Chapter 362: I planned that, trust me.

FWOOOOOOOOOOOSH

Lucian moved at a speed so high that it felt like he vanished. The air exploded behind him, leaving a shockwave that tore through the sky, splitting the clouds above them.

Aurelia, who could now properly see her surroundings, seemed mildly surprised by how fast they were moving. Lucian, on the other hand, was losing his mind.

He could see the entire world around him becoming lines, buildings, trees, roads, walls, everything streaked past them.

His brain barely had enough time to process the changing scenery before another section of the estate disappeared behind him.

“…woah.”

Aurelia’s hair whipped violently behind her despite the partial barrier Lucian had instinctively placed around them.

“Lucian.”

She called out.

“Yes?”

“Slow down.”

“Right.”

Lucian reduced the telekinetic output significantly and their speed did drop, only… it wasn’t nearly enough.

They were still crossing enormous distances every second. Aurelia looked around, her eyes could keep up with his speed, but she knew Lucian’s couldn’t.

“More.”

Lucian nodded and lowered the output even further.

Then again, then again and… then even more.

The problem was…

While Lucian was trying to adjust his speed.

“You’ve moved ahead. The Western Archive Annex is behind us.”

Aurelia spoke in a flat tone.

“…right.”

Lucian smiled awkwardly. He looked behind, then forward, then back at Aurelia.

“New body.”

She continued staring at him.

“I wasn’t given a proper adjustment period.”

Aurelia didn’t react. So Lucian asked what was more important.

“How far are we?”

He asked because he couldn’t get the answer himself.

His mind was still being overwhelmed by tens of thousands of sounds, scents, and emotions he was sensing, he could barely remain sane.

If Vivienne was here, she would have noted it instantly. However quirky Lucian was, he would never joke around when a threat like Neroth was still prevalent.

The only reason he would do that would be…

To act strong, to act like he still had control over the situation.

Lucian refused to show his weak side, Vivienne knew that well. Aurelia didn’t, she had no idea how troublesome the situation actually was.

“…quite far.”

Aurelia answered.

“Turn around.”

She instructed. Lucian smiled.

“Going back.”

He turned, very, very carefully, then—

He accelerated in the opposite direction.

FWOOOSH

He was still too fast, so he slowed down, then again, and again, and eventually, the scenery stopped becoming meaningless blurs.

“There.”

Aurelia pointed at a partially collapsed stone structure standing between two damaged administrative buildings.

Lucian followed her finger.

Half of the structure’s roof was gone, several walls had cracked, Lucian could see all that from up here.

Not that it mattered right now.

“Got it.”

He nodded, then, he moved very, very slowly, making sure he didn’t miss it again.

“Go slower.”

Aurelia instructed.

Lucian sighed, he reduced the amount of energy he was using to descend. The building was close, twenty meters, fifteen, ten.

“See?”

Lucian grinned confidently.

“Perfect control.”

He was very proud.

“All I needed was a small adjustment perio—”

Before he could even complete his words, at five meters, when he tried to slow down more, he reduced the force he was using a little too much and…

Gravity immediately remembered them.

The two began dropping.

“…shit.”

Lucian’s smile vanished.

Aurelia stared at him with a flat look on her face, she didn’t look particularly concerned. Lucian didn’t notice that, he did what was important, since he knew experimenting with telekinesis would only make things more difficult, he did the easier thing. He formed an opaque barrier around her, wrapping her entire body.

Then—

BOOOOOOOM

The two of them hit the ground. The ground underneath them exploded, dust flew everywhere and a crater formed underneath them.

Several broken sections of the already ruined building trembled, then, one of its remaining walls collapsed and more dust appeared.

“…”

No one said anything for a while.

Then, the dust slowly cleared out.

Lucian was lying inside the crater on his back, in his hands was a barrier. He removed the barrier, releasing Aurelia, who was unharmed.

The two of them stared at each other for a while, then—

“…nailed it.”

Lucian grinned.

Aurelia raised an eyebrow. Seeing her doubt, Lucian quickly explained himself.

“I planned that, trust me.”

“Right.”

Aurelia nodded.

She then slowly moved her weak body away from him. Lucian stood up, very, very carefully. He had already done it a few times now, so this part wasn’t very difficult.

Once he was up, he gave his hand to Aurelia and pulled her up as well.

“Take me there.”

She pointed.

Lucian then helped her walk towards the remaining section of the building. She placed one hand on a broken stone pillar and used it to support herself.

Lucian watched her in silence.

“You’ll be alright here?”

He asked.

“Yes.”

Aurelia nodded.

Lucian looked around.

He wanted to expand his senses to see if there were people here she could trust, maybe someone capable of protecting her, but with his senses practically useless now, that failed.

In the end, he could only put his trust in her.

“Please be safe, I still have my favours I am very much ready to cash in no—”

“LUCIAN!!!”

Then came that enraged roar again.

Neroth…

He was getting close.

Just the fact that Lucian went ahead, then returned and then failed the landing, and was still much further ahead than Neroth alone was enough to understand how much Lucian’s body had changed.

After all, the current Neroth wasn’t slow.

If Lucian hadn’t ‘changed’, Neroth would have actually been faster than him.

“Go meet your friend.”

Aurelia spoke with a small, amused smile on her face.

Lucian stared at her, then, he smiled as well.

“Don’t get jealous if I start preferring my new friend over you. After all, he is using his last day just for me.

Makes me feel special.

You know? The butterflies in the stomach thing.”

“Go.”

Aurelia shooed him away.

“Whatever.”

Lucian snorted.

Then, he turned. He wanted to accelerate from here, but instead, he took a few steps ahead, making sure she wouldn’t be hurt.

Then before leaving, he looked at Aurelia one last time. ℓ.

“Don’t die.”

“Don’t worry about me.”

Aurelia answered, Lucian’s smile became more genuine as he then nodded and—

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

He disappeared again.