Chapter One Hundred Twenty Nine

Gunlan felt loss of control another three or four times, and rage flared. I will find who desires to thieve from the Patriarch of this clan and you will rue my rage! Such will be my wrath your name will become known as folly and despair! Gunlan's rage empowered his curses as he continued his bitter hatred for whoever was attempting to steal what was his by right. But his head throbbed with pain, even as blood still fell from his orifices, staining his face and neck red. This… His thoughts wavered, even as his body did as well.

Gunlan tried to lean into his anger, embracing it and seeking clarity and empowerment from it. His rage flared, offering him clarity but failing to conceal a true fear that grew in his thoughts, recognizing he was on his last legs. Barely… made… Dismissing his thoughts, he quickly firmed his will and he carefully constructed his mental defenses to maintain and protect that which was his. But even as his rage empowered him, returning his focus to an extent, bitter understanding of his current situation infused his thoughts.

* * *

Joe ignored everything around him even as every guard in the area sprinted towards him. His mind turned inward. Last chance! The fatalism of the statement settled in, and Joe turned every iota of his thought and will towards the task, his mental forces swelling, compressing and preparing for the moment of their release. No need to hide now… I guess… He flared his mana, flushing his head with it as much as possible, his infused stats flaring, painfully overfull as Joe pushed his stats as much as he could. Need time! Subjective time slowed, everything around him freezing. Time slowed, thought compressing, even as all that was around him faded. He felt the moment and, with relief, he slid mana out into his being. Ignoring his body and limbs, his sent the mana boosting out and twirling upwards towards his brain, focusing on everything but uncaring too much of his physical senses. There was no point to enhance his physicality at the moment for this was a mental battle, and he slid the mana to the part of his mind which felt most pertinent, relying on instinct except where he was certain was unnecessary from his education on Earth. If that's even useful… Time slowed further, magical effects enhancing purely physical flight or fight responses and almost freezing perceptual time.

The moment swelled with significance, even as if a bubble of space-time expanded around him, then suddenly compressed and he shot everything at the wall that was the collar and control. His will battered against the barrier like massive fists, and his mind formed the picture of a man punching and kicking madly at an invisible barrier. He released his rage and simply flailed without any control or precision, seeking only power and as quick attacks as possible. He didn't know how long he stayed there, but he refused to stop as he hammered with all he had against his prison.

* * *

There was a moment of peace after he'd lost a bit more control but those small hits of lost control warned Gunlan that more attempts were coming, and his mental defenses rallied and condensed. But a lot less collars than before. Must not have many more… lucky but… how did they get so many in the first place? Still… I will win! What fool believes they can fight this Patriarch! I will find you and… His thoughts sheared off as pain hammered home, a strike as strong as the first plastered against his mind. He groaned even as fresh blood flushed out, joining the flow that traveled down his face. I can take this… just handle the hit an…

Another pulse of incredible power hammered home, and he moaned again, but even as he tried to rally, encouraging himself to hold on just a bit longer with the promise the other would lose strength with time and slow, the next blow came shortly after and suddenly increased in incredible speed. Blow after blow, like a wood pecker hammered against his mind, punishing him at speeds dozens, even hundreds, of times faster than a wood pecker. The last thought Gunlan hand before his eyes rolled up in his head and he collapsed to his pillow, staining it with a vast gushing of blood was a simple question. How!?

* * *

Joe blinked in utter surprise when the control popped with no more effort than a soap bubble, vanishing before his own will. The careful mana construction that he had flowing through his mind destabilized and vanished even as the mana he was carefully directing upwards choked off, no longer pouring from his mana core now that his thought was interrupted. He struggled, working hard to maintain his infusion state despite losing control of the mana he'd pumped into empowering him. He barely held onto his infusion state by releasing any effort to control his mana and the mana wisped from his control. A mild headache formed and then was immediately gone. HP for the win… I guess.

Wonder and worry echoed through him and he worried about his MP, flipping open his status before staring. Shock punched through him when he saw only about ten percent of his MP was gone although he found that he'd lost about five or ten percent of his HP from healing as well. His wonder turned to a wince as Joe was hit with dozens of sensations at once, overwhelming him. Sight confirmed he hadn't been gone long as the guards were still running towards him and only his own personal grey haired guard remained before him. Noise exploding back into existence and the guards rushing towards him suddenly caught his attention, his gaze turning away from his own personal guard who was holding him up, bending his arm back away from him.

Pain came next as a pounding headache hit, even as another strange sensation of absolute control and comprehension of his own being slammed home and with it the realization that he could control this other being with exactness that bordered on horrific. It was with that moment that Joe realized he had now a second set of sensations that swelled through the collar and to him, almost a duplicate of what he was feeling and sensing, although lesser, muted, and somehow revealing a surface level that seemed hollow compared to the actual feelings he was experiencing now. Oh man… double vision… no… double senses… no wonder… The extra senses dizzied him for a time, but that felt little next to his freedom.

With the realization that he was now free, tears welled even as they flowed from his cheeks in an almost uncontrollable waterfall. Joy hit next, and he began laughing with almost hysterical relief. Exultant relief flowed almost immediately into happiness as he grinned with feral raging glee. Curiosity roused next before it was quashed with brutal expediency. First things first! I command myself. I revoke all previous commands. I command myself to do as I will and believe is best!

Power and relief rushed through him and with it a certainty that he was now back in control of himself even as he stood. Clamps that had bound his mind and body vanished and he could literally feel the freeing of his own control. He almost attempted to release himself, but worry stifled that because he could feel the collar still had another secondary control source. Probably dumb? What if I free myself and just all my balls fall off and the originals stay… I'll be back in Gunlan's control… Knowing with reasonable certainty that releasing himself would only release the control he had back to Gunlan, he chose to simply offer himself the freedom he would need to act for now. Now… fix this mess!

Joe looked up, a grin pulling his lips back in a rictus of joy. The guard holding him widened his eyes in fear, even beginning to shake his head in the negative while simultaneously pulling his arm back for a punch.

Joe almost couldn't care less, but then remembered the three extra collar balls the guard had swept toward him and he tempered his response. His punch turned into a push and his arms came forward, one to break the grip upon his neck and the other to carefully slam into the man's chest and send him tumbling away. He hadn't enhanced his stats yet, so the man simply tumbled back then fell. Joe felt some relief the man was ok, but also frowned, realizing that he had fallen back to natural strength and wasn't utilizing his current stats. Worry gnawed at him about using his stats, but as he glanced around, he saw that the number of guards around him was enough that he would likely need to exploit his stats. And I still need my control artifact! Joe considered the last with some fear, uncertain of how that would work or what would happen if another pushed the buttons.

