‘Huh? It’s spreading?’
During Christopher’s long lesson, Zeke’s mind was preoccupied with the Rune of Life. The burning and stinging continued and, after a while, thin vein-like blue lines spread from the center of the circle-shaped rune.
Panicking a little, Zeke excused himself to the bathroom and once he made sure no one was there, he pulled his sleeves and saw the lines going upwards, almost reaching his elbow.
There were hints of the lightning originating from the ‘Aether Voltage Path’ appearing and vanishing around his hand, freaking out the youth even more.
‘It appears to be going out of control? Or is it self-evolving?’
If there was no pain, Zeke would have been celebrating over this unexpected occasion, however, with how mysterious and peculiar the Paths of Extinctions had been, he felt nervous and apprehensive, perceiving this development as a bad omen of sorts.
At first, Zeke thought about going to Professor Nayro in an attempt to learn more but changed his mind later on. As a Zyth and overly-curious both, Nayro had already displayed an unhealthy amount of interest in his seemingly inexplicable powers, therefore, revealing the truth, even if it was a small part of it, could prove disastrous for Zeke.
During the lunch break, Zeke wasn’t even feeling hungry as he kept intensely staring at the rune, trying to find a solution.
‘Maybe I have to unlock the Sreyzhan Rune Path? On one hand, it is unlike the System to force me to commit to a particular path, and on the other, I could still be ignorant of its influence over my body. After all, I can no longer dream…’
“You seem awfully out of it today.”
Julia and Rebecca appeared out of nowhere, the former sitting across him while the latter was reluctant to sit down. She glanced at the stoic Zeke and frowned, not bothering to hide her dislike and unwillingness to be here.
“Got anything to say to me?”
“I do, in fact.”
Julia proceeded to gobble her food at an abnormal speed. In literally a minute, she finished the small ball of rice and the few vegetables.
“Remember how I helped you the other day?”
Upon hearing this, he frowned and scoffed at her words,
“Remember how I never asked for your help?”
“That’s irrelevant!” She retorted while beaming at him. “My father was pretty angry, to say the least. Still, he dealt with that nasty woman and already sent her to prison. That ought to do it, right?”
“I suppose so.”
Ever since he saw that squad of military special forces, Zeke knew that Amy’s mother wasn’t going to ‘escape’ this time. Even though Julia wasn’t harmed or specifically targeted, the sole fact that she could have been in danger was enough to seal Melissa’s fate.
“Anyway, I might need your help this time. You wouldn’t turn your back to me after all I’ve done, yes?”
“You… need my help? Hah!”
Zeke’s reaction was enough of a response for Rebecca to snort and turn to her friend.
“See? I told you it’s pointless to talk with this Defect. I know someone from class A who can help.”
The short and curly-haired Rebecca flinched as he silently glared at her.
“Take this idiot and go away.”
Zeke ignored both of them as he raised his hand and beckoned Samual, who just arrived at the cafeteria. It was better to converse with him than deal with Julia.
…
It was evening and the number of students lingering on the campus was significantly less due to the notice. After 7 o’clock, all students, regardless of their Year, were prohibited from leaving their respective dormitory.
That, in itself, limited Zeke’s choices and rendered it difficult to find a secluded space to complete the Daily Tasks.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
As the blue veins were spreading to the rest of his body, Zeke could no longer act oblivious and had to go to the Infirmary. It wasn’t to actually seek Xavier’s help, but more of an excuse to stay outside for a little bit of time.
“Hm?”
The Doctor half-turned his head as Zeke knocked on the door and then entered. The two locked gazes momentarily before Xavier said,
“Another injury?”
“I’m feeling a bit sick and was wondering if I can rest here for a bit.”
“Sick? In what way?”
Zeke was sat in front of the Xavier, who, unlike his usual indifference, examined his body.
“It seems you have a slight fever. When did this star-”
He abruptly stopped talking as he saw the Rune of Life, which Zeke tried his best to hide.
“This is part of my ability… sir.”
Xavier tried to hold his wrist and pull the sleeve up but, like Julia this morning, his hand was zapped by an electric current. After the initial surprise, he stretched his hand again and used his own Aether to block the uncontrollable effect of the rune.
“Is it now?”
The man, with dangerously narrowed eyes, raised his head and intently stared at the youth.
“I see. You were the one who attacked that girl from class B.”
“...”
“I’m not asking for a confirmation. You should know that assaulting other students could lead to immediate expulsion, Zeke Orland.”
