Later that evening
Dan woke up. He hasn't open his eyes yet, but he heard someone breathing loudly beside him. He made the conscious decision to use mana sense and try to detect who was beside him.
It was a small and electrifying wavelength. He couldn't tell who it belonged to at all. He opened his eyes, then pulled himself up and sat up straight. He looked to his right, it was Laura.
Dan raised his eyebrows and his face lightened up. "Hey," Dan said.
Laura was startled and quickly look over to Dan. Her heart started racing. She even looked creeped out. Dan was suddenly reluctant to saying anything more than a greeting.
Say something, Jon said with an insisting tone.
"What are you doing here?" Dan asks.
Dan saw that she had a dossier resting on her lap. She picks it up and handed it over to Dan. He grabs it, "what's this?" He asks.
Dan saw the title of the dossier, Beast Threat Correspondence Mission. He opened the file and read it. It was a single page document.
Tasked: Daniel Fash, Laura Crescent
Beast Count: 1 (one)
Threat Level: 3 [normal]
Location (First Sighting): Taiyou Complex, Hursh
Description: -
"This is a mission dossier, right?" Dan assumes.
She nods slowly in agreement.
"How long have you been waiting for me?" Dan wonders in glee.
"Ha-Half hour," she said almost whispering.
Wow… Dan was amazed. She waited for me that long? He thought in awe. He felt a little happy.
He jumped off the bed and fixed his jacket and headband. "Laura, ikimashou."
Laura, Ikimashou = Laura, let's go
The two then headed for the train station. It was a quiet walk. Dan wanted to say something to her, but she couldn't present an opening for him to talk. Her body language screamed don't talk to me. She seemed like she doesn't even want to walk side by side. Always ahead. When Dan caught up, she let him pass forward. It was driving him crazy.
What's up with this girl? He frustrates silently.
Maybe you're ugly, Jon teased.
I don't think I'm that bad, Dan replies as he fixes his headband again, trying to make sure he did look good.
Nah, you're that ugly, Jon laughed.
It's actually quite intimidating that she's carrying a katana. Though a shame that she looks like a frail girl.
Do you think she's frail?
Nope, he said confidently. He's quite good at judging people. Exclusively as fighters.
They reached Maho Station. After entering, they had to go through the gate. The gate had an arrow icon, indicating that it was available for use. They tapped their student ID on the little pad and it lit up green. There were two floors and four platforms. Platform A through D. They had to take the B, the same floor they were currently on. Taking the Midori line. Taiyou Complex was three stations away, it would take them six minutes to get to Hi Station, then a twelve-minute walk.
They waited for the train to arrive. Time passed in silence, Dan couldn't stop himself from sweating nervously. He glances back and forth from Laura to the rails. He grew slightly impatient. Wanted to walk forward.
Dan can feel the ground vibrate as the train approaches. Their train arrived quickly and they got on train. Laura untied the rope around her waist that was connected to her sheathe and placed it under the seats. They sat next to each other. Dan leaned his head back to the window and closed his eyes. Laura was curling timidly, facing away from him.
Dan turns to Laura and strikes up a conversation. "How long have you been a sorcerer, Laura?"
Laura was startled instead, "huh?" she blurted out.
"No need to be startled, it was just a question," he smiles as he says it. Tapping his finger on his knee, feeling a little impatient.
"Uhm… Uh…" She tries to remember, "I guess… Since I was a kid."
"Like four, five years old?" Dan presumes.
She nodded in response.
Then silence. Laura didn't have anything to say back. It looked like she had no interest in talking to him. She clenched her fists and looked down
"I've never seen a beast before. What do they look like?" He asks curiously.
"Umm… They're uh… Different."
"Different? Like all of them are different?"
She nods. "I- I mean, yeah," she forgot he was closing his eyes. Dan made a tiny smile.
The train had already stopped twice before. Now it's slowing down for the third time, arriving at Hi Station.
