OLD-WORLD EXTRA

495  Hospital Visit

As Emir closed the door behind him and entered the bathroom, Lyra crossed her arms and leaned back against the bed's headboard.

"I just hope we're ready for what's coming. If... if this was Iron, I can't imagine what the next rank's going to feel like."

Meanwhile, the man behind her worry was relaxed, seemingly carefree as he stood under the shower, washing off the blood painting his skin. His well-shaped muscles flexed and relaxed as he repeatedly rubbed every part of his body, covering himself in foamy soap.

Yet even through that, one could see an obvious change in his physique. Emir undoubtedly was a muscle-bound man, not to the level of drug-abusing bodybuilders, but a few levels under. It was a body that was both extremely muscular and agile, a perfect mix of both.

But now, his muscles had compressed even further than they already were, giving his body a slightly tighter frame. His abs, which could previously cut steel, could now cut diamonds. Literally.

Instead of appearing less threatening, it was the opposite; now his muscles were bursting with strength, even when relaxed.

It was as if his entire body was becoming a weapon.

And his status screen showed that.

— {Name: Emir Oliver}

{Body Age: 15}

{Profession: Professor}

{Celestial Class: Ethereal Threader}

{Celestial Essence: Weaver's Grasp}

{Path: Puppeteer.}

{Credit Balance: 430 Valora}

⟨ Stats ⟩

{Strength: 14,510 -> 20,390} (Avg B+)

{Agility: 12,860 -> 18,640} (Avg B)

{Endurance: 17,230 -> 21,520} (Avg B+)

{Mind: SS -> SS+} (Avg C+)

{Charm: A -> A+} (Avg C+)

{Overall Augmented Strength Level: E10}

⟨Aspects⟩

{Weaver's Veil: The Weaver's Veil Aspect grants the user the ability to manipulate and infuse Aether with finesse, weaving patterns to create powerful effects.}

{Aerialis: Aerialis is an Aspect that focuses on harnessing Aether to elevate the user's physical abilities to extraordinary levels, granting them immense strength, agility, and aerial dominance.}

{Celestia's Hand: Celestia's Hand is an Aspect that enables the user to create Aether constructs.}

⟨Embodiment Method⟩

{Puppeteer: Someone who tries to be in control. Someone who weaves people and events into place with their threads. Someone with a Flaw. If one of their strings gets cut loose or if their puppets are positioned incorrectly, they experience backlash, depending on the severity of the mistake.}

⟨Skills⟩

{Close Quarter Combat: Inept Expert, 0% Proficiency.}

{Marksmanship: Advanced, 99% Proficiency.}

⟨Specialized Skills⟩

{Quick Draw: 5% Proficiency.}

⟨Abilities⟩

{Temporal Perception}

Slows down the user's perception of time, every second is slowed down to 0.1 seconds.

In absolute focus, the user could slow down time to a millisecond.

Current Total Use Limit: 21 Minutes 10 seconds.

Mental Energy Recharge Time: 4 Minutes 15 seconds.

Energy recharge rate: 4.18 seconds per minute of use.

{Sensory Enhancement}

The user's neural network was upgraded.

Allows the user to enhance their five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell) beyond human limitations.

{Aetheric Blades: The ability to channel Aether into blades, creating blades coated with pure energy that can slice through nearly any material.} ⭐

{Aether Blast: The ability to channel Aether into a single, devastating shot that deals massive damage to a single target.} ⭐

{Aetheric Shield: The ability to channel Aether to create a shield that protects the user from incoming attacks.} ⭐

{Gates of Eternity: The ability to use Celestia's Hand Aspect to sculpt and shape Aether. The user can mold the raw essence of Aether into complex and detailed constructs, imbuing them with power.} ⭐

{Flash Step: The ability to leap incredible distances in a single step.} ⭐

{Aether Overdrive: This ability temporarily pushes the user's Aether reserves beyond their limits, significantly increasing the user's power and speed for a short period of time.} ⭐

{Death's Shadow: This ability causes the user's eyes to darken like an abyss, projecting a potent illusion of the opponent's unending demise. This chilling vision can paralyze the target in fear, rendering them vulnerable in combat, regardless of their willpower. Only truly effective against Celestials lower than the user's rank by two sub-ranks.}⭐

⟨Art⟩

⟨Passive Abilities⟩

{Eyes Of The Author: It enables the user to glimpse at the Scripts.} The ability is tethered to the user through the soul in the form of a Soul Glyph. ⟨Art⟩

{Strength Cultivation}

The user cultivates strength by slowly reconstructing and compressing their body, allowing further absorption and possession of Aether without harming the user's body, while also increasing their strength.

Current Cultivation Rank: Iron

{Blade Of The Drowned}

While in a critical state in the heat of battle, the user will be able to comprehend their enemies' Abilities, slowly absorbing them into their arsenal. The resulting Skills will differ from the original, matching the fluidity of forgotten seas and the lows of the deep.

