A palpable pressure started to rise on the air. Dan felt the hairs on his arms stand to attention as the enemy opposite him rolled his shoulders, cracked his neck and prepared for battle. Dan’s left arm hung limp, unable to gather any strength and feeling like it was run through with daggers. Dan held off drawing his own dagger, not wanting to escalate the potential violence before it had begun.

The soul stone in his pocket buzzed curiously, no longer pulling in a direction. Dan couldn’t allow himself a second of distraction to analyse the strange sphere, his eyes and every loose piece of mana focused on the man, as much as they could. He still lit up like looking straight into the sun, but Dan could watch him through the mana in the air.

Even as Dan’s muscles began to cramp, he fired his mana through his core with increasing velocity. If only he had thought to take some of Hyun’s mana when he had the chance, he wouldn’t be caught so off guard. There was no sign of Hyun Soon having heard Dan’s call, and he didn’t know if he wanted Hyun to appear before the lethal individual in front of Dan.

As though an invisible referee said “go”, the rooftop we stood on exploded. Pure force at this point, the tiles shattered as both Dan and his opponent began their deadly dance. Dan’s only issue in dodging the attacks was his arm, the shooting pain in his left side causing him hesitation. The first phase of combat was quick, and Dan lost out heavily. He was actually much faster than the cloaked man, but that wouldn’t matter if he took another one of those destructive punches. Especially not now that they were covered in mana thick enough to be seen through the glare.

He would not be simply thrown back by the next hit. He would be demolished. There was only one plan and Dan had no tricks to execute it this time, except surprise. The other man was laughing, clearly not many worries in this fight.

“Are you even a triangle stage? Do they only train you to run away like a rat?”

His barbs weren’t insulting, but his voice grated on Dan. It was deep, but there was a slowness to his words that Dan couldn’t help thinking him a fool. This served to change Dan’s mindset from scared to angry. He’d never done anything to this idiot, and the oaf had swung with murderous intent. If it had been Xiaomei, or even Hyun Soon, would they have survived?

Running was the only choice Dan had. The only way he could make the other man drop his own guard enough for this work. It wouldn’t be enough to just dodge though, that would not instil the confidence Dan needed him to feel. It would hurt more than just his pride, but he needed to take another blow. The idea made him feel sick, but preparing for it should make it survivable.

Dan made a show of it, slipping on a loose tile. Even three jumps before, Dan had been aiming for this tile. It let him turn his body. It allowed him to show his attacker a face of fear, before bracing against the incoming punch. If he had to give up his left arm, he would. Just before he took the blow, Dan’s hand found the target.

The fist hit Dan’s damaged shoulder and the world exploded. Both literally, and figuratively. Dan had been ready to throw himself with the punch, lessening some of the damage. He hadn’t been ready for the man’s mana, not the mana which powered his punch and ignited the air. He hadn’t been ready to soar at least a hundred feet through the air. This landing was not graceful, inertia and his own daze stopping Dan from getting his feet under him.

Dan smashed into and through the roof as he hit it. Amongst the dust and splinters, this time Dan did vomit. Dan had never experienced motion sickness before, but he had never moved through his own mana like that before, and the feeling of it was immensely disorientating. Luckily though, the second impact had pushed Dan’s shoulder back into its socket. Unfortunately, the punch had definitely done damage to Dan’s wrist.

“Disgusting, but expected I suppose.” A sharp voice of ice, an indulgent venom dripping from her words. Dan looked up to see Guan Po Daiyu, hand raised above her head and foot on Hyun Soon’s neck. Dan saw no sign of the teacher he knew she had been fighting.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Dan knew that she was nearby, but he hadn’t been able to use his own mana for reconnaissance during the fight. He picked himself up, squaring his shoulders. There was a series of crackles in Dan’s core, the foreign mana he had managed to gather was frantic. Seeing no reason to keep it to himself, and knowing that mana should be allowed to do as it pleased, Dan realised he was actually glad to see Po Daiyu.

“Close your eyes.” Dan barely moved his mouth, the words wouldn’t even have been a whisper. Hyun heard though, and squeezed them shut.

Perfect timing, idiot. Impossible as it seemed, Dan was glad when the cloaked man landed, jumping through the hole Dan’s body had made in the roof. It caused a flinch in Po Daiyu, one that Dan had been waiting for. Shooting forward like an arrow, Dan punched.

