Chapter 18: Ether
'What's happening? Where am I?..'
Jen slowly opened his eyes, exhaustion immediately flooding his mind, even though he had just woken up.
His last memory was of escaping from that pale man, running for miles at top speed before losing consciousness at the edge of the inner area.
That air cannon was no joke; he was sure he had internal bleeding and vaguely remembered being carried.
It felt as if his eyes had turned to stone; it took him nearly a minute to open them with the help of his hands, covered in some strange substance.
Another thing, his body structure had changed significantly... very significantly.
'How!'
(First-person perspective: Jen)
Out of the corner of my newly awakened eyes, I noticed my yellow hair flowing almost to the bottom of my forehead.
My hair definitely wasn't this long; I made sure to cut it regularly… How long had I been unconscious?
In any case, I hadn't trained for half my life for nothing; I quickly gathered myself and calmed down in less than a minute.
I wasn't inexperienced in such matters; I had been in strange situations before.
But I must admit, this is the strangest...
And I don't feel the pain of my injuries anymore, as if I had been healed a long time ago, as if I hadn't been wounded in the first place.
I had mana poisoning after Octavius's direct hit, and I would've died if I hadn't drunk a potion.
Mana now flowed wonderfully through my body, even better than it did before the injury, my skin tone changed slightly but was still similar.
My clothes had also changed; from the traditional shadow cloak, I now wore a white shirt with puffed sleeves and black pants that fit me perfectly.
Aside from my hair and slightly different skin color, everything was fine, even my status screen showed the same numbers.
Except for one thing…
I didn't have this skill before... I'm quite sure.
I tried to activate it to verify, but it seemed to be already active, a passive skill.
I tried to deactivate it, but I couldn't.
Realizing I couldn't do anything, I sighed and began to look around.
It seemed I was in an abandoned hospital, the white light above me flickered strangely - constantly emitting an eerie atmosphere.
The hospital walls were white and peeling in many places, with mold covering the floor.
A TV screen fell below me, some wires connected to it, causing it to work oddly.
It displayed the names and numbers of patients who were once here, now probably forgotten.
'There's electricity here..'
That was the first thing I noticed, as having electricity means there's no shortage of civilization here.
I tried to pull out my swords from the storage ring, but it seemed everything had been taken from me, stripped of everything completely.
I walked slowly through the hospital corridors, wanting to get out of here as soon as possible.
After several intersections, I found the only way forward was to go left, where a certain light was shining.
A light not coming from the hospital, working very well.
I proceeded slowly, peeking my head first to take a look.
A massive explosion echoed through the hospital walls, sending me flying backward, crashing into a wall three meters away.
I felt the air leave my body and my nose break, what a powerful punch I had taken.
I looked at the terrifying figure in front of me, a monstrous five-meter-tall puppet.
A giant clown face was awkwardly attached to the body, one of its arms was large and the other small, its midsection also unbalanced.
Clearly, the design of this puppet was flawed, and it was probably broken.
"Tickets are sold out, please come back."
I heard its broken mechanical voice, sending chills all over my body.
An assassin without his weapons and the element of surprise won't last long normally...
The puppet suddenly charged at me with terrifying speed, only three meters separating us.
My reaction speed in this short range shouldn't have been enough, but it seemed my new body could keep up with my mind better.
I lightly tapped my foot on the ground, reaching the high ceiling, grabbed a sign that read
My feet stuck to the ceiling, and with all my strength, I launched downward.
I felt a strange power in my left hand, so I used it to strike.
A loud explosion covered the area, and this time I wasn't the victim.
I looked at the puppet whose head shattered beneath me, feeling something strange in my body.
'I've become stronger... and something else has changed...'
I looked at the metal blade protruding from my palm and couldn't help but recall that pale man.
My gaze returned to the giant puppet, which hadn't stopped chattering about tickets.
The puppet rose slowly even without its head, and the words it emitted changed now.
"Pain"
"Pain! Pain! Pain!"
It repeated the word over and over, raising its huge hand to strike me.
My body transformed into a ghostly form, my speed doubled, and the sound of tearing wind echoed through the surroundings.
I used the blade that extended from my left hand effectively, turning the puppet into dozens of pieces.
I looked at my status screen again, certain that something strange was going on. I had become stronger, but nothing was displayed...
<
Name: Jen Marsh
Title: -
Class: Assassin
Legacy Skill: Personal Assassin
Status: Unusual / well.
Level: A+
Stats:
Strength: A-
Speed: S
Endurance: B+
Intelligence: A+
Senses: S-
Wisdom: S
Luck: G
Charisma: B
(Note: Charisma and Luck stats are not included in the level evaluation)
{
Not much had changed, but I definitely feel stronger.
