The tall woman spoke first. “Interesting spot you have here. Did you know that Michael Hill took out a loan against the property? He’s been struggling to make his repayments.”

Danny did not know that. “Nah. I didn’t. That’s Mikey’s business, not mine though.”

The woman shrugged. “Just an interesting bit of information.”

“Let’s cut to the chase. You know that I know you’re involved with whatever is happening beneath the city, I want to know what you know.” Danny wasn’t going to let the woman rattle him, or at least admit to her that he was slightly rattled.

The woman eyed him up and Danny watched as mana began to circulate the woman. “Woah, whatever it is that you’re doing I recommend that you stop.” Danny summoned a large lance of sand above him, aimed right at the woman.

Tamm seemed shocked and froze. “You can see mana?”

Danny didn’t reply.

The mana around the woman stopped gathering, she had ceased whatever spell she had been silently casting. Danny kept a tight eye on her though.

“Interesting. You told your sister and Henrietta about your situation, but it’s obvious how little you know.”

“And you know more?”

“Of course I do.”

Danny waited for her to continue, but she didn’t. “I don’t want to threaten you or anything.” Danny let his construct dissipate, the sand falling into a pile on the tarmac around him. “But I really need to know what’s going on here.”

The woman just stared at him. He kept an eye on her mana but she didn’t appear to be trying anything.

“What’s happening beneath the city? What are the zombies? Why are you hiding it from Madley?” Danny pressed.

“You told Henrietta that the Old Hag appeared to you in a dream?” Tamm completely ignored his line of questioning. “What did you tell her?”

“Nothing, It tried to convince me to make a deal with it. I told it I needed time to think about it.”

Tamm’s face scrunched. “You told a Greater Demon to give you time to think about it?”

“Uh yeah?”

“And she did?” Her face scrunched further.

“Yeah, it said it would come back in a week.” Danny shrugged.

Tamm stared at him blankly for a moment.

“Is that bad?” Danny felt a bit awkward. He really had no idea what he was doing when it came to the Hag. The complete change in vibe had caught him off guard.

The woman muttered something under her breath that he couldn’t catch. “You want answers?”

Danny nodded.

“Make your way back into the tunnels, if you head deep enough you’ll find what you’re looking for.” The woman started walking away.

“Hang on,” Danny summoned a large wall of sand. It took less mana than a wall of pure mana, it also didn’t glow obnoxiously bright. It did to his sense that felt mana, but at least visually his eyes were spared. “There’s a lot of questions I have, no way am I letting you just walk.”

Danny’s mana sense picked up a sudden surge in mana beneath him, but he couldn’t respond quickly enough before something wrapped itself around his leg. He suddenly felt a sickening sensation across his entire body. His control over the sand wall disappeared and the construct collapsed. His mana went crazy, its usual tranquillity was disrupted and it rushed around his body in chaotic patterns. It made his head spin and he couldn’t stop himself from suddenly falling over, vomit rising in his throat.

A boot pressed his face into the ground. “Don’t think you can be cocky just because you have mana, boy. You know nothing of true magic. Many of us are more than prepared for freaks like you. I told you where to find your answers.” The woman kicked him in the stomach. It didn’t hurt at all, but the pressure was enough to force him to expel the vomit that had been rising in his throat.

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Danny struggled to calm his mana, desperately trying to work out what was going on. He realised that it was whatever had wrapped around his ankle that was causing his mana to go haywire. He desperately clawed at it, finding the material to feel like stone. A large stone anklet that had secured itself around his lower leg.

The sensation wasn’t letting up, it was gradually getting worse. His body was intrinsically linked to his mana, and his mana was wreaking havoc. He felt sick, he felt nauseous, he felt like he was dying.

Danny got his hands around the anklet and violently ripped at it, trying to pry it off him. His mana desperately tried to reinforce his hands but it was too chaotic. In a desperate effort, his mana exploded out, trying to destroy the stone device. It did nothing.

He dragged himself over to a wall and propped himself up against it. He then used his other foot to kick at the device. After minutes of violent stomps, something gave way and the device fell off his leg.

Like a man who had been drowning finally managing to get some oxygen, Danny sucked in a deep breath. His mana immediately settled and he felt okay. His mana rushed around his body, reenergising him.

