“Master?”

Ondine turned around and stared back the way they had come. For some strange reason, she thought she heard Lakshman call out her name.

“What’s up?” Felix asked, looking at her curiously.

“Um... I thought I just heard master calling my name,” Ondine said, staring in the direction they left Lakshman at.

“You did?” Felix said, sounding surprised.

“Yes... It felt like something was... wrong,” Ondine said with a nod of her head.

“Ah, you must be over worrying,” Felix said easily.

“No...” Ondine said and she turned to face him with a serious expression. “The connection between a Slave Spirit and its master is so great that they are capable of telepathically speaking to each other from great distances, right?”

“Well... yes,” Felix said with a nod of his head. “It is true that the bond between a Slave Spirit and its master is so great, it enables them to do various things together. Things like channelling energy to each other or speak to each other telepathically even when separated.”

Then he made a frown as he said “But... I don’t remember Lakshman being aware of it.”

“It must have been an emergency to function at this time,” Ondine said, sounding worried.

“That’s also possible considering it will try to get in touch with the master’s Slave Spirits, regardless of whom they are or where they are.”

“T-Then-”

“Oh, clam down Ondine,” Felix said and he patted her on the head. “Just let me focus on my energy and figure out what’s going on. It’ll be easier this way.”

“Please do!” Ondine said quickly with a worried expression on her face.

“Okay. Now then... Energy Sight!”

At his command, his eyes suddenly flashed red and they began to glow. From his perspective, everything disappeared and was replaced by a grey background. Then different colours started to materialise. He was able to discern which is which from their respective colours.

Grass and trees were filled by green colour

Animals and Monsters are filled by violet colour

Living beings like humans and other sentient creatures are coloured by white colour.

All around him are filled by the dark green colour. This meant that he was deep within grass or trees. Standing in front of him was Ondine coloured in white. It appeared that she was full of energy.

He focused his eyes in the direction of Lakshman and his vision zoomed ahead. He zoomed through green colours and finally found a white object. He was surprised to see the white object lying on the ground, face down. Then he noticed the white slowly receding from the human.

“What the?!” he exclaimed as his flashing eyes returned to being normal black eyes.

“W-What?!” Ondine exclaimed nervously. “Did you see how master was?”

“Yeah, but... he’s rapidly losing energy,” Felix said.

“What?!” Ondine exclaimed in shock. “How come?!”

“I’m not sure, but... if this continues...” Felix said and hesitated.

“What?” Ondine asked urgently. “What will happen if he loses continues to loose energy?”

“Well...” Felix was hesitant, but finally brought himself to say “If this continues to lose energy rapidly, he will eventually die.”

Ondine’s eyes opened wide in shock. She wore an expression as if she could not believe his words, but she believed him. The serious expression on his face convinced her to believe him. He turned around and looked back to where Lakshman was, slowly dying in the distant.

“Wait for me master, I’m coming!”

With that, she dashed back in the direction they came from. Felix’s eyes widened as he watched her go. Then he

“Ah! Hey!”

But Ondine was already far away and could not hear him. He stood still and stared after her in silence. Then he shook his head and sighed before following her.

“Ah,” he said as he suddenly remembered something.

Just before he deactivated his Energy Sight technique, he saw a deep red colour spreading around the white body. He knew deep red colour represented blood. From that, he understood that Lakshman was injured and gravely to be losing so much energy so quickly.

“Hold on, Lakshman. We’re coming!” Felix said and he increased his speed.

A few minutes later, they finally arrived at the location they left Lakshman at. For a moment, they couldn’t find him. They started searching him around and Ondine finally located him. She found him lying face down with blood surrounding him.

“Master!” Ondine shouted in shock and she rushed towards him.

She turned him around and gasped in horror to find a stab wound in his stomach. She began to cry as she held him in her arms and started to call him. A few seconds later, he started to moan which caused her great relief.

“Master!”

“Move aside Ondine,” Felix said and he lowered himself to sit beside Lakshman’s body. “And make sure to lie him down gently. He’s banged up pretty badly.”

Following his instructions, Ondine gently lay Lakshman’s down. Then she wiped her tears and watched Felix with his eyes closed. Then he made some hand signs and clapped his hands together before opening his eyes and placing his hands on Lakshman’s chest.

“Healing Burst!”

Instantly, a great surge of energy started flowing around them. Lakshman’s body began to glow and the wounds slowly closed up. His complexion improved as time passed.

Lakshman began to groan a little, but Felix simply said “Rest easy. I’m fixing you up.”

Ondine was watching the proceedings with amazement. The force of the energy, the dazzling and sparkling light and Lakshman’s body began to heal. She was amazed by the technique that Felix performed.

