
An attack, faster than light.
Fyeom!
The beam of light got closer and closer.
It was an inch away from Julian's face.
Even with the distance, he dodged the beam with relative ease.
"To dodge an attack like that... you might even be faster than me."
[Spirit Cast: Flashstep]
He appeared in front of Beiric, grabbing him by the collar.
Fw!
He threw him up into the air.
"100 kilometers into the sky. Can he even breathe?"
Julian dashed up into the air.
In an instant, he reached Beiric.
Putting his hands together, he bashed down at Beiric.
To an observer, it would've looked like a comet was crashing into the ground.
Julian descended, slamming his feet into Beirics gut.
"Keuk-"
He threw up tons of blood.
Julian placed his hand on his chest.
[Spirit Cast: Heal]
Slowly, Beiric's life-threatening wounds were starting to heal.
"My injuries... they're all... gone?"
Psh!
Julian threw his foot into Beiric's face.
[Spirit Cast: Steel Wall]
The wall was erected behind Beiric. His back slammed into the steel wall.
[Spirit Cast: Steel Spikes]
Large spikes protruded through Beiric's body. More blood spilled out of his mouth, and the new holes formed in his body.
[Spirit Cast: Heal]
His wounds disappeared, again.