Waves of mana rippled across the space as the bullet tore its way through. The wall on the far side offered a momentary resistance before it finally gave way. With a hole punched into the side of the balloon that was my mana well.

  As the hole appeared, the mana not under my control suddenly found that it had places to be, people to see, and it wasn’t going to accept anything less than leaving immediately. So, as one, the mana rushed toward the new opening.

  Too bad for it, as there were no straight shots to its destination. Not when my mana was quite dispersed amongst the sphere. All thanks to the eddies my experiments with mana forms had created. And honestly, the slowdown was probably the only thing that kept my well from completely rupturing.

  Still, as the two forces collided, some of the kinetic energy was shoved into my mana while the pure mana reoriented on the opening and resumed its journey. The ever-accelerating mana only increased the chances that the pure mana ran into it, slowing the flood down even more.

  And at the same time as all of this was happening, my chest felt like someone was stabbing a needle into it. Over and over the needle went in and out. And as it did so, the needle started to heat up until it practically seared everything that it touched as it worked to kill me.

  Even through all of this, I was able to just barely make out the shouts and controlled chaos going on around me. People shouted about something searing its way out of something and damage being done. And with all that came those who were shouting about what they were focusing on. Only, there were a few that would curse and say that they were switching to something more urgent.

  Cool mana battled against the raging inferno even as it threatened to burn me from the inside out. Unable to concentrate on anything, I found the world fading to black.

  A sudden and sharp slap brought me back to the world of the living. “What the fuck was that for?” I demanded only to gawk at the fact that I could. That I was no longer stuck in my fucking head, with a friend so close yet entirely alone.

  “For nearly killing yourself!” Bert yelled before reaching over and giving me a hug. The shock of his actions prevented me from being able to react for the second that he lasted before he shoved himself away. “Don’t you dare do that to me again.” With those words, he stalked over to a chair set into the corner of the room.

  “Your friend here is correct.” The voice of the healer who had been arguing with the group grabbed my attention.

  She was absolutely gorgeous. If not for the fact that they were a myth, I would have thought she was one of the angels of old. Not the biblical ones, but those depicted by the church. Perfect in every way.

  Well, except for her attitude. “Your desire to free yourself was nearly your downfall. What in the ever-loving world did you think was going to happen when you poked a hole in that wall? Did you think that the pressure would just gradually leave? That all of your problems would be solved and that nothing else would go wrong?”

  Though I had no clue if she wanted answers to her questions or not, our eyes locked as she let me stew. Finally, she continued. “You were lucky. While your heart, left lung, a few ribs, and your skin were badly burned, you survived without any permanent damage. Whatever you did managed to keep the rate of release to something we could manage and treat.”

  My body chose that moment to make its neglect known. “I’ll get you something to eat,” Bert said as he practically raced out of the room.

  The healer’s face and tone softened as she watched him leave. “You have one hell of a friend. Very few people are willing to face down people like Security Chief Quinn and Professor Ulrick for any reason. Let alone to help someone else.”

  “Yeah.” I smiled. “He is the best friend one could ask for.” I shook my head and adjusted my body so I was sitting up as I asked the next question. “Okay doc, what is wrong with me?”

  “Other than the burns and a hole in your mana well?” I rolled my eyes. “Nothing else is wrong with you.”

  “Cool. So when can I get out of here then?” I wanted to check in and find my room. Oh, and I should probably find my drone. That was probably going to take a fight with the security people. Maybe I should leave that for later.

  “I want to keep you here for at least another hour.” I groaned but accepted that they were just playing it safe. “Plus, both the Professor and the Security Chief asked to be notified the moment you woke up.”

  Yeah, this was going to be a long…actually, what time was it? I tried to pull out my pad only to find that it was still missing. Even my watch was missing. I let out a huff of annoyance as I waved a hand through the air. “Fine, whatever.”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Her smile seemed to fill the room with light as she turned and made her way from the room. Not even a few minutes later, Bert raced into the room with two trays loaded with what looked like some form of food.

  It looked like a mix between potato soup and some sort of pudding. “It was the best they had.” Bert insisted as he took a tentative bite. “Honestly, not that bad.” I narrowed my eyes as I noticed him set the bowl to the side.

  A sudden growl from my stomach told me its thoughts on the meal. Either I fed the beast, or it would throw a fit. So, with great reluctance, I lifted some of the mixture into my mouth.

  He wasn’t wrong. It wasn’t all that bad. It wasn’t all that good either. But I doubted a place like this cared if the food tasted great. Just that it provided everything a person needed while they were here. Here's to hoping that the food the academy serves is at least this good.

