I Can Copy And Evolve Talents

Chapter 1247: Old Habits Die Hard

Northern and Anike reached the main settlement on the river at midnight. He was shown into a grand room decorated with a large bed that could sleep five people easily. It was soft and really plush.

And he had it all to himself.

He couldn’t remember when last he’d slept so well. He slept like an absolute baby, rolling around the bed, swinging his legs, hugging the pillow. His sleep was so good that when he woke up, his head was upside down from the position he remembered laying it. The entire sheet was crumpled around his body in a chaotic nest of fabric.

When Northern woke up, he felt it was time to progress—and by progress, that meant leaving this place. Thus, he sent a mental direction to the Thunderhead Dreadnought. The ship itself would know where to go with that. All Oland had to do was stand in front of the wheel and watch Northern control it remotely while having no idea where they were actually going.

’Poor guy’s probably going to think he’s lost his mind.’

In the meantime—before the airship arrived—Northern stood up from his bed, his long, pale body with taut and stony muscles almost shining in the pale radiant rays of morning light. He turned his face away from the brightness, his white hair messy and roughly haloed around his face, long strands framing his temples.

’When last did I even get a haircut? Six months ago? Three? I can’t even tell the time anymore.’

While a lot had happened in the past few months, for Northern it was even worse. Being trapped in Ul’s space prism had completely destroyed his sense of timing. Now, it was all scrambled in his head and he wasn’t sure how long ago anything was, aside from the events after coming out of the prism.

’Everything before that might as well be a blur.’

He unceremoniously grabbed a white folded towel that had been arranged in the room and walked into the bathroom.

The bathroom was a grand space that a beggar would consider himself lucky to live in. There was a basin large enough for Northern to sit in comfortably. The walls were black but caught light and reflected it to the white floor, making the radiance and warmth in the bathroom almost ethereal.

Northern sighed.

’Dramatic. Too much for a bathroom.’

He looked around and spotted a closed outlet by the wall. He slowly twisted it open like removing a cap off a bottle. Immediately he did, water streamed out of the wall into the basin—with a smooth, clean, and unhurried pace. The sound of it filling was almost meditative.

He stepped into the basin and sank into it, sitting down and letting the water rise around him. He rested his head on the edge of the basin, enjoying the sensation as his body submerged inch by inch.

And promptly fell asleep.

He didn’t wake until he heard a wild rushing noise. His eyes snapped open. Water was overflowing the basin and flooding the bathroom floor. He quickly stood up, spilling even more water in his haste.

’Well. That’s embarrassing.’

He did nothing ceremonious to clean up the mess. Just increased the temperature in the room until everything began to vaporize into steam. The entire bathroom became a sauna in an instant. Northern stood there, letting the hot steam wash over him for a moment before stepping out.

A new set of clothes had been prepared for him. He could see them laid out on the bed. He’d heard someone knock while he slept—vaguely, through the haze of exhaustion—but there was a sense of security he had in this place that had permitted him to enjoy his sleep and not respond to it.

’They know better than to just barge in. Probably.’

Northern took the clothes and put them on.

The outfit was a sleek white high-collared, sleeveless top, fitted close to the body, almost armor-like in its construction. From the waist down, the clothing shifted into wide, layered trousers that draped like split skirts—long panels of amber-hued fabric falling in sharp angles.

Belts, straps, and buckled details wrapped around the hips and legs, giving the whole outfit a tactical, almost ceremonial edge.

’Bit fancy. But functional enough.’

Just as he finished dressing, the door swung open with a shout.

”I’ve been able to—”

Nebulous Lord stopped dead at the sight of Northern’s dark glare.

”Speak.”

Northern’s tone was sharp.

”I’ve been able to reach Nightie!”

Northern turned his head slightly, brow arching.

”Nightie?”

Nebulous Lord’s tone lowered somberly.

”Abyss Tyrant.”

’Since when did you guys get on a nickname basis?’

”That’s good,” Northern said evenly. ”How were you able to achieve that?”

”I searched all night! Looking for the traces of the void, no matter how little. I found it! After so much work.”

Northern’s brows furrowed. He turned to face Nebulous Lord fully as he finished adjusting the belt on his waist.

”You can trace the void?”

Nebulous Lord nodded energetically.

”It’s unexplainable. I just... go ahead to look for myself in other places. Since I know myself very well, I can spread my spatial awareness and connect it to wherever something like me has been, creating a search network.” He continued the energetic nodding exercise even as he spoke. It had graduated into something else now—a full-body bob.

Meanwhile, Northern looked down, his mind already working through the implications.

’How useful could this be?’

If Nebulous Lord could connect with the void and somehow track the distance... then perhaps they could actually get to Chaos Prince’s vestiges before the bastard himself reached them. And who knows—that might be their way of finding him.

Otherwise, Nebulous Lord would just eat it all and reclaim the void.

Either way, this was very useful information.

Northern glared at the summon.

”Will you stop that?”

Nebulous Lord sharply halted his nodding exercise, freezing mid-bob.

Northern looked away from him, glancing toward the window.

”What’s the occasion?”

Nebulous Lord brightened again with a childlike light, despite his tall, dark, and imposing appearance.

”There’s a big—really big—shadow in the clouds. It’s flying.”

’Flying?’

Northern’s eyes widened slightly.

”Oh crap! They’re here!”

He bolted out of the room.