‘It’s… beautiful.’
Finn’s body was shining in a deep, blue light. The light was embedded inside his fingers, it coexisted with his brain, it even trudged along with his blood towards every part of his being.
‘Wait, I. Can see. My blood. No, I can. Feel it.’
With an inner grin which failed to show on his frozen face, Finn immersed his consciousness into the wondrous sensation. Like his own eyes, the mana which doubled his body sent signals towards his brain allowing him to visualize it clearly.
‘If I can. Feel it, then. Maybe, I can. Move it.’
His thoughts became intentions, his intentions became orders, and his mana obeyed. His frozen heart started beating a little faster. His neurons sent signals at a faster rate.
‘Wait… Slow down. I still have a lot to learn.’
Seconds before freeing himself from the array, Finn purposefully halted his progress. He fully released his mind’s energy but left everything else in stasis.
‘What to do, what to do? Will this sense still be there when I’m free? What if I lose it forever?... Practice makes perfect. Annie should already be out and restraining the mage by now. It’s fine, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.’
Finn tried to move the mana within his body, and it obeyed his command. He took control over some of the cells in his blood and started moving them around. A clot formed in his bloodstream and he almost gave himself a heart attack.
‘Shit!’
Quickly, he pulled the clot apart, tearing the cells in the process.
‘Crap, crap, crap. I’m gonna poop it out, right?’ Due to the array, his blood was moving so slowly, there was no way to know.
Suddenly, the mana imbedded into his skin started vanishing at a rapid rate. He tried to sense what was attacking him, but the image came blank. He could somewhat tell there was something attacking his skin, but as to what, there was no way to tell.
Fortunately, the attack on his being soon subsided, and he seemed relatively ok.
‘My skin must be a mess. What now, what now…’
Unwilling to leave the array just yet, he started observing his mana. He watched it move in slow motion along with his organs, along his blood flow and his cells.
‘Marvelous… Wish I could stay like this forever.’
Of course, such a dream could not come true. Some time later, the array broke apart, and Finn’s eyes, ears, and other senses activated once more.
Fortunately, the sixth one did not go away. Like a monk after a meditation practice, Finn remained keenly aware of his body and of the energy which permeated his being.
After some chit-chat with his friends, some mud on the floor caught his eyes. ‘A piece of Reina’s golem?’ He leaned down and grabbed it.
It was lifeless earth, except… Once squeezed tightly within his palm, he could barely feel the mana within. It was weaker than his own, pulling back as if afraid of his presence.
Mercilessly, Finn sent some of his fingers’ mana into the ball of mud. The foreign energy squirmed and resisted, but it was soon overthrown and forced under his control.
During this tiny conflict, Finn lost more mana than he gained, but it did not matter. The ball of mud, or at least the mana inside it, was now his.
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“No doubt about it,” he muttered while willing the mud to float. “Today, I won.”
As soon as he said this, Finn felt something stab him through the abdomen. He clutched his stomach and fell to the floor. It was as if a worm or an alien was trying to burst out, squirming and struggling and growing ever larger.
“The clot… Annie... help.”
Annie kneeled besides him and placed her hand on his chest.
“What… What have you done!?”
The clot of broken cells was growing like a cancer, swallowing nearby cells and even merging with his organs. It was like a different creature was slowly taking over Finn's cells, changing them into its own.
“I need you to stay calm.”
Annie placed one glowing, white palm on Finn’s forehead and raised the other up in the air. After gritting her teeth, she initiated the spell.
Earth spikes burst out of the floor in a circle, impaling Finn's stomach and bursting out the other end. The spikes spun like a wheel, separating his stomach and part of spine from the rest of his body.
The boy's eyes rolled in their sockets and Reina screamed like a banshee. Annie slammed her hand onto the separated flesh and set it aflame.
‘Good thing he went unconscious, his mana needs to stay calm.’
“Annie, what have you done!?”
“Shut up! I need to focus.”
While the mutated flesh was being disintegrated, Annie was showering the rest of Finn with healing magic. She was already exhausted from taking Nunac’s attacks, so even with her vast mana reserves, her entire body was starting to feel numb.
“Reina, do you have any other crystals?”
“...No, but I can still fight. Don’t think I’m weak just because…”
Suddenly, Finn’s right palm opened wide and his fingers twisted backwards at an impossible angle. His nails turned white, and countless tiny eyes started opening on his arm.
“Damn.” Annie severed it from the shoulder with a wind strike and then blew into a corner of the room. “Reina, destroy it.”
“What, how? I don’t have any magic.”
The arm suddenly balanced itself on its fingers. Skin started to rot and peel off in rapid succession. As if it had a mind of its own, it started walking towards Finn, towards its host and its destiny.
“Get lost!” Annie lasered the arm in half, and when it still moved, she sent a bunch of fireballs to finish the job.
‘I can't hear.’ She watched Reina muttered something while removing the charred flesh from what was once Finn's stomach. 'I can't see.' With her last bit of consciousness she unsummoned the barrier of spikes and poured the rest of her mana into Finn as healing magic.
Seconds later, she collapsed. In a corner of the room, a crouching Reina watched it all with horror on her face.
“...Annie? Are you…” She remembered Nunac’s words ‘She is a monster in the making, a mutant in human form…'
'No!’ Reina shook her head and stood up. “Monsters don’t help people. And they surely don’t stop others from becoming mutants.” As she approached the two, she unconsciously crossed her arms.
‘But why are you so strong? You even used magic without crystals. If you're not a monster, then... are you a hero?’
[Name: Annie Thompson.
Age: 15 years and six months old.
Race: Human.
Class: Mage
Abilities (relevant):
- Knife fighting {Beginner}
- Hand to hand fighting {Beginner}
- Mana based body enhancement {Intermediate+}
- Precognition {???}
- Crystal Magic {Intermediate+}
Debuff:
- Mana depletion {93%}
Potential:
- Archmage {43%}
- Hero {3%}
Comments: None]
……………………………..
[Name: Andrew Finn.
Nickname: Achoo.
Age: 14 years and four months old.
Race: Quarter elf.
Class: ???
Abilities (relevant):
- Clay construction: Miniature models {Master}. Full scale clay construction {Intermediate}
- Leadership: {Intermediate}
- Warrior's Breath {???}
- Knife fighting {???}
- Archery {???}
- Photographic memory {Master}
- Mathematics: {Saint}
- Dual Processing {Beginner}
Debuff:
- Lethal damage: 98% ... 43%
Potential:
- Mob Boss 30%
- Nerd 70%
- Mutant 75%
- Hero 40%
Comments: Oh… Shit.]