Sitting face to face with Ruby on the sofa, I finally broke the silence.
"Tell me about the experiments at Frostvile Mountain," I asked, keeping my tone as calm as ever, despite the millions of questions swirling in my head.
Ruby, was now fully composed after her earlier breakdown.
"The Frostvile Mountain?"
"Yeah."
She looked straight at me, recalling and thinking, finally said, "The Hero Association has been performing experiments on living humans—more specifically, young children, who haven't developed their Elemental Essence yet."
'As expected.'
"What are they trying to achieve?"
Ruby shook her head. "I don't know their full scope of objectives. But. I do know one thing that, it has something to do with monster's regeneration."
I recalled, witnessing a monster's corpse in my dream.
I tried to pieces her words together.
Monsters ranked B and above has the ability to regenerate their limbs, and that's what makes them so damn hard to kill.
But... humans? An Experiment to grant humans that regeneration ability?
I blinked, now thinking even harder.
'That's similar to my Immortality skill.'
That's exactly what I can do now.
It's similar.
My body, can now regenerate.
'Heck! My arm even grew back.'
But I know for a fact that my skill wasn't always there, since birth.
Before I died, I got injured plenty of times. And none of those wounds were healed instantly, and let alone regenerated.
So why now?
I thought, digging even harder through every memory I could recall.
Back my time at Hero Association, they never performed any kind operations or experiments on me, so how the hell did I end up with this ability?
The more I analyzed it, the less sense everything made.
But. One thing is clear.
My Immortality Skill didn't come from the Hero Association. That much I was sure of.
So the real question is, how did I get it?
My mind flashed back to few days ago, when my Immortality Skill fused with me and my Quantum Manipulation Skill, was stripped away from its side effect.
I remembered hearing a voice—one that sounded similar to mine. That moment was not natural.
Before I could dive deeper, Ruby's voice snapped me out of my deductions.
"Tell me about this dream you had," she said, her tone now is sharp and serious. Her earlier teary face was now still with focus.
I hesitated but decided to spoke either way. "I don't fully understand what's happening to me, or why I'm having these kind dreams or visions. But I know one thing that, it all started after I resurrected."
Ruby listened carefully, her eyes fixated on mine.
Then she asked, "And that's how you got know about the Hero Association's past experiments?"
'Eh?'
Her question threw me off.
I frowned. "What do you mean, past experiments?"
Ruby tilted her head.
"The experiments you're talking about—the glass tubes, the children—all of that happened when I was five. The Hero Association shut the experiment after everyone involved died. I was eight when they closed the experiment, and I was the sole survival. That was thirteen years ago."
Her words left me even more confused. "Thirteen years ago?"
Ruby nodded. " Yes."
I felt my head spinning.
"No, that's not right. … Right?"
I told her everything, what I have seen deep underground, beneath Frostvile Mountain just few days ago—the underground facility, the massive rooms, those glass tubes.
It was real, I knew it. But, the more I remembered, the more it became clear. I didn't sense any children last time when I was at the mountain. Instead, I saw heroes—four-digit-ranked heroes—working together on something.
Ruby shook her head. "That facility is now used by the military. And no experiments like that are happening today. The Hero Association failed back then, so they abandoned the project."
'None of this made sense.'
I need to think calmly.
I even closed my eyes, forcing myself to think clearly.
If the experiments were from thirteen years ago, then what I saw and what I dreamt must have been from two different… timelines.
I opened my eyes.
That sudden realization hit me like a punch to my gut.
"It wasn't just a dream. I saw a vision… of the past."
But why?
Why me?
Why now?
There's no point to it. It was all in the past.
Nothing can be done now.
Right?
Without wasting any seconds, I stood up from the sofa.
"Where are you going?" Ruby asked, noticing me depart.
"Frostvile Mountain."
She shot to her feet. "You can't! What if they recognize you? If the Hero Association catches you, or even a hint of your identity gets reveled, it'll be over for you."
Her concern was valid, but I didn't have the luxury nor the time to fear.
I had to know the truth.
"They won't," I said.
As those words left my mouth, I focused, absorbing the Fire Essence within me.
The air around me grew warmer, as the Fire Essence surged through my veins.
Ruby's eyes widened as she stepped back, watching the transformation.
My once jet-black hair ignited, turning into a vivid crimson. My eyes, now glowed with an intense red, like a raging inferno.
From my Inventory Ring, I took out a sleek black metal mask and a Black leather jacket, placing it on my face.
"They won't," I repeated, turning my head to Ruby. "Because Nightmare will be saying hello to them."
I stepped towards the balcony, The Horizon building I was in stood 50 stories tall.
Placing one foot on the edge of the railing, I jumped.
"Zane Wai—"
Using the Wind Essence, I manipulated the air currents around me, controlling my aerodynamics with absolute precision, lifting me higher in the altitude.
As I flew through the night sky, I activated one of my unique skills.
[Elemental Sense]
Instantly, a three-dimensional map of everything within 50-kilometer radius materialized in my mind.
I shifted my focused to the Frostvile Mountain, landing near the mountain's base, the picture in my mind became sharper.
There was a facility underground.
"Hmm?"
But something felt… off.
There was no sign of life in the facility. Not even the faintest spark of Elemental Essence of any kind.
Nothing.
Weird, What happened to those four-digit-ranked heroes.
Focusing further, I located the entrance—a cave tunnel that led to the underground.
I made my way to the tunnel.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
With each step, the heavier the silence become.
"Look who we have here."
"!"
I halted.
The voice came from the front.
'Wha— I didn't sense it!'
Instantly, I took out my katana. Position myself in a battle stance.
Step. Step. Step.
With each step, the figure came into view, as the moon light fell on the figure's face.
Revealing, a beautiful women with jet black hair, and full on leather outfit.
Click! Clang! Click! Clang!
She was playing with a metallic lighter, opening and closing its lid.
'Fuck! What is she doing here!?'
I recognized her.
After all, I can't forgot her.
"Envy." I said.
End of Chapter.