"It's the Cursed Items that will give you back your powers, isn't it?" Luke asked.
Ayla, who was in front of him, with both arms behind her, turned her back and began to walk forward, towards infinity. Luke promptly and for a few seconds said nothing, until the deity broke the silence with his answer.
"Yes, you're right. These items are capable of providing a large amount of Mana, and this was exactly what I sacrificed to stem the Irruption."
The Irruption is what brought Demons, Dungeons, and Monsters into the real world. When this happened, the Scales, the divine being responsible for keeping the world in balance, had to sacrifice all his mighty power to stem this collision of two worlds. In the end, when Ayla was fully weakened, she found shelter within the half-wolf's soul.
"But Luke, don't get me wrong, I don't intend to steal that Mana from you. I just kept quiet since the battle with that Sakan because I thought maybe my words could affect your decisions." Ayla explained herself.
"Alright, I don't blame you. I was just worried." Luke said as he looked her straight in the eye. "And now? What do we do? If you regain your powers, you can kill the First Servant, right?"
"Of course, I can kill you, but if I take all the Mana that's pouring into you right now, I'll be taking away your chance to survive at the end of all this." declared Ayla, placing her right hand on her breasts with her eyes looking at the floor. Then she looked back at the half-wolf. "You are the one who must use this power, at least for now. I'll help you control it, understand it, until we finally find who cursed you."
Luke shook his head in indignation. "If you can end all this now, why don't you take that power at once? The more time that passes, the more chance we give to the demons. I don't mind dying if it's going to create a future where my friends can be happy."
"Things aren't that simple, Luke." Ayla refused again and turned away from the half-wolf.
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"Like this?" he asked, confused. "If it's not that simple, explain it to me so I can understand."
After sighing, the Scale replied, "Feeling the power of the Mana that is in these items, I discovered why it is so powerful. Luke, the Mass of Mana discovered by the heroes in the Citadel of the End is like a cluster of hundreds of thousands of human souls, which the demons managed to gather throughout the duration of The Calamity."
The half-wolf's eyebrows shot up, and his eyes were terrified. "T-does that mean…"
"Exactly… There's a chance there's one more Mana Mass. I can't say for sure how the demons gathered so many souls, but all these voices echoing from Mana are angry and disturbed, as if they had died in battle."
"Hazor said that the Hero Arani believed that this accumulated power would be able to stop the demons in the future, however, what if there is another Mass of Mana?" Luke asked, a little flustered by the possibility.
"Luke, we have to hope there isn't. However, if there are, I alone will not be able to stop them, so the ideal is that you recover the Cursed Items and form the best army you can, even if it takes years. This time, we have to purge all the demons from the face of this world, without giving them a chance to keep coming back like fleas on the rug."
*
After the energy of the four Cursed Items stopped overflowing, the metallic sound of the four items falling echoed throughout the dojo, and everything went completely still.
Meredith and Hazor wondered if the transfer had been successful as they stared at Luke, who still had his eyes closed.
The half-wolf was conscious, however, he was cautious. Luke could feel a rapid, continuous energy coursing through his entire body, mainly circling his heart. This energy was so fierce and calm at the same time that it made Luke's finger points tingle and his muscles ache as if he'd just been working out for an entire week.
'Ayla, this thing I'm feeling running through my whole body is Mana, right?' Luke asked in thought.
[Yea. I know it might take a little time for you to get used to it and get it under control… Have you ever mastered it?]
'It's like controlling anger, emotions. My master taught me this some time ago.'
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All the strange, fierce energy inside Luke was calmed as he began to control his breathing. Initially, the sensation was literally like holding back an impulse of rage, but as the seconds passed it became easier to control, as if Mana was also getting used to the half-wolf's body.
? When Luke opened his eyes, Hazor and Meredith saw that the yellow glint in his eyes was even stronger, and somehow they sensed that something had certainly changed in the half-wolf's gaze since the transfer had started a few minutes ago.
"Luke, are you okay?" Meredith crouched to the side and asked.
*Grrrrr*
The half-wolf's stomach growled at once, which made him laugh a little awkwardly. "For some reason, it feels like I have a hole in my stomach. Did you happen to have dinner?"
The half-fox placed his right hand on his face, relieved, and inevitably smiled. "I'm going to roast some of the boar meat I roasted this morning. Do you want the leg or the chest?"
"Both!"
Once Meredith had pulled away a bit, with her arms crossed, Hazor asked Luke,
"What happened?"
Luke looked him in the eye seriously. "Did you know that the power that is contained in the Cursed Items is the combination of human souls? Thousands and thousands of them, relentlessly begging for revenge."
Immediately, Hazor looked surprised. "No, of course not. Like this? How could demons do that?"
"I don't know, but if they still know how, there might be another huge amount of Mana with them right now, taking advantage of the great war taking place on the Hati Continent to collect souls as well as the souls of those who die in the war here on the Skoll Continent. ."
"No, that doesn't make sense. If so, why would they put monsters to war in place of Melki Empire soldiers?"
"This is a current question, so now that I'm stronger than ever, I feel safe to go to one of these Dungeon Breaks and check out what happens in those places." Luke stated as he watched Meredith gather some logs.
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