V.2.36. Missing Again

Merin blocks the lance with an ice shield and kicks at the attacker.

The attacker steps back swiftly, avoiding the strike.

Merin doesn't give him the chance to recover and swings his arm, lightning bursting from his hand and forming a blue lightning whip.

The attacker shoots threads from his hand, pulling himself into the air and dodging the whip.

Merin looks up at Valen hanging from the ceiling by spider-like strings.

Three months have passed since he and Evelyn confirmed their relationship, and here he is, sparring with Valen.

He met Valen again a week after that day in the hospital, right after his relationship with Evelyn became real.

Valen, like Merin, attends classes at the university, and they slowly became familiar.

Two months ago, Valen asked him to train him in combat.

Merin agreed.

So now, every Friday morning, they train together.

Today, Merin has a day off from the research centre.

The pure heart potion has entered its final trial, and he's no longer needed, so they gave him a holiday.

Valen attacks from above, launching demon fireballs, and Merin flips backwards to dodge.

Though Valen's demon blood comes from a spider demon, he can conjure demon fire just like any other type of demon.

All demons, no matter their origin, possess the ability to create demon fire.

Merin weaves through the burning projectiles and waits for a brief pause in Valen's offence.

As Valen slows down to recover, Merin's arm sparks with lightning, and a ball of electricity forms above his palm.

He hurls it upward at Valen, then creates another, and another, throwing them one after another.

Valen dodges or counters them with a whip made of solidified spider web, lashing the lightning balls apart mid-air.

Merin halts his next move, reminding himself this isn't a fight to the death.

He's training Valen while also refining his lightning technique—there's no need for victory, only progress.

He stands still, calm, watching Valen face him from the other side of the room.

Valen, drenched in sweat and flushed red, takes deep breaths as he regathers his strength.

Though their cultivation paths differ, their realms are equal.

Yet in combat, Valen lags far behind.

Merin's every strike uses only the energy necessary—never a wisp more.

Even his dodges are minimal, his body barely shifting, conserving power with precision.

Valen, on the other hand, overcommits in his every move, wasting more energy than needed in both attack and defence.

Once recovered, Valen resumes the fight, launching threads toward Merin.

They stick to Merin's limbs because he allows it.

Valen pulls, trying to drag him in—but midway, Merin halts himself and pulls the strings instead, yanking Valen toward him.

Before Valen can react, Merin's hand grips his neck.

"You should be ready to let go sometimes," Merin says quietly before shoving him away.

Valen lands, touches his neck, and thinks to himself—he didn't want to let go.

In his heart, Adam's advice about letting go feels too personal, too close to the wound.

To Valen, letting go means abandoning his one-sided love for Evelyn.

He asked Adam for training to observe him, to find flaws.

Something, anything, to break or wedge apart the bond between him and Evelyn.

But in two months, he's found nothing.

Adam spends his days at the research centre, or training, or with Evelyn—never drinking with friends, never distracted.

A machine of purpose.

Valen attacks again, and Merin smoothly dodges and counters, offering advice whenever he notices a flaw.

This continues for an hour until Valen finally collapses from exhaustion, sprawled on the floor, his energy spent.

Merin turns to leave, walking toward the exit, when Valen speaks.

"Let's have a drink this evening."

Merin pauses, then walks backwards toward the door, facing him.

"Today is Friday—Evelyn will be coming to stay with me."

He doesn't notice the shift in Valen's expression, missing the quiet flicker in his eyes. Because Valen never shows anger or jealousy on the surface but he can sense it with his field.

And Valen could hide it, but he doesn't try.

So Merin didn't assume any other reason.

Merin assumes it's strength that drives the distance—Valen is two years older, yet no match for him.

Every training match ends the same—Merin hardly sweats, while Valen lies on the ground like a dog.

Valen says, "Come with her."

Merin replies, "I'll ask her."

He returns home half an hour later—it's still morning, and Evelyn isn't due until evening.

So Merin heads into the backyard and begins refining his body.

With both fire and ice knowledge at level five, he is on the verge of completing the final step of his body refinement.

