Excerpt From The Mad Scholar's Wall—

It was not a single brilliant flash of lightning. One could not even describe it as a rapid series of bolts falling to the earth.

Bars of raw power fell from the storm-covered heavens, rending the ground with its fury. A fury that the knights harnessed for our defense.

The bodies and stones in the lightning's path were vaporized and melted into slag. And the bodies not in the immediate path of the lighting burst into flames dozens at a time.

For one long second after another, all we could hear was a popping, cracking, burning roar of the lighting. The static charge building in the air for hours reached a crescendo as balls of shimmering blue rose into the air with our hair.

And the air. The air that was damp and cool from the rain one moment became humid the next and was filled with a sharp tang.

Faster than the quickest arrows, four bars of lightning raced through the passages and chambers of the Gauntlet, guided by the knights floating in the air.

Tens of thousands of beastmen were burned to ash in seconds. Thousands more were consumed by the flames lighting up the smoldering fortress in the rain-soaked night.

Even as the lightning rang in our ears, the legionaries rushed forward through the attack's aftermath. They knew they needed the room. The room to retreat as the hoard pushed us back once more.

Because we still had not done enough.

**********

I flinched in surprise at her voice, and my back stiffened with sudden tension, but I kept myself from jumping or lashing out, so I counted it as a win.

Ignoring her, I turned and slowly walked away, loosening up my arms with a couple of swings as I headed to where my bow lay on the ground. Probably should have gotten it sooner, but I was distracted, and it is not like a few more seconds lying on the ground would hurt it. But if she was an enemy, it could have got you killed. Whispered a thought in the back of my mind.

Bending down to pick up my bow, I heard a whistle which I ignored as I inspected the bow. Not seeing any damage, I slung it over my shoulder as I gave a quick look at the arrows scattered about on the ground. None looked reusable, as I could easily spot broken or cracked shafts, so I left them and turned to face the beastkin.

"So," I said, "How did you know you could find me again? And what did you want me to see?"

I could see the flood of thoughts flashing behind her intense eyes as they bore into me. Then she leaned forward slightly. I couldn't stop it. Didn't even know what I was doing until my eyes were moving back to her face after dropping to her chest. It was only for the briefest of moments, but I caught her perpetual superior smile shift slightly, becoming more assured, and I knew she noticed my look.

Which sucked as she already had the advantage, and this only added to it. Not to mention that looking and getting caught was more than a bit embarrassing. Subtlety was a thing, after all.

My cheeks flushed as I met her knowing eyes. The worst part was it wasn't even worth the glance. She was wearing skin-tight layered black and green leather armor. Not the good kind that gives nearly zero protection and outlines a figure, but the well-made, smushy useful kind of armor. Anything interesting I might have seen was well hidden, but I still couldn't help looking.

Not that my glance was a complete loss, as I did notice that she wore a pair of bracelets, a knife on her thigh, and a few pouches at her waist. For whatever good that did.

The strangest thing was her armor looked… well, better made than mine.

“Hmm… I knew you would be here because I trusted that someone who showed your abilities would make it to the action. And there are many things I wish to show you," She said while one of her tails ran down the side of her body, "but for now, follow."

A moment later, she had turned and was running through the forest without a sound.

I stood still for a second, a little shaken by her abrupt change of attitude. Then I shook my head, throwing off the thoughts as I sprinted after her to catch up.

As I got about ten feet from her, she sped up a little, easily keeping me at that distance while I kept pace as best I could. It was easy to tell she was holding herself back.

As a branch cracked under my foot, I thought for a moment if I should turn back. She seemed to know where she was going and wanted speed over silence. I was taking a lot on faith that she wanted me alive as we ran through an obviously enemy-infested forest. But still… what I can learn is worth the chance of death.

For a while, we wound our way through the forest at a run. Gradually the beastwoman let me inch closer to her. When I got within arms reach, something started bothering me, and it was growing worse.

Focusing my mind on my passive senses of mental energy, I tried to feel the surrounding area, but I felt nothing. That didn't mean shit, though, as whatever the beastkin used wasn't mental energy. And I knew something was going on, even if I couldn't detect what.

I didn't want to send out a pulse or use a casting to figure out what was bothering me, either. Whatever casting I performed might rebound off the beastwoman's energy and uses for it — there was no way she felt as dangerous as she did without having some kind of energy — knocking me out again. It probably wouldn't, but the chance was there. And for all I know, the beastkin can detect the usage of mental energy now.

So I focused on my surroundings and let my eyes wander to whatever they were drawn to…

The woman's movements were the most graceful I had ever seen. She wove around obstacles with an elegance that spoke of a lifetime of practice and innate skill. But even she made mistakes at the speed we were moving.

