New Game+

Witnessing the sight of a teenager with no noticeable tech destroy an Exoskeleton with a wave of his hand shocked the two Aragairans.

"Impossible. How can this be? That boy definitely has no Nefilius Suit!" Lanterk cursed. He then recalled the Phallium Suit that Jane mentioned.

"Could it be? Is this what the Primordial meant by discovering new techs? Is Pridgeon and Crostfree, or whoever it is, have found a science that surpasses the Nefilius Suit?!" Lanterk's mind went wild. He began to consider a very minute possibility that hasn't surfaced in over two thousand years in their world.

The Aragarians had a very complicated world.

Its main goal was to pursue a science that they had witnessed at the very beginning. Witnessing that science sparked the mad obsession of their hearts. The entire system they created of the many levels and how techs would be divided based on contribution was only a goal that pushed towards that science.

Those who witnessed this science found different means, and the differing ideologies led to their race being split into a war to prove who was right. How would technology be developed? Was it through unity or through a talented individual?

Ultimately, the victors belonged to the Aragarians. Though the enemy, the Babylos survived and settled elsewhere, it had been proven in that long war that technology should not be shared with all for it to improve. At that era, those at the level similar to the Planteds rose in ranks. Their interpretation and perception of the world allowed them to approach the science available with a different perspective and is inspired by a different truth behind it.

And so the system was made. Everyone in society has to provide contributions and try to create a way to improve these techs and find inspiration to find it. Planteds acted like slaves. Pioneers became the first group that can pioneer technology and studies it. Presiders then begin to search for the science that allows them to presider over the three dimensions. 

Yet, these two Presiders could not understand and see how the altar could create power.

Lanterk was the most affected one. The altar he saw somehow allowed him to recall the forgotten history of the Aragarians.

"Didn't the Babelians escape through a similar ship? Asherah Pole… Could it be?" Lanterk continued to think.

Zeraphine was also in a similar situation. She had her eyes on Seeker the whole time and witnessed the power that crushed the Exoskeleton.

There were no fluctuations, no techs to carry over the pseudo-Universe Energy that crushed it. And Seeker did not have a body that had breached the dimension. Zeraphine continued to investigate the source of how Seeker did it. The only explanation was the strange altar at the middle. But even then, there were no signs of it.

Zeraphine began to do a biological scan on Seeker and found no implants, artificial organs, or anything that could have explained it. She only noted that the cellular body of Seeker was slightly mutated as if he has cancer. But that could not explain the cause of the power.

"Is it… the brain? Impossible!" Zeraphine wondered, but before she could make the scan, Seeker had collapsed on his knees as if he was drained of energy. Blood suddenly appeared on Seeker's arms as if they were slashed and cut by knives.

Zeraphine was startled, and she nearly ran off to go to Seeker.

"Relax, everyone. Seeker's alright." Charles's was now broadcasted, and he appeared on a platform that extended a bit in the arena.

The explosion turned the once rowdy hall silent. Many were horrified. They were shouting angrily at Seeker but thought that the boy alone could have done it without any Exoskeletons.

"We have one more presentation with Seeker Carlean. He has agreed to use a deadlier show. Later, Lynd Indigo will make the same presentation. But to convince you, we are requesting each family to deploy Exoskeletons inside the arena. You may be thinking that this was all a trick. So the best way to prove it is to have you send your Exoskeletons. The WGP will compensate for the loss of your Exoskeleton. You may also opt not to join the presentation." Charles smiled.

An Armor soon stepped in and took a position, and several strangely dressed men and women entered the arena and positioned themselves to form a circle around the pillar. The people began to dance and what was amazing was that the blood that leaked out of Seeker was traveling back!

Next to him were Precil and Cliff Fangwood.

"It's Cliff!" Charm was excited to see him, and for a moment, she forgot the strange show that had just happened.

And then, Eva appeared next to Charles.

The excited face of Charm froze as she saw that wretched woman standing next to Cliff.

Cliff was smiling and waving at Charm.

"Hrm? Is she so shocked to see that I'm with Charles?" Cliff wondered. He didn't know that Eva was approaching. Cliff sensed someone through Realm and assumed that it was Meryl.

And right when Eva was near...

"It might be because of me," Eva whispered.

Cliff jolted in shock as he turned to see Eva.

"E-Eva?"

"My husband, how are you?" Eva smiled seductively and reached out to Cliff, who backed away as if the touch of Eva would kill him.

But the moment Eva said this, Charm somehow acquired the ability to lip-read. And though Cliff and Eva was quite a distance, it was as if she was very near.

In the perspective of normal people, they could see Cliff bolting as if Eva's touch was lava.

But in Charm's biased, jealous, and very closed-minded view, she saw Cliff and Eva flirting with a little 'catch me if you can' play right in the middle of an important presentation. Time was slowing down at the sight of these two in Charm's perspective.

What Charm saw was a totally different scene. She even began to see the future of Cliff and Eva. They were married. They had kids. And Charm was the maid of honor.

Eva approached Charm and smiled.

"Thank you for giving him to me."

The scene disappeared, but Charm's thoughts were everywhere.

