Chapter 13: Point Of No Return

Chapter 13: Point Of No Return

Jade started emitting a white aura around her body, it was faint but it’s making her sweat in bullets. She breathed heavily as her body arched upwards and started shaking incredibly, she let out a scream of intense pain which caught everyone’s attention. Janine, Pearl and Glory stood up, panicking and were terrified witnessing what’s happening to their friend.

“JADE!” Glory screamed and tried to touch Jade on her shoulder.

“Stay away from her!” Edward ordered.

“There’s no way we could do that!” Pearl refused. She screamed “Jade!” and was about to run straight to help Jade.

“I said stop!” Edward screamed hoarsely as he repeated himself, preventing everyone from going near the outraging girl. Jade screamed piercingly experiencing all the level of sharp pain going through her all at once.

The others looked at their friend, they’re all worried but they can’t seem to do anything. “But!” Glory protested, clenching her fist insisting that she wanted to help.

“Please, let’s leave this to Edward,” Janine reached out and held Glory’s hand which was shaking terribly from the pressure and frustration. She looked at her friend with eyes that showed uncertainty, knowing if she should be relieved.

“Leave this to me.” Edward reassuringly looked straight towards the soft-honey haired girl with his pair of turquoise orbs. Glory didn’t say anything anymore, she gave off a concluding serious look and nodded, giving Edward the permission to jump the fence.

Yujin who was doing some push-ups in the corner felt the disturbance of someone’s mana. It was the worst air with a touch of promptness. As soon as he recognized where that mana was coming from, his eyes widened, shocked and wasn’t able to move. He got a hold of himself and immediately rushed toward Jade’s direction. He formed little steps that turned into big ones. He started panicking as he heard a scream filled with pain. “JADE!” The red-head shouted with his lungs all out.

“Everyone, stay away from her!” Edward ordered out. He pulled out both of his arms doing some hand seals.

“What are you going to do?!” Glory asked with such pain on her face that instantly revives fear.

“Colors of myriad, red, blue, yellow and white, heed my humble request. Grant the knowledge of those who seek the Mauentella, I progress the tenth Ganlon! Iver!” A bluish white light in the form of a ribbon suddenly emitted from the lad’s hand, it immediately went straight to Jade who’s struggling hard.

“No, no ... no, no ... Ahh!" Jade screamed trying to resist the unbearable pain, it felt more of something is mercilessly overrunning inside her body. The Iver reached her and immediately wrapped both her arms and legs, strangling, hanging her above the air, keeping her immobile. “STOP!!!” Frightened and scared, she screamed. She twisted herself and tried to escape, desperately trying to rampage like a wild beast but her body was too weak. Janine covered her mouth witnessing what was happening to her friend in front of her eyes. It was impossible to endure anymore, she thought.

"Ah ... no, no... No, no...! No... Oh no, no…!" At this point, the white aura burst out even more like a blazing fire, everyone could hear Jade. She’s already crying on the top of her lungs again and again like her soul is dying. She continued to resist more while the mana from her body intensified as if it was oozing like liquid. She wanted to stop, she wanted to run away, but her body doesn't listen to her completely anymore. The thrilling sensation ran through and she screamed painfully. "Ah ... no, no... No, no...!”

With such fear presented in Glory’s earthly orbs, she continued to scream Jade’s name with abject terror as the other one is still struggling “Jade hang in there!” She shifted her worried gaze to Edward. “What is happening to her?! Please stop it!”

Edward was having a hard time which is painted all over his face with sweat dripping from his temples, his frown got even deeper. It’s obvious that he’s struggling desperately to suppress the mana from Jade. It was just a moment that she stopped moving but he didn’t expect for her to be so powerful and out of control, even most of the Iver finally covering her arms was forcefully cut down!

He looked towards the struggling girl. “Jade forgive me, this will hurt a bit.” He increased the mana being released from his palms emitting more ribbon-like feelers. He gave another attempt to strangle the girl.

