Chapter 24: Distress
Rewinding back the clock to just after the three of them entered the dimensional door, an injured figure immediately jumped out to exit the same way in the next moment. A familiar white-haired man.
['Mother Nature' asks where her contractor is.]
The moment he was reconnected to the system that was installed in all Ascenders, a text popped.
Sebastian's heart was pricked at those words…
"I'm sorry…!" His face twisted in a moment of deep regret. How could he have allowed this to happen?
If only he'd read the mood better…
'This… What am I supposed to do?' He limped towards the window, where sunlight hit his skin.
It had taken a few hours to find the door, but the feeling of freshness through him made it all worse.
The Magician had only been there for 3 hours and still felt suffocated. If so, then what about Adam?
How would he be holding up in there?
'I left him behind…' He knew what he did was morally reprehensible, especially when he saw that no one else had exited after him. There were only a few things this could possibly signify to him.
He stumbled his way downstairs and saw Kang Hyuk was taking care of the children responsibly.
"Sebas?!" The handsome man reacted.
His eyes wide as the jelly-like legs of the Magician gave out. The damage done to him too serious.
Sebastian passed out while falling down the top of the stairs, his body caught by Hyuk's agile figure.
He was unknowing of Adam's situation right now.
After all, the 'present' was cut from that dimension.
Anyone who exited that world would come out the exact time they got in; not the other way around.
The Magician was unknowing of the young man's changes over the course of time he wasn't there.
Unknowing the situation in there was a stalemate.
The scene of fighting continued…
Although Adam had only managed to swipe one 'Black Cigar' Mystic Tool, he used it perfectly.
Rather than 'digesting' the medicine, he allowed it to flow into his Gift Slot to give it extra effects.
Temporarily, 'Darkness' added to his Innate Gift.
Since a Semblance was ever-changing and static only when the user doesn't shift their nature, they had various ways of utilising their 'feelings'. And even more ways to get addicted to those feelings.
Normally, a Semblance was split into two words that signified its components: Feeling, THEN Ideal.
The most common of those ideals coming one of two conclusions for the Semblance's core trait.
Ether they cultivate their feelings like Shane did…
…or they deny that feeling until it has altered.
For now, Adam had chose to do the latter by letting his emptiness swallow up his rage and agitation.
After a long while of his endless battle with his instructor, he used up the Black Cigar completely.
However, the enhancements hadn't stopped.
His new 'Empty Darkness' ability showed traces of redness after draining his blood in a vampiric way.
His body became the fuel of his 'Reinforcement'.
After all, the main focus of his ideal right now wasn't the survival of his body… but of his mind.
His flesh only fuel to cultivate his inner strength.
And Adam believed that to be his weaponised 'self'.
By turning his emptiness into a weapon, he was able to bring out the power of the Beast Stones that were mixed into the Black Cigar. The medicine made of dead Beasts had 'awakened' within him.
They helped him mimic different animalistic traits.
Even without the use of his own emotions, he had brought out the resentment within those stones.
This being amplified by the Dark Steel Limit Ascension Compound that altered his physique.
He'd lost his human form while fighting.
Over time, the battle changed to that between two demonic figures of shadows using their strength.
The horned 'Demon Lord' used barbaric and aggressive tactics against the animalistic fighting style of his opponent. He was actually quite proud of how his disciple was growing with each strike.
He hoped this continued as long as it could.
Especially when Adam's Semblance evolved once again. The spirit stones within the man activated.
The blackened figure covered in a transformative darkness of red lines suddenly spat out weapons.
Simon could tell that these were the manifestations of dark Spirit Essences consisting of Gunners and Gladiators. Though they were of common Classes on their own, a field of projected weapons made it possible for the young man to break his limitations.
The balanced scale of battle fell out of his favour…
The now feral disciple of his switched between different weapons of both close and long range while in the middle of combat. His fighting senses improved tremendously since they had started.
To the point that Simon had even gotten injured…
This marked the shift between the attacker and the defender. The one who'd take most the hits.
Adam's situation continued unknowing to Sebas.
The Magician had gotten out knowing that there would be a distortion of time between dimensions.
Even if he went back the exact moment he got out of there, an undetermined amount of time would have passed. Most would worry at this point for Simon's safety. He was, after all, on life supports.
Once the explosion of power caused by the 'Red Bull' canisters ran out, his organs would jumble.
Adam would probably kill him when that happened.
However, after the Magician woke up and explained the situation to Hyuk, his opinion was different.
It was actually their Landlord in danger!
"We need to go and rescue him… Let's come up with a plan of action." Was what he started with.
They were in an oddly relaxed position considering what happened with the two. Sitting on the sofas.
Sebas hadn't even bothered moving the kids out.
They sat silently next to the handsome man who took care of them like two well-behaved children.
"Shouldn't we be in a hurry? And… umm…" Hyuk glanced at the kids that'd grown attached to him.
Perhaps his fatherly attitude had moved then.
"It's fine." He answered both concerns casually.
