Simon arched an eyebrow. What stood in front of him could not be described, yet at the sa ti could be said to be a human figure.
He stood there for a few seconds, his brain short-circuiting. He couldn’t figure out what was going on, and Alina shared the sa confused eyes. Simon’s mind perceived the presence in front of him as an outline of a man that wasn’t there.
It was almost as if shock had forced him still. But then, he wondered:
(Why isn’t it attacking?)
With that thought, Simon’s weight shifted to his left foot. He tried to retreat, but the wall behind him caught his body. In this instant, a blow was delivered to his chest.
"Simon!"
Alina rushed towards him, but the sa outco was inflicted on her. Both of them fell breathlessly, Alina making a short gasp for air. Simon didn’t bother breathing; he imdiately stood his ground.
After a while, he began to take small breaths, each one lasting less than a second.
In this short ti, he had already noticed that whatever was in front of him wouldn’t attack him if he did not move.
(I don’t know how, it’s only one strike after all... But it can’t see .)
Simon extended his hand slowly to Alina, instructing her to follow his movents.
She imdiately grasped the concept and followed his breathing patterns.
The two of them lay on the ground side by side, Simon trying to think of a way to get them out of this situation. Before he could co up with a solution, Alina was already moving.
The earlier shock had left her body, making her return to her usual calculating self.
She moved her hand at the speed of lightning, causing what seed to be the entity’s head to turn.
When Alina stilled her hand again, it moved closer. A few tense monts passed between the three before the entity backed off.
(Did it not do anything because it didn’t sense her? No, that wouldn’t make sense. So what’s the problem?)
Simon searched for answers, copying Alina’s thod. Once again, it sat in front of his face before disappearing.
The outline of what seed to be an entity dissipated into the air, the entire presence disappearing.
Simon sighed in relief, but also confusion as he pressed himself up. Alina stood on the floor, her mind clearly elsewhere.
After a while, she muttered:
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, just confused. What do you think that was?"
If anyone would know, it would be Alina. Though a dic, she still belonged to the Science Team at its core. But the answer Simon got was not what he was expecting.
"I don’t know. It’s not an entity; we would be able to see it."
"Huh?"
His head turned swiftly toward her, his mind filling with thoughts.
(What does that an? If it’s not an entity, then what is it? No, more importantly, what reason does it have to attack us? It’s clearly not a Hollow Beast either. Fuck—)
All these questions filled his brain until they were indistinguishable from each other. It seed as if Alina could sense his inner turmoil, but there wasn’t much she could do.
She shared the sa questions, but couldn’t answer them even with her expansive knowledge. At most, she could only co to a few conclusions on what they could do from here.
They originally planned to explore more than Burlington, but warning the others was more valuable at this point.
Especially if the person it targeted next was Silas. Without him — they would surely die.
He was their main source of firepower, so that’s where they needed to go first. Simon opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Alina’s mouth was already moving.
"We need to get to Silas and Faye."
Simon nodded imdiately, and the two of them ran towards Shelburne. Each stride caused their speed to increase.
Eventually, they beca like bolts of lightning. At the sa ti, Simon sensed that Roro had found a new place to call a base. It was a hospital, and a very spacious one at that.
With all of this, they would be able to stock as much as they wanted. He commanded the bird to quickly return to him, and it teleported back into his core.
In just a few monts, he forced Roro out of his core, telling him to mark the other mbers of the squad.
However, just as Roro burst into the sky, the entity from before had co back.
(What the hell?!)
The entity dashed up into the sky, clearly targeting Roro. However, at the last second, it turned its attention to Simon.
Simon and Alina swiftly halted their movents as the entity ca crashing down toward Simon.
Simon forced his weight into his left side before leaping toward the sidewalk. At the sa ti, he told Roro to retreat into his core once more.
This gift was too new to go just yet — at least that’s what he thought at first.
(This thing is too useful to go to waste! I can’t let it die!)
Even though Simon dodged, it ant nothing. The air around him forced him into the ground.
Alina tried to help, finally attempting to strike this opponent. The outco for her was far worse than Simon’s.
She was flung into the air, then into a nearby building. However, she did not crash inside, bouncing off to land against Simon with a crisp crack of both of their arms.
Krk!
Simon scread in pain, while Alina bit down on her tongue. The entity soon disappeared again, and Alina finally let out a wail.
After the pain had cald down, she made her way towards Simon, grabbing his arm as she activated her Signature
[Stabilization]
"Thank you."
Simon let his head fall, feeling his bone piece itself back together. He didn’t bother moving, just trying to figure out what rules this entity was following.
Then, he noticed it. During the ti that it grabbed Alina, she did not crash into the building, but bounced off.
This confird it controlled gravity — and sothing much deeper.
(It reacted to Roro’s movents, but didn’t directly attack him. That ans it must sense our movents, then determine the threat based on spiritual pressure.)
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