New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chapter 957  A Little Game

David didn't know if he could believe him or not. After all, Merlin was a myth.

A legend told in books of an all-powerful sorcerer that existed in the Middle Ages. But, by all accounts, he was just that.

A legend.

"Tell me m—No. You know what? One thing at a time," David started saying, only to cut himself off.

What was the point of putting more things on his plate now? He already had his hands full.

Alex chuckled to himself, as he could imagine what was going on inside David's mind.

"Once we've triumphed over the harpies, and embarked on our journey to meet Zhong Kui, we can turn our attention to the enigmatic Merlin and his secretive Merlineans. But for now, our hands are full with the present challenges," he said, echoing David's thoughts.

David nodded, his previous anger dissipating as he fell into deep thought.

Seeing this, Alex didn't want to disturb him, so he decided to go back to the passenger cabin. But before leaving, he glanced over at Cory and noticed he was very pale and shivering all over.

He could tell from the mana withering inside him, through his perfect mana senses, that Cory was close to collapsing.

It didn't help that the environment wasn't ideal, either, which was probably draining some of his mana just to resist the cold.

Alex rummaged around, finding emergency blankets in a stowage bin to the side, and wrapped Cory's shoulders in it, before pushing a bit of his mana inside the kid.

The mana wasn't exactly compatible, but, given a bit of time, Cory's body would be able to purify it into its own. And with the blanket now keeping him warm, he wouldn't have to expend as much to keep himself from freezing to death.

"Thank you," Cory said, feeling the blanket warm him up.

"Hang in there, buddy. Once we land in China, you can rest for the rest of the trip."

Cory nodded, feeling renewed vigour inside him, as he now had a goal to look forward to.

Leaving him to focus on keeping Killian alive, but not before covering him with a blanket as well, Alex returned to the center part of the plane.

Kary was seated, answering questions from the others as best she could about the state of affairs in the cargo hold, but Alex could tell her patience was growing a little thin.

Clapping his hands to garner everyone's attention, he waited until all eyes were on him.

"Alright. Since most of our conversation was upon your ears earlier, I guess there is no point in hiding anything from you. Killian's soul snare has been removed, and he is safe, for now, so long as we can get him a blood transfusion in Wuhan once we land.

"As for any other question regarding soul snares, you will have to wait until we are returning home, as we have other matters we should focus on. In the meantime, how about we play a game?" Alex asked, smiling at them.

Kary raised an eyebrow, glad Alex was taking the burden off her shoulders, but curious about what he had in mind.

But from the side, Aapo was confused about what kind of game they could play on an airplane, thirty-six thousand feet up in the skies, that would entertain all these kids.

"Aapo, you'll be joining in as well," Alex said, snapping the man's attention to him.

"Beg your pardon?" Aapo replied, confused.

"I said you'll be joining into the game as well. It'll be good for you," Ales responded.

But Aapo frowned at him.

"If you don't mind, guild leader, I would prefer to look outside and rest. I doubt any game for children would keep my attention or interest for long."

Alex clicked his tongue as he shook his head.

"I feel like you are misunderstanding me here, Aapo," Alex said, smiling at him.

"How so?" the Finn asked.

"In many ways, I believe. The first one being that I wasn't asking. You are joining. And the second thing I know for sure is that I'm sure you think I meant a children's game. But that is not what I want you all to do."

Aapo became even more confused.

Kary grinned at Alex, realizing what he was going to have them do.

Clapping his hands together, Alex smiled at everyone.

"Alright! Everyone, get in your seats and listen up."

Violette and Jonathan were the most curious about what he was going to have them play, and practically stumbled to their seats speedily.

Winston was worried about his uncle Killian, and his mind was preoccupied with other things, so he was slower on the uptake, but he made his way to his seat, nevertheless.

Kary also sat down, choosing to participate in this game, if only for her own enjoyment.

Once everyone was seated, Alex walked to the center of the passenger cabin and asked that they spin their seats to face him.

With a bit of shuffling and grunting, the seats were pivoted, and all eyes were on him.

"The game will be simple. I'm sure all of you have at least a basic understanding of mana, and can all sense it, but for the purposes of this game, I will make sure everyone can see it," Alex said as he formed a glob of water over his hand.

Aside from Kary, everyone became confused as to where this was going.

"This game is simple, and it is something Kary and I have discussed as an excellent way to hone everyone's mana senses and mana control.

"It is something that the mage's guild in New Eden uses to train their younger students in mana control, and I believe it will occupy your minds enough for the remainder of the trip," he continued, passing the globe from one hand to the other in smooth flowing motions.

He then threw it over toward Kary, who used her mana to catch it midair, before letting it hover over her hand.

Although her elemental focus was fire, this exercise wasn't strenuous for her, as the water was only to give shape to the mana, and she could focus on the mana itself for the game.

Everyone followed the orb of water, wondering what the purpose of this was, before Kary shot it toward Winston, catching him off guard.

Being unprepared for it, the water globe smacked into his face and burst.

Winston yelped as the cold water washed away his stray thoughts.

"And this is the goal of the game," Alex chuckled, making a pulling motion to regather the water over his hand.

"We will throw the water orb around and try to keep it intact for as long as we can. If you fail to catch it, you get a refreshing shower, before we start again. This will help your mana-sensing capabilities, and your mana control will sharpen as well.

"If you manage to hold this globe of water afloat for at least ten minutes before we make it to China, I'll give you all a little gift." Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Already, grins abounded.

The prospect of gifts was always an enticing lure, to anyone involved.