Gastle [2]

'I'm getting ahead of myself again.'

It would be several months before Raymond returned. The other materials he needed weren't all too common either. He would need to make constant visits to the black market to see if anything was being auctioned or sold.

Even that was a secondary task for him. After all, he didn't have to make that move at any specific time. It only needed to happen when he was ready.

Immediate training took precedence. 

The fact that his body was weak didn't need to be reiterated. In terms of basic training, he only needed to exercise every day and make sure he always kept his body in good condition.

If he just trained systematically for long enough, the combat-ready figure he desired would appear on its own.

Aether training was different.

'Whether the present or the past, it remains true that the human body was never meant to absorb Aether. On its own in its unrefined state, Aether is like a toxin.' 

There never came a way for humans to just absorb and digest raw Aether. 

However, the "Aether Core" was something else.

'The Aether Core is essentially an organ that has to be crafted by hand. Its function is to absorb Aether in place of the body and redistribute the energy as nutrients the body can absorb.'

The Aether Core converted raw Aether into stamina, regenerative ability, and most importantly…

'Aura.' 

It wasn't an energy humans could use to bend the laws of nature in any way, but it worked as a supplementary energy source for Gene Sequences and Bloodline Sequences.

It could supplement stamina if needed, and as an energy in its own right, Aura could be used in an uncountable number of nuanced ways.

'The Aether Core is something from the future that I wish I could immediately spread to the people of this era, but that isn't possible unless I have a death wish.'

The current humanity wasn't ready to be given the power of the Aether Core.

'I can spread it to those who I trust to use it properly. When humanity becomes more united, I can make it public knowledge.'

But, for now, Gio was the only human with the ability.

'Forming the Aether Core isn't that hard. What's hard is learning to call upon Aether and absorb it through the proper channels.'

There used to be technologies to expedite the process, but without access to them, Gio had to take the hard route.

'Until I sense it for the first time, I have to meditate and try to form a closer connection to the worldly forces.' 

Every single day, when he got home after training, he had to spend his time meditating instead of sleeping. 

'But…I'll also start that in a few days.'

The first big event of his life had ended successfully. In the process, he came back to himself a lot more than he had before he regressed. 

Everything that was hard to grasp before was finally settling into his brain.

He just needed a moment to process it all. 

Ricky left after a day to find work for himself, but Gio didn't leave the house unless he needed to for the next three days. Really, if he didn't need to eat, he wasn't outside. 

The world didn't see anything strange about his existence. It was only as if he'd come back from a job as always. 

But for him, it had been a lifetime. 

He accepted regression immediately upon returning to the past, but that was different from actually feeling as if the world around him was real. 

It didn't set in that he'd really regressed until he spent time doing nothing. 

'I mean, working in the mines was one thing, but even then it could pass for a dream. It's not that easy to accept that time itself was shattered and rewound for my sake.'

When there was action around him, he could still convince himself that it was all fake. He was really just somewhere inside the Tower of Babel, dying on the cold floor and dreaming of the life he led before.

But now?

Now that he'd spent a few days doing absolutely nothing and living as he did back then?

He felt like he was really back in the Wasteland. This was really the past. Those people weren't illusions, but real people who truly existed.

Wasn't it funny that he had to accept that after so long? 

'I can maintain calm pretty easily, but that doesn't mean my mind isn't spinning.'

It had been until now. He woke up from what was essentially a coma that he entered in order to become a killing machine in the tower and immediately arrived back in this era. 

He was able to return to himself in spirit the moment he released the seal on [Memory Book], but that didn't mean he could completely skip the adaptation period.

It had been decades since he'd seen another human. It had been even longer since he'd seen the sight of Earth existing as more than just a collection of rubble in space. 

His head was spinning with every interaction he had, but he powered through it because he knew he had to get used to this kind of living again. 

But the city was that kind of place. No matter how dreary it got, it was filled with a kind of life that couldn't be found elsewhere.

It helped Gio adapt to the world again, and it helped him calm his spinning mind. 

Only when his mind regained balance could he finally accept that he was back. 

"Huu…"

 'I slept for around twenty hours total. It should be enough. Now, then…'

He stretched his body and left the house. 

'...shall we head to the inner ring?'

A workout regimen backed by proper equipment yielded the most efficiency. Even if he had to spend a little bit of money, he planned to use the better gyms in the city center.

The days would be long and boring for a while. Gio's systematic training wasn't meant to impress anyone so it wasn't worth watching at all.

All that mattered was that after those first three days, he got to work and didn't stop working.

In the morning, he would go to the inner city and work on his body. When he returned home at night, he sat down calmly and meditated, connecting himself to nature.

With just a little bit more strength, a little bit more speed, and proper equipment, he'd be ready to start scavenging seriously again.

Two months passed unceremoniously without Gio leaving the city once. His life was monotonous, but Ricky on the other hand had been experiencing a more hectic lifestyle as he got used to the city.

The two boys arrived together with two different life paths in mind, but in the end, their goals at the moment somewhat aligned.

They saw what death was like and they didn't want to experience it again. They prepared for the future so they wouldn't have to stay in such miserable positions.

No matter how dull Ricky seemed, even he had dreams and aspirations that he wanted to eventually reach.

To reach those dreams, the only thing they could do was work hard and persevere.

And they both did exactly that in their own ways.