Chapter 149: Toughest Walk
Back at the workshop, Principal Finch studied Daniel’s collapsed form with a blend of academic interest and grandfatherly amusement.
He teased with a mock whine, "Fascinating, aren’t they?" His voice was soft, yet carried a deep, unshakable clarity that pierced the sudden, terrifying silence in Daniel’s mind.
It was a silence more profound than any he’d ever known, the absence of the constant, thrumming power that had been his identity for so long.
"A beautiful blend of Nomological Sealing Arts and advanced dimensional metallurgy," the Principal elaborated, his ancient eyes gleaming as they traced the simple bands encircling Daniel’s wrists.
"They don’t just suppress your power, my boy, they perform a far more absolute function.
They completely isolate your physical form from the metaphysical source of your origin energy.
He leaned forward slightly, the leather of his chair creaking softly.
"You are, for all intents and purposes, a mortal man again.
A physically untrained mortal man, I’d wager, considering how long you’ve relied on your attributes to do the heavy lifting.
Those muscles haven’t known true labor, have they?"
Daniel, shaking with effort, finally managed to push himself from the cool stone floor into a kneeling position.