The containment spell expanded.
Zephyr felt the drain immediately. Mana poured out of him, a steady, rushing stream leaving his system to fuel the growing volume. But almost instantly, the mana gathering spell kicked in, spinning up to siphon ambient mana and plug the vacuum in his cores.
He could keep this up for hours if necessary. But endurance wasn't the objective here.
His gaze dropped to the ground below.
The ground was covered with innumerable dark entrances where the berserk rabbits had clawed their way into the light. If he wanted this to end, he couldn't just contain the smoke above ground. He had to feed it to the earth.
Zephyr took a breath, centering himself.
He closed his eyes, visualizing the geometry of the spell. He didn't just need a sphere; he needed a funnel. A conduit. He mentally grabbed the bottom of his smoke sphere and extended it, driving a connection toward the widest burrow mouth near him
The magic snapped into place.
