It kept ringing, again and again.
*Clang*
Once, twice,
*Clang*
Thrice.
*Clang*
It kept repeating like a broken clock. The weirdest part, however, was that it wouldn't stop. The power had long been turned off.
And yet... the sound of the generator kept echoing.
A blazing red eye the size of a whale opened and stared directly into Gray's soul.
He snapped awake with the stench of cold sweat devouring the previous smells of the room.
"YOU STINK!"
Laine, and his stupidly sensitive nose, shouted at the top of his lungs.
Gray decided not to irritate him further and went towards the showers.
The way there was mostly clear with the time being quite late at 52:32 in the night. The only thing that accompanied Gray was a nagging feeling. A nagging feeling that he's missing something.
He, eventually, tossed the feeling away, albeit with difficulty, and began to think on how to implement his plan and make sure the chain reaction happens in the correct order. For that, he'd need to study the behaviours of a few people as well as actually find the bandits he needed to take alive.
Gray entered the showers and checked the area habitually before undressing and actually showering.
After leaving the showers, Gray planned to go right back to the dorm. Fate, however, was a fickle thing.
*Clang*
He turned, adopting a fighting stance and ready to attack. Only to see a grey squirrel.
Sighing, Gray left.
'Tsk, I thought it was a person.'
Gray then went back to his dorms and slept till the morning. After that, he began doing his tasks for the day up until the free training time came.
Gray decided that in this time, he'd wait for the Fae twins to arrive by passing the time increasing his energy purity.
He skipped the introduction and went directly to the first step that he had long been waiting for.
{Step 1: Muddled - Blemished}
That single classification made Gray's jaw drop.
'Just step one leads you to normal? Aren't there four steps? Is there a problem with this method? Is that why the person with it didn't raise their energy's potency that much? Is there some kind of prerequisite? What the hell?'
He continued to attempt to wrap his head around it but failed again and again. Then he realised something.
'What if having a World Serpent unlock the book is the key? That would make sense since they were shit with this method until after we met the World Serpent.'
Gray nodded his head at the theory he came up with and continued reading.
{Step 0: Destroy your Potency.}
'...'
(AN: ...)
(AN: Plot... explain?)
\Plot: No Need.\
'The fuck!?'
Frustrated, Gray decided to read on before scorching the method.
{If you attempt this method with a higher potency / purity than Muddled White, this method will not work.}
Gray's eyes brightened at the explanation. He realised now, this method was a progression method, meant to be used from the start of your journey.
Gray then grit his teeth as he knew the pain of resetting the purity of his energy.
It was like having an entire colony of ants crawl around your waist and abdomen. It was really, really creepy.
But Gray knew that he had to do it.
So he decided to go to his dorm room to do it.
=--=(5 Minutes Later)=--=
Gray had arrived at his room and moved most of his stuff away from the area he'll be destroying his potency in.
(AN: Pretty much changed it to potency permanently now.)
Gray turned his vision to his Origin Root inside his abdomen and prepared himself. In order to destroy his potency, he had to drive his energy into going rampant and causing miniscule cracks to form in his Origin Root. Because it'll be exposed to the 'air', it will slowly reduce in potency.
Thus, he began doing so.
He began coercing his energy into rampaging inside him, causing the Origin Root to shake and his skin to start glowing blue.
At first, it was an ache all throughout his body, however, it then grew to an itch, then a growing pain, then as if needles were poking him everywhere.
Then? Then the pain rose to the point where it was utterly impossible to focus. It felt like his entire being, down to the cellular level, was coursing with electricity and he wanted to scream but couldn't. His voice box was shocked repeatedly as the Origin Root finally showed signs of a tear. And it did. It was such a small tear that it happened.
He stopped immediately. The pain went away instantly and Gray now sat on the edge of consciousness, barely staying awake.
"I'm never fucking doing this again."
He swore on 'Her' that he wouldn't.
Never, ever again.
Gray stood up, albeit a bit wobbly, and walked towards the door.
Opening it, Gray began to walk towards the elevators when his gut feeling made him look behind him. He was greeted with the sight of his sister running towards him, along with a girl with dark blue hair and glowing almond-shaped aqua eyes. Her face was although average with a button nose and rounded features, it had an attracting sort of depth to it. Gray knew who she was the instant he saw her, it was Marina Cyrus.
The Kill Target.
He realised by the two running together that this was the reason his sister was working so much harder at the end of the trip.
Her friend had died in front of her.
He also realised something else.
That the bandits were right behind them.
Without concocting a plan of any sort, he charged towards them with his killing intent shimmering inside his raging eyes.
Alicia shivered slightly on instinct as she saw the same look as back then. During the fire.
Gray soon passed them, making eye contact with both Alicia and Marina for a split second before charging forward.
He reached the first of the bandits, who were all as weak as Gray surprisingly, and threw a left crescent while tilting his torso back, avoiding a left hook.
As he avoided the left hook, a dagger appeared in the hand. And twisted, aiming to slash his eyes.
Gray was speechless.
Not at the move, but at himself for making such a rookie mistake.
He could only blame himself.