Jason caught himself before he collapsed, but nearly careened to the side anyway. It felt like his body was about to explode? Something inside of him was rumbling. Fighting to get out of him.
No, that wasn't quite right. It was energetic and felt like it might burst from him like a balloon that had been blown up too far, but it wasn't trying to escape. It didn't even feel painful or unnatural exactly.
He tried to orient himself, but found it nearly impossible. Vanya and Nora lay unmoving on the ground. Their eyes were open, but they were completely unresponsive. He waved his hand in front of Vanya's face, but she didn't make any sign that she could see his hand moving.
They couldn't be dead! He struggled to his knees and reached down for her neck, searching for a pulse. His hand was shaking from the incredible energy inside of him, but he was still able to find it easily. She was alive.
He only felt her neck for a second, but feeling the skin of a demon was nearly as alarming as the storm inside of him. It didn't feel scaled like a snake or lizard like he had expected. There was an odd juxtaposition of rough and smooth, like a lightly oiled leather. Her body temperature was almost painfully hot.
That couldn't be because of what had happened to her could it? He felt Nora's pulse, and her body temperature seemed normal, though her pulse was incredibly weak. What had happened that had knocked them out, and left Jason feeling like a human battery.
He remembered what Vanya had said and it clicked. It wasn't exactly like she had said, but this must have been the typhoon that she had mentioned. Was this his actual potential and if so why had it suddenly appeared now?
It was overwhelming to the point that he was almost glad that he didn't have to put up with this normally. He needed to do something about Vanya and Nora, but what? He could hardly move with this much mana boiling inside of him. He felt so alone…
Where was the sparrow! He called for her in his mind and out loud, yelling into the overgrown oasis created by the creek. There was no answer. Was it even possible for the sparrow to disappear like that? She has said that she couldn't get very far away from him and even at that small limit she had been able to hear his thoughts. Something was horribly wrong.
As if in answer to his thought, there was a rustling sound from behind him. He spun, searching for whoever was trying to sneak up on him, but there was nothing there. The rustling paused, and then started again. It was headed towards him. If only all of these trees and bushes were gone!
They disappeared in an instant, leaving him in a clearing thirty feet wide. Had he done that?
He stepped back in shock as something zipped in front of him, flying right through where he had been standing. He whipped his head around just in time to see a giant metal tiger leaping for him. In his panic, he remembered the shields that the soldiers that they had fought yesterday had worn. If he had one of those…
A shield appeared on his arm right as the tiger struck him, knocking him back ten feet. The creek flowed quietly inches from where he had landed. He looked down at the shield that had appeared in his hand, but it was already gone. He imagined it appearing again, and it did instantly.
This is how things should have been from the start! It was all so effortless. He imagined a sword in his other hand and a copy of Vanya's sword appeared in his hand. He nearly dropped it from the sudden weight, which saved him from another of the tiger's pounces. It flew clear over the creek and onto the other side which was still overgrown.
He needed a sword that was lighter. The sword in his hand instantly became light as a feather. It still looked the same, but it felt like nothing.
The tiger didn't immediately pounce again. Instead it lowered it's head and a barrage of arrows flew out of it. Jason raised his shield just in time to block it and he finally got a good look at what he was facing.
It was at least as big as a normal tiger, but looked like it was made entirely of metal. Its body was a shining chrome, with red lines tracing where its stripes should have been. Its eyes too, glowed with the same shade of bright blue.
It was terrifying, but Jason wasn't scared. He felt exhilarated. This was what his life should have been like, he…He felt something hit his arm hard. That hadn't been the tiger. It felt like it was coming from inside of him. How could he get hit from the inside?
The tiger leapt at him, but he imagined a massive sheet of metal in front of it and it slammed into the metal with the sound of a gong. The sheet faded as the tiger plummeted into the creek below, but it recovered instantly, climbing free of the water.
He had to protect Vanya and Nora! He imagined them flying away to the edge of the clearing, but nothing happened. Why wasn't it working?
He had no time to consider as the tiger was already on him. He barely even had to think this time. The tiger's gravity was opposite his own. The tiger flew into the sky, and Jason took the moment to go take care of his companions. So he needed to be more specific with what he did. He could move things if he changed the way they interacted with gravity, but he couldn't just…
Jason screamed in pain as something dug into his calf. The tiger had shot arrows at him while he wasn't paying attention and one of them had hit him. He imagined the wound disappearing, but nothing happened. That was great.
He ran towards the still unconscious Vanya and Nora, trying his best to ignore the pain, but the arrow felt like it was tearing his muscle to pieces as he ran. Tears of pain streaking down his face, he turned just in time to put up his shield to block more arrows.
At least it didn't seem to have many attacks. He imagined water floating in the air, surrounding it as it leapt towards him. It appeared instantly, and then it froze with the tiger inside. Jason didn't wait as the ball of ice slammed into the ground behind him.
A pair of metal dogs appeared and carried Vanya and Nora to the edge of the clearing. The dogs disappeared and there was a flash of light behind Jason. The thing could breathe fire?!
Maybe he could just get a copy of the tiger to fight it. A copy appeared and leaped at his enemy, crashing into it, but it disappeared almost instantly. The creations didn't seem to be able to do anything more than exactly what he imagined. He could probably make another tiger and direct it more specifically, but he'd be at a disadvantage then wouldn't he? Could he control it well enough to beat the real thing. He doubted it.
So just go bigger then. He imagined a giant iron golem appearing above the tiger to crush it, and for a second it looked like it was working. Jason felt the same thing he had felt when Vanya had first collapsed. It was like taking a gut punch that knocked all the breath out of him. He staggered as the outline of the golem appeared, and then disappeared instantly.
He hadn't noticed the loss of mana before because of how incredibly huge his supply of mana was. Nothing else he had done had taken much at all compared to what he had. This one golem though, had bottomed him out instantly. His vision blurred as he staggered back, struggling to stay conscious. Even with all the power that he had and how overwhelming it had seemed, he apparently still had limits.