Chương 21: Out of Mana

Aaron walked just ahead of Harrold to the bedrooms on the upper floor of the mansion, knowing that if he slowed down any more he would be pushed or dragged. His back twinged with each step. He suspected there was bad bruising from where Harrold threw him against the wall. But that wasn't his biggest concern. Trying to heal June now was risky. And if he injured her by accident, Harrold would not be very forgiving.

Aaron recognised the complex winding corridors and desperately made mental notes in case he needed to escape. First of all, he was going to try to heal June. But by using as little mana as possible. His second plan came in if Harrold asked him to push to the point he thought he could hurt her. Then he would run. Risking his life running was preferable to being pushed into killing a child. It was a little earlier this time when they reached June's room.

She was brushing her hair in the mirror as Aaron was marched in by Harrold and his guards. She didn't seem fazed by the intrusion at all. Neither did she seem to recognise Aaron, but he figured it was because she probably saw hundreds of healers. June's mother was sitting on a chair in the corner, scowling at Harrold. He clearly got the message and sent all but one guard and Finneas away. Aaron chuckled to himself. It was ironic to see such a powerful man getting silently scolded like a child.

However his amusement didn't last long.

"June, my dear. Do you remember Healer Barrows? He's here to help you" Harrold said softly. It was a stark contrast from the show of ferocity he put on just minutes earlier.

"Ummm," June stammered. She glanced across the room at her mother.

"Listen to your father," the woman insisted. June looked back over at Harrold and rolled the ends of her hair between her fingers.

"Don't worry if you don't remember him," Harrold continued, "You probably won't be seeing him again after today." Aaron took a deep breath and steadied his nerves. He hoped Harrold meant because he would cure her and wouldn't need to come back, but his better sense warned him otherwise. Harrold beckoned for Aaron to come over.

"You should still be flowing full of mana from taking a talent. Do what you can now you're at your strongest."

"Don't do too much at first," Finneas interjected. The old man's common sense was welcomed. Harrold didn't like being corrected, but seemed to listen. If he wasn't here to guide him, Aaron dared not think what would have happened to the poor girl. He focused his attention on June who somehow looked even more pale and gaunt than the other day. A part of him understood why Harrold had become so desperate and obsessed, but it still didn't excuse his actions.

After getting June's permission to help, she turned her head to the side and closed her eyes as if expecting it to be painful.

"Try to relax, this isn't supposed to hurt. Tell me if it's too much and I'll stop." Aaron hovered his hand just in front of her chest. Her heart was struggling and on the verge of giving up. It was still obvious from the other end of the room, despite his True Sight being a low level. But from this close up, he could practically feel its laboured movements humming down his arm. The heart muscle was thickened and stiff; he knew this already. It was barely moving, suffocated under its own weight.

Aaron could barely believe that June was still conscious with a heart this weak. I'll just do a bit. Now his Heart Mastery was higher, his intuition told him that a significant change might shock the body too much and could kill her. It made him nervous to try his magic on a child. Not only had he just learned to use Manipulate, but when he tried it on the hearts yesterday, they withered and failed from being overstressed.

To top it all off, he had only practised moving the hearts; right now he needed to change its very structure. Yet still he had to try. The girl was in a critical condition and Harrold had sent his men to attack Tim if he refused. He channelled his mana through his hand, shooting a freezing gust through his chest again. It was a difficult sensation to get used to, unlike the warm glow of his healing powers. The force of the mana made him stagger back half a step.

He'd forgotten how much of a difference it made to his mana after investing in a talent. With the overflowing mana, the practice and the increased skill ranks, maybe it was possible to heal June—Maybe. He focused on the thick muscular walls of the heart and pictured them thinning by a hair. Start small and increase slowly; this was the safest way. He visualised how the heart needed to look in his mind's eye and willed it to change. His spirit reached out and guided a stream of mana towards June's heart.

Torrents of icy energy flowed towards her for a heartbeat, but Aaron quickly dialed it back. Start slow. The walls of the heart began to squish. Little bits of the wall shaved off into tiny particles, flowing away with her blood. This was harmless, as long as he didn't do too much. He continued with extreme caution over the course of about a minute, leaning heavily on his True Sight for early signs of trouble. Increased heart rate, breathing problems, irregular heart rhythms, pain. None of these showed up.

It didn't happen suddenly, but over time it became obvious that the strain on her heart had eased. The thick, muscular walls were slightly more supple and mobile and the blood flowed through much more efficiently. It wasn't perfect, and the heart was still damaged and weak, but the improvements would buy her some time. It would buy Aaron some time to perfect his craft and finish the job when he was skilled enough to do it safely. Aaron felt the connection with the tome in his bag ignite.

It startled him into a gasp. He'd never felt a stronger surge from it, even as a Spirit Healer. [Skill proficiency increased] Manipulate: Level 4 Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. [Somatomancy talent improved (+2)] Heart Mastery: rank 5 [Teratogenesis talent improved] Augmentation Mastery: rank 2 Two ranks at once was practically unheard of, but then again, he was empowered by a recent talent upgrade.

The spell was one of the most challenging he'd ever attempted, which explained why he gained so much proficiency from it. But if he'd had a choice, the risk wasn't worth it. Aaron relaxed his hand down by his side. June didn't appear to be in any discomfort from the spell. If anything, her cheeks looked a little bit more pink. This was a good sign.

"Did you do it?" Harrold asked, with baited breath.

"Yes," Aaron replied, "Her heart is working better, but any more might be too much of a shock to her system, and I feel completely drained of mana." He had some mana left, but the risk from continuing to use magic on her heart was very real. Harrold turned to his daughter.

