Jay tightened his grip on the intruder's arms as he purposefully let his mana run wild to cause an explosion, so that even if the intruder doesn't take a scratch, the Sentinels and the more powerful Battlemages stationed inside the base will hopefully be alerted. He already knew from the start that he would lose this fight, he just didn't want to lose his dignity in running away from something.
Their difference in power and ability was too wide, as Jay had surmised when they had first clashed and when he suspiciously failed to see a lick of mana, that the intruder could have killed him instantly without even having to lift a finger.
He didn't know how this intruder managed to enter the headquarters without alerting the resident Battlemages, but he'd be damned if he let the enemy walk out as if nothing happened.
Just before his mana fully went out of control, the intruder headbutted Jay, instantly knocking him out and effectively ending his mana's chaotic state.
The mysterious intruder stopped changing his appearance and settled himself as a handsome gray-haired man in his late twenties wearing a gray cloak over a black-colored trench coat that reached his knee. His gray eyes scanned the unconscious and bleeding appearance of Jay and smiled in amusement.
"You'll do," he chuckled as he wrenched his sword free from Jay's chest and set him down against the wall. The man then stabbed his sword into the floor and nicked his forefinger on the blade.
The room suddenly lit up as a golden drop of blood spilled out of the wound. The ground seemed to shake and the walls cracked from the sheer power leaking from the drop of blood. It's presence made everything else look so insignificant before it that even the space around it began to warp and bend.
The intruder ran his finger through Jay's rapidly bleeding wound on chest and mixed the golden drop of blood with Jay's blood. The blood glowed one last time while the intense pressure around the room slowly faded away before disappearing as it merged with Jay's blood, causing the intruder to let out a satisfied smile.
"They'd have sensed that and should be here right about... now." the mysterious man talked to himself as he grabbed his sword and wiped the blood off it onto Jay's uniform.
"Who are you?!" a powerful and authoritative voice boomed from the other side of the room.
The mysterious man had already resumed rapidly changing his clothes and appearance every second as he turned to them. He gave them a glance and snorted in amusement. A man wearing red armor and wielding a red-colored glaive stared at him menacingly. Four other people stood behind him holding swords coated by their thick mana while wearing red practical mage uniforms. The five newcomers sized him up cautiously while giving him hostile looks.
The mysterious intruder shrugged as he took a step and suddenly vanished from the room, as if he was never there in the first place. The five people cautiously scanned around but couldn't find a single trace of the intruder's presence.
The door was suddenly kicked open, followed by a squad of Sentinels armed with rifles rushing inside. They saluted in acknowledgement at the man wearing red armor before proceeding to secure the room.
The man with red armor signaled to a brown-haired battlemage beside him, who nodded in return and went to check on Jay's situation.
"Full Restore." She knelt beside him and gently laid a hand on Jay's chest, who suddenly began glowing brightly. After a while, she pulled her hand back and Jay also stopped glowing.
Jay suddenly showed no trace of the grievous wound he suffered earlier, as if he was never injured in the first place. Even the blood he spilled on the floor and the ones that soaked into his red uniform disappeared. The internal injuries he suffered were also healed, bringing him back to top shape in a blink of an eye.
The battlemage sighed in relief and looked at their leader, who was the man with the red armor.
"He's still unconscious, but he's out of danger now," she reported as she stood up. "Had we come later..." she let her voice trail off as she walked away to investigate the room.
"Seriously, this kid. What kind of monster did you run into?" the man wearing red armor muttered as he looked at Jay's figure slumped against the wall. "You two," he gestured at two Sentinels, "get him to the infirmary."
"Someone clean up the mess here! Not a single word about this is to reach Commander Myse!" he ordered.
"We don't want another firestorm on our hands. We all know how that went last time," he added, getting a few laughs and chuckles in reply.
"Yes sir!" everyone in the room chorused in reply.
"Let's get this over quickly."
*-*-*
"Bloody hell." Jay groaned as he stared at the white ceiling illuminated by the halogen lights. He began shifting around the bed, trying to find a comfortable position in order to ease the pain that was burning inside him.
His chest felt like it was a frozen wasteland, while the place where the intruder punched him felt like an inferno. To top it off, his meridians were unstable and his mana circuits were a mess.
He sat up despite the pain, feeling as if gravity was 10 heavier as it tried to pull him back into the bed. He was now dressed in white pajama-like clothes instead of his uniform, his weapons were nowhere to be found, and his connection to mana seemed so distant, he had never felt so naked in his entire life.
