Chapter 85: A Month Later

At the New Arcadia City Military Camp.

Lilly had learned two things during her first week at camp. The instructors, especially a certain Sergeant Briggs, hated seeing anyone sit around doing nothing.

And right now, a speeding metal ball was heading straight toward her.

The worst part was that she couldn’t dodge it in time because she had been too busy thinking about Nero.

THUMP!

The padded metal ball struck her shoulder, sending her stumbling into Lyris, who caught her.

"Are you okay, Lilly?" Lyris asked with concern.

"I’m fine." Lilly sighed as she regained her balance, glaring at Sergeant Briggs, who had thrown the ball at her.

"Your mind should be on the battle, Lilly Morgan!" Sergeant Briggs shouted.

"I’m sorry, Sergeant Briggs."

Although she was apologizing, her tone suggested otherwise. To make matters worse, she casually crushed the metal ball with her Destruction Talent.

"I’ll be more careful next time," Lilly added with a slightly annoyed smile.

Lyris shuddered at the sight.

"Hmph." Claret, the girl with the Vampire Talent, snorted from a distance. "I can do that with my Blood Manipulation too."

Meanwhile, Lucas was sitting on a bench with his sister, Jasmine, watching everything unfold.

"Man, Lilly sure is terrifying."

"Yeah," Jasmine replied. "Her Destruction Talent is no joke."

"Are you friends with her, Jasmine?" another young man sitting beside them asked.

The siblings turned toward him.

His name was Evan. He had short brown hair, brown eyes, and a slightly handsome face.

He was their childhood friend and a student at Genesis University, just like Claret and several others attending the camp.

Ever since the camp began a month ago, the three of them had been spending time together.

"Yeah." Jasmine nodded. "We’re best friends."

"Oh?" Evan nodded. "She’s strong..."

"I wish I could be as strong as her one day."

Jasmine slapped his back with a grin. "Your Talent has potential too. Decay is one of the most destructive Talents out there."

"Haha..." Evan chuckled awkwardly.

"But man, aren’t we advancing too fast?" Lucas asked as he leaned back. "It’s unbelievable. Mana Convergence is such a miraculous thing. We might actually reach C-Rank before the training camp ends."

"Yeah," Jasmine agreed. "I have a feeling they’re using some kind of magic here. Otherwise, how else are we all improving so fast?"

"Maybe it’s the power of the military," Lucas joked.

Jasmine nodded. The training here was extremely rigorous, after all.

"Maybe..." Evan replied.

"Alright, I’ll go get some drinks for us."

Evan stood up, and the siblings nodded before turning their attention to Damian and Peter, who were fighting on the other side of the field.

Richard was overseeing their match.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

...

Evan stopped at a vending machine behind the dining hall and spent three of his remaining merits. A bottle labeled Recovery Potion dropped into the tray.

After making sure nobody was nearby, Evan touched two fingers to his forehead.

"Yes, it’s me. I still haven’t found anything that leads to the artifact, but I’ve figured out its effect."

His voice had lost the warmth it held when he was speaking with Lucas and Jasmine.

"The recovery potions are different. They get us back on our feet too quickly, and the staff keep sending us out for more. At this rate, I might really reach C-Rank before this ends."

"It’s the same effect as pushing past one’s limits, but the people here are making us believe we’re achieving it through training. Most of the students believe it because they’ve never personally experienced Mana Convergence before."

"The training here is difficult, yes, but it isn’t enough to achieve Mana Convergence. It doesn’t work like that."

"I’m certain it’s the fragment, sir."

A voice came from the other side.

"Good. Keep me updated, Evan. The Deviant Hands will soon have the artifact for ourselves, and once we do, your status within our organization will rise."

"Our Deviant forces arrived in New Arcadia City a month ago to gather information on the fragment, and we’re finally close to getting it."

...

Inside an office overlooking the training field, Colonel Marcus Hale was watching Serina run when he turned toward the hologram in front of him.