Also, I confirmed that this wasn't my body...
With a heavy sigh, I continued moving forward, uncertain of what lay ahead, as if I had any other choice!
Fortunately, I had already reached the exit. I looked up at the night sky and couldn't help but frown.
From my vantage point, the tree piercing the sky was still visible, but I could barely see anything else due to the massive green leaf blocking everything.
Even the sun couldn't penetrate it...
I analyzed my surroundings; the ground was soaked with machine oils, and a rusty fence settled far away, behind which was a massive train station.
The train had crashed a long time ago and collided with a nearby building; the right path was blocked by the hospital wall, so the left was my only way again.
The air was extremely heavy, and the smell was foul.
Mold was everywhere, and I frowned at my only exit.
About seven giant puppets' eyes lit up as they looked at me, repeating the same words as the previous puppet.
"Tickets..."
I frowned and focused on the blade extending from my left hand; I really needed to focus now. I have a strange mechanical hand now, and I intend to use it.
I took the first move and dashed into their midst. After my health fully recovered, I fear only those ranked S-.
And with the enhanced strength, my confidence only grew.
Although I wanted answers more than anything else, finding a safe place takes priority, then I have to leave this city by any means.
I remembered how my mind had been controlled and thought of several things.
I thought while fighting, engaging my entire body on the arm of a giant puppet.
Mana glowed around my hands as I tore its arm off and threw it away. I jumped again as soon as my feet touched the ground and found myself behind the puppet.
I felt something behind me, so I lowered my entire body to the ground.
The puppet that wanted to hit me ended up hitting its companion, and I didn't intend to watch them recover from afar.
The small blade moved at high speed, instantly turning them into particles. The puppets' bodies exploded when they were defeated, and all sorts of oils sprayed onto my body.
The white shirt was stained, and the black color became more apparent on it.
I looked up as two puppets jumped towards me, and my blade shone again.
I faintly heard distant footsteps and guessed that reinforcements were near; I need to finish quickly.
***
=+=
(=+= means Cassian's perspective)
Almost two weeks had passed since my imprisonment, and I began to worry about running out of fuel for the seal.
The guards' methods became clearer to me; they starved us so that the sacred fruit was our only food.
They isolated us in the dark daily for 23 hours, the only enjoyable period was when we were under the fruit's illusion, enhancing the addiction effect.
Without the help of the Seal of Sloth, I think I would've lasted only until the second day at most...
Also, this thing had a little credit too.
I looked at the phone in my hand and felt a bit of pleasure while opening my old messages and contacts.
I also checked the mission I had completed; I was given about 40 points since the Seal of Sloth was at the legendary level.
I decided to save them for the future for now. Of course, I tried to find a way to counter the addiction, but the lowest price was at least 150 points.
With the 42 points I had, my only solution was to amass points through ether in a brutal manner.
After several hours of meditation and thought, I found a way to summon the unknown energy without transforming into the beast form, but it wasn't as clear.
I noticed its density had doubled; I hadn't checked it since I first entered the temple and had done many things since then, so I didn't know what I had done to increase it, but I do now.
Anyway, I got 36 points after concentrating the energy for two consecutive months, which really exceeded my expectations.
But the really bad thing was that this energy didn't regenerate on its own, I had to cultivate it again every time I used it.
Several days had passed since then, and I had already discovered a way to cultivate ether.
First, meditating gave me 0.1 daily, studying a certain subject while meditating enhanced it to 0.3.
I tried studying physics, which gave me 0.4, and studying mana sciences also gave me 0.4.
The deeper I delved into these sciences, the higher the points I got.
I couldn't understand the link between physics and ether, but I wouldn't complain.
Due to the lack of mana study materials, I focused on physics.
I found some old files on my phone and studied them for 23 hours daily.
I deprived myself of sleep out of necessity; in my condition, only staying awake for a month could affect me.
Also, this drowsiness gave some fuel to the seal, even if it was minimal.
In the past week and four days, I had gathered four and a half points.
And today, I felt that something strange was going to happen.
I made sure to act well since I came to this place, acting like the other prisoners now and then, but it was mostly an act.
Well.. not entirely.
At least I hadn't swallowed any fruit yet; they were sent to the inventory as soon as they entered my mouth, then destroyed by the seal without any command from me.
The coffin was suddenly opened at an unusual time, and fortunately, my reaction was quick enough.
The phone disappeared from my hands immediately, and I acted as if I was dozing off with drool under my mouth.
I was alert at every moment, and it was good that I expected such inspections.
But from their looks at me, I felt that what was happening now wasn't just an inspection.