Now that he was exposed out of the blue, Zeke did not offer a half-assed excuse.
“I only did was what right, sir. Were it not for my interference, she would have brutally beaten up a friend of mine.”
“That doesn’t mean you can be a vigilante and save any and all who need help.”
Xavier’s stern voice and scary face neither made Zeke remorseless nor changed his mind. Eventually, after a long and tense silence, he sighed.
“Make sure not to do something like that again. The school has rules for a reason.”
Before Zeke could retort, the man continued, “And you should be careful on how to use your newfound abilities.”
He let go of his hand and instructed him to rest in one of the empty medical beds.
‘Even someone like him could not notice anything? Also, he didn’t comment about the lines. Did he not see them? Or pretended not to?’
Time crept by, the sky was slowly darkening and the echoing footsteps from the hall outside of the infirmary turned into a deafening silence.
Fortunately, Doctor Xavier did not force Zeke to leave, at least not until 9 o’clock.
However, as he was returning to his dormitory, the lines that spread from the Rune of Life had already covered all of his body, bringing with them an uncomfortable heat.
Seeing lightning current crackling and dancing around him, Zeke ran to the small forest-like area.
With his vision blurry and face pale, Zeke steps became slower and his legs felt heavier as he dragged himself deeper between the trees, unwitting reaching the familiar spot where he had first seen Amelia.
Besides the sounds of the crickets, he also heard fearful gasps coming from a silhouette kneeling next to a tree.
Alas, his consciousness was hanging on a thread and the lightning was becoming more intense, illuminating his surroundings as it zapped anything in his path.
In the end, he fell head-first to the ground, his body convulsing as it was assaulted by excruciating pain. Before his vision turned black, he saw System notifications pop in mid-air.
“Ah!”
Hearing a loud thud, Emilia peeked her head, her pupils constricting as she covered her mouth and stared at Zeke, who was laying on the ground. His body let out an ominous crimson light, which increased her dread.
To begin with, she was here to beg for forgiveness from Amelia’s ‘ghost’. She heard about her friend’s mother and how Amy was facing serious consequences after what she had done to Amelia, so, instead of blaming her friend or pretending nothing happened, Emilia came to this spot to display her regret and remorse.
Never did she expect someone to come here, after all, the students should’ve been in their rooms, either studying or sleeping.
As she looked at Zeke’s, the girl hesitated and frantically looked around, not knowing what to do.
All kinds of thoughts stormed her turbulent mind, most of them urging her to flee. However, she didn’t run away, instead, going to Zeke and tentatively poked his body.
“H-hey… are you al…alright?”
There was no response, the youth was clearly unconscious and though the crimson light was gone, his pale face was a clear indication of an anomaly.
Just when she was about to call for help, a harmless gust of wind washed across her body, followed by the sudden appearance of the Dean.
The old man uttered no words as he half-knelt on the ground and picked Zeke’s body.
“Follow me.”
Emilia was still processing everything as she unconsciously chased after the swift old man, who took her to an isolated and inconspicuous medium-sized hut situated at the far end of the ‘forest’.
“What happened to him?”
Once Zeke was laid on a creaky old bed, the Dean checked his pulse only to furrow his brow and ask the fidgety girl.
“A-ah… I don’t know. I ff-found him like this.”
“Gah!”
Zeke’s eyes opened wide as he sat up, cold sweat drenching his body. The pain was gone, but what caught his sight was the System ‘box’, colored blood-red, contrary to the usual one.
[Conduit Implementation unsuccessful: The Crown could not be located.]
[Special Mission Initiated: Retrieval of the Crown]
[Rewards: 50 EXP | 25 EP | 20 points into one of the following stats: Aether / Strength / Agility]
[Physiological functionalities are degrading: Seek the Crown]
[The Death Walker Main Path can now be unlocked]
[The Survival Skill ‘Rune of Life: Voltage Manipulation’ has been acquired!]
[+5 EP]
[+10 Aether]
“Kid, what happened to you?”
Only when the Dean talked did Zeke snap out of it and realize he was in an unfamiliar and cramped room.
He glanced at the restless Emilia then at the old man.
“Nothing. I was a little bit sick, that’s all.”
“Sick? Sickness doesn’t make your heartbeat stop. Were you attacked?”
“No. It’s really nothing.”
“...”
‘What the hell is the Crown? And why did this happen now?’
To be accurate, the pain started when he had used the Aether stored within the Rune of Life to strengthen other skills, notably ‘Fists of Furry’ and ‘One-star Side-kick’.