Although Albert had quelled the agonizing pain that tortured Sulong, the constant ringing sound inside of his head kept going.

“The boy… Zeke… he’s in danger.”

There was a foreboding and inexplicable sensation swelling within Sulong, urging him to go to Zeke’s side. However, he was given no directions or guidance, making the situation all the more difficult to deal with.

It got so bad that Sulong’s ability was manifesting by itself, forming a circular war of crimson flames seemingly protecting him from outside danger.

****

[Pain-Junkie Main Path has been unlocked!]

[Fortitude stats already available]

[+7 Fortitude]

[+10 Strength]

[The user ‘Voltage Sync, Zeke’ has obtained the following skills: Surge of Pain - Body Damage - Self-injection]

[Surge of Pain has been activated: +20 to all stats]

[Surge of pain has been activated: +30 to all stats]

[Surge of pain has been activated: +40 to all stats]

[Body Damage has taken effect]

Zeke was in no state to check the new skills, however, his decision to unlock the Pain-junkie path was, fortunately, the right one.

Not a second after he saw the flood of System Windows, the pain that robbed him of any rationality turned into a numbness that spread to every corner of his body.

The exhaustion and agony were replaced by an overwhelming sensation of power and energy.

Instead of immediately trying to retaliate or flee, Zeke stealthily looked at William.

The cold-faced man was immovable like a mountain, an invisible pressure emanating from his body.

Zeke continued shouting in pain, but it was an act, waiting for William to get distracted, which he did after a couple of seconds.

The moment the head of the Lorson household lifted his head to look at Katrina, Zeke pushed both of his hands against the ground.

His left arm was still enveloped in the hellish Ink Fire, but Zeke didn’t care as he used [Over-drive], one of his newly-acquired skills.

When he had tried to kill Olivia, he had used all the Aether stored in the Rune of Life. Nevertheless, thanks to [Over-drive] and his considerably boosted stats, his unsuspected attack didn’t fail.

Unlike Voltage Conduit, which basically conjured electric currents around parts of his body, [Over-drive] literally turned a user’s body into voltage.

William only saw a flash of blue light before he felt pain in his chest, soon followed by blood dripping down.

Albeit shocked, he moved his hand in reflex, trying to block Zeke’s sweeping leg aimed at his head. Surprisingly, it was a feint as the youth vanished, and by the next split second, William’s body was pushed to the front, almost making him fall.

Zeke wanted to continue but that was the limit of [Over-drive]. It lasted for exactly two seconds and significantly increased his movement speed, control of Voltage, and attack power.

When the blue lightning was gone, Zeke, breathing heavily, concentrated on his burning arm instead of William. It wasn’t because he felt protected, but because the dome of black flames trapping this small area was finally broken by Katrina and a new arrival, who turned out to be none other than Edward.

“This… It’s spreading.”

William snorted in annoyance and dashed away, his speed no slower than Zeke’s. Only Azmer stood there, both surprised to see Zeke survive and his father run away cowardly. Feeling ashamed that he didn’t have the guts to interfere, the blond youth lowered his head and gritted his teeth, unable even to meet his classmate’s eyes.

‘Think… how do I stop it… how!’

Zeke looked at his charred arm and the black fire which didn’t emit any heat. The Pain-junkie Path had greatly subsided the agony, but it will return soon so it was a race against time.

Feeling desperate, Zeke raised his right arm and was about to commit the unthinkable: Cutting off his own arm.

However, at the last second, when he heard Edward calling his name, Zeke felt extremely dizzy and fell to the ground, unconscious.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Neither Katrina nor Edward paid any attention to the fleeing William as they both dashed to the youth.

Pale-faced, Edward Orland knelt near his younger brother and used his ability, which, like Anthony, was water-aspected.

A concentrated and translucent wave of water splattered against Zeke’s left arm, extinguishing a bit of the flame but not entirely removing it.

“Call Jan! Call her NOW!”

Edward’s shouted with a frightening voice, causing the subordinates that accompanied him to tremble and hastily nod. Katrina stood behind her benefactor with her hand pressed against his back, supplying him with large quantities of Aether.

…

Six hours later, in the large office of the Secret Intelligence Team of the Department of Defense, Edward was sitting behind his desk, pinching his temples.

His slightly reddened face and restless body were clear indications of his bad mood and accumulating anger and rage. In fact, were it not for his subordinates, which were successful in their attempts to calm him down, he might have done something extreme.

Katrina, although she was dismissed, was the only present in the office, standing dutifully while holding a report in her hands.

“19 Casualties. Anthony Orland’s remains are yet to be found but he’s presumed to be dead.”

