Chapter 86 - The Time Limit

"Mahli, lend me your strength," Said Amanda. She looked directly into Christopher's eyes and said, "Time me. I only have fifteen minutes."

"What?!" He asked, utterly puzzled.

Before Amanda could answer the blue crystal jumped out of Christopher's body, flying in mid-air before finally settling in Amanda. Everything happened in a split second that Vasco had no chance to react.

Amanda's eyes glowed in blue. Being able to understand the use of the crystal, she manifested her second skin. In a second, her entire body was covered in another layer of skin, hiding in between her clothes and armor.

With the power of the crystal, she was tougher than her normal strength.

"Christopher! Time me!" Ordered Amanda before breaking free from the rope that held her hands together. "I can only use your power for fifteen to twenty minutes!"

As soon as Vasco recognized the power had shifted to Amanda, his face turned evil. Vasco directed his blade to her, but before his sword could strike her, water suddenly erupted from the land, splashing out, throwing many of the Oscorians and Plethoran distracted, stumbling to the ground.

Vasco was forced to the grown, following a diameter of water slashing against his boy.

Amanda quickly acted by letting out the golden sword. She stormed at the Oscorians who were holding on to the ropes tying down Christopher.

"Hah! Hah!" From the first two brutes, the golden blade easily cut through their armors and flesh, turning them lifeless in no time.

As for the other two, she ordered water thrusting upward to their faces, throwing them off balance.

"Fifteen minutes! Chris! Help me!" Amanda once again instructed Christopher before ordering the crystal to form a shield of water around them, taking the shape of an open cylinder. It was only after her third call that Christopher began counting in seconds.

It was Amanda's first time to use the blue crystal, but if anything she learned from exchanging powers with the other master, the spirit does whatever the masters ordered. She just needed to put her mind into it.

The Oscorians and the Plethorans were terrified, feeling the land thundering beneath their feet.

Seeing the power in Amanda, the Plethoran, including Diana, began to run away from the puzzle wood forest.

Diana gritted her teeth as she sped across the maze-like forest. She could not believe such power existed, neither could she comprehend how such force came from Christopher.

From the center of the forest, Amanda put back her sword before raising her hands. Pointing further away, she imagined a wall of water forming within fifteen meters from where she stood. All Oscorians and some Plethorans fell trapped, unable to leave the forceful flow of water going up nearly twenty feet above the ground.

Little by little, more water began to erupt from the land, and with the puzzle wood forest's rocky formation, it was faster to fill the spaces in between, drowning most of their enemies in minutes.

While Amanda maintained to raise her hands to surrounding areas, holding up the water in the order of her palms, she looked up to the sky and ordered, "Kyle! You need to get Christopher. I can't use this power for long!"

Christopher, on the other hand, continued counting by seconds, estimating the number of minutes Amanda had consumed. He had no watch and was left only to make a rough count. He did this while untying the knots around his hands and legs.

He was still in disbelief by everything that had happened, but there was no time to be dumbstruck. They needed to get out of there fast.

"Kyle! Come down!" Called Christopher, after fully being free from the ropes. He saw all three of them still in shock. "Razul help Kyle carry me! Khalil! Take Amanda!"

Amanda saw many Oscorians drowned from the water, while others strived, swimming up to the surface. She created vortexes, sucking back down the red-skinned foes, but as she preserved to keep them down, Amanda felt pain in her chest.

She frowned and nearly dropped her hand, sensing her heart being crushed by a hand. She struggled to say, "Just a little more!"

"Amanda, I think you've passed fifteen minutes!" Revealed Christopher. "Let's go!"

At that very moment when Kyle and his party descended to grab them, Amanda said, "Take - " She put a hand on her chest. She felt her heart being crushed by the pain of having to use someone else's power.

Part of the wall of water that she had created began to fall and only then did Kyle, Khalil and Razul took Christopher and Amanda away, flying back up to the sky.

"Mahli, re -return to your master," Amanda ordered and the blue crystal within her flew back in Christopher's body.

Before them, they saw the wall of water crumble down and the water spread through the forest. Many of the Oscorians drowned. Very little seemed to have survived, after swimming to the surface of the water. The Plethorans that were trapped inside the water died altogether.

Diana, on the other hand, escaped Amanda's trap. She was able to flee before Amanda could create a wall of water.

From the sky, they saw Diana and around ten of the Plethorans run in panic. While Kyle wanted vengeance, it was not yet the time. Aeros needed saving and Christopher needed to heal.

While being held by Kyle and Razul, flying while struggling in the air, Christopher sighed and massaged his head. Everything was so overwhelming to him that he knew not how to accept it. As it turns out, it did not seem like the magic inside of him... was evil. It was a power that Amanda knew how to use.

Other than that, he was left with another realization, that the woman he loved was no ordinary girl.

Christopher turned to Amanda and studied her for seconds. She seemed lifeless or tired from the use of his power. He called, "Amanda. Amanda."

It was only after noticing how Amanda did not respond that he asked, "Khalil! Check on Amanda, please."

Khalil's arms were wrapped around Amanda's waist. He raised another to check on her. "Miss, Amanda. Miss Amanda." Panicking, he checked her pulse. He turned to Christopher and said, "Her heartbeat is... slowing down."

"No! What do you mean - Let's land! We need to check on her now!" Ordered Christopher.

They settled in an open space half a kilometer away from the puzzle wood forest. Only then did Christopher begin to check on her.

Putting Amanda in his arms, Christopher called to her, "Amanda, please. Please!" He checked her pulse and her breathing. He could tell she was getting weak, her eyes were utterly closed. "Amanda!"

It was because Amanda exceeded the use of Mahli's power that her heart began to feel weak.

Only the designated masters were allowed to use the strength of each specific spirit. Exchanging powers was something Abasi and Trisha discovered but limiting it to only twenty minutes, so far as their bodies could tolerate.

In order to bring back the regular beating of her heart, she needed the full power of the red crystal back.

From Amanda's very weak state, she still found the strength to call from her head, "Trisha, I need Fiena. I need you - "