He reached this level a month ago, and today might be the day it all comes together.

His body burns, then freezes, each cycle suffocating and brutal as his breath catches and cells rupture from the strain.

Again and again, the process repeats—roasting, freezing, breaking, mending.

When he nears his limit, he takes out an A-grade healing potion and drinks it.

Twice as expensive as the ones he used before.

But he can afford it now, and as a government worker, he gets a discount.

The refinement continues, and around noon, he feels his limit snap, the barrier shattering as Karst energy from the ground rushes into his body.

His cells shift, growing tougher, more resilient, as his true energy compresses and absorbs the incoming Karst energy.

With each breakthrough, the percentage of Karst energy in his true energy increases, and this marks the fifth time.

When he next opens his eyes, everything around him is dark.

He hears the distant hoot of an owl.

But when he turns toward his house, he frowns—it's pitch black, and it shouldn't be.

Evelyn was supposed to arrive in the evening.

He stands, checking his phone—no calls, no messages from her.

He dials her while walking toward the house, but the line doesn't go through.

He calls again, then again, and the repeated failure twists unease into his thoughts.

Why is her phone switched off?

Sitting down at the dining table, he calls Cassie.

After a few seconds, her voice answers, "Hello?"

"Cassie, is Evelyn with you?" he asks.

"What do you mean?" Cassie replies. "Shouldn't she be with you? She left over an hour ago—she should've arrived by now."

Merin says quietly, "She's not here. Her car's not in the driveway, and her phone's off."

"Did something happen?" Cassie asks quickly.

"I'll check the road she usually takes," Merin says, and ends the call.

Before heading out, he douses himself in scent.

Every refinement draws out impurities and waste from the body, and they reek.

Normally, it would take an hour-long wash to clear the smell.

But now, there's no time.

He walks the route Evelyn usually takes from her university to his house, and an hour later, he arrives at the university gates.

There, he sees Cassie and her boyfriend Patrick waiting anxiously.

They run up to him.

Cassie asks, "Did you find anything?"

Merin shakes his head. "No sign of her on that road."

Cassie holds up her phone, the screen displaying a map with several lines traced from the university to his house.

"There are three more paths," she says. "Let's check them."

Merin nods. "Let's each take a different one—it'll be faster."

Without another word, he breaks into a run down one of the remaining routes.

He's the first to return to his house, empty-handed.

A few minutes later, Cassie and Patrick arrive, soaked in sweat and still no trace of Evelyn.

Merin stands still, thinking hard, searching for any way to locate her.

Then it hits him—her car and her watch.

He looks at Cassie and asks, "Can your family trace Evelyn's phone or her watch?"

Cassie nods, trembling. "Yes—yes, I can," she says, and immediately makes the call.

Severin sits at his desk, scouring through reports filled with names, motives, and threats—documents pointing to those who might seek the key through their family.

His phone rings, and he glances at the screen, surprised to see Cassie calling.

He answers. "Hello?"

But he can't understand anything she's saying—her voice is shaking, broken, almost sobbing.

Fragments reach him: Evelyn. Missing.

His heart stirs with alarm.

"Cassie, take a deep breath and speak," he says, trying to steady her.

She inhales sharply, and when she speaks again, the words hit him like a hammer.

His phone nearly slips from his hand.

"Wait," he says quickly, and ends the call.

After the last attempt on Evelyn's life, he had connected both her car and watch trackers to his phone for safety.

Now, he opens the app and sees her location—off the main road, somewhere along an official path.

He forwards the coordinates to Cassie immediately.

A minute later, he calls her again.

When she picks up and says hello, he asks, "Where is Adam?"

Cassie answers, "Adam went to the location. Evelyn never reached his house, and now she's nowhere to be found."

Severin clenches his jaw.

For the last three months, every Friday evening to Monday morning, Evelyn had been staying at Adam's place.

He never objected—he liked Adam, and no one else had the strength to protect her better.

But now she's gone, and the bodyguards meant to trail her are silent.

He calls both of them—their phones keep ringing, unanswered.

He rises, steps out of the room, and without a word, begins moving.

He has to go to Nova Super City.

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