It had been three days since Leo had locked himself in his room, gathering all the fragments of mana from his body. Outside, his family was growing increasingly worried.
"What is our son doing? He still hasn't come out of his room," Claudia said, her voice full of concern.
"I'm not sure," Simon replied, equally worried. "Could he be meditating? But that's impossible—he's only 10 years old."
"What if we check on him ourselves?"
"No, we promised not to disturb him, even if we're worried."
"But I can't help it, dear. I'm really worried."
"I am too, but we should respect his request and wait for him to come out."
"Okay," Claudia agreed, though the worry remained etched on her face.
Inside the room, Leo had finally gathered all the fragments of mana. Exhausted from three days without rest, he moved on to the next phase.
*"You need to slowly split the mana in half and guide each part to a different place—one to the brain and the other to the heart."*
Despite his exhaustion, Leo began the difficult task of splitting the mana. The pain was almost unbearable, but he forced himself to stay focused, determined to succeed even as he teetered on the edge of unconsciousness.
After what felt like an eternity, Leo successfully split the mana in half. But the pain had drained him almost completely.
"This is still nothing compared to what I went through in my previous life," Leo thought, confidence pushing him forward.
He carefully guided the two halves of the mana to their destinations—one to his heart and the other to his brain. Slowly but surely, he succeeded in surrounding both organs with mana. But the real challenge was yet to come: the third phase.
The third phase required him to forcefully open both mana cores at the same time. Even the natural awakening of a single mana core at age 12 was excruciatingly painful. Forcing open two at once was not just painful—it was dangerous.
"Just thinking about it makes me shiver," Leo muttered to himself.
Arthur had said it was necessary to wait at least five days to properly awaken both mana cores. But Leo's body was already so exhausted that he knew he couldn't last that long.
"What if I force them open now? I can't afford to wait five days. I can barely hang on for two more."
Even though Leo had reached the level of an eight-star aura user in his past life, his current body was still that of a child.
Gathering his strength, Leo began to force open both mana cores. He inhaled deeply.
"Ahhh..."
The moment he started, an extreme pain shot through both his brain and heart. He screamed in agony—this pain was far worse than anything he had experienced in his previous life. The pain was so intense that he started to lose consciousness, his vision fading with every blink.
Everything went black.
"Is this how I die?" Leo thought, panic rising in his mind. "No... No... No! I was given a second chance! I can't waste it! I won't die like this!"
His voice grew louder in his mind as he fought to stay conscious, but eventually, all went silent.
Suddenly, Leo woke up. His body was covered in bandages, and he realized he was still alive.
"Huh? I'm not dead? Does that mean I succeeded?"
Leo focused and tried to use his mana. To his surprise and joy, he found that he had indeed successfully opened both mana cores. He had done it.
As Leo celebrated his success, he noticed someone sleeping beside him, holding his hand. It was his sister, Rose, who had been by his side the entire time.
Leo gently patted her head. "Thank you for taking care of me."
Rose stirred at his touch and then suddenly burst into tears. "Le... Lee... Leo!" she cried, hugging him tightly.
"Urk!" Leo gasped, "Hey, sis, you're killing me."
"Why are you always ending up in a coma? You keep making me worry!"
"Wait, coma? How long was I asleep?" Leo asked, confused.
"You were out for seven days, you idiot!" Rose said, crying even harder.
"Uhh, sorry, sis."
Just then, the door burst open, and Leo's parents stormed in, looking furious.
Leo's heart sank as he prepared for the long scolding that awaited him.