Delilah considered it for a moment. "Lower the cap, and change the conditions of the drain." she told me.
"How so?" I asked.
"If you want to remain generous, cut the cap in half, if you want to be close to the going rate then set it at a quarter of what it is. As for the drain, leave it as is, but set the condition that the drain only works when your mana pool is full. The remainder for the month, if there is any, can be paid in a lump sum, or deferred, depending on the situation." she told me. "Same failure conditions though, those are pretty standard."
I considered it for a moment. "How much is the current cap compared to my mana pool?" I asked.
Delilah looked away for a moment concentrating on something else. Then she whistled. "That explains that." she muttered before looking back at me. "The full amount she is set at is twice your mana pool a month, which you can completely regenerate in a day.
"How many elements are there that have elementals I could summon?" I asked.
"Six." Delilah replied, "Though there are sub elements made up of multiple elements, they are a separate type of summons and do not originate from an elemental plane like we do.
I nodded. "Fine, for now we set the cap at half what it is, and the drain to an eighth of my mana absorption when my mana pool is full, any remainder can be paid in a lump sum at the end of the month or deferred into the next month's drain total if things calm down." I said looking at Enya. That meant if I didn't use my mana much I could have her paid off for the month in eight days Which would give me plenty of wiggle room.
She frowned but nodded. I felt a change in the bond between us.
I gave Enya a smile which she returned, then I looked at Delilah. "Would those terms satisfy you?" I asked.
"Of course, they are still very generous to us." Delilah said. With her agreeal the bond between us formed binding us together with those terms. I felt my mana drain a bit, but it didn't feel like much was used. As soon as it did Delilah gasped then seemed to shiver. "Wow, that is wow." she muttered in an ecstasy filled voice which had a very physical effect on me.
"Great, now that that is all settled, what the hell is going on?" Karen asked. She had remained fairly quiet before, but now that we had come to an agreement she was impatient to know what was going on.
"The mana gates to your world are opening. Currently the mana pulse that enables the flow of mana between worlds is battering down those gates. When the pulse happens they open temporarily to allow mana through. That mana will raise the ambient mana level in your world. Once the ambient mana level reaches saturation the gates will open permanently." Delilah told us. "While that happens there will be a lot of changes to your world. Awakenings, twisted, mutations, and in most cases the crumbling of whatever governments you have." she told us calmly.
Heather sobbed and clutched at Bryan.
"Master, you should sleep with her. It should cause her to awaken." Delilah told us as she gazed at Heather sympathetically.
It took me a moment to register what Delilah told me. I unconsciously looked over at the similarly startled raven haired beauty before shaking my head "Uh, sorry can't do that." I said embarrassed. "She is my best friend's girl. He seemed to have awakened, so maybe when we meet up with him, he can do it."
"Oh, sorry master, I thought the child was yours." Delilah told me.
Megan and Karen snickered as I rolled my eyes. That also seemed to break Heather out of whatever funk she was in as she laughed while shaking her head. "Going to have to stop hanging out with you Daryl, can't have Bryan getting confused as he grows up."
I snorted and ignored her.
"So we will be getting these waves daily until the mana level is enough that those gate thingies open permanently?" Megan asked.
"No not daily, it should only be once a week." Delilah told us.
We were all silent as Megan, Karen, and I shared a look.
"What?" Delilah asked worriedly.
"It is the second day as far as I know, we have had one wave each day so far." I explained.
Delilah frowned in thought for a moment then her eyes widened in shock. "Your world must be a hub!" she gasped.
"A hub?" I asked.
Before Delilah could answer there was a loud thump from the apartment above us. Causing everyone to look at the ceiling.
I groaned. As the apartments were close to the college a lot of college students used them. Our upstairs neighbors were a couple that seemed to enjoy each other's company, a lot, loudly.
Another thump came a second later. With a sigh I wondered if we should just go outside for a couple minutes, he never seemed to last for more than a couple minutes.
Then there was a third thump which convinced me to leave, until it was followed by a scream. It was a loud fearful scream that didn't belong to any kind of love making I knew of.
