[{I don't remember if I thanked you guys yet, but thank you Carlos_bg and TheVoidFox for your gifts. I really appreciate it.}
"-Think he's waking up."
"Oh, crap, he's actually waking up."
Several voices entered Lloyd's ears, and by the time he gained the ability to open his eyes, the views of several individuals looking at him with affection and worry entered his line of sight.
"Who the hell are you guys," Lloyd asked while slowly crawling away from the group of people looking at him.
For a moment, everyone looked at him in horror, yet before they could begin to panic, Lloyd let out a small smile before waving his hand nonchalantly.
"I'm kidding, guys. No need to look at me like I killed your family pet or something." Lloyd chuckled, causing everyone to glare at him menacingly.
"You can't do something like that. I almost had a heart attack." Ana held her chest while punching Lloyd's arm a little too hard.
"Next time you do that, I will kill you." Elana growled, yet Lloyd simply laughed at her threat, thinking nothing of it.
"I'm going to go to the bathroom now. It feels like I haven't pissed for days." Lloyd smiled and calmly got up without a hitch before walking towards the bathroom.
Despite the fact that she was frowning the entire time, Layla couldn't help but narrow her eyes at Lloyd's words. At first, she frowned when she felt the intense stir of emotions within him the moment he had awakened, but after he lied about needing the toilet, her suspicions only became more grounded.
"You should really talk to him." Layla whispered to Noah and Olivia.
"Did he lie again? About what." Noah asked with a worried expression.
"He isn't just lying anymore. He's keeping something from you. Remember that day he went missing?" Layla asked while making sure that their children didn't hear them.
Seeing them nod, Layal whispered-
"You know how he said he was with a girl? That was a half-truth. Not only that, but haven't you realized everything that has been happening recently?"
"For example, how strong he's been getting despite having just awakened." She glanced at Benjamin, who nodded.
"Or the fact that he had awakened before the awakening ceremony?" She looked at Lloyd's parents, who also nodded.
"What was he doing in that abandoned hospital? How is his cultivation higher than Zack's? And you guys know very well that Zack has the same physique as his father. Why do you guys never ask any questions? This is your son we are talking about." Layla complained, her words getting louder and louder to the point where Zack, Ana, Elana, and Delly could hear everything they were saying.
On the other hand, Alice and Josh were too busy playing around in the hospital to catch anything being said.
"First off, I always assumed that it was the technique I taught him that allowed such explosive growth. He's been routinely doing the technique every day for the last decade or so, it makes sense that his cultivation would explode so quickly." Noah shrugged, evidently feeling slightly aggravated that Layla would accuse them of never asking questions.
"Mom, Dad... I know you guys get a little defensive when it comes to Lloyd, but let's think about it like this-" Ana cut in making sure to de-escalate the situation before continuing-
"We all know that Aunty's ability to sense the emotions of others has always been reliable. Hell, I've seen the royal army beg for her services before. The real question we should be asking is why Lloyd is hiding something even though we made it obvious throughout his entire life that he could trust every one of us." Ana argued.
"That's true. Lloyd tells us about almost everything... A little too much, in fact. Nowadays, he's been a little too quiet if you ask me." Elana commented.
"Then it's either something he knows we will adamantly disapprove of, or something that he thinks that even we can't deal with." Benjamin finally spoke, causing the mood to instantly become solemn.
***
Lying on the floor of the bathroom, Lloyd barely got himself to the toilet, where he began to puke his guts out.
Surprisingly enough, despite Lloyd thinking that nothing would come out, he watched as a black substance left his body and entered the toilet water, instantly turning it black before beginning to fizz.
'I died... No, I'm certain of it... I'm 100% sure I died.' Lloyd inwardly screamed before puking again.
Every time he closed his eyes, he felt as if the pain had returned... The pain of being scorched alive by your own power as it begins to destroy you from the inside out.
The pain of runes burning themselves into his skin and soul, before puncturing him and sending purple mana through his non-existent blood vessels, causing them to glow purple.
Every time Lloyd blinked, he felt as if molten magma was running through his veins.
Looking at his hands, he watched as they shook uncontrollably. He didn't know if it was because of the pain or the fact he was slowly losing his mind, yet he didn't like either option.
He couldn't remember anything after that... It was as if his mind was suppressing the memory...
A few minutes passed a Lloyd finally regained his composure just enough to look at his watch that had been blinking ever since he had woken up.
From the way everyone around him was acting, he could tell that he was the only person seeing the flashing, meaning that it could only be a notification about his stats.
"Open stat screen." Lloyd muttered with a croaky voice before a screen appeared before him.
[Name: Lloyd Elrod]
[Commandment: 99.999% ]
[Race: Void Walker]
[Class: Walker of Voids]
[Talent: 2-Star]
[Affinity: Shadows]
[Passive Ability: Night Vision - Shadow Sustenance - Soundless Steps - Heat Resistance]
[Abilities: 4-Dimensional Thought [Lvl 3] - Shadow Enhancement [Lvl 2] - Shadow Claw - Shadow Movement - Presence Concealment - Shadow Clone - Flame Control [Lvl 2] - Basic Lightning Control -]
[Passive Race Ability: Monarch's Aura, ???]
[Race Abilities: Aspect of Void - Void Channel [Locked] - Void Gaze - Void Step]
[4-Dimensional Thought has reached Lvl 2]
[Shadow Enhancement has reached level Lvl 2]
[Flame Control has reached Lvl 2]
[1 Lightning Orb has been stored]
[You gained the Ability: Basic Lightning Control]
[Void Channel Cooldown: 3M 29D 18Hr 28Min 41S]
[4-Dimensional Thought has absorbed the remaining essence of The Third Eye of Wisdom]
[4-Dimensional Thought has reached Lvl 3]