Zeke studied the woman with his magic eyes to find what is causing her mana to dry up.

  Her face paled as she laid on the blood-stricken ground, her breathing turning harsh and rapid as the cold was seeping into her very bones. They tried to cover everything up, with Hamil even conjuring walls of stone around themselves to provide as much warmth as possible. The cold was made due to the sudden disappearance of mana, but outside cold can be just as brutal for the inflicted.

  As he studied her channels, he didn’t see anything–not at first. He flexed his power further, expanding his Legendary Restoration with the aid of both Mana Manipulation and the gloves he always wore since he first got into this world.

  The Gloves of Sanctuary.

  It got to the point where he even forgot he had them on. The Support Aid enchantments helped his abilities become better even at their current rarity. His mana churned as he searched deeper into her inner workings, revealing the infliction that was causing the strange drain of magical energy.

  It was something, a strange bluish blob taking over her upper body and waist. That was the one draining her mana, like a parasite in a metaphysical sense. It wasn’t something one can just take out physically as the blob could barely even be sensed by his own powerful skills, let alone physical sight.

  “Zeke, what’s wrong with her?” Kote asked, noticing his deep frown.

  “Something’s sucking up her mana,” Zeke shook his head, trying to make sense of it. “It’s like some weird parasite that’s getting bigger by the second.”

  “Can we take it out?” Mikella asked, holding onto Saang’s hand to provide what little warmth she could, but Zeke shook his head.

  “No, it’s not real, not physically at least,” Zeke mentioned. “But it’s stuck to her like glue. Whatever it is, it spreads all the way around her upper body, but it’s not taking her heart and lungs, since they’re all filled with life and kinetic energy respectively.”

  “Then what do we do?” Hamil mentioned. “We already tried using a status cleanser, but it didn’t work!”

  The status cleanser was another type of potion like the Health and Mana potion, except that it can heal most common status afflictions, like paralysis and poisons. It was the sort of cleanser that was more expensive than a simple antidote, but it can cover a wide range.

  But Zeke shook his head again. “Like I said, it’s not physical. It’s stuck there, sucking up her mana through her channels like drinking straws. But… I think I can do something. I just… I just don’t know if I can do it without hurting her or destroying everything around us.”

  Even without Zeke’s Barrier Craft, he wasn’t sure exactly how to get rid of the strange affliction draining her. If he used his attunement, it could seriously affect her channels, perhaps even break them if he was doing this in a rush. Without Cloud to help in the support, he was worried that he might do more harm than good.

  But something held onto Zeke’s shoulder, revealing to be Hamil with a face of resolution.

  “Go for it,” He said, his voice determined. “Saang already told us that she would do anything if she was knocked out like this. You have her consent to chop her body up if it means fixing her!”

  Zeke was stunned at first, but then he remembered. They were adventurers–their lives were constantly in danger from going on quests dealing with matters like these, so it was only natural that one or all of them would have a way to decide what to do with their bodies should the worst happen.

  In this case, Saang had already told her teammates that she wasn’t the type to shy away from a dissection if it meant healing her. It was already decided, and that made Zeke’s decision all the more easier.

  Another hand plopped on his shoulder when Hamil left his. He saw Mikella smiling.

  “Go all out. Don’t worry–I’ll hold onto you if anything goes wrong.”

  He smiled back, holding Mikella’s hand with his own for a moment before letting go. He knelt properly, his back lowered and his hands pressed onto Saang’s abdomen.

  “Everyone, back off. I need some room!”

  His words were assurance, a doctor in his operating table, as the others followed suit with ease. Mikella made sure to keep them at a wide berth as Zeke inhaled deeply through his nostrils, then exhaled through his mouth.

  He did it again a second time, then a third, and a fourth. Finally, he sensed his surroundings dampening. The sounds of Saang’s rampant breathing fading as his sight delved deeper into her inner workings.

  There, he found the infliction. In his mind’s eye, he saw the disgusting blob as to what it was–a bluish spider clinging desperately at Saang’s channels, sucking up whatever valuable resource she had to keep surviving. But not for long.

  His anger grew as something similar like this happened before, back at the first tower with the necromancer, but this time–he had full control.

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  His eyes opened, but his sight hadn’t returned. Instead, two bright blue orbs of magnificent azure hue glowed.

  …..

  Mikella swallowed whatever she had in her throat. No matter how many times she sees this, she can never get used to it.

  The feeling of pressurized air hit them all, a near blanket of pure force that swallowed them deeply and kept them at bay. Thanks to her new body, she was able to get used to it, but despite having a higher level than her, Hamil and Kote’s eyes widened, their stances shaking slightly from this.

  “Wh-What the hell is this?” Hamil said, his voice stuttering in response. “How’s this kid have so much power?”

  What they saw before them was Zeke kneeling towards the shaking Saang, equivalent to a seizure in full force as the attunement in Zeke’s body sang with deafening force. The air shook as the energy around Zeke converged, then it turned dense as a small form of the giant that once shook the entire biodome to mere pieces slowly formed.

  The giant Zeke’s hands soon covered the two whole, then laced the fingers together into a tightening combined fist before disappearing entirely.

