A few hundred villains at minimum,
but since the water park was built near the outskirts of the inner city, it had plenty of space to build various pools and ridiculous waterslides that entangled themselves in chaotic ways.
It had so much space that even if there were a hundred villains, the place would still feel barren.
Ferris didn't feel much essence from them because he was so far away, but it was a good thing.
That meant that there were no demon-level villains with them.
Then again, it wouldn't make sense for the proctors to babysit them.
Speaking of proctors.
Ferris turned toward the broadcasting tower in the distance.
From his perspective, if he held out his hand and compared, the tower was no bigger than his thumb.
I can't tell if they're still there...
"Urgh, it's a little heavy." Judas struggled to lift the bulky set of binoculars. "Why did you have to cut them off from their poles?" he complained.
But even when he finally placed his eyes on the lenses, it was hard to use the binoculars when his arms were shaking.
"Yeah, I'll just leave the scouting to you," Judas exclaimed, dropping the binoculars down before leaning against the guardrails.
Finding nothing better to do, Judas began speaking. "Will we really make it out alive? Those colorful guys said that even the god of war is trying to find us, but I doubt he'll be of any help."
"Did you know that Thanatos rarely goes out in public gatherings? Unlike Firefly, who sometimes attends fan meetings and Magika's idol concerts. There's actually not much we know about who Thanatos really is. I mean, if you think about it, who in this world names their child Thanatos?" Judas rubbed his chin.
"There are three ways for blessing users to get their blessing named. If the signs show right after birth, then the hospital names it. If the blessing shows up later, then it gets named after its properties by the government. And the third way, once you become a registered hero, you can rename it yourself." Judas explained, though Ferris's eyes stayed glued to the binoculars.
"Heroes usually make their blessing names less obvious to confuse enemies. Like Firefly, she can transform into a flaming suit of armor, but she named her blessing Samsara. Or God of War, his blessing is called Wrath of the Crossroads, which doesn't sound like much at all. Unless someone's blessing is well documented, villains have no way of figuring it out until it's already too late—
There he goes again... Ferris was a little worried because its been a while since Judas talked excessively.
But Ferris didn't mind and he listened well. In fact, he was a bit curious about who Thanatos really was.
—by the way, Ferris, how would you name your blessing?" Judas asked.
Well, legally my citizen profile says I don't have a blessing. Which is true...
"Who knows," Ferris replied, while scanning the layout of the water park.
Judas turned around and sat on the floor then slammed his head against the glass guardrail. "I already have a blessing name, but I don't like it at all. Do you think the Hero Association will give us a free passing score if we escape this city?" He smiled.
"Probably," Ferris replied. He wondered if Queen Elizabeth would give him some credit, and using her family wealth, she could elevate him to a higher rank. Hehe...
Ferris retreated his eyes from the binoculars, then closed his eyelids before massaging them carefully.
While doing so, Ferris asked a question. "What made you apply to the Hero Association?"
Judas chuckled.
Ferris saw that Judas's body language was a little unsure.
"Well, actually I didn't want to become a hero in the first place. I was fine being a fan in the background. But when my sister said she'll apply, I stopped her and made her a deal. If I pass the hero exam, then she won't pursue a hero career."
You had a sister? Ferris hid his thoughts and emotions, though he was a bit mad that he only knew now. Are we at the state where we share our personal information? he wondered.
"Your sister?" Ferris questioned.
"Yeah, the reason why she wanted to become a hero is uh..." Judas became gloomy all of a sudden.
"A few weeks ago, she went outside to buy some groceries for the orphanage. But she was kidnapped alongside other people... But thankfully, a masked hero saved her! That's what she told me!"
A masked hero? Ferris wondered who that could be.
"I believe she told me about how his blessing allowed him to use his smelly odor to knock out the villains? I think he also had a sword just like yours, but she said it was curved," Judas tried recalling what his sister told him.
Smelly odor, sword?... No way... Ferris was beginning to worry about who that person was.
The world can't be this small...
"I'm not sure if she'll be happy about me telling her blessing. But she actually used her psychic blessing to help the smelly masked hero! She told me that she made a gun malfunction and saved the hero, but I honestly doubt that."
"I... I see..." Ferris had a crooked expression. I can't believe the girl that bumped into me back then is this guy's sister...
For now, Ferris changed the subject. "Are you an orphan?"
"Huh, how did you know?" Judas was shocked, but he quickly realized that he had already said the necessary information for Ferris to easily deduce that fact. "Oh right... Yeah, I haven't told you that."
An orphan... Ferris was reminded that he had left his farmer family behind to pursue the prophecy as a knight.
Although he visited them from time to time, he regretted not visiting them more.
Times were too short back then, even shorter because of the prophecy. Just like his comrades, even family had an expiration date.
I took having a family for granted... Ferris crouched and placed his hands on Judas' shoulder.
Judas chuckled slightly. "It's not that deep... I don't really care who gave birth to me and my sister, nor do I want to know who they are." He politely moved away Ferris's grip. "What matters is what I have right now."
Right now? Ferris lamented again. He had lost too many while fighting against the prophecy.
In this new life, he wanted to make connections purely out of the benefits he'd receive.
And not the actual connection.
That love between connecting with someone.
Would Yaromech... No... would they want me to live like this?
What's the point of a new life and becoming a hero if I'm not gonna enjoy it?
Ferris smiled and twirled his fingers clockwise. "Turn around."
Judas was disturbed by Ferris's creepy expression, but he did it anyway.
Ferris placed his palms on Judas's back and closed his eyes. "Don't fight back else this will become dangerous."
"Huh, what're you gonna do?"
I'm doing this because I want to build comradery with you.
This time, none of my comrades will die.
Ferris resonated his essence with Judas's heart.
Since the layering technique didn't exist here, Ferris planned on giving Judas a 9th layer essence using his experience.
However...
He already has a veil around his heart? Ferris was surprised.
But looking closer.
It's completely shattered, why is that? Ferris focused himself to the max. "I'll say it again, don't fight back and just go with the flow."
Ferris increased the resonance and focused on slowly repairing the broken layer.
It was like solving a puzzle, but instead Ferris couldn't undo his work, and a mistake would lead to a fatal side effect.
But this was Ferris, a previous 1st layer knight.
Rearranging back a 9th layer was easy as long as Judas was cooperative.
There we go... Huh?
An 8th layer? Ferris was a little hurt that Judas had a lower layer than he did.
But comrades shouldn't have crab mentality!
Fixing the 8th layer was merely a time-consuming task and nothing more.
"It's done, how do you feel?" Ferris asked, standing up and making his way to Judas's front.
Judas had a blank look on his face before suddenly springing back to life. "Huh? Y-yeah, I feel great!" Judas also stood up.
"That's good, now stay here and don't move anywhere else," Ferris informed his comrade before making his way toward the entrance of the observation deck.
If I told Elizabeth about the hundreds of villains, she'd probably tell me to stay put and keep observing while they make their way here.
But that would be a waste of my talents.
Ferris planned on infiltrating them. He hoped his villain badge was enough of a disguise.
And if that didn't work...
There's no harm in skirmishing them and causing mass panic before fleeing to safety.
I'm good at shock tactics. Alaric taught me that, Ferris thought to himself happily before placing his hand on the doorknob.
But first he turned to Judas and warned him one last time. "Just stay there and trust me."
The metal knob turned under his grip.
Creak.
. . .
The door swung open and two figures filled the space behind the door.
Zipperman. Lumine.
Ferris froze instantly.
"!!!"