116 Chapter 116 Twins (2/2)

TELEPORT only allowed him to bring one being with him, so if he didn't fix these circuits to be much stronger, as soon as they left his Mana Territory, the rune below the floor would destroy them again. Using the actual LEND ENERGY spell made it easier to do this, thankfully.

Joseph had never had to do this so quickly. Fortunately, the babies started crying strong and loud, so he knew it was working. He had made it in time.

Their cries made the screaming come to an abrupt halt. Instead of pale blue, limp forms, pink healthy babies screamed and squirmed on the table.

He was running low on mana and had already used a good chunk of Stella's battery teleporting in here. The stale mana was unpleasant to absorb at that speed, and he felt a headache creeping up, like eating ice cream too fast.

'Add this secondary pathway, so anything that gets leaked will recollect over here, instead of being lost. How could the altered rune force them to use life force instead of mana? This reacts with this part normally, so alter that structure, but modify this part to handle half of that portion…'

Joseph could tell that the two minds had synergized, allowing them to do something beyond his normal abilities. Maybe that was what caused the headache? Didn't matter, he was almost done.

'There, with that line being reconnected, I can now fill the entire array full of mana. Wow, I'm tired.'

He turned towards Stella, who turned to see him at the same time.

”JOSEPH!” she screamed.

'Why did Stella scream? My nose is running…' when he wiped it, blood was on his hand. 'Oh, that would make sense.'

Everything started to spin as he fell. Stella caught him, of course. She was such an awesome fried. He meant to say it out loud, but his tongue wasn't working for some reason. He really hoped she managed to put that dagger up before he caught her. His eyes didn't want to stay open.

”Run,” he whispered.

She was running. Was someone shouting? Maybe guards?

x.x.xxX

The sun was s.h.i.+ning in his face. Moving didn't seem like a good idea.

”Joseph?” The whisper was soft. It made him smile.

”Yes, Stella?” he asked, then frowned as memories of what happened began to register. ”I think I owe you an apology. That was way more dangerous and painful than I thought it was going to be. Are the children ok though?”

There was a sigh.

”Yes, Master Joseph.” Her voice was soft, and did he hear the hint of tears?

Rolling his head to the side didn't make him feel like he was falling through the ground. Squinting, he saw her face, laying next to his, where they must have fallen. There weren't tears, but he thought maybe there had been.

”Good. You can yell at me as long as you do it softly.”

That made her smile. His eyes focused beyond her face, and he saw an open plain clear to the horizon.

”Stella, what happened to the trees?”

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