The moment Kera saw the pitch-black color covering almost Zeldryn's entire body, he lowered the oval mana platform beneath them onto the bedroom floor.
Strangely, there was no panic on Kera's face.
His expression simply became serious, as though a situation like this wasn't entirely unfamiliar to him.
Kera moved one of his fingers.
The oval mana platform rose again, carrying the female servant back outside through the window.
Once the servant reached a safe place, the mana platform disappeared completely.
Now only Kera and Zeldryn remained inside the room.
Kera wasted no time.
He immediately tried to control the flow of mana that continued being sucked into Zeldryn's body.
Kera snapped his fingers.
Snap!
The mana particles that had been continuously flowing toward Zeldryn suddenly trembled.
Some of the mana that had already begun darkening slowly moved outward.
But only a little.
Kera frowned.
The pull coming from Zeldryn's body was too strong.
Every time Kera managed to pull some mana out, more mana from the surrounding air was immediately sucked back in at an even greater speed.
Kera was beginning to struggle to control it.
“Tch. This is insane,” Kera muttered.
His eyes remained fixed on Zeldryn's body, which was still floating in the air.
“This kid's Mana Hole is like a black hole. It just keeps absorbing without stopping.”
Kera tried pulling even more mana out.
But the force coming from Zeldryn's body still hadn't weakened.
“The only option is to close the hole first,” Kera continued. “After that, I can remove the excess mana that's already entered his body.”
This time, Kera didn't rely only on snapping his fingers.
He raised his staff.
His eyes slowly closed.
The mana particles around Kera began gathering.
Several of them merged together and formed something resembling a rectangle.
The shape then moved toward Zeldryn's body.
More specifically, toward his Mana Hole.
Kera guided it directly there.
The moment the mana construct reached its position, something immediately changed.
The mana that had been continuously trying to enter Zeldryn's Mana Hole was suddenly blocked.
The particles still moved toward his body.
They were still trying to enter.
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But it was as if an invisible wall had sealed their path.
No matter how strongly the mana was pulled toward him, not a single particle managed to enter Zeldryn's Mana Hole anymore.
Kera opened his eyes slightly.
“Good.”
But the problem wasn't over yet.
The mana that could no longer enter was still gathering around Zeldryn's body.
Kera raised his staff once again and began controlling the accumulated mana.
Little by little, he forced the flow away.
Kera pushed all of the mana that was still trying to approach Zeldryn out of the room.
The process didn't end quickly.
Kera had to maintain the seal over Zeldryn's Mana Hole while simultaneously controlling the mana around him.
Around three minutes later, the situation finally began to change.
The mana that had been continuously trying to enter Zeldryn was no longer being pulled toward his body.
Its flow slowly returned to normal.
But Kera still wasn't finished.
The problem outside Zeldryn's body had been dealt with.
Now he had to deal with the mana that had already entered.
Kera focused on Zeldryn again.
He began pulling out the excess mana stored inside the boy's body.
Not all of it.
Kera only removed enough to bring the amount inside Zeldryn back down to the normal limit his Mana Hole could contain.
Little by little, dark mana began emerging from Zeldryn's body.
Kera watched the process seriously.
“Tch. I don't know whether you're the lucky one or I am,” Kera said while continuing to control the mana.
He glanced at Zeldryn's unconscious face.
“I arrived just in time.”
Kera let out a short sigh.
“Otherwise, I would've had to watch Lady Anna cry.”
His expression changed slightly when he mentioned her name.
“And I really don't want to see that.”
Several minutes passed.
The black color that had previously covered almost all of Zeldryn's body began to fade.
Little by little, his natural skin became visible again.
The darkness continued shrinking until it finally disappeared completely.
But the moment it did, Kera's eyes widened slightly.
“...?”
Now that the black color was gone, Zeldryn's actual physical condition could be seen clearly.
Wounds.
Bruises.
Marks from being beaten.
And several cuts that were still visible across his body.
Kera stared at him for several moments.
Why does this kid have this many injuries?
But Kera didn't spend long thinking about it.
He had only just arrived at the mansion.
There were far too many things he still didn't know.
I'll find out eventually.
Kera raised his staff once again.
For now, let's just say you're the lucky one, you troublesome brat.
After every blackened part of Zeldryn's body returned to normal, Kera began manipulating his mana again.
But this time, he wasn't using it to block or remove other mana.
Kera directed it toward Zeldryn's wounds.
Mana wrapped around the bruised areas of his body.
The change happened almost immediately.
The red and blue discoloration across Zeldryn's skin slowly faded.
The bruises that had covered his body disappeared.
Kera's mana then moved toward the cuts.
The wounded skin began closing.
The marks gradually vanished.
It didn't take long before Zeldryn's body, which had previously been covered in injuries, looked as though he had never been beaten at all.
Kera's thoughts returned to the present.
Thanks to what had happened that night, Kera already knew one thing for certain.
Zeldryn had the potential to become a Manholer.
And that potential...
Kera smiled as he looked at Zeldryn again.
“Hey, stupid kid. Use your brain,” Kera said. “Do you seriously not have one? Are you planning to let me keep tormenting you?”
Hearing that immediately irritated Zeldryn.
But his body still hurt.
After being kicked several times earlier, he didn't even have enough energy left to answer Kera properly.
Zeldryn could only breathe heavily while trying to steady himself.
My brain?
Zeldryn held back his irritation.
I've been thinking this entire time, damn it.
His mind kept turning.
All kinds of possibilities began appearing one after another.
Zeldryn tried remembering everything he had ever read in the novel.
How did someone fight a Manholer?
How did mana actually work?
How did people in this world activate their abilities?
But the more he thought about it, the more questions appeared.
Until finally, an idea crossed his mind.
It wasn't proven.
Even Zeldryn himself had no idea whether his reasoning was correct.
But in his current situation, where his choices were either try something or continue getting beaten, of course he was going to try.
Zeldryn had already realized that every Manholer perceived mana differently.
Some saw it in different colors.
The way they understood mana might not necessarily be the same either.
If that was true...
Wasn't it possible that the techniques used by different Manholers were different as well?
Zeldryn tried remembering the protagonist of Life Really Is Happy, Right?
How did the protagonist activate his power?
How did he control mana?
Zeldryn tried to remember.
But several seconds later, his expression immediately turned irritated.
It was useless.
As far as Zeldryn could remember, that bastard author had never properly explained the mana system in the first place.
Whenever the protagonist fought, the explanation was always something along the lines of the protagonist attacking with mana.
Or releasing mana.
Or strengthening an attack using mana.
There was never any genuinely useful explanation of how any of it was actually done.
“Damn you, you bastard author.”
Zeldryn cursed under his breath.