A scream of terror and command brought Joe's attention to the slave master that was still backing away from him while commanding the soldiers after him. Almost, Joe changed his plan to capturing the slave master to control the situation. He took a single step then frowned with frustration when the realization that he was still on his knees hit. His frown turned to a bitter grimace and he turned back to his first efforts, turning inward to mana.

Once again, mana swelled up and this time flushed out to his entire body, although he sent a vast majority of it to his mind wishing to return to a time dilated state. This time, he pushed his infusion state by about a quarter, hoping to keep his MP reasonably filled. He didn't try to overfill his infusion with extra mana. Won't need it anyway… I can deal with them at this…

Time dilated and the guards sprinting towards him rapidly slowed so much that Joe almost felt like they were moving through viscous honey so think they barely moved at all. Like… not even ten percent of their speed… way less even… five percent? Or something? With time on his side, he turned to spreading mana across his body, cautiously sending mana through the connections made to his muscles, bones, organs, and skin. Even as he did so, he recognized how poorly the mana formations were constructed, recognizing many obvious mistakes. Man… even with how well this infusions went off… feels like still so much more to go… but…. enough for what I need now. Oh! And hey… time to understand again. Give me back the common language on polyglot's language skill, please.

Incomprehensible shouts and noise vanished into very slow comprehensibility and Joe grinned, glancing around the area and basking in understanding. The fearful shouts of terror, glee, and surprise came into focus with a clarity Joe found he missed then quickly settled back into the norm. The cries revealed nothing he did not know, so he focused back on his initial plan. Get my legs back!

Joe, mana swelling through his body with practiced ease, pulled the legs of his pants up before popping a dagger out of his inventory. No need to hide that anymore… A couple of quick slices, and the ties that had pulled his lower calf to the back of his thigh snapped apart and he allowed his leg to drop to the ground with a sigh of relief. The second leg soon followed after, and Joe stood, dagger slipping back into his inventory only to be immediately replaced by his two tonfa. A couple spins and a nice flourish later, Joe turned to face the crowd coming. Almost, he wanted to play with the guards, but then decided to bring control to the situation. His gaze turned towards the slave master, rapid glee and the desire for vengeance flushing through him. Time had barely moved, and so had the slave master.

* * *

The guard slammed through the doorway into the storage room, rapidly coming in to find the control artifacts. Three artifacts for three troublesome slaves, but by far, the worst was the eccentric. His collar pushed him onwards even as it ignored his non-consequential thoughts. His hand slammed down upon the eccentric's control artifact before he turned and sprinted back out of the villa.

* * *

Klannard recovered from his tumble and paused then glanced up to see the eccentric coming into his own. Glee swelled through Klannard even as he struggled to keep his thoughts blank to keep his collar calm. It, however, did not find Klannard's thoughts calming, squirming and writhing, even throwing out some tentacles and spines in rotations around his body. Been a long time since my collar's reacted… but… Klannard found he did not care, and watched with awe as the eccentric stood then pulled daggers from nowhere before revealing he still had legs. Klannard grinned. His collar did not seem happy.

* * *

Ilyelanralo felt his borrowed control of the eccentric snap like flimsy webbing and fear spiked through his being. He stumbled backwards in blind fear but was unthinking as he did so, simply staring on with mounting horror and fear. When the eccentric pushed back Klannard with such ease, then revealed that he'd somehow recovered his own legs, any sense of recovering from this situation vanished and fear drove him onwards.

"Stop him at all costs, all guards!" Ilyelanralo shouted in terror as he turned to flee towards his home but having to run around the eccentric in a wide circle, too terrified to get close to the man.

* * *

Joe glanced up in surprise at hearing and understanding the slave master, then zeroed on his position. Right… let's nip this in the bud! Joe pushed forward, then slipped, almost falling on his face as his foot slipped out from under him, the ground almost feeling frictionless for how easily he was able to simply slide it across the ground. Joe cursed, remembering, before slamming to the ground on both hands. He simply took his new position, setting himself in a sprinter's start, but this time remember to root mana down into the ground before taking off at speed. His mana swelled and spiraled into the ground in a messy eruption but it proved enough and Joe pushed off from the ground. 'Nother thing I gotta learn!

The launch proved successful, although trying to push down a mana root through the sole of his foot fast enough while sprinting really pushed Joe's control. Still, he managed it enough for his plans, tapping one guard with his tonfa as he passed by. That quick tap almost wiped him out, his body tumbling wildly until he got control again even as a pained cry rang out, the guards arm shattering under the too hard strike. His barely got himself under control before he had to make his turn, feet slamming the ground and mana roots poorly or half forming to give him the traction he needed before pulling back around towards the slave master. However, this time, the mana root failed, not taking form fast enough and his foot, without the mana root support, slid off the hard ground like wet soap, and his other leg slammed down to catch his balance, even as he grimaced in frustration. Trying to learn to run again. Mana shot out through the bottom of his grounded foot, and his vector reoriented on the slave master, his movement redirected. But even as he arrived, Joe pulled back in shock when he saw the slave master grin with relief and victory. What?

And out came the slow elongated sounds of slow motion speech, long and distorted but still immediately understood.

"Push the eccentric's punishment button, NOW!" the slave master commanded.

* * *

Ilyelanralo fled with fear, not allowing himself to watch the eccentric at all even as he sped towards his home. As he sprinted closer, despair welled only to finally find relief. The guard he'd sent to retrieve the control artifact was leaving his home, and joy shot through him.

"Punish the eccentric, NOW!" Ilyelanralo screamed with terror.

* * *

Joe froze, his gaze turning with horror, visceral and vile even as an intense hatred and rage rejecting ever being controlled again swelled through him. His eyes locked on the guard running towards them before they flicked down to take in the control artifact in his hand. The guard immediately slowed as well as the command hit him, and his hands came together, the free arm aiming for the pain button on the control artifact. NO!

The tonfas in Joe's hands vanished, slipping back into inventory even as his spear replaced it, settling in his hand. He bounced it once, then a second time to get the perfect balance, even as his arm pulled back. Mana swelled through him, flaring with the panic and pumping through the already created conduits he'd formed connecting to his body, feeding into muscles, organs, and bones. Pain swelled slightly, almost like an effort too much, a step too far, one too many bites of food, or a weight just too heavy to lift. It was painful, but also even felt a bit good; the feeling of stretching just that bit more beyond capability.

