Listen closely, I said to Lucille as she stood before the stairwell entrance to the top floor which housed the penthouse suite. There are seven mana signatures beyond this door based on their lack of potency, they must be the remaining acolytes you were separated from earlier. Thirty meters to the right of that group, there are two more signatures, both sorcerers from the feel of their mana capacity. I do not sense the Archmage which is problematic but there is fresh mana being released nearby and I can’t pinpoint the source so he is likely still here.

“Wait, that’s… there should be more of them than that,” Lucille said after totaling the numbers I provided. “Did they leave while we were hiding?”

A few passed the room I found you in earlier and descended to lower parts of the building while I prepared you; however, there are several corpses in the room with the two sorcerers so most of your colleagues are most likely dead from botched possession attempts.

“They’re…”

She didn’t finish the thought but I felt the anger in her heart. The feeling was more akin to righteous outrage than personal fury. I empathized with her; though I cared little for the death of her fellow members of the Order, I would deliver harsh retribution to the astral beings responsible.

“What’s our plan?” she asked, her mind sharpening to a point as she steadied her breathing.

I am going to perform what can be best described as a partial possession, something I believe your Archmage may be privy to, I explained. I will partially integrate myself with your soul which will allow me to feed you mana directly without you needing to connect with the Astral. You will remain in control for most of the coming battle. If things become dire, I will take over and salvage the situation. Until then, I will assist you in subtle ways to avoid detection by the entity possessing the Archmage.

“Ok, got it,” she responded.

Excellent. This may feel strange but don’t be alarmed.

I sent the fragment of my consciousness possessing her into her soul. Because she was a willing host and her soul was bound to me, the integration happened seamlessly with no resistance from her soul which subsequently, prevent any damage. Once I completed the partial possession, I refilled her mana capacity in an instant and wove a subtle concealment technique around her body to obscure her mana levels and strength from the enemies.

It is done. Recast the Threefold Barrier and Physical Empowerment techniques. I leave this battle to you, Lucille. She followed my order continuing to steady herself all the while. I was silent for a moment but decided to give her one final encouragement before our battle.

After we deal with the Archmage, I will leave you for a time. It may be days or it could be years; time has rarely been of consequence to me. This is your chance to gain valuable experience that will aid you in the coming days. Mankind has rarely been a peaceful species and I expect this time of crisis to be no different. Hone your claws while I watch over you because I likely won’t be there next time you use them.

“I just noticed. Although you feel cold sometimes, you’re always giving me advice,” she said, amusement and a small bit of affection swirling in her thoughts.

As per our pact, you are my responsibility until the Archmage is dealt with. I do not act in half-measures. I said, matter-of-factly. Are you ready?

She took one last deep breath inhaling for a few seconds. As she did, a wave of gratitude, trust, and hope bubbled to the surface of her mind and soul. Then, she exhaled and all of her emotions came to a standstill. Her face went blank.

I’m ready.”

I admired her resolve in the face of what would undoubtedly be a bloodbath. She didn’t ask if any of the possessed could be spared, she didn’t question her chances against the enemy’s greater numbers, and she didn’t cower. I only felt confidence, confidence that whatever fate befell her would be shaped by her hands.

I wanted to read her memories, a simple task now that she was bound to me, and even had she not been, psykhe allowed me to break through barriers that previously inhibited my capabilities. Still, as much as my curiosity demanded to know what kind of life she’d lived to make her capable of such focus and willpower, I restrained myself. She would feel my intrusion which might dampen the significant trust I’d built up with her so far.

Begin

Lucille pushed open the door and immediately banked to the right. Her eyes scanned the area passing over each of the blank-faced acolytes before focusing on the ceiling. The enemies began to react to her sudden entrance but by then, she had raised her hand and fired a Mana Bolt.

Instead of aiming at one of the enemies, she aimed for a small metallic object on the ceiling of the right side of the room. The attack destroyed the object causing a rain of brackish water to pour out into the room. Three of the enemy directly under that portion of the ceiling were drenched and another nearby moved. The water wouldn’t be a threat to any of them but it did limit their visibility and offered an environmental advantage.

The two acolytes on the left ran toward her. They were weak, barely above the human average, and the astral beings possessing them weren’t any better. The best they could manage was a tangled mass of oily, black mana gathered in their palms. A pitiful display but given the properties of the invaders’ mana, the attack could damage the soul which the Threefold Barrier wouldn’t protect against.

Be wary of that dark mana, I said. It feeds off emotional disarray and death. The physical damage it can inflict will be minor but the damage to your soul could be an issue.

“Got it,” she said as she ducked under the closest acolyte’s grab and launched an uppercut into his jaw.

The sound of the bones in his skull shattering was punctuated by the rustled of clothing as she gripped the man up by his shirt and shoved causing him to fall. The second acolyte slipped when her foot hit the puddle extending from the right side of the room as she tried to avoid her unconscious companion.

Lucille didn’t waste the opportunity. She rushed over to the woman having no trouble keeping her balance with her enhanced physique. The acolyte flailed impotently trying to grab ahold of her before the empowered sorceress brought her foot down onto the woman’s skull. She didn’t stop there. Almost as soon as the sickly crunch filled the air, she raised her hands, each primed with mana.

