Dragon in a Bottle (GM)

[Preston Salabim]

Preston had been pouring over the items of the late Leon Sudeki for hours now.  Channeling mana into it in small but precise streams to chart the way the mana flowed through it, the way it pooled and pulsated.  It wasn't enough to understand the item, that was only part of the equation.  He needed to understand the soul that had been carrying it for so long.  That was the source of power.  It was by using the long carried items as an astral mirror that he projected and redirected his own mana into the echo of what was left.  

It was no match for having the real thing in front of him, but such specimens did not exist.  At least not in the willing and living variety.  But he was determined.  It was nothing he couldn't solve with time, effort, and meticulous notetaking.  All of the secrets of the universe could be unraveled in such a manner, and along with keeping order and prosperity for his home, that was his directive.  To solve those very mysteries and innovate new ways to live.  

Without taking so much as a moment to adjust his glasses or wipe the sweat that was lining his brow Preston continued to write notes in the small leather notebook he had dedicated to this experiment.  Made of Qi beast hide tanned inside of a Qi scar, the ink mixed with his own blood and mana and the quill plucked from the wings of an Arc-Angel. 

Progress was being made however, he was slowly but surely mapping out the channels of the Lightning Dragon's Qi and Soul.  And once he understood it, he could replicate it. And once he could replicate it, he could distill it. And that was the goal. 

[Sir Galahad]

Mapping Leon's essence would go smoothly at first but then from out of nowhere it would be like hitting a torrent of turbulence. It was almost as if even Leon's essence was looking for a fight! It picked up on Preston's Mana intrusion and decided to attempt to shake it loose!

[Preston Salabim]

His jaw and throat tightened as he felt the sudden turbulence of either, sudden and powerful but not unexpected. Dragon's and Leon specifically were known to be volatile. It would be a surprise if he hadn't encountered something like this. It meant he was on the right path.

There were many ways to battle. He was not very good when it came to throwing fists or being on the front lines. He didn't have the raw strength of battle mages, and he bruised easily. But this, the battle of the minds, of the souls and essence. This is what he thrived at, these were the challenges that he lived for and loved to overcome. They were puzzles to pull apart, and he knew ever puzzle had a solution. It was just a matter of finding it.

He didn't engage the essence at first, however, it wasn't going anywhere. Rather he would probe at it, retreating and poking at it from different angles and in different ways. He was tested how it reacted, how it lashed out, and more importantly. When it lashed out, what weaknesses and holes opened up.

[Sir Galahad]

The essence would attempt to Dynamically attack the first few times that Preston poked and prodded before growing bored. It would seem to just sit there growing more annoyed. Finally the essence would open up, as if offering Preston the first hit. The essence was tired of playing games and wanted to get some action going, maybe if it let Preston get a good hit in...

[Preston Salabim]

He took a moment to scribble this into his notes. It lined up and matched what records he had of the Lightning Dragon before he was collared. Always looking to fight, always looking for challenges, and even willing to bait people in by letting them strike first. Trying to lure them in where he wanted. The problem was waiting it out wasn't exactly an option. Going all in would lead to a struggle, and without a clear plan of attack that would lead to Preston exhausting himself and possibly losing days or weeks depending.

No, he needed to make the essence open up in a way that he could slip in and control. So he would continue to poke and prod at it. It had lashed out in annoyance before, he wanted that again. Something raw and unplanned. He'd break through its boredom.

[Sir Galahad]

The essence would get increasingly annoyed at the continuing poking and prodding before finally as if it had reached it's peak of enough. When Preston went to poke at the essence something would feel off, almost as if the essence was no longer restraining itself. The very next poke Preston would attempt would be met with the full force of the Lightning Dragons Essence unrestrained and unrelenting!

[Preston Salabim]

He was ready for it. And when the energy lashed out at him he focused his thin thread on moving out of the way of the torrent, dancing as if a leaf on the wind. Reaching out just enough to place the smallest poke on the essence, something weak and obviously no match for the raw power of the Dragon. A drop of food coloring in the ocean, spreading ever so slightly, but ultimately swallowed.

[Sir Galahad]

The essence would be impressed at Preston's ability to dodge and still make an attempted attack, this only reinforced the Lightning Dragon's Essence's will to fight, it seemed to grow stronger as it again made a gargantuan attack at Preston!

[Preston Salabim]

Nimble Preston needed to move. A perk of using a small amount of energy was that what it lacked in force, it made up for in mobility. He would attempt to dodge under the essence and plant another small dot of his energy on it from below this time. Still, nothing that could possibly threaten the massive force that was the Lightning Dragon's soul.

[Sir Galahad]

This time rather than taking the jab, the essence would attempt to counter it by latching onto the mana and pulling it in.

[Preston Salabim]

Preston did not resist as the energy sought to swallow the energy with a counter and would instead sever the mana connection where the dragon energy struck back. The frayed strand of energy splitting to try and give it small pin pricks on its top and untouched side. The core of Preston's energy remained in front of it. Waiting and watching.

[Sir Galahad]

The essence would back away from Preston's mana and would go for another attack... but it would be sluggish and significantly weaker than it was prior.

[Preston Salabim]

Preston's mana rushed,toward it as it attacked, now was the time,to let it consume him.

[Sir Galahad]

And consume him it did.

Omnomnomnom.

[Preston Salabim]

And with that the final piece was in place. Preston would send a surge of mana through the consumed line, letting it ripple through Leon's essence. The small dots placed before reacting and suddenly expanding as thin lines erupted from each point to connect to each other, weaving his mana through and around Leon's essence with himself as the focal point.

With this seal he sought to contain Leon's essence and map it with every spiderwebbing tendril that would branch and worm it's way through the Essence to connect with the others.