(TPOR) Chapter 189: A Runner

Daniel watched Zed. His countenance had changed, taken a dive into the realms of seriousness.

It was an odd sight to see.

“Talk about what?”

“California,” Zed answered.

Jennifer adjusted on her place at the window. “What about California?”

“How long before we get there?” Zed asked.

“A few more hours,” Daniel answered.

“Four?”

Daniel thought about it, then nodded. “Give or take. Maybe five.”

“And what are the protocols for when we get there?”

Ronda was standing to the side with Kid, listening to the conversation and saying nothing. Her brief encounter hadn’t left her bitter in anyway. If anything, she seemed impressed, held Zed to a bit of a higher standard now.

Daniel was glad for that. Ven was always happy for a soldier that was always more than willing to learn.

“What do you mean by protocols?” Daniel asked, knowing exactly what the protocols required to enter the city were.

“You know,” Zed made a vague gesture with his hand. “Protocols. For instance, to enter a country, you need a passport and a visa. A yellow card. Things like that.”

“There is a check at the entrance,” Ronda offered.

Zed turned to her with a confused look. “A check. Not a fee?”

“Depends on you purpose of entry,” Kid said, following after Ronda. “Merchants get a check and a fee. Civilians just get a check.”

“What about outsiders?”

Daniel, Kid and Ronda shared a look.

Jennifer did not join in it. “Outsiders get their mana signatures registered.”

That got Zed’s attention.

“Mana signatures?”

“It’s like aura,” she said.

“Or a thumbprint.” Daniel hadn’t been sure if to tell him, but there was no point in keeping it a secret now. “Everybody has an individual signature that cannot be forged.”

“So it’s better than an ID card,” Zed mused.

“Far more superior,” Jennifer confirmed.

Zed nodded in agreement.

“And registering someone’s mana signature is entirely harmless, right? Does it get extra details like mana type, core capacity, specialization and stuff like that?”

“Not really,” Daniel said. “Why?”

“Just rectifiying a curiosity of mine. Remember how you guys thought I was a blood mage at some point in time?”

“Yes.”

“If I was a blood mage, would the registration pick that?”

Everyone was silent. Ronda and Kid were clearly thinking about it, but Daniel didn’t have to. He knew the answer because anyone who asked questions and had been considered capable of leadership positions in the VHF at any point in time was very much aware of what the devices used to register mana signatures were capable of.

The answer was very simple, but what Daniel wanted to know was why Zed was asking. What was the mage trying to figure out that he was asking such a question?

Would he have to administer the blood magic test again?

“Why d—”

“It can,” Jennifer replied before Daniel could finish his question. “A person’s mana signature can tell a lot.”

Zed sighed as if considering something, changing his mind and changing it again.

Daniel didn’t know how he felt about a thoughtful Zed.

Zed held an open palm up in front of them. “What about this?”

A rune appeared in front of them. It was a simple detection rune but it was wrong. Not in the way it looked but in its color. Kid had been right. It was a deep black.

Daniel had never seen a black rune before.

Jennifer was more concerned with other things.

“How did you do that?” she asked. “You just… just manifested it. You didn’t draw it.”

Zed looked down at it as well, as if realizing that he really hadn’t drawn it.

“I don’t know,” he replied, very unsure. “But that’s not what’s important right now. What I need to know is if getting my mana signature will tell me why exactly my runes are black.”

“You were struck by the devil lance, I think its clear what’s happening,” Ronda said. “You somehow regenerated and ended up with Devil mana.”

Daniel shot her a dark look. How did she not know that such a speculation was not the kind to be voiced out without proof? You did not just speculate that someone has Devil’s mana. If Zed knew as much as the average person, he would start planning how to run.

“But I’ve been told that people don’t survive devil mana,” Zed said.

“And people do not regenerate from a million shots like they’re out on an evening stroll,” Jennifer said. “Your high regeneration probably helped you survive the process and the devil mana somehow consumed your mana. Ergo,” she gestured at the still floating black rune. “Black mana. Black rune.”

Zed dropped his hand and the rune dissipated like smoke.

“My mana’s still what it was before,” he said. “Hasn’t changed.”

That caught Daniel’s attention. The certainty in his voice.

“And how do you know this?” he asked. “How have you checked?”

“I just do.”

“You have an attribute that keeps track of the state of your mana?” Ronda asked, confused. “Wouldn’t that make it like five or six attributes? No one’s ever recorded more than four.”

Zed shook his head. “Not an attribute. It’s just something I know how to do. The color of my mana has changed but my mana itself has not.” He turned to Daniel. “Is this something they can fix at VHF headquarters?”

“Yes.”

Zed’s brows furrowed. “And you’re sure?”

“Positive.”

Zed groaned, then scratched his head in worry. “This is annoying. I miss having colorful runes like purple and orange and left side of the moon.”

“Left side of the what?” Jennifer asked.

“Left side of the moon,” Daniel clarified.

“What’s that?”

Daniel gestured the question aside. “It’s not a color. He just added it because he could..”

“No, I didn’t,” Zed protested.

“Yes, you did,” Daniel retorted. “And before you say anything, blue-grey is not the left side of the moon.”

Zed pressed his lips in a thin line. “This is tricky. Now I don’t know if I like you or not.”

Ronda laughed. “Must be annoying to meet someone you can’t confuse.”

Zed shrugged. “I can confuse you so it’s fine, really.”

Ronda frowned but only Kid paid it any attention.

“Anyway,” Zed continued. “Thanks for satisfying my curiosity. As for the real reason I came here. How quickly before we can set off for California. I’m quite tired of being on the road.”

“Not long,” Daniel said. “We’re just setting up some last minute things, then we’ll leave. Twelve hours more. We should be in carlifornia by this time tomorrow.”

