The magical engineer pointed at what Danny had been mentally calling circuitry. “This isn’t Grimlock’s. I can get a gist of what it’s doing, but it isn’t standard runic linework at all, this is a new language to me. Once the the artefact closes around a target,” the man demonstrated by picking it up and connecting the two ends, “it will send pulses through the enclosed space, and whatever is caught between it. These pulses will distort the mana, making it unstable.”
The man put the construct down and took out a tool. He tinkered with a side of the object and it popped open, laying out flat. “It wouldn’t have much of an effect on a human, though. It would only impact a mana beast.”
“Why’s that?” Danny asked.
“Because we don’t keep mana in our body. Don’t they teach you anything here? Unless you were using your body to channel a spell, or you had a body-reinforcement spell going, this wouldn’t do anything. Now, something that's body has mana in it? This thing would do some nasty to work to a beastie like that.”
“Oh, yeah. Duh.” Danny feigned.
“Wait.” Todd’s eyes locked onto Danny. “You said Tamm hit you with this?” His eyes widened “And you felt sick?” His jaw fell open. Danny’s gut dropped, he didn’t like the idea of people knowing he wasn’t quite human anymore. “How have you managed to learn a body reinforcement spell already? Who taught ya that?”
Danny almost heaved a sigh of relief. “I’m just doing it, can’t explain it.”
“Bloody hell, all that mana must have gone to your head, literally.” The man grumbled.
“So, what’s the best way to get it off? I had to just stomp on it.”
“Ah yes, a subtle touch, mana-boy.” The man gestured for him to come closer and pointed to a spot between where two of the stone sections of the device touched. “This would be the weak point of the artefact. The linework that causes the disruption is advanced stuff, the mechanism to make keep it closed? Amateur at best.” The man closed the device again. “Direct a wee bit of mana right here,” he gestured with a tool.
Danny did so and the device popped open. “There, simple. If that fiendish woman ever pulls one of these on you again, cancel that reinforcement spell, pop it open, Bob’s your uncle.”
“Easy done.” Danny nodded.
“Aye, easy done,” Todd confirmed.
Danny let the man keep the device, not that he thought the man would give it back to him if he asked, and went on his way. Retta wanted to talk but Danny suspected that her room, and probably the entire academy, was bugged or something. Tamm was listening to everything.
So, Danny and Retta went for a walk, leaving their phones inside. Danny explained his brief but uncomfortable encounter with the evil European woman. “Yeah, she’s always been a weird one. Chalked it up to her being European though.” Retta commented.
“You know that the tunnels have to be trapped though, she’s quite literally baiting you down there.”
“Yep.”
“You’re going to go anyway, aren’t you?”
“Yep.”
“She clearly has ways to deal with you. You won’t be able to use your mana to just blow everything up.”
“Yep.”
Retta sighed. “It’s not like I can stop you. When will you go?”
“No time like the present, but I need some sleep first. So, first thing in the morning I’ll head down there. Maybe I can catch her off guard.”
Retta shook her head. “Doubt that. Your mana is so obvious that you no doubt appear on her arrays. She’ll know where you are the entire time.”
Danny didn’t have much to say to that, remembering Smith showing him how he appeared on the array. He just hoped that her traps and little disrupting devices might not be fully set and ready to go. It was a bit of a pipe dream.
They made it back to the academy and went their separate ways for the night. Danny decided to give his sister’s number to Retta, just in case something happened. He also texted Retta’s to his sister. Then he finally laid down to sleep.
It had been one hell of a day. Certainly one for the books. He had completely changed the way he interacted with mana, gaining a mastery that he doubted any other human likely had. That was the kicker though, it had come at the cost of his humanity. Whatever that means. He still felt like a human, so, surely he was? He knew that he was now a creature-of-mana, or whatever the hell they called them, but he still felt human.
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He also knew exactly what he wasn’t, he wasn’t like the other beings beneath the city. Irrational creatures guided only by primal instincts. He had his rationality, he had his mind, he had his sense of self. He was still human, he hadn’t become one of those mindless monsters. It felt almost simplisitc, like he was doing his best to ignore the nuance, but that’s exactly what he was doing. I’m a human, a very magical human, but a human.
As Danny fell asleep he had to actively stop him thoughts from melding to those emerging from beneath the city. I am me, not them.
