'Now that I think about it, what happened to Falco? He should have become something like an undead familiar after I transformed, but he simply disappeared.' Athos was in doubt but set the thought aside and focused on the present.
Athos made the mana vine connect with the aberration skeleton, which reacted with much less violence than a regular person. The similarities between their energy signatures allowed Athos' mana to travel through the aberration's bones without resistance, at least until the vine reached the core.
At that point, the core began to fiercely resist, and the aberration fell to the ground screaming. The void invaded his mind with full force, this time not divided among several enemies but focused like a laser.
'It works!' Athos shouted happily, not at all bothered by the aberration's intrusion into his mind. 'The binding spell connects the minds and cores, so I figured it would work.'