"Huh ... uh ... uh ... uh ...!" Jade reacts to the Iver as she’s being strangled slowly. Her legs started to tremble as it was being covered. Edward didn’t remove his gaze and focused. It seems it’s having an effect, he thought. The ribbon-like feelers started to extinguish the mana from Jade’s body and her struggling slowly stopped. The light from her body faded and the alarming sound of her screaming diminished. The Iver disappeared and Jade, who was hanging in the air, was about to fall.

“JADE!” The girls shouted in unison but a figure in the form of Yujin suddenly appeared, he jumped so fast and high enough to catch Jade. He landed carefully with the helpless girl inside his arms. He slowly put her down on the green grass as if she was a fragile thing that’s bound to be broken. He captured her neck in the noose of his arms, directing with a gentle touch of his hand on the back of Jade’s neck. At that moment, Yujin had a gentle look on his face. He’s looking down on Jade’s unconscious face with a gaze probing visual caress which he never showed often. It wasn’t the first time he made that look but every time he did that, it was like he’s a different person- he was like a cool autumn breeze.

“Idiot. You made me worried.” He whispered.

*****

Hours have passed by inside the Barranca. Jade slowly regained her consciousness, it was faint but she found that warm things were scattered around her shoulders. She slowly opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was the face of Yujin looking down on her.

“Y-Yujin? W-What happened?” Her voice croaked, must be the effect of her loud screaming earlier. It was a matter of seconds until she realized that her head was laying on Yujin’s lap. Normally, she would immediately react to it but in her situation; she couldn’t. She felt like a heavy stone.

“How do you feel?” Yujin asked in a soft manner, still not removing his gaze at her. “Don’t you remember?”

She was quiet at the moment until she remembered what just happened like a tape in rewind. A horrifying sight suddenly flashed back in her brain. She heard her own scream echoing inside her brain begging for help, as if she wasn’t herself. She shook her head and tried to remember. However, like a sandy mountain that crumbles smoothly, the unclear memory becomes more and more ambiguous.

‘W-What just happened to me? I-I just knew a sudden pain struck before me. It was fast. It exploded in my head with a blinding whiteness, then I felt dizzy and I didn't know anything.’ She thought with a sullen look.

“Hey…” Her thoughts were disrupted by Yujin’s soft yet deep voice, his gentle and soft smile didn’t fade, looking so perfectly with his thin lips. Thinking it all through, she forgot that she was still laying on his lap. “You got me okay?”

“Yujin…” She whispered softly then the frown on her face turned into a sad smile. Her earthly orbs met his ruby ones, then she muttered a deep and sincere, “Thank you…”

“Jade!” It was Glory’s voice. Jade managed to lift her upper body with the help of Yujin. “What do you feel? Are you hurt? Tell me!” Glory questioned hastily.

“Glory… Everyone…” She slowly turned, looking and checking everyone's face. Apparently, they all seemed worried and restless. “I’m fine…” She said in a low tone voice.

Pearl took a deep breath and immediately hugged her and cried like a crybaby as if her soul could bleed an ocean through her eyes. “W-We’re sorry! We couldn’t do anything!”

Jade was surprised but she got a hold of herself since Yujin was supporting her. She rubbed her friend’s back who was sobbing on her shoulders.

“I’m sorry… You must be scared of me…” She whispered comforting her friend. Pearl shook her head while still crying and spoke.

“W-We’re not scared of y-you, we’re s-scared we might lose y-you!” Pearl whimpered, breathing hard, pressing herself onto Jade’s body and hugging her tightly. Jade just sat there, watching her friend crying with her head low.

Everyone was uneasy and couldn’t seem to give a response hearing Pearl’s cry. Even Noctis who was staring at them just fell silent.

“Hush now… There’s no need to cry. I’m alright now.” Jade whispered.

“She’s right.” Yujin joined the conversation, Pearl raised her head and looked at him. “Stop whining already. Nothing bad happened and we saved our horses. Jade is safe, so stop crying and besides supporting the two of you are kind of heavy. I mean Jade is quite understandable but- OW! HEY! NOT MY FACE!”

