The Wrong Hero Has Been Summoned-Chapter 17: Core

'Where am I?' Luther tried to moved but his body felt heavy, too heavy. 'Is this water? No, this feels different...mana?'

It was indeed mana, his own but mixed with the power of the monster he absorbed. 'So this is the amount of power i have huh, incredible. So much power that its overwhelming me.'

This was new territory for him, but one which he had to get through. His mana pathways are crude and he had no core, so all that power had nowhere to go. 'This might be troublesome, I know how cores are made by reading the book but... reading and doing it are completely different. fuck.'

He focused his thoughts, trying to navigate through the sea of mana engulfing him. The mixture of his own energy and the absorbed power created a dangerous internal storm.

'I need to create a core,' he thought desperately. 'Without it, this power will tear me apart from the inside.'

The pressure built within his mana pathways, threatening to rupture them completely. He remembered what he read, he needs to concentrate on visualizing the process. He needed to compress and stabilize the mana, creating a central reservoir that could safely contain and regulate his power.

'Theory is one thing, but actually doing it...' He struggled against the overwhelming force.

Outside his inner conflict, Luna and Vess watched with growing concern as his body began to emit pulses of yellow light, interspersed with darker energy that resembled the destroyed monster.

"What's happening to him?" Luna asked, her voice shaking.

"The sword," Vess replied, eyes fixed on the weapon still clutched in Luther's hand. "It didn't just destroy the monster—it absorbed it. And now that power is flowing into him."

His consciousness dove deeper into the chaotic mana pool within him. He gathered his will, imagining the swirling energies condensing into a sphere at his center. The pain was excruciating as the conflicting powers resisted unification.

'Holy shit, this hurts, just like that time.'

With a tremendous mental push, he forced the churning energies to compress. The mana began to spin faster, creating a vortex that pulled the scattered power toward his core. Slowly, painfully, a small sphere began to form at the center of his being.

His body convulsed once, then went still. The yellow glow receded beneath his skin, leaving behind a faint luminescence that seemed to pulse with his heartbeat.

"Luther?" Luna knelt beside him, reaching out hesitantly.

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His eyes snapped open, now flecked with tiny motes of yellow light.

"I'm... what a rush," he smirked at them. "I just formed my core."

Vess helped him sit up. "That's impossible. It takes months of training to—"

"The monster," he interrupted. "Its power... I had to contain it somehow."

He looked down at the sword in his hand. The blade appeared different now—darker, with faint yellow and red veins running through the metal. It hummed with a power that seemed to resonate with something new inside him.

"We need to get you to the academy," Vess said firmly. "That's the place to start your journey."

"Yeah yeah. Man, I hated school back on earth and now I have to attend more school? Fucking hell." He tried to jump lighting to relieve his hands but he ended jumping way up in the air. "Oh? Would you look at that." His mind was already plotting ways to make this fun.

He spun on the way back down, landing hard while hitting a superhero pose. "Nailed it." He said with a proud smirk.

"Show-off," Luna muttered, but there was a smile on her face.

He grinned back at her, still feeling the rush of his new power. "Hey, can you blame me? This feels amazing!" He stood up and stretched, noticing how different his body felt now. Everything seemed lighter, more responsive.

Vess looked at the injured woman and the unconscious man on the ground. "We need to help these two first. Then we can figure out our next steps."

Luna nodded and knelt beside Selene. "She's breathing, but barely. That monster drained her pretty badly."

Luther approached Dominic's still form. "This guy's in rough shape too." He looked around the clearing, taking in the destroyed altar and the withered ground. "What happened here anyway?"

"A Void Render," Vess said grimly. "They're rare and extremely dangerous. They feed on life energy and mana. These two were lucky we came along when we did and even we are lucky you have such special mana."

As they tended to the injured pair, Selene's eyes fluttered open. She tried to speak, her voice barely a whisper. "Who... are you?"

"The awesome people who just saved your life," he replied with a smirk. "I'm Luther. These are my friends, Vess and Luna."

"Thank you," she managed to say before her eyes drifted to his sword. "What a strange weapon you have."

He glanced at the sword, "Yeah, it's alright."

"Alright huh..." Her eyes drifted to her partner. "How is he holding up?" She wanted to stand and go to him but her body was still too weak.

Vess carefully examined Dominic, her hands hovering over his broken body. He was barely clinging to life, his energy reserves critically depleted from protecting Selene during the battle.

"He needs immediate treatment," she said, her voice tight with concern. "The internal injuries are severe."

Luther watched, then turned to Luna "Can you use divine power to heal him?"

She shook her head. "I am not that efficient with divine power. I can stabilize him, but he'll need proper medical attention." She began tracing intricate silver lines of healing energy over his most critical wounds, stopping the worst of the bleeding and knitting some of the most dangerous internal tears.

Selene struggled to sit up, "can we commission you all? I know its rude to ask but we will need help getting back home." Her trembling hand pulled out a pouch with gold coins. "This is all I have right now, if it's not-"

"We don't need that." Luther approached, gently grabbing her hand and lowering it with care. He stared at her for a few seconds, something was off with the way he was acting. "We will help you out, we were heading that way anyways." He looked at her and got up to move.

Vess and Luna looked at each other with confused expression.

'Guess he is not heartless after all.' Luna thought while smiling.