Dan was falling. Tumbling over and over, a furious and freezing wind tearing at his exposed skin and bringing a cold upon him that stole away all other sensation. It took him more than a few moments to realise that he wasn’t Dan anymore, he was a black orb, hurtling at impossible speeds through the air towards Jaia.
He heard a woman screaming his name, but he couldn’t tell if that was in the dream or in the real world.
He awoke to the howling and screeching, along with someone calling his name. This time Dan was able to tell that it was Xiaomei’s voice. She had shouted at him as she bounced past, avoiding an oncoming danger. Without letting himself think a thought further, Dan sent his mana into overdrive, channelling it with all the force that he could manage. It worked quickly enough that Dan was able to see the next attack coming.
A metallic arm swept the floor. Dan, face-down, kicked his toes into the floor and punched down at the same time. He felt a toe break, but the force of his movement was enough to throw him out of the way. Sacrificing a toe to avoid certain death seemed prudent.
Dan’s thoughts were clearing, but not quick enough for him to remember what happened before his strange falling dream. Reflexes saved him again as this time the full force of the attacker came down upon Dan. He slithered away masterfully, quickly finding his feet and arms. It was entirely adrenaline and mana keeping him moving, but he had ample amounts of both available right now.
“Shouldn’t have put me to sleep.” Dan had definitely taken a heavy hit, because he shook his head after saying this and felt silly. Luckily for his self esteem, his friends were currently locked in a life or death battle and his terrible one-liner was unheard. Instead, the first thing his friends heard from him was “hands!”
As Dan shouted, he gathered mana in his own palms. Hyun Soon slapped his hand backwards and Dan caught it on his own, Dan sending his mana into Hyun Soon and revitalising him. At the same time, Dan’s other hand found Xiaomei and did the same. Before Dan had finished healing his allies, he was pulling them out of the way.
A heap of shiny metal and roaring rage blew past them. Luckily for Hyun Soon he trusted Dan enough to jump with the force of Dan’s pull, otherwise Dan would not have been able to get him out of the way. The strange mash of armour and person wasn’t appearing in Dan’s mana correctly. It looked like an emptiness in the world. Not like the soul stones within himself or Fa Lian, which seemed so dark and heavy that they absorbed all light. Instead, this monstrosity of metal was a white, fragmented static upon the world.
It crashed heavily through display cases. Dan wasn’t sure, but it sounded like the creature was weeping as it tore through the vault. Thinking of the soul stones jogged Dan’s memory. Looking around, Dan could see nothing of Guan Fa Lian. In a horrible, heart-dropping moment, Dan worried that she had been caught in the first attack he had dodged.
Dan had released his friends. Using momentum and the instinctive coordination between them, he and Hyun Soon had heaved together to send Xiaomei soaring through the air, ribbons fluttering behind her. As she reached the zenith of her arc, she began to spin, the ribbons launching out in angles. Some would attempt to tangle the armoured assailant, some were ready for Xiaomei to yank on and remove herself from danger.
“Where’s Fa Lian?” Dan asked Hyun Soon, the two of them following Xiaomei after throwing her in unison. Dan received his answer the next time he saw the biomechanical nightmare. Fa Lian was in the fight, seemingly uninjured. It took Dan more than a moment to realise that he must have healed her as he faded in and out of consciousness. She had just flown into view, a crimson staff in her hands. Dan was still getting his bearings of the situation and had missed her before. In part because the staff she now wielded was as blindingly powerful as anything Dan had seen. The relief Dan felt at seeing her unhurt was mirrored by the anger that flashed through him when the memory of her smashed form returned to his mind.
Instead of allowing himself to rage and lose composure, Dan instead took a deep breath. Finding a centre, Dan focused his scattered mana and analysed the battlefield. Where his mana found a magical item, he formed a buffer. Instead of looking directly at the magic like a sun, Dan found he could “squint” with his mana. This allowed him to see properly in the vault. It wouldn’t have been possible before, but his experience coupled with the fact that the vault’s magic was failing meant Dan could finally use his mana in the way he wanted.
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Dan had learned from Xiaomei’s mana and, much like the puppetmaster of Sasin forest, Dan made threads of mana to his friends. Dan surprised even himself with the ease with which he could now control his mana. Dan had become a star stage practitioner with his control of the soul stone in his core. Now that he no longer contained his mana within an imagined space, it was free to cycle wherever it pleased.
