Chapter 55 - The Solution

Wesley was currently suspended in midair in a dark space that seemed to have no end. His face was filled with unwillingness, dread, and anger. Wesley knew he was safe from that maniacal old man within this space, but his face still reflected a different kind of dread.

Initially, Wesley had a little more than half his mana left. He had already used half of that to heal his heart, while the other half was kept in reserve. However, after the old monster found him, Wesley was forced to use Dark Warp, which consumed a quarter of the mana he had been saving.

Now, Wesley faced an ultimatum: remain in this space and use the rest of his mana to stabilize and heal his heart, or open another Dark Warp and leave.

If Wesley chose the first option, he could fix his heart without fear of the old man interrupting him again. However, he would be stuck in this space until the day he died from starvation.

This space was, to say the least, the space between dark elements. However, there was no tunnel now since Wesley had collapsed it. Allowing your tunnel to collapse is the worst thing a Dark Mage can do, because this space is like a prison.

This space, simply known as the Void, was the worst place to end up in without mana. The Void is completely cut off from the outside world. Although surprisingly there is air, there is no gravity, heat, or mana.

Wesley could fix his heart with his remaining mana, but he would definitely be unable to rest or meditate here. He wouldn’t be able to leave and would eventually die.

Wesley's second option is to leave the space. If he did this, he would most definitely die, because he won't have any mana to maintain his heart. Also, his escape from the old bastard has caused his injuries to become worse, so his refining speed will be definitely slower than his healing rate.

Furthermore, Wesley was afraid that the old bastard would track him down again. Wesley had no idea how that old man found him just now, but he had no intention of being caught by him, because if he did, Wesley's death would be assured and painful.

Wesley immediately made up his mind. Having to choose between slow but eventual death, and quick but certain death, Wesley chose the slow death.

His reasoning was simple, first he would stabilize his heart, then he would try to find a way out of this god forsaken place. If he failed, he fails, but if he succeeds, then he would be able to survive this predicament.

Having made up his mind, Wesley immediately crossed his legs and closed his eyes. He had no idea which was up and which was down because this space had no such thing, but he still needed to focus on his heart.

- - - - - - -

Wesley’s remedy for his heart was extremely basic: use his mana on the three wounds of his heart to speed up the body’s natural clotting process. However, although the theory was simple, its application was extremely difficult.

Wesley had to direct three strands of mana to the three wounds. This required tremendous control and focus because paying attention to three different things was no easy task. Furthermore, his heart's constant beating aggravated and interrupted the clotting process, while also disturbing Wesley's control over the mana.

Wesley's control of mana was extremely good; however, the difficulty of this particular task was so high that Wesley felt sweat beading on his forehead. If it were any other situation, Wesley wouldn’t have had so much trouble, but he was currently racing against the clock.

The longer he waited, the lower his blood pressure dropped, and the more likely Wesley was to fall into shock and die. Additionally, Wesley was starting to feel lightheaded, forcing him to focus even more on the task at hand.

Fortunately, aside from a few blood vessels that supplied blood to the heart being severed, no other major vessels were injured. Though he was experiencing intense pain and his heart was starting to slow, Wesley was not in immediate danger.

After half an hour of constant mana nourishment, the three wounds were closed. However, Wesley still needed to ensure that the clots didn’t collapse under the constant beating of his heart, so he used the remainder of his mana to maintain the clots.

These clots helped Wesley remain in a less critical condition, but he still had to keep a constant eye on them. With very little mana left, if the clots broke, he would simply have to resign himself to dying.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Although Wesley was slightly worried about his heart, he still felt confident that he was going to be fine as long as he had enough mana and now that he has succeeded in closing the wounds, his heart should be fine with some time.

What Wesley wasn’t confident in was finding a way out of the void. If only he had enough mana to open a tunnel, this matter wouldn’t even cause him any worry. However, he has already spent the last of his mana in repairing his wounded heart.

He also had no way to refine in this void because the mana that existed in the outside world didn’t exist here. Wesley had to find a way to refine enough mana to open a tunnel, so he immediately started pondering.

Wesley wondered how air could exist in the void, but not mana. If air could enter the void, then mana should be able to enter as well. It didn’t make sense that one can enter while the other is unable.

Wesley simply continued being suspended there crossleged, while he pondered this question. Wesley needed to think of a way to escape this prison, and he did have time, but not infinite time.

After almost an hour of constant pondering, Wesley came up with a potential explanation to the problem. One of Oliver Reme's theories was regarding the state of mana. He hypothesized that mana didn’t fit any of the known states of matter, however, it resembled solids more than liquids or gasses.

Air is a gas, so its particles are able to move away from one another and spread. Which means that they have no fixed volume and are always spreading, unless otherwise blocked. This means that air particles will continue moving until they entered this void.

However, mana is comparable to solids. Static and with fixed volume. They will remain unmoving in their current position, unless they are refined by a mage and then used in some way. This theory was rejected by Reme, because mana was not necessarily matter, because, even though it existed in the world, it neither occupied space nor had mass.

Wesley felt that this was one of the reasons why mana did not exist in this space, but he didn’t for a second believe it was the only way. There is no way that every no mana happened to exist at the exact position as a dark element. Simple statistics made it impossible for such a scenario to occur.

So Wesley wondered what else could have caused no mana to exist in this void. Wesley immediately went over everything he knew about mana in his mind. Adding the multiple theories of Oliver Reme as well as the other books Wesley read, he had quite a lot to go over.

