There was a moment of stillness after the door was shut as if the world was holding its breath. Then there was a feeling of pressure and weight slamming into the room as mana flooded in. Jack nearly staggered at the sudden difference. He felt almost like he could breathe again after struggling to do so for a period of time.
A few moments later everyone in the room settled as they adjusted to the difference in mana. Dr. Trovihn motioned Jack toward the crystal and prompted him to place a hand on it. When Jack did the stone began to softly glow. Dr. Trovihn looked surprised at the results and had Jack keep his hand there for another couple of minutes just to be sure. So far all of what he had seen was a stranger combination of data than he ever could have thought possible. Not only should Jack be dead but his aptitudes were far below the norm. So far in fact that using magic was theoretically impossible.
Jack on the other hand did not really look at the crystal as he had long ago come to terms with his bodies potential. It was why he had worked as hard as he had on overcoming it in unconventional ways and would continue to do so.
“Well, that’s interesting. I wonder if these results are part of why your other results and the other issues you have mentioned are cropping up?” Dr. Trovihn pondered for a moment. “Oh! Before we proceed further, I will just have to ask, are you capable of using magic? Either body augmentation or casting. Either one.”
Jack looked at him in askance as he nodded his head in conformation that he could indeed use magic.
“Alright good. You two please set up the targets over along that wall if you would.” The doctor called out two of the guards gesturing to the wall opposite where he was standing. Directing them on where exactly he wanted the placed as they picked up the targets and moved them. “A bit further apart please. That’s good. There. While they are getting those secured if you would talk seat here on the mat and work through getting yourself set up and checking your mana passages. This will give us more detailed information on the state of them and your other organs as mana passes through your body.”
With a shrug Jack stepped up onto the raised platform and sat cross-legged down on the mat in the center of it. As he sat the sigils along the outer edge of the platform began to glow lightly signifying their activation. Finally Jack would get his chance to see just what was going on with his mana passages worried as he was from the pain that happened when he pulled up his basic status screen.
Taking a deep breath Jack started up his mantra in his mind and began to draw the mana into his body. “Absorb, purify, utilize.” The mana in the environment felt almost as if it was already purified lacking many of the elements and feelings that drawing in ambient mana normally would. The exception to that being the mana of the people in the room with him. Carefully avoiding drawing in their mana Jack soon had reached his capacity and began to purify what mana he had.
In his minds eye he could see his mana as he always could. That beautiful soft blue light that reflected the beauty and power of the Great System. Swirling the mana that was pulled in bit by bit he slowly changed the nature of the mana that was brought in to resonate with that in his body. He had to concentrate much harder than normal to get it accomplished, as part of the transition felt unnatural this time. Shrugging it off he continued on to the next step, sending the mana into his passages to be used.
It was here that he was suddenly hit by a massive headache and a huge amount of pain. As Jack without thinking sent his mana through his body as he always had ever since he had unlocked it in the first place it felt like his body inside and out was set on fire and his status screen popped up on its own without any prompting from him blaring a warning.
DANGER! User is attempting to use both internal and external mana veins! Desist immediately! DANGER!
As the words sprung up in front of him hanging in the air there was a familiar voice that whispered in his mind mostly clear at first but quickly being drowned out in a buzzing sound. “This should not ** here! Re**mber who *** are! Wh*t *ou **e!”
Jack gritted his teeth forcing himself to endure. He knew that he had delt with pain far worse than this before. Even as his whole body felt like a burning candle and his mind began to fray he knew he could not let the mana get out of his control. He needed to finish the circuit otherwise It could literally explode his veins turning him into even more of a cripple then he already was thought to be.
Vision swimming Jack stumbled to his feet. He needed to get the mana out! Forcing himself to think of his most common uses Jack forced the mana into familiar patterns in his body. The mana slamming though him Jack lunged at one of the targets his right fist pulled back as his other hand spilling forth a wave of silence. His balance totally shot Jack went well past the stuffed target and smashed into the wall instead his wrist crumpling as he hit it with as much power as he could. The spell spiraling out from his other hand however meant that not a single sound was heard as he destroyed part of his body and left a sizable dent in the metal coating of the wall before collapsing to the ground.
The mana expended Jack collapsed in a heap. His breath heaving unsteadily and his eyes unable to focus on anything around him. Barely aware as the doctor and one of the guards picked him up and tried to talk to him. “What happened? It seemed like everything was going fine and then you suddenly jumped off and crashed straight into the wall.”
“It’s all wr… wrong. Everything is wrong. I need to keep going.” Mumbled Jack before forcing himself back toward the mat again. As he reached the platform and attempted to step up onto it he tripped and landed awkwardly on the already broken wrist. Only letting out a small grunt as he spilled onto the mat he flipped onto his back and began to meditate once again. His mind and body burning in agony he couldn’t concentrate at all. Simply operating off of the habits that had been formed over years of practice.
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Mana was once more pulled in from the room into Jack this time as it was purified Jack could barely think his brain was aching so much that all he could do is follow along with what felt correct. As it was pulled through there was a strange cracking feeling as he quickly moved on to trying to use it yet again.
The pain that Jack had been feeling amplified to an extreme degree now far surpassing his previous experiences with pain. Jack’s brain felt like it was melting in his skull and would soon be dribbling out of his ears but still he persisted. Repeating the steps over and over again his mouth open in a silent scream as the room was filled with an oppressive silence.
