Chapter 43 - Mana Rejection

<p>I keel over. 'S h i t.'<br/><br/> I desperately try to pull in air, but no matter how much enters my lungs, it's never enough. My arms and legs are numb and wobbly, and even hunched over I'm surprised I am still able to stand. 'This is the drawback?'<br/><br/> I can't even speak properly, and my vision swims in faded colors and shapes, the pain in my side amplifying several times over. 'Did I… at least win?'<br/><br/> I close one eye and squint the other, but the tears gathering and spilling out only blurs my sight more. 'S-shit… Analyze…'<br/><br/>[Skill Analyze+ was activated.]<br/>[Sight is unavailable. Looking for available target…]<br/><br/> Ding!<br/><br/>[Name: Plaineti Grand Knuckle]<br/>[Rank: Ultra Rare]<br/>[Description: Made by the Plaineti's family personal Grand Blacksmith for Roderrick Plaineti. It was crafted as a pair with high level metals, giving it excellent durability.]<br/>Atk: +4<br/>Def: +16<br/>Spe: -1<br/>Dur: 0/101<br/>[* Note: The user must be a psycho to aim for this! Maybe the user should get a psych eval…*]<br/><br/> My mind is fading in and out like a strobe light, but I chuckle at the note. "S-so… I did i-it…" I murmur. <br/><br/> As if coming down a tunnel, the annoying voice of Streimi pierces my ears. "…He's forfeiting, even though Liwuukay looks ready to pass out at any second!"<br/><br/> A hand — I think it's a hand? — rests on my shoulder briefly. Roderrick's voice echoes in my head. "You fucking idiot, don't use that much magic just to beat me if you're going to go into Mana Rebound. I see why he lost now."<br/><br/> 'Mana Rebound? What's that?'<br/><br/> His hand disappears, and I'm stuck swirling, lost in a blurry world mixed with the haunted screams of the crowd, making me dizzy. With my head spinning, only one word could escape my mouth. <br/><br/> After all, she could tell me what Mana Rebound was, couldn't she?<br/><br/> "E-Eni."<br/><br/> But… nothing. 'Ah, she had her own match. That's right.'<br/><br/> In my delirium, I swore I felt someone taking my hand, but I only smiled in the direction before falling into a state of near unconsciousness. The chants of "Liwuukay! Liwuukay! Liwuukay!" still clash in my ears, so loud that I don't notice the warm feeling spreading up my arm. I don't take any note of it at all until it reaches my chest, which causes some of my nausea to suddenly fade.<br/><br/> My eyes were still coming back into focus, but I looked up towards the figure holding my hand. "Eni?"<br/><br/> I blinked twice to clear my eyes, looking to see… A man holding my hand. He's got simple dark brown clothes on, which I know by now is the clothes of a Healer or a Priest. His heavy makeup and 5 o'clock shadow are nowhere near enough to hide the deep eye bags below his half-closed lids. <br/><br/> "Hun, I have no idea who Eni is, my name's Riquardio. Is your head still a bit goofy from your Mana Rebound? It'll pass. Just be patient, and take it slow, mmkay? Your ribs are healed, but they're gonna be sore." And with that, he disappears.<br/><br/> I nod. A few minutes later, I have enough awareness and vision to look and see around. The dome is once again tinted black to afford us some privacy, and Roderrick sits several feet away, with a few healers recovering his broken hand and halfway-cleaved arm. Catching my eye, he gestures for me to come over, and I unsteadily make my way to him. <br/><br/> He's returned to his skinny state, and looked like he might fall over at any moment from just the added weight of his large glasses.<br/><br/> "The whole reason I hated you is because you took killing Lillock away from me. You didn't even kill him yourself." He began curtly.<br/><br/> "…Okay?"<br/><br/> He glares at me before continuing. "You see, he thought he could have his way with my sister. She's… not like the men in the family, but she can still fight. Lillock didn't like that, and my sister still has the scars to show for it… Physical and mental." He clenches his fist tightly. "Of course, my father only wanted us boys, so he didn't care what happened to her. But our older sister took care of us. That's why I needed to…"<br/><br/> "You have a sister? No, why are you telling me this?"<br/><br/> "Because you're strong. And yes, the press aren't interested in her, so you won't find anything about her. Plus, even though his family is new, they have more influence and money than mine, so they could have covered it up easily. He needed to die in our match. That's probably why he paid to soeed up the process. I did make a generous donation in order to pit us against each other, after all."<br/><br/> "Look man, if this is something about setting me up with your sister…"<br/><br/> He stares at me quizzically for several seconds. "How did you know?"<br/><br/> I laugh, only half surprised I was right. "Let me guess. I was strong enough to not only beat Lillock, but you as well. I'll just tell you straight up. I'm an Adventurer, and the one that's probably going to be traveling a lot, so… After all, I'm only Level 12."<br/><br/> "Well… think about it when you do settle down, then. You can protect her."<br/><br/> I shake my head in defeat. 'How did this 180 in attitude happen so suddenly. Did he hit his head and I don't remember it?'