Chapter 426 – Empowered
On the way to Visneer’s private courtyard, Damion decided to make one last purchase from the Magic System before his attempt. This purchase was one he never really considered making before, after all, with his mana regeneration and above average mana capacity, he never thought he would have a use for one.
‘System, purchase one A Rank Mana Potion.’
{Affirmative. One A Rank Mana Potion purchased for 5,000 credits.}
The A Rank Mana Potion should be able to restore his mana capacity fully. Damion just hoped he would be able to drink it before his mana was completely exhausted. After all, if he ran out of mana and passed out before he could use the potion it would be a waste of 5,000 credits for sure.
In the courtyard Damion mentally double checked that he had all of his belongings. Visault and Visneer were both present, though former Justiciar Straus was not present. Damion knew the knight was aware of the planned attempt to return home. Perhaps the knight was not interested in returning home, or he assumed he would be denied the opportunity, so he just had not bothered to show up, either way, the result was the same.
Damion took the Mana Potion out of the Magic System Inventory. Visneer and Visault both eyed the potion when it appeared but said nothing. Anyone would be able to sense the magic potential of the potion and while the two Iblis were surprised, they assumed that the potion was why Damion was confident his attempt would work.
With a firm focus on his destination, Damion began channeling mana. He could feel his mana rapidly depleting as the Portal spell demanded more mana as it sought to make the connection to Nerotath. When Damion felt his mana almost depleted, he popped the top of the Mana Potion and quickly drank it. The amount of mana in his core soared and for a moment he feared he might explode from the intensity of the mana filling him. Luckly, the spell was still consuming mana at a frightful rate and was sucking mana out of him as fast as the potion could restore it.
After a few seconds, in which Damion was not sure if he was going to succeed or explode, the Mana Potion’s effects vanished, and his mana quickly returned to depleting. Just as Damion’s mana reserves were tanking, he felt another surge of mana rush into him.
At first he was confused as to where the mana was coming from, but he then felt the hand resting on his shoulder as the mana continued to flow into him from it. Visneer was channeling his own mana into him, what was more, Damion felt that the Iblis was channeling more than just mana as he could feel his magic power rising as well.
A half-dozen seconds went by, and Damion’s vision began to blur. Before everything became too blurry to see, he thought he saw a Portal shimmer to life before him. An instant latter, Damion passed out, but not before the strong hand gripping his shoulder tossed him forward through the Portal.
“Father, why did you empower him?” Visault asked after the Portal closed.
“The boy was determined to get home. It seemed better to assist than to wait for him to train for months to try again.”
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“But passing some of your magic power to him is a dangerous thing. What if his body was not strong enough to contain it? And now you are weaker and…”
“It will be fine. His body was more than strong enough to boost his power to the level I gave him, and it did not weaken me that much. It isn’t like I pushed him all the way to S Rank, I just gave him a drop in the bucket compared with my overall magic power. With a few weeks of training, I should be back to where I was before and with the auto-mapper artifacts we can now construct, we need not fear a sneak attack by the Alfar.”
“I did not mean to doubt your wisdom father.”
“There is no reason to worry. Mage Wells has an honest personality, even if he can conceal his aura from those around his level, I can still see through the ability. He will return as promised to assist us. After all, he understands his world’s fate is tied to ours.”
After being tossed through the Portal, Damion reappeared with much shock inside his house. The destination he had chosen for the opening of his Portal had been the room set aside for Portals when he was ferrying Elicia back and forth to his parents’ apartment. Having opened Portals to and from the location numerous times he was able to easily focus on the location which allowed him to concentrate on channeling the mana needed for the spell.
While Portal’s generally did not make any noise, they did create a slight magical disturbance. That momentary burst of magic power coming from the spare room, combined with the thud of Damion hitting the floor caused the whole family to jump. Though, only Elicia felt the change in the ambient mana.
Elicia, Sharon and Caleb rushed to the room to see what was going on to discover Damion, passed out on the floor. For a moment the three just stared at him in disbelief. His mother was the first to move, rushing to his side and rolling him over.
“He’s just asleep,” she announced, allowing Caleb and Elicia to let out the breaths they had been holding in.
“I’ll call Mage Teft,” Elicia said quickly. However, before she could pull her communication tablet out of her pocket, there was a loud scratching noise on the door of the house.
“Better let Phil in first,” Caleb said, realizing that Damion’s bound familiar was aware of its master’s return.
Elicia quickly let Phil in, who of course struggled to fit through the door, while calling Mage Teft. Caleb lifted his son and moved him to a couch in the living room so that Phil could inspect its master, while Sharon began removing Damion’s armor.
“He’s back,” Elicia told Mage Teft once she answered.
“Are you sure? How do you know?”
“I’m looking at him right now, but he’s unconscious. I think something might be wrong.”
“I’ll be right there!”
Before Elicia could say anything else Mage Teft had disconnected and a few minutes later she was bursting through the door to find the family all sitting around staring at Damion, who appeared to be sleeping on the couch.
Mage Teft quickly began checking Damion’s condition and a moment later sighed in relief. The rest of the family took her relief as a good sign and waited for her to explain what she learned.
“He’s suffering from mana exhaustion,” Mage Teft explained.
Elicia instantly understood, but Damion’s father and mother did not and waited for an explanation and wanted to know when their son would awaken.
“Mana exhaustion is when a person uses too much mana over a short period of time. The body can only channel so much so often. Think of it like running until you pass out from physical exhaustion. He should be fine once he wakes up, but he might sleep for a while.”
“How long until he wakes?” Sharon asked.
"It is hard to say. He seems to be pretty exhausted. Opening a Portal from where he was to here was obviously taxing. A person usually wakes on their own once they fully recover. So, for now, it is probably best to just let him rest. If he doesn’t wake in the next day or so then we can consult Mage Chaparro. As an S Rank Light mage, she would best know how to proceed.”
As it turned out, there was no need to consult Mage Chaparro as in the morning of the next day, while Sharon was preparing breakfast, Damion began to stir.