Volume 2 Chapter 42: Assault
Volume 2 Chapter 42: Assault
The door to Ho'olheyak's office was locked shut, with a "Do Not Disturb" sign hanging on it. Otherwise, if anyone were to enter and see the scene inside, they would be absolutely shocked.
Ho'olheyak had never imagined that even when faced with the shrunken version of Garde, she would still end up being the prey.
Indulging in the study of history and researching astronomy, most of what Ho'olheyak did was simply to satisfy her own curiosity. Even taking Garde as a student was merely a way for her to leave some kind of mark in whatever history he might create in the future.
But definitely not in this way!
Ho'olheyak knelt on the floor, her elbows bent, forearms supporting her upper body. Her dazed and unfocused face was pressed against the carpet, too weak to even lift her head.
Garde had spent three days in Ho'olheyak's office. Aside from stepping out a few times to buy necessities and sending a couple of messages to Muelsyse and Kristen, he had been fully focused on studying the use of Ascension Power.
He discovered that Ascension Power not only allowed him to change his body size but also to reshape his physical form. Even if half of his body were destroyed, as long as it wasn't completely annihilated and he had enough Ascension Power, he could regenerate.
However, if his entire body were erased, there would be no way to recover. In that case, the Ascension Power could only preserve his soul but couldn't recreate his physical form from nothing.
Simply using Ascension Power to alter his size inherently resulted in energy loss. Shrinking too small or growing too large would accelerate the depletion of his Ascension Power.
After completely exhausting his Ascension Power, Garde's body had shrunk precisely to 1.6 meters tall. If he replenished his Ascension Power, he could theoretically maintain this form.
However, doing so would put his Ascension Power in a constant state of consumption—possibly even at an unsustainable rate.
This was a problem of conversion efficiency.
When transforming raw, chaotic Ascension Power into an ordered state, some of the energy was inevitably lost. Furthermore, the ordered Ascension Power would slowly dissipate over time.
This led to an important question—
How was Ascension Power generated in the first place?
Was it produced by his own body through energy conversion from food? Or was it extracted from his Hero Template?
Garde discovered that it was the former.
Not only food—he could even generate Ascension Power by basking in sunlight.
The only downside was the extremely low conversion rate.
His body didn't seem capable of producing large amounts of Ascension Power at once, likely due to the level of his Hero Template. He wasn't yet a fully-fledged Ascendant.
If he couldn't increase the production of Ascension Power, then the only option was to improve his efficiency in using it.
Thanks to Ho'olheyak over the past few days, Garde's control over Ascension Power hadn't necessarily skyrocketed, but he had certainly made progress.
"Thanks for everything, Ho'olheyak."
Garde patted Ho'olheyak's tail. Hers was much thicker than Saria's or Gavial's—more like the tail of a python.
If Garde had been in his original form, he could have easily gripped it with one hand. But in his current teenage-sized body, it felt overwhelmingly large.
Finally regaining a bit of awareness, Ho'olheyak gritted her teeth, turning her head to glare at Garde with seething fury.
"…Get lost…"
Her voice was hoarse after everything that had happened over the past few days.
She barely had the strength to uphold the dignity of an elder.
In truth, the age gap between her and Garde wasn't as vast as one might imagine.
Ho'olheyak simply knew more. She was neither one of those Feranmuts born from unknown origins nor an immortal being like Kal'tsit.
Her special bloodline allowed her to live longer than most, and the knowledge she inherited made her stronger than the average person.
But compared to those ancient beings who lived for hundreds or even thousands of years, she was still young.
"You can leave now."
Ho'olheyak struggled to steady her breath.
She had been utterly defeated and filled to the brim on the very first day, the reason why their 'fight' lasted for three days instead of one is simply because she's too tired physically and mentally to resist.
Even though she had given her body away, it didn't mean she had fallen for Garde. Now that she had regained her composure, she wouldn't allow herself to be toyed with any longer.
"How cold-hearted."
Garde scratched his head. He hadn't expected Ho'olheyak to suddenly develop feelings for him after just a few days, but after all, they had shared such close intimacy for three days.
Ho'olheyak could sever ties without hesitation, but Garde wasn't capable of doing the same.
"But since you say so, I really should be going."
If he stayed any longer, Muelsyse and Kristen would probably come looking for him.
Garde reached out and lifted Ho'olheyak from the floor. The moment his fingers touched her skin, he clearly felt her body tremble slightly.
"Let me help you clean up."
In his teenage form, Garde was half a head shorter than Ho'olheyak. Holding her in his arms, his not-so-bulky arms felt like they were sinking into soft flesh.
Ho'olheyak had a body that was full and curvaceous, but not overweight—it was just the right balance of firmness and plushness.
For the first time, Garde felt a deep sense of satisfaction, though it had come at the cost of Ho'olheyak passing out multiple times. Fortunately, since his shrunken form wasn't as physically imposing, the damage to her body was slightly less severe.
After a simple cleanup, he even sprayed some perfume to freshen up the space.
Though he had said he was leaving, Garde stayed until nightfall. Just when Ho'olheyak thought he was planning to spend another night, Garde suddenly returned to his original form.
If she could barely handle the teenage Garde, then the fully grown Garde was entirely beyond her limits. Even though Ho'olheyak was over 1.7 meters tall—not considered short for a woman—standing before the fully grown Garde, she felt as small as a mere plaything.
Right in front of Ho'olheyak, Garde casually picked up a few textbooks that she had prepared for him and waved them in his hand.
"Miss Ho'olheyak, I'll be taking these books with me. If I come across anything I don't understand, I'll come back and ask you."
Don't come back!
Ho'olheyak wanted to say those words, but even as Garde walked away, she couldn't bring herself to say them out loud.
For the past few days, she had either been lying down or unable to move, so she hadn't had a chance to check her communicator.
Taking a sip of water, she finally looked at her messages.
"Hmm?"
She noticed a message from an hour ago, sent by both the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Arts Units and Originium. They had requested her to delay Garde and prevent him from leaving Trimounts Institute of Technology.
Though she hadn't actively done anything to hold him back, Garde indeed hadn't left the university until now.
Just then, an explosion rang out in Columbia's lower district.
The next day, news spread throughout Trimounts City—Rhine Lab had been attacked.
Rumors of Rhine Lab conducting illegal experiments within the city began to circulate, and the organization found itself caught in the storm of public scrutiny.
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