The blood red arcs of energy raged around me, howling as the air split and started producing a sharp odour. As I watched the red lashes, I noticed that though the majority were red, each had smaller tendrils of violet-white snapping out of them. Where before my electricity had licked along the no-longer conductive metal of the hall, now it gouged rents into the smooth surface as it went.
This was not the controlled blast of energy produced by the stately circles I had seen strike out at the spider-thing, but it at least seemed effective. My mind raced at the implications of what I was experiencing; I did not know many Sigils, but there was room for at least a few more on my Core, and I wondered just how... creative I could get with it.
Taking my metal bar out of storage, I surged my praxis as hard as I could and tossed it into the room to try to get a grip on whether my newly destructive lightning had any impact on my perceptions or speed. Counting carefully as the bar tumbled slowly through the air, I determined with some slight regret that it was only the offensive aspects of my Focus that had been altered.
“Please refrain from damaging the room too much, as it is my body, Hunter.”
I cut power to my Focus and Exemplar and turned to find the Construct standing a short distance behind me. I glanced around, taking in the deep scars now present in the metal and grimaced slightly before turning back.
“Sorry! I was trying to incorporate Lucas’s Sigil, and it had some unanticipated results. Did it hurt, Dee Yu Kay Three?”
“It... tickled, somewhat. It was mildly distracting, Hunter.”
“Oh, well, sorry again. Uh, I thought Lucas had ‘locked’ the room so there would be no damage, and I guess I’m not used to being inside somebody... bodily, I mean. Dee Yu Kay Three.”
“I did lock the room, boy. I did not lock the floor, as the Sigil I taught you is a directed attack, not... this.”
“Fuck! Will you stop that?!”
I seemed that Lucas had returned while I was speaking to DUK3, and had decided the optimal place to stand was directly behind me, almost close enough to touch.
“Where would the fun be in that? I see you managed to Invoke your Sigil in... a less conventional way. Intriguing. Can you generate the lightning without the destructive aspect?”
“I’m not sure. It just, sort of... came out. This is a weirdly awkward conversation. Do you want to lock the floor, or whatever, so I can try again?”
“There is no need; now that I am aware of the damage, I have strengthened the room. It should be capable of withstanding your newly acquired ability, Hunter.”
“How did I manage it in the first place, if this is your body, Dee Yu Kay Three.”
“Are you intimately aware of all parts of your body, at all times, Hunter?”
“Uh, no, I guess not. Dee Yu Kay Three.”
The two demi-Ascended stood looking at me expectantly so I decided to stop prevaricating and turned to my inner eye. My Core was how I had left it, unchanged, the Sigil still contrasting sharply with its smooth surface.
Focusing softly, I began to draw the faintest hint of Praxis through my Focus, carefully watching the colour. As the energy passed through the image of myself it converted into the blue-violet-white I was familiar with but as I gazed on, the electricity diverted on its way to flow into my channels, drawn through the Sigil as if pulled by a magnet. With a frown, I noted that as it passed through the mark on the surface of my Core, it drew more power than I had intended. Significantly more. I had not noticed due to the ambient energy of the dead world, but it seemed that the draw was more than double what I expected, which while only a minor issue with all the energy in the world literally at my fingertips, back on my adopted home that would severely limit how long I could fight. A single all-out fight would drain me dry, almost to the point of death... potentially.
Now more than curious as to whether I could be selective, I wrapped my will around the flow of energy and attempted to wrench it away from the Sigil gate. At first, the attempt seemed useless, the flow as firmly set as any solid, but after several long moments, with a release of tension, it began to flow normally and the energy draw dropped to within my expected range.
Opening my eyes, I let the familiar arcs escape for a moment, relief washing through me alongside the scintillating flow. I waited for a moment, to see whether it would snap back, but the bolts retained their natural hue.
“Looks like I can! One sec, I want to see if it stays this way...”
Dropping my Focus once more, I immediately re-engaged and watched as the same old lightning screeched out of me.
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“Can you change it back?”
It was Lucas who had spoken, and turning to him shrugged. He did not look entirely pleased my response, but it was honest.
“Let’s see!”
I once again fell inside myself, to hover above my Core as power flowed in and out of it. Rubbing my metaphysical hands together, I gathered my will once more. Gripping the outbound flow again, I attempted to yank it back into the magic circle but it proved to be significantly more difficult than pulling it out had been. For the better part of a subjective minute, maybe two, I struggled to shift it, until like last time, something seemed to give and it snapped into place at the centre of the Sigil. I felt the pull on my Praxis increase one more and I opened my eyes to find DUK3 standing very close to me.
Taking a step back in surprise, and wishing the two had better concepts of personal space, I dropped my Focus.
“It looks like I can change it, but not quickly. And it has to be running.”