Unable to spend time being excited about this progression in skill, Dan simply made use of it. “It’s Dan. Keep moving.” There was a slight lull in combat, and Dan took the opportunity to make his friends aware of himself. Along the thread of mana, Dan could send his voice along with keeping his friends in his perception. Out of curiosity, he sent one towards their enemy but on connecting with that strange mana in the metal, Dan instantly severed the bond.
It wasn’t quick enough.
“What are you?” With a voice that sounded like a knife cutting through thinner metal, the monster rounded on him. For the first time, Dan got a look at the face of the man in the armour. He almost gagged as the realisation hit him. This was Guan Po Shang, or what was left of him at least.
Whatever this armour was, it should never have been worn. When Dan’s mana touched it, he felt the hunger within it. A whirlpool of anguished gluttony, the armour was easily equal to the new staff. Except where Dan could see Lian was being fueled by her artefact, Po Shang was being consumed. Even now, as Dan dodged another whipped arm, it was revulsing to hear the man scream in his metallic voice. His skin was being stretched, limbs and muscles tearing before being slammed back into place as the grotesque armour continued the assault.
It was now focusing on Dan, and through his mana Dan told the others his plan. “You need to regroup while I keep his attention. We need to get that door open. I’ll get him away.”
Which was easier said than done, actually, but it was necessary. Dan could use his mana in the air to tell where the attacks were coming from, but he then needed to fill the area again before the next enlarged strike swept through and devoured it.
“WHY?” Po Shang’s deformed mouth wailed at Dan as he was pushed further from the labyrinth doors. Dan had heard music from a temple that sounded like that, like whistling through large metal pipes. Another crawl of goosebumps spread through Dan’s skin. There was likely no way to remove the armour from Po Shang at this point, if even his vocal cords had become fused with the armour.
The destruction of the magic holding the vault together was having dramatic effects now. As Dan sprinted, gaps began to form in the floor, below was simply dark nothingness. If he fell, Dan knew, he would never stop falling. A large part of Dan hoped Po Shang would just fall too, but he still moved with the skill of a practitioner. Not Po Shang himself, but agile enough to dodge the sudden pitfalls.
Dan wondered if he would be in more danger against the real Po Shang, and decided that wasn’t really relevant right now, a hair’s breadth between himself and being skewered. Dan bounced off a display, pushing off of it to avoid yet another spike from Po Shang. An outstretched left hand, the metal covered fingers were extending and firing at Dan like arrows.
Even with all his new ability, Dan could not remain unscathed. He needed to head back to the labyrinth door, and it may have cost Dan his hand to turn around. Hoping that a wide swing by Po Shang would be enough, Dan slipped past him, as close as he had come to the evil armour. As Dan ducked under Po Shang’s arm, stretched and engorged like a club, he saw an eye form on the breastplate.
With horror, and instinct, Dan covered his face while he continued running but the armour attacked at the same time. A blade of impossibly sharp metal blasted out, a snapping and tearing of Po Shang’s rib as the armour attempted to impale him. Both Dan and Po Shang screamed in unison. While it was embedded in his right hand, just below his middle fingers, the metal became serrated and tendrils of thin, liquid metal began to stab into Dan’s hand.
“Now!”
A flash of orange jumped between Dan and Po Shang. Around the dagger, a thin ribbon of blue appeared. The sound of a gong rang through the crumbling vault and the ribbon tightened at the same time. With a snap, the blade was sliced away from the armour. Dan jumped away, Hyun Soon’s gauntleted punch had given him extra room. On the other side of Po Shang, Fa Lian gritted her teeth and expelled her corrosive mana into the left knee of the armour.
Po Shang toppled. Hyun’s punch had put the weight onto his knee, and Fa Lian’s mana had sent a thousand years of ageing right into it at the same time. “Run!” As though it was a manoeuvre that they had done a hundred times, everyone but Dan moved in unison. In fact, Dan felt increasingly sluggish, even as Fa Lian took his hand and led him back towards the labyrinth.
“Didju geddador pen?” Dan asked, as clearly as he could.
“What?” Fa Lian looked at Dan like he had grown a second head. Dan’s words slurred and as he tried to repeat his question, he found that he couldn’t move his mouth. His tongue felt heavy, and his jaw fell open. “Hyun Soon! Xiaomei!” Fa Lian called. As he collapsed, Dan was happy that she had learned their names.