“What the hell was that!?” Danny roared, looking for Tamm. He was alone in the lot. There were small craters where his mana had exploded, a few of his blasts having gone off wildly in his efforts to destroy the object that was messing with him.

Danny took another deep breath to try and settle himself before inspecting the stone device more closely. It had come out of the ground, faint whisps of mana gave away that it had been powered magically. It was made of stone, with intricate carvings across it, similar to the ones he had seen on the large orb that measured his mana.

Danny could feel the mana running through these carvings, like circuits carrying electrical currents. He cautiously picked the item up, finding that it didn’t mess with him just by touching it. “What the hell is this thing?”

It had done a nasty number on him, whatever it was. He rubbed his cheek, finding dirt on it from where Tamm had stepped on him. Danny frowned. That had felt a little uncalled for, it's not like he had attacked the woman.

The tunnels were definitely a trap. He had no clue why the evil European woman, because that’s what she was in his mind now, wanted him to go down there, but he knew it probably wouldn’t end well for him.

At that moment his connection to the beings in those tunnels heightened, several of them had finally come into contact with each other and had begun fighting it out. Danny watched, just like the others who had yet to find an opponent, with rapt attention.

A majority of the dozen or so creatures had started fighting all at once, dualing in pairs. Paying more attention, Danny realised that they had been waiting for each other to make the first move, scared that they’d get third-partied by opportunistic scavengers. The building tension had finally exploded, with fights breaking out all at once.

It was a complete cacophony of sensory information that flooded into his mind. Pain, anger, rage, desire, hunger, excitement. All these emotions struck him with such force that it sent him physically reeling. He managed to get a hold of himself just in time to watch one of the beings try and replicate what he had done to the wall earlier. It had none of the technique or kinesthetic knowledge that Danny had no ability or practice in understanding how its body worked, nor the rationality to even attempt to.

It just tried to directly copy what Danny had done, wanting to replicate the results and explode the enemy before it. Instead, as its mana was recklessly dragged through its body, it tore it up. Its legs, hips, torso, and shoulder were left mangled as the mana violently tore through it, finally as the mana reached its arm, the limb simply couldn’t handle it. The arm exploded, mana tearing its way through flesh. The being howled in pain, and all them stopped for a moment to process what had happened.

The initial reaction was fear, and then all of the beings turned their attention to Danny. Caution was the predominant emotion. They were wary of Danny and the fact that he could handle mana in a way they couldn’t. Then there was a return to the violence. The opponent of the now mangled being didn’t show mercy and went for the kill, signalling the fighting to recommence.

It was a brutal few minutes, resulting in seven winners. The total amount of these beings left was 11, including Danny. The three that had been unable to find an opponent were terrified, knowing that they were now the weakest, most alluring targets for everyone else. They raced to find each other, hoping to gain strength before they were targetted by the now more empowered beings.

There was one being in particular Danny paid attention to, the one that had already been strengthened. It had easily won its fight and was greedily tearing into its defeated foe. Its strength did not double again, but increased by half when it finished. That told Danny that each being, when consumed, gave a set amount of mana to the consumer. It wasn’t a constant doubling. The discovery calmed him slightly. If it had continued doubling then Danny would never have stood a chance against one of these empowered beings.

Danny realised that as these beings fought each other, he was being left in the dust in terms of mana. Though, he now realised there were counters to having such large amounts of mana. He looked down at the device he was still holding. He needed to know what it was and how Tamm had sprung it on him.

Thankfully, he knew how to find some answers.

Half an hour later, Danny, Retta, and a grumpy magical Engineer named Todd were standing in Todd’s workshop.

“I can’t believe you woke me up so late, Retta. This better be good.” The grumpy man grumbled.

Retta pointed at Danny. “Blame him, he called me.”

The grumpy engineer’s ire fell on Danny. “Alright Mana-boy, have at it.”

Danny produced the device. “Tamm hit me with this and it felt like it was killing me, I want to know what it is.”

Todd’s entire demeanour changed. “This is Tamm’s work?” He snatched it from Danny’s hands and immediately brought it over to a workbench.

The man ignored the two of them and mumbled to himself and he inspected the work. There were brief exclamtions of bewilderment, excitement, and revelation for about 15 minutes. Retta and Danny had no choice but to stand there and wait for the man to remember they were there.

Eventually, he did. “This right here is a mana disrupter. A right powerful one at that.”