New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Meanwhile, outside New Eden, an entire night had gone by, and Alex and Kary had been busy. But after a few hours of rest, they had gotten to work on figuring out how to convince Katherine about Violette's power.

If they failed to do so, they would lose a crucial ally in some of their moments of need, and this was subpar, at best.

"I was thinking maybe a fight with someone Katherine considers a good match, but I'm afraid she'll ask her to fight me. And then, either I lose on purpose, and she knows, or I hurt Violette, and she says no…" Alex sighed.

"Yeah, a fight wouldn't be the best way in any situation. Her mother is too protective," Kary said, shaking her head.

"I was thinking of a show of force—something that doesn't require fighting but is convincing enough that she can't say Violette is defenceless. But I haven't quite figured out what yet."

She was racking her brain as much as she could. But finding ways to prove her power without putting Violette in a situation where Katherine would outright deny her her chance was not easy.

"It would help if I knew how strong she has gotten," Alex said with a chuckle.

Since he'd been gone for a month, he had no idea of anyone's progress, which was a handicap.

Kary giggled as she realized what he meant.

"She's progressed a lot. I think she has progressed the most out of everyone. A few weeks back, she told me that her control over water had gotten almost to the level of inside New Eden.

"I found it hard to believe at first, but she showed me, and I don't doubt her. Her only weakness now is on the volume and time she can control it. All this requires an insane amount of mana, and with how mana just got scarce in our world, I don't know how she would fare…"

Alex scratched his chin, wondering what he could do with this information. Then, an idea popped into his head.

"What if I could get her the mana she needs for large-scale manipulation? Would that work to impress her mother?" he asked, his eyes filling with hope.

"I guess?" Kary replied, frowning.

"What did you have in mind? Because I doubt pouring our mana into her would work. Either it wouldn't be compatible, or her mother would find out."

Alex grinned

"We won't need to. I have a way to make her pull mana out of herself instead of the air. I intended to try this on you first, but the situation obliges that I do it on her."

Kary's face wrinkled up.

"What are you talking about? Do what?" she asked, now worried.

"I have a way to make her form her mana lobe." That phrase sent Kary into shock. She lay there, still in their bed, looking at him wide-eyed.

"What?" Alex asked when he realized how she was looking at him.

"Can you repeat what you said? I think I heard it wrong…"

"Uh… sure? I have a way to make her form a mana lobe…" Alex repeated, looking at her weirdly.

Kary remained silent momentarily before getting up, grabbing her phone and slipping it into her ear.

"Who are you calling at this time of the night?" Alex asked her, frowning.

Kary ignored him as she paced at the foot of their bed.

"Hey, David," she finally said, stopping her pacing.

"Remember that issue we talked about the other day? A bit before Alex came back. I think this dolt of mine found a way to fix it and hadn't told us."

"…"

"Yeah, I know. I'm just as stumped as you."

"…"

Listen, I don't know since when. He just told me." Novel Fire - novelfire.net

"…"

Kary pressed the phone on her ear and looked at Alex.

"Alright, you're on speaker."

"Alex? Can you hear me?" David's voice came from the speaker.

"Uh… Yes?"

A long sigh echoed before Alex heard David breathe in deep.

"Are you FUCKING STUPID?! HOW LONG HAVE YOU HAD YOUR MANA LOBE, AND WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US?!" David shouted, almost bursting Kary's eardrum.

Even Alex winced at the shouting, as his hearing was still highly acute.

"Hey, pipe down, dude. There is no need to shout. What would it have changed if I had told you? It's not like you could have formed one on your own," Alex rebuked, holding his ear.

"No use shouting? NO USE SHOUTING?! YOU ARE DEFINITELY STUPID! ALEX! THIS COULD HAVE CHANGED THE OUTCOME OF OUR BATTLE AGAINST THE RAIJŪ AND POSSIBLY EVERY OTHER CONFRONTATION SINCE!

"DO YOU REALIZE THE IMPLICATIONS OF A MANA LOBE IN OUR WORLD?! IT'S A STEP WE ONLY REACHED ONCE THE DUNGEONS STARTED BREAKING LAST TIME! HAVING IT NOW WOULD MAKE OUR CHANCES OF FIGHTING BACK INFINITELY BETTER!"

David had to take a moment and cough from all his screaming, and Kary almost threw the phone away from her head, as her mind started pounding.

But she looked at Alex with blame instead of her device.

"Why are you both acting like I murdered your puppy… It wasn't relevant at the moment I discovered it, since it took me all my efforts to get it. Plus, there was no guarantee I could reproduce the phenomenon."

David sighed loudly again.

"How long have you had it, Alex?"

Alex took a moment to think about the exact timing.

"The night before our trip to fight the Raijū. That's why I'm saying it wouldn't have mattered."

"So that's what you were doing the night before. You never told me, in the end…" Kary said, her eyes widening with realization.

"Yeah, the time to talk about it never came up. But it's the reason Violette is still alive. And me, to be honest…" Alex said, scratching the back of his head.

He heard David click his tongue.

"You could have told us before the fight. Many things would have played out differently had I known about it, Alex," David said, seemingly calmer.

"The first one is that no one would have been close to dying. A mana lobe changes the kind of things you can do. The amount of power you can channel is exponential. It's a boon that would have been wasted on you if you couldn't realize that when we needed you to…"

"Hey, don't start giving me that crap, David. You and I both know that those enemies were stronger than what we had ever seen before on this side. I couldn't just start using all my strength and then have nothing to defend myself with."

Kary jumped in to stop their bickering.

"Alright, enough, you cocks. That's not why I called you, David. Alex says he can replicate the feat on Violette. Try to form her mana lobe and use that extra power to convince her mother to let Violette pick her own battles. Do you think it could work?"

David clicked his tongue again.

"It could work, but only if he pulls through. I don't think you realize how difficult it will be to form her mana lobe, Alexander. There is no more mana well for you to draw from."

Alex's eyes widened.

"How did you know I pulled into the mana well? Were you spying on me?"

David scoffed.

"No, you dumbass. We had to do the same thing when we got mana lobes last time. It's almost impossible to form it without an abundance of mana and a touch of something purer. This isn't the mana-rich world of New Eden. Earth wasn't meant for this power."

Alex frowned.

"Yeah, well, I think I can still pull it off. But it'll be tiresome, to say the least. It'll probably knock me on my ass for a few days. Should I do it or not?"

There was a pause in their conversation.

"We don't have anything planned in the immediate future. But doing this is crucial for later. I think he should do it," Kary said, breaking the silence.

"I agree. But we'll have to be sure Alex stays in a safe environment until then. I don't think the Zhong Kui is done with him, and having him weakened would be the perfect moment for them to jump in and assassinate him," David declared.

"Which reminds me, I still have to go up there and ring some bells. But, with all that's happening, I don't know if the moment could be worse…"

"I doubt the Zhong Kui can do anything to me, even if I'm weakened," Alex said, scoffing.

"Don't underestimate them, Alex. They may be weaker than in their prime, but they are still dangerous. Their strongest members could give us a run for our money. But that doesn't change what has to be done. Kary. Set up whatever he needs to form Violette's mana lobe. I'll make calls to assure he's safe afterwards."

Kary groaned.

"I don't appreciate you giving me orders."

"Tough. We need to get shit moving, and this discussion is over," David said, before hanging up.

"Hmph! One day, I'll kick him in his balls for talking to me like this!" Kary growled.

"Don't bother. I don't even think he feels anything down there anymore," Alex joked.

"In any case, he isn't wrong. Let's get things prepped. There are only so many hours left before our twenty-four-hour limit. Let's get this ball rolling."

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