After a few minutes, the drinks arrived.
Gerald got his water, and Gen took one of the mugs and drank it all at once, saying, "Ahh!"
When Gerald saw this, he turned to Raja and said, in a low voice, "He's not going to-", but before he could finish, Raja cut him off and said, "He sure is."
"... I never knew he could drink like that. He took so long to take his first cup."
"Really?"
"Yeah, when we-", but was interrupted by Gen, that said, "Hey!"
Gen continued, "What are you guys talking about? Are you guys going to keep it a secret?"
Raja then said, "It was about .... hm ... the expedition earlier."
"The expedition? What about the expedition?"
Raja was about to speak when suddenly he felt something and turned his face. Gen turned his face at the same moment, and the two saw Karin starting to move.
Raja then said, "Looks like she's going to wake up. Let's leave this conversation for later."
Gen then said, "Ok."
the three of them got up from where they were sitting and walked towards Karin.
When they arrived in front of her, Gerald was about to call her, but Raja interrupted him, saying, "Shh! Please don't say anything now. She's almost done. You don't want something wrong to happen right at the end, do you?"
Gerald then said, "That's right, thanks for stopping me."
"You're welcome."
Karin's eyes began to flutter until she opened them, and when she did, Raja nudged Gerald and nodded.
When Gerald saw this, he walked over to Karin and said, "Karin! How nice that you woke up! You went into a trance out of nowhere. I thought something might have happened to you!"
Karin stood up and then said, "After we settled down, I understood that what was keeping me from awakening to my essence was the uncertainty about our relationship."
Gerald then said, "It's great that you were able to awaken your essence, and I'm sorry. From what you said, I was getting in your way. I swear it was never my intention."
"Hahaha, I know that silly man, there's no need to worry."
The two of them stared at each other for a while until, at one point, they heard a whistling sound. They then looked in the direction of it and saw that Gen had one hand over his mouth.
He put it down and said, "I'm glad everything worked out in the end. There's no need to thank me, just don't forget to call me for the wedding, hahaha."
Karin stared at Gen, and seeing this, he asked, "What? Did I say something weird? Or is there something in my tooth? Or is it ... that Gerald lied, and you're not together? I won't lie, I had my doubts when he told me what happened.", but Karin said nothing, and started to walk towards Gen with a serious face.
Gen then said, "What is it, Karin? Do you want to hug me? Because I don't think it would be nice to do that, Gerald might think something wrong."
Karin kept walking towards Gen, and when she was about two meters away from him, Gen stopped her with his essence and then said, "Ok, you're scaring me by being quiet like that. What do you want?"
Karin then said, "You'll see."
She then stopped walking and, after a few seconds, stepped forward, getting closer to Gen again.
When Gen saw this, he was shocked and said, "How is it that you are getting closer?"
And Karin said, "Now I am also an awakened one."
She then kept going towards Gen, and when he saw this, Gen started to walk away while continuing to use his essence to try to keep her away, but it was having no effect.
They then kept running after each other for a while, and seeing the two of them running, the people who were nearby moved away, and some started to say, "You can't drink in peace in this bar. These awakened people won't stop fighting.", "Tell me about it. The table that Karin broke when she threw that awakened guy was my table. I was having a nice chat with a friend when suddenly a man fell on top of it and broke our table."
Karin continued behind Gen for a few minutes, and then Gen said, "Karin, let's stop this. Even though I can't stop you, you can't reach me either. Why don't we stop and have a drink with Gerald and Raja? Is that okay?"
And Karin said, "That's fine, but not before I punch you at least."
"Well, I guess we won't be drinking anything then because I don't feel like getting punched."
"Let's see then."
Suddenly, everyone in the bar felt a strange sensation around them. No one could identify what it was, but something was different.
At one point, a person said, "I can't move!"
Everyone in the bar then started trying to move, but they couldn't, and this made many of them freak out.
Gen then asked, "Karin, what did you do?"
And Karin said, "No big deal, I'm just using my essence."
She then took a step forward, and the moment her foot touched the ground, everyone was able to move, but it only lasted a short time. She then took another step forward, and again, everyone was able to move.
Gen wasted no time and jumped as far away from her as he could, but in mid-jump, his body stopped in mid-air. Karin then took another step, and Gen then fell out of the air and immediately after became paralyzed again. She then took another step, and the process was repeated.
This was repeated a few times until, at one point, Raja said, "She's using the awakening wish to get at Gen!"
Gerald then asked, "Awakening wish? What is that?"
"When a person becomes an awakened, they can make a wish that will be fulfilled using the full power of their essence."
Gerald then said, "What? I didn't know that, but from what I can see, it looks like Gen won't be able to escape from her punch."
Raja then said, "Gerald, you don't understand the gravity of the situation we are in. Gen could end up dying!"
"What do you mean?!"
"I told you, she is using the awakening wish to hit Gen. That means she is using the full force of her essence to do that. At this point, Karin is as strong as a king-level person, and that means that Gen is going to be hit by a King, and he is only at the External level."
"Then we have to stop her. Karin!!! Stop!!!"
"It's no use, Gerald. She already made her wish. There's no turning back."
"So does that mean Gen will die?"
"Not necessarily. Since I'm here, maybe I can do something. Luckily, Karin doesn't know how to use her essence yet. Otherwise, Gen would already be dead on the ground."
"Yeah, that's great, but what will you do? You won't hurt her, right?"
"Of course not. Just let me know when she is about to step on the ground."
"Ok."
Raja then closed his eyes and began to concentrate. He stayed like that for a few seconds, and then he heard Gerald say, "Now."
Raja then opened his eyes and said, "True Mirage!"
After he said that, it was possible to see in his left eye an image of Gen running from Karin, and right after that, both his eyes were taken by smoke. It stayed for a few seconds in his eyes and then dispersed.
After it cleared, it was possible to see the image of Gen in both his eyes, and he thought, 'It's done. Let's hope it works.'
Gerald then said, "Did it do what you wanted it to do?"
"Unfortunately, no ... now we can only hope that Karin doesn't kill Gen."
"... Damn it!"
With each step Karin took, she got closer to Gen, to the point where she arrived right in front of him.
Gen had already gotten up off the ground but was unable to run from Karin.
Karin then said, "Well, that's it, Gen. Now you're going to pay for the shame I experienced earlier."
"Easy there, Karin. You have no idea of the power you have in your hands right now. You could get me killed if you hit me."
"There's no point in lying, Gen. You'll not escape."
"I'm not lying!"
Karin ignored him and then punched him in the stomach. Gen flew a few feet and destroyed three tables in his path. Karin went towards him to check on him, and when she arrived, she saw that he was unconscious.
She then said, "That, Gen, is for all the shame you put me through. I hope you-", but she stopped midway because when she looked at Gen's body more carefully, she noticed that the part where she had hit him was a little transparent.
She then turned to Raja, noticed that in his eyes there was an image of Gen, and said, "The Gen I hit was fake!"
She then turned to where Gen was before and said, "Where are you, Gen?!", and as she said this, something like a wave came out of her and went through the whole bar.
As this wave passed Raja, he closed his eyes and said, "Argh!"
He then threw his head back and, as he came back with it, opened his eyes again.
His eyes were completely red, and he then thought, 'Damn, she ended up using authority unintentionally.'
Gerald then asked, "Are you okay, Raja?"
And Raja said, "Yes, but there's nothing more I can do now."