Minutes pass by in his new-found state, and William is still feeling great. Any pain in his forehead long disappeared at this point.
By now, he feels the flow of the Inner Enchantment much better since he is paying full attention to it, unlike before.
“It's like some kind of armor. Luke had something like this when he fought with that Jawran, but his case is different. I think. The Arcalyst that he has is the case, so what makes it that special exactly? Does his strength come from that, or some other skill? I wonder about that since the Arcalyst in that form of his his cube seemed strange in the motion of the Vectors. Also, when he went and made a weapon out of his cube, it made certain protection around him as well, but unlike this skill of mine.” William wonders amidst his focus.
5 minutes later, he was in a state of Inner Enchantment for almost 10 minutes from the point of activation.
Roman still watches this boy with an indifferent expression, but inside, he couldn't help but praise him. No... that isn't all that correct to say. He is praising the Emblem and the potential that it has in the far future. 10 minutes for the first time. What does that mean? Most would be happy to go 5 minutes within their defensive states or in the general first attempts of their Skills.
Alas, as Roman is marveling about it, at the 12th-minute mark after the activation of the Inner Enchantment, William is becoming to struggle. His body starts to tremble in shock, as the effects of his skill end with a strain of the cycling Vectors that make this shield.
“Huh? Crap... This... I can't keep this up.” William mutters, falling back to the ground.
He is completely gone, and unconscious.
After all, the effects of the Inner Enchantment couldn't prevent exhaustion afterward or hidden wounds from appearing. It is the same as it can't heal anything, but it can still lessen the pain in its duration. That's why it's more like an adrenaline rush that could happen when one goes through some heated moment. Fights and battles against the Dark beings are prone to such situations, but Inner Enchantment isn't. It can only be achieved by the intent of the Walkers.
This Skill can get a hundred times more effective than whatever the human body could produce, or make. It can get much stronger than any kind of armor, apart from high defensive measures of high magnitude. Like armor vehicles, tanks, or whatnot. Those are resilient, thanks to their well-developed alloys, which are still undoubtedly strong.
“Heh. I guess this boy has some potential.” Roman chuckles and crouches down beside unconscious William.
“Hm? He lost consciousness, and the Emblem is still active? What's up with that?” he recognize the slowly reactivating Vectors in William's right hand, and couldn't help but question it.
Scratching his scalp, he isn't sure about what he is seeing but is sure what it signifies. Perhaps, that is.
The human mind needs to remain conscious to perceive the Emblem and the notion of the Mindless Eyes. When one falls unconscious, the Emblem and whatever power it has will always disappear. The same is with the System, but that is very individually based, because of their unclarity to others.
Not knowing what could this mean, Roman pulls a watch from his pocket to catch the time.
“8 PM. Not that bad, but rather early. Still, this boy has been at this for a whole day. I guess stopping this now isn't that bad, while tomorrow will be much harder. Yes. Yes.” Roman utters and decided without William's intervention.
With this decision, he grabs William by his left shoulder and tosses him across his right shoulder.
“He isn't that heavy. He should eat more. Heheh... Again with my damn manners. Let's toss him to Mi-Yung, I suppose, and while I am at it, I can ask her some veeeery meaningful questions. That sounds like an excellent plan.” Roman mumbles to himself and leaves this particular bunker.
Unknown to even himself, the watchful gaze is hiding in unassuming windows that are on one side of the walls. It's the gaze of Sammuel. The vice-director of the Institution of the Emblems. Beyond that window, he makes many drawings and notes about the last 5 or so hours according to his knowledge and reasons for his boss.
He already made around 15 pages worth of reports, but it was very little. Watching the pair leaving, he could only accept those mediocre pages since he noticed unconscious William.
Of course, he also notices through a telescope he has, that the reactivating Vectors are still within William's Emblem. That is strange even to him since William has yet to regain the consciousness. Writing it down, he finished the report with much vigor but still considerable professionalism. After finishing that, he will leave for his own business and acts for the purposes of Tom Hough.
Out of the bunker, Roman walks the same path toward the outside.
He spent the last 10 or so hours in the bunker, but he wouldn't mind another 10, since he couldn't help but smile, knowing the rewards for these 10 days of more than easy work. He would be brain-dead if he wouldn't be like this. Schultz's offer was indeed rather generous this time around.
With that said, Roman is still a person. If he would be more generous than ever, he could keep on going without stopping for the sake of William's training. Yet, he knows the training of Rank 1 Walkers is rather... fragile. He much rather trained higher-ranked ones, since they have much more to offer, and would be able to keep up with his demands. Still, it doesn't mean that William doesn't meet his high demands. He did, but not a whole lot can be done on the first day.
Walking out of the entrance to the Institution, Roman takes a breath of fresh air. He is completely oblivious to the fact, that he has a half-naked boy around his shoulder. Though, not even the personnel attending the guests at all times doesn't question it that much. They see the motion of the Vectors, and no regular person wants to have anything to do with that. Roman at least didn't forget to take his clothes with him, but William's Emblem is already getting back on track, so he doesn't know what to do with them.
So, Roman does the simplest solution.
He activates his own Emblem with a simple thought that the majority of the high Ranked Walkers know and disappears in the motion of a shadowy haze. As if a gust of dust leaves the desert after a tornado, the lone figure of Roman, with William on his shoulder, disappears in a single moment.
If any high-rank Walker is present, they would notice the movement of what could almost be considered a flying, appear in the sky. Roman's shrouded body in a shadowy Vectors flies in the direction of the west district. In a matter of moments, he almost flies over it, but he knows better than not to be too quick.
