Joshua noticed that even just maintaining his connection with the barrier bubble drained his mana at incredible speed. But he could understand why. Joshua could sense everything inside the bubble. It was hard for him to maintain the connection due to the influx of overwhelming amounts of information, but he managed to ignore most of it and only focus on what he needed to. The barrier and the mana.
It would be impossible for him to sustain his connection with the barrier much longer with only his own mana, much less change it so he could help Lucy. Joshua remembered how he had almost drowned in mana when he trained training after accidentally making a subconscious connection with the barrier.
It might have been because he had been inspired by Toz's craziness in pathing up a whale by using a forest, but Joshua planned to use himself as a funnel. After he hardened the barrier, if he could, it would almost definitely devour his mana, unlike anything he could think of. But if Joshua could replenish his mana as quickly as it was drained, he wouldn't have to worry about his magic losing its effect.
Since the flow of mana would overwhelm Joshua and affect his concentration, he began by spreading his will to the barrier around the island.
Joshua didn't know why Lucy's barrier didn't work, but the only way he knew how to change the barrier was to make it sturdy and impenetrable like he had done when his inclination awoke.
Joshua's mana began disappearing even faster as soon as he began solidifying the barrier bubble. He could only hope that it would last until he could begin directing all the mana within the bubble to himself.
As soon as the barrier's transformation finished, Joshua's mana was down to the last few wisps. Since the bubble magic would disappear when Joshua could no longer sustain it, he had to quickly guide as much mana as possible into his body. He wasn't sure he would be capable of exerting enough willpower to harden the barrier again if he failed.
Toz and the others had sensed that Joshua was using magic and that his mana was rapidly disappearing. Toz had an inkling of an idea of what Joshua was trying to do since Joshua had told him about what he could do with his magic. However, he was still amazed at how much mana Joshua could expend at once.
But the mana Joshua expended was only the beginning.
Lucy had been concentrating on his sphere of darkness and the three void beasts, so he didn't pay attention to Joshua until he sensed the island's natural bubble of a barrier become stronger. The sphere of darkness lay directly upon the island's barrier, so Lucy sensed the changes as soon as they happened, and he afforded himself to take a glance in Joshua's direction. However, the glance turned into a dazed stare. Toz had to remind him to keep track of the outside in case the void beasts came too close.
Lucy's eyes had become so transfixed to Joshua because of the maelstrom of mana swirling above Joshua. The vortex moved with enough force to generate a wind that swept through the island and rustled the leaves. And the mana was concentrated enough to become visible to the naked eye in the form of a misty tornado of varying colors.
The mana vortex was an amazing sight by itself, but Lucy was stunned because Joshua was kind of controlling it. Joshua channeled the mana through himself and into the barrier around the island, hardening it and helping Lucy hide their presence from the void beasts.
The three void beasts were close enough that Lucy could sense the impact that Joshua's magic had. The three void beasts lost their track almost instantly after Joshua's magic took effect, and he became a lantern with his eyes and mouth glowing due to the mana rushing through his body.
Lucy happily told Toz about the results as they gradually left the three void beasts behind. After the shark and the two catfish lost track of whatever helped them chase the island, they copied the other void beasts and slowed down while spreading out and looking for something to follow.
But they weren't quite in the clear yet. Until they put a significant distance between themselves and the void beasts, they still had to keep up the sphere of darkness and Joshua's barrier. If they relaxed too quickly, they would only be found again, and most likely before they recovered enough to repeat their vanishing trick. Especially Joshua. The massive flow of mana coursing through his body was bound to take a toll on it, and even if he didn't pass out after pushing so far beyond his limits, he would most likely need to take a break from magic and mana for some time.
Joshua wasn't the only one who would need to rest after they escaped from the void beasts. The whale, the blue cat, Toz, Mindle, and Stitches all needed to rest and recover as soon as they could. Although Stitches had healed the whale, it was still dead tired and completely out of mana. The little mana it had left after leaving a trail through the Void had been used to fuse with the roots of the island.
The whale, who was on the verge of falling asleep, couldn't swim as fast as when it was only moderately exhausted. They were still within distance of the three void beasts, even after several minutes passed from the time they lost the void beasts' chase.
Lucy wasn't having much trouble maintaining the sphere. But Joshua had gone beyond his limits from the very beginning. Now, several minutes after he began, his face had turned a sickly pale. His head had started tilting and was wobbling back and forth as if he was only barely managing to stay awake. His back was slouching. His arms were dangling loosely at his sides, and his legs looked like they were about to buckle at any moment.
Joshua fought the mental and physical exhaustion as hard as he could, but it was a losing battle since he was growing more and more tired every moment the river of mana coursed through him.
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