Chapter 27

  Lincoln reminded me a lot more of the towns out East than I’d expected. The building were large, and the massive dirt street was filled with the hustle and bustle of life. Carriages and wagons and lone riders moved too and fro, while people walked closer to the buildings and storefronts. The buildings themselves were established, built of brick and lumber, showing a city that intended to keep growing, and flourishing. Some of the buildings were at least three stories high, and I was pretty sure I spotted a few even taller and grandeur. In short, the town felt alive.

  That being said, I had little interest in it. The only perk of busy towns was that such crowds made it easy to disappear. And that was exactly what I had on my agenda. Lincoln was only a brief stop for us, before we disappeared, leaving no trace of our presence, or destination behind, as we headed north. At most, we’d be gone from Lincoln in a week, ideally, sooner. First though, there was a much more pressing manner to deal with.

  My ascension to Copper.

  Immediately upon arrival at Lincoln, we sought out a hotel. Then, with the money my bloody work had earned us along the way, we purchased two hotel rooms side by side. One, for Clint and myself, with Emma getting one all to herself. From there, Clint and Emma had left, heading back to where the caravan had staged itself. They needed to drop the wagon off with the ol Mayor of Bisons’ Rest’s friend, and of course, transport the rest of our goods to our hotel. Additionally, Emma and Clint planned on gathering what they needed for our trip north. That meant supplies, spare horses, and most importantly, information.

  With the two gone, I was left alone, for the first time in what felt like forever. I had no idea when they’d return, nor did I really care. I had my priority, and as Emma had pointed out just last night, I was predictable. Now that we were in Lincoln, now that I was safe, and away from any sort of distraction, I could focus on my task at hand. I could resume chasing my goal. And, most important of all, at least, to me for the moment, I could be freed of the pain that had tormented me for the better part of a week.

  Being alone also meant I could complete the necessary tasks to prepare to ascend, in a much more efficient manner than before. I’d already purged most of my mana from my body and had an impossibly large amount of raw mana within. The pure, untamed mana thrashed against my mental walls, fighting to be freed of its confines. I could feel it, with every beat of my heart, as pain throbbed through my body. The mana was wild, and demanded I either free it to become one with my body, or I let it back into the world.

  “Soon,” I croaked as I set myself gently into the water. I’d drawn up a bath, the hotel we were in being advanced enough to actually have running water in the rooms. It was, unfortunately, not heated, though that was of little concern to me. The tub had been installed with a soul-silver heater, and the hotel staff had actually offered us pre-charged soul-silver batteries for the tub. Much like dynamite, or pre-loads, the soul silver batteries could be filled with mana, and then inserted into various contraptions to utilize the mana in unique ways. It was technology that had begun taking off over the past few years, and I couldn’t help but marvel at the ingenuity of it all.

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  Still, such things were nothing more than gross expenses and luxuries when it came down to it. If you didn’t have the right type of mana to fill such things, you inevitably would need to purchase more. And while you could trade in the empty batteries for a discount on the next batch, it was still a waste of money in my opinion. Not to mention, much like dynamite, the amount of mana it took to fill the batteries, versus how long they lasted, was completely inefficient.

  In short, technology has a long way to go and was nothing more than a waste of money for now. Which…didn’t stop us from buying a couple. Being suddenly flush with cash as we were and considering the travelling conditions we’d just been exposed to, and the trip we had ahead of us, a nice bath wasn’t the end of the world. More so, I hadn’t been in the mood to tell Emma not to waste money.

  I turned a nob on the tub as I sank into the water, the cool liquid coming all the way up to my chest, my frayed nerves uncertain of if the water felt good or not. A strange buzzing sound filled the air as the battery opened up, releasing the fire mana into the tub itself. Slowly but surely, I felt the water begin to warm. I didn’t feel bad about using it right now, considering I would simply refill it once my task was complete.

  With the water reaching a soothing temperature around my body, encompassing me in a warm embrace, I closed my eyes. My mind quickly focused on the task at hand, and I visualized immediately my core. The raw mana raged within, filling me from my very center, all the way to the very edges of my skin. Only a single layer of mana that had become a part of me, was visible.

  I took a deep breath, and filled my lungs with another dose of pure mana. Internally, I squeezed as much of it within as I could, and pushed, ever so slowly, my boundaries outwards. The walls I’d built up over the past week shook, as the unmerged mana swelled with the new addition. With an exhale, I pushed my will into the mana that would obey me, the thin, small amount of mana that could still be called my own.

  In my mind’s eye, wisps of greens and reds and blues and purples floated away from my body. Exhaustion immediately came to meet me, as the weariness from my travels, and enduring the pain, fought to overcome me. Another breath, and I repeated the process. A few more, and I knew my body would be completely devoid of mana bound to me. A few more breaths, and my core would be ready.

  I took each breath slowly, carefully, and watched my core internally with a focus that shouldn’t have been possible. Even with my eyes closed, my eyes watered, and the vision of my inner self waivered. It were as if I was holding my hand in a fire, and watching as the flames ate at my flesh, while actively adding more fuel to that very same fire.

  The pain intensified with each breath, as did the exhaustion. And then, finally, after what felt like hours, but logically could only have been minutes, there was no more mana within my body that belonged to me. My core was filled to the brim, from the very center of my very being, out to the hairs all over my body, with raw mana. This, I knew, was the final tipping point. Emma’s warning filled my mind, causing my next breath to pause, as I considered what I was doing. Once this process started, there was no stopping it. And assuming I didn’t die, the only outcomes were either success, or, if I failed, a permanent crippling of my ability to use mana.

  I steeled my resolve and forced myself to breathe deep. Failure wasn’t an option. My focus intensified, as I clung to a singular thought and purpose. I needed to get stronger. There was no other option for me. And I'd be damned, if I failed at this. If Emma could do it, if the Marshall could do, and hells, if fucking Grayson could do it, then so could I.

  With the last bit of determination, my lungs expanded to their maximum capacity, and the world seemed to freeze. A pain shot through my body like nothing I’d ever felt before. My heart missed a beat as even it clenched tightly, refusing to relax, as the pain rocked me. I barely managed to keep my eyes shut, and my mind focused on my inner self.

  I saw the very moment when my core, my mental vision of myself, shattered.