Second World

Grace, Jeanny, Paytowin, and Peniel were watching Jack without a word. They just stared at him with gaping mouths.

Jack blinked a few times. His memory had returned but he was still slightly drowsy. He took in the scenes around him. Broidrireg and Eoranth were facing Azzarilth. Arlcard was battling the ten obsidian dragons supported by Therras, Spark, and Brave King. Arlcard was more than a match for those dragons considering his eternal grade but they were fighting within Azzarilth's infernal chaos domain, so he was hampered while the obsidian dragons were boosted.

Jack also caught sight of a tide of obsidian dragons flying up toward them from the capital below. Soldiers from the Allied forces who could fly were engaging these dragons and slowed their advance.

"How long have I been unconscious?" He asked the ones before him.

Jeanny, Grace, Paytowin, and Peniel looked at each other before answering, "Around ten minutes."

"Ten minutes…? It felt much, much, longer than that," Jack muttered.

"Bro… Are you aware of what is happening to yourself?" Paytowin asked.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked back.

"Take a look at yourself," Jeanny said.

Jack looked down. He now understood why they had been staring at him all this time. He thought at first they were just surprised that he had woken up. It turned out the reason was that there was some sorts of an aura surrounding him. A multi-colored aura.

"What the…," Jack was surprised himself. He felt the link then. The mana within him, they had fused with him. What he experienced when he was unconscious was real.

"Do you know what is happening to him?" Jeanny asked Peniel. Peniel just shook her head in silence for a response. She was as flabbergasted as the rest.

"Bro, what exactly has happe–Ouch…!" Paytowin wanted to put his hand on Jack's shoulder. But as soon as he touched the multi-colored aura, he felt a jolt from his arm. He felt as if his fingers had been electrocuted, burned, petrified, cut, and frozen at the same time.

"This…," As Jack delved into what was currently happening to his body, he gained a better understanding. He felt a great power was currently within him.

"Watch out!" They heard Arlcard shout.

One of the obsidian dragons had broken out of formation and headed in their direction. It opened its jaws and unleashed a chaos breath attack.

"Get behind me!" Grace called. She put her hand forward. Dark cold energy swirled around that hand, but she suddenly found that Jack had zipped in front of her.

She didn't have the time to utter her surprise as the chaos breath had arrived. Jack also put his hand forward. His hand summoned a magic shield three times the size of his body, which was many times the size of a normal magic shield.

The chaos breath hit this magic shield. The gigantic size of Jack's magic shield allowed it to cover all four of them. The magic shield also didn't budge from the breath attack. It remained sturdy even after the chaos breath finished its attack.

"Bro… You can cast a spell without using your magic staff?" Paytowin asked.

"Oh…," Now that Paytowin mentioned it, Jack realized that. He looked at his hand which was covered by the multicolor aura. He had reacted by instinct. He just sorts of knew he could cast the spell even when he didn't use a magic staff.

"Jack, look out!!" Grace called.

The obsidian dragon that had unleashed the chaos breath never stopped its advance. It had already arrived before Jack. Its claw swung in Jack's direction. The air shredded following its claw. The dragon was a level 85 mythical-grade dragon. Even if Jack could already win against a mythical grade of the same level, it didn't mean getting directly hit by one was safe.

Jack sensed the attack. He knew the dragon's arrival before Grace's warning, but he just stayed there. He was curious. The mana within him gave him a very safe feeling, so safe that he felt invincible. He wanted to know how true that was.

The claw slammed into him. He was sent a few meters back but he wasn't like someone who was sent flying by a strong impact. He floated back stably as if he was gently pushed. A damage number appeared, but the damage was just 100 points.

'Not exactly invincible, but close enough,' Jack thought. Additionally, that 100 points of damage quickly recovered. It was as if he never received any damage in the first place.

Grace and the others stared in disbelief at the scene.

As for the obsidian dragon, it never stopped. It wasn't surprised or fazed by the impossible outcome. It didn't have much of a personality. It was a wilderness monster. It didn't feel fear or bafflement. Its other claw went for Jack's head.

Jack didn't just let it hit him this time. His hand shot out at lightning speed and caught the dragon's gigantic claw mid-

swing. The swing was abruptly stopped. The impact caused the air to erupt. The shockwave hit Grace and the others and caused them to stagger a bit. This shockwave also woke them up and told them they were not dreaming.

However, what happened next made them feel they were back in dreamland again.

Jack stabbed his fingers at the obsidian dragon. It was the move of One-word Thrust. The thrust generated a sharp multicolor energy that pierced the dragon's body. The dragon roared in pain from the stab and lost almost twenty percent of HP. What was more surprising was there was a gaping hole in the dragon's body where the stab had hit.

Jack then moved his hand sideways, performing a One-word Slash. The martial art created a visual effect where a multicolor straight line sliced through the dragon's neck. The dragon became still. Its head then slowly detached from its neck.

Its HP immediately went down to zero when that happened.

The beheaded dragon turned into dust and several loots fell. Jack didn't chase after the loots, which caused Paytowin to fly down hurriedly to catch those loots.

Jeanny, Grace, and Peniel came to Jack. "What… What exactly is happening to you?" They asked.

Jack looked at himself again. "… I think this is called the Mana Awakening," Jack answered.