It was colder in the officer's wing. The journey up to the second level had been thankfully uneventful. They dodged patrols and proceeded directly towards their destination.
Draven channeled Essence into his senses, bringing the Weave into view. He connected his mind to the Weave. Massive amounts of information rammed into his consciousness. He closed his eyes and focused. He filtered out all the noise and honed in on the feelings of humanoid life. He opened his eyes again, most of the Threads of the Weave having disappeared. Five of those Threads led into officer dorms, and Draven bound his mind to each, getting a feeling for each of the beings tied to them. The Weave spoke to him again, feeding him incomprehensible knowledge about each of the five. Draven again filtered out the noise, listening for the most vulnerable of his targets. One of the Threads shot to the forefront of his mind. The Thread gave him the feeling of sleep. Draven figured that the officer must be sleeping. He Apatheticly broke the connection to the four other targets and focused on the fifth connection.
"I got a target," Draven said as he rubbed the side of his head. Connecting yourself to the Weave was dangerous. The Weave connects all. It also gives and receives all. This can lead to information overload and information siphoning. Both have the possibility of breaking the minds of a mystic. Combine that with mystics creating multiple minds to bind multiple Threads. Magic was an easy way to go mad.
He led the way towards the rebel officer, following the Thread connecting him and the officer. A metal door blocked him from going further into the officer's room. Draven once again channeled Essence into his eyes. He bound the Threads of Lock, Open, and Door to a chunk of Essence. He Wove the Three Threads, adding to the soul of the Essence and changing it. Draven launched the Spell at the door, and a sphere of blue energy surged out of his arm and collided with the door. Draven heard the locking mechanism click, and the door automatically slid open.
Draven peered into the room. A female rebel officer lay asleep on a bed inside. Draven stepped into the room, being slow and as quiet as possible.
"Who are you two?" The synthetic voice of an android reached Draven's ear.
"Shit," Draven turned around to find two assault rifle-wielding androids.
Wires lined the subsurface of the synthetic humanoids' skin. The one on the left was tall and built like a male. He had green-tinted skin and a mane of brown hair. The other was feminine in shape. Her skin was caramel, but her hair was light pink.
Draven turned to Sygvar, "Why didn't you warn me?"
"This is part of your test. It's your responsibility to be more aware of your surroundings."
Draven sighed; he Sympatheticly bound both the androids to his arms and jumped backward into the officer's quarters. The androids were pulled with him through the door, falling to the ground.
The female officer sat up from her sleep and looked around her room. Her eyes drifted towards the noise that woke her, finding the fallen androids. Then she glanced at Draven and jumped out of her bed.
Draven felt the sensation of a Sympathetic link being bound to his person. He instinctively tried to break the link apathetically but was not fast enough. The officer grunted as she pushed her arm forward; Draven flew off the ground into the wall behind him. He hit the wall hard with a bang.
The android patrols on the ground got up and surrounded the female officer. She turned to the one on her left, "Report that we have intruders."
The female android nodded, and she then tapped her temple. She then looked confused, "Ma'am, I can't get a connection. I think we're being jammed."
Sygvar whistled, catching their attention as he walked into the room. He raised his hand, smiling the whole time. "Sorry, that would be my doing."
The officer turned to face Sygvar, preparing to attack him. The android patrols pointed their guns at him.
"I wouldn't be focusing on me if I were you," Sygvar pointed to Draven. "And what did I say about killing?"
The officer and androids locked onto Draven again. He was on his feet with his sword drawn. "Don't worry, I won't." He surged forward, exploding forth with power.
The mystic officer held out her hand. A sword flew through the air, landing in her open palm. She blocked Draven's attack, stopping his momentum.
Draven sympathetically bound the guns of the patrols and crushed them. He then converted his Essence into kinetic force, launching it at the androids. The androids flew back, leaving just Draven and the rebel mystic.
The officer pushed Draven's blade to the side, causing Draven to fall past her. She kneed Draven in the stomach and then elbowed him.
Draven caught the elbow and pushed the officer back. He channeled his Essence, injecting his rage. He willed his Essence to become fire as it surged from his palms toward the officer.
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The officer shielded herself with her arm. A translucent barrier tinted purple manifested in front of her. Draven's Essence fire impacted the barrier, eating away at the shield. The stream of fire slowly pushed back the female mystic. She finally jumped to the side, and the jet of Essence fire flew past her and impacted the wall behind her. With a burst of speed, she appeared before Draven and swung her blade towards his neck.
Draven parried the blow. Spinning around to the back of her, Draven elbowed her in the back of the head. Then, he charged Essence into his arm. The air around Draven's arm distorted as kinetic energy condensed around his arm. He punched the mystic in her back, and the air crackled at the speed of the blow.
The mystic shot forward. She impacted the floor, skipped off the ground, and finally slammed into a wall. She picked herself back up, bruised and blood dripping from her nose. Draven appeared in front of her, punching her in the jaw. The jaw bone cracked from the power, and her head whipped back, rattling her brain. She stepped towards Draven, falling to her knees and using her sword as support.
