Chapter 48 The way and another

Chapter 48 The way and another

Every soul that stood on the ground was wary of Rylan's glowing form as he hovered inches above ground, eyes closed and legs crossed at the peak of focus.

“It's beautiful.” Yennifer said, taking a step forward before getting stopped by Maerik's outstretched hand. Dravy had walked back to where they stood.

“Rylan!” He called out, no response. “Rylan, can you hear me!” He tried again, a few seconds passed before he slowly opened his eyes and turned to them, his movement extremely graceful.

“I feel—distant.” Rylan's voice sounded transcended and the smile on his face matched it.

“How?”

“I can feel it all, every single thing, every single being connected through Arkana, I can—it’s beautiful.” He stopped hovering and stood upright, He walked towards them, with every step he took forward they took one back. He paused and looked at each and every one of them, Maerik's face neutral, Yennifer and Peter shared a similar but slightly different excitement and Dravy's was filled with caution as his fingers hovered over a blade strapped to his waist.

“Relax, you wouldn't be able to do anything if I decided to attack.” Rylan said.

Dravy grinned, he'd been waiting for an excuse to cut Rylan down and the angels had answered his prayers. “Try let's fin—” Rylan was in front of him, hand firm on Dravy's blade and glowing eyes fixed on him.

“Go ahead, Do something.” Rylan's voice dropped incredibly low. A shiver shot through Dravy as he tugged on Rylan's grip but it was like his hand was trapped in concrete.

“Enough.” Maerik's voice sounded from behind them and Rylan released his grip, Dravy pulled once more and stumbled backwards, only finding his footing with the help of Maerik's firm hand on his back. “Rylan, can you stop?”

Immediately Maerik said those words a message popped into Rylan's view.

\[Stamina : 10/100\]
\[Insufficient\]
\[Forced deactivation triggered\]
The glow was immediately extinguish and Rylan fell to his knees, The drawback for using the Mothlight was massive, he'd been in it for less than a minute and his stamina had gone from 100 to 10 but there was a difference, he'd never felt like this when he'd used it before, The euphoria was new but more important was the lack of that unbearable burning that always accompanied every use.

“How do you feel.” Yennifer probed as she helped him to his feet, a wide smile on her face.

“Tired.” He looked from Maerik to Dravy who was currently glaring at him. “Exhausted.”

Maerik left Dravy's side and walked to him. “How did you feel a few moments ago.”

Rylan thought carefully about his answer before he gave it. “Like nothing really matter, I was….at peace.”

“Do you think you can do it again.”

He shook his head, even if he wanted to, the stamina he had left wouldn't even let him. “It was different though, everytime I'd used it before, it felt like someone overdosed me on adrenaline but this time was different, this time felt like they'd numbed me to everything but the Arkana around me and it didn't hurt.”

Maerik raised a brow. “Was it supposed to?”

“It used to.”

Maerik and Yennifer shared a glance before she came forward. “I apologize for asking this of you but can you activate it the way you used to or would that be impossible?”

“I think I can.” He said, recalling all the times he'd used it with nothing left in his tank.
“Dravy focus on his internal flow, tell us the difference.”Maerik ordered them turned back to Rylan as He closed his eye and focused, it immediately felt wrong, guiding the path of the Arkana instead of letting it be, a second later his body was lit again and once again there was that burn.

“Fuckkkk!” He fell too his knees but tried to preserve a bit of bravado as he gritted his teeth and stood. Yennifer came closer to him looking at the lit patterns intently, they were steaming, like he was being boiled from the inside out, she couldn't imagine the amount of pain currently being inflicted on him but for some reason the fascinated smile on her face refused to leave.

“How do you feel?” Maerik asked. “Can you still feel everything?”

“No.” The words sounded choked and heavy. “I feel energetic, powerful, like I could reach Dravy if I tried.”

Maerik turned to Dravy, he was at a similar distance from Rylan now than he was before but back then, Rylan didn't feel like he could, He was certain.

“Is there a difference?” Maerik asked Dravy.

“Yes. When he's like this, the Arkana inside him is wild and unstable.”

Maerik turned back to Rylan. “Rylan—”

\[Stamina : 0/100\]
The glow immediately shut and Rylan crumpled to the floor, the steam pouring out of him and burn marks showing around the pattern.

“Move!” Peter shouted as he ran past him with a bucket filled with water and dunked it on Rylan. Steam rose like he was a heated iron but the unease on his face relaxed slightly. Peter knelt down beside him and placed a palm on his head before letting out a grateful sigh.

“I'm sorry for putting you through that.” Yennifer said, crouching down to help Rylan up, he rose weakly, barely able to stand without support.

“How long?”

“30 seconds.” Dravy answered.

“Less effective, this method consumes less Arkana but the drawback is significantly higher.”

“Now I know the correct way to use it.” Rylan added weakly with his hand still around Yennifer’s shoulder.

“Rest up, I don't think you're in any shape to do anything else today.”

“Fuck that, we're just getting started.” Rylan said, an excited smile on his face as he spoke.

“Really?” Maerik asked then turned his eyes to Yennifer and gave her a small nod, She nodded, took his hand off her shoulder and immediately he fell to the ground. He crouched down. “Get up and we'll continue.”

Rylan glared but couldn't. “Point made.”