And with that sudden swell of mana, time slowed even further, the mana hitting his brain just as it swelled out into the rest of his body. Thought accelerated and conversely, outward time seemed to slow. Joe knew time did not slow. It was only his perception. His thoughts focused on the man, the extra time calming him and allowing him to prep his shot. He knew he wouldn't get there fast enough, but he could certainly throw something fast enough.

His mind focused on where to strike, and settled for center of mass. The throw would likely kill the man, and while Joe knew the slave guard was just as much a victim as he was, to an extent, he was not willing to sacrifice his freedom for the life of another man. Guilt welled, but then Joe simply accepted it. He wasn't going to allow it to paralyze him. I can only survive dealing with the world as it is…

As his thoughts focused on the man, small fluctuations of his fingers and hand directed and redirected the soon to come flight of his spear, and he narrowed his eyes. Wish I could get more info to…

Even as the thought formed, pure in intent, his mana swelled, punching from his chest in a massive flow, a bubble or short pulse of massively increased mana before it settled back close to its original flow, if only slightly more. It was nothing that harmed his mana core in any way, the amount of flow more than within the capabilities of his mana organ. But the amount was surprising and he watched with some trepidation as the mana swelled and flew directly up his neck and dove into his mind.

It dove into his brain and swelled along the paths he'd already created. These were ones he was comfortable with, and had practiced with care. Man… I really miss the system's help… kinda overkill and robs capability for how much it takes over, but for training and practicing… wish I still had it now… A twist within the mana field occurred, something that twinged very much at the edge of Joe's capabilities, then a subtle infinitesimally small pulse of mana formed and he swore he could feel small tendrils of mana sweep up and surround the mana swelling through his mind, breaking off portions and massively increasing the number of connections that wound through his brain. Dozens, hundreds, of mana tendrils, and soon thousands of fine hair thin lines, connected to thousands and thousands of places throughout his brain. The mana flow was suddenly constricted, then smoothed and slipped into his mind in various places. Hundreds of tendrils connected at the back of his mind, near where he'd knew the vision portion of his brain resided. Another couple hundred, maybe even a thousand, interspersed along the central left portion of his brain, connecting to what he knew as the sensory, for feelings, and control section of his muscles for the voluntary control section of his body. All the rest slammed home across the front of his mind. That… took a lot of mana! Wasted a lot using it up with just intent… I hope…

Awe had him distracted for awhile, even as the realization hit home. Wait… did I still ask… for some help… I guess? Maybe? Or is it still like before… in high stress situations? Hope I can start using this in practice times instead! But… that was… a lot of mana… Worry gnawed at him and he flipped open his status to glance at his MP and grimaced to see it take a massive hit, losing almost fifty percent just for that. Below forty again… wow… man… was it worth it? How… He grimaced with worry over losing half his reserves with that effort but returned to his fight.

The adrenaline rush from what had happened was intense, but his panic and fear over his artifact remained so he turned his focus from what was happening in his mind to how to gain control of his control artifact. When his focus returned to the man who even now was bringing a hand up to push the button that would strike pain into him, Joe saw a new incredible view. Before him, almost like it was some kind of overlay or a HUD, appeared lines and a circle painted on the man. Confusion roared through him to see them, but with that confusion, the meaning came like a clap of thunder. The circle was on his target's chest and it suddenly swelled in size, going from something about a hand in diameter to almost a meter. The line that traced from the tip of his spear to the center of the circle wobbled slightly and the circle moved, jerking like a toy on the string that was the line from the spear tip to the circle center. The circle moved wildly across his view, sliding over his target's body then off into the distance to the trees a good couple hundred meters behind him before jerking back, sliding across the guard's body again, overshooting and bouncing from the slave master's villa to a few people between him and the villa before sliding back and settling again.

Ooh! So… cool! The circle and line immediately settled, falling to a quivering bounce centered on the man's chest even as the diameter of the circle shrunk from almost person sized diameter to torso, hand, palm, then about a thumb's length in diameter. That shift was so rapid and immediate that Joe almost blinked and missed it.

After, however, the shrinking circle slowed and finally settled on a point about the size of the tip of his fingers. Joe's grin grew with that, and with it a solution to his predicament. With a new plan, subtle shifts to his fingers slide the circle left. The circle moved the same as before, with wild undulations and a massive increase in diameter with each tiny twitch of a finger and the tiniest of rotations of his body before it once again settled and shrunk in size, positioned directly below the man's right shoulder, very high on his chest. A small circle about a centimeter, even smaller, in diameter vibrated there even as his body prepared.

With the target set, his will firmed and body moved. Mana swelled first, thundering out into limbs, torso, and head, this time of just his continuing infusion. A great welling of mana that crashed home upon his body flowing through the paths that pulsed between parts of his body and his core. When the surge of mana hit, he felt the pain of stretching beyond his normal means once again and reveled in it. Then, with a burst, it all snapped together and he initiated the throw, whipping his body forward.

Belatedly, he remembered the need of a mana root, grimacing in anger at such a mistake and quickly sent a pulse to the bottom of his foot, carefully creating an image much like a carrot root: a large spine spiking deep into the earth a good meter or so. From that large spine piercing directly down into the earth, four perpendicular but evenly spaced roots speared out into the earth, webbing outward from the root. Every hand span or so, the four branches pierced out into the earth about half the diameter. They struck outwards parallel to the ground in four directions. Each subsequent set of four further down the main central root were offset by forty five degree angle, and from each lateral trunk line, further smaller tendrils almost as small as fine hair punched outward in wildly twisting paths, gripping onto as much dirt as possible.

The intricacy of his image allowed the formation to be both rapid and significantly complete, almost surprising Joe with how easy and fast this one had been to form. Still, his focus was on getting the artifact under his control, and so once the mana root was formed, it fell from his mind, settling to his subconscious for maintenance rather than control. Instead, he returned his focus on his control and strike. The short interruption shifted his aim off even as he was still beginning to follow through on his strike. With deep focus, he got his focus back on target, the small targeting circle swelling massive and shifting wildly all across the land scape before firming and narrowing upon the man's upper right chest. Joe held back just long enough for the target to settle and shrink before finally releasing the shot, the spear powering forward through the air.