  The sounds of our silverware scraping against the sides of the bowl and the occasional slurp, the room was silent. Even the beeping I had grown used to was missing. Though, judging by the fact that the machine next to me still showed my heart beating, the healer had simply turned off the sound.

  Fed and semicomfortable, we waited for our, well my, inevitable guest to come storming in here. Half an hour later, a bedraggled professor trudged into the room with a cup of coffee in his hand.

  “Ah,” he sounded like he was still partially asleep. “Good, you’re awake.”

  “More so than you professor.”

  “Yosef, please.” Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen. I stayed silent as he plopped down on one of the chairs set against the wall. “Let us wait for Quinn to show up, then we can get started.”

  Unlike the professor, Security Chief Quinn showed up looking almost as polished as she had last night. The only thing that even hinted at her being tired was the cup of coffee in her hand and the empty one that she tossed into the can as she entered the room.

  “Okay, let's have it.” She demanded of the professor as she shut the door. “What is his power?”

  The professor, for his part, produced a pad the size of my head. Each of the corners was lined with multiple pinprick emitters. On their own, they would barely be able to project much of anything. But get dozens of the things and you could project information to a whole room.

  With a flick, the information on his pad lifted up for everyone to see. My name, information, and even some of my test scores were visible. Yet, the space where my power was supposed to be listed, it was blank.

  “Eli Tazlin.” The professor sounded serious. “Do you agree to share your power with those gathered in this room?”

  “Sure.” How else was I supposed to answer that question? It wasn’t like I could say no.

  With a flourish, the information changed as my power came into view.

  Power: Link

  Tier: 1

  Tree: Technomagica

  Previous Evolutions: None

  Paths: Unknown

  I had a power. Not only that, it was one that I could actually use. Well, I assumed it was one I could use. With just the name and no description or guide, I had nothing to go off of. The only thing I knew was that it had to be related to technology in some way. After all, my mother’s power was in the Technomagica tree as well.

  How it could be used or what it could do, I had no clue. But I would. I was going to figure this power out. I had to figure this power out. If not to grow strong enough to protect myself, then to at least prove that I could.

  “I think that is all you needed?” The professor asked.

  “Yeah.” The Security Chief sounded a bit dejected at something. “I will get the paperwork filed and the drone released back to Eli by the end of the day. Good day.” With that, she opened the door and left.

  “Wait,” Bert asked. “Was that it?”

  “What did you expect?” The professor chuckled. “She got all the information she needed and can now authorize Eli to have the drone. Not just that. He will be authorized to carry any technological weapon, assuming he passes the qualifications for the base weapon, that is.”

  “But I didn’t have to take a class in hammer use.” Bert pointed out the flaw in the rules.

  “To be honest, the whole system is a bit gray at the start of your first year.” Professor Ulrick turned off his pad and set it onto the chair next to him. “For the first month, you can carry any weapon that you could reasonably be expected to use, given your listed power. Hence, they were okay with you carrying a hammer onto the campus.”

  “However, until now, there was no reasonable expectation that Eli here,” he gestured at me. “Could keep a drone under control. And before you say that it isn’t hard to control a drone, that is only because you have the skills to do so. In fact, the academy has accidents every year as some people try to use them as a means of passive monster harvesting.”

  “Now, the rules aren’t perfect.” He shrugged. “And more often than not, the alerts at the start of the year are false, and a simple test allows the person to keep their weapon with them. But how do we test your control over drones? It was decided by the academy chairman that the test would be conducted at the start of the academic year during your first drone class.”

  It sounded like a bunch of circular and twisted logic. Still, I didn’t have to deal with any of it right now. For now, I needed to figure out how to get out of here and to my room. Maybe after a real nap, one where even my brain was off in lala land, I could start to figure out how to use this power.

  “This is great and all professor,” I said through a yawn. “But I would like to get my room assignment and crash. That is, if you don’t mind.”

  “No, no,” He stood up and opened the door. “Let me get out of your way.” He hesitated at the door before adding. “If you need any help, feel free to give me a ping.” With that, he was gone.

  True to her word, the healer had us out of the place within the hour. Though she did warn me that my wounds were not fully healed and that I needed to take it easy for the next few days. I also needed to come in for a checkup at the start of the next week. Just to make sure everything was healing properly and to see if I could use magic or not.

  Speaking of which, I wasn’t allowed to use any mana for the next week. In fact, she forced me to wear a damned bracelet to prevent mana use. Talk about cruel and unusual punishment. So much for testing out this power and seeing how to use it.

  At least she had my pad and watch. With everything back where it belonged, we made our way out of the building. Thankfully the professor managed to get our rooms as well as get all of our stuff delivered from where Bert had dropped it outside the testing chamber.

  I was dead to the world the instant my head hit the pillow.