"To think I would meet him in this place," Mane thought bitterly as the last pangs of fire were absorbed into his body. He gazed around him and was amazed by what he saw. With his True Eyes still opened, he saw things very differently from what normally met the eye. He could see everything on a deeper level. He looked at Dan and was surprised by what he saw. He saw through his guardian's clothes, past the toned abs and masterfully sculpted physique, and into his internal system. He saw 14 stars in Dan's body; some of which were lit up, and some of which were dim. Mane noticed that although the stars weren't the same size, they each had their uniqueness.
"There are two kinds: The red stars and the white stars; although it seems that the red stars are more robust and stronger than the white stars. There are seven of each type, but with varying sizes. Dan has only lighted the white stars; the red ones, not so much. Each lit star contains some sort of energy. Of the seven white stars, six have been lit up, but the sixth one seems to have a problem."
Mane scrutinized the new information his eyes were feeding him speedily. The white stars were connected to each other, and the red stars were also connected to each other. But the two types weren't connected at all. The energy Mane perceived from the white stars, the energy that was stored in them, was Edict. Mane reckoned that the red stars were the storage units for Chaos. And that information was a bit confusing because from what he knew, Chaos was so potent that it couldn't be handled by the human body. Even he, a godling, wasn't able to store Chaos in his body. He had to, just like anyone else baptized by this very picky energy, communicate with Chaos through Lease. And that was what made him a Spiritualist. So if his conjecture was right, then it meant that Dan had the ability to store Chaos within his body!
That was a startling discovery. Unless there was another primordial energy source that Mane didn't know of, this meant that he had to change his viewpoint on things and approach everything from a different perspective.
As for the sixth and second smallest white star, Mane realised that there was a problem with it. As mentioned earlier, the white stars were connected, and the red stars were also connected, but the two types didn't share any relationship with one another. The largest white star contained the most energy, but the Edict that it stored wasn't as pure as that of the second largest white star. And it wasn't an anomaly, for the smaller white stars seemed to store purer Edict than their larger counterparts. In Dan's body, 6 of the white stars were lit, but the seventh and smallest star remained dim. However, the strange thing was that after the fourth white star, Mane could notice a tiny little anomaly. Even with the power of True Eyes, Mane had to squint to notice this anomaly. The issue started with the connection to the 5th white star. The string that connected the 4th white star to the 5th white star was slightly strained. The tear was so slight that it was almost impossible to see. But when it came to the 6th white star, Mane could see clear as day what the issue was.
"Unlike with the string connecting the 4th white star to the 5th, the string connecting the 5th white star to the 6th is completely torn"
That was the problem. Although the 6th star was fully lit, it had no connection to the 5th star since its string was torn.
"It seems unnatural" Mane thought as he analysed what he was seeing.
This was the first time he was seeing the internal energy system of another person, but he reckoned that the string connecting the stars weren't supposed to tear.
"If only I could see his organs and vessels," Mane thought. If he could see Dan's internal organs and blood vessels, he would be able to see if there was a connection between the internal energy system and the internal organs of the human body.
"Wait what?" Mane was stunned when his vision became blurry. When his eyes regained focus Dan's internal energy system map wasn't what he saw. This time he could actually see Dan's organs and blood vessels. He could even make out the nerve cells when he squinted his eyes.
"It would take some time to get used to them," Mane said to himself and tried willing his True Eyes to disappear as he closed his eyes. Upon opening his eyes he was relieved to find out that everything looked normal again. Dan looked like Dan, not a star map and Hildegarde who was flying above him descended and landed gracefully onto his shoulder.
"How did you do that?" Hildegarde wondered. It looked like the time Mane had spent studying Dan's internal energy system had been pretty long, but it was actually less than a second! And the only reason for this was the True Eyes. True Eyes were eyes that could manipulate time, and since they made an appearance, time had been slowed down for Mane to carefully analyse what he saw. Mane didn't will it to, but it was a subconscious thought, and one to which it obliged.
"I'd tell you later," Mane assured her as he shook off the headache that assaulted him once he stopped using his True Eyes.
"It is tiring," Mane understood that the reason he was experiencing the headache was because he had activated the True Eyes. Maybe when he got used to it, it wouldn't be this difficult to use.
"How did he do that?" Dan wondered, as he finally regained his calm and closed his opened mouth. However, he would have to wait for answers. Maybe he would get them when they leave this place. Right now, there was still some business to attend to.
"Thank you," Mane turned to face the Two-Tailed Gunner Dog and stated. If it wasn't for this dog, he wouldn't have experienced all that he had gone through right now. Not only had his True Eyes awakened, he could feel the presence of Edict again. And for that he was very grateful.
"You can go," Mane smiled at the dog that was backing away and said. His blue eyes shone faintly and produced a golden light, and the clouded eyes of the Two-Tailed Gunner Dog regained their clarity as the control that the banshees had over it was destroyed. Then it quickly sped off into the distance, not planning on staying here for even another second.
*Scree*
The banshee leader screamed at the retreating beast in fear, but it didn't return. It wasn't even fazed in the slightest. In only a few breaths, it had run away with such speed that its figure was indiscernible from where they were standing.
Seeing that their helper was gone, the banshees tried to get away.
"No you don't," Mane smiled coldly as his figure disappeared.
"Fast. Very Fast." Dan observed. Mane's speed was several times greater than before, much to Dan's amazement. The teen quickly caught up with one of the banshees and slapped it nonchalantly, as though he was dealing with a fly.
*Boom*
The seemingly insignificant slap had very significant consequences. The escaping banshee was shattered into a mess of blood and bones, and was very unrecognizable as a corpse. Mane didn't even bother to stop and admire his work. He pounced on the others, and in only a few breaths he had dealt with all of them except one – the leader.
The formerly cocky leader was now shaking in fear. It didn't even attempt to flee anymore, sending pleading gazes at Mane and making subdued roars.
"I promised myself when I saw your cocky grin that I would definitely kill you if I survived," Mane shook his head and ignored its pleading. Then he started a slow march towards the last survivor of the banshee squad.
*Roar*
The banshee roared in rage seeing Mane wasn't going to let it go and mustered its courage to attack first.
"Smart," Mane praised as he sidestepped and avoided the punch of the banshee. Its movements were awkward and sluggish, proving that it really wasn't used to close combat; and Mane easily avoided the blow.
"But useless," Mane murmured and stamped down hard on the feet of the banshee.
*Crack*
*Roar*
The banshee roared in pain as Mane's stomp shattered its tarsals and metatarsals (bones of the foot). It swung its arms wildly at Mane in an attempt to get away. Mane slapped both of its arms with blinding speed and piled on its misery when both arms snapped from the power of the slaps as well.
*Roar*
The banshee could only watch helplessly as Mane slapped towards its head. Mane's left leg which had delivered the stamp was still on the banshee's feet to keep it in place. The slap reached the banshee in a fraction of a second, and its head was forcefully torn off.
Mane then turned to Dan and said, pleased with his harvest:
"Now that was a hunt."