"After all, it shouldn't take us long to reach the association.
"I heard they had a way to help you.
"As for how we will reach there quickly, I will use my Shadow Jump skill to carry us towards the association at a swift speed."
Neo shook his head instead of answering.
'I was wondering how did he beco normal so quickly since he was acting goofy earlier.'
'I guess I was wrong. This guy lost his screws thanks to Darkness.'
Jack sat on the wall.
"What are you doing?" Neo questioned.
"Appreciating the view?"
Jack's expression said why Neo was asking sothing so obvious.
'...He lost more than a few screws.'
Neo clicked his tongue and sat next to Jack.
"I need to tell you about the Connectors. I couldn't tell you what they were earlier since you ran away."
"Oh, them. I totally forgot about it."
Jack pulled a candy packet – that he might or might not have stolen from a destroyed shop – from his pocket and offered it to Neo.
"No thanks. I can't eat it."
"Fine." Jack stuffed the candy into his mouth. "So, what is a Connector?"
"Soone who can connect to the Akashic Record and access the Records (information) stored in it."
"Huh? Isn't our trial here to save the Child of Mana, err, the Connector?" Jack questioned.
"Yes, it is."
"Then the mission is impossible to complete.
"The Akashic Records haven't been created yet in this era. That ans a Child of Mana doesn't exist," he noted.
"About that…"
Neo pursed his lips.
"The Records stored inside the Akashic Record are 'eternal'."
"And?" Jack stopped munching on the candies while he appreciated the great bonfire. "The Records can't be destroyed. I know that."
"…"
Neo wanted to sigh.
'This is going to be hard to explain.'
"Eternal isn't simple. Eternal ans having resistance to anything and everything."
"That's why the Records can't be destroyed, no?"
"You are right."
Neo nodded and explained.
"Eternal's resistance resists everything. Destruction, death, ti, and anything else you can think of.
"Any type of harmful change is resisted."
"…?"
Neo massaged his brows.
It didn't seem like Jack was following Neo's explanation.
He continued.
"Now, what do you think will happen if soone goes to the past and destroys the Akashic Record before they were created?"
"Err… they will be destroyed."
"Logically, you are correct. But wrong at the sa ti.
"Destroying the Akashic Record before they are created is a 'change' and-"
"Records are immune to harmful change…"
Jack's eyes slowly widened.
"Holy mother of lord… Are you serious right now?! Is that even possible?!"
"Yes, the Records – the information stored inside the Akashic Record – exist beyond ti. It is present everywhere: past, present, and future.
"This is an adaptive ability the Records gained when too many people tried to destroy it by going back in ti."
Jack finally understood what Neo wanted to explain.
Since the Records were omnipresent, it was normal for a Child of Mana to exist in the current era.
While the Akashic Records didn't exist yet, the information did, thanks to it being Eternal.
"So, where is the Child of Mana we need to rescue?" Jack asked, excited, and thought, 'If Neo has collected so much information while he was here, I'm sure he must've gained the clues to the Child of Mana's location.'
"I don't know."
"Seriously?"
"Sadly, yes," Neo said. "That's why I am joining the Awakener Association. I want to use their resources to locate the Child of Mana."
"I wonder if they already know the location of the Child of Mana."
"I hope they do, and I hope they don't."
The two beca silent.
The scorching heat burned their lungs.
A few seconds later, Jack opened his mouth.
"How many elixirs do you have left?"
"I have enough."
"Four are enough?"
"…"
Jack sighed.
"You can ask for help, you know. Why didn't you request those association guys and Kane to help you with the Anomaly #79?
"You needlessly wasted your Divine Energy."
"It helped train. It wasn't a waste."
"No, it was your stubbornness. Fighting against sothing that can kill you isn't how soone is supposed to train."
"It works the best for ."
"Sigh…"
Jack stared at his dangling legs.
Both of them were sitting on the roof of a high-rise building, and the view was nice.
"I would've called you crazy if you weren't my team leader."
"I get a free pass?"
"Yes."
The two beca silent again.
Jack stared at the ground with varying expressions.
It was as if he wanted to say sothing.
"What are you thinking—"
"I have a way to help you regain your Divine Energy reserves."
Neo turned his head and looked at him.
"What is it?"
"Devour a part of mine."
"…"
"You don't look surprised."
"I expected it."
"The suggestion?"
"A stupid suggestion, yes."
Neo beca quiet.
Jack broke the silence as he asked,
"So. Are you going to do it?"
"No."
"It's a good suggestion though. I can recover my Divine Energy, unlike you. There is nothing wrong with this thod."
"You can't recover your lost body parts."
"I can't, but there are a di a dozen thods to circumvent the issue—"
"No. I won't do it."
"Why!?"
Jack exploded.
He had been trying to talk normally, but Neo's careless attitude was too much.
"You are going to die if we go on like this! And didn't you make devour your finger!?"
He glared at Neo.
"It's fine you tell to do it, but it's wrong if it's the other way around!?"
Neo's brows creased when Jack used logic against him.
He put his hand on Jack's shoulder and—
"Don't even try to talk out of this—"
—pushed Jack down from the building.
The abrupt action caught Jack by surprise, and he wasn't able to react on ti.
Jack used Shadow Jump to return to the top of the building as soon as he hit the ground.
The rooftop was empty.
"He ran away…?"
Jack wasn't angry since a fall of that level barely tickled him.
However, he was exasperated.
"That team leader of mine ran away because he didn't have a retort...? Is he a child!?"
Reviews
All reviews (0)