With the spear launched, his focus turned back to the man, then grimaced as he as the man already had a finger upon the button. A curse floated to his mind before it cut off and pain swelled through him. A punch to the gut had him double over further than his throw had him originally move before suddenly the pain vanished with two massive sonic rolling sounds of thunder.

* * *

Dulan watched, frozen in place and unable to do much else. Terror slid in gibbering globules up his spine and limbs as he watched the eccentric pulled towards the slave master, frozen and unmoving. Despair, hidden behind a hope he never truly believed in roared back to where it had always belonged as the eccentric was dragged towards the slave master. He arrived and was pulled before the slave master, put on display and Dulan's eyes turned to pity.

The eccentric lifted a hand to his collar and Dulan found a certain respect for the man's efforts but his despair only hammered home. Joe… you cannot touch the collar… you cannot pull it off! Dulan tried to raise his hand to his face to scrub it with frustration but then grimaced, his own effort also failed both from the pain of the stake in his gut and the still continuing command to remain motionless. Hhe instead sighed, revealing his frustration and despair.

That despair turned to shock, however, when the slave master suddenly backed away, total fear revealed upon his face as he stumbled away. What? Why is he? Dulan turned his focus as best he could back upon the eccentric then widened his eyes in shock when he saw the eccentric suddenly stand tall, in complete control. Wonder flared even as hope began to return and shock with it. Impossible! Impossible! He… how?!

The slave master scrambled away in terror, crying out for the guards to stop him or attack him, but none of that matter at all. In one moment, the eccentric stood tall upon his amputated thighs and in the next, he suddenly was standing on perfect regrown legs. A healer? He's a healer!?But how… so fast! To regenerate entire legs in a moment… how!? Hope for his senior flared then was replaced with some worry at how the man could defend himself or take on the dozens of guards there.

Suddenly, two strange sticks with odd handles appeared in the eccentric's hands and Dulan frowned in curiosity. Then, the eccentric vanished in a massive puff of sand and dust and the only thing Dulan could use to trace the eccentric's incredible speed was the second puff of dust and a cry from guard.

Then the slave master called out again, crying about the eccentric's control artifact and Dulan's hope smashed into rocks, terror rising again as his gaze took in the guard returning with a control artifact in hand. The slave master's cry drew Dulan's gaze and he found his eyes widening in shock when he saw the eccentric standing next to the slave master.

His eyes widened even further when the eccentric's sticks disappeared and were replaced by a plain but well-made spear. A spear? A healer with a weapon? How? He seemed frozen for a moment in time, less than even the blink of an eye, preparing for the throw his spear at the slave guard with his control artifact. Then, he blurred, suddenly bending over in a complete throw and the spear was already gone even as a massive thunderous waterfall of sound burst out followed immediately by another when the one side of the slave master's villa simply exploded, shrapnel pounding outward in an explosive wave.

Dulan blinked, wonder turning to awe and no little fear. How?!

* * *

The slave merchant watched on with humor and mockery as the slave master failed to control the slaves. Slave uprisings were not exactly rare, but for them to be so destructive or long was rather humorous. A simple command was all that was needed to bring unruly slaves under control. But while it had been funny while it lasted, things became rather terrifying when the unruly slave began pulling weaponry out of some kind of inventory and even fighting the guards and slave master without worry. Humor was quickly replaced with a deep discomfort and he quickly called to his people.

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"This is not our fight. Form up. Now."

A rumbling agreement was heard amongst his own slave guards and they cautiously shifted back and away from the fights. However, when the fight began seeming to turn towards the one man's way against all the current guards, he quickly decided a retreat was in order. A quiet order and a wave of the hand so as to not attract the attention of the rebellious slaves, he turned and had his goods and slaves slipping from the slave camp.

* * *

Joe stood back up with relief when the pain had ended so quickly and stared around quickly, searching for the man who'd had his control artifact, but he found no one but a tumbled body. Joe's eyes widened at the realization that he'd taken a guard off his feet, then took in the whole scene with a bit of a sense of disbelief. He didn't allow his shock to hold him as he immediately pushed mana back through his being, surging it to body and mind and sprinting across the field towards his control artifact. Mana punched into his mind and sped up his perceptions even as it flowed outward to body and down through his legs. Gotta give me some traction! Joe imagined his mana root with better clarity this time, and it slithered down into the ground with ease and gave him the friction he needed to speed away.

His eyes darted across the field until he found the artifact lying out of the man's reach tumbling to the ground but he glanced around at everyone in the area, seeing no one else close or even moving near his speed. The guard lay upon the ground with a hole punched through his upper right chest, his shoulder and upper arm essentially nothing but fine mist now and his arm ripped off to the side, only the elbow down remaining, laying on the ground a good four or five yards away.

With no one near his control artifact and no one capable of beating him to it, at least as he could see, he turned his focus to the guard he'd hit with his spear. Given what he was seeing behind the guard, it seemed that the spear had slid through the guard's body and hit his shoulder blade before shattering it on the way out. The spear then continued its travel and slammed into the slave master's villa like a high velocity round from a tank. The building face crumbled under the strike, and then the floor above it bowed in before crackling and splitting to tumble down and join the rubble of the floor below it. Most of the building was still intact, but the side where his spear had landed showed a massive hole, exposing the interior completely.

Joe stared with awed wonder but quickly realized the man wouldn't likely live if he didn't do something soon. The upper right chest was basically gone, as well as his arm, and Joe remained in high infusion state. Need to maintain my subjective time if he's gonna have a chance… but… Guilt warred in his thoughts, but ultimately he recognized that if anyone got his control artifact, it was pretty much guaranteed the man would die since he wouldn't be able to focus on healing him, so he turned away, promising himself he'd return immediately.

He sprinted towards his control artifact, turning to look over the damage he'd caused a bit before shaking his head and turning his gaze back to his control artifact. Later… need to figure out this stupid artifact.

He reached the artifact quite quickly and while he wanted to go for the superhero slide stop, he knew time wasn't on his side and he killed his momentum by pure brute force, placing both feet down and spiking a massive mana root down from both feet deep into the ground. That didn't help him with his upper body and his Earth experience failed to give him the practice he needed. He hadn't bent low enough or put enough angle to his upper body so ended up flipping a bit over the top of his own waist. A hand slapped to the ground, another mana root leaping out from his palm to hold him in place and he suddenly found himself at his control artifact. Can't touch it… unless now that I'm the boss… maybe I can?