He opened his eyes and stood up, he stretched his back by pushing his hands up. He walks toward the left side doors and stood in front of it. He had things he thought about Laura. A lot he wanted to say. He collected his thoughts and glares backwards at her, threateningly.
"We're partners, so how about you just start talking like a regular person? It's annoying, really," he complained in a pissed off tone.
She stood up and looked down, but didn't give any reply.
"Nothing to say?" He raised his voice. "Being shy and timid isn't something to strive for, makes it harder for you and everyone else around you."
The train stopped and the doors opened.
"I bet you've been passive your entire life. Just scared at anything coming your way. Don't be a pain in my ass, got it?" He said sternly. Almost antagonizing her.
He walked out of the train and Laura followed slowly behind him.
That was unnecessary, she's just shy, Jon thought.
Dan didn't say anything in reply. He had no idea why he said it either. That wasn't at all what he wanted to say to her. The words he wanted to say were clear, yet he conveyed something else completely. He just grabbed his phone and looked up the direction to Taiyou Complex. He left the station and walked down the sidewalk. Laura was following behind him. She grips her sword tightly and bowed her head.
After four minutes of walking down a straight path, the map told Dan to turn left. So, he did and she followed behind him.
Dan focused his mana sense on Laura. It was quieter and a lot less electrifying than when they were in the infirmary. Dan thought about what he said while walking, he lightly slaps himself on the cheeks with both palms, "why the hell did I say that?" He murmured to himself.
I can't think of any other reason other than you're an idiot.
Honto? Am I that stupid? He genuinely questioned, scratching the back of his head.
Honto = Really?
Nah, I was kidding, Jon brushed off what he said earlier.
Then, what? Dan's voice breaking.
Like I said, you have to accept it, Jon referred to Dan's pile of emotions.
"I hate this…" He sighed aloud.
You can't hate it forever, Jon said.
Through the years, he had never been very sensitive about his feelings. Besides viewing them as a weakness, he was perplexed at how to deal with any of them. What he wanted to say earlier was that Laura could rely on him, and he'd appreciate it more if she would open herself up to him. Instead he said something rude and hurt her feelings.
Baka! He slaps himself again.
Baka! = Idiot!
Laura was again, startled.
They arrived at the front of Taiyou Complex. It had two separate gates, one for entry, one for exit. The one for entry was opened up. There was a post beside the gate, Dan decided to walk up to the post and ask a guard, if there was any. As he got closer he started to smell a stench he's not very fond of. It was blood. And smell of something burnt. When Dan reached the post, he looked through the window. The walls were covered in blood. He looked down to the ground and saw a mutilated corpse, slashed opened and their limbs separated. The corpse was also electrocuted until their face was no longer recognizable. A disgusting stench it emitted.
Dan fell a few steps back. His stomach curled. He felt something rushing up from his stomach to his throat. He moved aside and bowed his head and threw up.
Laura ran up behind him, "d- daijoubudesuka?"
Daijoubudesuka? = Are you okay?
Dan spat and wiped his mouth, "there's a corpse in there," he exclaimed as he pointed at the post.
Laura took a quick look. She started getting suspicious and started breathing heavily and quickly. From her knowledge of beasts, there was never trace of bodies if a beast starts consuming them. Only blood, ripped clothes, and mana stains.
Dan got up and faced her, his face pale, he looked sick. "What the hell is that?" he was in disbelief. He never thought he'd see something that gruesome. Not anytime soon at least.
"I- I don't know," she's unsure as well.
"What the fuck? I thought beasts ate humans, not tear them apart!" He stressed.
They only hunt humans, like an animal would hunt. I've never seen something like that either, Laura was also shocked.
"We should report this, right?" Dan started stressing out.
Laura nods in response.
Dan didn't know how to report, so he just went and called Kai. He didn't get through. He checked his connection and there was no signal. "Try your phone," he said.
Laura picked up her phone and saw that she has no signal either.
"F- fuck it. We'll just have to deal with this ourselves," Dan didn't want to embarrass himself on his first mission, where he retreated. He was clearly out of his own element. His pride was getting in the way again.
