My arms were still pinned to my sides by some immovable force. My legs, on the other hand, move just fine. I can hold my own for a bit as I try to work this one out. I looked up, ignoring the stinging feeling in my cheek that was steadily fading away. The figure got closer to me again, slowly raising its hand.
I stood up, my mind racing. I cracked my neck. I don't know a single thing about my opponent yet. Before I can find its weak spot, I need to learn what it can do. The first step, then—getting information. Let's test those reflexes. The floor underneath my sneakers cracked. I shot forward, speeding through the water at the figure.
It dodged my ax kick easily, and I caught more mana being released into the air in spore-like quantities. My body felt a little heavier. The figure, on the other hand, started moving faster and faster, flashing back and forth between two spots.
"Ugh," I grunted as a punch made contact with me again. A weak one, then. It may not be a sure thing, but it looks like the faster my opponent moves, the less their hits hurt. Supreme reflexes in return for not-so-supreme strength I weaved my way around most of the other hits, though. Suddenly, the flashing sped up to the point where I just saw this gigantic black blur in front of me. It ceased a moment later, and there were two copies of the same shrouded being.
"You moved so fast between those two spots, you left an afterimage," I croaked out, my voice feeling raw. "You have quite a bit of mana at your disposal, then."
That deduction was child's play. The process was easy enough. The mana-to-power ratio was linear, regardless of who you were. If you used your mana to reinforce your body, the effectiveness was as much—or as little—as you wanted. Pump in no mana, you won't see any results. Pump in too much, and you're looking like the Flash.
"My goals are beyond your understanding," I mumbled to myself. "Are you supposed to be the Reverse-Flash?"
No response. What was I expecting? It's like fighting the mysterious bad guy in the movies—they'll only talk after they beat the living crap out of you. I've still got to feel this one out some more.
All I know so far is that my opponent is augmenting their speed and reflex-timing through mana. If my estimations were correct, based on the speed and duration of the boosting, this person had mana pools double, maybe triple the size of my own. The only problem? I'm unsure what kind of mana ability this thing has, so I can't rush in blindly or I'll get my ass kicked.
This is just like the Chimera. I'm facing a stronger opponent, with little to no idea of what's going on. This time, though, I'm not running. You can take that to the bank. Both copies rushed forward, appearing right in front of me. I ducked under the punch, opting instead to keep my eyes trained on the mana flowing off of my opponent. What's the point of that? That sort of output can't be good, not even for a highly trained soldier. It's just inefficient battle sense. You'd want to keep your mana and hold onto it for as long as possible. Unless you're really cocky.
Somehow, though, I don't think this is that kind of case. This is a test, to join an elite division of the army. Not some random fight. There has to be a point. My kick was deflected by the first figure, and the second tried to pummel me with a piledriver. I flipped backward, the water carrying me through the room with ease. Both raised their hands. A large, mirror-like substance formed in front of them, stretching to the size of a surfboard. A summon?
HUMMMMMMMM…
To my surprise, crystals came flying out, whizzing through the air like bullets out of a machine gun. My arms were pinned- how am I going to play this one? I could explode into an inferno, melting the crystals, but that sort of mana output could screw me over. I took a deep breath, freezing time. Might as well take my sweet time, seeing as this could determine the output of the entire battle.
Okay, okay, what can I assume? My opponent has to be running low on mana. If they had a surplus amount, they'd be moving much faster, from the get-go, actually. The speed they're moving at shows their limit- and the signs of exhaustion setting in betray their endurance. And now, crystals? This is probably the last, or second-to-last big move they can pull off. How do I handle this...well, let's see.
The first time the crystals were formed was when the figure forced that light onto my body. I don't know that much about mana, but normally, it's just used to augment things or to fuel powers. It still follows the rules of science, more or less. Just their mana wouldn't be enough to form a whole new substance. That just doesn't add up. How did they do that, let alone do this?
There are only two real explanations here. Either the crystals are some sort of summon, or they're a natural transformation. Alright, let's think about the first one. Hestia only briefly talked about summons, but I got the sense that they were super mana-heavy. I mean, think about it with me. It kind of makes sense.
You, in theory, have to open a portal through time and space, keep it open, and compel something through the portal, all while keeping your wits about you. It's a hard thing to do once, let alone dozens of times in succession. Which means…the figure is trying to trick me!
The mirror is what originally made me think it was a summon, but there's no way someone could summon that many things at once, not unless I was facing a truly god-like being. Classic misdirection.
