As the kid's entire body 'halted', Invictus finally took some time to study the kid some more. He looked like a teenager, probably only a year or two younger than him. His body was built well, and Invictus could see faint signs of training in his frame.
That was no surprise, as there was a basic amount of physical and combat training as a curriculum in every school. But for Invictus to notice the effects even with his clothes on, he must have put significant effort into training his body.
It must be known that the norm for everyone, with the limited food rations and grueling training they underwent, was to have a sleek and lean physique. For the kid to build even the little extra muscle that he had, despite the intense regimen, he must have trained sufficiently, as well as gotten his hands on some extra food somehow.
That meant the kid came from a decent background. At least he wasn't an orphan, as was so common in Kolar. Given his youth, and the probable background of the kid, it was a little surprising how much effort he put into helping Invictus.
"Hargreave, why did you allow a kid into the hall?" Invictus asked gravely, even though he never took his eyes off the kid. But there was no response. The room remained silent and empty, save for him and the kid.
"I thought you said you wouldn't help me, and wouldn't allow me to get any help until I prove myself," Invictus spoke once more, and waited for a response. But once again, he was greeted with naught but silence.
Just as he was about to speak for a third time, he heard a reluctant voice coming from beside him, though there was no one there.
"I thought that the addition of the kid would be an additional burden for you in the fight. I wanted to test you and see what you would do. I never expected him to be so… effective despite being so careful."
Invictus snorted, showing no respect for the invisible figure near him.
The Herald took in a deep breath, ignoring the pain in his body, as he focused once more on Nero's body. Freezing it was not a solution, and he could not take the kid out like this, as it would raise questions he could not answer. He had to stabilise the kid himself, which would not be easy.
"You should not have used the card on the kid," the invisible man said. "It will leave traces on his body. He can become a weakness and a flaw for you, possibly revealing your secret."
"Since you did not help when your help was actually needed, you can keep your advice to yourself," Invictus said, and he placed his hand right over the kid's chest, where his aether node would have been before the synchronisation.
"Reverse!" he exclaimed, once again activating the golden card, suffering an immense drain on his own aether reserves. But even if he ended up suffering from aether deficiency, the repercussions would not be nearly as bad as what the kid was suffering. He would only experience body aches and severe nausea until the situation was resolved.
Inside Nero's body, everything seemed to be going in reverse. His blood was flowing backwards, his heart was beating in the reverse order, his blood was feeding oxygen to the air in his lungs instead of absorbing it, and, most importantly, his innate ability was once again being restored.
After an excruciating 20 seconds, the effects of the golden card wore out as even Invictus, despite being an Initiate, ran out of aether. He fell to his knees and his body trembled, but instead of worrying about himself, he first checked on the kid.
Unbelievably, this was the first time in Invictus' 17 years of life that someone had risked their life for him. That was not to say that Invictus led a bad or miserable life, far from it. But this was the first time he felt like someone shared in life and death with him on the battlefield. He… he did not want to let the kid die.
He held his breath as he studied the kid's body, anxious to see if the innate ability continued to unravel. One second, five seconds, twenty seconds passed, and though the kid did not look much better, his innate ability held on.
Invictus sighed in relief, and then could not help from bursting into laughter. He had not realised that he was so worried about the kid, and now that he knew the kid would be fine, he felt a wave of relief wash over him.
"At least tell me the kid's name," Invictus said, as he pushed himself to his feet and picked the kid up.
"Instead of the kid, shouldn't you be worrying about who sent an assassin to kill you?" the invisible man asked.
"Hargreave, we both know who sent the assassins. We both also know why the AAB has been under attack for nearly 20 minutes, but reinforcements have not come. There's no point in dwelling on such things right now."
After a moment of silence, the invisible man responded and manifested an ID card out of thin air, on which a lot of data was recorded.
"The kid's name is Nero Grant, 15 years old, and his school is Mount Aidin. By the way, you're wrong about why there are no reinforcements. I'm not sure what it is, but there's been an incident in the hills. A lot of troops were deployed, including big shots like the chief of AAB."
Invictus grabbed Nero's ID card and slipped it into the kids pocket before walking out of the auditorium. He was not worried about being attacked anymore. Regardless of the process, by defeating an Arcanist, Invictus had gained the continued protection of the mysterious Spectre who had followed him for so long.
But as it turned out, the protection wasn't needed. As soon as he emerged, he ran into a group of security guards who immediately took Nero from him and began performing emergency treatment through their cards.
"Are you a Herald? What's your name? Do you know of any more survivors?"