Draven held out his palm, Kinetic Essence condensing in his hand. He then felt the threat of harm from the Weave. He converted the Kinetic Essence into a shield surrounding him, just in time to stop the knife of one of the androids. The android strained, pushing more on the knife. The blade slowly pierced through Draven's barrier.
Draven exploded the kinetic barrier. The android was blown back. The other one came for Draven with a knife as well. Draven fired off a bolt of Kinetic Essence. The android dodged with superhumanly fast reflexes. It attacked again, driving its knife directly at Draven's heart.
Draven's hand shot up, grabbing the hand of the android. He pulled the android in and twirled around. The female officer had staggered her way to her feet, shaking her head as she recovered from her concussion. Draven pushed the android at the officer and then fired another kinetic bolt at the two, flinging them both against the wall.
He focused on the android he had blown back with his kinetic barrier. The android was crawling on its hands and feet, struggling to get up. Draven sped over and stomped down on the back of the android. The metallic floor screeched as the android dented the ground. He fired a blast of sleep aligned Essence into the android, and willed the creature to fall asleep with Sympathy.
Draven took a blow to the back of the head. Then the hot sting of steel pierced Draven flesh and then left as quickly. Draven turned around and backed away. The officer and the remaining android follow Draven, not letting him get any freedom.
The officer swung her blade at Draven's chest. Draven blocked the sword. With Draven occupied, the android came around the side and stabbed Draven once again. He bit his tongue at the pain, forcing his mind to dilute his sense of pain. Draven summoned a vast amount of Essence into his leg, more than he should have, and kicked the android. His leg shot out like lightning. The android blocked the blow with their armor. Draven's attack broke its arm and several ribs. The android flew into the air, hitting the ceiling with a bang. Then fell to the floor, limp and groaning.
The officer came for Draven again, her blade intent on cutting his flesh. Draven coated his sword in Essence aligned with sharpness. The blade began to glow as the Sygaldry lit with power along the blade's edge. Draven swung his blade with blinding speed, cutting through the officer's sword. She tensed up as the blade sped towards her neck. Draven stopped his sword and punched her in the jaw while she focused on the blade. She wobbled in place and then slumped to the ground.
Draven breathed a sigh of relief. He used body supremacy to heal his wounds. He Conjured a mental image of his body, and Sympatheticly forced his wounds to heal. Essence surged through his body, accelerating the process.
He then tied up the two androids, shoving them into a closet. He tied up the officer as well, then used an Essence draining crystal to take the rest of her Essence.
Essence converged into Draven's senses, bringing the sensation of the Weave to Draven's mind. He focused on the Threads of Mind, Trust, and Persuasion. He bound those with Sympathy.
"You're going to need to Weave something stronger," Sygvar said. "This one is a mage; she has a stronger will."
Draven jumped, nearly breaking his bound Threads. "I forgot you were there."
A six-thread weave of mental suggestion was going to be a challenge. Draven's specialty was outside the domain of the mind. He split his mind into six parts and added the concepts of Loyalty, Honesty, and Joy to his bound Threads. His concentration strained as he fought to keep his various streams of consciousness from overpowering one another; he needed them to stay in equilibrium. Draven channeled Essence into both hands, touching the Thread of Trust first and then Honesty. He began weaving, and his hands soon blurred as the Weave took shape. The Weave grew, attaching itself to the soul of the Essence it was bound to.
Then, a Thread split from Draven's fingers. He caught it just in time before the Weave unwound itself. His hands began to shake, and sweat started dripping from his brow. A Thread slipped from his fingers again, and again, and again. Soon, his Weave was unraveling. It happened slowly at first, but as time went on, it progressed faster. Draven panicked, trying to save the Weave. But then the Weave started to morph, distorting from Draven's intended outcome. It mutated, warping into a Weave Draven did not recognize. Then, suddenly, it stopped, slowly changing back to the Spell Draven was familiar with.
"You had it. You just need more practice," Sygvar said as he stepped in and took over Weaving the Spell.
He completed the Spell faster than Draven could have. The Weave fully merged with the soul of Draven's Essence, and Draven launched the Spell at the officer. Draven shocked the female mystic to consciousness.
She looked around, her eyes unfocused. As soon as she gazed at Draven, she locked onto his eyes and smiled. "What can I do for you?"
"Tell me about the sublevel of this facility," Draven commanded.
"I don't know much about it. I've never been down there; the higher-ups don't speak about it. But I do know how to get in there," She shifted around, struggling to do so with her hands bound behind her back and her feet tied together. She pointed at a plastic card, "If you take my ID and scan it at the entrance. The door will open, and you can go there for yourselves."
"Where is the entrance located," Draven summoned the facility map from earlier. He cut the bindings on her hands and moved the map towards her.
"Right here," She pointed towards a square blank space on the map. It was located on the second floor. "It's an elevator that will take you to the lower level. Anything else you want?"
Draven threw another zip tie at her, "Tie yourself up and don't make any noise." Draven turned around, snatched her ID from her desk, and left her room.
Sygvar followed after his disciple. He waved goodbye to the officer and closed the door behind them.