They went past the gate and start making their way inside. They passed houses with Japanese architecture, the complex was owned by a Japanese family, they thought to bring in more of their home culture to the big country, Dayland. It had a big community, most of the residents were Japanese, at least 85% of them were.
There was a wedding being held inside the complex, and the couple wanted to invite everyone living there. It was held at The Square. The Square was a large square dirt field with large patches of grass surrounded by houses. The Square acted as a park, however it wasn't finished yet.
Laura felt a mana presence heading somewhere east. She tugs Dan's jacket and beckoned him to follow her. Without thinking twice, he just did so. She started walking faster and then started running. Dan was able to keep up. Despite her carrying a sword, she was still fast even without any amplification spell.
They ended up at The Square. There were plenty of seats scattered randomly. Rubble all over the place. The food and drinks were wasted on the ground. The tables were flipped and broken apart. Every white drape from the chair, table cloth, carpet, tents, were vandalized by blood.
What they saw was the aftermath of a slaughter.
"W- what happened here?" Dan started trembling.
It killed a lot of humans. Too many. It's no longer a level 3, it can't be... Laura starts to panic.
"We… We need to get out of here," she said.
"What? No way!" Dan strongly rejected. "We need to kill the beast that did this," Dan was determined at that point. There was no way he wants to leave.
Dan felt a strong presence behind him. Something large and vicious. Laura did too. Dan didn't think and just ran toward it. He jogged up to a house and stopped in front of it. What he felt was actually behind the house. He casts Dark Gauntlet and braced himself.
Loud clicking sounds approached slowly. Loud tapping of wood and rocks of it climbing over the house. It reached the roof of the house. It was huge. Almost seven meters in height, and fifteen meters in length. It had eight hairy legs, like a spider. Two hands that were bladed like pickaxes. A large round head with a giant mouth and six eyes. Its body was hard and spiky like a crab's and also covered in bloodshot eyeballs. All six eyes stared straight into Dan's eyes.
Dan fell back a few steps, and the beast got half of its body on the ground. It lowered its body and leveled its head to Dan's.
It snapped open its mouth, revealing razor sharp teeth that can cut through a human with little struggle. It let out a loud scream. The scream was a trigger for an invisible force that would repulse anything in its way. Dan was hit by it so close range, he could've lost his hearing and gone blind. He was thrown far back. Through the piles of scattered rubble in The Square, all the way through the houses on the other side of The Square. He crashed through a house and plummeted into the inner wall.
His blood painted the wall, and he quickly passed out. The beast crawled down from the roof and creeped up towards Laura.
She started shaking. She grips her sword and pulled it out of its sheathed. The beast pounces forward and then spun around and flicked its tail out of its chamber, it was as sharp as a sword and as hard as iron.
Laura switched her hold to a reverse grip, she blocked the bladed tail but was thrown by the sheer force. She was thrown away about forty feet away. She slips and tumbles on the ground. Her light grey uniform turned a little brown from the dry and dusty dirt.
The beast retracted and re-chambers its tail and starts running at her. It was fast despite its ginormous size. Laura quickly got up and lifted up her sword. She channeled mana to her blade, ready to slash. She swings her blade horizontally and unleashed Crescent Slash. The beast jumped over her attack and dived forward at her. Knowing she couldn't fully swing, she improvised her sword grip. One on the grip and one at the back of the blade. The beast landed and stood over her while jolting its pickaxe-like hands at her. Hacking away at her while she's laying on the ground. Barely blocked by her blade that was being chipped away, bit by bit.
She struggles to fight off the sheer weight of the beast on top of her. At the rate it's going, she would be crushed to death. She was already getting claustrophobic and struggled to gasp for air. She had no option other than to somehow counter the giant spider-like beast.
