Res entered another narrow alley and followed it with aether filled steps. It might seem like he was running fast, but he was only moving his legs to cover up that he was hovering above the ground. By the stares he was getting, he deduced that it didn't work. Yet, too many people were on the streets and he couldn’t fly around, so he took the stares in stride. He could be an undercover elite royal guard or powerful thug.

During his sprint, he listened to Jason as he told him more of the wonderful medium called ‘anime’. When he rounded a corner, a monk barred the narrow alley. Res bowed and made as if to pass the monk, but the monk stepped in his path. Irritated, he tried to go around the monk another way, but the monk again barred his way.

He put on his most polite face and asked: “Can I help you?”

The monk answered in an arrogant voice that didn’t belong to that of a tranquil priest. “I was wondering whether you have seen any rebels out here. I have heard there is an organization out here called ‘young rebellion’. Your face seems awfully familiar.”

Res's hands began to sweat, but fleeing now would mark his face as guilty forever. “Bro, I am getting some fucking chill vibes from this dude. You should leave asap.”

Res made as if to leave for the direction from which he had come from, but a dome-shaped barrier sprung up around them. It glowed a dull white and had a radius of over ten meters. When he felt around with his senses, he was mentally burnt by the intensity of aether around him. “Hey, don’t leave. Those aren’t good manners.”

Res whirled around and faced the monk. “What do you want?”

“A little chat about the little revolution you got going.” The monk's bloodthirsty cultivation was like a bonfire in his aether sight.

“Who are you?” Res chided himself for asking all the wrong questions. Even five elite guards wouldn’t be able to bring down this monster.

The monk's face shifted to another face and continued to shift to different faces. “I am the council’s master of intelligence. To answer your next question: My little birds are everywhere.”

Res recalled the innocent little children watching them. “Bro, you should fucking run for your life. Now.” Res pushed off the ground with all his might and hit the barrier as hard as he could with his hardened body. He felt how the energy of the impact traveled into the shield and then was redirected back at him. Half a second later, he found himself pressed ten centimeters into the cobbled street.

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His impact caused a giant explosion of rock and dust that covered the entire globe. The dust in the air revealed that the head of intelligence wore the same shield of force around his whole body. “Bro that is fucking unfair. He is invincible. I bet that as a child, he always only replied with ‘No you’ to insults.”

Despite hardening his body with aether, Res was covered in bruises and scrapes. Like a landslide rumbling down the hill, the slow advance of the monk was inevitable. With a sudden flash, the monk appeared next to him and landed a solid kick on his stomach. His body folded in half and blood gushed out of his mouth. He was pressed so deep into the street that he could feel the stone giving away to reveal the dirt underneath.

From the way that the monk picked him up, Res could feel the enjoyment he got out of hurting him. Lighting fast strikes assaulted him and the crime boss' shields doubled in power. A punch to his stomach made him double over and spit out even more blood. Some of the blood drops landed on the monk’s robes. In disgust, he swatted Res away like an annoying fly.

Through the pain, Res circulated aether in his brain. He knew that the monk was toying with him, the head of intelligence could have killed him at any time. “Think, Res. I can’t punch through. I can’t fight him. Escape or Fight? Escape. Where can I escape? Air. No. Surface. No. The only path of escape would be …”.

He propelled himself back into the air, but the monk only waved at him to come back. “Come on. Don’t make it harder for me. I have an important event I have to be at today.”

Res ignored the taunts and positioned himself in the air. When he had found the perfect angle, he released an enormous push against the dome’s ceiling. The force he pushed against the ceiling now propelled him twice-fold. Like an arrow in flight, he shot towards the edge of the barrier. Before he hit the ground, he pulled in all the aether he could and reinforced his body.

As he had hoped, under the street lay simple dirt through which he cut like butter. After some time, he came to a stop two meters under the ground. He could hear the enraged cries of the council head, but he continued his plan. With dirt in his ears, mouth, nose, and hair, he pushed down as hard as he could. The dirt pushed into his wounds and the edges of his visions went dark from the strain.

Yet, he could feel himself rising higher, as the enormous force pushed him upwards. With a final push, he punched through the cobbled street and soared into the sky. When he turned back, the spitting mad head of intelligence flung various spells at Res. In an ironic twist of fate, all were reflected by his own aether shield. Res swore that he would keep the angry visage of the monk, trapped inside his creation in his memory.

“Bro, you are a fucking mad lad. Fucking balls. You used yourself as a spear to ram through three meters of dirt. The dome might have doubled the force, but that wasn’t half bad.”

“I’ll take the compliment that is hidden in there.”

Luckily, Jason stabilized him in the air, else he would have dropped to the ground again. With some last reserves of aether, he fled the scene.