Dan was sure he was awake this time. The last time he had awoken from a nightmare, he had been in the space between. His mana cycled easily enough now though, inside himself rather than all around. Perhaps when he regained his strength he would know more. For now, his extremities were numb, his reservoir of mana nearly dry.

The feeling of his energy at the end, the culmination of experience that he had layered on top of each other, was sitting on the edge of his mind. Like a phrase that was on the tip of Dan’s tongue, it sat just at the edge of understanding.The experience hadn’t been entirely forgotten but like a fading dream, his time in that space was slipping from his grasp. There had been important realisations which he would not lose. He wanted to help. He wanted to save. He would ignore pain to that end.

Even as Grier worked his weaving, Dan did his best to ignore the outside stimuli. His body was not healed from the battle with Shade’s siblings. It was taking a vast amount of resources to get Dan back on his feet quickly, resources which Shade gave freely. It was a strange feeling, one that Fa Lian would probably have more confidence with.

Dan was being relied on. He enjoyed that fact but there was a guilt at the base of his mind that said if he had gotten this far without enhancements then he didn’t need them now. They should go to Hyun Soon or Xiaomei who couldn’t keep up. Dan thanked Grier in his head for healing him at the moment because he might have bled from his tongue as his teeth bit into it, stopping that thought.

The stronger Dan could become, the less danger his friends needed to place themselves in. That was the goal. As the strange magic started in proper, Dan no longer had room for that thought. He had decided in his mind to push past pain but that was easier said than done. The holy magic of the dwarf was not like Dan’s own, at least he thought so.

First, it was much slower. There was a slight cloying smell in Dan’s nose, as his mana was smothered by a shroud of denser energy. The healing energy from the dwarf was not focused like Dan’s was. It wasted a lot of power and time by blanketing the entire form. It also couldn’t heal what the body itself already couldn’t because the process was more about accelerating the natural healing than anything else.

It was inefficient. Dan could do better.

He had no choice but to endure though. Grier’s casting itself took a while and the spell would last as long as the dwarf could keep concentration. How long that would be, Dan didn’t know but it wouldn’t be quick. That was fine. The strength to do anything but wait had not yet entered his limbs but it wouldn’t be long.

Even now, Dan’s face began to throb less and less, the skin knitting back together noticeably, if there were anyone around to notice. The room was clear except for himself and the dwarf so that he could maintain concentration. It would be just the two of them until Grier could do no more.

Once he did, they would send in the priest.

Dan had not outwardly reacted to the strange man when they had met by coincidence in the alley of Allusia and he was certain that had been a good choice. For one, the man’s healing was more like Dan’s own, he did not cast spells. That allowed Dan to learn more than he could from the dwarf, though he was still trying to pull apart the mechanics for spellcraft.

The other reason Dan’s reaction had been important was because Dan was certain that brother Oblax Claré was a cold-blooded killer. He had not been scared of the men who had found him, Dan had been able to hear his calm heartbeat even as he had been covered in blood.

Whoever the priest was, Dan was going to have to be careful around him. He had wanted Dan to go to him in his church for some reason. Dan wanted to know more but until he could get mobile himself he had few options. Until his mana recovered more, he couldn’t trail the man. Dan chewed that problem over as the healing continued.

After what felt like hours, Grier stood from his kneeling position. The joints in his knees and hips creaked, two long twists of his torso creating a tiny percussive wave of clacks as the bones realigned. The dwarf groaned as he stretched his body out and Dan felt no small measure of jealousy. His own body needed to move. The last batch of healing had definitely worked but Dan still wasn’t ready to use his muscles.

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He was, however, finally able to get a grasp of his mana.

Dan instantly started spreading it as far as he could. It was like being able to breathe for the first time in days. He could finally hear and see properly. Not as well as he normally would but the difference was still like night and day. Within a few hours, Dan was sure that he could get himself moving again, especially if he channelled the technique he had taken from Calliope.

While he had been incapacitated and with his mind on the techniques specifically, Dan had decided they needed names. Hyun Soon had given him mana armour, Xiaomei mana threads. Calliope’s technique, Dan had decided, was called bestial force. Fa Lian had graced him with the withering touch, though Dan wouldn’t let her hear him call it that. He didn’t know whether he could produce mana waves like Po Daiyu had been capable of but if he met her again, he was sure his own would be stronger than hers now.

