Chapter 110: Dylak’s Revenge (Part 26) - Mana Transfer
Chapter 110: Dylak\'s Revenge (Part 26) - Mana Transfer
The shirtless boss brawled against the unarmed combat maid. They have been exchanging punches one after another indefinitely, but one thing was clear: Anastasia would lose eventually in a couple of minutes.
++"Vitality Users are known for their quick recovery, so although Anastasia is constantly regenerating HP, Dylak\'s hits are doing more damage than she can recover,"++ Aaron informed, this time inside Alan\'s mind, unable to materialize.
"I can see that myself..." Alan muttered, chuckling. "Is there really nothing I can do to help?"
++"You\'re out of mana, and your spine is broken. So, no."++
"What was the downside of losing this fight, Aaron? I can\'t remember."
++"I don\'t think Ricardo Silva mentioned any. But in the worst-case scenario, Count Dylak could escape."++
"So, the dungeon will never reset if he never dies, huh? Do you think he hangs onto life so badly now?"
++"He may not know about Ricardo\'s intentions." ++
"Well, whatever the case, this is over... So freaking o--"
"Ku-kyu?" Something squeaked nearby. Alan then felt something jumping over his lap. Even that soft landing made him groan in pain.
"S-Sloochie, is that you?"
"Kyu-kyu!"
"I\'m sorry, buddy, I would like to see your cute round... face? But I\'m afraid that my body is completely broken. I\'m a mess right now. I can\'t even lift a finger. Were you hiding nearby until the fight was over?"
"Kiri-kyu, ku-ku, ku, kyu!"
++"He\'s confirming what you just said, Alan,"++ Aaron replied. ++"He\'s also worried about you."++
"I see... Thanks, buddy."
"Kuri-ku, ku-ki, kyu... Ku-kyuuu..."
Suddenly, Alan felt Sloochie\'s body gradually getting warmer. "Aaron? What is he doing?"
++"He said that although he can\'t fight, he\'ll do his best to help you."++
"Unless he can heal my broken bones, which is unlikely..."
"Kyu-ki, kyu!"
++"He says he has something better for you... Amelia\'s help!"++
"What, is he going to teleport her here? That\'ll be quite handy--" Alan shut himself, feeling that a current of energy traversed through his veins. "This feeling... It smells like strawberries... Just like..."
Although Alan could not look down, he could see something glowing at the bottom corner of his eyes, then his MP bar inside his sight of vision started replenishing.
"Is Sloochie giving me mana?" Alan asked, noticing that it exceeded his own limit. "How can he do that?!"
"Ku-ki-kiri-kyu. Ku-kyu, ku-ku, kyuu!"
++"I\'ll translate to you what he said: \'This is not my mana. Amelia stores hers inside me every day.\'"++
Alan could remember all the instances Amelia petted Sloochie, or all the time the little critter spent cuddling on her lap.
**This can\'t heal me, but...**
"Unique Talent, Ghost in the Machine..."
"Active!" Aaron said, materializing.
"Thank you so much, Sloochie."
"Kyuuu!"
"Aaron, can we replenish Anastasia\'s MP too?"
++"We could develop a new Active Skill like we always do, but this is a special case. This borrowed mana is constantly burning. You can use it, but can\'t store it, less so sharing it. We don\'t have Sloochie\'s special properties."++
"I thought he could do it because he kinda can absorb things..."
"Kyu?"
++"Yeah, that\'s the most likely explanation."++
"Let\'s improvise then! As we always do."
++"Fine by me. What do you want me to do, Alan?"++
"Aaron, get inside Anastasia\'s body..."
++Alan, could you repeat that again?++
++I want you to get inside Anastasia\'s body.++
++I commend your imagination, but what do you think will happen?++
++Well, you\'re linked to me, right? So if you can act as a bridge, she\'ll receive the mana Sloochie is providing us.++
The small spirit with a skull for a face stared at Alan for a couple of seconds, before sighing. ++Sounds logical.++
**Why do I feel like he\'s acting condescendingly?**
Aaron flew towards Anastasia, who looked at the brink of collapsing at any moment.
++Just a heads up,++ Aaron said, turning to Alan. ++You have already reached your Skill limit cap, so you will not be able to learn a new one until you reach level 20. Do you still want to proceed?++
++Yes.++
++What should we call this new Skill?++
++Remote Possession.++
++Roger. Requesting Battlesys Program permission to create a new skill. Granted. Looking for compatible skills to use as a base. Found. Accessing \'Puppet_Master.skl\' and File_Sharing.skl. Done. Removing User\'s input. Adding new lines of code. Done. Attempting to install new skill into User\'s Anima Avatar... Accesing User\'s profile, Passeenger #29318, Alan_Warden/UT/Anima/Ghost_in_the_machine[Aaron].avt... Installation successful.++
++Whoah. This one was more difficult to create than the others, huh?++
++No, this is the standard procedure, Alan. This has to be done every time you create a new skill,++ Aaron replied, in a business-like tone of voice.++
**Now, he sounds angry.**
++I\'ll proceed, then,++ Aaron said, entering Anastasia\'s body. ++Auto-Casting, Remote Possession.++
Alan expected a system notification or waited for his field of vision to split, but nothing.
++Did it work?++
++Yes. I\'m in.++
++Neat! But why do you sound so upset?++
++Because this is something The Singular would do.++
++Oh! D-do you know about it?++
++Every Assistant AI inside The Novus has that knowledge, and it\'s programmed to abhor its methods.++
++S-sorry for forcing you to do this.++
++It\'s okay. If I have infringed any rules, the System would have flagged me by now, and we would receive another call from Ricardo Silva. A notice, while I \'possess\' Anastasia, you will not be able to use any of the Ghost in the Machine skills, not even Puppet Master.++
++Are you telling me that now?!++
++Attempting mana transfer.++
Alan anxiously gazed at Anastasia\'s MP bar, slowly going up, as her knees faltered.
+++++Warning: Minion\'s HP at 3%+++++
**Oh... It may have been too late.**