His fist did not reach her, but Dan knew that wouldn’t matter. Mana had begun to feel different, sound different. As though Dan spoke the language of mana, he knew what would happen as he loosed the explosion. Like a firework, A blast of energy shot from Dan’s hand. There was a look of surprise on Po Daiyu’s angular face, Dan was glad to see, before it popped in her face.

The force of it threw her from Hyun Soon’s chest, and Dan continued his momentum, grabbing the boy’s hand and lifting him into a run. “We need to move.”

“Sorry, Dan.” Hyun Soon wasn’t morose, but there was an unmoved frustration within him. Dan understood. As they passed the heap that Po Daiyu had become, Dan was surprised that it had been so effective. She seemed to be more than dazed, Dan thought from the look on her face. She almost looked in shock.

The boys slipped and turned, but Dan could feel the danger behind them. Taking a moment, he shifted his mana and bumped Hyun Soon’s chest with his fist. It was incredible to behold with his actual eyes. A gash on his right arm, just above the spot Dan knew his gauntlets would cover, closed within moments. Bruising on his face cleared away and it was like looking at an artist’s perfect rendition of Hyun Soon. At the same time, a portion of Hyun’s mana jumped comfortably into Dan’s core.

This time, Dan was ready. Not just because the man was yelling like a fool as he closed the distance. His battle cry was ineffective, but allowed Dan and Hyun to turn to face him. Without looking, Dan felt the mana within him, Hyun’s mana, dance as the other boy activated his gauntlets. “He makes explosions?”

“Yeah,” Dan said, keeping his portion of Hyun Soon’s mana a secret. “I’m not sure how he uses them though. They’re probably not fireworks.”

A question quickly answered. Dan regretted keeping his own mana gauntlets hidden. As the man rounded the final corner they had turned, still shouting, and saw the two boys prepared to face him, he kicked. Dragging his foot along the wood behind him in a heavy arc, the wood and air around him seemed like it had been hit with a bomb. A large splinter stuck into Dan’s forearm, like a thrown knife. Cursing, Dan left it there so it wouldn’t bleed, and gritted his teeth.

“Me, first.” Before Dan could argue, Hyun Soon vanished, reappearing next to the cloaked man and aiming a fist for his centre mass. The man caught it, but the guard he raised wasn’t enough to stop Hyun Soon. The hook he threw launched the man back down the hallway he had just come from, but wouldn’t cause lasting damage. Dan saw that Hyun Soon had kept the mana boots he had used to sprint earlier, which had added to his power and speed.

“Duck!” Dan stopped his chase, trying to keep up with the other two was going to be difficult. Instead he became Hyun Soon’s eyes for a moment, glad that the trust they had gathered meant an instant reaction to his words. The gout of flame burst into Dan’s view, launched from the other man’s fist. Hyun had dodged the worst of it, but his already short hair was now singed and spotty in places. Dan thought pointing that out would make his friend even more aggressive, but he decided that wasn’t needed.

Even as he dodged the fireball, Hyun pressed forward. This time, Dan didn’t need to say anything, Hyun would see the blast coming straight for him. Dan felt his heart jump to his throat, but understood what his friend was doing. His emotions couldn’t decide whether to be touched or horrified as Hyun Soon took the full extent of the damage, leaping through it without fear. He knew he could be healed, so he was throwing away caution. It was definitely effective.

Two powerful, orange-gauntleted arms dropped onto the other man’s shoulders as Hyun’s leap reached its end. Dan blinked, and nearly missed it. He was still in combat mode, but their attacker certainly wasn’t. Arms hanging by his side, like Dan’s had earlier, the only thing their attacker had left was his ineffectual screaming. Hyun Soon kicked him in the chest, hopefully breaking some bones and definitely quieting the loud roar of the man.

Dan mused that the man was quite like his own mana. Quick to explode, loud and dangerous, but over in a flash. With that strange metaphor in his mind, he picked up the burned Hyun Soon and pulsed a wave of healing energy into his friend. He looked good as new when he stood, except for one thing.

Even surrounded by splinters and fire, Dan could not hold it in any longer and burst out laughing. “What’s so funny?” Hyun Soon asked, mirroring Dan’s words from earlier. Dan couldn’t explain, every time he looked at his friend, he found another breath choked away with mirth. So funny was Hyun Soon’s mostly bald head, eyebrows missing and even eyelashes gone, Dan nearly missed the arcing blade of energy.

Guan Po Daiyu had recovered.

And she was furious.