CHAPTER 42: THE BEST

(A/N Big thanks to everyone for the Power Stones and Golden tickets, they mean a lot. As usual, please don’t hesitate to comment or drop a review. ENJOY)

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’So, which do I go with?’

I have ETF, The Seer, and Temporal Distortion. All are quite important and have been helpful so far.’ Orion thought.

’What do you think, system?’ He asked.

THINK OF YOUR PAST EXPERIENCES AND YOUR MOST LIKELY AND EXPECTED FUTURE. THEN DECIDE, ORION.

"Are you angry at me?" Orion heard the lady speak.

He turned back towards her, his body still in her arms.

"Why would I be?" He asked back.

"Well, we were speaking and you went silent,, she replied.

"I have a feeling you’ve been with me for a very long time, and I’m sure you must have noticed moments when I space out or suddenly go silent. This shouldn’t come as a surprise." He said, with a straight face.

"I’m surprised you admitted that." She said with a raised brow.

"I have nothing to hide," Orion replied.

"I guess so, I have no idea why you do so, nor do I want to know. I am surprised, though, you aren’t bothered or affected by the fact that I’ve been monitoring your life without your knowledge all this time." She said.

"I’m sure you know better than to ask such a question," Orion said.

"I know you, that’s why I’m asking such a question, Orion." She replied.

Orion stared at her for a while before replying.

"Well, I have neither the right nor the liberty to be bothered. You saved my life after all." He said.

"Ahh..that’s where the problem is, you feel weak and useless, and now you are berating yourself about it," She said, as though stating an interesting fact.

Orion visibly frowned.

"I am not weak and useless." He retorted.

"Yes, you are, and you know it; that’s why you feel like this, and the fact that I had to save your life further clarifies my point." She said with that same factual tone.

"For some reason, you believe you can read my mind," Orion said with an icy tone.

"Ohh, don’t take that tone with me, young man," She said before spanking his butt.

Orion’s eyes widened at the audacity of this woman.

"I don’t believe I can read your mind, Orion. I know I can understand your thought process, like you said earlier, I know you. I know you feel this way because of that oversized pride you carry in such a little body," She said with a giggle.

"That pride drives you, it’s amazing how well you can hide it, but even with my closed eyes, I can see it," She said with a smile.

"I know you are trying your best to be grateful to me but I can feel the frustration emanating from you, you want to be strong, you want to be better, you want to be the best but honestly speaking, you are weak, disgustingly and pathetically weak, of course, not for your age, no, but generally you are at the lowest point" She said again.

Orion fell silent, waiting for her to continue.

"I want you to know that, not accept it, but know it. Know your weakness, never accept it," She said.

Orion was visibly confused,

"Let that pride burn, whatever you are feeling now, let it simmer in you. I’m not going to tell you to stop feeling frustrated; growth doesn’t work like that. Feel as pained and angry as you want, but keep moving." She said.

"One more thing, Orion," She said before turning her unfeeling eyes directly to his eyes.

"You will be the best, I do not believe it, I know it." She said with a chilling certainty.

The two fell silent, Orion overwhelmed by the information he just received, already lost in thought.

After a while, he asked.

"What’s your name?" Orion asked.

"Ohh, little old me, I’m Elara," She replied, her tone shifting to a bubbly one.

"You are weird, Elara, you could have just said, keep it up," Orion said with a chuckle.

"Oh, where’s the fun in that? I also had no idea how to start a conversation with you," She confessed.

Orion laughed.

’System, I pick The Seer. If my guess is correct, I should be able to see something important.

DONE

Orion felt something deep within himself; he couldn’t point out how it felt, but something had definitely changed, though he was already used to it; this wasn’t the first time after all.

’STATUS’

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STATUS

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NAME: Orion Chronos

AGE: 6

GENDER: MALE

RACE: HUMAN

ATTRIBUTES:

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STRENGTH:35

AGILITY: 40

ENDURANCE: 50

VITALITY: 110

INTELLIGENCE: 100

MANA: 100

CHARM: 30

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RANK: (PEAK) ACOLYTE RANK

TALENT: MYTHICAL

BLOODLINE: ???

