"Jash!"
"Jash!"
Several shouts echoed in the chamber as Jash stumbled in his steps, yet the voices remained distant echoes to his blurry consciousness.
Before he could collapse, however, a pair of slender hands firmly took hold of him.
"Ca... era...?"
Jash barely mumbled with hints of resignation as blurry strands of red hair appeared in his vision alongside the small hands.
Despite Sera and Carcel having the strength to reach his side and hold him within a second, their attention was diverted at the last moment.
Caera had utilized mana inside her body to reach Jash faster, but she failed to realize the state of the environmental mana in their current location.
Thus, Sera and Carcel had to make sure no harm befell her or Jash, resulting in the couple trying to fight off the rampant mana targeting Caera.
"CAERA!" Sera shouted in an unsettled tone, her worry and anger palpable for the young girl supporting Jash.
'Wha...t's going... on...?' Jash barely formulated a coherent thought as his consciousness seemed to return to him.
He couldn't really differentiate the hazy scenery around him or the low voices entering his ears.
His parents, however, didn't seem to care and immediately dragged their children, ignoring Caera as she tried explaining her emotional outburst.
Her eyes had water droplets forming at the corners as she realized the risk of her actions, observing the mana flow around them.
Still, she coped with her feelings as they left the awakening chambers cautiously, only to be stunned by the sight of the guards frantically looking around.
…
After everything settled down one way or another, Sera and Carcel stood near as Jash lay on his bed.
Unsurprisingly, he remained spotless, as if he hadn't just gone through a horrendous experience.
It wasn't really tough to clean him; a single wave-like gesture of Sera's hands was all it took.
In less than a second, all the blood-stained clothes were cleaned, and Jash's sweat was gone.
Not surprised in the least, Carcel stared at Jash with a mix of emotions—pride, worry, anxiety, and determination.
"It seems like I need to tell Father about this before we announce it publicly," Carcel said, contemplating various things.
"Do that," Sera agreed succinctly, her eyes affixed on Jash's face as she caressed his sharp cheeks.
"Haa." Carcel sighed but chose to remain silent wisely.
At that time, Jash's eyes fluttered open yet his vision remained hazy and cloudy, prompting him to blink multiple times to correct it.
Even though there was no movement except his eyes, his parents noticed it as they had been keeping a close eye on him..
"Urgh," Jash grunted as he felt a slight headache incoming after waking up.
"Jash, calm down. Your body needs some time to adjust to the changes," Sera advised in a gentle manner as she massaged his forehead.
Jash's body relaxed subconsciously at the familiar touch.
It took him a couple of minutes to come to reality and he immediately fired his questions, "What happened? Why am I here? Why did I faint? Where's Caera? I remember seeing her..."
Before he could continue his thoughts, he was swiftly interrupted by Carcel.
"Well, for starters, you awakened. That's what happened," Carcel said with a simple tone and continued upon seeing only more confusion appear on Jash's face.
"Your awakening time was 4 hours and 59 minutes. A new world record. You fell unconscious probably because you have never gone through such pain, or maybe it was a side-effect of such a long awakening time? Who knows?"
Carcel shrugged his shoulders, indicating he was as clueless as Jash here.
"Don't worry, though. You are absolutely fine, or Father would have come here himself by now. Regarding Caera..."
"Caera is in her room as punishment." Sera continued where Carcel trailed off, startling Jash at his mother's actions.
'How can she bear to punish Caera? That doesn't make sense at all!' Jash thought, finding it hard to believe, yet the fact lay bare in front of him.
Then it finally hit him. Something he ignored from Carcel's explanation.
'Wait a minute! 4 hours 59 minutes? World Record? New Record? ME!?' Jash thought in indignation.
'Now, it makes sense why I suffered so much! Damn it all!' He cursed inwardly as realization dawned on him.
Of course, he was aware of the importance of setting one's foundation after the formation of the Mana Core.
That's why he aimed to be somewhere around Caera's awakening time, hopefully less than her.
'At least that wouldn't make me an outstanding genius like now!' Jash thought, incredulity enveloping his mind.
Since even one hour of awakening time could be called a genius, let alone Caera who tripled that and Jash who broke the world record.
Or at least everyone believed that was the world record.
Everyone except Cornelius.
Even Jash wasn't privy to such a detail as it wasn't mentioned in the novel. It focused too much on making the protagonist appear the best.
'That stupid protagonist had an awakening time of 4 hours and 15 or so minutes...' Jash recalled the important detail from the novel.
As it changed his point of view at the current time.
The longer one's awakening time, the higher their potential, or at least chances of reaching the Integration-rank or higher.
This world had a different ranking system than most worlds but that's something even Jash doesn't exactly know about since he couldn't be bothered about it in the past.
"Uhm, by the way, you guys aren't planning to make it public or something, right?" Jash suddenly asked as it would be too troublesome for his liking.
"Hmm. It depends on Father," Carcel answered with a thoughtful expression, allowing Jash to breathe freely.
"Dad, there's no need to announce it. Just tell Grandfather. I don't want any more attention than I already have. It will be too troublesome," Jash pleaded with a soft tone and a helpless look on his face.
The expression showed his mindset, as if saying: What's the meaning of life? It's all tiresome.
"And I am quite tired from all this. Let me rest for now, please," Jash quickly added before Carcel could say anything, causing him to close his mouth.
"Sigh Okay," Carcel said with a sad voice as his lips twitched at Jash's expressions.
He was very excited to announce his son's heaven-breaking talent to the whole world, but he couldn't do it if Jash requested in such a manner.
Sera's already sharp gaze bore into him, sending chills down his spine. He knew better than to anger his wife.
"Thank you, mom," Jash said, turning to his mom, conveying his gratitude with a tired smile.
Sera's expression morphed in less than a second from a death glare to Carcel to a soft and lovely smile to Jash.
Carcel really felt like cursing his luck for getting such talented children. All of them knew how to win his wife's favor easily.
Meanwhile, Jash remained unaware of his father's 'evil' thoughts as he thought to himself, 'Finally, I will be able to check the differences in my body!'
No matter how tired he looked, he couldn't mask his excitement from Sera, who pinched his cheek slightly before kissing it as if he were a kid, then left with a teasing smile on her face.
Rubbing his cheek, Jash saw Carcel being dragged along and couldn't help but smile at his father's pitiful state.