With a thud that doesn't destroy anything anymore, he gently lands on the paved road.
“Phew... I like this partial flying skill. No shot I regret spending the effort on this. No way.” He says in self-assurance for his own decision and stops the peculiar flow of dark matter coming from his back. It goes around his shoulders and hands, and even legs to the ground. It doesn't obscure William since the matter of these tiny Vectors is flowing below his body.
It almost resembles wings, but tougher, with more resemblance to a cloak, or some kind of rough raven wings.
Deactivating it in a similar fashion as activating, Roman walks into the main entrance to the 46th building complex as any normal human would. He follows his memory of coming to Mi-Yung's apartment and knocks on the door couple of times.
A while later, nothing happens.
“Is no one home? Oh well, I won't be wasting time in the hallway.” Roman decides and goes over William's clothes until he finds the key to this door.
Opening it, he walks straight to the kitchen and sacrifices a wooden stool to place there a still-unconscious William. By this point, his Vectors return to the point of a claw, the Vectors are also flowing above his shoulder, neck, and back.
“Hm... back in this state? How long was it?” Roman takes a similar seat across from him and pulls the watch again. It tells 8:20 PM to his undesirable surprise.
“20 minutes to return from the utter exhaustion? What was his affinity again, for god's sake? It should take twice this amount or even 3 times of that number.” Roman argues to himself, even though there is no one but him. When one spends a lot of time by oneself, he or she is prone to this sort of self-centered persona.
No answer or reason comes into his mind, so Roman sits there in wonder and patience. He has time for this. After all, and no matter what, he doesn't mind this one bit, since he has no connections to this Federation any longer. He has no responsibility here, nor in the Acadamy not too far away from the Federation.
Watching this boy with a calm face, Roman figures it is a matter of time before he will see what would remain of this chair. It is already turning to dust one bit at a time, through the pressure of William's Emblem.
“His affinity of the Annihilation is wilder when he is unconscious... What in the world... Is it not him, but the Annihilation itself? I doubt its law... but... it resembles... No. I don't think that.” Roman wonders.
Like this, the pair sits there in the middle of the living room, while Roman isn't polite to find some snacks for himself. By 10 PM, Mi-Yung arrives, and she stops herself in her tracks as she sees William sitting on an almost destroyed chair in the hallway. Walking to the kitchen, she is greeted by Roman's waving hand, while he shoves some meat down his throat.
“What... What is this, Roman?” She tells him without even greeting him. “I know you are not one to be kind, but to the point of driving him to unconsciousness? Was that necessary Roman?”
Gesturing for her to wait with his hand, he quickly chews his meal and gulps down as she waits with her serious gaze.
“Uhh. That was great. Let me ask then. Were the secrets of William's emblem necessary to go unreported? You should do so for the Institution at least. They can keep secrets and prevent further problems, while also researching something new. They could even pay something in return if it's problematic. Making some report to Hough wouldn't hurt you, would it?”
“Are we going to argue about that now? I could, but I won't lose to you like in the past.” Mi-Yung tells back, as she walks to the unconscious William, not wanting to answer any of his question.
“Why is his Emblem active even when he is unconscious? Does it make sense to you?” Roman asks in seriousness.
“How Am I supposed to know? I never forced him into this state. What happened?”
“Training happened.”
“What sort!?” she barked at him, turning her gaze into a hazy, powerful vision.
“I made some progress, he followed. He is quite a kid, to be honest, and I don't mind secrets per se, but knowing about it beforehand would be great.”
“I could tell you some things, but I don't want to bother any higher-ups, until me, or William himself, is absolutely certain about any results.”
Roman chuckles and shakes his head. In the end, he agrees, since he can't care about the Federation or the politics within this place any longer. He spent enough of his life spending his time worrying about it. Now, he can't care, but he could if he wants. That or something in return would come from his care. Like the motion of Schultz's rewards.
“I shoved him some stuff about his Skills. Touch of Vectors seems likely to get some results done in 9 days. His Enner Enchantment is much better than I would ever think. He lasted a whole 12 minutes in that state, before falling unconscious as well... because of some other reasons.”
“Reasons are your unhinged efforts and methods of training. I can see that on your face, Roman.”
“And I can see secrets coming through the mouth of yours, Mi-Yung,” Roman replies with a smile, as the serious Mi-Yung couldn't possibly go against him. They know each other quite well, and even when they haven't seen each other for a couple of years, it doesn't matter.
“In what forms of your "tries" did he succeed? You answer, you ask, and I will answer. Are we clear?” Mi-Yung says, determined to solve either of their problems.
“What about this boy and chair?” Roman points to William, who keeps napping like a princess.
“I don't care about either.”
“How cold. Fine. He succeeded in comprehending the Types. The plural... by the way!” Roman insisted on shouting the last sentence, before continuing as normal. “Then, while he was at it, I've got familiar with his Annihilation element and he too... got familiar with it. It was quite wild, but I know them quite well. Another thing was the succession of the differentiation of his callings and summons. He did not figure out the System, but he could do so with his Emblem now. A wordy choice, but I did not give him too many hints about anything. It was his choice and his own doing.”
“All of this happened today? No wonder he was completely spent after going through the motions of the Inner Enchantment for 12 minutes!”
“Yea. I am not that gentle. Tell me more shocking news, please...I swear.” Roman sarcastically adds.
Mi-Yung almost snaps at him but stops herself in time. “I've seen his emblem disappear from his body in his Awakening,” Mi-Yung reveals the elephant in the room. The one that even she doesn't know that well.