Mana

Adam and Maya stood close to the edge of the roof. Observing the horde below.

"So, what do you want to do?" Maya asked intuitively. "I think nothing short of a miracle will help us deal with them."

"This is exactly what I intend to do," Adam responded with a flicker in his eyes. "A miracle. Watch over me for now."

Adam sat down, closed his eyes, and cut off all outside stimuli. He began to slowly sink into the depths of his mind and body. When traveling through the forest, he had already done that before, so the process wasn't difficult for him.

The last time he had immediately focused on the Mana outside his body, though, which had led to the discovery of Bloodsense. His goal was different now. Adam focused on the Mana slowly revolving inside his body.

There was much more of it than the last time. Strands of white mist slowly flowed through his limbs and gathered at his solar plexus, only to disperse again after a while and return to the environment.

Adam lost himself in the leisure movement of the energy, his mind traveling with it through his body. He saw it nourishing his tissues with every second, making them stronger and more durable. The changes were infinitesimally small, but constant

He recalled the white mist merging with him every time he killed a Tainted. "It seems that leveling up must have something to do with the quantity of Mana inside one body," Adam mused while immersed in the sensations that the energy provided.

"Okay, let's do this," he gathered his willpower and began following the vague instruction left by the crystal. He concentrated on the Mana coursing through his body and willed it to gather in his hand.

The harmonious flow of the energy was immediately disrupted and Adam suddenly felt like his body had been hit by a truck. The Mana inside his body grew chaotic, with some of the strands trying to fulfill his order and the rest ignoring it outright.

The white strands clashed against each other and spilled from their paths. They rampaged through his body, trying to reach his hand. Adam groaned in pain and opened his eyes. With his concentration broken, the Mana calmed down slowly.

Maya reached to him but was stopped by his raised hand.

"I'm alright," he gasped. "It's just more difficult than I expected."

"Whatever you are doing, the Tainted are reacting to it," Maya warned him. Adam looked below and noticed that some of the monsters began to gather around.

"Good, it's working then," Adam said with relief. It seemed that the voice had spoken the truth. The Tainted were reacting to Mana.

Adam focused again and returned to his internal world. Mana flowed through his body peacefully, but now he knew that it was a fragile equilibrium. He decided to take things slow now and start small.

He concentrated on a single stream of Mana making its way through his right arm. It gently slowed down and when it finally stopped, Adam nudged it to return to his hand. The process was still painful but manageable this time.

When the strand of Mana reached his hand, he ordered it to stay there and focused on another stream. One by one, he slowly gathered all strands from his right arm into his hand. Making them stay there became harder by the second but Adam persevered.

He then began to work on the Mana flowing through his right leg. He slowly led it upwards and through his torso. When the strands reached his solar plexus though, they were immediately sucked into a little whirlpool of energy gathered there.

The pain struck him again and made him gasp for breath. Adam felt as if his lungs stopped working for a second and opened his mouth, trying to get some air. His body grew rigid and all the Mana he had gathered before dispersed again.

Adam fell over, his lungs working again and filling his body with hot stabs of pain. Maya once again was beside him, helping him to get up from the ground.

"How much time has passed?" Adam asked after calming down. The sun was high in the sky already, but Adam felt as if only a few minutes had passed.

"It's nearly noon," Maya responded with worry written on her face. "The others are getting restless. They want to know what are you doing."

Adam looked at her stupefied for a moment. It was hard to believe that so much time had already passed. He took a moment to calm his mind down before responding to her questioning gaze.

"Tell them to wait a little bit more, not that they have any choice considering what's outside the building," Adam waved his hand at the Tainted below. "I'm nearly there."

Maya nodded in compliance and backed away slightly. She watched Adam return to his previous position and close his eyes again. It wasn't that she didn't believe him. While watching over him, she activated her skill from time to time and while doing so could sense strange changes happening around him.

Whatever he was trying to achieve while sitting motionlessly on the ground, he was slowly getting there.

Adam tried for the third time. As before, he started with Mana in his right arm, more confidently this time though. Then he turned to his legs. He moved the strands around the knot in his chest, taking care to not lose control over them when they inevitably neared it.

When he finished with both legs the Mana he had gathered almost went out of his control. At the same time, his hand felt like it was about to burst.

"The crystal said to gather as much as I can. And I still can do better," Adam thought to himself. It was a time to take care of his left arm. He slowly drained it of Mana, sending the energy to join the rest.

Finally, there was only a small whirlpool in his chest. Adam was exhausted by this point and his body grew weak and felt like it was ready to collapse on itself. Disregarding the protests send by his body, Adam began to untangle the mass of Mana in his chest.

It was significantly harder and more painful than anything he had done with Mana earlier. Thin strands of energy slowly left the whirlpool, trembling with every move and sending his body into small seizures. Nevertheless, Adam endured until all of the Mana in his body gathered in his right hand.

A message popped in his mind at this point. Nearly causing him to lose control over the energy.

[New skill acquired: Mana Circulation. Status Window adjusted accordingly.]

"Another skill," Adam murmured tiredly. He then focused on the next part of the task. He now had to infuse the gathered Mana with his blood.

Thus far, he had never tried manipulating the blood inside his body, mostly because he had been too scared of creating some lasting damage to himself. He had to do it now, though.

Adam split his focus. He still had to maintain control over gathered energy, but he also had to control the blood in his hand. The two started to fuse. His blood drank the Mana happily, gaining deeper shades and an intrinsic light in the process.

As the fusion progressed, Adam observed ii with his senses. The blood in his right hand shone brighter than before and when it finally devoured all of the Mana, it was nearly blinding. It struggled fiercely under his control, but Adam's hold remained firm.

There was one last thing left to do. Adam greeted his teeth and commanded the enhanced blood to leave his body. The inside of his hand burst violently, as a stream of blood shot upward. It was deep crimson, with flecks of light dancing just under its surface.

The blood formed a sphere that slowly circled Adam, awaiting his orders. Adam admired it for a while before picking his target. He focused on the bridge nearby. It was the only way to reach the barrier from here, so it was an obvious choice, as he had to lure the horde toward it.

Just as he willed it, the blood shot forward. It was quick. Too quick for his senses to follow. In just a moment, a glossy crimson spear was embedded deep in the concrete.

Maya was in her trance, observing the changes around Adam when the blood left his body. When she saw it, her instinct screamed in fear. It was dangerous. She swallowed hard, her palms immediately covered in sweat, and backed away involuntarily.

She saw the blood vanishing and reappearing on the bridge, in a form of a resplendent spear. This had to be it. She wasn't sure how was it supposed to attract the Tainted though. Just as she thought of that, the first of the monsters broke away from the horde and began running to the bridge.

The rest soon followed.