I frowned as I noticed another misstep. It was small. Tiny. But it was there and… No. Fucking. Way! It can't be… How is that possible?

While I was good at moving through the forest, I wasn't at her level, so I was making more mistakes. Not major ones, but they were there. If I just put my foot down…

The branch I was aiming for broke under my foot. I felt it. But if I was basing what I knew on sound, it would be like it had never happened. That it was my imagination.

I slapped my arm through the branches of a bush I was running past. I saw the slap of the branches and leaves against my armor, and again, not a sound.

None.

Falling back a few steps, I slapped another bush… and there was sound. Not enough, like it was muffled, but it was there. And still, I felt nothing.

My step stuttered as something in the corner of my eye moved. Snapping my head to the side, I looked for danger. When I didn't immediately see anything, I scanned the forest for what had caught my attention. It took a few seconds, but I eventually found it.

I was looking too far away.

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There was a shimmer in the air moving along with us as we ran, little spots in the air that were slightly fuzzy, like looking through your eyelashes. . Squinting my eyes, I focused on a spot in the middle of the air a few feet from me. Then I looked around us and noticed that shimmers were scattered everywhere.

They were little spots in the air that were shimmering and lightly fuzzy, like looking through your eyelashes.

Opening my mouth, I asked, "What are you doing?"

I tried to ask, at least.

My mouth opened. And it moved as I formed the words, and I even felt the vibration of air moving through my throat. The vibrations were extremely noticeable when you tried to speak but didn't make a sound.

"Hey~!" I shouted, drawing out the word for long seconds, trying to make a sound.

"Do you have something to say?" Came the slightly mocking voice of the beastkin in my ear, startling me… again. I ground my teeth together in annoyance at the smug tone in her voice.

Gathering my will and mental energy, I lashed out with a telepathic strand. I intended to wrap it around her head, then unwind the smallest of strands I could manage to touch upon her internal energy and connect to her mind.

My actions took only the smallest of moments, but during that instant, I did notice something strange. It was like my energy was moving through a stiff breeze.

When my small tendril was bearly an inch from touching her head, our two energies made contact and began to rush toward each other and mix. The speed and force of the attraction was so strong that it caught me off guard, snapping the mental strand I was using to reach for her head halfway between us. I reeled in what was left of my mental energy as I suddenly sensed a fluctuation in the spot our two energies connected.

"Hurgh!" Grunted the beastwoman as her body stiffened and went limp as she fell to the ground.

Seeing her falling face first for the ground, I dove forward and sent all seven of the mental tendrils I could form to wrap around and catch her body.

As the larger tendrils touched upon the shell of energy wrapping around her and slid through it to her body, I was only half surprised to feel the same jerking and sucking sensation eating away at my energy. Clamping down my will, I was able to fight off the suction force well though to maintain the integrity of my tendrils, but the interaction between our energies burned away at my reserves faster than I thought possible.

From the moment I caught her in the air slowing her fall, to when she hit the ground a moment later, I burned away two-thirds of my energy reserves.

Landing on the ground next to her, I grunted from the impact as I caught my breath. It wasn't a physical weariness so much as the hollow feeling of having all that mental energy ripped from me all at once.

“Fuck… That wa—

My words caught in my throat, and I froze in place. There were very few things in the world like the cool tip of a blade pressing into your throat. And while it had never happened to me before, I was pretty damn sure that was what was happening right now.

"I saved your life," Hissed a low voice filled with fury, "And you attack me mentally?" There was a few seconds while the blade shivered as if in indecision, as her breathing grew heavier, "Maybe you're not worth the effort after all…”

"Wohhh~," I said, slowly turning my head to face her voice, the blade pressed further into my throat, drawing more blood, but I continued to turn my head. It seemed like she was close to a decision that was very bad for my future health. "I wasn't attacking you," I said as calmly as I could once I was looking into her narrowed, burning eyes.

Literally, her eyes were glowing with an inner fire that sent out whisps of flame from the corner of her eyes.

Her eyes narrowed a little more, becoming slits, "How would I know that."

"Know what?" I asked in confusion.

"Thhat. You'reee. Teellinggg. Thee. Truth!" She growled out through her extremely long, glistening fangs. They didn't look that long before. I thought as I tried to swallow with my dry mouth.

"What do you mean?" I asked in confusion, "You ju… Ahh…" I trailed off as my eyes widened in shock. This had never happened to me before. Never even occurred to me. Then I thought of something, "Ohh! Can't beastkin smel…"

My voice wilted under her burning eyes, "No! We can't smell lies!"

