CHAPTER 210: SPIRIT MANA [2]

A blinding arc of black and white energy exploded from Zalrielle’s blade.

It wasn’t smooth. It wasn’t controlled.

The black mana was wild and hungry. It fought against the pure white mana like two beasts tearing at each other.

They didn’t mix.

They clashed.

Violently.

The air screamed, warping and cracking around them. The sky above, that fake perfect blue, split apart.

A jagged scar ripped through it, flickering like a broken screen. It glitched, blinking in and out like reality couldn’t decide if it should stay or fall apart.

Kyle breath caught...

His eyes locked on the tear in the sky.

It wasn’t just broken. It was missing. A tear. Like someone had erased that part of the world.

The edges flickered weakly, the simulation trying to fix it but failing.

For a moment. Kyle thought the whole world might just fall apart into static and vanish.

Then the pain hit.

He didn’t even see it coming. One second he was standing. The next....

Cough..

A sharp, wet cough tore out of him. Something warm dripped down his chin.

Blood.

His hands, he looked down. His hands were ruined. Fingers twisted the wrong way, bones poking through skin.

It didn’t even look human anymore. Blood dripped onto the floor.

’Shit.’

[WARNING: SIMULATION INTEGRITY COMPROMISED]

The voice of Nexus came from nowhere, cold and emotionless.

The words echoed around him like a machine reading out an error.

Kyle could barely hear it. Everything was spinning. His chest shook with another cough, blood splattering across his chin.

"Kyle—Kyle!"

Zalrielle’s voice broke through the noise, sharp and panicked.

"Why isn’t the reset triggering? You should’ve—shit—your hands—!"

Kyle tried to speak, but nothing came out.

His throat clenched tight, and instead of words. A wet, choking cough burst out.

Blood spilled from his lips. His legs gave out, and he crumpled to the ground.

The floor slammed into him, hard and cold. Sending a fresh wave of pain shooting through his broken hands.

’Because of the tear.’

The thought flickered in his mind, dim and shaky like a dying lightbulb.

The reset wasn’t working. Nexus wasn’t helping him.

The system was too busy trying to keep the whole simulation from falling apart. His wounds didn’t matter.

Not compared to the hole tearing through the sky.

He gritted his teeth and forced himself to look up.

The scar was still there. Still pulsing above him.

A jagged rip in the sky, flickering like static. It was repairing itself, but so slow it made his skin crawl.

The edges twitched, little by little. Like someone trying to patch a shredded file.

Nexus was working on it, rewriting the broken code, pixel by pixel.

’I did that.’

The thought hit him hard, cutting deeper than any wound.

That tear? That glitch in the Virtual world? He made it.

"Haha"

A laugh bubbled up from his chest.

"Hahahaha"

At first, it was just a weak wheeze. But then it grew. Louder. Messier. Wild. It tore out of him in broken gasps, each one making his body scream in pain.

But he couldn’t stop. Didn’t want to. It wasn’t even funny. But something in him cracked, and it came out as laughter.

It was sharp and unhinged, like the mad cackle of a villain who’d just burned down his own hideout.

"Y-Yes," he choked out, smiling through the blood on his teeth. "Finally."

Another cough. More blood. More broken laughter.

"Lie down," Zalrielle snapped. "Before you choke to death on your own stupidity."

He obeyed. The ground was cool under his back. Slowly, painfully slow.

He could feel the simulation’s healing system starting to work.

A strange numbness crept into his hands. Bone shifted. Muscles twitched. Tiny jolts of energy moved through him as everything began to stitch itself back together.

It still hurt. Not as bad as before. But enough to make his jaw clench.

And he was stuck.

He couldn’t log out. Not yet. Not until Nexus finished fixing the damage he’d caused.

A dry laugh slipped out of him. Of course.

Next to him. Zalrielle rested in her tachi form.

The black steel still giving off a faint hum of leftover energy.

Her voice rang in his head, softer than usual.... almost unsure.

"The attack you just used... it’s called [Void Rend]."

Kyle tilted his head toward her, wincing when his neck cracked.

’Yeah? Got a name for the part where it almost killed me too?’

Zalrielle didn’t take the bait.

"It’s a technique," she explained.

"You mix spirit mana and raw mana in your core until it builds up enough pressure to tear space apart. Then you release it through a weapon."

She paused.

"Or in your case... blow it up like a maniac."

Kyle groaned.

