Ironic. I'd wanted to conserve it—yet I was about to burn through more than ever. Around me, the trees stirred slowly, their trunks flexing like muscles under strain. Wide eyes opened in the bark, fixing on me with an almost human awareness. A heavy breath swept through the clearing, thick with sap and scorched dust. They were already closing in.
I drew in a slow breath, letting the heat of mana settle in my chest. These past six months of training had changed everything—my endurance, my resistance, my control. If I were still the man I'd been when I first arrived at the Academy, I'd already be dead. But now, I could attempt what once would've been suicide.
I raised my hand, pointing toward the center of the ring of trees.
— Genesis.