Charles, who was standing at the stage, suddenly heard a beep.

"Hrm? My Unlock detecting device is beeping! Amazing! And I thought it never worked!" 

Charles had been tasked to find a way to detect the Unlocking. The device that he, and some of the scientists who joined their alliance, created was at the experimental stage. The technology of Realm and the other dimensions were employed that could scan an area of 300 meters for any brain activity that could be linked to the Unlocking. This device could sense if someone is breaching the stage from the 12% of the peak brain activity they had noted and could sense the moments where the brain was functioning and pushing itself beyond the limits.

Charles immediately took it out and searched the area. He was subtle in checking and determined that the location where the anomaly was detected was near Lara.

"Lynd? Do you copy? Unusual activity near Lara Diamon. What can you tell?" Charles sent a secret message.

Lynd was already secretly spying on Lara Diamon and Lanterk.

"Near? No changes on the Diamon and Small Willy. Wait… Is that? That's impossible? Unbecoming?!" Lynd was amazed at what he saw.

"What? But I thought-"

"Not them. It's the Novelty-Blastoise!"

"Her? What do you see? What's causing it? How is it possible?"

Lynd used his Path to observe and empathize with the emotions that Charm had.

"What is Cliff doing?" Lynd asked since he had to focus on Charm's face.

Charles turned and saw Eva trying her best to hug Cliff while Cliff was pushing her away.

Most of the crowd didn't mind or even noticed Cliff and Charm as they were focused on Seeker, who was now standing with an expression right in the middle of a strange ritual that involved dancers.

"Cliff is… evading Eva. It can't be… Did she cross the bottleneck because of this? What do you see? What is she feeling?" Charles asked Lynd to understand what Charm was feeling actually to cause her to enter the Unlocked Realm.

"I see Charm carrying Cliff's severed head." Lynd sighed as he stopped.

"What?"

"This girl. I don't know-how. But she has a Skill."

"A Skill?"

"She is skilled in… extreme negativity and in assuming things. Ugh. Got to disconnect!" Lynd forcibly ended his observation and couldn't help but clutch his heart.

"How is that a Skill? Her Unlocking… it's regressing!" Charles noticed as the device he held displayed that the fluctuation unique to the Unlocked was slowly being undone.

"Terrifying. The level of negativity and depression she has would have caused anyone else to commit suicide. Her Path! It a self-torturing Path! But she endures! This is crazy!" Lynd no longer referred to it as a Skill but a Path.

"It's a Path? Is that girl a potential Ranked Hero? But I don't get it! This is the first time I've seen someone reach Unlocking and revert back!"

"It was because of her Path. The depression and anxiety she bears are so powerful! The sight of Cliff and Eva triggered it! It traumatized her that she somehow went through an imaginary Life Review. That temporarily pushed her to the Unbecoming stage. I don't understand it either. I'll tell Zeek later."

"Damn… I feel sorry for Cliff…" Charles couldn't help but look at Cliff, who was practically fighting Eva now and felt even more pity for Cliff. Lynd's description of her Path would turn out to be a rather painful path.

The ritual that the dancers performed ended.

An Armor was brought inside.

Seeker stood up and gave a bow to the altar, and then he reached out to the Armor.

The large Armor began to tremble. It slowly floated in the air. And Seeker closed his fist.

The torso of the Armor was getting crushed. The strong Armor was bending from the telekinetic force and pressure. But all of a sudden, something different occurred.

Lightning energy began to erupt out of the large Armor.

The torso of the Armor burst opened, and lightning rampaged all over the area.

The dancers began to panic. Some fell, and others began to bleed out as wounds and cuts began to appear.

The Armor was breaking and bursting with lightning energy. But as the flashes of light continued, the crowd began to realize that the Armor was melting.

The dancers ran out of the room as the lightning grew wilder.

BOOM!

The Armor finally exploded, and strange lightning remained from where the Armor took a human form and moved towards the Altar, and disappeared.

Seeker, who had been maintaining his position, finally collapsed and fainted.

Several doctors immediately rushed in, and all were wearing hazmat suits as they took Seeker out.

"Your boyfriend… is quite powerful." Lanterk communicated secretly to Zeraphine. It t

"He's the Progenitor's direct descendant. I'm not sure if he's Pridgeon or Crostfree's son or if he's the son of another Presider. Do you get it? That's why I'm trying to win his favor! That should explain my actions earlier!" Zeraphine revealed and used this time to explain her unusual behavior in the earlier battle.

Lanterk was amazed.

"Could it... be that the Progenitor has achieved a way to pass on the power of the Nefilius Suit?!" Lanterk recalled a crazy theory that assumed how Primes were so powerful. It was said that they could raise Presiders that would easily reach Principal because their Suit itself would soon be capable of the techs the Principals could do.

"Yes," Zeraphine answered without hesitating. Based on the book of lies she read, this was another perfect opportunity to make her appear to be a step up compared to Lanterk. So Zeraphine did not even fuss at Lanterk's statement.

Lanterk grew all the more cautious. If this is true, and Jane mentioned that Zeraphine does not have the standard Nefilius Suit, but the mysterious Phallium Suit!