Chapter 304: A Restless Night

Night fell over the village. Elyria sat on the sloped, tiled roof of one of the houses, her legs tucked beneath her. Noah, meanwhile, sat cross-legged on the roof of the Main Building, his sword lying flat beside him. He stared blankly into the darkness around him, looking thoroughly bored and making no effort to hide how tired he was of this routine.

Elyria decided to take advantage of the silence and try to meditate. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, preparing to focus on the flow of mana within her. But at that very moment, an unpleasant scraping sound came from the dark forest, followed by a disgusting, low-pitched howl.

The sound made Elyria visibly twitch with pure irritation. Her eyes snapped open. Sharp wooden vines whipped through the air with a whistle, piercing straight through the monster's head and cutting it clean off. Its headless body fell with a wet thud into the mud between the trees, followed by its bloody head, which rolled across the ground.

Elyria tried to regain her focus and closed her eyes again, attempting to resume her meditation. But the forest seemed to be deliberately mocking her. The rustling of bushes, the swaying of grass, the snapping of branches, and all the other little noises kept getting on her nerves, making it impossible to concentrate for even a second.

Finally unable to stand it anymore, Elyria sharply waved her hand through the air and let out an irritated breath.

"Shit!"

The light of the two moons barely made it through the thick, ragged clouds.

At some point, both Noah and Elyria heard a sudden rustle coming from the dense bushes.

In that very instant, they both vanished from the rooftops. The space around them seemed to lurch from the sudden burst of speed. Noah appeared directly above a gigantic monster, raised his sword and took the creature's head clean off with a sweeping slash. He immediately leaped back to avoid getting splattered by the hot black blood gushing out in every direction.

Elyria materialized right behind him, shot him an angry glare, and shouted indignantly:

"Hey! That one was supposed to be mine!"

Noah didn't even look at her. He stood silently in the middle of the forest path, carefully examining the blade of his sword, thinking to himself:

Need a shorter one...

He walked past her on his way back to the village without slowing down. Elyria flared up.

"Are you even listening to me..."

Before she could finish, Noah suddenly vanished in a burst of speed, only to reappear a moment later on the roof of the Main Building, surveying the surroundings from above.

Elyria could only let out a heavy sigh, feeling rather stupid, before muttering under her breath:

"Yeah, yeah. Fuck me, I guess."

She materialized on the roof of the neighboring house and crossed her arms over her chest.

Deep underground, in Iron's laboratory hidden at the foot of the mountain, silence reigned.

The engineer stood before a small capsule. Inside it rested a dark blue, multifaceted crystal with sharp edges. A faint, cold white light shimmered along the very edges of its perfectly formed facets.

Iron scanned the crystal's structure. Waves of quantum-magnetic shielding were clearly visible around it. This invisible barrier completely contained the immense energy within the crystal, preventing even a single microparticle from escaping.

"We're going to need this..." Iron muttered, glancing at the virtual Test Log projected directly into the air in front of him by Lumon.

His eyes moved across the entries. One line after another, the records listed the results of the ten previous experiments. Every single one had the same verdict: unsuccessful.

Iron let out a tired sigh and closed his eyes for a moment to ease the strain. Then he held out his hand and stepped toward a large glass capsule filled with a thick green bioliquid.

In the next instant, a live rabbit materialized out of thin air in his hand. Iron held it firmly by the ears. As he scanned the animal's vital signs on the move, confirming that it was perfectly healthy and stable, he quietly muttered to himself:

"Well then... experiment number eleven..."

After briefly checking the readings, he casually tossed the rabbit toward the capsule and finished his sentence:

"...ready."

As if on cue, the rabbit vanished midair and instantly rematerialized inside the thick green liquid.

Iron stood there for a couple of seconds before turning around and heading toward the console. He settled into the chair, his fingers gliding across the virtual keyboard as he entered a sequence of commands. Once he was done, he turned his chair to face the capsule.

After seven hours of nonstop work, Iron was still in the laboratory. He stood beside a metal apparatus near the wall. A narrow port was built into its side.

Carefully, Iron fed a coil of extremely thin conductive filaments into the port, then walked around to the other side of the machine, heading toward the receiving tray.

At that very moment, a sharp digital beep from the console shattered the silence of the laboratory. Iron immediately sprang into action, rushing to the control panel and quickly entering a cancellation command. The beeping stopped. The timer he'd set before starting the test had gone off.

As soon as the system returned to its normal operating mode, Iron materialized right in front of the rabbit, in the far corner of the laboratory. Without hesitation, the engineer unleashed a localized gravitational collapse on it, destroying the rabbit in an instant.

His gaze immediately shifted to the main glass capsule. He knew right away that the experiment had failed.

Iron's shoulders slumped. Through clenched teeth, he muttered:

"Fuuuck."

He turned around and headed for the laboratory exit, muttering as he walked:

"Fuck this."

But even after reaching the door, which silently slid into the walls to reveal the passage, he still paused. With a sigh, he lazily opened his palm.

The space beside him wavered, and the rabbit's body, retrieved from the capsule, materialized right in his hand. Iron gave the scanner readings a quick glance and realized the animal was completely dead.

With a careless flick of his hand, Iron tossed the lifeless body back onto the cold laboratory floor. The airtight door slid shut behind him with a dull click.

Early morning bathed the village in a soft, pale light. Noah walked down the street, frowning as he looked around for Iron. Elyria trailed right behind him, pestering him nonstop with questions:

"I killed three monsters! How many did you kill?! Come onnn, answer me!"

Noah deliberately stayed silent, frowning and staring straight ahead. He was still annoyed that he'd killed one fewer monster than she had the previous night.

At that very moment, a familiar figure appeared up ahead. Noah immediately raised his head, spotted Iron walking nearby, and set off at a brisk pace.

The sudden burst of speed sent a strong gust of wind rushing past, whipping Elyria's hair back. She scowled, looking both annoyed and offended. With a soft pop, she appeared right beside Noah, who had already come to a stop in front of Iron.

Without even catching his breath, Noah immediately held up his sword and blurted out:

"Make me a sword, but shorter."

Iron narrowed his eyes, examining the weapon.

"A kukri? A tanto? Or something else?"

Noah blinked, looking at him in confusion, then said:

"Just make it shorter. That's all."

Iron calmly nodded.

"All right. I'll make it when we get there."

Elyria immediately stepped closer, ready to give him a piece of her mind, but the moment she heard Iron's next words, she forgot all about her grievances.

"And where are you...?" she started, but Iron let out a tired sigh and cut her off:

"I told you yesterday we'd be spending the whole day there, with the Council."

Elyria's face instantly lit up with genuine excitement.

"Oh, right!"

Iron glanced at both of them and casually said:

"I've put the dome up, so we can head out."

The space around them warped, and all three vanished in an instant.