Jade slapped her on his face without a blink. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY ME QUITE UNDERSTANDABLE? HUH?!” There was a pause between Jade and Yujin and the tension suddenly disappeared because of Pearl’s laugh. She wiped her tears and stood up. She looked at Jade with a soft smile and the other one replied.

Jade caught Asher’s eyes staring at her, she was uncomfortable but then… “What happened to me?” She questioned.

Asher stepped up and walked quietly to her direction. “The mana in your body simply got out of control.” Everyone’s attention was on him. “Actually, there is a definitive difference between us, and that is, you were unconsciously living with mana until just now. Mana is already within us the moment we were born, it is the norm. But unlike you, we were aware of it since childhood. Nurturing and growing with it with our knowledge was actually helpful for knowing our body’s capabilities and how to adjust with it. For someone like you who just realized there’s mana inside you, your body probably couldn’t handle its sudden awakening,” Asher explained.

“So what you are saying is… Both our body and mana are unsuitable to each other?” Jade asked with brows knitted together.

“At this point, yes.” Asher replied. “You see, a human’s body is becoming mature to function properly just to satisfy its needs as he grows old. It’s the same concept with mana, it couldn’t adjust itself with your body right away. To master delicate mana control, a person needs to have a stable physical and mental state. At this point, if we’re going to compare our mana, ours circulates inside our body just like how blood does while yours are flowing in a disturbed manner.”

“This is why I disagree,” Yujin managed.

“Yujin?” Jade whispered and looked at the red-head.

“Practicing mana control in a rush is like building sand castles without water. It definitely requires a lot of time, even Asher cast the Barranca, there is no assurance that you will succeed, besides…” Yujin paused and stared at the albino with a frown.

“Yujin you don’t mean to-!” Edward blurted out but he was late because Yujin started talking anyway.

“You may not even notice it… No. You couldn’t notice it… But at this very moment, Asher is losing a lot of mana!” The girls had only the same expression painted on their faces; shocked.

“We didn’t want to tell you because we didn’t want you to feel the burden while doing this training. Casting this time-space Ganlon requires a massive amount of mana and four eyes is rapidly losing his!”

“But didn’t Edward say that losing one’s mana will only mean death?!” Janine spoke with her lips formed into a frown.

Yujin closed his eyes and clenched his fist along with his teeth grinding in tension. All he wanted was to protect everyone, there’s no need for everyone to be standing on a thin sheet and struggle. He only wants their safety. But then… Jade holds his hand. He opened his eyes and saw Jade smiling at her. She stood up desperately even though her body was still shaky and looked at everyone.

“Then that’s more the reason we need to finish this.” She spoke. Yujin was surprised by her response. “Asher already cast the Barranca knowing what the consequences are, if he put all this effort for us who are mere Earthlings just trying to save our friend then, we don’t want Asher’s effort to be wasted.”

“Will that be your answer even after experiencing the pain of losing control of your own mana?” Asher spoke, giving off an icy stare from his pair of golden orbs. “Are you still willing to continue after witnessing your friend on the verge of death? No doubt that this time one of you will go through that. In spite of all of that, are you still willing to risk your lives for this training? Sure, one of us will definitely help you but what if your body couldn’t handle the pressure? Do you know what will happen?”

“You’ll explode.” He continued. The shock by what Asher said nearly shattered the girls’ hopes to nearly shatter.

“So tell me your answers, show me how desperate you are. Show me your resolve.” Testing them, Asher throws those words firmly without shifting his gaze from them.

Janine looked down and thought it through, she clenched her fist and raised her head looking straight to Asher. “We knew that everything starting from this point will be dangerous. Honestly everything was so sudden that I couldn’t adjust myself but… We’ve already made this decision! It’s useless to go back. We will continue the training!”

“I already said this. I’m not a quitter so count me in!” Pearl raised her thumb.

