"He's awake, isn't he?"
"Yes, ma'am."
'I knew it!' Eva calmly exhaled, left the facility, and boarded a sleek vehicle. "Take me to the airport," she commanded the AI.
—-
Standing in a peculiar pitch with only an opening at the roof and ball-sized holes at four sides, Stefan leaned back.
Both hands were inside his pockets while he stared at the screen showing the number 0 with intense focus.
"Begin!"
The moment he uttered those words, his demeanor transformed as a ball shot from the hole at the north, and he kicked it into the air.
Leaping into the air, he slammed the ball with his feet, launching it against the wall where it magically disappeared.
Ding!
[Score: 1]
The number on the screen changed, prompting a smile from Stefan. Although the news of the MA weighed heavily, he chose to suppress it and contemplate how to fight back.
That seemed to be the only way to deal with people who had decided to attack him for no apparent reason—at least, none he could figure out.
Two balls came from the north and south, but Stefan swiftly anchored one foot to the ground and spun the other around, striking both balls.
The next round involved three balls, followed by four, and soon they shot at different intervals at incredibly fast speeds.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The intense speed and control training pushed his limits, and Stefan couldn't handle it without his abilities anymore.
His feet shot out in a flurry, leaving afterimages and bolts of red lightning. Even when the balls came at a speed that would threaten a continental-ranked titan, he was able to withstand it, albeit with mild tremors.
Fifteen minutes later, Stefan's entire body was burning with lightning, including his eyes! "Ha!" Screaming, he somersaulted, kicking the last ball towards the ground.
Boom!
It dug one foot deep, burning the grass nearby. Looking around, Stefan realized the pitch was devastated, with his feet digging deep into the ground and his heavy landing causing craters.
Sweat poured from his body as he panted heavily, yet a contented smile lingered on his lips.
"Finally feeling like a striker," he smirked, clenching his fist tightly.
Before his eyes, the pitch reverted back to as if it was never damaged, and another ball fell from the sky, heading for the spot before him.
Feeling excited to do something crazy, he lifted his head, calculated the direction of the ball, and ran back.
Lightning coursed through his body, pulsing with his heartbeat. Boom! He shot forward, leaping seven meters into the air and stretching his leg back like a bow.
Boom!
A shockwave erupted as he blasted the ball back into the sky; the whistles of the air as the ball tore through it created a melodic sound.
As his feet touched the ground, his mind went to work. Stefan found himself practicing vanishing steps, and there were four other avatars doing the same thing but just one part.
Breaking it down to the lowest form with them allowed him to make breakthroughs upon breakthroughs.
Once he emerged from his consciousness, Stefan began juggling the ball and tried vanishing steps but got confused, and the ball fell off.
Recalling the cause of his failure, Stefan couldn't help but laugh at himself. Vanishing Steps wasn't only confusing to the opponent but also to the one using it.
If he wasn't careful, he would also be caught up in the same trick.
After failing two more times, he sat crossed legs, regulated his breathing, and went back to his astral space. Luckily, it was super easy to enter that space.
Before he could start the procedure, the bland white space caught his attention. He had ignored it for so long, but a new idea suddenly popped up.
Closing his eyes, he focused his thinking on turning this space into a state-of-the-art training center for a Titan.
Although he hadn't seen the rising stars' training section, he dreamt as far as his imagination could take him.
"Whoa!" He gasped, staring at his astral space which now looked like a state-of-the-art wide hall, and he currently sat on a platform with glowing glyphs.
Above him was also a platform embedded with lights which shone on him. Looking straight toward them would be a mistake.
'You've got to be kidding me!' he roared, trying to stand up and take a look around but couldn't as the place he sat also had a gravity function.
'It would be better to focus on my technique first. When I'm strong enough, I'll surely break through this hold and explore my OWN WORLD!'
Grumbling for hours, he forcefully swallowed his bad feelings and concentrated. This was a benefit of his ability; it was slowly teaching him how to control his emotions, make him mentally stable, and slowly forging him into a man of foresight.
Twenty minutes later, Stefan came out of the Cerebral Machine and looked at his refreshed body.
Looking at the pipe at the back, he knew it had cleaned off the grime and sweat from his body while also stimulating his body to adjust to the changes in his mind.
The intricacy of how this machine was created exceeded his current understanding. 'How are those old men?' He pondered about his friends and past teammates.
Heading for the desktop, he reclined, drank a cup of water, and began punching the keyboard with amazing speed.
"Retired! But they're martial artists," he gasped, searching for the reason, but it only showed them handing over to the young ones known as team B.
'Wait… the rising stars team is the team B of Eternal Era!'
The fact that he realized this just now made him ponder what had been going on in his mind this whole time.
Sighing heavily, he tapped his mother's number on his phone and waited for her to pick up the call.
"Calling so soon, do you miss me?" Sang-hee's sweet voice made Stefan smile radiantly.
"Of course! I'll visit once I get the opportunity, but that's not why I called," he responded.
"Oh? What's the reason?"