⟨Equipment⟩

{Aetherstorm Launcher: Peak Maintenance}

{Maelstrom Minigun: Peak Maintenance}

{Vindicator Assault Rifle: Peak Maintenance}

{SS-Ranked Twin Swords: Peak Maintenance}

{Terminal: Standard Issue}

{Information Gathering Device: SS-Rank Item}

⟨Vehicles⟩

{Bike, Blaze Runner: Functional}

{Bike, Blaze Runner Z5: Functional} X2

{Mech, Royal Panzer-D: Functional} X6 ⟨Inventory⟩

{One Aether Core From Six/Seven Core Tyrant: Pure}

{100 Million UC Old-world Medicine: Max capacity]

{Stim Energy Packs (Max Capacity): Functional.}

— Emir's smile brightened as he gave it another look over. Everything was coming together quite nicely...

Now he only needed to find a weapon he would stick with.

After all, it was plain obvious by now that he could not keep up switching between weapons. He needed to stick to one if he ever wanted to continue advancing on the Expert grade.

The only question was... what weapon?

That would take a long time to figure out.

If he was a mortal, the choice would've been obvious.

The King of Melee Combat, the spear.

But unfortunately, or rather fortunately, he was a Celestial of "importance," and his kind operated on different terms.

What was king wasn't anymore.

It all had become a bit more contested as the user was what mattered most, not the tool. That was why he never really stuck to one weapon; weapons were just instruments to him, ones that he would use where they excelled and ignore for others when the situation demanded it.

So even though he recognized the spear's superiority, he never focused on it too much. His fighting style simply didn't fit with how a spear user moved; moreover, its large size was an issue.

...

As he walked through the quiet corridors, the occasional nurse or patient gave him a wide berth; some offered him respectful nods while others flinched.

Though he wore his sunglasses, it didn't keep them from fearing him.

His recent increase in strength made it a bit harder to control his presence. Once he reached the right room, he pushed open the door only to find Aquila propped up on the bed, scrolling through his terminal like a dopamine junkie.

'And here I thought he'd be moping.'

Chuckling, Emir entered the room, making Aquila look up, amusement creeping into his once bored expression.

"Well, look who finally decided to show up."

He raised an eyebrow as he looked over Emir's fully healed arm.

"Huh... I watched the speech, thought it was fake, but I guess I'm wrong."

Emir smirked, holding up his arm.

"And here I thought you'd be out of here already."

Aquila let out a chuckle, though it quickly turned into a wince as he clutched his chest, just above his second heart.

"Yeah, well, not everyone's got that insane recovery rate you seem to have. One minute you're getting your arm torn off, and the next, you're back in action looking like nothing happened."

He shook his head in disbelief.

"Meanwhile, I'm still here, probably fucking staying for a few more days." Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Emir settled into the chair beside Aquila's bed.

"Too bad~... now tell me what's up."

09:50

"The other guys have been busy holding everything together; even the German and Russian bastards picked up the slack."

Emir chuckled.

"I can imagine why."

Aquila nodded, leaning back on his pillow.

"Yeah. Solid guys, but damn, they're high-maintenance. You've seen the bastards; they barely break a sweat in the field, right? But now they don't go one hour without calling me."

He threw away his terminal.

"Especially Kremlin. Sometimes he makes believe that he's actually retarded. He's got this insane superstition about drinking a glass of some ancient, radiated whiskey after a fight. Claims it was his first relic."

Emir snickered.

"That's rich; you'd think someone his rank would've moved on from victory charms by now."

"Right? But hey, it seems to work for him."

Aquila adjusted himself, wincing slightly as he shifted his injured side, then continued:

"Then there's Phoenix... She's got her group running on precision drills twenty-four-seven. Apparently, she's been doubling down since… well, you know."

He paused, eyes downcast for a moment.

"Maharajah's death." Aquila thanked him with a gesture.

"Yeah. His death really shook things up, especially for her."

Emir's expression turned serious.

"How bad we talking?"

"Terribly bad. She's acting like she's got this under control, but she's not the same, not even close—can't even go five minutes without pushing some idea that would've saved his life."

Aquila sighed, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Thing is, Maharajah… He was one of the good ones. You know the type. Sadly for us, that doubles the guilt Phoenix feels."

Emir nodded, not offering any words of comfort.

This wasn't his place to speak, nor did he care enough to do so in the first place. They both knew that, as he didn't even bother asking to attend the man's funeral.

"Funny thing is..."

Aquila glanced at him, a bit of humor returning to his voice.

"Even Kalahari's feeling it. She'd never admit it, but I think she's softened up on her group just a tad—she knows this is hitting everyone hard, even if she'd rather drop dead than say it out loud."

Emir raised a brow.

"Kalahari? Softening up? That sadistic bitch? Now that's newsworthy."

"I know, right?"

Aquila laughed, and Emir joined him.

"She'll go right back to her normal shtick as soon as she thinks everyone's back on their feet, I guarantee it. For now, though, it's like she's biting her tongue on every little screw-up."

They both shared a quiet moment, the laughter fading.

"Oh..."

Aquila uttered uncountably, his face growing more serious.

"And speaking of Maharajah… the one who killed him—Judas."

He looked at Emir with eyes that spoke of nothing but death.

"That bastard... he was a professor too, wasn't he?"