He took a steadying breath, then allowed a thread of mana to flow from the depths of his mana heart, coursing through his arm like a gentle river before directing it into the crystal.
As soon as his mana made contact with the crystalline surface, the world around him began to ripple and shimmer.
His physical form, which had felt solid only moments before, disintegrated into millions of tiny particles, much like the others before him, vanishing into the depths of the glowing crystal. Time seemed to warp and bend, distorting the very fabric of reality around him as his senses were enveloped in the ethereal magic.
He felt a strange sensation wash over him, as if gravity had loosened its grip. The boundaries between mind and body blurred, and his consciousness was sucked inward, spiraling into the crystal's luminous core.
It happened so quickly, so seamlessly, that there was no time to register the transition.
