Reol’s brain sped up, her instincts detecting the danger before it even began. The world came to a standstill as a single second stretched into a hundred, an ability she would have avoided if possible due to the strain on her brain and the drainage it had on the crystal embedded in her spinal cord that regulated her mana. If it weren't for the power crystals the bedsheet girl Xue had given her, this action might have even killed her.

Despite their impurities Reol had been able to separate the energy she needed to recharge herself.

Still, in a completely different universe with weakened abilities and a lack of her many tools, Reol didn't have much she could do but scream in frustration within her mind and pray to whatever shit ass god was watching over her that the tech yard had usable scrap for her.

She’d made something to help her but it would be useless if it failed to find anything that it could incorporate.

Returning to the problem at hand, shit had effectively hit the fan, and the suddenness of it surprised even her.

The mana in the air had changed, its chaotic shifts having greatly increased as they began to follow an unknown pattern, creating a slideshow as what Reol could try to describe as colors, yet fail utterly so because she wasn't really seeing the mana.

She’d read about individuals on the internet here in this new world who could hear colors and smell sounds, a condition called Synthesia. For her it was more like her sight let her feel what was happening with the mana itself, instead of having to actively interact with it.

And what she was seeing/feeling wasn’t at all something that she would consider safe. It roiled, as waves of panic, and fear mixed in spreading towards everyone, leaving not even the psycho Doppelgänger next to her or the perverted ape who had despite all his bullshit complaints about her attitude caused a scene.

Granted it had been Lucia’s fault, that much was obvious, however, it annoyed her that he was on her case when he could barely seem to control himself.

Still, she should be able to prevent the ambient mana from affecting Lucia too badly while the mana field of the device she had made for Lucas should be able to hold the effect plaguing the area.

Less than a quarter of a second had passed since the shift in mana had begun before once more the mana shifted once more but this time the problem came from beneath them.

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Reol felt the mana below her quake as her shadow formed a connection with a somewhat distant location, her shadow becoming an anchor connecting the two points.

Then it happened again, and again, going on until twenty distinct anchor points were appeared in her minds eye.

They reminded her of teleportation gates, the mana creating a thin connection that allowed instant travel both ways but the shadow itself seemed to hold some space despite the absurd thought of creating pocket space between what was essentially a mana-wired link.

Half a second had passed now, and she was starting to develop a headache, but she did her best to power through the discomfort.

Her brain picked at itself rapidly as it searched for answers while she did her best to ignore the presence now within her shadow, a tip of a finger beginning to bulge out of the shadow as though poking at fabric.

Lurkers.

The article she had read on the strange Enhanced that came about through some genetic modification using some shadow-powered hero a little over two decades ago.

Physically weaker on average than most Enhance but still above the average strength of a non-powered person. What they lacked physically they more than made up for their excellent stealth skills and ability to kill from a target's own shadow. Typically besides the rare ones that made it above (C}-Ranked they were quite disposable as they weren't too difficult to vat grow.

Reol shivered mentally as she remembered that she herself couldn't even be sure if she was vat-grown or not.

Yay, to being a super special secret classified experiment worth redacting everything about her past.

Three-quarters of a second had passed and it felt like someone was taking a hammer to her skull repeatedly while praising its sturdiness deafeningly into her eardrums.

The Lurkers needed to breach through to go after their targets, and while Reol couldn't be sure that their goal wasn't a simple assassination, from what Lucas had told her and the rest, the Lurkers were more likely to be attempting a capture mission.

For that to be the case then it meant that they had already accurately determined that Lucas or at least the people encircling him were to be what caused the huge mess when they were summoned.

This further suggested that despite his best efforts, they wouldn't have any time to fly under the radar unless they packed up and left immediately.

She wouldn't blame him though, it has hard to hide secrets in a society of decent technological advancement or in this case bullshit superpowers.

Nine-tenths of a second had passed the veil that acted as the barrier between the Lurker and her leg had almost been breached, while her head was starting to go white with how much pain she was in. It wouldn't surprise her that the moment she stopped she’d pass out, and probably sport a gushing nose as her brain tried to escape the prison that had treated it so unjustly.

She stopped her thoughts from drifting anymore, and instead she zeroed in on the connections themselves.

Or better yet the anchor itself.

It tied the two points while also providing the hiding spot for the Lurkers, and she earnestly wished she had her Mana cleaver to just sever the connection itself.

But this was a new world, new rules, and a soon-to-be new prison if she didn't do something.

So with a push that made her brain hate her all the more, she grabbed the anchors with her sight and imagined them all colliding together.

At first, nothing happened, and a full second had passed, while the hand had breached the shadow and was rising to grab her ankle.

Her consciousness was dipping into darkness and time was starting to return to its original pace.

Just as she was about to pass out, the mana within all the shadows inverted, and a little window popped up.

Greater Mana Manipulation acquired. New Title acquired, Bane of Portals.