Discordant Note | TBATE

Chapter 44: Acquire

And if sound mana could intensify that rapid movement; push that fire to further heights?

Twin beams of red plasma fired from my palms, striking the fire constructs mid-leap. They seared straight through the bodies without resistance, then continued on through the walls. One of the beams–its heat scorching even to me–seared through several walls without resistance, continuing downward. The other cut a hole into the night outside.

I could hear screams throughout the building, my enhanced hearing picking them out. Some were of alarm and confusion, but more were of pain.

I felt a smile stretch across my face. Smoke rose from the wood I'd seared through, slightly obscuring the view through the holes. "You understand," Lady Dawn's voice feathered across my thoughts. "Do not let them recover."

I moved to act, taking a step toward the frozen mages. My display of power had stunned them again, and Lawrent was heaving for breath from his previous attack. He didn't fight much, did he?

A searing pain lanced through my mana core. I stumbled, the pain in my leg and sudden heat making my concentration flash. The glowing tattoo on my arm flickered, the glow cutting out momentarily.

"You don't have much time," Lady Dawn's voice said. "End it. End it quickly."

I quickly checked inward, noting how low my mana was. I'd been fighting for a long time, and Lady Dawn's feather wasn't outputting mana as it usually did. My focus was kept on maintaining the Will that blazed out of my core.

A few mages barreled through the door, looking frantic at the fight. Two were wearing matching plate armor emblazoned with the sigil of Blood Joan. Another wore conventional battlerobes, but I could see the uncertainty on his pockmarked face. Mana swirled around them as they leveled their weapons.

Capitalizing on my distraction, Dornar launched two more constructs at me. They bounded around Lawris, who focused on creating a spear of lightning. Simultaneously, the two armored mages charged me, moving in deadly sync.

I focused on my telekinesis spellform and tried something different, almost instinctively. My crest had become an emblem, allowing me true control over objects in my range. But what happened when I tried to control myself? The rune seemed to whisper the basics of its features to me.

I applied its new function to my body and felt my mana shroud react, the spells twisting and meshing in an unexpected synergy.

I punched the first beast, feeling bolstered by my new power. Though the speed was slightly faster than normal, the impact was that of a train. Whatever my telekinesis did, it multiplied the strength I could output severalfold.

The fiery beast evaporated, obliterated by my punch. One of the armored mages swung down at me with a heavy sword, aiming for my bloody forehead. My view of his sword warped strangely, mana coalescing along it in a manner I didn't recognize.

I shifted to the side, pulling on the nearby wall to aid the movement. The blade sheared past me with an audible hum, the striker's augmented magic cutting deep into the floor. The red flame of his heart flared wildly from adrenaline.

I grabbed onto the blade as it stuck into the ground. I immediately felt a shift in pressure, my hand suddenly struck with a manyfold increase in weight. A gravity spell, I quickly realized. It multiplied the weight of anything around it.

I didn't have time to act. Another fire construct leapt at me, glowing brightly for a moment. The fire mana within it–so easy to sense now–bulged outward.

Realizing what it was about to do, I focused on my telekinesis rune. I pushed at the leaping beast, sending it careening to the side. Instead of feeling an equal pushback as expected, the force splashed against my telekinetic shroud.