His hands were still wrecked. A strange, itchy numbness crawled up his arms as new muscle and tissue started to rebuild.

’So,’ he asked, ’is that gonna happen every time I use it?’

"No." Zalrielle’s tone sharpened.

"It happened because you have the control of a drunk toddler. You didn’t balance the mana. You just jammed it all together and hoped it would work."

Despite the pain, Kyle felt a small grin tug at his lips.

’Still worked.’

She sighed. Long and loud, like thunder rolling through his skull.

But Kyle’s mind was already running ahead.

If he could figure this out. If he could actually control it.

[Void Rend] might be strong enough to take down a Grade 3 Gold. Maybe even someone at the Grade 2 Gold. Just thinking about the possibilities made his heart pound.

"There are more techniques," Zalrielle said, like she was reading his thoughts.

His pulse jumped. ’Show me.’

"No."

’Zal—’

"You’re not ready." Her voice turned cold.

"I shouldn’t have shown you this one either. I didn’t think it would..." She trailed off.

"I didn’t think it would hurt you that badly."

That caught him off guard. There was something in her voice he hadn’t heard before.

Regret, maybe. Guilt. She almost sounded sorry.

Kyle let out a breath. ’Not your fault.’

"It is. I’m supposed to guide you, not—"

’I’m the one who pushed.’ He slowly flexed his fingers, watching the last cracks in his bones disappear under a soft glow.

’And I’d do it again.’

Zalrielle didn’t reply.

A soft ping echoed in the corner of Kyle’s vision.

A notification.

The tear in the sky had closed, leaving nothing behind. The simulation was stable again.

"Check your status," she said, her tone quiet.

Kyle smiled. "Yes, ma’am."

"Status."

His voice came out rough, his throat still sore from all the screaming.

A blue screen blinked to life in front of him, casting a pale glow over his still-healing hands.

════ [MASTERIES] ════

Swordsmanship: Expert — 3%

Storm Magic: Adept — 51%

Spirit Mana: Apprentice — 5% (↑ 4.99%)

Eclipse Severance Art: Apprentice — 1% (NEW)

═════════════════

His eyebrows shot up.

Spirit mana had been at 0.1% before. Now it was at 5%.

Slow and painful progress, but still progress.

Then he saw the last line.

’Eclipse Severance Art?’

He tapped it. The window expanded.

————

Eclipse Severance Art

A combat art created by fusing the mana of spirit Zalrielle (black) with the user’s pure mana (white). When balanced properly, the combined force can cut through space, matter, and reality.

Known Techniques:

╰┈➤ Void Rend: A chaotic slash that breaks the boundaries of reality.

╰┈➤ ??? (Locked)

╰┈➤ ??? (Locked)

————

Kyle gave a low whistle. "Fancy."

"It’s not a toy," Zalrielle snapped.

"This isn’t some stat you grind until you level up. Get it wrong, and you’ll tear yourself apart before you hurt anyone else."

"So teach me how not to do that."

"I will. After you learn to handle spirit mana without melting your guts."

He opened his mouth to argue. But stopped.

Something moved.

Just at the edge of his sight, something flickered. A shape. Tall, blurry, human-like.

For a second, it stood there. Watching.

Then it vanished.

"...Did you see that?"

"See what?" Zalrielle asked, suddenly alert.

He looked around. The white void stretched on forever. Empty. Silent.

Just his imagination, probably. Or maybe another glitch in the system.

"Nothing," he muttered.

But his skin crawled.

Zalrielle shifted forms again. Her tachi body turned into black mist. Then reformed as a sleek black cat.

She jumped onto his chest and stared into his eyes, golden gaze sharp.

"We’re done for today," she said firmly.

"No more techniques. No more experiments. You’re going to rest. Actually rest, or I’ll bite your nose off."

Kyle laughed. "You’re kinda cute when you’re overprotective."

Her tail flicked. "Log out, idiot."

Still grinning. Kyle didn’t say the logout command right away.

That flicker... It still lingered in the back of his mind. Like a dream that felt too real. A warning he couldn’t quite understand.

But the simulation was quiet now. No errors. No damage.

Just the endless white void.

He let out a slow breath.

"Nexus, log out."

The world dissolved into light.

——————

Author’s Note:

I’m not great at naming things. So if you have a better name suggestion than Eclipse Severance Art, feel free to comment!

I’d love to hear your ideas. I might just change it.

——————