Are you alright?
‘Does it look like I am alright?’
Michael was currently lying on the ground, struggling to even breathe properly, he used up all of his mana and now, he couldn’t move a muscle.
“Good enough” Fafnir once again picked him up and sat him down.
“I will start.”
As those words rang out, Michael’s body was completely paralyzed, he could feel some strange pressure moving all around his body, however, he couldn’t resist it or interact with it in the slightest.
It stopped his mana from regenerating, every single time that pressure came into contact with it, his mana disappeared.
Michael gritted his teeth, even if he was paralyzed, he could still feel the overwhelming pain assaulting him.
All of a sudden, the pressure halted and began concentrating in his spine, his mana which had been disappearing earlier, suddenly began flowing around his spine, seeping inside of it slowly.
The pain Michael was going through made him not be able to think clearly, he couldn’t even hear the words the System was telling him.
‘Guhhh… this is fucking torture!’ he exclaimed, nearly passing out, however, a sudden jolt of pressure forced him back awake.
Forcing himself to endure this, he noticed a single golden thread appearing at the bottom of his spine, traveling all the way to the top.
It felt as though a sharp knife was cutting him open with every single second that passed, the pain was only growing worse.
All of a sudden, the golden line finally reached the very top of his spine and he could no longer feel the connection of mana within his heart.
It made him panic a little bit, for all he knew, something went wrong.
However, that seemed to not be the case as in the next moment, all the pain suddenly stopped, as if what he just gone through was nothing but a dream.
But it wasn’t, the mana that had been actively swirling around his heart, was not there anymore, the only thing remaining was a small layer of colorless mana that he had cast around his heart.
That was to prevent him from dying in a single hit.
Good job, you endured it.
Michael scoffed ‘Yeah? Then why can’t I move huh?’ he attempted to move his arms, however, it was to no avail.
He looked out of the window and noticed it was already bright outside, when he came here it had just become dark.
‘How long was I at it for..?’
As his body still felt paralyzed, he heard a sound from behind him, it was Fafnir, for some reason, he seemed deep in thought.
“I didn’t expect the core to form so cleanly.. you really are something else aren’t you?” He grinned widely.
I can finally recalibrate your status, it should be ready by the time you start the academy, don’t bother me unless you are dying or something.
The system remarked rudely, causing Michael’s brow to twitch ‘Suit yourself.’
Taking a glance at Fafnir “So.. what just happened?”
“I tried something and it worked, no need to thank me” He replied proudly.
Thought those words caused Michael to become a little confused “What do you mean by that?”
“Well, I saw your healing skills are pretty solid, so I thought you would survive the forceful Mana Core forming, I had never tried it before but you seemed desperate.. It was also a wish so I couldn’t refuse either” Fafnir put on an innocent smile.
However, Michael was not as amused ‘Did he just gamble with my life?’
“Hey, it wasn’t that dangerous, I had your mana under my control, worse case scenario you would have been paralyzed for a few days, nothing too serious” He laughed loudly.
Just as he was about to question the dragon’s intelligence, he was interrupted.
Fafnir looked at him with a serious expression, a stark contrast to his previous antics “I deemed you perfect for a Flow core, it has the qualities of enhancing your speed, whether it be physical or mana related” He stopped for a moment then continued.
“With it, you can intertwine both types of fighting into a single battle style, hence why it is called the Flow Core. This is also the core that I have.” Fafnir huffed proudly.
“You can combine your spells, causing even greater destruction..”
‘That sounded a little bit ominous.’
Michael nodded to everything Fafnir said “How do I.. I don’t know.. Level it up?”
He was met with a chuckle “Once you get accustomed to using it you will understand, although our cores are the same, our paths are not.”
‘Fair enough.. The system would probably explain anyway..’
Michael finally regained some ounce of control over his body, being able to stand up on his feet, albeit still a little wobbly.
I said I was going to go but your doubt is annoying me.
‘What now..’
The reason he asked you to drain your mana out was that he wanted to perfectly assimilate with your body, He could then form a Mana Core as if it was his own.. It’s a genius idea.
‘Oh.. that does sound pretty complex’ Michael had to agree that it was definitely impressive.
However, it didn’t change the fact that it was dangerous.
‘Can you tell me about the other types of cores then?’
No, I am busy.
Michael sighed ‘Sure, whatever.’
Turning to Fafnir who was just standing by the side, staring at him “Thank you, if not for you, I would have been stuck.”
“No problem human, don’t go blabber about the cores, you are now under an oath” He warned Michael before sitting back down in his chair, falling asleep nearly instantly.
‘The oath.. I didn’t even feel anything like that.’
Nonetheless, Michael did not want to overstay his welcome, so he went out of the room and down the elevator.
He expected to see Amanda, however, she was nowhere to be seen, the same going for the other workers, the entire building seemed empty.
Walking right outside, he saw the driver from before.
They made eye contact and the driver shook his head.
‘So they drive me here but won’t drive me back.. the government is a bunch of cheapskates.’
Michael could imagine Amanda laughing at him, maybe it was her way of revenge for all the commotion he had caused back in the slums.
After all, the previous Saint returned while there was already one in position, it was bound to create great controversy.
Some might even begin questioning their Goddess Sophia.
‘Well.. not like I care’ He stretched a bit and began running back to the slums, he couldn’t wait until he moved into the academy dorms, this workout was not something he wanted to do.
Especially after what he just went through.
The moment he thought about it, a sharp pain traveled across his spine ‘It still hurts..’
Arriving back at the slums, he noticed there weren’t a lot of people outside, it was after all, still morning.
It took a bit longer than before to run back, the mana which he had used to previously enhance himself, was currently flowing through the spine and into all of his nerves.
He was still not used to this so he messed up the output, making him run out of mana in the middle of his run.
‘I am back though.. that’s all that matters.’
Michael walked back to his church and was prepared to go back to sleep, however, a massive crowd of people was gathered.
“Oh! It’s the Saint!” They all cheered.
A sour expression appeared on Michael’s face as he noticed that he might not be able to go back to sleep after all.
‘2 Days straight of work.. Fuck’
