Almost an hour later, Syril left, leaving Nathan alone again in the hospital room. During that hour, he realized that it had been two weeks since they had defeated the ogre, which meant that Nathan had been in a coma for two weeks, fighting between life and death.
It was a strange feeling to be so wounded. Nathan was used to being wounded and then dying, then coming back to dodge the attack or block it in some way to come out unscathed, or at least not as wounded as he was now.
But thanks to this, Nathan learned a more valuable lesson, and that was that while his premonition of death was quite useful, he could not always rely on the opponent's attack to end his life.
Although this time it wasn't really his fault, he had been defending Maya and the ogre had caught him off guard, he had simply been outmatched in strength, stamina, and everything else.
Anyway, now that Syril was gone, leaving him alone, it was a good time to start.
"Right..."
Still lying on his bed, Nathan closed his eyes, settling in as best he could and taking a deep breath as he cleared his mind of any unnecessary thoughts.
Every time he attacked, he felt a slight tingling in his hands. He didn't have to ask anyone, he knew instinctively that it was the essence. It was like a baby sensing the moment when it was ready to stop crawling and start walking.
The problem is that just like a child learning to walk, controlling the essence is a long process that takes time, years, to perfect. Even the best were still practicing their use of the essence to make it more refined, more precise and above all more efficient.
Nathan concentrated as much as he could, trying to feel the essence in a different way, after all he could not attack anything in his current state.
It was not easy to concentrate, Nathan had never meditated before and did not really know if what he was doing was right.
As he concentrated more and more, Nathan lost track of time, to the point where the sounds of the machines displaying his vital signs were no longer registered by his brain. He couldn't feel the slight warmth of the island, he couldn't even feel hot or cold, he couldn't feel the sensation in his body.
Without knowing how long he had been in this meditative state, a faint memory suddenly came to him, but without breaking his concentration. Nathan remembered when he had arrived from the realm six years ago and how he had discovered his technique.
He remembered the tingling sensation in his back, then the black hands that came from the unknown darkness, attacking those before him, striking fear into their opponents.
It had been years since he had seen himself in that dark room again, but as he felt the tingling on his back, he realized that it was very similar to the tingling he felt every time he attacked, and he could faintly smell the scent.
'So... that's how it is'
At that moment, the tingling sensation he felt in his back and hands spread through his entire body, running from his feet to his head like a raging, unstoppable tide.
Nathan felt intoxicated, he had never felt what he was feeling at that moment. He felt as if a new world was opening up to him, a world that had always been available to him but hidden.
Opening his eyes, Nathan looked around and blinked several times.
His eyesight had never been bad, it wasn't 10/10, but Nathan had never needed glasses. But now he saw everything so clearly that he even felt a little dizzy.
He felt that his injuries didn't matter, that he could get up and walk for hours without getting tired of how good he felt. But of course, he did not, he knew it was only temporary, that at any moment he would stop feeling like this and his pain would return.
Still, Nathan used the moment to remember what the essence felt like in his body. Not only that, but he tried to control it a little... but was unable to.
He had no idea how to move something in his body that was not even physical, but rather ethereal.
At that moment, he felt his whole body grow heavier and his mood darken slightly.
Nathan sighed.
'Well... is a step forward'
His whole body was drenched in sweat, and he felt lethargic, as if he had run a long marathon and had just crossed the finish line.
'So, this is how other people see and feel the world'
Nathan began to get excited, he wanted to taste the essence as he moved, he wanted to see what his reflections looked like enhanced with essence, he wanted to see the world from another point of view.
For the first time, Nathan had awakened and gone a step further. Without knowing it, Nathan had gone from first category to second category.
A smile came over his face and a few seconds later he fell asleep from exhaustion, having used up all his essence in less than a minute.
***
In a large, somewhat antique-style room filled with bookshelves filled with all kinds of books, a man rested his head in his hands in complete silence.
In front of him, on his large desk, dozens of pieces of information were scattered about.
After several minutes of silence, the man sighed and lifted his head before looking back and staring up at the dark wooden ceiling.
His blue eyes twinkled with a hint of longing before he lowered his head and looked at the dozen or so papers on his desk. One in particular caught his attention, so he picked it up and began to read.
"Report 596... 5 agents killed due to an intermediate rift measurement error, recommended repair of measuring instrument. Returning agents report an encounter against the forces of the anti-government organization, Khan. They describe several cadets fighting an unidentified second rank calamity, among these cadets stands out one who wore a black mask with prominent features, as the agents say, 'the mask resembled a demon', he also carried a katana..."
The man did not read any further, instead his mouth was slightly open, and his eyes were confused.
"That can't be... can it?"
The man put the page down on his desk and then tapped the button of a communicator on his desk. A few seconds later, a voice came through the communicator.
"Lord Byron"
The man cleared his voice and spoke:
"I would like you to investigate a rumor amongst the agents present at Report 596"
A few seconds later, the voice behind the communicator was heard again.
"As you wish, Lord Byron"
With a sigh, the man leaned back in his chair and massaged his temple. Then he turned his head slightly and looked at a picture frame next to the communicator he had just used. The picture was of a family of four, Byron holding a boy with black hair and green eyes, while the woman next to him was holding the hand of a boy identical to the other, next to them, a black-haired, blue-eyed girl held the man's free hand.