"No, no survivors this way. I led one of the attackers here to bring him away from everyone else. My name is Invictus Hammel."
As Invictus answered the guard's questions, he did not seem to realise that the guards were distracting him as they performed emergency treatment on him as well. It appeared that he was so used to pain that he forgot that he was actually injured.
What happened next was a blur, and Invictus did not even realise when he was put to sleep. Nero's condition, comparatively, was much better. A scan of his body showed mild trauma, and low aether reserves, but not to the point of depletion.
But, for the sake of safety, he was kept asleep through artificial means as he was transported to the nearest hospital, alongside everyone else who had suffered during the attack.
When Nero woke up, he found himself lying in a hospital bed. He did not feel drowsy or tired, or even weak. The moment he opened his eyes, he was completely fresh. That was because there was nothing wrong with him besides low aether reserves, which was one of the easiest things to heal.
He was in a private room, which was unusual, until he realised that his father was sitting on the other side of the room, reading a magazine.
"Dad, I lost my card case. It has your card in it," Nero said immediately, not bothering with pleasantries. If his father's innate card was discovered, it could have very serious repercussions!
Instead of responding, his father threw his card case at him, without removing his gaze from the magazine.
"Kid, between you and me, I'm fairly impressed. This is the fastest anyone in our entire family has been hospitalised after moving out from home. Even your uncle lasted a few days before ending up in a ward."
"I have an uncle?" Nero asked, surprised.
"Yeah, your mom had a brother. We didn't like him too much, to be honest, and haven't seen him in years. You were still a baby the last time I heard from him. He ran away with some Cretaian blonde. Probably dead by now. Listen, more importantly, your moms getting the latest round of her treatment right now, so she doesn't know about this incident yet. Please try to refrain from any more hospitalisations in the meantime. She'll get really anxious, and then she won't be able to sleep. When she can't sleep, she doesn't let me sleep either, and you know I have to be awake by noon for work."
"I'll try to not inconvenience you with any more hospitalisations," said Nero as he rolled his eyes. Everyone else's father was so strict and mean, so how did he end up with such a unique parent?
Edward put down his magazine and finally looked at Nero, observing his changes. His eyes were a clear blue, and the colour of his hair was beginning to fade as well. Not everyone experienced such a change upon synchronizing, but if the innate ability was related to an element, it always occurred.
"So you went after your mother too, huh? Ice related powers? At least it's not a passive one, so you got one of your wishes."
Nero had actually wanted an ability to wield fire, which is what he got technically speaking. It was just that instead of his fire burning things to ash, it would freeze them.
"It's a blue flame that freezes things. The ability is similar to moms, but I've already discovered a way in which it's different. Since it's a flame, I can use it to light the dark. Besides that, well, I haven't had any time to test it out, so I'm not sure, but there's probably more."
Edward could not hide his massive smile upon hearing that Nero had unlocked a flame, even if its effects were more similar to his wife's ability rather than his own.
"So you take after me," he said, his voice filled completely with pride. "Don't worry, you'll soon see how amazing it is to be a fire wielder. I'll compile a list of things you can probably try out with your ability that will help you understand it better. For example, does it still require oxygen? Or does it rely on some other gas? Does it even need gaseous fuel? I'll have you know, your grandmother's fire could burn even in a vacuum."
"Yeah, dad, thanks. But I'd like to experiment with my ability myself for a bit before taking any outside help. Besides, there's a class with one-on-one guidance with a teacher to help me figure out the limits of my ability that I'll be taking."
Nero paused the conversation and looked at his dad. He knew what he was trying to do. He was trying to distract Nero, but that had never worked. But the fact that he was trying to distract Nero rather than informing him outright who had attacked the AAB and why meant that it was sensitive information.
"So, are you going to tell me, or are we going to keep avoiding the topic? I'll find out, eventually. You know how gossip spreads."
Edward could not help but sigh, and his expression looked a little worn.
"Who attacked the bureau, I'm not sure. The official story is that it was terrorists from Dolziya. It could be true or completely made up. But that's not the biggest news in the last few hours. There's been some kind of incident in the hills, and a lot of troops have been deployed. The city's security has become vulnerable, so the reserve soldiers have been called out and a level one draft notice has been issued. It's been a long time since the situation in Aetherpeak was so tense."
Nero frowned and then sighed. Of course disaster had to strike on the day he stabilised.
Suddenly feeling impatient, Nero began unhooking all the medical equipment.
"I'm free to go, right? I don't really have time to be wasting here. I need to get to school."
In truth, there was someone he needed to see urgently before they responded to the draft notice. There was no time to waste.