"I really don't have time for this now!!!"- shouted Kiyeri to the Voidbornes staring at him with countless eyes from all sides.

  Quickly drawing his weapons, he prepared to defend himself, chaos in his mind. What was happening? Is his body now unconscious in that basement? Did stone released mana, and enemy could find him at any time? Will he have to die here to rise in the physical world?

  While the conditions of the ritual were swirling in his mind, he realised, that no one was attacking him. The Voidborne were, crawling, walking around, all staring at him as one, but none of them came closer than two outstretched arms.

  Puzzled, Kiyeri began to look around and took one step forward, the creatures in front of him suddenly retreated the same distance. He took another step, they retreated again. Then he started running towards them and they ran away at the same speed.

  Something fshed red in the corner of his eye on the ground, Kiyeri lowered his eyes and stopped. Around his feet was a thin red circle, as if someone had drawn it and pced him in the middle. Taking a step forward, the circle on the ground traveled along with him. Kiyeri bent down and wanted to touch it, but for a moment he hesitated, “Maybe I should stop touching things…” He pulled his hand away, then stretched it back, but finally made up his mind and touched this line, but nothing happened. Noticing he had smeared his hand, rubbed his fingers together, recognizing the liquid, “Blood? Is this my sacrifice to the stone...?”

  Realizing that he was safe, he immediately returned to the main question – what next? Looking around, those bck, disgusting faces were still staring at him, and as Kiyeri's eyes darted between them, he could feel the hair all over his body stand on end, it was extremely unpleasant to be here.

  Suddenly, it dawned on him. Kiyeri started running in zigzags, his eyes wide open, until the Voidborne parted before him, giving way. Soon, his eyes were again illuminated by that silver light he had seen before, emanating from a small block on the ground. Breaking through the dense crowd, he ran closer. In front of him was a white block, like marble, resembling a small altar, but no higher than his knees, a circle the size of a palm was carved on that block, emitting a shiny light, and in the middle was a grill as bck as coal.

  "Metal!"

  Realizing there was no time to hesitate, he immediately spped the mark with his bare palm. Blinding light, followed by a loud rumble stunned Kiyeri to the core.

  The next moment he found himself lying on the ground, dark and noisy around him. Someone was calling his name. Blinded by that light, he couldn't see anything, but from the smell of herbs, it was clear that he had returned to the basement. Grabbing at his surroundings like a blind mole, he touched a round stone and recognized it as the medallion, then tucked it into his belt.

  While he was trying to comprehend what was happening around him, a strong pain pierced his leg, making him flinch and he felt blood running down the front of his thigh. Grabbing that leg, he found a hole - his thigh was pierced through. Hands shaking uncontrolbly, he clenched his teeth, shiver ran down his body, and only then did the pain hit. Kiyeri groaned hard and started to panic.

  The squeak in his ears disappeared, but the voices were still unclear, someone was shouting him to run.

  "Fuuuuuck OFF!" Gathering his st bit of concentration, he sent a strong wave of mana energy around him. There were thuds and rumbles all around, several cries of pain, and a sound like sacks of flour falling onto the wooden floor, the entire building shook at the same time, and then there was silence.

  Kiyeri knew everything about mana and existing spells that could be found and read in their kingdom. It turned out that applying that knowledge was natural to him.

  As his eyes adjusted to the light, the image became clearer, he blinked and looked around, but suddenly his heart sank. With that wave of energy, he threw everything around him, right up to the red brick walls. Ashiya, Seyre, and Ruki y trapped under the rubble of gss and wood debris.

  Ashiya, touching his bloody head, Seyre, who at first gnce was less injured, was getting to his feet, Kiyeri didn't even look at Ruki.

  He jumped to help Ashiya, but then he heard a crackling sound above his head, raising his eyes and realizing wooden rafters were breaking, he stepped too heavily on that leg and it could no longer support his weight. "SHIT, EVERYTHING AT ONCE!"

  Although anxiety and excitement were swirling in his stomach, Kiyeri felt confident. He healed the hole in his leg with lightning speed and jumped to his friends carrying them outside.

  The possibilities of his newfound physical strength pleasantly surprised Kiyeri. In an instant, all three were already lying on the grass when the building colpsed to its foundations. Kiyeri quickly id the two injured on both sides and, pressing his palms to their bodies, sent threads of energy that gracefully spread from his palms down through their skin and slowly fluttered to reach every scratch on both bodies. The blue, glowing threads twisted and curled as if sewing up wounds and repcing the missing patches with their essence, turning into skin, bone, and blood where they were missing.

  "Unbelievable…" Kiyeri was mesmerized by such beauty, seeing the actual mana with his own eyes for the first time.