  What revealed next was Zeke gritting his teeth, his eyes still bright blue as he pressed deep into Saang’s stomach. He pushed hard in the most spiritualistically painful way possible.

  Saang’s mouth was open wide, but nothing other than gurgling noises echoed from the woman as Zeke pressed onto her again. He said that something was stuck to her, and it was swallowing her whole body, so it looked like he’s pushing the damn thing out in one way or another.

  Zeke roared in fury, the normally shrill voice becoming primal and deep, something that reached into her bones and caused her to shiver from the intensity.

  It was powerful, almost transcendent in ways that were hard to describe. But once she realized that Kote and Hamil were approaching, she stepped forward in front of them.

  “Stop! He’s doing his thing!”

  “He’s gonna kill her!” Hamil shouted, desperation and obvious fear in his voice.

  “It looks intense, but Zeke has full control,” Mikella said. Sympathy riddled her voice as she continued. “He’s more worried about the surroundings than what he’s doing to Saang.”

  “What is he doing?” Kote asked, actually–he demanded. “What is this?”

  “It’s his attunement,” Mikella revealed. “It’s not a normal one. It’s actually from the higher realms.”

  Mikella wasn’t sure whether that was enough to help dissuade the fear. If she saw this for the first time, she would feel the same way, just like how Zyler felt when Zeke did this to his sister Diaga.

  However, that actually got them to gape at her words, their eyes now widening in awe and wonder.

  “The higher realms…” Hamil said, almost in a whisper. “I thought… I thought that was just a legend…”

  “Impossible,” Kote shook his head. “But then… I guess that’s the only thing that can explain this.”

  Mikella took her chances when she could. If the two were satisfied with that, then all the better. Then again, not even Cloud and Val knew much about the higher realms, except that extraordinary people were the only ones capable of getting it.

  And Zeke was definitely extraordinary as it looked like it was about done. When she turned around, the energy around Zeke was beginning to wane, but Zeke roared one final time as he pushed hard enough to crush the ground underneath Saang.

  It split and cracked like spider webs as the adventurer screamed in agony. Though Mikella felt that the blow to the ground was more from the pressure of Zeke’s power rather than actually damaging Saang. The damage to her was caused to her insides, particularly where the parasite was at. Zeke was correct to worry about the surroundings as not just the ground, but the trees that surrounded them was blown apart, wood scattering everywhere. The clouds were blown apart from up above the sky, revealing the evening color of the day above.

  Leave… now!

  Zeke’s primal voice rang, growling as though ordering the affliction to disappear from his sight. Saang’s mouth began to foam with bluish liquid before she rose and threw up several pounds’ worth of bile onto the ground.

  It was a disgusting tinge of red, blue, and green, the sludge that came out of her mouth sloshing forward, creating a puddle of oozing muck that was hard to describe with a single word.

  Mikella recoiled in disgust. That thing was inside of her, sucking up her mana. Soon the pressurized air dissipated as Zeke’s body soon returned to its natural state. His eyes swiftly returned to their heterochromia blue and green eyes, looking dazed and bewildered.

  Saang, on the other hand, was coughing a massive fit, her hands and knees down on the ground as both Hamil and Kote went over to her to check. Meanwhile, Mikella approached the disgusting bile, her eyes scrunching in horror and disgust.

  The thing below her was… alive. Her Dragon Eyes flared as she can sense the weakness covering literally every part. It was like a creature’s own insides were pulled out, and one slash was enough to kill it.

  So she did. She pulled out her sword and mercilessly stabbed down at it. The strange blob of fleshy mound screeched in defiance and pain before finally deflating itself. It shrunk little by little before finally sizzling into hot air, leaving nothing but pure blood from Saang’s body. Mikella covered her mouth as she swiped away at the air, glad that the foul thing was done and over with.

  “What in the gods was that thing?” Hamil said, the three men unable to take their eyes off of whatever it was that Mikella just killed.

  “A disease,” Mikella said, shaking her head to wipe the gross memory. “It’s taken care of. How’s Saang?”

  “She’s alive,” Zeke pointed out. His voice was ragged and dry, and his face looked pale like Saang was. “She’s completely dried up on ana. But she’s not cold anymore, so that’s good… Though I wish I could’ve done that better. If I had made an array before, I could’ve used less mana and made it better for the process.”

  “How are you, mana-wise?” Mikella asked. It was becoming a habit, but she had every right to be worried.

  “I’m fine. It’s just gonna take me a few more hours of constant Meditation to get it all back. Using my attunement puts a heavy toll on my recovery rate…”

  Saang groaned, getting everyone’s attention. With the two adventurers near her, Zeke approached and patted her back, sounding his magic eyes to check up on her further.

  Saang’s face looked much healthier now, her skin color returning to its vibrancy. Saang opened her eyes, still dazed but returning in full.

  “Ugh… that was… the worst hangover I ever felt in my entire life,” Saang said meekly, holding over her stomach. “And I think I just barfed my entire life’s worth.”

  The adventurers couldn’t help but chuckle, patting and soothing Saang’s weakened body. Mikella patted Zeke’s shoulder for a job well done. At least for now, it was time to take a break.