Chapter 50: Not A Method

Alec wasn’t sure how his mana would react, but he had an idea. It responded to his mental image of it.

He poked the bubble. It barely gave way to the pressure of his mind. He could feel it push back while threatening to break.

That was the part that had Alec doubting his plan. He needed the bubble to remain mostly intact.

But if it were a bubble, wouldn’t it burst and turn into nothingness?

He had to maintain perfect control over the entire bubble and keep it whole while letting its contents escape into the control of the other side of his stretched mind.

’Maybe…!’ A flash of light ran through Alec’s mind as he had an idea.

It was more like a balloon than a bubble right now. There was a way to puncture a balloon without bursting it. By putting a piece of tape on a balloon, one could even stick it with a needle without it bursting.

If he did it like that, he wouldn’t need to stretch his mind over the entire bubble of mana. Just a small area.

It might not work, but there was only one way to find out.

Alec’s mind glued itself to a section of the bubble, sealing that area tight. When the rest of the bubble jiggled from the movements or from simply bouncing against Alec’s insides, that area alone remained as still as a mountain.

The other side of his mind joined up to catch the mana within, while the first side slowly started pulling the center of the targeted area in different directions. It grew thinner and thinner until it could no longer endure the pressure from Alec’s mind outside and the mana within.

Alec successfully tore a hole in the bubble.

Immediately, the mana within rushed out.

His expectations were correct. The only thing he was wrong about was exactly how intense it would be.

The pressure from the tidal wave of mana almost tore Alec’s mind off the bubble as it surged into his body. The other side was not prepared for it and got hit like a bird by a flying stone. If it hadn’t been for the first side holding onto the bubble for everything Alec had, Alec might have ended up losing both the bubble and his mana.

Beads of icy sweat crept onto the surface of the small of his back. He swallowed as best as he could with a throat drier than parchment.

He struggled to regain control over the mana.

He did not—He could not stop the flow of invisible and almost imperceptible mana in its tracks.

If it hadn’t been mana or Aether outside his body, he would not have noticed it, much less been able to control it.

But for now at least, it was inside his body. As long as he willed it and had the willpower, it was his to command.

He couldn’t stop it, but he could guide it. It was like using signal flags to guide a herd of rampaging cows, but the paths for the herd were limited in number.

Alec just had to keep it inside his body until he could take perfect control.

If it had been just that, it wouldn’t have been too difficult.

The problem was that he had to maintain the bubble at the same time.

It didn’t take long for the bubble and the rest of his mana to be in completely separate parts of his body. The toll it took on his mind to be in two places at the same time was excruciating.

But he had been right so far. He could not let go of this chance.

With one half of his mind, he hauled the rubbery skin of his former mana bubble toward his heart. With the other half, he had his mana rush through his body like it was a death race.

Fortunately, there was one thing that had gone better than intended.

The hole in the bubble was the perfect size to pull it over his heart. He had to be quick, though. The bubble was shrinking rapidly since Alec couldn’t use his entire mind to keep it steady.

Unbeknownst to Alec, blood was already dripping from both nostrils. He was running out of time.

Alec quickly pulled the bubble over his heart. He could feel his heart burn with pain every time he had to squeeze a little more than expected.

This was not how things were supposed to work, after all.

And as soon as the bubble was in place and had shrunk enough to cling to his heart like plastic wrap, Alec felt his heart seize.

It wasn’t part of the calculations since his mana was metaphysical and thus should not have been able to affect his bloodflow or the beating of his heart, but that was exactly what happened once the hole in the bubble closed.

Alec had overlooked something as simple as that.

If the magic circles were enough to cause heart failure, why wouldn’t the bubble also be able to affect the heart?

’I guess this is why this isn’t a method. Do I need to tear it? But then it would be all for nothing.’

With his hand clutching his chest, gasping for air, Alec’s mind spun like crazy.

’Holes maybe? But then it won’t be enough protection. Do I have to give up…?’

Alec inspected his heart.

He probably had a few more moments before he had to tear off the bubble.

The bubble had tightened around his heart. It had also hardened slightly, like rubber left out to dry.

It was the perfect defense against the tide of raging mana about to surround his heart.

’Wait a moment…? Isn’t my heart supposed to beat?’

Alec realized what the problem was.

The bubble was too tight. His heart couldn’t pump blood since the bubble restricted its movements.

’Shit.’

Alec instantly started manually massaging his heart using the bubble as a medium. He was giving himself CPR by using his mana.

It was something that was most likely only possible because of the gentle nature of his formless mana. Someone with fire mana would never be able to do the same. Probably.

He felt relief as blood continued flowing around his body, but it wasn’t a permanent solution. His mind was also not far from breaking.

He had to figure something out.

Expanding the bubble meant injecting mana, which would do the opposite of protecting his heart from mana.

Alec had given himself a few more moments to think, but he still couldn’t come up with a solution.

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