?Chapter 3451 The River and the Ocean (Part 2)


    "Already?" Leria panted more than said, her nose smelling her own pungent scent. "Bath."


    "Later." Sark shook her head. "First you need to eat. This will do for now."


    A water spell removed the sweat while a darkness spell cleansed the stench.


    Leria ate, took a bath with Rena''s help, and then fell asleep instantly. Abominus woke her up just for the time to work on her assignments which Leriapleted with unprecedented speed.


    "Do you think I should rest tomorrow or give onest try?" She asked as she performed the spells she had just learned from Abominus'' notes like she had practiced them for years.


    "What do mean, onest try?" Abominus asked. "Are you giving up?"


    "No, silly." She giggled. "If I seed tomorrow, I''ll beat Aran by one day. If I don''t, I might as well finish after him. There''s no point in a draw"


    "What do you think?" He tilted his head to the side.


    "I want to keep going." She replied. "And this time is not out of stubbornness, even though I am stubborn. It''s because today I felt like I was on the verge of something and if I take a break, I''m afraid I might lose it."


    "Trust your gut, then." Abominus nodded. "But if it doesn''t work, rest."


    "I know." She nodded. "I''m my onlypetitor. I''m not doing this to beat Aran but because it feels right."


    ***


    On the fourteenth day, it took Leria while to circte the six spells to perfection again.


    ''I was right. The world energy dide closer.'' Every time the rune sequencespleted ap, the zing fire would move a bit closer to her but would return to its original position at her slightest mistake.


    By snack time, Leria had gotten the gist of the artificial flow, yet aside from the me having crossed half the distance separating them, nothing happened. The burning sensation in Leria''s belly was the same and the size of her mana core was unchanged as well.


    ''I was wrong.'' She inwardly sighed. ''Whatever I discovered, it''s not enough- Wait a minute! The third step. I still need to merge my mana flow with the world energy. Assuming I have created a mana flow, it''s not enough to ovee my impurities alone.


    ''I need the world energy''s help to do it, but how?'' She stared at the bigger me, willing for it toe closer.


    It didn''t work, but by shifting her focus to the world energy, Leria noticed that the connection between her spells and the burning me was now thicker.


    ''Of course! Conjuring an elemental spell requires the corresponding external energy, establishing the connection. Once I established the flow, the resonance increased only up to a point because it''s different from the flow in the world energy.


    ''My mana is the water and I''m the river, but I''m nothingpared to Mogar. All rivers go to the ocean and let it carry them, bing part of its underwater currents.''n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "To reach the "ocean, I need to let my "river" flow into it.'' Leria tried to match the movements of her spells with those in the burning me but failed.


    No matter what method she tried, she failed.


    "The breathing. All the Awakened I know breathe in a weird way while using their powers.''Leria adjusted her breathing rhythm, trying to follow the pulsing of the runes in the world energy. They move in different patterns but the speed is the same.'' First, Leria focused to not only make her spells flow without shing with each other but also to move with matching speed. Then, she made them follow the same identical routes as their twins inside the zing me.


    With each progress she made, the connection between her mana core and the world energy grew stronger. The mana tendrils grew in size, pulling the zing me closer until Leria could almost feel its heat on her skin.


    Each following step was easier than the previous one. The runes now moved along their intended course with the rhythm they were supposed to have. Leria''s mana flowed into the world energy that in turn flowed into her mana core, making the tempo of the runes faster and faster.


    "It''s lunchtime, sweetie." Rena extended her hand but Sark stopped her.


    "Not now." The Guardian shook her head. "Your daughter is close to seeding" "Are you sure?" Rena swallowed hard.


    Before Sark could answer Leria managed to perfectly match the flow of the world energy with her own. Runes she had never seen before, runes belonging to Spirit Magic, joined the other six elements.


    The mana flow became strong enough to escape the confines of the impurities surrounding her mana core and spread to the rest of her body.


    "I did it, Grandma! I did it!" Only when Leria felt the process had gained enough momentum not to need her help any longer did she open her eyes. "Mom? I did it, Mom. I''m an Awak-"


    Dain hurned overu fiher of Iarin''s hodu lika navar hafore making the suffering of the


    previous days feel like a tickle.


    "Help me! Gods, hel-" Leria clenched her chest and started puking a ck tar-like substance that smelled like something dead for weeks and left rotting under the


    Desert''s sun.


    "My baby!" Rena rushed forward but Sark stopped her again.


    "There''s nothing you can do. That''s just the Awakening process."


    "But, she is suffering and it''s getting worse!" Rena pointed at her poor daughter who writhed in pain, the impurities now flowing out of her nose, eyes, ears, and skin. "No, it''s not getting worse. It''s just progressing." Sark shook her head. "Listen to me, Leria. Whatever happens, stay awake. You hear me? Don''t lose consciousness." "My baby girl!" Rena started to sob but no matter how much she struggled, she couldn''t break the Guardian''s hold on her.


    "Mob!" Leria gurgled through tears and impurities.


    The pain was blinding but seeing her mother cry like that was much worse. Leria clenched her fists and rxed the rest of her body. With nothing stopping it anymore, the flow of impurities became steadier, faster, and less painful.


    Leria trusted the Guardian and weed the spasms like her mother had taught her to do when bad food made her puke.


    "Don''t fight it, sweetie." Rena always said. "Your body is trying to get rid of what''s hurting you. You''ll feel betterter."


    The processsted less than a minute but to Rena and Leria they seemed hours.


    "My baby!" Rena bolted forward the moment Sark let her go.


    The Guardian cleansed the impurities and cleaned Leria, but Rena didn''t notice the stench while itsted. The only thing she cared about was feeling her daughter''s


    heartbeat and making sure she was alright.


    "I did it, Mom." Leria gave Rena a thin smile.


    Her voice was but a whisper and her eyes drooped from exhaustion.


    "I know, baby girl, I''m proud of you." Rena caressed her daughter''s hair,bing it


    with her fingers.


    "Awakening feels great, Mom, but it tastes like poop. Do you have a mint-" Then, Leria lost consciousness.


    Before Rena could ask Sark for reassurance, a soft snoring told her everything she


    needed.