"…Really?"
"Time between two dimensions can't be read anyway. There's no information to go off."
"Does everything with you have to be like this?"
"Like what?"
"Inconsistent." The pervert rolled his eyes. Maybe his friend was a magnet for weird events like this.
But he didn't linger on that for too long, inquiring:
"Why don't you trust Simon? He doesn't seem that bad. Who knows… This could be scripted, right?"
"You're joking…! Please tell me you're seriously not thinking that bastard thought everything through."
"…" On the second thought, Hyuk realised that the man was practically a mess from his very nature.
There's no way he came up with a consistent plan.
"Then what? Even if it's Simon, he's bound to run out of steam. They'll come out when they want to."
"The thing about that is, err… They won't."
"They… what…?"
"Both of them will never come out."
"Why do you sound so sure about that?"
"The dimensional door is cut off from time. It means regardless of what happens inside, those that go in will inevitably come out at the exact same time. If they haven't come out, that means that they… never will." Sebastian wiped his sweat.
This was the most concerning fact of the matter.
It made Hyuk finally straighten his back seriously.
"You two should probably leave for now." Just as he was about to send them off, the girl grabbed his sleeve. Even though she looked cute, she was a child of the Arcadia Household. She had her pride.
There was no way she'd sit back like a doll.
"I want to help too." Seeing those strong-willed eyes of hers, the two got affected by the mood.
However, they still held their reason on this matter.
"…It's fine. This is a job for adults like us. We'll get this situation under control." Hyuk said soothingly.
Perhaps it was the worry on their face, but the oddly mature girl didn't argue with them too much.
The boy, Flinn Markson, was about to get up.
But Lucia's glance immediately made him sit down.
Since they were still children, the two men decided it wasn't worth arguing about and wasting time.
Even letting out critical information:
"Time is any immortals strongest and most primary weapon of choice. Even if Simon could overpower him, those cigars of his should eventually decay." It was a reasonable conclusion that Hyuk came to.
"I thought that too… but what I heard back there changes everything. We were all tricked by him."
"…How so?" Since Sebas had known him for a longer time, he definitely had reasons to say this.
But the Magician didn't get to the point in haste.
"How much do you know about Simon?" Was the first thing he brought of regarding the old geezer.
"He's practically ancient in age… Drinks way too much… injured… Is strong enough to beat the assassins both of us lost to… and from the looks of the calluses I saw, is a master of Martial Arts."
"And how strong do you think he is."
"I'm not sure how he beat that woman, but he should be weaker without a Qi Centre helping him."
"That's where you're wrong."
"It shouldn't be far off…" Hyuk was aware of the differences between Lower Realms and methods.
Ascenders couldn't all be judged by logic
"He is a technical martial artist. He's probably more comfortable fighting without his magic in the way."
"What?!"
"Also, your wrong about one other thing."
"What is it this time…?"
"He DOES have immortality. Meaning he's powerful and infallible on top of it." This shook all of them.
The two kids were understandable, but Kang Hyuk also felt deeply terrified. If this was true, then…
"…But he needs life supports." He tried to come up with a silver lining, and this was a thick one indeed.
Even if the man was immortal, that only meant he was a mere unbreakable piece of tissue paper.
Even immortality couldn't stop his deterioration.
Simon wouldn't look old if that wasn't the case.
Although the Magician didn't correct him, he still didn't agree with this perspective on the issue.
"That's only because his 'vessel' was damaged."
"I don't get it." That didn't make sense.
"…Right." He forgot Hyuk wasn't studious despite being a medic. Simon's condition was special.
"He has a tough and powerful Life Force. I'm not sure how, but it immortality is higher than Adam's."
"But we can still-"
"And he can manipulate Life Force by himself."
"-sit here and run when the times come." Hyuk did a one-eighty shift in attitude on the entire subject.
He valued the little life he had, but still..
His curiosity lead him to asking suspiciously:
"What makes you so scared of him? I admit he's amazing, but both of us are something too."
"Let me show you why." Sebas took a cup and smashed it across the ground, then fixed it up.
His magic telekinetically piecing it back together.
The broken glass mysteriously looked like it was before it was smashed. Only with tiny crack lines.
"This is him with my Mana circle holding his body together." Sebastian pointed at the broken cup.
"And this is what SHOULD'VE happened if he struck someone." He picked it up and shattered it.
The glass immediately shattered once again.
This result only posed more questions… Hyuk's face darkened when Sebas continued his test.
The broken glass was pieced together again.
This time, with visibly more cracks.
"THIS is what should happen if he strains his body using Life Energy, or energy of any kind." The Mana inside his body ran through the glass before discharging chaotically. The cracks in the glass cup only grew wider and more numerous as he did so.
Hyuk's face was as dark as an abyss….
"There was a foot print where he stood when he defeated that assassin last night, but he didn't seem to have used anything but pure technique back then." This comment was the last straw.
There was nothing more to say. The handsome pervert sat back down with a distressed look:
"We're fucked."
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