The hologram displayed General William Blackwood in his combat suit.

"Your daughter’s doing well, sir. She hasn’t asked for special treatment even once."

"And her progress?" General William asked through the holographic device.

"Among the best here, though she spends a fair amount of time arguing with Miss Monroe."

William’s expression turned serious.

"That’s good, but is the Holy Grail safe?"

Marcus glanced toward the open door before getting up to shut it.

"Yes, sir. We’ve been using it to train the students, just as planned."

"Do any of them suspect anything?"

"No." Marcus shook his head. "They think they’re buying standard military supplies. They earn merits through training and spend them at the machines, so nobody knows where the liquid in those potions comes from."

Hale lowered his voice before continuing.

"They believe their progress is the result of Mana Convergence. However, I have a feeling your daughter and Yuna might be onto something. I remember them mentioning it before."

William nodded.

"We need to move it to the central vault in New Columbia. No one else can learn that it’s here."

"The helicopter leaves in a month, sir. I’ll personally oversee the transfer. Don’t worry, sir. It’ll be in safe hands."

"Good. Keep a close watch until then."

William looked toward the training field for another moment before turning back to Hale.

"And beware of the Deviants. They’re after it too."

"Understood, sir."

...

"Fuck! Why can’t I break through my limits?!"

Nero was close to losing his mind.

It had been a month, and his training had been going smoothly.

Unfortunately, his Telekinesis still hadn’t advanced to D-Rank. It was stuck at 29 minutes activation.

He needed to push past his limits, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t achieve a breakthrough, even after repeatedly entering the Gates in this place.

Speaking of which, something about these Gates had been bothering him.

He hadn’t obtained any loot from them.

Usually, Gates contained rare treasures, materials, and sometimes even weapons. However, he hadn’t found anything of value in the Gates here.

He was starting to suspect that Edward had somehow created these Gates himself.

But how was that possible?

How could someone create a Gate?

Then again, meeting Edward in the middle of a forest had been mysterious enough.

Still, Nero didn’t think too much about it. His mind was occupied with reaching D-Rank with Telekinesis.

Just then, Edward approached him.

"Looks like pushing yourself normally isn’t enough."

"But I’ve got just the thing to help you reach D-Rank using Telekinesis." Edward added with a small smile. "You’ve been going into Gates but every time you come back, you lack something that is essential for growth."

"Eh? What’s that?"

Edward gave him a mysterious smile before snapping his fingers.

The next moment, Nero found himself falling into a massive, spiraling chasm.

"AHHHH! WHAT THE HECK?!"

As Nero screamed, Edward’s voice reached him from who knew where.

"The thing gate lacked was the feeling of death. You’ve gotten used to gates and its monsters. You don’t feel the pressure anymore."

"Hence, If you don’t want to die, use your Telekinesis to create a net around yourself and stop your fall. The longer you take, the harder it’ll be for your Telekinesis to stop you!"

’???’

Nero was stunned.

’WHAT THE FUCK?!’

He had no time to think. If he didn’t do something, he was going to die.

His Telekinesis surged outward in waves, wrapping around his body.

Death was approaching with every passing second, and knowing Edward, the old man probably wasn’t joking about letting him die.

’I CAN’T DIE HERE!’

He desperately pushed his Telekinesis beyond its limits, trying to stop his fall.

And just in time, the Mind Energy within him began overflowing.

His body came to a sudden stop in midair as a notification appeared before his eyes.

[Your Telekinesis has reached D-Rank!]

[Mind Energy: 2.9 -> 3.0]

The increase wasn’t much because Telekinesis didn’t function the way Cellular Energy did. The Entry level for D-Rank was 30 minutes activation time and the 3.0 was equivalent to that roughly, only the overall lifting power and output has been strengthened.

Then just as quickly, the background changed and he was right back at where he once stood.

Nero turned towards Edward with a dark look on his face.