<br/><br/> I wave at him in goodbye, walking to the exit to avoid responding. I was already exhausted and still pretty dizzy from the drain of the Mana Rebound, which I still needed to ask Eniyala about. But first, I wanted to know the results of her match, which I felt had an obvious outcome.<br/><br/> Free entry was granted to competitors in all the stadiums to watch the matches, so thankfully a stingy person like me didn't have to pay to view the match. To my surprise, I walked in just as the match concluded, a huge explosion of blue fire flying up and hitting the top of the dome. The flames can't touch us, but I feel the heat all the way from the entrance to the stands, located in the middle of the stairs leading both to the top and to the front row seats. The smoke is still clearing when the dome begins to shift to black. I turned and left almost as soon as I had come in, the cheers making my head ring.<br/><br/> I wait in a fashion similar to if I was drunk by the back door for competitors — leaned against the wall, shading my eyes, and overall looking like a wreck. Roughly ten minutes later, Eniyala finally walks out, spotting me instantly. She's covered in bandages on her arms, and the armor she's wearing juts out slightly near her waist, suggesting a few more. With a shaky grin, I lift my shirt up to reveal my own bandages over my stomach. My ribs still ache, but at least they aren't broken. <br/><br/> "Jesus, did you go and party away your loss already?" she asks, walking over. She frowns slightly when she makes it over to me and I don't reek of alcohol.<br/><br/> "I wish," I sigh, leaning my head against the wall I was propped up on.<br/><br/> "You went through Mana Rebound?" She says, her eyes glowing. I nod. "Your Magic Eyes tip you off?"<br/><br/> "I'm just surprised little Mister Unfair Advantage can even get Mana Rebound. The hell did you do?"<br/><br/> I recount the events of the end of my match, and she raises her eyebrow. "That's really all it took? So you won… which probably meant you experienced it for the application of magic, and not running out of Mana… it's more like Mana rejected you, not rebounded… You said it's a side effect of your class?"<br/><br/> I groan, nodding slightly. I didn't want to think about that right now. "Can I just go lay down? I feel terrible."<br/><br/> Eniyala studies me for a moment, a look in her eyes suggesting she wants to poke fun, but thankfully she decides against it and agrees. <br/><br/> She guides me back to my room, which is a messy endeavor itself, as I'm even clumsier than usual — almost just like when I was Luke. We finally make it back to the inn, and she helps me lay onto the bed. I flop down with a contented long breath of air escaping my lungs.<br/><br/> "Hey, I can get some stuff that might help a bit with your Mana Rejection, if you want," she suggests quietly.<br/><br/> Weakly, I nod. I may be possessive of my money, but I'm feeling shitty enough that the opportunity to lessen it is too sweet to worry about the costs. I point to the cube on the dresser, and she takes out a large pouch of coins, leaving. <br/><br/> The pain of watching her leave with that bag is ALMOST enough to overpower the sickness I'm feeling, but thankfully it isn't, or I would call Eniyala and tell her to bring it back right then.<br/><br/> "Tomorrow, I can focus on my next match," I whisper to myself. I wouldn't have time to plan, but I could worry about that later. For now, I would focus on one thing and one thing only.<br/><br/> Rest and Recovery.<br/><br/> Wait, shit… that's two things, isn't it?<br/><br/>* * *<br/><br/>[Name: Klum]<br/>[Age: 18]<br/>[Lv: 13]<br/>[EXP: 1675/5120]<br/>[Class: Sword Saint's Disciple]<br/>[Health: 36/57]<br/>[Mana: ‰£/76]<br/>[Stamina: 12/57]<br/><br/>STR: 14 MAG: 10<br/>AGI: 25 DEX: 17<br/>VIT: 10 INT: 21<br/>Free Stats: 10<br/><br/>ACC: 21<br/>DEF: 12<br/>POW: 15<br/><br/>[Skills: Klum's Reincarnation (Unfound), Sword Saint's Sigil (Unfound), Disciple's Mastery (Legendary), Critical Sight (Ultra Rare), Lightning Blade (Super Rare), Erratic Swordsmanship (Super Rare), Underdog (Super Rare), Analyze+ (Super Rare), Fury Slash (Rare), Skill Hermit (Rare), Sprint+ <+ Elemental Infusion> (Uncommon)]<br/><br/>[Spells unavailable]<br/><br/>[Party Leader Stats]<br/>[Name: Eniyala Ignios]<br/>[Age: 19]<br/>[Lv: 15]<br/>[EXP: 3460/7168]<br/>[Class: Spellsmith]<br/>[Health: 39/45]<br/>[Mana: 48/166]<br/>[Stamina: 21/45]<br/><br/>STR: 11 MAG: 30<br/>AGI: 11 DEX: 10<br/>VIT: 7 INT: 14<br/><br/>ACC: 10<br/>DEF: 9<br/>POW: 22<br/><br/>[Skills: Spellbind (Ultra Rare), Spell Create (Super Rare), Magic Eyes (Rare), Analyze (Rare), Magic Heart+ (Rare), Sprint+ (Uncommon)]<br/><br/>[Spells: Fist of Ignios, Ignios Familiar (Eniyala), Ignios Stand, Fiery Fingerblades, Ignios Arrows, Chains of Ignios, Ignios Smithing, Flaming Boost, Enhance, Healing Waves]<br/><br/>[Lightning Blade (Super Rare Active Sword Skill): With their Lightning Affinity, the user enhances their blade and Mana with lightning, dealing shock damage and boosting attack speed by 15%. Cannot stack with other blade Skills.<br/>Cost: 12 Mana — Duration: 5 minutes — Cooldown: Once per encounter]<br/></p>