She brings herself to focus mana to her blade. She unleashes Crescent Slash: Unsung Attack. It's a generally difficult attack to pull off, because it wouldn't be as affective because this is a move to unleash a wave of mana without actually swinging the katana. It's possible, however, the speed of the wave would greatly decrease making it ineffective for long range attacks. However, the circumstances didn't require a wave traveling quick because she was at pointblank range. The wave was strong enough to deflect the beast's blades and lift half its enormous body up to the air. She rolled to the side with her blade and quickly stood up and ran away from the beast.
She thought about of entering a house or hiding behind the rubble, no point in that. A beast can sense wavelengths just like any sorcerer, she deduced that it wasn't a very good idea. In a closed space, she would have a great disadvantage anyway. Too big a target and no room for movement.
She decided that she should use hit-and-run tactics. Land a hit enough to stagger the beast then run to prepare for the next attack. It would be a tedious fight and not her style, but for now it should work.
The beast targets her and charges at her while shrieking at her. She sheathed her blade and prepare a quick-draw attack. She channels an intense amount of mana into her blade and waits for the right time. After the beast was ten feet away, she flicks the guard and releases her blade from the sheathe as she pulls it backward with her hip and then followed through with a full horizontal swing. She unleashes a wave of mana, Crescent Slash.
The beast was hit by the wave and was "slapped" by the wave. It was staggered. Laura ran around the beast and got behind it.
The beast then launches its tail out. Laura got down on one knee and stabs her sword to the ground. The sharp tail collided with her sword. It was a risky move but she thought it was the best move she could do. She realizes that the attack was too strong because it chipped a larger bit of her blade. That blade was done for. She needed a new one. A small attack from the side of the sword and it breaks in two or would shatter completely.
She got up and pivots forward, she lifted her blade up to the sky with both her hands gripping tightly. She full sent downwards to cut the tail off. As her blade was descending, the beast recalled its tail to re-chamber. Her blade hit the hard and sharp part, repelling the blade from cutting through. She notices that her blade chipped even more.
The beast turns around while jolting around. Laura hops backwards and channeled mana to her blade and rest the tip of the blade on the ground. She then lifts the blade and swung upwards and unleashes Tsuki No Michishio. The wave of mana ascended to the beast, staggering it yet again.
She flails her sword and readies her blade to thrust. She dashes forward while pointing her blade forward, she extends her hands forward along with the sword. She thrusts the blade into the head of the beast. The beast already recovered and deflected her blade with its hand. It was quick and it caught her completely off guard. She lost grip of her blade.
The blade was knocked not too far away, about ten feet away from her. She turned away and ran toward her sword. The beast pounces towards the sword and blocked her path. She stopped herself and tried to figure out a way to grab her sword without being hit. She casts Light Amplification throughout her body and lifted her arms to cover her face. The beast opened its mouth and screamed at her, letting out a repulsing wave that blew her far away.
She landed on the dirt. All dirty and dazed. Her ears were ringing loudly, her vision was fading in and out. She was struggling to stand up straight.
Kuso… I can't focus, her mind distorts. Why did I have to go and lose my sword? Baka! She frustrates.
She heard muffled loud tapping and vibrations from far away progressively getting louder.
Kuso da! She slurred.
Kuso/Kuso da! = Fuck!
Baka = Idiot
The beast was looming on top of her, she laid on the dirt and turned around, facing the beast. She grits her teeth and tried focusing her vision. She could see clearly the inside of the beast's mouth. Razor sharp teeth ready to bite her head off clean.
Sat at the roof in the back-corner house was a man with a half-black half-white mask. He laid there leisurely, without a care in the world. He wore a frown on his mask, "how sad sorcerers nowadays," he expresses his disappointment in their incompetence.
He adjusted his right black glove with his empty left hand. He was about to stand up, but stopped himself when he sensed something that lightly piqued his interest. Laura heard loud stomping and a sudden spike of a wavelength coming from her left. Charging at the beast was Dan. His eyes bloodshot red, his head bleeding, his clothes covered in dust and his own blood. He ran with Dark Gauntlets casted. After he reached the beast, he throws a powerful punch to the side of the beast, knocking it away. He flung the beast away and it fell and rolled over.
