"Yeah...probably not. Who would...believe me anyway? Yeah, I got my ass handed to by a sixty year old woman who had poor fashion sense and an insatiable blood lust that only my body could quench. Can I not do laps in gym today? I can't see that conversation going over well. Not to mention explaining the bat shit crazy portion of my life would earn me a field trip to the insane asylum. Plan B?"
Minori smiled gently as the boy spoke, rolling over to her back to enjoy not being vine whipped or beaten, or stabbed. She didn't want to make breaking her body a habit, but she'd do it again when that woman returned, and then some if she didn't get stronger. Damion vocalized that thought for the group, and asked for suggestions but Minori couldn't tell if the latter was sarcasm or not. She had some ideas, of course, but there was a reason she hadn't attempted any of them.
"Research and Development have been working on Mana Storage tanks, though they don't have a working model as of yet. Artificial mana conversion is proving quite the obstacle..." Minori said, it being one of the projects she'd been occupying her time with as of late. She had been working on studying sealing techniques, believing that infusing the machines with the mana of their user would aid in the process, but the HQ blew up before she could make much progress.
"But a lack of mana isn't the problem, is it?" She asked, sitting up now as she looked around the exhibit. The museum was abandoned and half destroyed, and the group had the building to themselves for the time being. "I wonder if there's any other magical artifacts in here..." She muttered, trying to get to her feet. She felt Damion approaching as she did so, and stayed down on one knee for a moment, staying at the young man's height being an excellent excuse to not strain her already sore muscles.
"You felt it too right? The strange mana energy during the fight? I only felt its impact, so I was wondering....if you knew what it was?"
Minori instantly darted her eyes over towards Zane, brow furrowing as she mulled over how to respond. She'd felt it, she was sure of it, but it was hard to focus when you were bleeding out.
"What it was is the easy part... Zane drew on your mana, and someone else's, to use those spells. My Sense was clouded by the concealment spell, as well as crippling amounts of pain, so I'm not sure where the third mana source came from..." Minori said, closing her eyes in an attempt to focus, but only received a headache for the trouble.
"The source is still near him, but is so faint as to be non-existant. I wouldn't know to focus in on it at all if not for its appearance before... I'm also starting to think Zane's admission to Gatewatchers shouldn't be a request any longer, given what has and will probably transpire," Minori said coldly. Powerful beings were targeting him, he knew their spells... and Minori didn't even want to start with what she had thought the color of that third mana was. The point being, Zane held a lot of answers, and they could protect him much better than he could himself from Rose.
She started to continue, but stopped when a white orb appeared, the mana making it up being very conveniently familiar, and began to release healing waves of magic throughout the room. The healing spell was sophisticated, even taking the ache from her muscles as it washed over her. She took a minute to enjoy the sensation before standing and looking over at Zane, who was just now waking up.
"Guys, I think I know how we can power up before Rose returns and kills us all," Zane mentioned as he hopped to his feet. "When I picked up this Scepter...which I may have forgotten about during my fight with Rose and didn't pull out...my mana power increased. Now, its not complete, but I can find the rest easily. But, if we all find or create totems of our own to help channel our mana, much like how Rose had all those Rose symbols, I think if we work together with all of our powers boosted we stand a chance".
'Oh sure... just run out to the corner store and pick up some magical artifacts,' Minori thought to herself, sighing in frustration. He also drew her attention to the glasses she hadn't realized he'd had, and had to stop herself from running up and yanking them from his hands. As it stood, she merely ran over to him, and very carefully hovered her hands near the glasses in a compromise.
This was the third source.
She stopped herself before she did more with her hands then feel the air around the glasses, shaking her head in an attempt to rid herself of the temptation. An inanimate object with its own mana, complete with unique color... she could run tests on it that she never could on people...
Would their bodies even be cold?
The thought made her step away, hands clenched tight as Rose's words swam in her head.
"Those glasses... Never let them out of your sight, Zane. Pun unintended," She said, and stormed off away from the others. If she were to need a totem or a relic, she had some thoughts as to what she would prefer.
"Whatever we do next, that woman is still out there, and she has allies I'm sure. No field trips without a partner, if we want to be in good health enough to use those catalysts. I'm going back to HQ to dig something out of the basement, if anyone is interested in a lift", Minori called, stopping at one of the exhibit doors as she awaited a response.