Under the Veil of Night

"Kevin, do you know the things that happen?" Kanae turned her head to the man beside her.

Kevin shook his head. "I'm not a history teacher."

"Right."

Before they could continue their conversation, the woman spoke up. "One of us accidentally told someone about their source of power. The fact that this place can grant power allowed someone to come here. He takes a large amount of the lake water out of this place and drink it. As the result, he became the 13th person to have power.

Different from us, he wants to use the water to make himself the sole leader. We try to stop him, but he's really strong. After repeated fights with the man, he chose to drink a large amount of water that he takes out and turns into a monster. His change surprised us because we remember that no matter how much we drink, we will never turn into one.

It's at that time we realize, we can never take the water away from this place," the woman showed a smile on her face. It was a forced smile, which made it more similar to a cringe.

"But the damage is done. He had taken it out, and he became a monster because of the water. We fought against him numerous times until we won, but that's not the end. He has a comrade, who trapped all of us and sent all of us to our death because he wanted to keep the water.

Fortunately, he didn't know the location of the source, so he believed that what he had was everything. One way or another, I managed to run away with heavy wounds and stayed here. With my limited time, I make this projection with hope that those who come here in the future won't use the water for their selfish greed again."

The woman's silhouette flickered. "I hope this story can help you…"

When she disappeared, Kanae and Kevin were still standing on their place rooted. They had heard about the medicine and all, but they never expected that it would be something like this.

"It seems, the medicine doesn't run out," Kanae looked at the lake not far from her. The clear water gave off a warm feeling, but she knew that it might be anything but that.

Kevin nodded his head. "It's an important source for them, but by that woman's words, I believe that this water is not endless."

"Yeah."

The size of the lake was not that big. At most, it was only around two meters square wide. It looked more like a small pool compared to a lake if she should say. She was unsure about the depth because the light would be biased, but it shouldn't be too deep.

Kevin pondered for a moment. "I'm not entirely sure about the events that happen after the incident. We'll need someone to tell us more about them."

"I can only think of Teacher Charlie if you talk about history. All I know is the tale about the first awakened that they shared with us in the past. Even though they give some hints regarding the fact that the twelves of them were awakened people, I don't know the details," Kanae rubbed her forehead.

She only paid attention to the necessary material during history subjects at school, so she was not familiar with all of them.

Kevin's gaze flickered. He looked at Kanae before opening his mouth again. "Taro tells me this morning that Teacher Charlie has regained consciousness, but his condition is critical. We might only be able to visit him tonight."

"That's great!" Kanae exclaimed. She was happy to hear that her former teacher has regained his consciousness.

"Before we return, do you want to try?"

"Try?"

Pointing at the lake before him, Kevin spoke with a serene gaze. "We can't match against Ferdinand with our current strength. The only chance for us to win against him is if we use this chance."

The fight against Ferdinand in the past was something they never wanted to recall. It was a bitter fight that drove them to the edge of the abyss repeatedly. Just a bit more, they would have died while Ferdinand could face them with ease as if they were nothing more than ordinary children.

It was frustrating.

Looking at the clear water of the lake, Kanae was unsure about her decision. The experience she had because of the water back then was painfully clear inside her mind. It was painful and not without any risk. The woman did say that they never turn into a monster, but what about her?

She had drunk the water that they brought outside. Even though the checkup afterwards didn't indicate anything wrong, she was not sure how much of the power from James Doha that helped her to cleanse the medicine out of her body. After all, she was still not sure about the power that James Doha actually held.

"Is there no other way?" Kanae looked back at Kevin.

Kevin shook his head. "The two representatives will go back home tomorrow. It's the last chance for Ferdinand to make his move if he has any plan."

"I see."

"I will try first," Kevin crouched down. He dipped his hand into the water. The warm feeling of the freshwater on his hand surprised him, but his cold and indifferent face didn't show anything. Soon, he could sense that the warmth spread to his entire body through his hand with slow movement.

Behind him, Kanae was watching him with curiosity painted on her face. Her eyes glimmered when she saw the water seemed to move towards Kevin's direction.

"It's like you're sucking the water into your body."

"I feel power is flowing into my body endlessly," Kevin replied. "Should we get into the water?"

"Get into the water? Are you sure?" Kanae looked at the water with hesitation. She wouldn't mind getting into the water as long as it didn't kill her, but she didn't really want to do it while he was here.

"Yes."

"I'll try first," putting her hand into the water, Kanae braced herself for anything that could happen. Her eyes were looking at the water nervously, but the warmth that spread into her body allowed her to calm down. It was completely warm, not painful like the one she experienced before.

"How is it?"

"I'll try."

Kevin pulled his hand back from the water. He unbuttoned his shirt and threw it to the side before walking inside step by step. As he was focused on calculating the depth, he didn't realize that a certain girl has her face completely beet red.

The water reached his chest, which meant that it was not too deep. "Kanae, come in."

"Uh, before that, can you look the other way?" Kanae pointed to the wall sheepishly. She likes him, but she didn't have the courage to open her clothes in front of him too. That would be too much for her right now.

Seeing her embarrassed face, Kevin really wanted to tease her. But he knew that this was not the right time, so he obediently looked away. The trees behind him was not that bad too in appearance.

After making sure that Kevin was not looking in her direction, Kanae opened her shirt and put it away. She still wore her underwear and her long pants as she went into the water. Different from Kevin, the water reached her neck, forcing her to look upwards in order to breathe.

"It's too deep," Kanae muttered.

Kevin turned around and looked at the struggling girl. She couldn't swim, so the deep water became a big problem in her eyes. Reaching out his hand, he held her shoulder and arm to help her steadied her position. The smooth skin of the young girl caused his body to tense up slightly, but his indifferent expression never changed.

"What's your feeling?" Kevin asked.

"It's completely warm," Kanae tried to ignore their close distance as she focused on the water around her. "There seems to be force coming into my body slowly."

"Yes."

"How long should we stay here?"

"I don't know," Kevin replied with a wry smile.

The two of them stayed in the same position for the next few minutes. Focusing their attention to the power that flowed into their body allowed them to not think too much about their position.

However, it didn't last forever when Kanae felt sudden pain in her head. "I think I can't stay any longer."

"Let's get out of the water," Kevin suggested.

Kanae nodded in agreement. She reached out her hand to the edge when the pain in her head became even more unbearable.. Something seemed to break inside her mind as she put her hand on her head, trying to bear with the excruciating pain.