There’s significant resistance to complete my Step and I need to bring both my Mana and Dimensional Affinities both to bear behind the power of my Skill to stabilize the area around where I’m emerging and exert my Domain, where I am in control of everything within a short distance from me. It takes less than a second of struggle and then I emerge on the other side of the Step, and I don’t give any time to thinking about where I’ve been or what state of consciousness I had during the in-between time.

  I immediately recognize the feeling when I appear in the middle of a massive containment unit. Dark Mana is running wild, concentrated down to a blue color so dark it’s only a shade from black. Around the central core, Dark Mana flares out and swirls amongst highly concentrated Mana and it’s clear the whole thing is unstable. My Affinities, Class, and the raging torrent of Dark Mana energy I have access to respond to the environment and instead of being overwhelmed, I channel the excess through me. Nothing else is able to survive this and I’m alone in the enormous containment chamber.

  Last time I was in this situation my body was vibrating and my very being was unable to cope with the high concentration of Mana, but I find today I can meet it on equal terms. It’s clear the instability of what’s here needs urgent action or it’s going to cause a chain reaction of catastrophic proportions. Instead of searing my soul, this torrent of Mana makes me feel like I’ve found a dangerous but familiar cousin to interact with. I feel the Mana flow within me, raging and straining, but my body is Unbreakable and my Skills and Class harness it rather than crumble before it.

  The air is thick - oppressive, ionized, and laced with a particular scent I can’t describe, but it resonates with me on a deep level. All around in the walls of the massive spherical room is a combination of powerful technology and runic magic uniting to control something which is now in danger of becoming uncontrollable. Obsidian colored walls inscribed with intricate runes and crystalline matrices vibrate dangerously with each surge of Dark Mana that threatens to escape. Unlike in Cappadocia, this time I’ve come straight to the heart of it and my body pulses in resonance with the Dark Mana contained here.

  I trigger Omnipresent and use the nearly limitless potential energy of the Dark Mana here for my own purposes, diverting it to my cause to fuel the Know Thy Enemy Skill aspect of Omnipresent to give me a full picture of who is responsible for putting Earth in danger again. My mind’s eye stretches out to the Universe and dozens, maybe a hundred, tendrils connect to this place. I lock them in with my Skill and return my attention to the imminent danger.

  Like last time, a notification opens automatically, bypassing all the filters and controls I have set up in my SMI. Unlike last time where everything was unstable, this time the notification is clear and unwavering as it appears in front of me.

  !! Warning !! Uncontrolled Dark Mana detected!! Evacuate immediately!!

  !! Planetary level destructive forces are imminent !!

  Just to make sure I’m not being thrown off by the changes I’ve experienced since the last time I was in this situation, I check the AMLs.

  Current Ambient Mana Level (AML): 460

  Only barely below what it was in Cappadocia and plenty high enough to incinerate anyone foolish enough to be here, unless you have healing that scales with AMLs. I scan for a safe place to vent the Dark Mana like last time while dealing with the feeling of being hopped up on a hundred coffees. Like before, there are a couple of humans on space ships that I could use to open a Portal so that I can vent the Dark Mana out into the void of space, but I scan the strongest connections to this place and snarl as I see one of them is MIRI, the Mana Interface Research Institute that tried to take me against my will after my SMI Evolved. It’s not nearly as significant as the strongest connection though, and the main culprit is the same one I saw when I explored the facility in Cappadocia, Taller’ovst Mana Research. Through Omnipresent I track the connections back to the places and people who are related to what’s happening here.

  I need to send a message.

  The first part of my Portal needs to go close to the core of the Dark Mana that’s been collected and held, deep inside the massive sphere. Dimensional space bucks and twists and the ripples make it very difficult to place my Portal, but my Affinity, Skills, and will are too strong and I force it with a mental shove. A surge of anger hits me and I almost open the other end directly into the MIRI or Taller’ovst Mana Research headquarters to flood them with an uncontrollable chain reaction. I don’t really know what’s at either of those facilities, though - so instead I make a connection to two points, one high above the Taller’ovst Mana Research headquarters in planetary orbit facing away from the surface and one above the MIRI headquarters with the same setup and then I manifest my Portals, forcing all three openings as wide as they can go. Holding this three way Portal open in these conditions is a huge strain, but I use the Dark Mana here to feed my Skill and snap it into place.

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  In the middle of a Mana storm within the containment unit, I’m buffeted on all sides but hold firm and follow the flow of Mana with my Affinity as it’s all vented out to blast out above both headquarters without bathing them directly in Dark Mana. Instead, I flood both the planets with a massive increase in dangerous ambient Mana that causes powerful explosions and ripples in space.

