"To share mana... you need to use both the Elemental Defense and Inner Realm skills," Antares explained to all of us as best she could.
"With the Inner Realm... you don't only feel the mana flowing inside your own body... but around you as well. And, if connected, someone else's."
"We know, Miss Antares!"
"I was teaching Alen... he probably doesn't know."
"N-no... I didn't know about that..."
"Eh! Really? But it's basic knowledge," one of the fairies said.
"Species that still have physical bodies struggle the most with mana outside themselves... even you girls may have trouble sharing mana with me in these artificial bodies... Alen, if you can't help them, it's fine. You already did more than enough by saving us."
"I've... I've had some experiences with outer mana. But never to this extent."
However, all of my past experiences with outer mana happened only in life-or-death situations.
"Miss Antares! I... I can't share my mana with you!" cried one of the fairies who was already touching Antares's mutilated body.
"Huh!? You're probably doing it wrong!" another shouted as she also placed her hands on Antares.
"I... Miss Antares..." the same fairy cried out as tears began to form in her eyes.
Then, the remaining two fairies placed their hands on Antares's body and tried to share their mana with her. One was as unsuccessful as the other three, while the last one...
"I can share my mana... but... I'm... losing my strength..."
"Stop!" Antares yelled at the weakening fairy, halting her before she used more mana and fainted. "It seems it's true..."
"What's wrong, Miss Antares?"
"These artificial bodies don't regenerate mana on their own... the amount of reserves we had is all we get... that's why they killed us. Because once we spend all our mana, we become useless..." Antares closed her eyes, seemingly accepting her fate.
"I still haven't tried yet! Teach me how to share my mana!"
After a long second of silence, Antares finally spoke. "You can't... Thank you so much for saving us, Alen. But physical bodies can't control outer mana... even these girls, who lived their whole lives as spirits raised in outer mana, can't freely share it without dying themselves."
The fairies surrounding Antares began crying uncontrollably beside her, saying things like—
"No, Miss Antares! Don't leave us!"
"You have to come with us!"
"I don't care if I die—you have to survive, Miss Antares!"
Seeing this, I couldn't help but wonder if this was all I could do—watch people die next to their loved ones while I stood helpless.
There has to be a way!
Think, Alen!
I managed to control outer mana using that method that pushes me to the edge between life and death. I tested it with the sandstorm spell—I can turn outer mana into my own.
"Antares! Give me time to try something! I won't let you die here. You have all these girls worrying about you. Would you really let them be sad like this?"
With a long sigh, Antares coughed up blood, then rested her head on one of the fairies' laps. "Try as much as you want... death seems to be taking its time with me..."
With my thumb and index finger, I held Antares's hand. Despite the compress doll having fake internal organs and blood running through it, and a soul trapped inside, the skin felt cold—like touching a corpse.
I closed my eyes and began overworking my mind to think of a way to share my mana, something I had never done before. I needed to prepare myself mentally for what I was about to attempt.
First, I entered my Inner Realm. It felt the same as always—as if I were standing on an endless plane with water at my feet.
However, the water that once couldn't even reach my talons was now high enough to barely touch my knees.
The water was still calm and unchanging. No matter how much I moved, it stayed the same.
Mana inside the human body flows whenever magic is cast, moving through the pores to manifest a spell according to its rules.
The Inner Realm, aside from being a tool for breakthroughs to higher tiers, can also be used to perfect mana flow within the body.
With a perfected Inner Realm, magic could be cast from any part of the body instead of just the usual points. A Wind Scythe spell, normally cast only through the hands, could instead be cast from the knees, feet, or even the back if needed.
However...
Outer mana—the one thing never mentioned in [Dragon's Roar]. Not in the main story, not in the extras, not even in hidden conversations or item descriptions. It's something I've only learned by living here. Something only the top mages, like Crowbell or Goldenlaw, truly understand.
Uncontrollable. That's outer mana. We're bound by our physical bodies to only use our inner mana.
But I know I can tap into it. Maybe not for a whole minute—but that's more than enough.
"I'll cast a Sandstorm spell. Close your eyes and mouths," I warned the fairies in the room. "Tell me when you're ready."
"Why wou—"
"Follow the human's orders! Right now, he's the only one who can even attempt to save Miss Antares!" one of the fairies scolded.
Then, one by one, all five fairies called out, telling me they were ready.
"Arid winds that have been whistling in the eternal scorching desert of the west ever since the beginning. Sing on this battlefield to blind all those who dare to cross you"
"[Sandstorm]"
Once I cast the strong version of the spell, I felt the storm expand, quickly filling the room.
From within my Inner Realm, I sensed my horizons widening. Suddenly, it felt as if the entire room was filled with nothing but my own mana. Inside this storm, there was no such thing as outer mana—only my mana, reshaped by the spell I had cast.