There were ways to mix each technique into one another. Each combination could be called a new name but those would do for now. After segmenting those portions, Dan found himself analysing the battle strength of his companions. He couldn’t have explained exactly why but Dan was sure knowing everyone’s capabilities would come in useful.

Hyun Soon and Xiaomei were both pushing on the edge of Star stage practitioners. Fa Lian had outstripped the descriptor completely, as had Dan himself. Shade was still something of an enigma but he had been unscathed in his battle against his brother. Calliope was a force of nature. Likewise, Grier was intensely powerful in his own right, but his combat capabilities were not his star feature.

While Dan was thinking strategy and planning what would come next, he felt a presence approaching. His mana was too thin outside of his cell to be detailed, the labyrinthite dampening his mana. Normally he could pick out whether a person was smiling or not as they walked, if they had a shoelace untied or other miniscule details. Right now, it was more of an impression. Still, the only people to come and see him for the last day or two were Grier and Oblax.

Since Grier had spent himself and left a few minutes ago, Dan was fairly sure he knew who was coming into the room. Confirmation came in the form of the robed priest himself. Dan found it hard to be grateful, even though the man was going to pass over healing energy. Something about the way the priest moved through Dan’s mana gave him nausea. He created a motion sickness that others did not, even the four majaal who had been a thorn in his side.

Dan had to stop himself from tensing as the young priest moved closer to him. Now that he could see the man, he was honestly upset with his allies. Could they not see how his smile sat on his face like a mask? Even now it was locked into place upon his lips. Did they not hear how quiet he kept his steps and breath? The conscious intent behind his movements to be unnoticed was like a clarion call to Dan.

He had to remind himself that not everyone could count the wrinkles on another person without looking at them.

Dan could feel the energy flow through Oblax as he prepared his technique. Much more similar to Dan’s, it was impossible not to notice the similarities between his own healing ability and the priest’s. The mana pooled into the man’s hands, though to Dan’s senses this was where the difference lay. When Dan gave his energy, it went freely and quickly, meshing with the person he was healing without any hassle. A benefit of his core’s purity, perhaps.

Oblax’s mana felt like it did not want to be in this form. It took the energy a while to finalise and when it did, it did not leave the man like Dan’s did. It stayed in him, shooting down probing tendrils. When it found a spot to heal, he kept his hand over the spot while the mana slowly seeped on top like a liquid bandage. When a spot was covered, he moved on. There was definitely skill to the man’s technique but there was a complete lack of finesse.

It did not take long for Oblax to finish his work. Dan chose not to move and let on that this final batch had soothed enough of his muscles for him to start feeling comfortable again. That could wait until Oblax left. The ghoulish man stayed, however. He moved away from Dan and sat himself against a wall.

“I know you’re awake, Guan Ah Dan.” Dan shivered involuntarily but gave no other hint that the words have affected him. Oblax wouldn’t have been able to see. “Stay quiet if you like, maybe I’m wrong. I’ll just repeat it when you wake up, I suppose. You either don’t know your own importance or you’re avoiding it. Neither is very acceptable.”

Dan stayed quiet and calm, certain that he gave nothing away with his body language. When you spend as long as Dan had watching the movements of others, controlling yourself came as a second nature. Oblax, on the other hand, let his guard down more than Dan had seen.

“No matter though,” the man spoke almost wistfully now, “we’ll get you where you need to be.” Then he did something shocking, which would have made another person react but Dan had seen it coming the whole way. Oblax’s backhand cracked Dan’s jaw with a meaty clap. It was still hard not to move. Time seemed to stretch as Oblax looked down at Dan, waiting for his reaction. When none came, the man gave a look like he was impressed before turning around and leaving.

Dan clumped as much mana as he could around the man, enough that he nearly regretted it. For a moment he worried that Oblax would feel it on his skin or see a shimmer in the air but Dan also knew it didn’t work like that. It didn’t stop him from shivering as he traced the man’s steps with him all the way back to his church.

Dan allowed his mana to leave the man, a cloud spreading around the room. Except, his mana was destroyed by something as soon as it moved a moment away. No, Dan realised with a shock, it wasn’t destroyed. Mana being destroyed by a shell felt different. Dan had only felt this feeling once before and all he could do was desperately hope he was mistaken.

Dan’s mana had been devoured.

Steel Fever was still alive.