Hmm…
It can't be a transformation, either. Even when I use mana to power my fire or water, it isn't creating an entirely new substance. It's sort of like fueling a transformation. The mana goes in, transforms into fire, and comes out. It's like burning a chemical—the principle of equivalent exchange at its finest. In theory, I could learn how to harness all of the elements- not because I'm creating them, but rather because I'm providing fuel for the reaction that, in turn, will create them. Mana can't be used to create entirely new things, in general, but especially not things like crystals. Not unless you were an absolute animal.
Crystals are so complex. They're dense, full of crisscrossing little streams of gas. You have to create so many little things, like the size, and the shine—your focus would need to be out of the human plane of comprehension to do that even once without it blowing up (literally) in your face. That would take so much mana to do, I'd imagine even my dad might not have enough to keep spamming it like this. What was I missing? My time dilation beeped, signaling that it was almost out.
Think, man, think. I need to walk through this again, knowing that it isn't a summon or a transformation. Okay, from the start. The arcs of mana, the hiss, the heaviness, the steam. My eyes widened. The steam! I was such an idiot! Steam, underwater? How could there be steam underwater without a thermal reaction… unless…it isn't normal steam at all! It was chemical steam, not regular steam.
This isn't Spongebob, where you can just start a fire underwater. Unless you're me. This steam must've been an after-product of sorts—and there's really only one way a chemical reaction could've taken place. It was the after-product of the combination of my mana with someone else's! It was a sign, plain as day, that someone else was using my power.
That must've been why there was so much in the air—why I felt heavy. It was all starting to come together. This figure wasn't forcing mana onto me—it was stealing it. It was all in the steam! Did that mean these crystals were the same? That the figure had slowly been stealing my mana with every touch, mashing it together with its own? The time resumed, and the crystals shot toward me.
My mana, huh? I stared at the crystals unflinchingly. I felt a wave of irrational anger build in my chest, a roaring inferno that was threatening to overtake my entire being. You want to take what's mine?
The figure laughed, "You tried. Goodbye…"
No… Give it back. I roared, expelling mana outwards from my body in a ring. The crystals shattered instantly, in an explosion of blue-red. I saw the mana go flying across the room, swirling back into my body. The heaviness disappeared from my shoulders. On the other hand, I saw the posture of my opponent get slightly worse.
That's my power. You don't get to keep it. I looked down at my arms. I can't see any binds, so maybe they're also like crystals? Another burst of mana later, and I could move my arms with ease.
I growled, raising my head. I hate being used. Lied to. I'm no pawn. I'm not a rook, or a king, or a queen, either. I'm off the damn board. Flames ran up and down my arms and I channeled some mana into my own body, rushing the figures at the same time. We engaged in a quick hand-to-hand battle. It wasn't nearly as bad as before—my opponent had put everything they had into that ploy, hoping I wouldn't see through it. Tough luck.
I deflected a punch, burning a hole through the afterimage on the right. It was dispelled in another explosion of red. The figure said nothing, attacking even faster. After all of this, it still wanted to let everything hinge on this.
It was pitiful, really. I got caught by a kick, slipping to the ground. Not that it mattered—I heard the figure panting. I let it tire itself out. This fight was over. This is why I don't use mana to augment myself for too long- when it leaves your body, you're left a drained mess.
And there's this one moment in time where it's draining out of your body at once, leaving this one point of your body weaker than ever. And I know that all too well.
— - —
[Nike's Leap]
— - —
I disappeared from my spot on the ground, spinning into existence behind the figure. Rich flames burst to life on my leg, propelling forward through the water at breakneck speeds. My foot smashed into the figure, the flames angrily biting into its face and pulling it in before my second water-propelled kick snapped its neck.
BOOM!
My opponent was rocked into the wall, small cracks spreading from the impact. The figure screamed, trying to rush me again.
"Bring it," I snarled, my spear spinning off of my back. The kiddie gloves were off now—I was going to run this bitch through.
"That's enough," Delta appeared back in the room. Another soldier was with him. The soldier snapped his fingers, and the figure I was fighting fell over, paralyzed.
"The test is over," Delta proclaimed, placing a calm, but firm hand on my chest. The message was clear: Move, and I'll pulverize you. Despite the situation, Delta looked at me, impressed. "You finished the test with the second-highest score, ever. Welcome to the team."
"Who was the first?" Dumb question. I knew it the moment I spoke the words.
A smirk formed on Delta's face. "You're looking at him."