Kellan took a deep breath and set his stance.

“Alright then… get ready.”

And the air filled with gunfire and mana blasts.

Demon bodies hit the ground one after another, and Kellan held his ground with unwavering focus.

Demons rushed toward him one by one.

Kellan fired a mana bullet straight into a demon’s face. The shot tore right through its skull. As that demon collapsed, Kellan snatched its sword and, with a sharp motion, hurled it toward another demon in front of him. The sword pierced clean through its chest.

Two more demons closed in from both sides.

Kellan dodged one attack and slashed the second demon across the torso. With a quick turn, he fired a point-blank shot into the first demon’s head.

But as the fight dragged on, Kellan could feel his mana dropping fast. He hadn’t rested earlier, and his mana hadn’t fully restored. The fatigue showed clearly in his movements.

Just then, a demon swung a sword at him.

Kellan managed to dodge, but his timing slipped for a moment, and the blade sliced into the side of his shoulder. Even through the pain, he grit his teeth, fired a precise shot, and dropped the demon instantly. He followed it with a spinning kick to shove its body aside.

Now he was visibly exhausted, breathing hard.

Right then, another demon charged at him from behind at full speed, ready to attack.

A knife suddenly shot through the air and buried itself right between the demon’s eyes. It collapsed instantly.

Kellan turned around and saw Aveline standing there.

She rushed toward him, her voice a mix of anger and worry.

“Kel! Are you okay?!”

Kellan glanced around, trying to steady his breath.

“Yeah… I’m fine. Just running a little low on mana.”

Mana…

Mana exists inside every living and non-living thing. It’s the life energy of this world, the force that gives existence to everything—humans, trees, demons, even ancient creatures thousands of years old.

But humans can’t use mana directly. They need Magic Enchanted Items or Weapons to control and channel it. These items act like conduits, absorbing the user’s mana and helping them use it in different ways.

Like the Magic Enchanted Pistol, which absorbs mana and converts it into mana bullets that can damage enemies.

Every enchanted weapon has its own limit. It can only absorb a certain amount of mana. If that limit is crossed, the item becomes unstable or stops working altogether.

If someone’s mana gets drained too much, they feel fatigue, dizziness, or even faint. And if their mana runs out completely… in the worst case, it can lead to death.

But the good thing is, if you rest before your mana hits zero, it slowly restores on its own. Mana flows inside a person like a river. You just need to keep it calm and balanced.

The room was dim, lit faintly by moonlight slipping in through the curtains. Kellan sat on a wooden chair, shirt off, with a deep wound on his shoulder that still burned slightly.

Aveline walked over and sat beside him quietly. A gentle blue glow rose from her bracelet, forming a small sphere of mana energy in the air.

She closed her eyes slightly and guided the sphere toward Kellan’s shoulder. The soft glow spread across the wound, slowly healing it.

Kellan gave Aveline a faint smile before letting his gaze drift toward the window. Darkness stretched outside, and the night air carried a quiet chill.

“Why were demons here…” he murmured, almost asking himself.

Aveline replied, “This has never happened before…” Her voice held a hint of concern.

Kellan touched his chin thoughtfully, lost in deep thought.

“I think… they were after one of our artifacts,” he finally said.

Aveline’s expression changed instantly.

“You don’t think they were targeting that relic we brought back today, right?”

Kellan turned to her, determination in his eyes.

“Yeah… I think so too.”

For a moment, silence settled between them. Only the faint sound of wind and the soft flicker of the candle filled the room.