SYSTEM ASCENSION

”NO!!”

Claude’s eyes flew open with a ragged gasp that tore out of his throat.

He wasn’t in the lab anymore. He was back in the board office, surrounded by polished wood and staring faces, and the smell of unknown poison was still thick on his tongue from the dream.

”Elias!” he yelled, the name ripping from him as he bolted upright on the bench they’d laid him on. Everyone in the room flinched at the sudden sound.

His eyes immediately scan the room and lock onto Joran across it. The man’s small smile hadn’t faded even after everything they’d heard in the ward, and seeing it now made something white-hot and violent snap behind Claude’s ribs.

Kael leaned over.

”Claude, are you—”

Before anyone could react, Claude’s hand went to his belt and drew the short knife he kept there for emergencies.

He dashed at Joran with no thought of consequence, his vision narrowing to nothing but the man’s face.

”You bastard!” he screamed, the blade aimed straight for Joran’s eyes as he crossed the distance in two strides.

Gasps filled the office. Owen shouted something, and Kael reached out too late.

His father, Tell, moved faster than any of them. He caught Claude’s wrist when the knife was less than an inch from Joran’s eye, twisting hard enough to make the weapon clatter to the floor.

”You bastard! You fucking bastard!” Claude thrashed in his father’s grip, his voice breaking as rage blurred his vision. The image of the boy in the tube, of Elias’s necklace on that small ankle, wouldn’t leave him.

”Why did you do that to him! Why?!”

Tell didn’t say a word. He just shifted his grip, brought his other hand up, and struck the side of Claude’s neck with precise force.

Claude’s eyes rolled back.

”You basta...” His body went limp in his father’s arms before he hit the floor.

The office went dead silent except for Joran’s quiet, amused exhale.

”What did you do?” Anny turned her eyes to Joran.

Joran didn’t even look disturbed. He adjusted his cufflinks and met her glare with a flat, dismissive expression.

”The boy is in a delusion,” Joran shrugged, as if Claude attacking him with a knife had been nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

They stared at him. The silence stretched thin and heavy across the board office, broken only by Claude’s breathing as he hung unconscious in Tell’s arms.

Kael stepped forward and reached for Claude. He pulled him from Tell’s grip.

”I’ll take him back,” Kael said quietly, hoisting Claude onto his back. As he turned, the necklace slipped from Claude’s open hand and fell toward the ground, but Kael caught it with his foot before it could hit the marble.

”Who owns that?” Tyler asked, his eyes narrowing as he stepped closer to examine the pendant dangling from Kael’s boot.

”Elias,” Kael replied.

Tyler came closer and removed the necklace from Kael’s leg, holding it up to the light so the cracked dark blue stone caught the glow from the windows. He turned it over in his fingers, and his expression shifted into something grim.

”It’s a sealing stone,” he said, his voice dropping low enough that the whole room heard it.

He glanced at Joran, and the weight of his stare made the older man’s smile falter for the first time.

”It can seal the owner’s memories,” Tyler continued, letting the words sink into the silence.

Tell’s eyes darkened as he looked from the stone to his unconscious son. The pieces were clicking together too fast, and the realization hit him like ice water.

”You mean...” Tell started, his voice barely above a whisper.

Tyler met his gaze and nodded once.

”Your son saw the owner’s memories,” he finished.

Tell’s eyes darkened, but not just because of the sealing stone or the owner’s memories, nor because of Claude’s reaction, but because of Joran’s earlier grin.

The audacity to have done something preposterous and still had the nerve to grin about it.

Joran blinked and Tell, in that split second, was before him.

One second he was standing beside Kael, and the next his hand was wrapped around Joran’s throat as he slammed the board member into the far wall with enough force to crack the marble paneling.

”What did he see?!”

”Tell!” The rest gasped.

Joran grasped his hand, trying to wiggle his way out. He soon realised one thing.

Impossible.

Tell’s grip on his neck was iron. He couldn’t just wiggle out of it. The man didn’t even bulge, while he was losing his life every second.

”Damn...it!” His face was already turning red.

”Tell!” Lady Anny called, putting a hand on his shoulder. ”Don’t start this.”

A moment went by, before he released Joran.

Joran fell, coughing and gasping greedily for air.

Tell turned away, and returned to his sit like he didn’t just put a crack on the wall with someone’s head.

Lady Anny was right. They couldn’t just start a fight because of what Claude saw, that isn’t clear to them.

Joran glared at him for a moment, then reluctantly returned to his seat.

”Now that that drama is over,” Tyler grinned. ”Should we start looking into why Mr Rowen’s Godson has a sealing stone?”

It was like an enlightenment they haven’t thought about. A sealing stone is something they could afford for a personal use, but it was worth a fortune, even more than its work. But a random kid they didn’t know, has one?

All eyes turned to Owen.

The man frowned. ”I didn’t give him.”

”You haven’t even given yourself one.” Lady Hinger cut in. ”We just wanted to know if you know about him.”

Owen kept quiet for a moment.

With everything that had happened, it was safe to assume that only Joran knows about Elias, so telling them shouldn’t be a problem, but he felt like it wasn’t his place to tell.

”Mr Rowen is coming in a few days. I believe he’ll give answers to your questions.”

They nodded.

Lady Hinger raised her hand.

”Shouldn’t we check out the portals ourselves? We can’t just leave it to regular raiders when we have an absurd increasing rate. Especially when it’s around children.”

The rest seem to agree.

After a few thousand words more, they called it a day. The leading family splitted up to check the portals.

As they walked out, Tell sat behind with Owen.

”How may I help you?” The man frowned.

”Joran’s ability is telekinesis. He’s an A ranker.” Tell spoke.

”I...know?” Owen raised a brow.

”Then tell me why I snapped his neck and he regenerated it with the speed of an S ranker?”