Azmer was also put on an inclined medical bed, but the metallic bounds weren’t tight. They made him incapable of moving, but it was clear they were treating him with care.

When the female assistant approached him and was about to sedate him, he glared at her and thrashed around.

“What are you doing? Don’t you dare touch me!”

His loud shout startled the young girl and made her back away in hesitation and fear. After a couple of seconds, she lowered her arm and walked away, intending to speak with Olivia.

“What’s going on here?”

Azmer turned his head to the side with difficulty, still startled to see the tube stuck to the upper part of Zeke’s chest and draining a transparent liquid with a green luster.

“I should be the one asking you.” Retorted the lethargic Zeke.

Fortunately, the quantity of Life Aether dwelling within his body was significantly higher than a normal human, thus making the process take more time.

With his precarious situation in consideration, Zeke did not panic, instead, he used the bit of time left to find a way out. He kept himself rational and displayed no fear or urgency, opting for composure to determine a safe and logically possible solution.

Azmer kept looking at the expressionless Zeke, wondering if this was all a trap. In the end, he gritted his teeth and said,

“My father brought me here… saying it’s ‘for my own good’.”

“Then you’ll be the one benefitting from this. It’s pretty simple.”

“What do you mean?”

Zeke chuckled and clarified, “Look around you. Our dear parents seemed to have come to some sort of an agreement. I don’t know the specifics but, seeing how they’re draining my Life Aether, it’s easy to conclude that I’ll be on the losing side. I’d go as far as saying I’m going to die.”

Seeing the youth he used to bully speak so nonchalantly, Azmer frowned and maintained a brief silence.

“For someone about to die, you look awfully calm. Do you have a plan?”

Again, Zeke laughed at the bully’s words, “Isn’t this a good thing for you? You used to say that Defects are a blight and that they shouldn’t exist. I expect no sympathy or pity from you… so don’t try to act like you care.”

“Hah! Who do you take me for? I bullied you but I also saved your ass… or did you forget about that?”

Azmer uttered those words with a much lower voice as he glared at the scoffing Zeke.

“You acted on the Dean’s orders. Enough with this, I tire of this pointless argument.”

“No! By all means, speak your mind.” Tauntingly said back Azmer, who was becoming angrier, seemingly forgetting that he was suspended to the bed with his limbs bound.

“Defects should have never been allowed in Erys. This, I will always believe. Society might be riddled with them but that doesn’t mean they can amount to those with talent. You were the same. A weak loser who never thought of fighting back.”

“Oh don’t try to lecture me, Azmer. Just like Defects can’t amount to the talented, you can’t amount to your prodigious brother. Bullying me made you feel stronger and offered you self-validation.”

“...”

Seeing that the blond youth kept his silence, Zeke coldly snorted.

“If you don’t experience it, you can’t understand the feelings of being weak and helpless, bossed and used by idiotic wastrels that think only of the problems in front of their noses.”

“So what?” Upon hearing Zeke’s resentful words, Azmer was still unrepentant, “Don’t presume to know me based on what I did to you. However you gained your abilities, I do not care. I just know Defects cannot measure up to the gifted. They shall ever be at the mercy of others.”

“Hah! I spit on that! If I wasn’t strapped to this bed, I would’ve shown you how wrong you were!”

Unfortunately, their heated verbal dispute came to an abrupt end when Olivia and Anthony returned.

“Azmer, yes? Don’t worry about this.”

Anthony Orland smiled at the furious youth and tried to sedate him, but this time, Azmer resisted more fiercely than before. Even with his wrists bound, he managed to activate his Pyromancy and let out vermillion flames that formed a barrier around him.

“...”

Anthony’s smile vanished as he glanced at his wife. William specifically told them not to hurt their son, but seeing how he was so adamant about accepting help, they had to use extreme methods.

Meanwhile, Olivia inspected the small container which was supposed to store the Life Aether drained from Zeke’s body. Much to her surprise, it was filled to the brim yet the tubes were still extracting more.

“Anthony… come here and help me.”

Her voice sounded a bit urgent and surprised. She beckoned her husband, who ignored Azmer momentarily and, with her, proceeded to check Zeke.

“Late Awakenings aren’t supposed to increase one’s Life Aether. This quantity is… unexpected.”-Anthony

“The Aether Imbalance is proceeding slowly too…”-Olivia

The married couple exchanged glances and then subtly signaled to each other. Even though Zeke was bounded, Anthony extended both hands and, within mounts, a small bubble of water formed above Zeke.

Anthony’s ability allowed him to wield Water-aspected Magic. Since he cared more about experiments and Science, he never trained it, but it was still enough to achieve the desired result, which was to quicken the Life Aether extraction by accelerating the phenomenon known as ‘Aether Imbalance’.