Wesley continued going over the numerous theories, thinking about each one separately, and trying to see how each of them might explain why no mana existed inside the elements. After almost three hours of thinking, Wesley seemed to have found one theory that fit this situation.

Oliver Reme's last theory stated that mana and the elements shared were similar origins. However, he immediately rejected this theory because it is established that opposites attract while likes repel. If mana and elements were the same, they would repel each other and mana wouldn’t be able to be used manipulate the elements.

At first Wesley accepted this theory, the same way he accepted all of Oliver Reme's theories. However, he now felt that there were some truth in the fact that mana and elements shared something that caused them to repel, hence explaining why there was no mana inside this elements.

As far as the fact that opposites attract and likes repel goes, Wesley thought that the explanation for that is extremely simple. When mages use mana, they refine it by attracting it with the aid of their mana core and then they store in their mana core.

The mana core is located at the center of the mana sea, and attracts mana like magnet. After the mana enters the body, it is stored in the mana sea. Wesley concluded that since the core could attract mana, they must be opposites, and that when mana is stored in the mana sea, it is somehow altered, making it able to be used to manipulate the elements.

Wesley's entire theory could be described by words like conjecture of speculation. He had not a speck of evidence for any of his thoughts, and he had no viable way to test any part of his theory. Wesley, however, didn’t mind that, as he suddenly found a possible way out of this place.

According to Wesley's hypothesis, mana and the elements are similar in some way, therefore, Wesley should be able to use his mana core to refine the parts of the dark element that is similar to mana. If he is right, then he should be able to refine and escape this place.

- - - - - - - -

Wesley immediately calmed his body and began breathing in a rhythmic pattern. He wanted to test if he could refine the mana component in the dark element he was currently residing in.

Wesley’s mana core began vibrating slightly as he stimulated it. He had no idea how this experiment might turn out, so he decided to start slowly. This was the same vibration speed required to safely refine mana in the outside world.

There was no mana in the void, so Wesley’s core continued vibrating without anything happening. However, he was not discouraged. He immediately increased the vibration rate of his core to double its initial speed.

Unfortunately, nothing happened again. Wesley increased the speed of the core’s vibration again, reaching three times its initial speed. However, aside from the core’s vibration causing his body to shake slightly, nothing else occurred.

Wesley frowned and sped up his core's vibration speed once more. His face twitched as the vibration speed reached four times the initial rate, because his core felt as if it were being squeezed by an invisible force.

If Wesley refined with this speed in the outside world, his pores would have ruptured, and he would have been disabled for life due to the overwhelming amount of mana that would have rushed into his body. Fortunately, there was no mana here, so aside from some discomfort, Wesley wasn’t at risk of harm.

Once again, nothing happened. At this point, Wesley was starting to get frustrated. He couldn’t maintain this rate of core vibration much longer, as it was becoming extremely uncomfortable.

He clenched his jaws and increased the vibration speed to five times the initial rate. As soon as he did this, it felt as though his core was about to rip free from his chest.

While it wasn’t unbearably painful, it scared Wesley greatly. He wanted to stop the refining process. It was clear that his hypothesis was wrong, and even if it was right, he wouldn’t be able to test it any further. However, before Wesley could stop:

’Creaaaak’

The entire space around Wesley issued a low creak that seemed to echo from all directions. Wesley’s eyes flew open, not because he could see anything in the darkness, but because of the surprise and astonishment.

Wesley immediately realized that the reason his core felt as though it might burst from his chest was that whatever it was pulling was stronger than his core. Wesley closed his eyes again and instantly increased his core's vibration rate to six times the initial speed.

He concluded that if his core’s pulling force was stronger than the opposing force, then he should be able to absorb and refine it. Wesley’s theory proved correct because, the moment he increased his core's vibration rate, the entire space around him began to issue creaks after creaks, as if something were being pulled from somewhere.

’Creaaaaaak’

’Creaaaaaaaaaak’

’Creaaaaaaaaaaaaaak’

Wesley’s heart raced with anticipation as the creaking grew louder and more frequent. If he found a way to escape this place, he would be the first person to ever do so. Furthermore, he would have uncovered part of the mystery of mana.

Ten minutes later, Wesley’s entire body was drenched in sweat, and his face was as pale as paper, but his expression was one of excitement. He felt the force opposing his core weakening. It wouldn’t be long before he could pry it loose.

’Crunch’

Soon enough, the sound of something breaking reverberated throughout the entire void. Wesley eyes opened while full of excitement and happiness. He couldn’t believe that he would be able to leave this space.

Wesley face was filled with incomparable happiness as he was currently grinning from ear to ear. It seems that he has used up his entire life reservoir of luck today by escaping from an elder and then from the void. This is simply the luck of the gods.

However, before Wesley could relish in his self praise, the smile on his face froze and an expression of extreme fear appeared in his face. Wesley's core was still vibrating with six times the normal speed.

Let alone whatever it is that Wesley just absorbed, even regular mana would prove deadly if refined with such speed. Wesley immediately slowed stopped his core's vibration, but it was too late.

'Shatter'

Almost half a second later, the sound of glass shattering resounded throughout Wesley's body. Wesley's face instantly turned ugly and he spat a mouthful of blood. He looked down at his chest with wide eyes as if looking for a wound, but he knew there would be nothing there.

Wesley's eyes stared at his chest for a few seconds in disbelieve and then his eyes immediately turned white as he fell into unconsciousness.

A shattered core.