I didn't understand what she meant, but as I watched Mike's face darken further until it matched a familiar shade. I didn't know what was going on but I knew it had to be stopped so I rushed forward. With Mike's focus on Micheal he didn't notice my approach until I was nearly on top of him. When he did he turned to face me, faster than I thought possible for a man his size. His arm flying out to hit me.
I didn't expect the blow and took it in the chest. It hurt like hell and all the air was forced out of my lungs. I swore I heard and felt some of my ribs crack under the blow. I staggered back away from Mike then fell down on my ass as I struggled to breath.
Micheal rushed forward while Mike was distracted by me. Mike tried to turn back to face Micheal but he was faster than I was and had more experience in a fight. Micheal stepped around Mike dodging the second strike Mike threw out as he turned to face Michael. Then Micheal struck landing a heavy jab on Mike's chin.
Mike stumbled back a bit from the pain or shock, I wasn't sure which, but Micheal didn't let up and followed up with a cross to his temple.
Mike's head twisted under the blow then he crumpled to the floor. For a moment I worried that Micheal had killed him. Then as I was finally able to draw a breath of my own I noticed that Mike was still breathing. I was relieved, though that only lasted for a moment.
Whatever was going on hadn't stopped. As I watched with mounting horror Mike started to grow in size, lose his gut, sprout muscles, and his face began to transform.
"What's going on?" I asked looking over to Delilah.
"I don't know!" Micheal replied fearfully as he took a step back from Mike. He had no idea I wasn't talking to him.
"No, no, no, no." Rosa started to cry as she backed away from her husband.
"He's becoming a twisted." Delilah replied.
I didn't like the sound of that. Or what it implied. "We have to stop it!" I told her trying to get back on my feet. I had no idea how I would do that, but I didn't want Mike to turn into a monster.
"We can't." Delilah told me. "Once the transformation has started it can't be stopped."
I ignored her as I pushed myself up onto my hands and knees and crawled over to Mike. I didn't want to believe her, I had saved that girl while she was on the brink of death, so why couldn't I save Mike.
"Daryl!" Micheal shouted in warning but I ignored him too.
Reaching Mike's side I reached out to him touching his skin. I wasn't sure if awakening Mike would help, but I felt like I should try. When I did it to save the girl, Delilah had told me I had to kiss her, but also said I just needed to have physical contact with her. I hoped that was all I needed to do to save Mike.
With my hand on his neck I tried to push my energy into Mike like I had the girl.
Immediately there was a reaction, just not the one I expected. My power flowed into Mike, but only for a moment. As if a damn had collapsed magic flowed out of Mike and into me. It was almost overwhelming, the mana burned its way into me like lava was flowing through my veins. It was a feeling I had grown very familiar with. I grit my teeth to stop from screaming and pulled the energy into me. I didn't need to look into my mana core to know that my mana heart and abilities had gone into overdrive to absorb the energy. Which was good, there was a lot of energy flowing out of him and I already knew what it felt like when my mana core filled up too much. The pain I was feeling from the mana pouring into me couldn't compare to the pain I had felt as I awakened and I didn't want to experience that again. As I pulled the energy into me I worried about it, but I didn't let it stop me.
Finally after what seemed like forever the flow of energy slowed then stopped. I sat back breathing a sigh of relief. The pain had been intense, but I had been able to absorb all of it without harming myself.
"That's incredible master." Delilah told me as she floated by my head.
"It worked?" I asked hopefully.
"No." Delilah replied. "You're just delaying it."
I turned to stare at her then looked back to Mike. While I wanted to deny what she had said, I couldn't. Mike was still changing despite what I had done. It was just slower than before.
I frowned then put my hand back on his neck and pushed energy into him.
"Stop master!" Delilah yelled at me. "That will just speed it back up!"
I stopped giving him energy and stared at Mike, my mind racing. As I watched his teeth started to change shape becoming sharper.
I reached out with my power again.
"Master!" Delilah called out again sounding desperate.