Taking a chance, he reached down but found himself still unable to touch it, any part of his body coming to a stop just millimeters shy of being able to actual grasp it. That brought a humorous thought to mind, and he wondered what would happen if the thing was dropped into his cupped hands. His smirk vanished and he turned to trying to figure out what to do. If I still can't touch it… then I'll likely not be able to touch it even with a tool… couldn't do it before, so… He pulled out his second wooden spear, bringing it down to poke at it but just as before, he couldn't actually interact with it despite any intermediary tool.

But… I can still toss things at it!

* * *

Ilyelanralo fell into despair, his guard he'd sent to retrieve the eccentric's control artifact was down and possibly even killed with the control artifact on the ground. The eccentric stood crouched over it, twitching in rapid movement, but the defenses of the artifact still proved substantial, blocking whatever interaction the eccentric tried. Still a chance!

"All guards! Get the eccentric's artifact and punish him with pain until he collapses! Now!"

Every guard immediately dropped weapons and sprinted towards the eccentric and the artifact, disregarding their original orders to attack the eccentric. As they came closer and the eccentric remained stymied by the artifacts protective measures, he felt a growing sense of relief. But suddenly, a massive rip in the very air around the eccentric formed, a large door simply pealing into existence right at the eccentric's feet and right in front of the artifact. Wonder and horror swelled within Ilyelanralo.

* * *

Huh… can't move it… can't touch it… can't do nothing… I remember dropping the stick on it and that was fine… Maybe… Joe called on his magic space skill, pulling the door into existence right next to the artifact. At least I can just shove it in there and shut the door… good enough for now!

He took a step back and grabbed his wooden spear, grimacing that the thing was lighter than his metal one, and then turned it sideways to the artifact and perpendicular to the ground. So… roll it hard at the artifact… bump it until it falls in? Maybe? That might work!

He glanced around, worry beginning to wrinkle the edges of his eyes with crow's feet before he turned back to his attempts. Right… this should do it! He pulled his hand back like he was bowling a ball, then cursed when the spear, turned sideways, slapped into his upper shins. Well… crap… A quick shift of both the spear and his body and he tried again, pushing his arm out far enough and holding the spear further down the shaft so the shaft wouldn't hit his legs. He pulled it back then swung it forward hard, releasing his spear with a grin. That should knock it righ… Joe blinked in shock as his entire body rocked forward and he took a step forward in confusion. Wait… what is? His hand still gripped his spear and his lips curled in angry disgust. Seriously?

Another attempt, this time to the side and not targeting the artifact, had his spear skitter off across the ground easily, his release as perfect as he'd timed it. That's… so… not cool… Joe thought as his gaze attempted to burn holes into the artifact. This so… sucks! His mind whirled with options, struggling, even as he glanced around once again and saw the guards ever closer. A pause, then another sharp curse rang out and he sought another option, popping open his inventory searching through what he had. And he found almost nothing he could use. He blinked, eyebrows flinching in thought before he nodded. Maybe!

He pulled out his backpack, heavy with supplies and all his weaponry, although a bit lighter than what he'd originally always had in it. The existence of his inventory made his pack redundant, and so he began ripping things out of his inventory and slamming it back into his pack. Heaviest stuff… all the heaviest… what next? Joe's eyes darted, seeking that which was heavy and resilient but could fit in the back. In the matter of moments, he had the bag filled once again, but the guards were another step closer, and the panic was starting to set in once again. No point in even running… they'd just push the button nonstop… It's what I would do…

He held the back pack up, aiming it to tumble and hit just at the edge of the control artifact. Cold sweat formed even as he realized that he could end up hitting the buttons with the bag, which added a whole new problem, but time was not on his side. Please… just drop and hit it… roll… just roll in!

He then moved his doorway, placing the doorway to his magic space directly next to the control artifact but between the majority of the guards and him. Then, he prepared. Might as well make them run around the side! He faced the guards as he prepared, keeping the closest in his line of sight, then breathed deep and began. It only took a moment, not even another step for the guards, and he released the bag. Joe blinked. He released the bag. A frown formed as he stared at the bag in his hands. Let the bag go! His hands remained clenched, and nothing happened. Joe grimaced in anger. Seriously! This is such… But I did it before… I ... Joe felt a cold sweat bead on his skin even as a thought came to him. Not good… I can't touch it … not like the collar? But itchy's not going to help… so… How am I …

His mind whirled with possibilities and he chose what he hoped might be useful, willing the door to his space away. He then simply dropped the bag and grinned with relief when it did fall. Then grimaced when pain and pleasure ripped through him simultaneously. With his perception sped up, the pain and pleasure, simultaneously, was somehow both more overwhelming and had a ghost like ephemeral quality to it. Distant and somehow slower to what was happening. His mana circuits fluctuated wildly, even as his mana swelled and shrank in the feeding of his circuits.

In that time, the guards closed another half a dozen to a dozen steps, sprinting towards him. Sometimes they flashed forward at full speed, sprinting and screaming, then they would suddenly freeze, then suddenly return to full speed, then slow. His mana fluctuated and shifted wildly until Joe finally clenched down hard, his mana passage quickly constricted, narrowing and releasing less mana. Almost immediately, the guards began moving quicker towards him, his perception realigning and speeding up to match normal time. But try as he might, the pain was too much and his efforts to clench his entire body to fight the pain also limited the amount of mana in the paths that connected all across his body.

Still, he stood with wild effort and yanked the backpack off the control artifact before sagging in relief then punching his mana throughput back up to max. That gave him a moment to relax a bit, but the guards were now worryingly close; some only a step or two away. One was already leaping at him, turning his charge into a flying tackle. It would be easy to dodge the man, but the guard wasn't targeting him. Instead, the man's hands reached out with wild greed towards the artifact.

Which isn't… where is it?! Joe's fear spiked then calmed when he saw it tumbling away a bit further behind him. Realization hit, relief flooding him, and was followed immediately by a grin. Oooh! Ha! Worked! He leapt back to the control artifact and carefully looked at it again before dropping the bag down upon it rather carefully. Don't want to hit the buttons… there! A sigh of relief when his bag fell onto the artifact without causing any button misfire, and then struggled to hid his grin. Oops! Joe thought and this time he couldn't hold the grin in, but still fought with all he had, trying to keep his thoughts carefully blank despite the glee he was now feeling. Let me pick up my bag!