Dan panted after he threw that heavy punch. He walks over to Laura and grabs her hand and back, he helps her sit upright. "You threw me through a house… You nearly killed my partner…" He glared directly at the beast as it was trying to stand up.
"KOROSHITEYARU!" He yelled in fury. His body enveloped in Dark Cloak.
Koroshiteyaru! = I'll kill you!
"A- Are you okay?" Laura whispers.
"Gomen na, Laura," He apologizes. "I was sleeping when you were about to be killed. I'll buy you time to get your sword." He placed her arm over his shoulders then grabs her waist, he lifts her up and let her stand. "Can you stand?"
Gomen na = Sorry.
Laura nodded.
"Good. Let's kill this beast."
She nods, "okay!" Her voice still shaking.
Dan slowly lets Laura go and steps in front of her. She runs away to grab her sword. Dan had his eyes opened wide. Eyes were red by blood and madness flowed through his mind. Dan tilted his head as he glared at the beast with a wide grin on his face.
His Dark Cloak had a tint of purple. Spiking his wavelength even more. Piquing the hidden man's interest yet again.
The beast got back up and screeched at Dan. Then charged at him. The beast got close enough to use its arms. It started hacking at Dan. He caught the pickaxe-like arm then grabbed the forearm, he pulled as hard as he could and ripped the arm off the beast. He held the forearm with both hands, then spun and swung the arm at the beast. The sharp edge pierced the beast's cheek, Dan then ripped its mouth apart. Dan was covered with its purple blood.
The beast screeched in agony, then screamed at Dan and let out the repulsing force. Dan was blown away again but not as far. He rolled on the dirt, vandalizing his suit even more.
"Laundry's going to suck," Dan grinned while lying on the dirt ground and facing up to the orange evening sky. "Wait, can I laundry this?" He was genuinely wondering if he could. He tucked his legs into his stomach and pushed up and forward with his palms and stood back up.
The beast started charging at him. Dan braced himself for any sort of contact. The beast then turned around and flicked its tail out at him.
Dan's body was amplified, so he took it like a bunt hit rather than a slash. He grabbed ahold of the tail, and didn't let the beast move away.
Laura came in with her blade raised up high, she swung down as hard and as swift as she could whilst releasing a wave of condensed mana, Tsuki no Sageshio. She then was able to cut its tail. When her blade reached the ground, the earth trembled. The beast tried pulling its tail back, it let out pools of purple blood that showered the two.
Dan got rid of the tail and wheezed for air. He coughed up saliva. "This is incredibly disgusting. Does this wash off?" He asked Laura, half-jokingly.
"Yes. Luckily," she nods.
"Good," he smiled at her.
For a moment, he looked majestic to her, despite the blood dripping form his body.
The beast was screaming, and became irritated.
"Laura?" He called with a reassuring tone.
"Hm?"
"Can you cut its head off?" He asked, feeling confident.
Laura thought about the body structure of the beast. She felt a little different than before. Maybe it was just the rush of fighting, but it changed something in her. She thought that she could cut its head off, a clean cut, the beast probably wouldn't see it coming. But she knew that she could probably do a bit more.
"Interesting, to say the least. I thought they'd disappoint," the man said whilst flipping through pages of a levitating blue book with a sigil on the cover.
He placed his right palm out and a small glowing circle the size of his hand appeared. The circle had unknown letters that were glowing white dimly. Then he rotated the circle and the color changed as well. From white to purple. It started to glow even brighter.
The beast starts glowing purple from the crevices on its body. The eight legs suddenly grew hands on the end of them. The hands were deformed and irregular. The number of fingers varied from five to seven. The size of the palms also varied. The ripped off arm also grew back, but a whip grew back in its place. The torn mouth suddenly healed back up, the teeth then were more drawn out and looked sharper than before. The size of the beast also increased. It was now at least twice as big as it was before. It shrieked in front of them, challenging them to a fight.
