CHAPTER 56: CHAPTER 55 – DISAPPEARANCE

Chapter 55 – Disappearance

"Hah... Hah... Hah..." Jack breathed heavily as he stepped back to do another swing. His heart was racing, and his clothes were soaked in sweat. ’I still have some energy left in me. I can push a bit further.’

He felt so determined that he didn’t even care if he was completely exhausted by the time he was done with the training. He was almost addicted to the feeling of progress each swing gave him—like a drug that kept increasing its dose and effect every time he took a taste of it.

Jack simply couldn’t resist, and he didn’t have a reason to. After all, the better he became at using the sword, the stronger he would get, and the better his chances would be at surviving. He saw it as a beneficial process that he wanted to see through to the end.

However, as he was about to start again, he suddenly saw a silhouette manifest before him.

"Hm?"

Liliana’s sudden appearance snapped him out of his focused state as he blinked at her. "What? Am I doing something wrong?"

"No." She shook her head. "But that is enough for today."

"Huh? I can still continue for a bit longer. I’m not tired." Jack shook his head. "I’ll stop when I feel like I’ve improved enough."

"You won’t get that feeling, Jack. You will never feel that you’ve improved enough. Your body and mind will always try to tell you that you can push further and improve more. But that’s where many make a huge mistake. Knowing when to stop is just as important as knowing when to start," Liliana said calmly, her voice conveying strength.

"... But I’m not going to push myself too hard."

"Did you forget that you have plans for later? You have a long day ahead of you, and you’ll need all the Aether and energy you can recover."

"..."

"Unless you want to die because you didn’t rest enough."

Her words struck Jack hard, and he immediately realized how wrong he was. The day ahead was potentially filled with fighting and could even lead to very dangerous situations. If he wasn’t sufficiently rested, things could go south really fast.

"You’re... right..."

"Good that you understand. You’ve already improved so much, I can’t even believe my eyes," she said. "You did what most people would take weeks or even months to achieve in an hour or so. That’s far beyond anything I expected."

"Wait, that fast?" Jack frowned. ’What? How is that possible? I didn’t do anything special.’

"Yeah, honestly, I don’t even know how you’re able to learn so fast. But it’s certainly the first time in my life I’ve come across something like this. At your rate, you’ll learn all the moves and reach sufficient mastery within a few days."

Just saying that felt absurd to Liliana. How could this technique be learned in a few days? It took her a year to master it—and she was considered a once-in-a-lifetime talent by every measure. Jack was simply something else.

"I don’t think I’m doing anything special. I’m just trying to understand what you said and do it to the best of my abilities."

"..."

"Anyway, I’ll stop and leave this world now. The night’s still young, so I might as well get more sleep."

"Yeah..."

With that, Jack wiped his face, turned around, and walked toward the middle of the field.

’I don’t know what you are, Jack. But I am certain that you are far from a mere talent... Something about you is different... Very different.’

As much as she was curious, Liliana knew very well that sooner or later, things about this mysterious boy would rise to the surface—and she would know whether he was really just a godly talent, or if there was a bit more to that story.

After manifesting the gate again, Jack walked in and found himself back in the room. It was dark and quiet, with nobody around. Seeing that, he stared at his own hands and then at the spot where the gate had been.

’That felt like a fever dream...’ he mused. ’To think my hands can create a different world. This is so odd...’

A mere day ago, he was a normal kid living a normal life. If he’d been told that in a few hours he would turn into a strong fighter with the ability to travel into a different dimension, he would’ve laughed at whoever said it.

Yet, reality was often far more ridiculous than even one’s imagination. This reality, precisely, was completely unhinged.

"Sigh..." Cracking his neck a few times, he sat on the bed and then lay down. The pulsing energy outside was still going as strong as ever, making it rather uncomfortable to even sit there.

’I need sleep for later. I can bear with this.’

With that, Jack finally closed his eyes and slowly drifted back to sleep. Meanwhile, Liliana sat beside him, watching quietly with a mysterious look on her face. Nobody knew what was going through her head at that moment—and for some reason, the atmosphere in the room shifted slowly along with it.

A while later, she finally stood up, stared through the window, then gave Jack one last glance... and disappeared.

’I will be back in a bit, Jack. Sweet dreams.’ She whispered next to his ear as her silhouette faded into the darkness. And the quiet world returned once more.

***

A few hours later, Jack’s eyes parted open as rays of the sun peered at him through the window. He frowned, rubbed them, and then rose from the bed. His body felt a bit sluggish, but he could feel that his exhaustion had been reduced quite a bit.

’A few hours of sleep seem to do the job now,’ he mused. ’I wonder if my need for sleep will reduce more and more as I get stronger and evolve? Considering that every body function I have is improving, that probably means things like sleep and food won’t be needed sooner or later.’

"Liliana?" Jack looked around and called for the demoness. However, surprisingly, she was nowhere to be seen. "Hm? Liliana, are you there?"

He called again, but nobody answered.

’Did she go somewhere while I was asleep?’ He ran a hand through his hair before standing up. "Or maybe she got bored and decided to leave. Though, that’s probably not the case."

Liliana didn’t seem like someone who would do that, so Jack simply assumed she had left to explore the world or do something important.

Putting that thought to the back of his mind, he walked out of the bedroom, stumbling across survivors walking through the base.

"Oh..."

"It’s..."

"You’re the boy who saved us, aren’t you?"

"..."

"We’re really grateful for you, sir! You’re a real hero!"

Jack nodded faintly. "Have a nice day."

"You too!"

Walking past the group, he headed to the main area. ’I wonder if the general did what I asked? I don’t expect major success...’

But for better or worse, he expected to find a few volunteers ready to fight. After all, that man became a general for a reason—he wasn’t a complete pushover.