He ripped the backpack upward, pulling it in such a way that the bottom of it would flip forward and slam against the artifact, sending it tumbling across the ground. The artifact slipped across the ground in a strange lazy and slow tumble. Then Joe opened the door to his magic space directly in its path. Don't think! Don't think… There was a moment where things almost seemed like it wouldn't work out, but Joe already had swung the bag to have it send the artifact flying over the ground. That was the easy part, however, as the doorway seemed to resist forming, the formation in the air wavering like a mirage and resisting his efforts form it. Joe's mind wrestled, fighting as hard as he could to form the door until a thought came. Just gonna put my bag away, right! That seems smart! Not good to fight with lots of baggage! Gotta keep myself light and ready to fight. Can't fight with a bag in hand! Gotta put it away… protect myself from harm and th... He took a step forward to stand just above his control artifact before swinging and tossing the bag just above and slightly behind the artifact. Both then tumbled through the air, slow and lazy going against everything Joe knew as normal. However, his thoughts were on other things, and Joe chanted the thought of returning his bag to his space, almost like a mantra, to himself until suddenly, the resistance seemed to vanish, and immediately after, the door snapped into place and formed with ease, just as his bag and control artifact tumbled into the door. Relief swelled and the doorway stuttered, and Joe grit his teeth. Of course I'm relieved… fighting while holding this big backpack! That would kill me! I gotta get rid of i…

Immediately, the doorway smoothed out and snapped open completely, and the artifact tumbled right in still going at pretty high speed. Joe then sprinted forward, no longer caring about his control artifact now tumbling into his space and instead grabbed at his bag before pulling it back out into the real world. He stepped back out of his space, sucking his bag back into his inventory but kept the door open, watching it. He paused to glance around, seeing all the guards surrounding him and grimaced. Need some space. Relaxing his mana flowing into his infusion state, Joe allowed the door to his space to close and walked towards the guard who had taken his spear strike. The people around him sped up slightly as he relaxed his mana outflow, but still moved like something swimming through honey. He moved at walking speed, to his subjective experience, and arrived at the man's side.

He then opened the door at his side and looked in, seeing the artifact still tumbling. He grimaced and turned back to look at the man. No time to regen… but can at least stabilize… get his arm back later… so… heals. Job changes happened in a flash and he immediately poured out mana into the man, focusing purely on saving his life. Worry over his current MP gnawed at him and he flipped open his status before frowning with bitterness. Just above ten percent… must have taken a huge chunk to make that aiming reticle. But… should have enough to heal the man… gotta get the guards to stop though, so…

He wouldn't spend too much on this guard. He needed to stop all guards, and that would mean a personal conversation with the slave master. Still, this man's life hung in the balance so he pushed mana into the man's body, seeking only to recover what was left of the man's torso to working condition, control the loss of any blood, and simply scar over the wound that was left. He got the blood loss under control rather quickly and took a moment to glance in to see his artifact bounce off the floor and tumble back into the air. Relief settled in and he turned his focus back to the injured guard.

This time, his focus turned to returning what internal organs were left to working condition, and despaired to see just how damaged they were. That… wow… ok… lot more damage than I thought! Worry had him scan the man's entire body and some calm returned as the man still had minutes left to live, as long as the shock didn't get him. Working quickly, he focused on the heart and remaining lung, before shifting to blood vessels and making sure the stomach and intestines remained sealed. Another couple pulses gave him a decent certainty the man would survive so he glanced into his space once more and saw the control artifact on the last of its tumbles. Luckily, the shape of the artifact made the buttons very unlikely to be pressed, but he still wanted to make sure the artifact landed in such a way that wouldn't leave him in perpetual pain.

He glanced back down at the man and sent mana up into the man's brain and spine, healing some rather major damage in both locations before standing with some peace that the man at least would live long enough he could come back later. He stood and walked into his space before squatting over his control artifact, watching it until it finally tumbled to a halt.

Relief settled through him and his grin returned. Right… now the slave master… although… A quick glance at his mana showed he was now at just above two percent or so and some worry gnawed at him, although he wasn't too concerned. Just getting to the slave master would resolve pretty much all of this, so Joe walked back to the door and walked out, having to duck and twist a bit as several guards were just at the entrance and fighting to enter. That was easily dealt with as he simply bent his thoughts closing the door to his magic space. It snapped shut with finality and ease, sending a wave of relief sweeping through him even as the last of the geas from the control artifact disappeared. Don't think about the thing… then I'm not bothered by it… I guess.

Joe stood outside where the door to his space had been and considered. He then pulled his backpack back out of his inventory space. Better to keep my weapons on me where I can get them easily. Joe thought as dropped his hand into the pack. He quickly touched all his weapons to suck them back into their original inventory slots he'd set aside in his inventory space. He then sucked the backpack back in to his inventory even as he willed his two tonfa out. Gotta conserve as much as I can… for now…

The relief from removing his last key weakness allowed Joe to firm his control over the mana flow coursing through him and he solidified his flow in time, further constricting the flow of mana even more. Time sped up slightly again, but still dilated enough Joe had a distinct advantage. He had time, but his MP was still low enough to be of concern. He then turned a full three sixty to take in all the guards charging towards him as he looked for the slave master. It took him a bit, but he then found the man fleeing from him, only a dozen or so steps away from where he'd finally freed himself. Right… let's finish this!

With the slight speed up of time, one of the guards that had leapt at the control artifact when it had been still in the real world slammed into the ground a good two or three meters away from where he'd first opened his space doorway. The other couple guards that had been about to leap through the doorway he'd place beside the injured guard stumbled in incredibly slow motion, crumpling to the ground as groans of pain swept up through all the guards. Curiosity over what was happening to the guards caught his attention and he looked around to see all the guards once again and he found them frozen, unmoving and twisting in agonized pain. Why? What's going on?

Right… doesn't matter… let's do Dulan now. No… He glanced at Dulan and saw the man staring at him with avid awe and adoration. Joe returned his time frame even more to real time.

"You OK Dulan?"

"Not too bad, with a stick in my gut!" Dulan tried to joke, then winced when the huff of laughter rippled the stick in his gut.

Dulan's reply still came so slowly, time dilation still quite high, but Joe quickly noticed none of the guards were moving at all, all seemingly frozen and all in pain, somehow. The slave master was rushing away from him at about half walking speed and Joe grimaced.

"Give me a second. Let me get this under control."

Dulan nodded then stopped, grimacing in pain before he spoke once again carefully, "Of course, great Eccentric."