Dan and Laura were shocked. Dan had no knowledge of beasts in the first place, so he thought that this was perhaps something they could always do. Laura thought otherwise. It wasn't possible for beasts to heal. Not even with Healing Crystals. This was completely new territory. Something that never happened in the history of sorcery.
This mission was supposed to be out of their league. They were supposed to fight a level 3-normal beast. Instead, they're fighting a beast that would be equal to a level 5 or 6-maniacal. Someone handed them a false dossier.
Maniacal is a classification of beasts; which means that the beast had consumed at least one sorcerer and developed the power to cast spells, in this case, the beast's repulsing screech. Laura deduced that someone is accompanying the beast. She knew the beast didn't kill the person in the entrance gate post, and a source would've reported what they fought earlier, a giant spider-like beast that can casts spells, and assign the mission to at least a Mid-Rank or higher.
"Is that… Uhh… normal?" Dan confused.
She shook her head.
Dan shrugged his shoulders and thought "what's the worst that could happen?"
Laura sheathed her sword into the scabbard and stepped forth. I need to end this quickly, she thought.
The beast loomed over the two. She got into a tight iaijutsu stance while standing upright. The beast was tall, she needs to swing up to sever its head. She channeled mana into her sword then quickly drew her sword. Just as she drew her sword, the beast reached out with two of its leg-hands and caught her left shoulder and right leg. She messes up her stance and she missed the neck of the beast.
The beast then used one more of its leg and grab Laura's left leg. It lifted her up into the air. She struggles and flails her sword around. The beast caught her entire arm with a fourth leg. She dropped her sword and it flopped to the ground.
Shit! Shit! Shit! What do I do? Dan went back and forth looking at Laura, the beast, and Laura's katana.
You know how to use a sword, don't you? Jon teased him.
Dan ran and grabbed Laura's katana. He points the blade up and jumps, stabbing into the bottom of the beast's head. The beast then cried in pain and threw Laura to the left, then knocked Dan to the right. Dan was able to maintain his footing and kept the blade in his hand. The beast immediately pounces at Laura that was laying on the ground. It went in for a bite at her face. She lifted her right arm whilst simultaneously focusing Light Amplification to it. The beast bites into her and starts chewing on it.
She screams. It may not have been bitten off, but the teeth were still sharp enough to pierce her flesh. Blood splattered her face.
Dan grips the katana with both his hands and tried channeling his mana into it. From his Dark Cloak to the blade. When he thought it was enough, he swung vertically from the air to the ground. He released the mana and sent it charging at the beast. It was exactly like Laura's Tsuki no Sageshio, but it was dark, heavy, and corruptive. Unlike her bright and electrifying spell. His version felt eerie.
The beast wasn't exactly pushed back by the wave of mana; however, it was being burnt by it. Half of its tough shell quickly disintegrated and crumbled to dust. To nothing.
The beast opened its mouth and shrieked out in agony. Laura used both of her hands to dive into the stab wound it had on the bottom of its head, she then tucked her hands in and gripped tightly. She tore its jaws open.
The beast whined and gargled its own blood. It started backing up and struggled. When it was about to turn around, Dan ran in with Laura's blade and cut off two of its back leg. The beast started to lose balance. Laura stood up quickly and Dan threw her sword back at her. She swiftly catches her blade and swung fiercely.
The beast tried flailing its whip hand. It ended up tying around Laura's blade, but she was able to cut through it easily. Laura then dashed under the beast and cut off all of its legs in one fell swoop.
It can't run away anymore, Laura needs to finish it off quickly. Severing its head would be too plain, Laura thought. She got behind the beast and stabbed through its body. Thanks to Dan, she was able to pierce through its flesh easily. She stabbed through the beast all the way through, even penetrating the ground slightly. She flexed her knees and prepares herself.
