The man behind him was enormous. Shoulders like boulders, arms thick as tree trunks, neck wider than most people's torsos. A shaved head crisscrossed with old scars. Small, dark eyes that radiated contempt.
Mana Heart Rank 4. Kael felt it clearly.
The pressure increased.
Kael's ribs creaked. His vision blurred at the edges. Around him, he sensed George's mana signature shift. Cassian hadn't moved. Yenna had gone still, ice flickering but not forming.
Testing me now, are we?
Kael almost laughed.
He raised one hand—slowly and created a gravity zone as a small and precise sphere of reversed pressure no larger than a basketball, centered directly above his head.
The crushing weight hit the zone and shattered.
The pressure vanished like it had never existed.
Bruno's eyes widened for a second.
Kael straightened his collar and turned to face the big man fully. His silver gaze was flat like he was bored.
"Well, that was rude," Kael said.
Bruno's jaw tightened. His mana flared—