Joe took off at a jog, flipping his status up and watched with cautious concern as the last of his MP slowly approached zero. Only a couple hundred mana left… He'd reduced his consumption to the point that it was trickling down only at a couple per second, so that gave a couple minutes, but that wasn't something he was exactly comfortable with. At least got my bow, but… better to get the slave master in hand first.

The rapid speed of his slow jog and the snail pace of the slave master's panicked flight made for a comic experience for Joe and he soon ended up at the slave master's side, a good distance across the field. So… lets…. Oh! A small group off to his side caught his attention and he saw the slave merchant bundling all his people and supplies off to the side, almost getting lost in the distant tree line. Right… can't have them taking off… But… in a moment…

Joe arrived up behind the slave master and put a foot in front of slave master's, then stifled the mana traveling to his brain to let time return for a moment before he released his mana once again and zipping forward to stand over where the slave master slammed full body into the ground. Joe then pulled out his spear and pressed it firmly down upon the back of the man's neck, just enough to prick and draw blood. Then he reduced his mana once again, returning time to essentially true and kicked the slave master in the side, not to really cause pain, although a deep part of him really wanted to, but because he wanted the man's attention.

"So. Call the guards off if you want to live."

The slave master's eyes widened with glee and he shouted out, "Slave, heel! Pain maximum!"

Joe felt a shift within his collar and an attempt to bring about something upon him. Simultaneous to that, he felt a request to allow it that was somehow also a command or a demand. An insistence fluttered at the edge of instantiation held back only because he didn't want or allow it. The response was just about as fast as the command. No! Then, when Joe felt his response settle in with the collar, he tried another. Reject all commands from this sl… no… from all others in perpetuity. Accept only my commands! That statement was immediate as well, and much more comprehensive as things shifted within whatever he was feeling was the collar. Somehow, in some way, he knew that he'd caused a change and it related to his collar.

The shouts of the moaning guards yanked his focus back to the moment, and looked over to see many of the guards were now frothing at the mouth. That made it rather obvious that the guards were not having a good time. Every one of them twisted in place, writhing in pain even as their collars splayed wild spikey fractal patterns around in massive globes around their heads and torsos. Fear shown on their faces even as their bodies remained twitching and motionless. Joe looked on with some confusion. Why are they twisting like this… doesn't look good for them… and don't think it will be if this continues.

The slave master had gotten a good distance away across the field in his wild flight, so Joe wasn't too close to any of the guards. That said, his glance down at the slave master revealed the man was banking his hope on the guards ganging up on him. Joe sighed.

"You… don't have a chance. Just as I did not! Stop whatever you are doing to them."

Joe raised his spear and slammed it down into the meaty thigh of the slave master. The slave master howled in pain and Joe ripped out his spear, not feeling too much except for a shiver of glee that exhilarated then swamped him in cold fear. Right… not… no… not doing that! Iron will clamped down on the joy he was feeling from the revenge he was enacting and he pulled the spear out without twisting it. Not revenge… just keeping him in place! The wound healed completely and Joe stabbed down again. And this time, it didn't heal completely, although a significant amount of the damage had been repaired. Hmm… probably not enough. He deserves it… Another stab down, and this time, the wound remained and Joe nodded before shifting the spear to stab down on the man's other thigh. It'll bleed… but I got enough time…

The slave master remained screeching in pain on the ground but Joe turned away, ignoring the man and looking at the slave guards still writhing in place. This can't go on… Joe reached down and grabbed the screeching slave master by the hair and pulled him up, turning his gaze towards the guards.

"So. What's happening to them? Stop it."

The slave master wailed and Joe slapped him lightly on the cheek to get his attention, "Yoh! Enough. What's happening to the guards? Stop whatever it is."

The slave master seemed to finally hear him and turned to look at the guards before a realization seemed to come to him. Joe quickly recognized the hope that flashed in the man's gaze but before he could even react, the man shouted out.

"Attack the eccentric!"

Every slave guards writhing immediately ended and all guards suddenly turned and sprinted directly towards him. Several had to pick themselves up off the ground. Every one of them showed a moment of relief when the new command came, but their expression quickly changed. All charged him without care despite the rabid fear that quickly appeared on their faces. Joe frowned then glanced down at the slave master.

"Really? Really? You're gonna go with that? Just…"

Joe sighed and turned to look at the full on sprints that glided through the air at little more than a jog. He looked back down at the slave master but decided he really didn't want to waste much more time on the man. He's disabled enough… and… if he's spouting a bunch of commands at the guards… yeah... Joe grimaced and replaced his tonfa with a dagger, the inventory sucking in the two weapons before depositing the dagger into his hand. Right… time to shut him up.

Joe settled down at the slave master's side before dropping a normal human powered punch directly into his gut. The slave master bent over at the waste, mouth opening in a wide cough before Joe sped up time just a bit and stabbed into the man's mouth to hook his tongue with the dagger, then pulled it out from the man's mouth. The slave master groaned in wild pain, and while Joe did feel some twinge of guilt, the need to shut the man up was something that drove Joe so he quelled his thoughts. Besides… can heal this later… easily.

His hand pulled out, dragging the tongue out with the dagger. He'd made sure to stab so that the he tugged the tongue outward with the flat of the blade, not wanting to slice the tongue down the middle. The man writhed in pain, cries ringing out as his tongue extended from his mouth to ease the pain as the dagger dragged it out. A second dagger slipped out of the inventory into his other hand before it sliced down and the man lost his tongue. No more commands now... He turned away, leaving the man to howl in incomprehensible syllables. Realization hit, and a thought came to him. Maybe I could have just knocked him out… Guilt twinged, only slightly, and he dismissed it. Too late now… and… I really didn't think of it. The last thought almost feeling like an attempt at convincing himself of his own innocence although he did genuinely worry that he'd picked the more violent path as a form of vengeance.

A cry from a nearby guard drew his attention from his guilt and he turned to focus on them. Right… the guards... Think… I don't have much of a choice… yeah? He took a moment to pause and realized, at least right now, he couldn't think of any other option nor did he have a lot of time to think. He was running on fumes with his MP and worried he would even have enough.

Right… so probably something similar, right? Joe sighed and took all of them in before taking a step forward. I can finally fight back! Heh! Right… Mana swelled and time slowed to a crawl and he flipped open his stats to look at his MP, even as Joe sprinted forward. OK… I can do this… but… not much after… Dust spewed up and he grimaced in annoyance as he slipped and slammed his other foot down. Mana root… dummy! Mana speared down on his newly planted foot and gave him the grip he needed upon the ground to shoot forward.