Edward didn’t respond instantly, he clutched his head and blankly stared at the desk with hollow eyes. Eventually, he leaned back and opened his mouth,

“According to Azmer’s statement, he was killed.”

Although she didn’t want to explicitly say it, Katrina solemnly nodded and explained,

“He said that it was Zeke who did it. We’ve yet to gather all the evidence, but it’s almost certain that the perpetrators were Olivia Vyrsan, Anthony Orland, and William Lorson.”

She paused for a bit, hesitating ever-so-slightly before continuing, “Sir… the higher-ups asked me to ‘wrap it up. As Olivia Vyrsan is a scientist working for the Department of Defense, I think they don’t want the matter to blow up in their faces.”

“Hah! My parents? You think I consider them my parents after that? Hah?!”

Edward banged his clenched fist on the table and glared at his stone-faced subordinate, who apologetically bowed in silence.

“I’m sorry… forgive me. I..I..”

“It should be me who’s apologizing, sir. I have failed to protect Zeke.”

“You did your best and even critically wounded Jacob. Since they want to hide the whole affair, then I can safely fabricate false evidence and erase all traces of Zeke. Tell Jan to come here, please…”

“Yes, sir.”

Thereafter, Katrina left the office and used a hidden exit path to leave the headquarters of the Department of Defense. As she was officially not part of Edward’s team, she resumed her primary task and swiftly returned to Zeke’s side.

Instead of taking him to a hospital, Edward took him to Erys, which was the safest place. There, it would be hard for any outsider to try anything. Moreover, Doctor Xavier was one of the best healers in the Nezulian Republic, that and the abundance of high-grade artifacts in Solas’ possession, artifacts that were suited to deal with William’s ‘Ink Fire’.

…

“I said no! Get out of here already!”

Xavier has had enough of the insistent Maxine, who tried to forcefully barge into the infirmary. She had heard of what happened but neither she nor anyone else was allowed to come inside.

Even when she broke into tears and begged him, Xavier remained adamant and even called the Dean to guard the entrance.

“At least tell me if he’s okay!” She yelled back right before he closed the door on her face.

“...”

Unfortunately, Xavier only sighed and ignored her question.

It wasn’t just Maxine who was there, all the members of the Special Investigation Squad, as well as Samuel, were in standing in the corridor.

The sudden arrival of a high executive of the Department of Defense, Edward Orland, didn’t go unnoticed, especially when he was carrying a bleeding and unconscious Zeke in his arms.

Inside the infirmary, Xavier saw the space distort and Katrina appear right next to the bed on which Zeke lay. She frowned as she saw his left arm, blackened beyond repair, the skin seemingly rotten.

“The treatment isn’t over yet, but we managed to get rid of the fire. William Lorson really wanted to kill him and didn’t hold back, it seems.”

“Will he recover?”

Xavier, tired from over-exerting himself for a prolonged period of time, ignited a cigarette and stood at his favorite spot near the half-open window.

“Recover? Yes. But there is no way to completely heal his arm. It’s not due to the inefficiency of my ability or the artifacts we deployed, but due to how long the arm has been subjected to the fire. In fact, I’m surprised Aether still flows within it… it defies common sense. Then again, we’re talking about Zeke Orland.”

Slightly displeased about his subtle remark, Katrina faced the nonchalant doctor and questioned him,

“What do you mean?”

“I’m just voicing remarks.”

“...”

“Since Edward brought him here, then I expect him to clean up the mess. I don’t want agents coming to question me.”

“There shall be no problems.”

“Huh… if you say so.”

A bout of silence flowed between the two, in which Xavier smoked his cigarette while enjoying the breeze and Katrina returned her attention to Zeke.

His face was as pale as before and his left arm was a frightening sight, even to someone like her, who had seen horrors beyond belief.

Besides a handful of high-grade and dangerous artifacts, there was nothing that could get rid of William’s Ink Fire. For that reason, William was a notorious and feared individual, someone whose prowess was on par with Principal Solas.

Yet, what surprised Katrine was that she had seen Zeke attack and injure William, not once but twice! In those two seconds, he moved with a ridiculous speed and the amount of Aether he was emanating was outrageous, to say the least.

‘So this is the power of the System. No wonder everyone is scared of it. He even killed his father… my assessment of Zeke was inaccurate from the get-go.’

“What’s this?”

Katrina broke the silence and pointed at the Rune of Death, which was darker than the charred skin.

“I don’t know. I’m not a Scholar but I’d wager it’s some type of ancient Formation or Rune.”

After watching the dormant youth for a while, Katrina vanished into thin air, but Xavier knew she was still lurking nearby.