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"With that, a basic framework is more or less settled for now." No telling how much time had passed before Luke finally halted his remodeling of the Eternal Land.
The whole of the Eternal Land had, by now, expanded to the very limit of its current capacity. Its overall style ran close to Crescent Moon Land's, but there were plenty of differences too. The Duel Spirit Kingdom, for one. The Digital Kingdom, for another. Luke had deliberately laid out dedicated regions suited to the card spirits of each distinct worldview.
He'd even reserved a harbor site in advance for the water-combat cards he intended to craft down the line. Even if he one day produced shipgirl cards, or some colossal water-type card spirit on the order of GigaSeadramon, the reserved port would be more than spacious enough for them to stretch out in. Beyond the harbor, after all, lay a boundless sea.
As for the regions farther out, Luke had left only a vague general outline, without planning them any further. The chief reason was that the mana within the Eternal Land was all but exhausted, right down at the critical line.
Remodeling the Eternal Land had consumed mana on a scale far more terrifying than he'd imagined. The immediate cause lay in the Eternal Sun's currently unimpressive mana-conversion rate, and the root cause, in turn, was the limit imposed by Luke's own level.
As time went on, and especially as Luke's level and strength continued to climb, the Eternal Sun's conversion rate would improve step by step. When that day came, Luke would truly reach the point of mana that could never be drawn dry.
"Rest for a bit, Luke." A warm sensation spread from his palm, and then stream after stream of pure mana flowed in steadily from Celestine, replenishing the mana he'd so heavily overdrawn.
"I don't think I've ever seen you transmit mana directly like this before?" With his reserves refilling, the hollow feeling inside Luke faded in short order. But as he recalled it, Celestine had always played the part of a low-power ambient charger. This was more like being plugged straight into the socket.
"You've fused with the Libra Holy Sword Core and become the master of this dimensional plane, and I am the plane's pillar. That's why this can be done now, without placing any burden on you," Celestine explained quietly.
"So that's how it works." Luke nodded at that, more or less piecing it together.
Much like spiritual wavebands, the mana wavebands of different Card Masters likewise differed from one another. For that reason, Card Masters didn't casually transmit mana between themselves, since carrying two strands of mismatched-waveband mana in one body could very well trigger an outright mana explosion.
To say nothing of the fact that Luke and Celestine belonged to entirely different races, which made the gap between their mana wavebands greater still. That was exactly why Celestine had never directly helped him recover through mana transmission before, and had only ever quietly played the power bank.
But now, through the relationship of Master of the Plane and World Pillar, Luke's and Celestine's mana wavebands had fallen into alignment, which was why she could replenish him through direct transmission with no fear of setting off a mana riot.
So we've gone from wireless charging to a plug-in power bank? I swear Celestine keeps developing further and further toward the all-purpose model. Shaking his head, Luke tossed the odd notion out of his mind, then, with Celestine in his arms, descended onto the land below, feeling the solid weight of it underfoot.
"It's still missing a little something, but for now it should serve well enough for Mana and the girls to live in." Nodding in satisfaction, Luke then flung out every card in his possession.
"Wow, it's beautiful!" The moment she appeared, Mana let out an exclamation of wonder, and Blanc, right beside her, was equally captivated by the Eternal Land's scenery, her cute little face drawn tight and flushed red, clearly in a state of high excitement.
As for Red-Eyes Black Dragon and the projection body of the Legendary Dragon Timaeus, the two loosed sky-shaking roars, surged up into the air, and vanished in the blink of an eye, plainly off to explore this unknown Eternal Land.
Timaeus was only a projection body, but it carried a measure of a spirit card's characteristics all the same, and so it could be summoned forth in a similar fashion.
"Looks like you're all reasonably pleased." At the sight, Luke reached out and ruffled the two girls' heads, then made the introduction. "This is my dimensional plane, the Eternal Land. You could also call it your home from here on. You can live here with your minds at ease, no more reverting to cards and sinking into that sleep."
While summoning Mana and the others out, Luke had kept careful watch over the changes in both himself and his card spirits. It was exactly as Aldric had described. Even summoning this many card spirits at once, his own mana suffered no consumption whatsoever. The situation closely resembled his time in Crescent Moon Land, and yet it differed too.
The Ancient Spirit Tree had replenished his spent mana at a terrifying rate; the speed of resupply had simply outrun the speed of consumption, keeping his mana in a perpetually brimming state, but the consumption itself had still occurred. Here in the Eternal Land, Luke's mana underwent no consumption at all, and required no replenishing to begin with.
Beyond that, Luke could also feel the mana crystals within Mana, Blanc, and his other card spirits dissolving in this very moment, breaking down into the most primal mana and merging into the Eternal Sun.
And even as the mana crystals dissolved, the cores of his several card spirits formed a link with the Eternal Sun.
*「 Dark Magician Girl, Sistermon Blanc, and Red-Eyes Black Dragon have linked with the Eternal Sun. The host may open the mana-transmission authority. Once opened, card spirits may receive mana supply from the Eternal Sun. 」*
"Drawing mana replenishment straight from the Eternal Sun? That extends how long my card spirits can operate on their own by a good margin. Reasonable enough." At the system's prompt, Luke opened the mana-transmission authority.
With even the Crystallization Technique itself having become the Eternal Sun, it stood to reason that the mana crystals Mana and the others had received from Luke would undergo a transformation of their own.
"Really, Master?" Hearing Luke's explanation, Mana and Blanc, his two little cuties, let out a cheer in spite of themselves. Reverting to card form had let them rest thoroughly, yes, but being spared that oppressive feeling from now on was, without question, what delighted them most.
"Of course it's real. What, you think I'd lie to you two?" Luke gave Mana's smooth forehead a mock-exasperated flick, then made another introduction. "This is Celestine, the World Pillar of the Eternal Land. If there's ever anything you don't understand, you can go to Celestine for answers."
World Pillar? What's that supposed to be? This was the first time Mana and Blanc had ever heard the term, and both wore blank faces. But upon actually seeing Celestine, both girls' eyes lit up all the same.
Her looks were one thing, but the sacred, natural air Celestine gave off won the two girls over with a healthy dose of goodwill in an instant.
Blanc especially. She was a light-attribute Digimon at her root, and her feeling of kinship toward Celestine ran a degree deeper still.
Watching his two little cuties' reactions, Luke nodded. With Mana's boundlessly sunny personality, even with Blanc in tow, she'd absolutely be thick as thieves with Celestine in no time. On that front, Luke had absolute confidence in Mana.
All the more so given that Celestine was hardly the difficult-to-approach sort herself.
"Celestine, I'll leave this place in your hands, then." After giving the three of them a little while to get acquainted, Luke departed the Eternal Land ahead of them.