“If you’re losing mana up to this very point, then we should stop wasting time and continue our training, right?” Jade wears her glasses. “If we quit right now, then what face can we show when we see Andrew?” Glory’s eyes widened the moment she heard those words from Jade. “If we’re scared and afraid just because of losing our lives by this training, how much more when we’re already on your planet?” Jade gave a decisive look at the albino and looked back at Yujin who was obviously worried.

“Yujin… Believe in us…” She said, smiling softly.

“Jade…” His ruby red orbs widened for a moment but now he fully understands. He made a bitter smile. It’s useless stopping them from this point. He knew deep down that this woman standing in front of him was brave enough to be with his side no matter what happens, if that’s what she wants, then all he can do is to believe in her. ‘I believe in you Jade…’ He thought.

His bitter smile turned into a grin. “Man, what am I worrying about?” He muttered to himself.

“Yujin?” Jade whispered.

“Just don’t die… Got it?” He said with a grin and Jade nodded back.

“Of course!”

Everyone was settled and returned to what they were supposed to be doing. Asher turned his back and walked past Glory who was standing still in her place, frozen. The albino paused and whispered to her. “This is what I meant by you being selfish.” Her eyes widened and forcedly bit her lips. “Have you ever thought about what your friends truly want? What if they were forced to do this kind of stuff just for you…? For you to save that Andrew?”

She couldn’t utter a word or thing, the soft-honey haired girl remembered what the albino told her back then.

“You’re quite selfish to decide on your own without thinking of what others would feel. And that’s only because of a man who’s neither related nor a lover to you.”

“Your determination to save Andrew is out of question, but did you really think that you and your friends share the same reason? Jade could’ve died earlier if Edward wasn’t there,” She swallowed her own spit hearing that from Asher. In her mind, she knew that he was right. She didn’t even think of how the others would feel about this training. She just thought that she needed to save Andrew. She only thinks about herself.

“If you feel guilty, then try to reconsider things. This is what you get from your selfish and foolish acts, I just hope you’re prepared to swallow all the consequences.” She was pressured by Asher's knife-piercing words and the reason it hurt badly was because all things he mentioned were all true. The albino left and Glory returned to the girls without a word.

*****

“Eh?! So it was Edward who saved me?!” Jade loudly asked with eyes blinking.

Janine nodded at her and looked at the brown head guy who was smiling awkwardly. “Why are you so surprised anyway?”

“Uh! Eh… Nothing!” Jade laughed at herself.

“Sheesh! Why can’t you just admit that you thought it was Yujin who saved you?” Pearl managed teasing her friend.

“I-I never thought about that!” Jade fixed her glasses profusely.

“Well I personally think that’s better because Yujin actually didn’t do a thing!” Pearl purposely barked at the red-head.

The red-head immediately replied. “Eh?! Did I hear it right?! What kind of nonsense are you talking about? Of course I did do a thing! Who do you think saved Jade when she was about to fall, HUH?!”

“Well at least Edward did some flashy tricks while you just basically jumped high!” Pearl counter back.

“Tch! I can easily do those tricks, you know!”

“Well then show us!”

“That’s why I’m asking you, what kind of nonsense are you talking about? Why should I do that?! You’re not even worth seeing it!” The red-head crossed his arms, pulling out his tongue while making a face towards the caramel head girl.

“Eh? Maybe you’re just afraid of showing it because you actually couldn’t do it!”

“WHAT DID YOU JUST SAID?!”

“Oh my! Even if you have those big ears of yours, you didn’t hear what I said?! What’s that for?! For shade?” Pearl makes a funny face stretching her own ears teasing the red-head.

“That’s it!” And then the two of them started to blow up their horses like what they normally do.

Others were just staring at them with a bored look. “Ugh! Those two…” Jade whispered but then she turned her gaze at Edward.

“By the way, how did you save me?” She questioned.

“Oh.” Edward gave out a soft smile, even Janine was lending her ear. “I just did a Ganlon.”

“A Ganlon?”