I ignored her. Instead of pushing energy into him, I decided to pull. Before I had only been trying to assist the energy that was flowing into me. Now I wanted to deliberately pull the mana out of him. While I didn't know what was causing the transformation, I knew it needed energy to do so. If I could pull most of the mana out of him then he should stop transforming.
As I tried to pull the mana from him I could feel it resisting me. Obviously what I was trying to get from him wasn't excess, but something his body needed. That implied that what I was doing was something bad, but it was the only thing I could think to do.
Eventually the force that was trying to hold onto the mana gave way and more mana began to pour into me. This time I could feel a difference in the mana. Two types of mana were pouring into me. One felt like the lava I had been dealing with since I awakened, the other was warm and comforting.
"Master don't." Delilah sobbed.
I shifted so I could put my other arm on Mike placing it just above the collar of his shirt then pushed that second energy back into him. If I hadn't heard the story about the life eaters from Enya and Delilah I wouldn't have understood what the second energy was, or the danger involved with it. While I wanted the mana that was transforming Mike, I didn't want the life mana that kept him alive.
I don't know how long I stayed like that but slowly, oh so slowly Mike began to change back. He shrunk in size, the muscles disappeared, his facial features reverted back to normal. His oversized gut didn't grow back, which kind of irritated me a bit, but it was better than letting him become a monster. Then finally there was only one type of mana flowing out of Mike. I pushed it back into him then stopped drawing the mana out of him.
I took a deep breath then looked to Delilah with a smile on my face. She didn't return it. Instead the shadow fairy just shook her head. "He isn't cured master." she told me. "The infection is in his mana heart. Drawing out the infected mana isn't enough, he will gather more which his mana heart will infect. Then the transformation process will start all over again.
I stared at her stupidly for a few moments then looked back down at Mike. Was there really no way to save him?
My mind raced as I tried to think of some way I could save him. I didn't doubt Delilah, but I didn't believe it was impossible, just that she didn't know how it could be done.
After a few moments I looked back down at Mike. Delilah had said that the infection or whatever it was, was in his mana heart. Was there a way for me to see into his mana core so I could see his mana heart?
I tried to push my energy into Mike again, but this time I concentrated on the idea of following the mana into his mana core so I could see inside. While the mana flowed out of me and into Mike, nothing else happened.
"Daryl?" Micheal called out but I ignored him as I closed my eyes and looked into my own mana core. There might be a way for me to look into his mana heart without an ability, but I didn't think I had the time to experiment with it. Instead I dragged five wisps out of my mana heart and pushed them together while thinking of a way to heal Mike. I knew I couldn't get healing, I had tried already, but I hoped that this would be different.
The wisps started to circle each other but flew apart at the last moment. I wasn't sure if that meant there was an ability and I just wasn't compatible with it, or there was no such ability. Not deterred I drew five wisps out again then pushed them together with the intent to see into Mike's mana core.
The five wisps started to circle each other then just as it looked like they were about to combine I was physically yanked backwards.
I opened my eyes to see that Mike had started to transform again, worse he wasn't unconscious anymore. His eyes had already turned black and regarded me and the others with me as enemies. The transformation wasn't complete so I hoped I could drain the mana from him again then check to see if the ability formed. I was sure that once I could see his mana heart I could purge whatever infection Delilah had told me about.
"Can you save him?" Micheal asked from behind me.
"I think so, I still have something I can try." I replied. Then I closed my eyes so I could take a quick peek into my mana core. I knew it wasn't the best timing, but I needed to know. I hadn't been paying attention earlier, but as I looked to see if a new ability had formed I could see that my other abilities had grown but I didn't look to see which ones or how much. I just checked each ability hoping to see a new one. There was one. It had the image of three eyes, two looked just like my own dark blue eyes, while the third was located where my forehead would be, like the other eyes it was dark blue, but it also glowed.
I withdrew my mind immediately, now wasn't the time for a download, but I was hopeful.