The screen that he had ignored as it popped up a bit ago now covered his entire field of view. Huge letters screaming at him to desist and how if he continued it would spell death or permanent damage to his body and mind.
He could tell now that there was something in him fighting him. Hiding in the way his mana felt and in his passages. Trying to make him obey some unspoken command. Whatever it was had made a mistake when it tried to take him over. The experiences of his youth allowed him to fight back now. His constant familiarity with pain that allowed him to continue on when others would have surrendered long ago. His unbroken will that took the vitriol of a world that called him worthless and shouted back that he would prove his worth and the worth of all that bore his name.
He had nearly died numerous times this week alone and if whatever had tried to infest him thought that the possibility of being crippled or dead was enough to stop him from doing what he needed then it couldn’t be more wrong. His whole life had been a struggle on a knife’s edge. Always on the border of death and abject failure where all that he would be remembered as would be another fool who had crippled themself in the pursuit of an unrealistic dream.
The world became a stream of unending pain. After a while Jack’s mind cleared and started to be able function at least somewhat. Finally he was able to see past the fog and strange thoughts that had been clouding his head all day. No wonder the status screen had been painful to pull up for him. If what he had learned was true, then whatever it was that created the illusion and had messed with his memories needed to be in a mana rich environment but without the mana being actively channeled.
Jack wondered just what purpose such a thing could have and why it would choose to infect him as the way it manipulated his memories and protested his actions suggested some level of intelligence guiding whatever it was. On a similar note, he also tried to think of who would have infected him with whatever this was. Obviously, whoever had done it would likely have not known about the impact that him being a jack would have on the whatever it was. Beyond that they likely had to at least be aware of this facility on some level as the doctor had mentioned that they specialized in the affliction that Jack was dealing with.
Even as all these thoughts passed through his mind his body burned in agony. The feeling of acid flowing through all parts of his body waves of pain trying to garner his attention like nails on a chalkboard. Gradually the feelings coming from his body were getting more and more intense rather then less even as he adjusted to the pain. Jack tried desperately to figure out what was causing the pain to keep increasing. After a few periods of clarity in between being overwhelmed with pain, Jack realized just why everything kept getting worse. It seemed that his body was pulling in more and more mana. Far over what had been his original limits. It was a miracle that his mana passages hadn’t exploded by this point from the shear amount of energy that was coursing through them.
Jacks eyes popped open in surprise at the realization that his body was somehow sustaining a much higher level of mana then it should have been able to. As soon as his eyes opened he was greeted by the image of the glowing blue screen still covering much of his vision.
You have chosen to defy the Great System. You are a heretic to be forever hunted by all within the embrace of the Great System
No longer was it warning of danger and possible demise, it now instead spoke of him being marked as a heretic to the Great System who would be marked for death by all who could answer the call.
Jack could feel that at this point whatever it was that controlled the information that he saw was actively fighting his efforts to free himself. He needed to figure out a way to purify himself and remove whatever connection that this thing had made. With that thought he closed his eyes to try to concentrate on the purification stage.
Unlike before where he had seen in his mind a small swirling ball of mana now there was a massive storm made up of a riot of colors chaotic and messy with rips and tears of blue cutting through in random places. Every time Jack attempted to shove the invading color out of his mind a new wave of pain and failure awaited him. With each wave of pain coursing through him causing the tears to flash and expand. His attempts weren’t working. He needed to stop and think and come at it from another angle.
Jack struggled to think of what everything was and how it all fit within him. After a while it came to him. His mana had been pure white in the past not blue. White not just because of the thought of purity but because it reflected his ideals as a jack. Just as a jack can and should be able to do anything, so too should his mana be able to allow for any possibility. To him white allowed for that in the same way that light worked, with white light containing all the other colors within it. He had been going about trying to fix the invasion of things in the wrong way. A way that went against the very structure of his self-concept.
Instead of trying to take the color out of him and remove it, instead he should be absorbing it and take it away from whatever was out there attacking him. Turn it from someone or something else’s power into his own just as he had done with the world’s energy in the alley when he needed to hide and escape from his pursuers a few days ago.
Jack stared out at his concept of mana swirling in his mind. Storms of what he now could recall as reflections of concepts smashing into each other and himself tears in the fabric of his mental state showing attacks from the outside force trying to change him, even his own mental avatar showing blue cracks running all over it’s form. There was a lot of work to be done if he hoped to make it out the other side of this as himself and not someone or something else wearing him as a flesh suit.
Concentrating first on his avatar Jack concentrated on the idea that any mana that came into his body no matter the source, could and would become his. Fire, ice, emotion, silence, it didn’t matter what came with the mana because all things were possible within his magics. He could do anything as long as he had enough power and the desire to see it done. Bit by bit the blue cracks covering the avatar slowly disappeared, absorbing into and becoming part of the white light. Soon standing there was a statue of pure white not a speck of color to be seen.
Next, he needed to deal with all of the mana that writhed madly, completely beyond his control. He now realized that this lack of control and shear madness in the mana likely had to do with the concepts that he had allowed loose days ago that now ran rampant. Laughing in agony Jack was not sure if in the end they had been helping him by causing such flaws as him being unable to talk, or if the shifting mana had made it easier for whatever it was to hide its changes to him until it was too late.
Either way it didn’t matter too much in the end. He needed to get everything under control and not just sealed away as he had before keeping parts of himself locked away, but truly under his control for the first time in his life. With a scream of exertion he pushed his will out, trying to grab hold of everything within him and pulled.