Chapter 34: Arc on his own
With everyone else gone Arc stayed in the shop pouring over the research, he was completely riveted to the raw amount of information especially about magic which it seemed like he possessed a very high affinity for. It was like wielding magic was natural to which greatly intensified his desire to learn more.
There was enough caffeine in his system to keep his eyes wired open as he hastily went from examining one document to the next in a blur of espresso induced research craze. His micro brew was set to an all time high level of caffeination in order to keep up with how much he had to deal with.
He performed many tests based off of the information and found that manipulating mana was as easy as any other energy source for him and much to his delight could draw in an exceptional amount of that energy from his surroundings until his mana pool became full. He even found out he could personally convert other energies into mana which greatly helped his experimentations.
According to the data the amount of mana he stored was far beyond what any beginner could ever hope to wield as they would usually have to train for years before their body would except even half as much.
He also found the runic language to deeply fascinating to the point that he didn't study the strange potion very much so that he could delve deeper into the mysteries of the arcane spending all day trying to decipher all the meanings he could.
It was late in the middle of the night as he was deep in his research that the door opened to the store. It set off a beeper to alert him and when he checked the cameras he was immediately put into a panic as the entire building was being stormed by military personnel. They appeared to have the entire building surrounded by a small army.
He hastily grabbed a briefcase of supplies which included the vial from DiMiTri and ran for an escape hatch he had installed right after they got the place. The hatch went to an escape pod that launched him into the sewer system before speeding down the pipes towards the fourth district.
He had no idea how they had found them as he was sure they had covered their tracks but it could have been anyone looking to get a slice of the bounty so he kept his mind on what to do now. The route he had set up would ferry him from the fifth district through the piping all the way down to the second where he would be able to better get away by mixing with the locals.
He only made it through part of the third district when the pipe his ride was going through opened up to a fully surrounded military operation which seemed to have been hastily set up as if they just found out where he was.
Arc immediately ejected from his escape pod to launch into the air above them releasing an emp wave all around to knock out their tech before pulling out a magnetic grappling hook which he used to swing over their forces.
As he swung through the district he quickly gained powered followers who used their various abilities to keep up. One lightning man almost got him but Arc used his own power to divert the mans energetic body into the power grip which promptly exploded.
Arc wasn't doing good though as several more elementals and one very tenacious speedster where catching up to him. The speedster was using objects as ramps to jump at him forcing Arc to make some hasty dodges and the speedster didn't seem to be effected by an of the energy Arc manipulated at him.
He was getting desperate to escape and swinging around was simply not enough to get him out of danger as here neared the busier parts of the district he tried to swing into one of the buildings to lose his pursuers but was almost instantly met by the speedster. Arc quickly zapped a nearby barbeque that was on the balcony and was forced to use the ensuing explosion to swing away again yet the speedster was still hot on his tail.
Arc finally rounded a corner to come face first with a wall of soldiers and mages that were ready to take him down. He quickly grabbed the strange vial to drink it's contents hoping that that weird concoction would do something and something it did as his vision cut out as his mind expanded in a chaotically unified fashion. He saw a existence for a moment as if he had just left the box of reality before coming crashing back into the situation.
His mind felt extremely clear while energy was erupting all over the area in a majestic storm of magical force that felt to him like a symphony that he was conducting as it rippled around the enemy lines causing absolute havoc for the mages as all their spells lost all manner of control converting the well ordered military lines into a complete wreckage.
This moment of clarity lasted a few moments as he danced through their perimeter but it couldn't last as several powered users covered him with plants, water and ice to freeze him in place before he was surrounded again to be taken into custody.
The last thing he saw before being knock unconscious was Major Tomson smoking a thick cigar as he talked to Laura Laren in the distance.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone