“So uh do you want to be my subordinate?”

I asked anxiously, looking at the person in front of me. The moment I woke up, that person was already beside me, watching me with intent eyes as if he was waiting for me. And in fact, he was. I was shocked. Why was a stranger staring at me while I slept? I was about to ask why was he waiting for me when I realized something distinct about him. He felt familiar.

We stared at each other for a few seconds, as I pieced together inside my mind why he was so familiar to me. Then it hit me. The reason why I was here in the first place, was that I knew that besides monsters, there was only one human that resided there. And it was that kid. Yet when I looked back at the ‘kid’, it was apparent that he was no longer a kid.

He was probably the same age as me right now. For some reason, that made me feel a little sad, but whatever. After confirming that it was him, I was ecstatic as I achieved the goal I set for myself on this trip. Well, it was still half of it completed. The other half completely depends on his answer now.

The person in front of me opened his mouth and said.

“Can I follow you everywhere if I do?”

“Well um.. yes? I think so yeah.”

I wasn't entirely sure. I was simply basing my answer on what Mr Samuel and his followers did. From what I could glean from spending time with him a lot, is that it seemed that he didn't go anywhere without his subordinates. The reason why was a mystery to me, but it just goes like that.

The person in front of me nodded and said.

“Okay, sure.”

“Oh… Cool!”

That was fast. I didn't expect it to go that easily. Even though the way he said everywhere was a little weird, everything had become easier than I thought it would be. Of course, I still had to fight monsters, but other than that it was easy. I raised myself to stand, and reached out a hand to the ‘kid’, I don't know what to call him now. He grabbed my hand as he also stood up.

“By the way, what's your name? I still don't know what your name is.”

He was startled. He hung his head low as if he was pondering some things. Okay, maybe I asked the wrong question. He had lived here all his life alone, and asking for his name seemed a little inappropriate. I was about to say that he didn't need to tell me his name now, but I was a step behind him as he said.

“Wayne. Its Wayne”

“Wayne? Awesome name! So Wayne, want to get out of here?”

“Yes.”

I smiled, as we then walked to the teleportation field.

On that day, I gained a subordinate, a friend, but also an ally that I could always depend on. In a future that was bleaker than I thought it would ever be.

…

A proverbial silence enveloped the room they resided. The man, wearing a blue cloak with his staff leaning against their table, closely looked at the woman sitting opposite of him. It was peculiar. Just as they were about to start a fight that might destroy a whole block, the woman stopped her assault the moment she heard he was looking for his father. He didn't mean to say it. He knew better than anyone to let that piece of information slip, and he knew the disastrous consequences of it.

At first, he planned to kill the woman who heard it, but he stopped. Simply because she froze in her position, her eyes widening and her mouth being slightly open. She tried to hide it but the man saw that her body noticeably shook. The man didn't know why she was being like this. Of course, he might have let his tongue slip, but he didn't expect her to know her father's true identity.

But the more he thought about it, the more reasonable his assumption was. So now the question that clouded his head was, who was she to her father? Her lover? The man doubted it. He knew better than anyone the strength of his loyalty.

An ally? Still improbable. All his allies thought that he had died. Saying anything to them will simply jeopardize his location. He knew why he was hiding, but the man felt that it was a little unnecessary now. It's because he was now there.

The man snapped out of his thoughts, as the woman suddenly asked her.

“Who are you?”

“Ah, I apologize i haven't properly introduced myself. I am Adam Neworld. Yours boss’s son. And since you might know his true identity, it's best that you don't tell anyone this.”

Amy nodded and made no reply. She hung her head low, clear that she was in deep thought. Adam wanted to ask her who she was when the door suddenly creaked open. The door slowly opens, revealing the man behind it. At the same time, Amy said.

“I Amy.”

The door fully opened. Revealing a man with messy dark hair, and piercing brown eyes that directly looked at Adam with visible shock. The man froze as he stood by the doorway. Adam smiled, thinking that the time finally come when he heard another piece of information that stopped him dead in his tracks.

“Amy Neworld.”

…

The bright light that shrouded us didn't last. Before we knew it, we were already out of the forest and into another one. And this one was more familiar in my eyes. I gazed back at Wayne, seeing the awe in his eyes. He looked around, admiring the new scenery in front of him.

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“Welcome to the outside world Wayne.”

Wayne admired the scenery in front of him, and it was then that he wrapped himself in darkness and plunged into the shadows. Wait what? I quickly used {Lightning Movement}, and tried sensing where his aura was. I couldn't. Every time I tried sensing where he was, he was off into another place that was farther from his previous position. It was like he was touring the entire forest altogether in a matter of seconds. Why can't I do that?

I stopped chasing and leaped from the ground as I perched myself on the top of a tree. I oversaw the entire forest. I looked closer and saw a shadow moving to and fro inside the forest. He was fast. And if I didn't focus properly, I would lose him.

“What am I going to do with him…” I said as I gazed at a shadow that seemed to be appearing in multiple places at once. I knew he was fast, but not this fast. It seemed that I got a subordinate who was already stronger than me… I didn't know whether I should feel happy or sad at that moment. So instead, I wearily smiled and waited for him to finish his sightseeing.

Judging by his movements, he seemed intent on traveling through the entire forest. And based on experience, it was going to be awhile even if he was as fast as that. I dropped back to the ground and leaned my back against a tree. I listened to the birds chirping in the distance, the small animals scurrying away from the intruder, and the light gusts of wind as the branches of the trees gently swayed. This seemed a good time.

I summoned my [Lexicon] and flipped it open. I then started reading, and even though I didn't like reading, I persevered as the desire to get stronger overtook my laziness. The more I read, the more I understood what White meant. It seemed that there was a lot that I could learn but didn't, which allowed me to do all sorts of things.

If what White did with my body was impressive, comparing it with the things in the book, it was nothing. I sighed, as I cursed myself for not noticing this earlier. Granted, back then I didn't understand a lick of anything in the book. It seemed that at some point, I was then able to read its contents and even understand it. It was then a question of application.

“The mind and body are the same, and yet not at the same time. Between them holds the soul, binding everything together like a chain that holds the parts together. Each is the same, yet not one is the same. To master the mind is to master the body, and vice versa. To master the soul… One must ask themselves: ‘What is the soul?’”

Okay, I didn't get that. I can read it but understanding some things in the book is hard. Like this part, ‘To be faster than thunder, is to electrocute yourself with a Billion Voltage, and then you can be faster than thunder.’ Now I could understand that Mr Lucius made this [Lexicon]. There was a question of whether I could even survive it, and another was where the hell can I get electrocuted with a Billion Voltages.

What is even a voltage? Does it refer to the strength of thunder? And if so, how strong is mine? I hope it's strong. I'm guessing it's strong. I mean, if it wasn't strong then how was I able to survive this long? Okay maybe that wasn't the entire contributing factor, but in a sense, it was the most important one. It did give me the ability to run away at the most important times.

“Mr. Lucius, can you tell me what a voltage is.”

It's the power of electricity. And to answer your question, the voltage of your thunder is about 10 Million.

“Woah! Is that strong?”

To kill a rat? Yes. To kill another [Systema] user? Not even close.

“Um Okay, then what is the voltage necessary to kill a [Systema] user?”

Hmmm, I say about three hundred million.

“What? That doesn't make sense. I see Mr Samuel kill someone with less voltage than that.

Getting your head chopped off seemed to be enough to kill someone, Cosmo.

“Right…”

I quickly moved on, not wanting to discuss the topic further. Time passed, and I eventually hit a roadblock in my reading. After a certain page, there was nothing more for me to see. It was all just garbled letters, numbers, and other symbols I had little clue about. But it was enough. I closed the book and unsummoned it.

Due to my reading, I have learned enough I think. I just need somewhere to practice it. And I know just the place. I looked to the skies and saw the sun already sinking, the skies yellowing that would eventually darken in a few more hours. The moon was already hanging in the sky, seemingly ready to replace the bright sun.

In a few moments, Wayne was back. He had a big smile on his face, a refreshed face, with his clothes covered in leaves and branches. In his hand, he was dragging a large boar that was twice his size. I wondered how he was able to carry that big of an animal at that speed, but it didn't last.

“Cool, you brought dinner. Come, let's go home.”

Sparks of lightning surrounded me, and with a crackle of thunder, I was gone. It seemed that I had become faster. Reading a book is improving me. I didn't need to worry about Wayne being left behind, as in a few moments he was already beside me. The large boar he carried was gone. I asked where it was and he answered that it was still with him and in a safe place. Good enough. Dashing one more time, the sound of thunder crackled once more as we made our way back home.

…

In half an hour, we arrived back at the city. We passed through the gates easily as the Guards let us in without making a fuss. They already knew who I was, and though they seemed suspicious of the one I brought along, they still let me in. I waved at them and they waved back. Wayne was stiff, as he didn't know what to do. He also waved at them but it was stiff, awkward.

I grabbed him by the arm and started dragging him away from there. I didn't want their suspicion to heighten any more than necessary. If they asked where he was from, what was I going to answer? Sir, I found him in a forest with a bunch of monsters in it. What? Your asking where he was from? I also want to know that.

Ignoring the random thoughts in my head, we made our way back to the tavern. Along the way, Wayne kept looking around as his eyes shone even brighter than when we were in the forest. However, he seemed noticeably shy and anxious when we strolled by people. It seemed like he wanted to hide in a dark hole of his own making, but suppressed it and continued. We passed by a child, and that child smiled at Wayne, and not knowing what to do, Wayne just smiled back.

The child seemed amused by Wayne and giggled. Wayne asked me if there was something wrong with his face, and I answered, “You're too handsome.” He had a puzzled expression on his face, but he still nodded back as he acted like he understood.

We were now at the door. But I felt something was wrong. There was a sign at the door that said ‘CLOSED’. Thats impossible. It was approaching night time and we were never closed by that time. Now I'm puzzled. Still, I grabbed the handle and opened the door.

It was then that I saw three people sitting at one table. They sat around a round table, all looking at each other and not saying anything. I looked closer and noticed that the man wearing a blue cloak was noticeably shaking. Amy still had an indifferent look on her face, yet I could see that she was also shaking.

But what puzzled me even more, was Mr Franks's expression. He didn't even check who came in and continued staring at the man with a blue cloak. The man with a blue cloak still hung his head low, as if he processing something. Usually Mr. Frank wasn't interested in other people, but now he was. He kept staring at him, and for the first time in my life, I saw that there was something else contained in Mr Franks's eyes instead of sheer emptiness.

I didn't know what it was. It was like he was seeing the impossible. The improbable. Something that shouldn't have even existed, and yet there it was. But it wasn't entirely puzzlement that I derided from his eyes. No. It was a look of my sister the moment she saw me.

It was an expression of happiness.