I stared up at the ceiling worriedly.
"It's a twisted!" Delilah exclaimed.
I ran for the door, threw it open then headed for the stairs. I didn't like to listen to them go at it, but that didn't mean they deserved to be ripped apart by one of those monsters. I realized as I made the turn halfway up the stairs that Enya and Delilah were with me flying by my shoulders as I rushed up the stairs.
Another moment and I reached the landing. I rushed down the hall to the door of the apartment over mine. Now that I was on the same floor I could hear a lot more coming from the apartment. There was a weak whimper then a loud angry roar from the inhuman twisted.
I had no idea how it had gotten into the apartment, nor what the hell I was going to do, but I couldn't just ignore it. I did know I had power, even if I hadn't used it very much. I lifted a foot then kicked the door hard. With my twice improved body the door broke under my assault, part of the door swung in while the other part flew into the apartment hitting the side of an eight foot tall red being that looked vaguely human in form. It was incredibly muscular with wide shoulders. Seeing them on the news had not prepared me for seeing one in person.
At the monster's feet I could see the girlfriend curled up in a ball whimpering in pain. I wasn't sure what the monster was about to do to her as it towered over her, but I had caught its attention. Its full attention. It turned to face me and roared angrily. Damn it was even uglier in person. It smelled too, like blood and rot. At least I hoped it was the monster.
It roared at me again, but before it could take a step toward me the shadows of the room flowed towards the monster, they covered the woman while wrapping around the monster's feet holding it in place. Then a spear of fire flew past me to hit the monster in the chest causing it to stumble back.
I worried the monster was going to fall on the woman. It woke me from the daze I had found myself in when I was faced with a twisted in person. I didn't have time to curse myself, instead I ran in and threw a haymaker at the monster's gut. I used my right arm and put all of my strength into it. I wasn't sure if it would do much, but I had two wisps in my physical ability so I hoped it would make some difference.
It did. My fist hurt like hell as I felt some bones snapped as it connected with the monster's iron like body. The monster grunted in pain while it stumbled back a bit from the force of my blow ripping up the shadows that had bound its feet.
I glanced down in horror as I realized I had only made it worse, but the girl was gone. I didn't know how but I didn't have time to figure it out.
My hand felt like it was a mess, but the monster was hardly harmed. Instead I focused on the only other thing I could think of, shadow and fire.
I wasn't thinking. The monster hadn't stumbled back far and was quickly recovering, another second, maybe less and it would be able to take a swing at me. I could retreat, but I already knew I wouldn't be fast enough to get away. So I drew on the elements that were available to me. I wasn't thinking, but I knew I intended to use spears like Enya had so that was the image I had in my mind when I called on the elemental energy. When I threw it forward the monster had recovered its balance and looked even angrier than before, if that was even possible. What hit the monster wasn't a pair of spears, one fire, one shadow. It was a single spear of black fire. That spear was twice the size of the one Enya used and it pierced into the monster like it was made of butter, then it set the monster aflame.
I stared in horror as the black flames spread over the monster like it was covered in gasoline. It roared out in pain, fear, and anger, but the fire burned hot and fast, and before it could even finish crying out it collapsed into a heap on the ground which burned down into a pile of ash before I could fully understand what happened.
A pained whimper drew my attention from the pile of warm ashes. Turning my head I saw the woman who had been under the monster's feet. She was laying by the door, her arm was obviously broken, and she looked pretty banged up. For a moment panic set in again but Delilah was there immediately.
"She is fine Master, but she needs medical attention." she told me calmly, reassuringly.
I stared at her for a moment then nodded stupidly. Thankfully Megan and Karen ran up to the door at the moment. Karen took everything in with just a glance then moved to the girl's side examining her condition while Megan rushed to my side and wrapped me in a hug. I melted into her embrace as the adrenaline left me. Then I winced as I was reminded of my hand. I lifted it so I could see the damage only to be surprised that it didn't look as bad as it had felt. My knuckles were bloody, but nothing looked broken.