Ignoring his body's protests, Jay got out of the bed and walked with unsteady steps towards the window. He pushed aside the navy blue curtains and saw the night sky through the glass.
Only two moons hung in the night sky instead of three. One moon was in crescent form, illuminating the night sky with an unworldy blue glow, while the other moon was in full form, giving the world a small amount of borrowed light in the absence of the morning sun.
The sound of the air conditioner provided Jay company as he gazed into the night sky. The streets were empty and only the street lights stood faithfully as they illuminated what the light from the moons couldn't.
"Beautiful isn't it?" he heard a voice remark from behind him. Jay immediately whipped around to stare at his uninvited guest.
A golden-haired woman wearing a female military officer's uniform during the Great War Era sat at the chair beside his bed.
Her sapphire-blue eyes stared at him with indifference, similar to how a cat would stare at its owner, while she slowly placed a leg over the other.
Jay immediately recognized her as the intruder from earlier, or yesterday, or whenever the hell he nearly died. His instincts were telling him to run as he recognized her presence, or rather, the familiar absence of one.
"What do you want?" Jay asked nervously, unable to hide the shaking in his voice. He had considered yelling for help, but he instantly scrapped the idea before it could take root because his chances of dying before getting even a single word out were very high.
The woman blinked once and then stood up. Slowly, she approached him one step at a time, her high-heels clacking against the smooth linoleum tiles.
"I want YOU, Mr. Lindsay," she purred, "I need you to do something for me."
She batted her eyelashes as she drew her face close to his. Their faces were so close that he could feel her breath on his face, or was supposed to, but he couldn't feel anything at all. It was as if she was not there with him physically.
"Why me? And what if I say no?" Jay prodded, testing the waters as he accepted the reality that he was in. A smile formed on the woman's face before she chuckled, throwing her head back as she laughed like she just heard the funniest joke in the world.
"Well, you can't," she said as she stopped laughing, her voice turned ominous as she pulled her face closer to his and stared at him like she could see the darkest depths of his soul. "You'll know one day. I'll be in touch with you," she said as she took a step back and turned her back to him before promptly walking away.
Jay watched her retreating figure suddenly fade from existence before letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding in. He considered telling someone about this but he realized that he didn't have anyone he could approach that would believe him.
Myse was back at her Division Branch, while Frank was away on a mission. He didn't have any friends as he preferred working alone, nor did he have any connections. He was an outcast, something that never really changed even when he was plucked from the streets.
"Damn." Jay yawned as his body suddenly felt very heavy. He shuffled his way back to the bed and tucked himself in, once again finding himself staring at the ceiling as he laid there, thinking about nothing in particular as his fatigue slowly took him to a fitful sleep.
"Hey you, you're finally awake." Jay tiredly opened his eyes and sat up. His joints felt stiff, like his body hasn't moved in ages. "Feel better now?" someone asked beside him.
Jay looked around the room in a daze, still half-asleep as his brain struggled to process the series of events, sorting dream from reality as the memories came flooding back.
"Huh? Who are you?" Jay asked and put up his guard as his eyes widened in surprise at the woman sitting on the chair beside the bed.
"I'm glad you're doing fine." She gave him a warm smile as she talked to him. She was wearing a blue tank top along with light blue skinny jeans. Her wavy brown hair flowed past her shoulders and her green eyes shone bright with kindness and warmth.
She stared at him without a word for a while before she jumped in realization at what she was doing. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry about that," she apologized as her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. "My name is Cassandra, but you may call me either Miss Cassie or Miss Sandy, preferably Miss Sandy. I'm your new mentor!" she cheerfully introduced herself.
"What? New mentor? What about Frank?" Jay raised an eyebrow in shock at the abrupt news.
"Your days in the field are over. Frank is currently busy on a mission anyway, so I will be the one preparing you for the Knight Selection Exam in his stead." Cassandra explained enthusiastically.
"Huh..." Jay paused as he tried to accept the information, his mind still stuck on the conversation he had with the intruder. "How long was I out?" Jay finally asked.
"About 3 days, give or take." She got out of the chair and stretched her limbs. "The Knight Selection Exam is in 3 weeks, that's all the time left you have to prepare," she said as her voice turned serious.
"Meet me at the training field tomorrow at 7 AM. I'll whip you up into shape for the Exam," she said as she showed herself out the door. "Oh, and Commander Myse called yesterday, we had already moved your belongings from your apartment to hers. I believe that was the arrangement you had made with her. Well then, see you tomorrow."
The door closed behind her, leaving Jay alone with his thoughts once again. "Huh." Jay sighed.