“What purpose does this method of movement serve? You appeared to be standing still, Hunter.”
“I mean active, Dee Yu Kay Three. It’s an idiom, I guess.”
“I see. That will likely limit the functionality if a rapid change is required, however perhaps the speed at which you transition can be increased with proficiency, Hunter?”
“Well, it was slower the second time, but maybe that’s to do with direction, I don’t know. But you could be right, and I’ll keep practicing. I really need to do it while I’m here, if I can’t get a handle on it before I get back – if I get back – it's going to be way more of a pain... Dee Yu Kay Three.”
“Then we should leave you to it. I want to examine you again tomorrow though.”
“... Sure thing, Lucas. Dee Yu Kay Three, will the room remain... tougher?”
“I will, Hunter.”
“Okay, great. See you two tomorrow, then?”
Without another word from either of the pair, Lucas walked out and DUK3 simple dissolved, leaving me alone again. Standing in the middle of the hall, I stood awkwardly for a moment; despite the testing, and teaching, I spent most of my time alone in the facility, and I would be lying if I said the loneliness was not starting to get to me. Neither of them were particularly effusive conversationalists, outside of philosophy and the ‘science’ of magic.
I missed Reff and Riffa. I sort of missed Cad, and even missed Darina’s acerbic wit and ‘friendly’ insults.
With a sigh, I started working on switching my Focus between its two modes.
*
***
*
I backflipped my way across the room to avoid half a dozen DUK3 clones as Lucas tried to disrupt the flow of my Praxis. Walker had told me that it was impossible to directly interact with a person’s internal energy system, and I was glad that he was being proven right. My normal lightning surged around my body as well as it ever did, which was good because as it turned out, the colour-changing Construct was – even without the benefit of their Domain – fast. As it turned out, having a body entirely made of solid metal means you generally do not need to worry that much about momentum or inertia.
This somewhat explained why the invaders I had fought had been faster than I expected, but not that fast. Despite the magical connection between the metal and flesh parts, one could handle far more than the other, and any movement that put too much pressure on that connection had the potential to split them apart.
Three limbs lashed out at me from different angles as half of the six caught up to me. I got the feeling DUK3 was still holding back, but they were still matching my speed pretty well, but despite our even footing, my Instinctive Precognition kept me ahead of the attacks as I twisted and kicked off the wall behind me and just escaping the blasts from the scattered orbs the other three had become.
I started the fight by trying to blast a couple of them with my lightning, but again, consisting entirely of metal that had absolutely no affect. I would have liked to try my red mode, but it was still taking me far too long to switch, and starting out with it active when I was expecting to have to go for a while had proved... problematic. When I had first started out, I had often lost control of my Focus, inevitably shocking myself. That issue had largely been conquered by a combination of better control and my energy paths being reinforced by the pill Tang had given me. The added destructive force of my red electricity however did seem to stress my channels much more than my regular flavour.
The first day I had managed it, I spent a number of hours channelling my enhanced Focus, and the next day... while it was not as bad as when I had ruptured them, it was certainly very unpleasant for the better part of a day. It was something I had to be careful with, unless I could find a way to reinforce myself again.
“Enough. I cannot impact his internal system.”
The DUK3 clones froze in place, statue still as they stood posed mid-dash, before evaporating into nothing. I dropped my Focus and Path and stood up straight, facing there the two – Lucas and DUK3’s main body – at the far side of the hall.
“It seems that the shadow of Authority is not related or some strange product of his cultivation.”
“I don’t know what you were trying to accomplish, I didn’t think you guys could mess with my internal energy anyway, regardless of my weirdness?”
“Dee Yu Kay Three. If your... cultivation... was protected by your limited Authority, Lucas would have experienced resistance rather than merely being unable to interact, Hunter.”
“I think we’re at the limit of what we are able to ascertain. Without killing you. It seems to be something intrinsic to you and does not operate at a conscious level. It allows you to act in ways you would otherwise be unable to, but seemed limited to that. You hold no true Authority.”
I thought about that for a moment, and about all the other things I had learned and discussed with them in my time on the dead world. I had started out thinking it just an echo of Xiournal’s influence, but was starting to wonder if the dragon lady had chosen because of my weirdness. It would explain why she was so short on recruits, as it was not something that appeared to be common. And from what she had said – or communicated – she was able to bring me into the picture as a result of a deal with the local gods, but I had visited two other worlds – worlds she apparently had no contract for. And I was still alive. That ruled out her influence, right? I was her Agent, but I was also something more.
My own thoughts struck me and I looked up with a frown, imagining the Ascended looking down at me. Shaking my head, I turned to the two who were talking quietly to each other as they debated their own person theories.
“Hey, guys. So, it’s not true Authority right, but it lets me do things maybe others can’t? How about we call it, ‘Agency’?”