Dan saw what she was doing and knew exactly what she was going for. He ran past her, then he casts a highly condensed version of Dark Gauntlets. After he got about forty feet away, he stopped and turned around. He runs towards her. Thirty feet. Twenty. At ten, he jumped up raising both his fists high up into the air, then he slammed down and hammered the ground whilst discharging the condensed mana enveloping his arms. The ground rumbled and the ground cratered. The discharged wave of mana repelled Laura at incredibly high speed. She gripped her sword incredibly tight. Using the force of repel, Laura was pushed forward, and her blade followed suit. Cutting through its spine, all the way to its neck and head. Cutting the beast in half.
With that, the beast was finally dead.
Laura was relieved. She never fought any beast that was that strong before. She hasn't fought many, in fact.
Dan was relieved that he was able to beat something that vicious and make it out alive. His head was still bleeding, his eyes were still bloodshot. He walked over to Laura, smiling, feeling dazed. He saw her face, no longer afraid. He felt happy to see it. His knees started shaking and he tripped over and fell. Laura caught him, and helped him stand.
"Are you okay?" She concerns. He's a lot heavier than he looks.
"I think so," he replies, uncertain.
Dan felt a little dizzy. His hearts also racing. He thought it was because of the adrenaline rush from the fight.
The two then heard echoes of hands clapping. The two looked around for the source of the noise. They found the source after a few seconds of searching. They turned around to see the man standing atop the roof of a house.
He wore peculiar clothes. His bomber jacket was black on the right side, and the left side was white. The zipper being the divider of the two colors. He wore dark grey baggy pants specialized for martial arts. His arm sleeves were mismatched in length. The left arm sleeve reached all the way to his wrist, his right arm sleeve reached only his elbow. Then, he wore a glove on his right hand, and nothing on his left. What caught Dan and Laura's attention wasn't exactly his odd choice of clothing, but rather the mask he wore. Half black and half white, with mismatching eyes. The right eye had three pupils and a line connecting all three of them. They were also drawn with white. And one pupil on the left with a single line crossing through it. It was drawn with black. Then a giant grin on it. The right side had the teeth drawn in 'V' to portray sharp teeth and was drawn with white. Then the left side had black lines segregating square teeth. With his dark blue-grey hair and pale skin. He stood maybe six feet tall with an athlete's build.
They couldn't help but notice the drawings on his mask was also moving as if they were his actual eyes and mouth.
Dan knew that that man wasn't a regular person. He must be a sorcerer, Dan thought. Dan used mana sense to see how strong he is. Dan was tired and Laura's hurt, he can't exactly go all out in a fight against someone who looks like he knows what he's doing. Dan was still winging things. He deduced that they should somehow create a distraction to create an opening to escape.
From the mysterious man, he sensed absolutely nothing. Not even the faintest of mana or life. It was like sensing a dead person. Not a mana presence nor mana stain on him.
Dan slowly glances at Laura, "do you sense… Anything?" He asked uneasily.
"No, nothing…"
Dan suddenly began to remember, …if you ever meet a sorcerer like that, as you are now and the near future, do not act brave, just run.
The man stopped clapping and walked forward slowly and quietly. Not so much as a sound as he's stepping on ceramic roof tiles. He slid off the roof and dropped to the ground. It wasn't exactly a far drop. It was probably seven to eight meters. He quickly fell and touched the ground.
The moment his feet landed on the dirt, he flexed his knee to absorb the impact, then an overwhelmingly powerful presence that sent shivers down their spines. Like a surge of electricity that enveloped the entire complex. Dan and Laura froze in place. Neither of them could move a muscle, they were shocked, petrified, amazed, and terrified.
The man walked forward two steps, then everything around them seem to bend. Reality itself was distorted. The distance between the man and the two of them were roughly fifty meters.
Without motion, without them even blinking, the man was in front of the two, his hands out, his index and middle finger touched their foreheads, he surges electricity through his fingers and shocked the two out cold. He caught them and created a rift behind him and dragged the two into it. The rift closed and he left, leaving no trace of his presence.