"AAAAH!"
Samuel was knocked to the ground as Erik watched in increasing alarm as the older man's stone armor, which had taken the brunt of the attack, visibly cracked after the blow. The Thaid's monstrous strength was a terrifying spectacle.
Erik reacted quickly and channeled his mana through his neural links, focusing on his duty to divert the attention of the Thaid away from Samuel, who was lying on the ground.
He thrust himself forward, the air around him crackling with the accumulated force energy, and aimed his attack squarely at the Thaid.
The problem was that Erik felt his energy reserves dwindle. He'd pushed his powers to their limits, flooding his very being with the ethereal substance to keep pace with the humanoid thaid. That was the advantage of brain crystal powers as they allowed to make up the difference in strength if all the available mana was used, but clearly, that also meant the mana reserves would deplete faster.
Keep in mind that Erik had been many months in Liberty Watch even though I skipped most of the events. This means that his relationship with Samuel is as good as the one he has with Floyd and the others.