I then adopted the Wind Stance, while still holding Antares' hand, to control it at will
My thought process was...
Elemental Defense usually requires the user to externalize their own mana—not use outer mana.
But what if the outer mana itself became my own mana?
It might be foolish. It might be reckless. But some words echoed in my head at that moment—
"Stupid ideas, no matter how dumb or weird they might be, also have their own place. They also deserve an attempt."
Those words from Milly...
Every time I recall them, I'm reminded of how true they are.
Experimentation. Trying. Thinking differently.
The world changes and adapts thanks to those who create and test new ideas. That's how true breakthroughs happens—not just within oneself like in the Inner Realm, but in the world itself.
"[Wind Infusion]"
"[Wind Infusion]"
I chanted again and again, as much as needed, until my mana reserves began to drain.
"What are you—"
The sound of flesh tearing cut the fairy off mid-sentence.
"Ahh!" one of them screamed.
And why wouldn't she? She probably saw me stab my own thigh with a wind-infused dagger.
The wound kept the blood flowing and the pain kept me awake—its chainsaw-like vibration digging deeper.
"Alen! What are you doing!?" Antares cried weakly, her body too frail to keep up with her shock.
But that was the last voice I heard. Not because of some strange side effect—but because I was so focused that every sound around me faded away.
My Inner Realm was no longer calm or still. It was shaking—everything within it moving chaotically.
Was it because my body was drained of all reserves and on the verge of collapse? Was it the wound on my thigh sending my heart racing with adrenaline?
The answer was yes—to all of it.
But I also sensed something else.
I sensed the entire room.
Every compress doll hanging from the walls or resting on the shelves. Every object—chair, desk, books, jars. The man's corpse lying on the floor, bleeding. The five fairies on the desk. And... my own body.
It wasn't normal sight. I didn't see through my eyes but through something else—a vague, color-blurred awareness. But I saw everything. As if I'd entered a third-person perspective.
Among all these shapes, one stood out—Antares. Or what I perceived to be her, based on position. She had a faint color that was growing dimmer by the second, blending into the background.
I focused on her.
Using the Elemental Defense skill, I manipulated the sandstorm at will, condensing it to cover only a small area that included the five fairies and myself.
As expected, my vision narrowed, and I stopped sensing the rest of the room—but I could feel this small space even more vividly now.
I could see it clearly—the magical pores of all six of us engulfed by the sandstorm: the five fairies and me.
I could even see our magic circles.
The fairies' circles varied between the third and fourth tiers—higher than mine. But... Antares's circle was the sixth!
Well... that doesn't matter right now. I need to save her.
Overall, their mana reserves were low, with Antares's being the lowest.
I focused as much as I could, narrowing the sandstorm even further until I could see Antares's Inner Realm.
It appeared as a vast and peaceful flower field, where the warmest, calmest breeze flowed endlessly. It was so immense that I couldn't even sense its end.
Focusing on Antares, I sent my own mana through her pores—tiny enough to be invisible to the naked eye, yet visible now through my new perception. With that, I could finally share my mana with her.
It felt like pouring a single glass of water onto the surface of the moon, trying to create an ocean. No matter how much mana I gave, it wasn't enough to fill even a hundredth of Antares's total reserves.
But it wasn't only my mana that was being used. The sandstorm, as if acting like a virus, kept contaminating the outer mana in the air—allowing me to control it as if it were my own.
Just like everything I do—faking my prowess. I learned to fake incantationless casting before, and now I was faking control over outer mana.
I kept at it until the Sandstorm spell finally dispelled.
"Bha!" I gasped, letting all the air escape my lungs as I collapsed to my knees.
I was weak. My mana reserves were almost gone. My thigh—stabbed, bleeding, burning with pain.
However—
"Miss Antares!" the fairies cried out, hugging her tightly.
"Alen... how did you...?" she asked weakly, confusion mixing with the fairies' tears and embraces.
It seemed her body had recovered slightly thanks to the mana I shared, though she still looked fragile.
"I... couldn't let you die. If someone like me who failed to save you all in time, can still be a good person because I felt sadness for someone who's suffered—someone I've only just met—then you, Antares, deserve to live. No one who has people crying for them not to die is a bad person. No one like that deserves to die."
I looked at her—the fairy whose soul now inhabited a broken doll. One leg missing, burn scars and stitches running across her body. Her tired, dark eyes stared back at me. Her mouth, cut and sewn to keep it from falling apart. Her black hair, burned and ragged on one side.
And yet—her expression changed. Bursting with repressed emotion, she smiled through tears. She was finally free from her torment. She wasn't going to die here.
She was safe—alongside the other fairies.