Chapter 73 (Patreon)

Jiran left the academy drained almost entirely of mana and aura but with soaring spirits.

I can’t believe I get to do that every morning! So awesome. I take back all my negative thoughts about the academy. This place is just what I need.

As he walked with a pep in his step, a sudden feeling of dread formed in his neck and wormed its way into his chest to coil around his heart with a vice-like grip. He stopped in his tracks, the couple walking behind him nearly colliding with his back.

“Watch where you’re going, stupid!”

Jiran barely registered the insult as he carefully examined the feeling that originated from the gate in his neck. The only remnant of his childhood injury, which had once absorbed all of his mana and been the source of his denless moniker.

A warning? Something bad is about to happen?

His first instinct was to expand his aura and check his surroundings for threats but he was still drained from his sparring with Sophia. With a huff of annoyance, he began pouring mana into his aura as quickly as possible.

Crap, my mana is low too. Get it together, Jiran. What am I thinking, walking around so vulnerable after this morning? Obviously, if I made any enemies they would want to move quickly before I cause them even more trouble.

Have I really grown so soft in just a couple weeks?

Frustrated with himself for his negligence, Jiran cracked open the gate and sapped a small amount of the mana stored within. The bizarre and almost pleasant feeling that always accompanied borrowing from that source invaded his body. His extremities tingled as they were flooded with the mana tainted by whatever was beyond the gate.

With a renewed source of mana, Jiran pumped energy into his mana body even more rapidly. He pushed the boundaries of what he could safely handle, causing a wrenching tear to form in his stomach as his organs protested the rapid draw of energy.

After ducking into an alley, he surveyed the roofs and shadows nearby, looking for whatever had set off his feeling of danger.

I don’t see anything nearby, is there a trap ahead? It would make the most sense for them to attack while I’m away from the academy, the best place would be—

The dread in his chest surged before he could complete the thought. Without hesitating another second, he leaped into the air and ignited a hydrogen bomb beneath his feet. The blast would have easily destroyed the buildings around him had he not contained it within his aura.

He wasted only enough mana and aura to protect the city as he rocketed forward at blistering speeds. Not bothering to camouflage himself, cries of alarm and distress were directed at him by citizens all along his path.

He arrived at the inn within seconds, His heart sank upon seeing the broken interior wall of the building through his aura.

He rushed inside to the sounds of a wailing Alatha who held Dandy in her arms. The man was covered in blood and only moved when his wife’s wracking sobs shook both their bodies. Jiran rushed to his side and knelt next to them.

His aura easily passed through the man’s defenseless body to see his heart still beating. Each pulse of the organ was weaker and slower than the one before.

Jiran tapped his gate once more, flooding himself with the strange mana. Once filtered through his own body, he pushed regenerative shapings through Dandy until his wounds closed and his heart thumped steadily once more.

Dandy’s eyes opened wide as a deep, gasping breath of air filled his lungs. Alatha’s sobs redoubled as she clutched the revived man to her chest.

“Miila, Niila,” His hoarse voice strained from his near-death experience and the woman squeezing him far too tightly for his weakened body.

“You’re hurting him, Alatha. He’s completely drained of mana, you need to be more gentle until he’s recovered,” Jiran gently pried Alatha away from Dandy.

“I’m so sorry, Honey!” While she tried to gain control of herself, Jiran and Dandy’s eyes locked.

“What happened?”

“Two men, I heard a struggle. When I came out of the kitchen, they were stuffing m-my girls into bags. I tried to stop them, they were so fast. I remember falling down, they were talking and kept stabbing me with a knife. How am I alive?”

Jiran could see the shock begin to take hold. Dandy’s body began to lightly shake and his eyes grew distant. Hating himself but knowing it was necessary, Jiran reached out and slapped him across the face.

“I need more information, Dandy! Anything you can remember. What did they say? What did they look like?”

Dandy worked his jaw and shook his head before focusing on Jiran once more.

“Mayalyn was there too, she looked so angry with me. The last thing I remember was her stabbing herself. Why would she do such a thing? I d-don’t remember what they look like. I’m sorry, I failed them, I failed them,” Tears began to stream down his face as he withdrew into despair.

Jiran scanned the room for any clues. He saw the hole in the wall to Mayalyn’s room and noticed the trail of blood leading out the door.

Her weapons are missing and she left me a trail of blood. Damn, that is one badass girl.

“You did great, Dandy. I’ve got to head out for a bit. I’ll be back soon.”

“Please, Jiran. Please save my babies. I’ll do anything, I just want my girls back.”

Jiran replied calmly as he stood.

“Okay, Dandy. I need you to do me a favor. Head into the kitchen and make some dinner. Your girls are going to be hungry when I bring them home.”