"June, how do you feel?"

"Good?" June said. Her eyes flitted uncertainly between Aaron and her mother.

"My chest doesn't feel so heavy anymore." June's mother began to quietly sob in the corner. For a brief moment, Aaron felt proud. He was so focused on the danger to him and his brother that he almost didn't realise what an achievement it was to heal where many had failed. And with Necromancy of all things. It was more proof to himself that Necromancy wasn't evil. Harrold turned back to Aaron "You need to do more." Any pride Aaron felt was replaced with dread. Using more mana to change her heart could kill her.

Especially after he already used most of his reserves.

"I can't," Aaron said, "It was a difficult spell and I don't have the mana anymore."

"Well we can get you some mana." He gestured to the guard to come over. A clean shaven, brutish looking man rushed over and knelt down. The poor man had no idea what his boss wanted Aaron to do to him. But he suspected he would have let it happen anyways. Failure and disobedience were gravely punished, as Aaron was learning the hard way.

"Harrold, I can't. The procedure could harm June! She needs time to adapt to her changing heart. I'm a healer, you need to listen to me. It could kill her!" June scrambled to the back of the room and held her hairbrush up like a club.

"Liar," he shouted. June's mother rushed over to the girl and covered her ears.

"You know the consequences for disobeying me or lying. I've been honest and fair with you, now do as I say. Don't forget that my men are with your brother right as we speak." Aaron looked down at the guard crouching before him. He hadn't said a word, he just waited and looked at the floor. Tim didn't deserve to get hurt, but neither did this man. He was torn between his options, but he knew that his brother had to come first.

"I'll only take a little bit," Aaron asserted. He felt sick knowing he was about to hurt someone to save his brother. He suspected this guard was just as extorted as he was. Why else would he throw himself in harm's way at Harrold's request. But it didn't change his decision; He couldn't let anything happen to his brother.

"Get on with it!" Harrold barked. Aaron pulled out his tome from his bag, turned it to the correct page and put his hand on the guard's head.

"'I'm sorry." Aaron kept his eyes open. He had no idea how potent Remnant Absorption would be on a human and he wanted to make sure he could stop if the guard's life was in danger. Aaron could sense that the burly man had about as much latent mana as he had brains… Not a lot. But significantly more than the carcass of a pig. Glowing particles swirled and spiralled from the man's head in a vortex up Aaron's arm. It came easily, but it was probably because he wasn't resisting.

This man's mana felt warm to touch, yet icy as soon as it entered Aaron's chest. The guard was struggling to breathe. The air hissed as it was forced out of his mouth by the spell. [Skill proficiency increase] Absorb Remnant: Level 2 * [Consumption talent improved] Vitality Draining: rank 1 Aaron paused the spell to acknowledge the increased rank of his skills. If he had drained enough to improve his proficiency, that must mean he had taken on a substantial amount of power.

He felt as if his mana had been restored back to nearly full again.

"Continue," Harrold commanded.

"I have enough mana to continue the spell." Harrold stomped on the floor and red sparks flew out of his chest.

"I said continue!" The guard looked up at Aaron. His eyes had deep bags under them and his cheeks were sagging. His face now resembled a starving beggar more than a well fed guard. It was hard to tell in the dimly lit room, but there was barely any colour left in his face. But his True Sight told him he could take more of a beating before his life was in danger. Although he was clearly in a lot of pain and Aaron was desperate to stop.

His Vitality Draining rank must have improved his intuition for detecting mana remnants. Aaron sensed that he had drawn about half of this man's mana. The guard should be able to recover back to normal after a night's rest if he stopped soon.

"I'm sorry," Aaron whispered as he continued the spell. As the vortex of particles once again arose from the man and swirled toward him, the guard's chest puffed out and he let out a long agonised groan. He looked like he wanted to scream in pain, but didn't have the strength to do so. The man went more and more grey. Aaron could sense his life force failing. If he took any more, he might die, yet the guard never put up any resistance. Whatever hold Harrold had on him, he'd rather die than fight back.

[Consumption talent improved] Vitality Draining: rank 2 Aaron stopped. The mana remnants in living beings felt at least twice as powerful than those from a corpse. He felt more powerful than ever. Draining more mana would have been greedy and excessive.

"Did I say stop?" Harrold barked, "take all the mana you can!" It was pointless trying to reason with him. It was clear from the deranged look in his eyes that he wouldn't listen to anything except "yes sir". By all accounts the spell was a success. June would probably live at least another couple of years, maybe more. That was plenty of time to practise enough to heal her fully, without risking any harm. With Harrold's resources, he would surely find a way to help her in that time.

On the other hand, if he drained this guard any more, he would almost certainly die. There was no winning anymore. He needed to run. But there was no way he could overpower a mage as powerful as Harrold. Aaron discreetly scanned the room. A brass key was still in the door, which happened to be the only way in and out of the room. He quickly looked back at the guard and focused his hand out as if readying himself to cast the spell again. It was vital that no one suspected he was plotting an escape.

He needed a distraction. The door was made of thick oak, which might keep Harrold busy for a few minutes if he was lucky. If he ran, he could get home in ten minutes and all he needed to do was figure out how to free Tim before the guards caught up to him. The odds were against him, but what choice did he have? Kill the guard and possibly June as well. Thinking of all he had learned over the previous days, Aaron remembered a spell he hadn't tried yet, Osteokinesis.

He looked down at the guard, slumped on his knees with barely enough strength to stay upright. He knew what to do.