CHAPTER 52: MANA TRANSFER.

"AhhH! Finally, something comfy to sleep on. Ehehe~"

Seraphina collapsed on the bed, wiggling around excitedly.

In order to arrive at the viscounty, they had to travel for almost an entire day; it was only normal that Seraphina felt relieved after seeing a bed to sleep on.

Initially, they were supposed to get separate rooms as offered by Ishtar. But Maria and Seraphina refused to stay even an inch away from Dorian while in enemy territory; as such, they were forced to share the same room.

Dorian was sitting at the edge of the bed, while Maria stood in front of him, her eyes solely focused on him.

She noticed that since he entered the room, his head had been lowered, and not once did he bother to raise his head; also, she wasn’t sure, but she could tell he was breathing heavier than normal.

They had been in the room for more than five minutes, and Dorian had not said a single word since he entered.

"Lord Dorian, are you alright?" she asked, leaning forward a bit, a slight hint of worry on her features.

"Yeah... just a bit tired."

After saying this, he fell back onto the bed, his gaze fixed on the ceiling. He tried to keep his expression neutral, but the strain was already showing.

For a moment, the ornate patterns on the ceiling seemed to waver, the edges of his vision blurring.

The soft chatter from Maria and Seraphina faded into a distant hum before rushing back with a dizzying lurch.

’Damn,’ he thought, the casual annoyance hardening into real concern.

’I knew Lili taking my mana would cause trouble, but not this fast. She’s draining more than my body can produce.’

He took a slow breath, trying to calm himself. ’If I just rest for a bit, I should be able to regain enough to last for tomorrow.’

But then a sharp pain lanced through his chest. It wasn’t a normal pain; it was a cold, hollowing sensation, as if something vital was being siphoned directly from his core. He could feel his mana flowing out of him in a relentless, sickening torrent.

’Just what in the hell is she doing?!’

He closed his eyes, trying to force a mental link with his summon, to scream at her to stop.

But his focus shattered against a wall of static. He couldn’t connect. The line was dead.

A fresh wave of vertigo washed over him, and the pain in his chest intensified. He felt his consciousness begin to fray at the edges, his body growing cold and heavy.

[Warning: Mana Deficiency]

The system’s text flared in his mind, the letters blurring and duplicating.

[Warning: Mana Deficiency.] [Warning...]

"S-shut up... gahhh!" He suddenly arched his back, a guttural cry torn from his throat. His eyes flashed an intense blue as he felt a final, catastrophic wave of mana rip out of his body in one go.

"Lord Dorian!!!"

"My lord!!"

The two ladies immediately moved closer to him, confused and shocked as to what was happening to Dorian.

Maria quickly grabbed him by the arm, getting on top of him and pinning him to the bed.

After this, she noticed Dorian closing his eyes, as if he was falling into a deep sleep.

"Lord Dorian! Answer me, what’s wrong?! Why aren’t you saying anything?!" Maria slowly began to panic while Seraphina, who was right next to Dorian’s head, stared at his face in deep shock.

Realizing the situation might be far more dire than they expected, Maria hastily placed her head on Dorian’s chest to make sure his heart was still beating.

Thump bump~

She heard it; his heart was still beating, even though it was slow. A look of relief played on her face before she raised her head.

"He is alive," she blurted out.

Seraphina settled as relief washed over her as well, one hand supporting her as she sat inclined on the bed.

"Oh, Thank goodness, I thought I was going to have a heart attack," she muttered under her breath, then the very next second, her attention shifted to Dorian, who was still unconscious on the bed.

"What happened? Why did Lord Dorian suddenly act like that before passing out like that? Do you think we walked into a trap? And this is that woman’s doing?"

"I don’t know." Maria uttered with a hint of sadness, "He is not dead, at least; that’s more than enough for me. We just need to find out what happened."

"Move. Let me have a look."

As Maria moved to the side, Seraphina knelt right next to Dorian’s body right after laying him more comfortably on the bed.

Then, she grabbed his hand, moving it close to her head.

Pink mana soon enveloped both her and Dorian’s bodies as a magic circle formed right on top of him.

Maria remained at the side, watching.

Alchemists were often regarded as white mages, at least a few of them with special gifts. Not only were they known as the greatest supports and healers, but they also had an array of powers that most people would kill to have.

The ability to make new spells under their authority.

And right now, the spell Seraphina was using was one she made herself, giving her the ability to see the cause of any type of malfunction in anything she used it on.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, moving Dorian’s pale hand to her lap.

"Mana exhaustion," she announced.

"What? That can’t be right; he was fine up until a moment ago, he didn’t do anything that required him to use his mana," Maria clapped back.

To which Seraphina replied, glancing at the door.

"That’s why I asked, how sure are we this woman isn’t behind this? For all we know, this room could be cursed or something, and we walked right in." She bit her thumb, frustratedly. "No, I am his assistant; I should have scanned the room for any kind of spells. I was careless."

Maria moved forward a bit. "If you’re saying Lord Dorian collapsed from mana exhaustion, then it’s a miracle that he isn’t dead yet. We can’t leave him like this, or it might get worse. Wait here; I’ll go search for a mana stone."

Before Maria could stand up, Seraphina yelled,

"Where do you think you’re going to find a magic stone?!"

Maria halted. "I was going to ask Lady Ishtar. She has to have one."

"Right, let’s ask the woman who placed Lord Dorian in this state for help; I am sure she will gladly help us. It’s not like she wants Lord Dorian dead or anything!"

"I intend to take it by force..."

"Just sit back down. Let’s do a mana transfer instead; we are not asking that old woman for help."

Maria turned around. "Mana transfer? You can do that?"

"Of course." Seraphina grabbed Dorian’s hand. "All I need is someone to initiate it. Which is you..."

"Oh..."

"Go on, stay over there and kiss him."

...

[A/n]

As promised, here is a bonus Chapter for the 15 GT I got this week. Hai, let’s keep it coming, and thank you so much for the support.