Two Mana Bolts shot off. One tore through an acolyte’s shoulder as she charged Lucille knocking her to the ground with the force of the attack. The other caught another acolyte, the one who had moved away from the water, in the side of his neck. The concussive missile ripped out a sizable chunk of meat. The unfortunate woman dropped to the ground, her lifeblood coloring the growing pool on the floor.

Without a thought, Lucille fired another Mana Bolt into the downed woman as she attempted to get up then faced the remaining three men.

I wondered if the three astral beings possessing the humans would flee. It’d be the sensible thing to do though it wouldn’t save them, of course. I had dismantled the four astral beings possessing the four acolytes that Lucille had already taken out. Technically, I could’ve destroyed them all right then and there because nothing prevented me from sensing their locations in the Astral. If I crushed the entities in the Astral, the acolytes would fall unconscious or die but that would rob my bonded of valuable experience.

After a standoff that lasted all of three seconds, Lucille charged as two of the men turned and ran toward the penthouse suite’s door which was slightly ajar. The largest of the remaining acolytes braced himself, darkness filling both of his hands which he spread wide to block the way.

Rather than taking the man head-on, Lucille fired two Mana Bolts into his legs destroying his knees and blowing his legs out from under him. He landed face-first in the bloody water as she jumped mid-charge and used his upper back as a springboard.

When she landed, she spread her hands to balance herself sliding a bit even with her enhanced balance and agility due to her forward momentum.

One of the sorcerers, the weaker one, is coming to investigate. I said.

She growled in response brushing wet hair out of her face. She ran forward aiming at the closest retreating figure. The Mana Bolt missed him but Lucille was fast, much faster than either of the men. She caught up easily and kicked at his legs sending him into a violent tumble. She left him there and shot another Mana Bolt at the last acolyte.

Without her noticing, I took control of her arm at the last moment and adjusted her aim by a few millimeters. The attack hit the target in the back of his skull caving it in and sending him forward a few feet before he was stopped by the very door that he sought to reach.

Lucille didn’t miss a beat. She backpedaled drawing her athame at the same time. The man whose leg she had kicked stumbled toward her, his injured leg broken from the sheer force of her blow. Her blade found its home in his neck as she swayed to the side dodging a clumsy lunge and his forward momentum carried him to his death.

She glanced at the man who’d had his legs destroyed by her Mana Bolts as he crawled toward her at a pathetic pace, the astral being ignoring its host’s horrid condition to reach her. I readied to tell her what she should do but she made the right decision. She turned away from the non-threat and focused on the double doors to the penthouse suite.

“How close?” she asked prepping another Mana Bolt in her hand.

One waits to the right of the door, most likely to ambush you when you enter. The other one is maintaining their position

“Ok.”

She grabbed the nearest corpse from the floor and stalked forward. I watched as she braced the dead man in front of her and wondered if temporarily removing her mental inhibition to kill was a good idea. She was being incredibly effective but I feared that it might have negative consequences on her mental health after I left. I hoped that her resolve held after she was no longer in danger and was forced to face the reality of her actions.

Straining her ears, Lucille barely heard the breathing of the sorcerer lying in wait by the door when she reached the double doors. Rather than wait and psych herself out, she rushed through the door. Immediately, she shifted her makeshift shield as heat filled the air.

She saw the sorcerer just as a cone of violet flames streamed toward her. The smell of her shield’s searing flesh sent her stomach rolling but she did her best to ignore it using her enhanced strength to generate a quick burst of speed. Once she closed the distance, she continued her admittedly effective strategy of using the bodies of her opponents against them.

The half-melted corpse made a horrid noise as she sandwiched it in-between herself and the enemy sorcerer. She released her grip leaving the possessed sorcerer to fall to the ground under the weight of the once-living battering ram. He struggled to extricate himself as she walked toward him. He pulled one hand free; however, Lucille put her foot on the appendage preventing it from moving. Then, she unceremoniously shot a Mana Bolt into his eye pulverizing part of the skull and destroying a sizable portion of his brain.

Lucille, I said. Look at his mouth.

“His mouth?” she wondered, her focus momentarily being disrupted by confusion. She nudged the burnt corpse with her toe to get a better look at the man’s jaw. “There’s blood on his face. So what?”

The blood was there when you entered the room and I don’t believe it’s his blood.

“What do you mean?”

If I could’ve grimaced, I would’ve. I didn’t want to ruin her momentum like this but I also didn’t want her blindsided by what she was going to see.

These creatures, the ones possessing these people, subsist and grow by consuming mana. Sorcerers have a particularly high density of mana among humans because their bodies are infused with it by their connection to the Astral. There were four sorcerers excluding the Archmage and only three lived through their possession while the last did not, likely due to her old age.

She looked at the dead sorcerer then back the way that she had come from, where Sorcerer-Adept Amalia rested. Lastly, she gazed at the double doors leading out of the entry room of the penthouse and into the main suite.

“Old age? Wait, you aren’t saying—”

I am. They are eating Delilah’s corpse for its mana.