Edward nodded. “It’s the tenth Ganlon, Iver. Asher did say earlier that the mana inside your body has gone out of control right? Well, I just basically absorbed the excess mana coming out from you using it.”

“So that’s the purpose of those ribbons?” Janine asked.

Edward nodded. “The ribbons of Iver have special properties, it has a mind of its own. If it touches anything that consists of mana, it will immediately absorb it until there is nothing left. If the user cast it recklessly, chances are, the user might be the one being attacked by the Iver.

“Even if it looks harmless, it can still be dangerous,” Janine responded, keeping her eyes to Edward.

“That’s why mana control is a must.” Edward added.

“But how can we achieve it in such a short time?” Janine pondered to herself looking down at the grass as if the answer she’s looking for was there.

“I think I know how,” Jade whispered slowly, turning her head down as if she’s figuring something out.

“What do you mean?” Janine questioned.

Jade raised her head and looked back at the other one. “There were too many things I didn't understand myself. I was just following what Asher instructed us to do; concentrate and then release.” She paused for a while with her eyes wielding doubt.

“What’s the matter?” Janine asked.

Jade put her hand on her chest. “How should I say this? But it feels like I am close to achieving it. It’s just like what Asher said, I can feel the mana flowing inside me.” She suddenly looked down on the thin paper on her hand. “I was trying to put some of my mana on this paper but I believe that everything happened after that was…” She paused and looked hesitant at Janine. The other one held her hand firmly.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of,” they both look at Edward. “Everything that you said was normal. Actually those are the signs that you’re close to achieving mana control.”

There was hope in their eyes when they heard it from the brown head guy. In the corner of their heart, they knew they could do it, all they needed was a little more push and believe in themselves more.

“I would suggest intensifying your control by increasing your focus. Even your body couldn’t handle the mana, putting enough effort for controlling through focus might actually be the key to master mana control,” Edward said but his attention was cut when he saw Glory. Irritation was painted all over her face, she sat down on the grass with the others. Jade quickly approached her.

"Hey..." Glory looked at Jade and couldn't give a proper response. She's been held back by what Asher said.

She shook her head and gave a fake smile at Jade. "Are you feeling okay now?"

"Glory...?" Jade involuntarily whispered. It was obvious Glory was disturbed about something, she thought they needed to talk about it but at this point, training should be done first.

Jade smiled back. "Let's do our best okay?"

*****

"Now remember, concentrate harder and focus!" Yujin said in a strict voice, Edward was beside him panting heavily with his hands stretched out mid-air. Hours have passed since they resumed the training in a simultaneous manner.

At any time if the girls went out of control, Edward will do the Iver co-operative whilst Yujin will also do the same preparation in case Edward couldn't do it in time. They've been doing the same routine over the past hours. The girls were giving off some heavy breathing along with the droplets of their bullet size sweat and the shaking of their bruised bodies. It was all the proof they've been doing the training non-stop. During that time, there was a huge progress with the girl's mana, it's already naturally flowing and reaching the level of maturity they wanted.

However, the risk of losing out of control was still present.

Janine suddenly let out a screeching like being punished with cruelty. The white aura around her body discharged and went out of control. Yujin's ruby red orbs gazed at her.

"Edward now!" The red-head ordered.

"You don't need to tell me! Colors of myriad, red, blue, yellow and white, heed my humble request. Grant the knowledge of those who seek the Mauentella, I progress the tenth Ganlon! Iver!” The bluish-white ribbons were summoned and were already wrapped in Janine's body.

“Hang in there!” Edward said whilst casting the Iver absorbed the excess mana from Janine. The other girls are trying their best keeping their focus despite being terrified about what is happening around, just a slight disruption in their concentration and they will go berserk. Pearl was concentrating on giving out all of the mana through the paper she was holding, it was small-scale like a needle’s hole but the paper started tearing up.