  Such precise control was nothing to him, so his mind had time to think about other things. Most likely, when his blood sacrifice worked and the stone began to emit energy, Ruki, who was in the temple, noticed it and came here. Ashiya and Seyre was trying to protect him.

  Kiyeri looked at the pile of ruins where the pharmacy had been, realizing, Ruki could wake up and burst out at any moment. Looking at his colleagues again, he assessed their condition, and sighed, "Thanks for buying me time."

  Ashiya didn't answer but seemed happy.

  Seyre slurred in his new style, "You're welcome. It was stupid of us, considering you're immortal."

  "Hmt." Kiyeri ughed and pulled his palms away. "The treatment is over, you're fine. Your mana has also been replenished. It turns out I really don't have any reserves, now my mana is everywhere around me."

  "Well, that was fast... I know I felt my bones breaking." Seyre acted surprised.

  "Me too, my head was cracked open and my lung was punctured. Dali spent much more time on healing Zeni then, and it still wasn't over." Ashiya agreed.

  "Well, my abilities were already much higher than his from the very beginning” Kiyeri expined, “But I think that's not all. Because of how they got powers, they are corrupted and seem to have lost themselves. Controlling mana requires great concentration, it’s a delicate task, and maybe they simply cannot use their potential."

  The other two nodded, Kiyeri looked at Ashiya, "I think you two need..."

  Before he could finish his sentence, appuse was heard from the side. Looking toward the Temple, they saw Zeni and Dali descending the stairs. Zeni cpped demonstratively towards them, while Dali walked behind him, looking straight ahead as if he didn't have a single worry in this world.

  The trio stood up. "I think you two should step back, from what I feel, I alone will be enough here."

  Answers came from both sides, Seyre's "No way" and Ashiya's "Stop joking around."

  Kiyeri just wrote them both off. Being the way he was feeling right now, it was hard to think of anyone who could stop him, unless it was those three Sorians who, according to legend, “levelled mountains”, because he couldn't do that much. But not Ruki or Dali. There would have to be at least ten of them for him to be worried.

  But no matter how well he thought of himself, somewhere deep inside, the thought crept in that something was still wrong, that there was some hidden danger. Just now, Kiyeri felt excitement, but seeing Zeni approach so confidently, the excitement gave way to unease. Wasn't he just as proud when he entered the hall? At that moment, Kiyeri didn't think they could lose either, but Zeni overturned the table.

  He tried to remember any clue he missed. Finally, there was the sound of debris crashing on the side, and Ruki appeared soon after. Her once-white tunic was dirty and torn from top to bottom, but she didn't have a single scratch on her. Zeni waved her to come, and she obediently did so. For some reason, the sight made Kiyeri furious. An uncharacteristic rage burned inside him and rose to his throat, the veins pulsing in his temples.

  “What are you doing?! He couldn’t hold back. “They are your family!”

  “Family?” Zeni ughed. “They’re just game pieces! Pawns! Trash!”

  Two groups of three people stood facing each other, separated only by a small rose garden. Their voices were raised and ced with anger.

  “Scumbag,” Ashiya spat.

  “I don’t want to hear this from you,” Zeni answered him, “Your life was pnned, everything was prepared, and you are such an idiot that you were unable to follow the path given to you”

  “And what is your path? “Seyre interrupted, “You betray the crown!”

  “I AM THE CROWN!!” Zeni spread his arms to the sides. “Your crown is useless! When was the st time we expanded the nds?! When was the st time we crushed those cockroaches?! Too long ago!”

  Even from a distance, the expression of disgust could be seen on that wrinkled, pale face. His bck clothes added even greater contrast to that paleness, and it felt like they were talking to a corpse. He spat as he spoke, poking his fingers everywhere, and with every movement of his hand his body swayed and trembled.

  “All this time, these Sun Rats have been living next to us... They even dare to cross the threshold into our homes and mingle among our people! The pitiful creatures think they are worthy of standing under the same sky!”

  “You look worse than yesterday,” Kiyeri said in a calm voice. “Yesterday, your lips still had color and you stood firmly on your feet. Today, the wind would blow you away.”

  Zeni fell silent, but his eyes pierced Kiyeri like knives.

  “Yesterday...?” Ashiya asked quietly.

  Kiyeri muttered, “After so many falls, I can't get my bearings anymore..." Then he turned to Zeni again. “From the way you look, I'd say you don't have much time left. You understand that you are all like flies to me now, so maybe let them go and we can make a deal, you can live out your st days comfortably."

  "I'll let them go.” Zeni answered in a shaky voice. “I'll let them go like dogs at your throat, and then I'll take what's mine." He waved his hand again, and the white figures behind him jumped forward.

  "Find that dagger," Kiyeri said, preparing to meet the attackers, and both his companions scattered to the sides.