Tumultuous rumbling quelled not, and awoke the injured muscular man with blonde hair. His memories were fuzzy that he couldn't tell what had happened. Staring at the bright blue sky covered by dark gray soot, this scene immediately rang a bell: he was knocked out by a huge blast... No, by being stepped on.
He yearned to burst out a person's name before he could fully regain his consciousness, whilst getting up. However, the pain at his abdomen still had yet to be resolved, so he moaned feebly and stopped making any movements.
As he rolled his eyes around to scout the environment, he realized the unchanged location from before he had passed out, and even all the soldiers who were present in that scene were in the very same position. It was as if time had been quenched from the moment his consciousness slipped away.
Even with his unique stature, the most note-worthy about Jogrin was that there were so many bullet holes all over his body that no one could bare to look at him directly.
Kneeling down, with his arms shaking and a barely intact purple robe, the boy stood back up. From his movements, Proxer could tell this action was extremely arduous for the boy. Looking more carefully, one would see the worn out and hopeless looks of the soldiers.
'Just how long has he been holding them back?' Proxer's mind was filled with doubt and worry.
Then, the unbelievable regeneration that Proxer heard from the doctors happened right before his eyes again, but this time, he could see it clearly. Awe-struck and terrified at the same time, Proxer remained lying down, and became uneasy. Not to mention, the black matter that was filling up the holes felt... revolting.
One more thing, Jogrin was some distance away, leaving aside the fact that he wasn't blown away. Compared to the moment before Proxer was knocked out, Jogrin was right beside him. Everything behind Jogrin's body, including Proxer himself, received barely any damage, compared to the area in front of him.
'What did he do...?' Proxer couldn't come up with an explanation for the spectacle before him.
"You awoke at a perfect time, Proxer." Jogrin, without so much as turning back to check on Proxer, spoke up.
With a face bereft of any expressions, Jogrin, the scrawny boy who had barely any holes left on his body, turned his head to look at Proxer. The state of his body would no doubt be fatal to any normal being, but somehow, the holes were closing off themselves one by one which had taken Proxer aback.
As Jogrin kept holding up against them, the soldiers became more dreadful and desperate. Their bodies were trembling with fear, eyes were expressing immense fright... It was as if, they have gone completely mad. The rally raised their arms once more, pointing their weapons at the same spot where Jogrin was positioned.
Jogrin, still enfeebled as he was, turned his head back and... Instead of repeating what he did the first time, he merely stood still, with no signs of resisting whatsoever.
Anticipating Jogrin's suffering he was going to have to endure again, Proxer tried his utmost to give his absolute order, only to be stopped by Jogrin, who, once again, didn't look back to look at Proxer.
"Settle down. It looks like it has worn off at last." Without expressing any relief, Jogrin spoke monotonously.
"Huh? Wh... what do you mean... by that?" Queried Proxer with a baffled look and a shaking voice mixed with a somewhat relieved tone. He'd been asking the same same question over and over again today, but it was understandable.
'Worn off? What has? Their fear? But that's not how that works... Or could it be another one of his capabilities?' Bewildered, Proxer couldn't help but raise numerous questions in his head. The man who had been claimed by his subordinates to be erudite has had his mind filled with doubt since the meeting with Jogrin.
The soldiers became hesitant, and one by one, lowered their arms, followed by Proxer's eyes widening in surprise.
Another strong wave of emotional change hit the water level gauge that was the emotional perception in Jogrin. He figured that his words might have been what struck Proxer with bewilderment, so before Proxer could solicit the meaning behind his words, Jogrin opened his mouth while his severe wounds were still healing one by one with unprecedented speed. Once again, he turned his head around.
"They... your soldiers... had a massive and sudden surge of the "fear" emotion simultaneously. It was abnormal and what caused it seems to be from afar. But you were unaffected, since you were much calmer, while the rest of the soldiers were consumed by the "fear", and..." before Jogrin could finish his verbal essay that was simply too vague for one to comprehend, he was cut off by Proxer.
"Hold on a sec. A sudden surge, simultaneously? You mean..." Proxer failed to speak further as the pain was starting to become overwhelming for him. Even so, he was still able to attentively listen to what Jogrin had to say.
"Someone was tampering with their emotions, leading them to behave... maniac-like, to lose sensibility, like a "mind tampering" ability. I don't know who did it, but it wasn't among them... To be frank, I'd even say that certain someone isn't even on this planet... Though I can't be too sure about this last one." explained Jogrin with a dull voice and a look of pensiveness.
'This is getting even more complicated... No... it has been ever since this youngling arrived...' thought Proxer as he stared into the nothingness of the outer space above him while still laying down, writhing slightly from the pain in his abdomen that had subsided a little.
"Once again, I'm sorry that I stepped on you like that. I had to knock you out, while also refrain from severely damaging your organs... I believe I controlled the weight adjustment adequately well. Still, your condition right now could be due to organ damage, as unlikely as it might be."
'The range of 'emotional perception' expanded again... Now I can sense the presences of those further back. What's going on with me?' As soon as he felt that he could perceive emotions of more people, Jogrin questioned himself.
'What just happened didn't seem to amount to much to him... Just what the hell have you gone through, Jogrin?' On the other hand, Proxer, who was looking at all the bullets on the ground next to where Jogrin was standing, also questioned himself.
For now, the bombardment had come to a stop. Although the situation seemed to have been resolved ostensibly and the soldiers' extreme emotions had abated, all that resulted in were the military hospital ending up with shattered windows, and a huge crater before it. Needless to say, there would definitely be consequences following this catastrophic event.
Now, not only the origin, the ability to perceive emotions, and many other mysteries regarding Jogrin, but also this... "mind tampering" that possibly instigated the bombardment,which was manifestation of the "fear of the unknown" has come into the ever-growing equation that could make even the greatest mathematicians feel like their minds would explode the moment they came into contact with it.
And of course, one wouldn't be dumbstruck should they ever be told that the number "unknown factors" so far, was merely the tip of an iceberg...
All of Jogrin's wound had completely healed up, leaving no traces behind, except for the purple robe that was full of holes.