Chapter 84: Visiting The Crowe Group 2
I stood up, stepping back from the black box that pulsed faintly with contained power, the surface vibrating like a living heart. Even from here, I could feel the energy rippling through the air thick, metallic, and alive.
"It could be called beautiful," I murmured, my voice calm despite the tremor in the ground beneath my feet, "if you saw it unleashed in the Black Lands. Imagine it thousands, no, tens of thousands of monsters, djinn, and devils swept away by a single detonation."
Lindy’s eyes were fixed on the vibrating box, her face pale and tight. "Wait should we even be standing here?" she stammered, taking several steps back. Her hands trembled as she reached for the rail. "This isn’t safe!"
I didn’t answer. Instead, I walked forward with purpose, leaving the safety zone of the control room behind. The massive testing ground stretched before me, lined with faintly glowing runes and reinforced walls that seemed far too fragile for what was about to come.
Lindy’s panic spiked as she saw where I was headed. "Kael Vi-rel!" she cried out, her voice cracking. "You can’t go in there without a barrier!" She gestured wildly toward the flickering edge of the protective dome. "That’s outside the protection area!"
I paused at the edge of the barrier, the air humming with the strain of compressed mana. Looking back over my shoulder, I gave her a half-smile. "Don’t worry, Director Crowe," I said, my tone sharp but almost playful. "If I’m the one setting off the blast, it only makes sense I’m the one controlling it from the inside."
Her lips parted, but no sound came. The technicians behind her stared in mute horror.
I stepped across the line, leaving Lindy Crowe and her team on the protected side of the dome. The barrier shimmered like liquid glass between us. Their expressions pressed against my mind as I walked toward the volatile black box, every step heavier than the last. The grand performance was about to begin.
"I’ll be fine," I murmured under my breath, steadying myself.
Taking my position, I planted my feet firmly on the etched runes of the testing ground. I raised the black box in my hand, fingers tightening around it like a pitcher gripping a ball. Then, with a sharp exhale, I hurled it upward.
The box arced through the air, spinning once before slamming into the ground with a thunderous crack.
BOOM!
The sound ripped through the facility. The ground trembled violently as the box’s shell shattered, its contents bursting outward. Space itself tore like cloth.
The magic stored inside it surged free, a storm of raw power that clawed at everything in reach. The air thickened until it was almost solid, and the next instant, a shockwave tore across the arena, a wall of invisible force that shoved me back and sent sparks dancing across my skin.
It was exploding faster than expected fast enough to drain the mana stones anchoring the barrier. Runes flared in frantic bursts of light as the defense system struggled to keep up.
On the other side of the dome, Lindy shouted orders. "Keep the mana supply flowing! Double the input no, triple it! The barrier’s failing!"
I planted my feet, forcing my breathing to steady as I held my ground at the epicenter.
This is it, I thought. The point where magic and space accumulate beyond control the point of rupture.
That was the moment I had been waiting for. When the storm peaked, the distorted mana would collapse inward, forming a knot of pure, untainted energy. A chance to seize it. A chance to grow.
And it was working.
A sharp chime rang in my head.
> Ding!
You have resisted a magical storm explosion beyond your limit.
Another.
> Ding!
Your stars are overloading due to excessive pure magic.
I gritted my teeth as arcs of pale energy crawled across my arms like living lightning.
> Ding!
You have gathered a high concentration of magic.
The air around me warped, bending light. My heart pounded in time with the storm.
> Ding!
Skill level of [Magic Power] has increased drastically.
My vision blurred for a moment. Sweat or perhaps blood ran down my face. Still, I held my ground.
> Ding!
You have defended against a space attack.
> Ding!
Skill level of [Space Control] has increased drastically.
The testing ground roared like a living beast.
This was why I had chosen this method. The massive training grounds, the reinforced barrier fed by hundreds of mana stones, my own control over the box all of it had been calculated. All of it had led to this.
It could only happen if every requirement was met.
This is a good plan, I told myself, even as my fingers trembled. Even if I’m risking my life, this shortcut... it’s worth it. It’s the only thing a professional would dare think of.
But the strain was crushing.
"Heuk..." A bitter sound escaped my throat. "I might die. I can’t" I sucked in a breath as the energy swirled tighter, brighter. "I can’t do this anymore."
Then, like a switch being flipped, the magical storm began to disperse, its violent glow bleeding into the air until it faded to nothing.
Silence fell.
I stumbled, catching myself on my knees. My arms throbbed as if they were about to tear from their sockets. "Phew..." I muttered weakly. "I thought my hands were going to pop off."
At least it was over.
Another chime.
> Ding!
[Space Control] has increased to Rank C.
> Ding!
[Magic Power] has increased to Rank B.
I let out a low, shaky laugh. "Worth it," I whispered.
Slowly, I pushed myself to my feet, turning toward the barrier. Beyond it, Lindy Crowe and her staff were staring, their faces pale and stunned, eyes wide with disbelief.
Their expressions asked the question before she even spoke: How are you still alive?
Now came the difficult part.
I rolled my shoulders, still tingling with leftover mana, and met their eyes with a calm I didn’t feel. "Now..." I murmured to myself, "how should I explain this?"