“Thanks.” Zed made his way to the door. “I’ll let the others know. Oh, and Ronda, sorry for kicking you so hard.”

Ronda mumbled something about being fine and rubbed her leg once more. Then Zed was gone and they were alone in the room once more.

“What do you think that was about?” Jennifer asked.

“It was about the mana signature,” Daniel answered. “He came fishing.”

“Has anyone ever told you how disturbing it is that you understand that guy, Boss?” Kid asked. “I could’ve gone the rest of my life never meeting anyone that understood him.”

“I had a similar feeling when I found out he speaks Zed too,” Ronda said.

“On a more serious note,” Jennifer said. “How do you know he wasa fishing.”

“Did you see the look on his face when he showed us the rune?” Daniel asked.

Kid shrugged. “Not really.”

“He knew we knew. I’m guessing he already suspected you told us. He was just gauging our reaction, trying to figure out if we would lie or say nothing or tell him that we already knew.”

“But we said nothing. And Jennifer was more interested in the fact that he didn’t draw the rune.”

“Yea,” Ronda frowned. “What’s up with that? Never seen a rune mage do that.” She turned to Kid. “Was that how he was casting when you guys were out?”

Kid shook his head. “He still had to draw it, even if he was very fast about it.”

“Let’s get back on point,” Jennifer said. “So if he already knew that we knew, what was he gauging by showing us? Are you saying he wasn’t interested in having it checked out?”

“I think he was interested in that,” Daniel said. “But I think it wasn’t so much. He was more interested in finding out something else. And he wanted to find out using our reactions.”

“So all we need to do is figure out what he asked us after showing us the rune and that narrows down what he really wanted to know,” Kid mused.

Daniel shook his head. “It’s not so simple. It’s not like a polygraph where they get baseline results before they ask the actual questions. For all we know, all the questions were baseline questions. He could’ve even gotten the answer he was looking for when he was sparring Ronda.”

Daniel frowned and scratched his head in annoyance. He hated being toyed with. For all he knew, Zed had gotten the information he needed and was—

“The mana signature,” Jennifer said suddenly. “It’s the mana signature. He was here to confirm it.”

“You’re sure?” Daniel asked.

“Positive. It's the only thing I can see him having a problem with. Maybe how HQ would react to his black runes too. But if that was the case he could've asked after we were in the city. His concern was for the mana signature, but not for himself. He came to confirm it for someone on his team. It all makes sense. Zed doesn’t strike me as the kind of person that will have a problem having his signature taken.”

“Could be the blood mana thing,” Kid suggested.

Ronda shook her head. “Not it, we already cleared him for that one. It’s something else.”

“Someone else,” Jennifer clarified.

“Can’t be Chris,” Kid said. “He hates her guts.”

“That leaves three options.” Daniel didn’t like having to think so much. “Oliver, Ash, and Shanine.”

“Why can’t it be Festus?” Jennifer asked.

“Because Festus is a Knight rank,” Daniel answered. “He doesn’t need to sneak around to get answers. If he wants to know something, he’ll walk in, probably summon one or all of us, and ask. That’s how people with power are.”

The room settled into a disturbed and thoughtful silence as everyone tried to reach a conclusion.

None was reached, but Ronda voiced the one thing everyone knew.

“They’re about to pull a runner.”

“How do we stop them?” Kid asked.

Jennifer snorted. “Stop them? They’ve got a Knight on their side, there’s no stopping them.”

“But they still need to get into the city. If they don’t follow the entrance, they sure as hell can’t climb the walls.”

“They’re going to smuggle their way in.” There was a finality to Jennifer’s voice. “I’m sure the Chris girl knows how. I'll bet my salary for a month on it. She’s got to be the spy the anti-mage was talking about. She's always known too much for a girl so out of touch with the major world.”

Daniel didn’t like this one bit. “We can’t jump to conclusions yet. But we’ll have a strong idea when it’s time to leave. Then we can act."

“How?”

“Car arrangements. They'll want to put all of them in one car, even if we suggest otherwise.”

He was playing voice of reason, but Daniel knew that they were right. Zed was about to pull a runner.

The question was why?

…

When Zed left the Olympians, his chest was beating heavily in his chest. They had a massive problem and he couldn’t believe he was about to make the choice he was about to make.

He crossed the distance it took from the Olympians’ room to Oliver’s room. [Titan’s Axe] was still in there but it was also not his reason for going there.

When he got to the door, he knocked once, checked on the Olympians to see if anyone was following him.

I wonder if they figured it out?

The encounter with Ronda hadn’t been part of the plan. He’d tried to confuse them with the whole talk of being able to take them, then he’d noticed Jennifer, taken the idea seriously and seen Ronda throw a few punches.

The ambient mana moved with every action she'd made. She had something of a perfect flow and the mana was quite literally telegraphing every action. When he chose to show her, it wasn’t to teach her.

Flow?

He didn’t know shit about the flow of martial arts. Zed was just checking how well he could read the flow of the ambient mana around her, which was confusing because why was she the only one with that trait. The ambient mana didn’t follow the others.

But it didn’t matter, he was there for other reasons and he’d gotten his answer.

Zed knocked on the door again, then opened it.

“I swear if anyone’s on top of anyone I’ll go blind,” he announced himself as he walked in.

Inside, he found only Oliver.

“Hey, what’s up, Ollie?”

“Pissed. That’s all,” Oliver answered. “What brings you here?”

“Looking for your girlfriend.”

“Why?”

Zed paused. “Can we just take a moment to appreciate the fact that you didn’t deny her this time?”

“That’s because it wouldn’t matter to you. You’ll still just go around calling her my girlfriend.”

Zed shrugged. “Well that’s true.”

“So what do you need her for?”

Zed scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “Uhh… I’m here to take her up on her offer.”