The bubble of water was lowered down, enveloping Zeke’s head and robbing him of air. He tried to fight back, violently moving his arms and causing the metallic bounds and the whole bed to shake.

Olivia used her superhuman strength to immobilize him as he was slowly being suffocated.

“Hey! What are you doing! Stop!”

Azmer groaned as his wrists were bleeding from the constant friction. He was attempting to free at least one of his hands but to no avail. Even to him, the sight of two parents trying to kill their child for an experiment was mind-boggling.

Alas, the most Azmer was able to do was form the protective barrier around himself. With his entire body bound, he couldn’t properly use his ability, thus rendering it impossible to attack Anthony or Olivia.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Albeit trying, Zeke’s resistance became slower and sluggish after 50 seconds. He already started losing consciousness and due to the untimely Conduit Implementation, coupled with the strong sleeping drug in the water bottle, he was basically incapacitated.

“Ah!”

Anthony, who was controlling the bubble of water, suddenly staggered a couple of steps to the back while clutching his chest. A thin lightning current spread from Zeke’s body, connecting to the bubble than to its caster.

The unexpected and painful shock canceled the bubble of water and allowed Zeke to breathe again, gasping heavily while spitting the bit of water that invaded his nostrils and mouth.

“Y-You…ha…ha…” He tried to say something but he kept coughing.

“I’ll kill yo-”

Zeke wasn’t given the time to finish his words as the equally startled Olivia took out a black needle as thick as her fingers and stabbed it into his chest. It wasn’t a normal needle but an artifact, one that was similar to the Talking Sin but of a lower grade.

As it pierced the center of his chest, Zeke let out a frightening howl of agony, one that was inhumane. The pain that spread across his body made him paralyzed and in a momentary state of mental shock.

Olivia menacing eyes were fixated on her ‘son’. When she saw her husband get attacked, she reacted instinctively, first to ‘punish’ Zeke and second to learn the truth.

In fact, the purpose of the black needle wasn’t to inflict pain but to gauge one’s ability. Due to the sinister spiritual aura lingering within it, and the traumatizing pain it would inflict, the artifact has been banned across all nations despite the accuracy of its results.

However, when the needle was unresponsive, Olivia was absolutely gobsmacked.

“W-what? You… you don’t have any abilities? How is that possible?”

“Ss…stop him. Kill him…”

Apparently, the electric current was still raging inside Anthony’s body, making him fall to the ground and cough blood. His fragile physical constitution made him more vulnerable to the voltage, which was turning his insides into a crisp.

What made it worse was that the voltage was stronger than ever before thanks to the Conduit being ‘installed’ into Zeke’s peculiar body.

It was then that the two assistants returned to the laboratory; the male covered his mouth in shock and immediately fled, but the female’s eyes narrowed. She noticed the suffering Anthony and stealthily edged toward Azmer.

“Anthon-”

“Kill him!” He shouted with a muffled voice, which sobered up the shocked Olivia and made her pull the needle, about to directly stab Zeke’s heart.

Just as she was about to pierce him again, there was a succession of loud explosions, which made the whole building shake uncontrollably.

The explosions were so potent that a strong tremor assaulted the laboratory, causing the tables to turn and the walls to crack.

The medical bed on which Zeke was bound to fell to the side, followed thereafter by a torrent of System notifications.

[Conduit Implementation Procedure has been successfully completed!]

[+60 EXP]

[+7 to all stats]

[+5 PE]

[The Survival Skill ‘Voltage Manipulation’ has been upgraded to ‘Voltage Conduit’]

[New skill ‘Over-drive’ obtained]

[You leveled up!]

[+7 Strength]

[+7 Aether]

[+7 Agility]

[+1 Fortitude]

[User ‘Voltage Sync, Zeke’ has completed the hidden requirements: Aether Voltage Main path has been upgraded to ‘Voltage Body’ Main Path (1/44)]

[The Survival Skill ‘Rune of Life’ has been upgraded to ‘Voltage Rune’]

[The Survival Skill ‘Voltage Conduit’ has automatically reached 100% Proficiency]

[+1 to all stats]

The dizziness and exhaustion that overwhelmed Zeke were replaced by a rejuvenation sensation of vigor and power. An absurd amount of electricity burst from his hands, literally melting the bounds around his ankles, waist, and wrists.

Without any sliver of hesitation, he extended his hand and used ‘Voltage Arrow’, which was empowered by the new skill ‘Voltage Conduit’.

A massive spear made of blue and crackling lightning appeared in his hand; He threw it at the destabilized Olivia, striking her right in the chest and sending her flying to the back like a bullet.

Alas, her body was more resilient than Anthony, so much so that ‘Voltage Arrow’ wasn’t enough to incapacitate her. It did, however, cause a scary and bloody wound on her stomach, making her vomit blood and shake in pain.