  It’s like I’m doing a hundred workouts a second and recovering from them all just as fast for minutes on end, until finally the unstable concentrated Dark Mana is gone and I close the Portal. Everything around me is still soaked with Dark Mana and the warning lights pulse in the dark. As I look around, skin tingling, I zoom in with my Perception and see that many of the crystal lattices and runes have hairline fractures. A close thing, but still some time left before it truly was at the point of rupture.

  I Step up to the surface and blink in shock as Jeff and Logan both reel back away from me, and I realize I’m radiating powerful Mana waves as my body stabilizes with an even stronger connection to Dark Mana. I flex my Mana Affinity and pull it in, condensing it within me. I can sense my connection to Dark Mana has maybe increased by 50% and I have everything fully under control as Logan and Jeff recover, turning back to me and lowering their arms.

  “You’re fine?” asks Logan. “We could tell something happened; everything feels different. Almost like a buzzing in the back of my mind suddenly went silent.”

  “Yeah, no problem,” I assure him, and take a deep breath.

  People start to emerge and approach us, like small creatures appearing after a dangerous predator has left the area. Sounds of life slowly build from a subdued silence as if we’ve opened a door out to a backyard BBQ and I wonder if deep down with our Mana interfaces, does everyone have a bit of a Mana Affinity, or some kind of sense for what’s going on? Maybe even just at an unconscious level. We’re well known in Egypt from our time fighting Oblivion Shroud here and I can already see people pointing and shouting my name and Jeff’s.

  “Was it like last time?” Jeff asks, before we get swamped. People are being polite to start but I can see plenty of them want to come up and chat, or say thanks, or just hang out with us. “I was racking my brains to think of ways we could get down there to save your ass if it was anything like what we went through.”

  “Like last time, only this time I managed to skip all the parts we encountered.”

  “Last time you didn’t come through so good, Uncle Bronwic. You seem ok this time? You ok?” asks Logan as he peers around. I can see why he’sd be concerned since he had a front row seat to the issues I was recovering from. I nod to him and give him a grin. Things are different. Logan is looking a bit wary of all the activity heading our way.

  “Is this going to keep happening?” he asks. It’s a good question and I Step us back to Calgary, outside the Cadimus house. I’d love to stick around in Egypt, but I’m worried about the same thing. It’s the middle of the night and cold, maybe thirty or fourty below, but we ignore it.

  “I’m not sure if it’s happening in other places or not, but I’m going to find out. While I was down there I made sure to trace back to the people involved in the threat before I got rid of it. I’ve sent them a signal, and now it’s time to pay them a visit to find out what’s going on.”

  “Want some company?” asks Jeff.

  “Always, mate. As usual though, I’m not sure what I’m stepping into,” I reply, and it’s true. I do wish that I didn’t spend so much time diving off into things alone, but I don’t know what kind of situation will eventuate. Despite everything I don’t feel powerful enough to guarantee I can intercede to protect anyone with me. Jeff and Logan would be two of the hardest humans to kill or capture, but they’re still a long way from where I’m at if I’m going all out, especially with Runic Recall up my sleeve as an insurance policy and my ability to move around.

  “Is there ever going to be a time you’ll be happy for me to come along, Unc? I mean, I know you tend to run in high Level circles, but how many people are really able to take me or Jeff out at this point?” asks Logan. I can see he’s genuinely asking the question and I remind myself to look past his age and relationship to me and through to his Level.

  “How on Earth are the two of you the same Level?” I ask. I mean, I knew it, but it hasn’t really clicked in the way it should. It’s so easy to get stuck in a mindset with old assumptions when things are changing fast.

  “Hey - I did it the hard way,” Jeff reminds me with a grin, and gives Logan a friendly elbow. He’s right, but all that means is that Logan’s going to leave him far behind if he keeps on going like he has been. I consider.

  “As long as you have something that enables you to teleport to safety if you get into trouble and I’m not around or distracted, I’m good with it. It’ll have to be something powerful; we don’t want it getting blocked by a spell, Skill, or technology. If you can’t afford it, I’ll try to find something.”

  “Way ahead of you, Unc. I bought just the thing with all the Loot I’ve been picking up. It’s anchored to the MIS Hub in Calgary,” says Logan, and he flicks me a notification.

  Runic Anchor Stone

  Power: Tier IV Legendary equivalent

  Effect: Instantly teleports the User to a predetermined anchor point

  Additional effect: automatically alters teleportation method to bypass blocks

  Uses: 1 recharge per 1000 AML hours (hours x AMLs)

  I nod at him in appreciation. It’s not as powerful as Omnipresent or Dimensional Step, but what is?

  “I’m sorted too, dude. We’ve been way too many places together for me to not have a guaranteed escape clause. Non-negotiable!” exclaims Jeff in agreement with a wide flash of his bright white teeth.

  “Ok,” I relent, happy about the situation. “You’ve convinced me and I’ll be happy to have you along. Let’s go see what kind of fuckers are putting our planet in danger.”