–AN) I owe you all 6 chapters later today. Things popped up overnight and got tied up so couldn’t write the chapter until now.—

From what Gemini was saying, Blake felt like he was about to fight his inner demon. “Husband, close your mind and focus on your condensed mana core. We will start with the process of engraving the magic circles onto your core. To do this, you will need to first think of your body as two entities. One that is physical and another that is spiritual.

“To do this try to use the mana within your body to form a figure within your mana space. The place where your mana pool is.” Gemini’s soothing words slowly floated into Blake’s ears with almost a magical effect. He could feel himself calming down and getting into a good state of mind.

He drew some of the mana from his body towards his mana pool and began condensing it into a humanoid shape. With it came to condensing mana, Blake was a pro. He easily created a mana version of himself which he found quite strange because as soon as he made it, he was able to actually move his consciousness into it and control it at all.

At this moment, he was basically floating around in his mana space where his mana pool was located. He could see his vast ocean of mana along with the condensed mana core. “Husband, you are doing amazing. Now all you need to do is do what you did with the practice cores. Take your time and do it slowly, just like before.”

Blake could not answer her. He could only nod his mana body’s head and float over to the condensed mana core. It was the same size as the one he had been practicing on this entire time.

He took an imaginary deep breath since he couldn’t actually breath with this kind of mana avatar before starting the engraving process. The delicate process was something he was actually quite nervous about since it was a one shot chance. He could only get it right. While he had already done it correctly many times, he did not have to worry about messing up too much. Now he was under pressure. This was make it or break it. If he broke it, he would be reduced in power until he could fix his condensed mana core.

He did not dare rush things as he slowly began engraving the magic circles. While he was doing this, everyone was watching on with worried and anxious expressions. They could feel Blake’s nerves which were making them even more nervous. Lillia hugged Little White as she watched Blake sitting there with his eyes closed. If they did not know what he was doing, you would think he was just meditating or resting.

Hours passed, and mana began to start swirling around Blake. Seeing this, Gemini smiled brightly as she knew things were going smoothly. “Husband, when you finish the last magic circle. I will initiate the evolution process. From there, I can only wish you luck.”

Inside his mana space, Blake did not respond as he was too concentrated on the condensed mana core in front of him. He only had one more to go. He took another imaginary deep breath and began working. An hour later, Blake finally finished the last runic symbol in the magic circle. As he did, a thick fog of mana began to swirl around Blake. His hair fluttered under the whirlwind that was forming.

“I will now activate the magic circles!” Gemini yelled out as she waved her hand, and all of a sudden, silence. All the mana swirling in the air condensed into a cocoon surrounding Blake. As for Blake, he found himself in a dark space. He was no longer in his mana space. He was floating in an abysmal darkness.

“Where is this?” Blake asked himself as he looked down at his body to realize he was in his physical body now.

“Hmmm, to think that one of my kind will reawaken the way of evolution.” A voice rang out within the dark abyss. “While I would love to allow you to pass the trial, it would not help you in the future. To evolve is to know one’s self. Only by knowing one’s self will you be able to evolve into a higher being. Young one of my Drakani bloodline, why do you seek power?”

Blake did not even need to think about this question as he answered: “To protect the ones I care about and reach my goals of having a world where peace reigns.”

“Oh? To think you would have such minor goals. Since this is your goal, then you will need to pass the test. Overcome your inner self.” As soon as the voice fell, a mirror image of Blake appeared within the mana space. Blake sighed as he looked at this other me and wondered if this was some kind of movie set. “You do not look very excited.”

“Well, I kind of expected something more,” Blake replied honestly. But all he got in return was a hardy laugh. “You are definitely of my drakani bloodline with this kind of attitude. Good! I wish you good luck.”

The voice faded, and all that was left was the other him in front of him. It stared at him with a mocking smile with sword drawn. Blake closed his eyes and reopened them a second later as he asked: “So how do we do this?”

“Don’t you know? I kick your ass, and you cry about not evolving. That simple.” The other Blake replied with a hint of arrogance in his voice.

Blake, on the other hand, shook his head. “This is not even close to being me. I am not arrogant. You remind me of those guys that used to beat me up for fun. Since that is the case, I will use you as a means to vent the last of my pent up anger.”

“That’s funny because I was thinking the same thing.” The other Blake dropped his sword and walked forward while cracking his fists.