Not willing to waste another second, Jiran followed Mayalyn’s trail out the front door.

With clenched fists, he fully opened the gate for the first time. Power, mixed with an intoxicating taint, flooded into his body. He embraced the mana and forced it into his aura far faster than was deemed safe. His guts churned in agony at the rapid conversion of mana to aura.

With blood flowing from his eyes and ears, Jiran once more took to the air.

Mayalyn’s Perspective

Thank the saints I bought Miila that oil for her hair.

Mayalyn followed the two kidnappers from a long distance. She made sure to stay well out of sight. Luckily, Miila had become addicted to that oil and used it in her hair every morning. The smell was easy to track with her sensitive nose.

She followed them down several streets, moving ever closer to the west wall. Eventually, the trail ended in a dark alley. Fearing it was a trap, Mayalyn scouted the alley from several vantage points daring to enter. She left another splash of her blood at the entrance to the alley before proceeding into its shadows.

At the back of the alley, the scent led straight into a brick wall. She searched quickly along the wall where the scent vanished. She easily found a gap between two stones where the air flowed steadily into a crack in the plaster.

She searched with her hands and eyes all along the wall but found nothing.

There is a hidden path here, they had to open it somehow. A switch or button, they would have needed to do something. Think!

Mayalyn’s pupils constricted when she realized what she needed to do. She first released the scent of the oil from her mind and then inhaled deeply through her nose. Quickly she filtered through the several other smells in the alley, until finding the one she needed.

The sweaty man-stink made her toes curl in disgust. Undaunted by the foul taste in her mouth, she moved her nose along the wall until she found the spot where a sweaty, bloody finger had touched the stone in three places at once.

With her own fingers spread wide, she mimicked the placement and pressed against the cold stone. Three switches moved simultaneously under her fingers and the trap door slid open. The long staircase that was revealed descended into the darkness toward the city’s wall.

Mayalyn marked the switches with her blood. She then changed her scenting back to the pleasant mineral oil before pressing on into the darkness. The door closed itself behind her.

When her eyes adjusted to the dark, she found the passage was not completely devoid of light. Two small furrows of blue light leaked from the corners of the ceiling, like veins carrying glowing blue blood.

The tunnel turned several times before opening up into a wide room with several branching paths. Undeterred by the maze of available paths, she merely followed the scent while leaving drops of her life force behind her all the while.

If Jiran doesn’t find this trail and I get myself killed then I’m going to haunt him for the rest of his life!

Mayalyn crept forward steadily, only moving faster when the scent began to grow weak. Eventually the passage she crept along ended with another set of stairs leading up. She approached nervously, hoping she wasn't about to pop out right in front of them.

The stairs ended as they met the ceiling, a convenient lever on the wall nearby. She reached for it but paused just before her fingers touched the metal.

Why are there cobwebs on this like it hasn't been used in ages? Didn’t they just pass through here?

She once more swapped her scent to the men and found their scent sticking to the far wall from the lever. She stood where they had been and scoured the area for clues until she found a small hole the size of a finger in the wall near her waist.

She detected their scent as well as something burnt coming from the hole.

You’ve come this far, Maymay. Don’t stop now.

With a few hops in place to psych herself up, she held her breath and stuck her finger in the hole. When nothing happened she sighed in relief.

Nothing? Don’t tell me I have to use their strange magic to make this thing work! Oh, I know.

Mayalyn stuck the end of one of her tonfas in the hole and activated her chakha. Her mana flooded every inch of her body, bringing with it the feeling of life being more than it was before. The need to move, run, and hunt churned within her as emotions cascaded out of control.

The tonfa in her hand smoothly funneled a small amount of her raging mana and blasted the tiny hole with far more power than it was designed to withstand.

Whatever mechanism was inside, exploded. A small puff of smoke escaped the hole as the trap door above her flew open. Just as the ceiling moved out of the way, a dozen sharp metal spikes slammed into the passage from every wall except for the one safe spot, where she stood.

Mayalyn nervously gulped down the saliva that built up in her mouth. Then, with a gasp of realization, she turned back toward the wall.

Quick Maymay! Before it closes.

As fast as she could, she scrawled a message for Jiran on the wall, then a big X near the lever, before dashing up the stairs just as the ceiling began to close.

Uh oh, I don’t think I used enough blood near the lever. It was too dark, I couldn't see!

She frantically looked around the small storage shack she found herself in but couldn't find any way to re-open the trap door. Without the kidnappers having opened it, she didn’t have any idea where to search for the release contraption.

Please be okay, Jiran.

With the scent of oil fading rapidly in the fresh air, Mayalyn reluctantly left the trap behind.