In The Republic of Olimpia, and even the Imperium, lying was nearly impossible. One in a hundred thousand might be able to obscure the truth when someone was probing their mind. But it was easy to tell when someone was doing it if you knew what you were looking for.

The people that can partition their minds so one side can have thoughts and actions without the other knowing were few and far between. Only in legends and horror stories did individuals exist who could partition their minds and then layer one on top of the other to hide their real motivations.

As a rule of thumb, if someone left their mind open, they were being honest and inviting anyone to probe it to make sure of that fact. The most anyone did was ask another to open their mind to prove their honesty, not ask how to trust their word. Even a child could feel when someone was speaking the truth to them when the speaker's mind was open.

I couldn't fathom living in such a world, at never really being able to trust anyone. How could a society function and trust one another, never knowing if anyone was honest? That's just… absurd.

When the blade she was holding to my throat sunk a little deeper into my throat, I was pulled back from my thoughts to what was important.

Thinking of a way to prove I didn't attack her. Theirs no way. Not without her scanning me. Which she can't. I would have to… Shit. I gotta attack her.

I closed my eyes as I gathered what was left of my willpower and mental energy. This would be tricky, and I might not even be able to do it. Not without killing one of us, at least. And I was getting a stronger feeling that whatever she was going to show me was important.

Opening my eyes, I saw her glare, and she seemed to sigh as I shook my head slightly, "I thought not."

As her body tensed, I lashed out with my mental energy. I was not gentle. It was not a wisp of delicate power meant to probe. Instead, it was a hardened bar meant to stab into her mind.

From my three — Four? Two and a half? Ehh, it doesn't matter — encounters with whatever energy the beastkin use, I learned some things. Hopefully.

I tried to compress my energy as much as possible as it slammed into her mind, causing her body to freeze up.

My telepathic working surged forward as it impacted the wall of energy surrounding her head and blasted it deeper into her skin. Then I tried to send my energy into her body.

As soon as my energy tried to enter her head, it met with her internal energy, and time seemed to slow around us.

Her energy was… welcoming? No, that wasn't it. It just wasn't hostel and eating away at my energy. Which by itself was strange.

It was unlike anything I had heard or experienced before.

I could read, feel, and hear her thoughts and emotions through the turmoil of her energy. And she was overflowing with burning anger, hiding an underlying fear of death. I could feel that she thought, in this moment that kept stretching on and on, that I had betrayed her while she was trying to save the lives of both our people. And all of the anger was directed at me. Fuck… I groaned mentally. This isn't going to end well for me.

As more of my energy forced its way inside her mind, she became aware of my intrusion. And an instant later, she rallied her mind and hastily started gathering energy.

Her first effort to push me out was futile. Her internal energy washed over the end of my bar like a soft breeze, but I felt the backlash of her failed attack sending ripples of agony through her mind.

Moments after I felt the mind-blanking pain tear through her, she was gathering her willpower and energy, readying herself to lash out at me again. Even as she readied herself for an internal attack, the shell around her body was eating away at my bar of energy connecting us. All without her conscious effort. I could tell, being able to see her mind and all.

I stopped sending my energy into her body, as I was sure that would only harm her further. Instead, I used my energy as a bridge for my will as I sent her all of my thoughts and emotions. I tried to make it as brief as possible while filling it with as many emotions and thoughts as I could. "It was an accident… I'm sorry…"

Even as I sent the message, I tried pulling my mental energy out of her body. But my efforts to pull back only increased the pace at which pieces of my mental bar broke off in her mantel of energy.

My bar splintered into a strand from the crushing and corrosive nature of the shroud, then a string, as I tried to pull my mental energy from her mind through the shrinking bridge. Despite the challenges, I was able to remove most of my energy from her mind, but even with my best efforts, I couldn't get it all.

It was close. So close. I was pulling on the last remnants of energy with my will as the final strand of my bar snapped. With all of my focus on pulling my energy out of her head and my bridge crumbling and unable to take the strain, I left my mental energy pooling between her skin and the mantle of energy.

When the last strand snapped, my will holding the energy went with it. All at once, my accumulated energy scattered into the beastkin's external energy shroud creating a cascade as the two mixed and reacted with each other.

The mixing energy bulged out in an eruption, connecting with what was left of my bar. The explosion then started eating away and spreading down the bar of mental energy.

Whether because of my mental exhaustion or the surge of mixing energies exponentially increasing the pull, I couldn't retain the integrity of my tendril as it was enveloped. And as more of my energy was ripped away, it shocked my mind, making me unable to pull back or cut off my energy. All I could do was watch as all but the smallest specks of mental energy still inside of me was consumed.

Completely hollowed out, the world around me turned black as I passed out.