Danny dreamt a familiar dream. It felt like the long distant past, but he was sitting in a chair across from the scared Asian man again. The man pulled out a gun and aimed it at him. Danny didn’t feel scared this time though. He simply watched passively. The man’s face finally changed, becoming irritated at the lack of reaction. As his expression changed his face began to warp, taking on the inhuman features of the demon Danny had fought that day.
The demon screamed at him but was bound to the chair, unable to move. Danny sat there watching passively as the monster screamed and clawed at him. Danny noticed something watching him from the corner of his eye. He couldn’t focus on it though, but he knew something was there, watching him closely.
Danny snapped awake as his alarm went off. “Bloody dreams,” he cursed.
It was the early hours of the morning. He got up and went for a run. He didn’t bother to hide his mana usage, the entire internet probably knew at this point, and the city considering that he was on the news. He got plenty of looks, but he was running fast enough that people didn’t have a chance to try and talk to him, which a few attempted anyway. Danny did his best to ignore them and focused on his head.
He was heading into the tunnels. It was definitely trapped by Tamm and the other beings would be more than raring to come after him. Does Tamm know that? Does she want them to take care of me? He wasn’t sure, but he was going to go anyway.
He had serious doubts that Tamm was just going to be sitting in there waiting for him so they could have a nice conversation where she’d share everything she knew. No, it was likely going to be far more treacherous than that. There were also the beings themselves. They had halved again overnight. There were only five left, six including him. The power wasn’t evenly split though. The same one who had been strongest last night had only grown, clearly having taken the lion’s share of kills.
It was actively prowling the tunnels even now, looking for the remaining beings. The others were scared, they each were markedly stronger than where they’d started from, but this disparity had only grown. Danny had a sinking feeling that soon it would only be him and this victorious bastard left. It would be Danny versus a monster with something like 16 times the mana he had. I guess the tables have turned. The one advantage he had held up until this point was gone, long gone.
He’d just have to hope that his ability to cast spells would be enough to do something. Actually… Danny gave Smith a call as soon as he got back to his place. 10 minutes later he was at the man’s house.
“You seem grim Skala, what are you preparing for?” Smith asked.
“Uhh, I’m about to go fight Tamm in the tunnels under Madley.” Danny decided to be straightforward.
“Oh.” The man pondered. “Good luck. I don’t know if I rate your odds. She’s a scary woman, especially on her own turf.”
“You’re cool with this?”
Smith shrugged. “Eh, I’m sure the old bastard won’t care. If you kill her it’ll be more work for me, but oh well.”
“Can you tell me if she had any weaknesses?” Danny probed
Smith shrugged again. “Don’t know them, it’s not like we’re close. Nor would she give me the chance to find out. You saw what happened the other night, she was more than willing to let that demon kill us if it had been more serious. We might all work for Madley, but we’re certainly not friends, Skala.”
“Good to know. Could you teach me to shoot, and lend me a gun?”
“Sure, why not.”
Danny proceeded to get a very quick lesson in firearm safety and how to handle a rifle. Smith then handed him a rifle. “This is an ArmaLite 15, or AR-15, at least that’ll do for a name for now. It’s semi-automatic and shoots 7.62 rounds. Any of that make sense to you?”
“I thought AR stood for Assault Rifle?”
Smith visibly winced. “No.”
Smith then took him down to an underground firing range and had him practice a bit.
“You’re awful.” He was.
“Why do you want this anyway? You have more than enough mana to blow anything in front of you apart better than a rifle ever could.” Smith asked.
“I’m worried that mana won’t always be an option for me.”
Smith pondered for a moment. “Is it the beartraps she made? The mana-disrupter ones? Did she use one on you already?” The man laughed when Danny nodded. “Wow, you unlucky bastard. She made them for Colt, I’m pretty sure. Told Madley they were for rift monsters, not far off the mark I guess.
You’re a terrible shot, but if your target is close enough that won’t matter. I keep my gear clean, so you shouldn’t jam or anything.” He gave Danny a nondescript case for the gun. “I don’t need you causing a mass panic out there. I’ll ask Tamm for the gun back when this is over.”
“Not confident in my chances?”
Smith snorted. “She’s been preparing to fight me and Colt since she got here. No offence kid, but you ain’t me. You’re certainly not Colt.”
Danny’s confidence waivered, but he steeled himself. “You’re right, I’m me. Hopefully, she’s not yet prepared for that.”
“Good luck, Skala. Tamm’s a scary sonofabitch, watch your legs.” With a pat on the back, Smith pushed him out of his house.