zooey sonic boom

“No, but I figure now is as good an opportunity as any.” She sheathed her sword and stepped back, pressing her palms together. She began gathering her mana, but it was slow to react, like a creature awakening from hibernation. “Zodiac: Avagath.” A large silver magic circle appeared on the ground, showing the ten constellation runes open to her, and through them, she could feel the power of the cosmos beginning to flow into her. It was a feeling she had missed. Whenever she activated her magic, she could see the stars with her mind’s eye, the flickering light in the darkness, especially when she used Avagath, which expanded her sensory abilities.

A moment of silence passed before Tarnas cleared his throat and began to speak. “That truly is an unforgivable crime. You are right to feel guilty, to hate yourself for the things you’ve done. That is what you are supposed to feel, and to admit it now means you are on the correct path. It means you are learning from your mistakes and want to do right. Whether or not you can ever truly make up for what you have done, you can still become a better man than you were before. You can become a man who helps instead of hurts, who strives to make the world a better place.”

Noah had already made progress in slowing the flow of his mana and his bodily functions, and the headband was helping. His heart dropped to one beat a minute, and he all but stopped breathing. Typically, such a state would be fatal, but the more he slowed down his mana, the more he could forestall damage. Without mana flowing, his cells would stop processing nourishment and oxygen, but they wouldn’t wither and die, for the molecular processes of cell death were also halted. Caught in a near-perfect state of suspended animation, his physical senses operated at the lowest possible level, and he became more attuned to the flow of mana around him, sharpening his spirit senses.