On the other hand, Edward carefully dropped Janine on the grass and immediately reached her out kneeling on the grass beside her. “Janine!?” His eyes widened seeing Janine’s being beaten up. There was a lot of damage on her pearly white skin, her lips are dry like all of the blood from it had already been sucked by. She tried to raise her body but she could barely move. Edward held her arms and supported her, leaning her head onto his chest. His turquoise like orbs gazed at her emerald ones like of the light that flows water-like.

“T-Thank you…” Janine whispered.

“Don’t mention it, can you still…?” He couldn’t finish his question as the girl nodded at her with assurance. They stare with their eyes talking like they were exchanging vows at each other, and after that they both turned to the direction of the other girls who’s trying everything they could, screaming and enduring the damage from achieving mana control.

“I should start focusing now…” Janine whispered, Edward only nodded as a response, and with him by her side she started concentrating again.

Asher was quietly gazing at them afar, he could hear the girl’s scream blaring. Mana control requires a lot of time to perfect and it’s a wishful thinking acquiring it for a limited time.

“But…” He muttered to himself. “Upon living on this planet I learned that humans never gave up easily. They never yield to the unforeseeable and menacing force even if it is dragging them down. Is the desperation they bore enough to lift themselves upwards? Or will it only lead them to dig their own grave? Can humans use their desperation and make the impossible a reality? Or is it the opposite? Because desperation sounded closely with despair.”

He’s been waiting patiently even though he’s rapidly losing his mana. . “Well, it’s only a matter of time,” then a curve on his lips appeared.

*****

The girls are still with the training, Edward and Yujin were worried, all the time they were. Yet, they still believe that they will succeed, they will achieve mana control. So despite what has already happened, or what is going to happen, they will still trust them.

Glory’s voice was blasting, she could already feel more than anyone else that she’s reaching her limit. She’s passing her mana to the paper but she couldn’t even make a scratch.

‘Is this all I’m capable of?’ She asked herself. ‘Is this all I can do?’

She imagined that there was a big hole inside her heart, a hole of emptiness. It was dark and cold, since that day she never felt the warmth of the sun nor felt the urge to laugh. She felt alone even though she was not. She felt cold.

‘Am I about to run away again even after this? I thought I was strong enough to face it but here I am, stepping back and falling again. Maybe Asher’s right, I’m just being selfish, not thinking what others might feel. I was only listening to myself. I couldn’t do anything when Andrew disappeared, I fought with my friends, and opposed them when they’re only thinking about me and now I even put their life in danger. I was acting like a child being pathetic all these times. They decided to train even though they're aware of the risks just for me... Just for me to save Andrew. I didn’t even talk to them, neither have I apologized for shouting at them and hurting their feelings. I can’t even look at them straight.’

‘I’m not worth any of this.’ She thought. She was about to give up and release the paper from her hand but then…

“What are you doing?!” Glory stopped. She turned back to that voice and saw Jade reaching out her hand. “Hold my hand!”

“W-What?” She stammered seeing the other three. All of them were holding their hands while still holding the paper, all covered by the white aura.

“At this point we will r-run out of mana before we can even cut the papers!” Pearl exclaimed.

“Let’s share our remaining mana!” Janine managed while still enduring the force.

“We cannot do this without you Glory…” Jade extended her arm waiting for Glory’s response. She was looking through their eyes and felt a sudden jolt running through her body.

‘What am I thinking?’ She thought. ‘Jade and the others have their own reasons. I can see it through their eyes. It wasn’t only just for me, they fixed their mind to do this training because they have their own resolutions! They’re trying their best, so I shouldn’t give up! I shouldn’t give up!’

She reached her hand and together they combined all of their mana. They shouted together for once. The white aura coming from their body got brighter and stronger, it felt warm just like the golden sunny days of summer. A kind of light that shines through like heaven’s kiss. At that unexpected moment, Yujin was caught in an awe, as if he saw a shooting star falling from the sky, and he was like that until it changed into a slight grin. So did Edward who was beside him.

The bursting white aura has vanished leaving the girls panting hardly.

“Well I think that’s it,” Yujin said, putting his hands behind his head. Edward nodded and gave out a joyous smile.

“Yeah… They did it.”