Joe moved in a straight line easily enough, but taking corners and banking curves began to press his skills pretty hard as he realized trying to immediatley develop and retract his temporary mana root structures was a struggle. Man… system takes a lot of the burden off you with this stuff!

Still, with careful preparation, Joe was able to make his movements mostly straight lines before he stopped and turned in place to sprint on again, therefore only really needing a strong and well developed root structure with his initial take off and stop, sometimes even able to use the same root to start and stop. He didn't need to worry about too much else but charge straight forward. That settled, he became a bull, sprinting across the field to strike at the various guards' legs, making sure to strike them all in the thigh and snapping their femur. The first few, he hit a bit too hard, shattering them and Joe winced, realizing the pain must have been immense. It took a bit of effort before he was able to find the balance between shattering and cracking the femur but he had all the practice he needed as often the guards health was more than enough to heal from a crack or even a decent clean break, at least once. Those he'd shattered were down for the count, their HP unable to bring about meaningful repair.

In any case, another couple passes and soon every guard was collapsed upon the ground, and Joe turned to the slave merchant already disappearing into the surrounding forests at the edge of the field. Joe glanced around once, noticing everyone on the ground, nodded to Dulan and his crew, then sprinted off into the forest.

"I'll be back!"

Joe made it a good dozen steps before groaning at his own statement but felt too embarrassed to explain. He came to the forest's edge with relative ease, now able to use the trees themselves as resistance to force changes in directions and within an eye blink, he appeared at the front of the caravan, blocking the way.

"I think I will have to insist that you return," Joe spoke coldly to the slave merchant.

The merchant pulled up with shock, along with all of his various followers. The slave guards froze, settling into combat stances and a formation while several glanced back at the merchant, obviously seeking guidance. The captain of the guards, if Joe could call one such, at least seemed much more cautious and kept his gaze on Joe while calling back to the merchant.

"Uh. Boss?"

The slave merchant stared at Joe, his eyes searching Joe's before finally nodding softly, "I think we listen to the man."

Joe kept his face as passive as possible, although he was certain there was a certain disgust that shown through, "I expect to see you back at the grounds in a few minutes. Do not disappoint me."

Joe swelled mana through his system again, the lines of mana connected to the various portions of his body swelling to brilliance only he could see. All around him slowed then froze in place even as Joe sprinted back to camp, this time with a slightly greater ease, mana roots punching into the ground and some even returning before his foot left the ground.

* * *

He sat on his cart for quite some time, worry gnawing at his stomach before another soft interruption broke him from his reverie.

"Boss? If… uh… I don't know if we want to piss off the eccentric."

He snapped to awareness and then grit his teeth. He was already into the forests, but glancing back, he was able to see the camp and every guard their subdued. And if the man's senses were as enhanced as his speed, the eccentric could easily see them through the trees.

"No. It would be very wise we do not. Let us return to the camp."

* * *

Ilyelanralo saw the eccentric disappear into the woods and began calling out wildly to his various guards, demands rising that they come take him and carry him to safety. His cries got no response as his tongue formed no meaningful words. The only replies were moans of pain as the wounded guards wallowed in their pain. Before he could even turn his cries towards some of the still healthy slaves, a gust of wind and dust swept across the ground right next to him, and Ilyelanralo turned his gaze upward into the bitter cold blank eyes of the eccentric.

"You and I have much to discuss."

* * *

"Time to talk," Joe ground out through gleefully gritted teeth.

Joe squatted next to the man and looked down at him, not saying much else than that, "Oh… yeah… no tongue…"

Joe tsked then took a look at his status again, "And me with no mana. That… sucks. Right… Well, at least you can listen. Release my friends. I know you don't need language for that!"

Joe released his infusion, in desperate need of MP and unable to regenerate any while in an infused stated. The release ratcheted his tension up, but he kept his focus on the slave master. The slave master stared up at him with bitter fear, grimacing when suddenly Joe heard cries of joy and relief for his friends behind him. Joe grit his teeth as he stared at the slave master for a bit, then stood and walked to his friends.

He arrived and looked down to see all pretty much free except Dulan and the woman beside him, and Joe look back at the slave master, turning back to him. Fury spiked within him, burning bright and uncontrollable.

"I think I was pretty clear! Release all my…"

"Great eccentric…"

Joe paused and turned to look back at Dulan who'd called out to him replying a bit shortly because of his burning rage, "Yes?"

"He… cannot release me, nor Cassia," Dulan nodded to the woman beside him, also locked in a frozen state, "We are not his slaves. We still belong to our master."

Oh… like me… I guess… "Ah. Thank you for telling me," Joe nodded then turned to the slave master, "Release your commands over them."

The slave master quickly shook his head no and the burning rage that had calmed spiked explosively again, but the slave master began mumbling poorly and pointing at his ruined tongue. Joe paused, then grimaced. Ok… maybe? Guess that makes sense. If he could just command with a thought, I'd have been in pretty big trouble.

"Well… sorry Dulan. I'll need a bit of time then. I'll need to recover my MP."

Dulan nodded, appearing very thankful, "I got a lot of time, even with this in my gut."

Joe huffed, a soft chuckle and came to settle beside him, "Well, that I at least can do something with. Give me a moment."

Joe glanced at his MP and saw that it had recovered a good couple hundred MP, enough to atleast deal with blood loss, so he reached out and readied to grab the stake.

"Sorry."

Dulan grimaced, "Do it!"

Joe ripped it from the man's belly and Dulan grunted, the groaned even louder as the grunt tightened his core and heightened the pain. Joe immediately sent mana swirling into the man's wounds, his healing construct forming above the man over and over again as the man slithered in. Focusing on blood and blood vessels, Joe lost very little MP as the few blood vessels that had been hit healed rather quickly and easily. Closing the intestines took a bit more work, but they also close and then he turned to making sure the gut was cleansed from any of the leakage the pierced intestines had released. The last of his MP proved inadequate to the final task of closing the skin, but at least he closed the one on his back and greatly reduced the one on his abdomen, turning it into a lightly weeping wound.

"Ran out of MP. Gonna need a bit more time… but I think this will hold you over. I'll try to get more MP then I can finish this off."

Dulan shook his head, "I already feel a lot better… but… what about the kids? I hope… they are still well?"

Joe froze, eyes widening, "Oh! Crap! Uh… yeah!"