My head throbbed from the last hit, a deep pulsing pain that blended with the lingering ache from earlier when I tried to push my perception too far. Every attempt to extend it ended the same way, an explosion of pain in my skull like someone was drilling behind my eyes.
Still, I wasn't done trying.
I focused inward, gathering strength through my core. For a brief second, the energy stirred. I felt it rise through my limbs… and then it vanished again, scattered like dust in the wind.
I knew right away what was happening. Even through the pounding in my skull, I sensed it. The energy wasn't just fading—it was being pulled, siphoned through the cuffs on my wrists and then dispersed harmlessly into the air around me. Like water leaking through cracks, it was simply gone.
So I shifted my attention. If the cuffs were draining my gathered energy, I needed to know what else they were doing. What could I still do, if anything?
