63

The party stored their heavy luggage in Id’s Subspace Pouch while traveling to speed up their trip, but Sasha declined Id’s suggestion. He was still carrying on his back a battle-ax, a mace and a shield inherited from Andrew as well as his heavy backpack. Sasha was even wearing chainmail, so the weight of his luggage and equipment was heavier than Lara’s. Nevertheless, he was not far behind the speed at which elf Selena, the forest race, moved in the mountains. As Sasha and Id had been running and hunting every day for several years in the Forest of Evil Spirits since twelve, their stamina has exceeded human limits. After creating a manna hall, Sasha’s muscular endurance even improved. Id also knew well that Sasha’s heavy equipment and luggage would help him build his physical strength, so he did not recommend any more when Sasha refused to put them into his Subspace Pouch.

After sparring with Sasha, Id told Spica.

“Have you already finished your manna circulation? Our sparring must have disturbed you.”

“Manna circulation can be done later, but your sparring is not that I can see often. I thought it would help my sword training, but I haven’t seen anything practical.”

Id responded with laughter.

“You are too hasty. Sasha and I had spent most of the time clinging to the sword training for the past several years. You seem too greedy to do well already when you’ve learned swordsmanship just for days.”

“I don’t expect to do well already either, but I need to understand at least a little bit. I can’t even see how the swords move.”

Watching Spica, who resembled him so much, Id thought it would be great if she were his real little sister. Id, who lived as an orphan for most of his life, had long hoped to have a sibling. His consideration of Sasha as his own brother and his easy acceptance of Lara, having been in trouble, and Selena, a different race, were also linked with this feeling of Id. He spoke soothingly in a soft voice.

“I’ll teach you sword skills, step by step, so don’t be too impatient. Well, I’ve thought about it for the past few days, and I still believe Vega’s Dragon Heart should be sent back to Mother Nature. Why don’t we try to dismantle it here? There seems to be no life and only rocks everywhere around here. I believe the manna storm will harm neither us nor other lives. The rock walls will protect us.”

As Spica hesitated to answer, Selena told Id.

“I’ve noticed that over the past few days, you’ve been looking for places with dense manna distribution, going back and forth between ridges and valleys to fix our lodgings. It must have been to help us train manna. If Vega’s Dragon Heart is dismantled, Vega’s manna with very high purity and density will fill this groove for a certain period. Why don’t we carry out manna circulation in the meantime? I don’t think it would be that dangerous if we lean our back on the rock wall, even if a manna storm occurs. Elves and humans are all parts of Mother Nature, not to mention dragon’s hatchling, so It would not be that strange if each of us takes Vega’s manna a little.”

Id thought Selena had a point and asked Spica.

“What do you think of Selena’s opinion?”

Thinking that Vega’s manna would be kept in her body even though a little, a new feeling soared in Spica’s mind that she had never felt before. She bit her lower lip tightly and made up her mind.

“All right. I’ll try to cast a spell for the disintegration of Vega’s Dragon Heart.”

Spica went to the center of the rock groove and began to draw a magic diagram with a branch. It was a small magic diagram only a meter in diameter, but she spent more than half an hour drawing it packed with bizarre shapes and pictures. Once again, she carefully checked the completed diagram, and after putting Vega’s Dragon Heart in the middle of it, she told her friends.

“Now, I’ll cast a dismantling spell, so everyone, lean against the rock wall to prevent from being swept away by the manna storm.”

Sasha, Lara and Selena began their manna circulation sitting far from the Dragon Heart, leaning their backs on the rock, but Id sat right in front of Vega’s Dragon Heart. Spica told him.

“Id, it might be too dangerous there. Why don’t you lean against the rock, too?”

“I want to feel Vega’s manna up close. I’d like to appreciate what I couldn’t communicate with her enough due to lack of time. Don’t worry about me. I’m confident in protecting myself even in the worst-case scenario.”

When Spica whispered a starter for the disintegration and retreated to the rock wall and sat down, Id felt thin streams of manna released like threads from Vega’s Dragon Heart. The manna streams, which had been released gently little by little at first, grew thicker and more, and after about ten minutes, they filled the rock groove and made a whirlwind. A tremendous amount of pure manna, that matched the word Manna Storm, was driven, but Vega’s manna had no adverse effect on Id, who was sitting right in front of her Dragon Heart and facing the whirlwind of manna. Although an incredible amount of manna came into his body and roamed wildly along his manna passages, he remained calm. Soon after, Vega’s manna naturally mixed with Id’s manna, going back and forth among his upper, middle and lower manna halls. When stayed at the lower manna hall, Vega’s manna was condensed in it, which had already been highly concentrated and seemed there was no more room for additional manna. When manna moved to Id’s middle manna hall, ensuring its presence to him, the emotions of joy, anger, sorrow and pleasure of his childhood that had been forgotten recently flooded to him like a panorama. The images of his mother Julia, stepfather George, and master Andrew came to his mind one after another, bringing back his feelings when he had been with them. Id could also become sympathetic with their feelings of those times. In addition, the faces of childhood friends and villagers of Derevnya, servants of the Scandian Palace he had met at even earlier ages, and even those who later fought with him appeared as if they were right in front of him. Every kind of emotion was raised and wiped out in turn repeatedly. The rising emotions seemed to purify the remnants of memories that had been deep inside Id’s heart. As manna climbed up to Id’s forehead and gently embraced and caressed his upper manna hall, he peeked at the lofty spirit and solitude of the dragons living nearly ten thousand years.

Id distinctly felt the substance of the three manna halls’ trinity. As manna continued to move back and forth among three manna halls, the harmony among the spirit, body and manna force, which looked one like three and three like one, was naturally accepted as if it had always been with him. The true self of the first human being to reach the State of Harmony was engraved in Id’s mind, just like a full moon, which had been hidden in the clouds, stood out and shone onto the dark forest. At that moment, Id could guess a part of the State of Ultimate at the far end of the road he was destined to walk.

Selena was feeling manna circulating in her body several times more than usual. As an elf, a species that generally had much more affinity to manna than others, she did not feel uncomfortable even if the amount of manna circulating in her body increased dramatically. She calmly observed the changes in her body using her own creative method of manna circulation, referring to Id’s method, but there was no sign of the manna hall being created. An hour after Vega’s Dragon Heart began to disintegrate, the manna storm it caused decreased little by little. Still, she focused on the manna circulation, not giving up the hope for building up a manna hall.

Spica felt Vega’s manna gently caress her newly built manna hall in her lower abdomen. As Vega’s manna accumulated in her manna hall little by little, she felt the motherhood of Vega again, which had already been objectified and forgotten. Vega’s manna circulated Spica’s body as naturally as it had initially been in her body. As Spica felt Vega’s manna all over her body, the embarrassment and anxiety that she had been left alone as a hatchling was gradually relieved, and her body and mind were relaxed. As time went by, she became more and more immersed in her manna circulation.