“It’s called Healing Burst,” Felix said and Ondine turned around quickly, not realising that she as muttering her amazement.

“Healing Burst?” she asked curiously.

“It’s a technique that heals all wounds and damages caused to one’s body. It can also restore lost energy by transferring some of my own energy over.”

“Wow...” Ondine said in awe.

Felix shrugged his shoulders and said “It’s a difficult spell that took me a while to master when I was at Phoenix Sage rank.”

“Yes,” Felix said with a nod of his head. “I think you noticed me waving some hands signs before activating the magic spell.”

“Yes...”

“You see, Healing Burst does not have an incantation. It’s all done with hand signs.”

“Only hand signs?” Ondine asked curiously. “So there are no Voiceless Incantations?”

“Ah! So you’re interested in that as well,” Felix said with a smile and Ondine nodded eagerly.

Felix took a deep breath and spoke as he continued to heal Lakshman.

“I think you remember me speaking with Lakshman about Voiceless Incantations. It’s done through visualizing what it is and the effect it will have in your mind.”

“So...”

“You simply visualize the hand signs in your mind and then apply Magic Force to it. That will activate the magic spell which you release by applying Energy Force.”

He turned and saw her with a blank expression. Just from that, he understood that she did not understand. He started to smile and chuckle and Ondine looked indignantly.

“You know... Lakshman understood it, although he said it was complex.”

“W-Well... I’m not as amazing as master!” Ondine said in indignation. “However, it does sound handy to have around.”

“Perhaps, but it isn’t fool proof.”

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean to say is: Voiceless Incantations are not absolute. Don’t think they will always work. A mishap can go wrong. You could make a mistake in your visualization. The magic spell could go awry and cause something entirely different to intended purpose.”

Ondine blinked, looking surprised as she said “I-It can do that?”

“Yes,” Felix said with a nod. “For example, take this instance.”

He directed his gaze towards his hands as he healed Lakshman’s body.

“I made the proper hand signs and was able to activate the technique flawlessly. However, if I used Voiceless Incantation, then the effect of the healing might have been weaker. It might not have worked at all if I got one single thing wrong.”

“So... it has to be precise?” Ondine asked after a while of silence and Felix nodded emphatically.

“It has to be exact!” he said seriously. “Otherwise, you might end up activating a different magic spell altogether. That magic spell could do something entirely different.

“Oh... but you didn’t tell master about that risk earlier.”

”I just simply did not want to bring his hopes down all because of a stupid risk.”

“O-Okay, but still... isn’t there a way to avoid that risk?” Ondine asked nervously, but Felix shook his head.

“Other than constant mind training and making sure to never get your magic wrong, I don’t believe there is anything else to help with avoiding that risk. The elders constantly say meditation helps, but, personally, I haven’t put it to test yet.”

Ondine looked down in disappointment. She had thought she finally figured out a way to train alongside Lakshman. However, the risk sounds dangerous, even deadly. She is unsure how to proceed when it could do more bad than good.

“Mmm...”

She snapped out of her thoughts at the moan and turned to see Lakshman moving slightly. Then he slowly opened his eyes and looked at them.

“Felix and... Ondine?” he muttered.

“Master, you’re alright!” Ondine said brightly as she leaned towards him.

“Being ‘alright’ depends on perspective,” Felix said in exasperation. “I haven’t finished healing him yet. Stay still Lakshman, I’m almost done.”

Several minutes later, Felix finally finished healing Lakshman’s body. The blood disappeared and the cut in Lakshman’s body was healed. Ondine helped him sit up and he looked at her and Felix in amazement.

“What are you two doing here?” he asked, looking between them. “Are you done speaking to the Water Spirits people already?”

“No, we didn’t quite make it that far yet,” Felix said and he turned a smile towards Ondine. “Ondine thought that she heard you call her name and she rushed here immediately to check on you.”

“Eh?” Lakshman said in surprise and he turned to look at her with wide eyes.

Ondine looked embarrassed as she said “Well, Felix used his Energy Sight technique to see how you were master.”

“Oh, I see,” Lakshman said and he nodded in understanding. “In any case, thank you for your help, Ondine. You really saved me.”

“Ah, there is no need for that master!” Ondine quickly said in protest. “It’s only natural to save my master.”

“Even so, thank you Ondine,” he said and he raised his hand and patted her on her head. “I really owe you this time."

Ondine was flustered, but she suddenly made a small smile. It looked like she was enjoying him patting her head.

Felix watched them with a smile of his own, but his smile faded and was replaced by a serious expression.

“Lakshman, tell me... who did this to you,” he said, looking directly at Lakshman with narrowed eyes.

Lakshman turned to Felix, hesitated slightly before saying “The one who did this to me is...”