AFFINITY: SPACE, TIME

ABILITIES:

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Innate Skills:

*Temporal Distortion (Mid proficiency)

-The ability to alter the space around you. You can break, mend, and control the fabric of space. Depends on your proficiency.

*The Seer (Mid proficiency) ---(High proficiency)

-The ability to view glimpses of the present, past, and future with varying locations. It can be through visions or dreams. Depends on your proficiency.

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Acquired skills:

*Eye of truth and façade (Low proficiency)

The ability to access the information of another party with a single glance in the form of a status screen and alter your perceived strength from others. Heavily depends on proficiency.

*Reflection

The ability to dive into one’s memories, recalling every single detail with unnatural clarity. (Requires no mana)

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Orion carefully propped himself up before getting down from Elara’s hold.

"I’m guessing our trial in this place is over," Orion said to her.

"It was your trial, not theirs, but yes, it is over. We can leave whenever you want," Elara replied.

"Alright," Orion said before jumping down from the Nexcraft.

He soon found both Alice and Michael on the ground, asleep.

A smile appeared on his face as he tiptoed closer to them.

Boo!!

Both their eyes opened immediately before they recoiled, startled.

Orion stood across from them, arms crossed, with a smirk on his face.

They both quickly rubbed their eyes, trying to get rid of their drowsiness.

Alice soon saw Orion, arms crossed and a smirk on his face. Tears welled up in her eyes, she tried to hold them, but it didn’t take long before she started crying, Michael joining her.

Orion was visibly surprised, wondering why they were crying, before he was enveloped by the two in a tight hug.

"I I I’m sorry...I’m sorry for being useless." Alice choked out mid-tears.

"Now you are being an annoyance," Orion heard Elara say from behind him.

Orion turned towards Elara with an exasperated look.

She just shrugged.

Soon, the two pried themselves away from him, their eyes red from shed tears.

"There’s nothing to be sorry about. I’d never expect you guys to go against someone like Barnes. Besides, I was the one who told you to stay put." Orion tried explaining.

"But you almost died, I was so scared." She said, still sniffing.

"I never want to feel like that, I don’t want to leave my life in someone else’s hands," Michael said, his voice taking on a resolved tone.

’It seems I’m not the only one who experienced character growth,’ Orion thought, amused.

"But I’m alive, so cheer up," Orion said with a smile

"I’d like you guys to meet Elara," Orion said with a smile.

"So that’s her name. We tried talking to her, but she didn’t reply," Alice said in a somewhat intimidated tone.

Orion turned towards Elara with a raised brow. "Elara?"

"I have no interest in them." She replied with a straight face.

Orion was perplexed,

’Did they offend her?’ He thought.

"Are you blind?" Michael asked curiously.

"Yes, I am, are you?" Elara asked.

"No," Michael replied.

"What a waste of eyes," Elara sharply retorted.

Michael visibly flinched,

’He walked right into that one,’ Orion thought.

He turned towards Elara, his eyes narrowing.

’There has to be a back story, but not now,’ Orion thought.

"Anyway, good news, Elara can take us home. We don’t have to take the rust bucket, trying to find civilization, and that reminds me, where exactly are we, Elara?". Orion asked.

"Chronos dukedom, the pound," She replied.

"For prisoners, right?" Orion asked.

"Yes, it’s quite large, prisoners are divided into different sections of very large proportions, left to fend for themselves," Elara replied.

’Although I still have questions, I’ll leave that for now,’ Orion thought.

"How did we get here?" Michael asked.

Elara simply stayed still, refusing to answer.

Orion sighed and asked, "How did we get here, Elara?"

"That is not for me to answer," She replied.

Orion understood immediately, ’Father’ He thought, with certainty.

"Orion," Alice called out.

"Yes"

"Can we go now?" Alice asked.

’Of course, she’s worried about her family,’ Orion thought.

"Yes, let’s go, Elara". Orion called out.

"Alright," Elara replied.

In the next second, they all vanished.

Orion felt alive; he could feel his mana scream in excitement. The movement through space was invigorating; last time, he didn’t have time to savor this feeling, but now, he could almost taste it.

’I can’t wait to feel like this every day,’ He thought in excitement.

They soon arrived in the sky of the Ivory estate.

Haaaaa!!