Just when Zeke was about to attack her again, Anthony attacked him with his Water-aspected magic. Much to the father and son’s surprise, a wave of flames appeared between Zeke and Anthony, turning the water into vapor and then cascading on the scientist.

Zeke, whose body was enveloped in a mini storm of lightning, turned his head ever-so-slightly, seeing the female scientist run out of the crumbling laboratory.

Azmer was free too, the two students staring at each other in silence.

Their staring contest was short-lived as several armed men came in, probably alerted by the male assistant who had previously fled.

“You agree that cooperation is necessary, yes?” Muttered Azmer as he snapped his fingers, causing his signature flames to burst forth and form a fire tornado of his size.

Zeke clicked his tongue and nodded, crouching his body ever-so-slightly then dashing forward.

While Olivia was recuperating and Anthony was quelling the flames that tried to burn him, Zeke moved at a speed no slower than Julia’s. The bullets shot at him all missed as he appeared in front of the armed men; His hands, which were wholly covered with a layer of lightning, grabbed the man’s head, frying them on the spot.

Zeke didn’t have time to check the description of the newly-acquired skills. Nevertheless, he ‘felt’ the difference almost immediately.

Voltage Conduit was similar to Voltage Manipulation but significantly better. It greatly facilitates the usage of the voltage as well as granting him formidable velocity and much-welcomed tenacity.

Against the trained military men working for his ‘parents’, he easily defeated them one by one, and those out of his reach were disposed of by Azmer, who showed no mercy or hesitation.

In barely a minute, fifteen such soldiers were killed, but it wasn’t the end as the laboratory finally collapsed. When Zeke shifted his attention back to Olivia, the roof fell down, allowing her to escape.

Zeke used ‘Life Motus’ at the last second, teleporting to a relatively safe spot at the corner of the laboratory. The deafening noise of the collapsing roof was momentary and when silence returned, a cloud of dust could be seen as well as a constantly ringing alarm along with a flashing red light.

“...”

Zeke was trapped in a small area, his eyes darting to all corners as he noticed a thick smoke rising up, indicating that a fire broke out, either due to Azmer’s pyromancy or the explosions that subsequently resulted in the collapse of the laboratory.

“Ah…ah..”

A few paces away, stuck under a broken part of the roof, was Anthony Orland. He was gasping for breath and trying to free himself.

When he saw the familiar and expressionless face of his son, he stopped for a second and then raised his hand, clearly begging for help.

“H-help me, son. Please…”

Zeke knelt on one knee and looked at his struggling ‘father’, whose lower body was crushed by the roof. Even if he did nothing, Anthony would die due to blood loss.

“Why should I?”

“W-what?”

“Give me one good reason I should save you. Mind you, not even ten minutes ago, you tried… and failed to suffocate me to death.”

“I… I was wrong! I’m sorry! I truly am! I promise that I won’t bother you again. I… I can help you!”

Zeke extended his right hand and pressed it on top of Anthony’s head.

“I don’t need your help. In the past, I helped you and you helped me. We had an agreement, father. Yet, you drugged and dragged me here, intending to use me to your benefit.”

Zeke’s cold and chilling eyes stared down at the frightened and pale-faced scientist.

“By doing that, you became a stranger to me. And by trying to kill me, you became an enemy. May you rot in hell.”

An empowered ‘Voltage Zap’ shot from Zeke’s hand. It was so destructive and powerful that, instead of electrocuting or charring Anthony’s body, it made it burst into a mass of foggy blood, leaving not a trace behind.

Despite knowing that this was Edward and Maxine’s father, Zeke showcased no remorse, pity, or regret. He did what needed to be done and even if he was blamed for it, he wouldn’t care.

Anthony and Olivia knew his part, knew his circumstances, yet they resorted to such extreme methods. For him, that was unforgivable… unconscionable.

Zeke stood up and turned around, seeing Azmer standing a couple of meters away, a golden flaming sword in hand. It seemed the blond youth had used his flames to literally melt the blockage trapping Zeke, he had also witnessed how Anthony was killed. Still, he refrained from commenting because, just like Zeke, he knew that the scientist deserved such a miserable end.

“I acknowledge that I helped you this time, but only to see how you would prove to me that Defects are not what I think they are. Once we get out of here, we’ll settle this with a fair fight.”

“A fight?”

Azmer solemnly nodded and continued, “Yes. If you win, I will do whatever you want me to do. I can kneel and apologize, or even leave Erys… that’s how confident I am in my principles. If I win, you will agree that my previous point was justified. That I was right all along, and that Defects are weak… leeches and parasites that deserve nothing. Do we have an agreement?”

“...”

After a brief bout of silence, Zeke walked toward Azmer Lorson and extended his arm.

“It’s a deal, then.”

The two shook hands before Azmer changed the subject,

“First, we need to get out of here alive.”

“Not after I kill that woman.” Muttered Zeke while grinding his teeth in rage.