Now that he had freed himself from the trial, Nova returned to his room.
The one thing he wanted right now, seeing Miyu walk away from the house from his bedroom window, was to take a shower.
'Ew... I smell like charcoal and alcohol.'
He drank with his friends and helped Kayn and Abby fight a Category 5. It would have been strange if that smell hadn't lingered on his clothes.
So he did what anyone would do: he showered and slipped into the same black outfit he always wore. In fact, his closet was full of black trench coats with details in different dark colors.
All his clothes were black. The reason? There really wasn't one. It looked good, I guess. Then he looked at himself in the bathroom mirror in the hallway where his room was, tilting his head slightly.
'I guess I don't look weird.'
And with that, he left the house. As always, he said goodbye to his mother before leaving. She just smiled kindly at him before the door closed.
As he walked through the streets in a state of complete relaxation, he looked at the smoke still rising from the site of last night's fight. It was relatively close to his house, so it was no surprise.
Even today, early in the morning, he could hear the voices of many people in the surrounding area. And that's no surprise either, as Luminaris is a large, busy city.
'Aberrations, huh. They're such a headache.'
With the roads and buildings destroyed, it would be difficult for anyone to get around. The Dimensional Portals themselves were a headache for anyone. They are random, unpredictable, and dangerous.
There were times when nothing came out of the portals, but the Empaths couldn't afford to wait for something to come out. Even entering the Portals is strictly prohibited in the contract of all factions.
'At least there are alarms. There's no better way to know that everything is going to hell.'
Alarms are the government's method of informing civilians about an evacuation. Speaking of Aberrations, Portals, and destroyed cities, Nova paused.
'That's right...'
He raised his eyebrows, remembering what Abby told him last night about Lightflower.
"Uncle went to Lightflower."
Various Portal incursions were taking place in that city. Supposedly, that would be the reason Viktor was called.
'Why didn't I think of that before? How stupid.'
He took the communicator out of his pocket and dialed the correct code. The glass screen displayed a photo of Viktor dressed as a clown. Apparently, clowns were one of the few things to survive the apocalypse… along with bad jokes.
'Pick up.'
Even though he spoke into the communicator, the call would not be answered immediately. Three dots appeared on the screen, indicating that the call was on hold.
After three seconds, someone answered.
"Uncle?"
No one responded. Instead, there were loud explosions that distorted the call, humanoid screams, and strange words that sounded like babbling underwater.
'What's going on?'
Suddenly, Viktor's voice was heard, panting tiredly.
[Oh. Nova. You called me at a bad time. I'm busy.]
Nova replied:
"You went to fight in Lightflower and didn't take me with you. Abby told me there are raids there. What do you have to say in your defense?"
A strange battle shout came through the speaker, followed by a dozen gunshots—and then Viktor's maniacal laughter.
Nova grimaced.
[There you go, you stupid beast! How does that eye look? Huh? You don't have any eyes! You don't even have a head!]
Nova sighed.
'This guy... he's a fool.'
When the gunshots and laughter died down after a few seconds, Viktor returned.
[Oh. Sorry. I'm done here. What were you saying, Nova?]
"Why didn't you take me with you?"
[Oh, that. Because you'd die in the first second. There are Category 5 and 4 Aberrations coming out all the time here. Do you think anyone would have enough time to protect you in the middle of the slaughter?]
"I'm an excellent Support, so I can handle it. I'm fast and agile. Besides, you're in the Lightflower mountain range, right? There's a lot of vegetation there. I could control the whole area if I wanted to."
[I don't think you understand.]
Viktor could be heard sitting down somewhere.
[I know you want to become as strong as your great uncle, but rushing headlong into a fight against Aberrations that outnumber you is not a good idea. They'll tear you apart before you can empower another Empath's Spectrum.]
Nova opened his mouth, but said nothing. There were no flaws in Viktor's words. When he closed his mouth again, stubbornly, he smiled.
"I'm going there right now."
[What? Didn't you hear anything I said?]
"Yes. I heard you, but I'm not going to fight. I'm just going to visit you for a while. I could bring my team. What do you say? It'll be like one of those field trips my teacher used to take in elementary school."
On the other end of the call, Viktor shook his head. He looked at the tall mountains and rocky ranges that stretched around like large, misshapen mounds threatening to tear the sky with their height.
There were many trees and all kinds of undergrowth. Even now, explosions, screams, and the hum of abilities echoed from afar—clear proof that the other Empaths were in battle.
In the midst of it all was a mountain of humanoid monster corpses holding primitive firearms made of wood and branches. Apparently, they were functional weapons, as there were charred holes in the nearby trees and it smelled like burnt leaves.
The appearance of the Aberrations was curiously similar to that of humans. Two arms. Two legs. Crimson red skin. Milky white eyes. Their fangs were certainly larger, and their heads were entirely covered with white hair. They were dressed in primitive clothing: loincloths, mysterious animal skins, and dark, dull-colored stones.
Viktor sat atop the pile of corpses, sighing. He already knew Nova wouldn't listen to him.
[I guess the only person you listen to is Ada.]
Nova paused before responding.
"What does my mother have to do with the proposal I made to you?"
Viktor let out a slight laugh that was almost inaudible.
[Nothing. It's just that if they kill you, she would kill me next. But since you're not going to listen to me, you could bring me something to eat. The food at the camp tastes like garbage.]
"Okay. So... stew?"
[Stew.]
"Excellent. I'll let you get back to what you were doing. I'll be there early tomorrow with the equipment."
Before Viktor could say anything else, Nova hung up. He put the communicator in his pocket and looked at the road.
'It's time.'
He jumped and climbed onto the roof of a small shop. Then he jumped again between the rooftops to rise very high.
Jumping so high is a great feat for a Seventh Level Support, which made some people watch in amazement.
There was a big difference between an Empath and ordinary people. While ordinary people have very weak abilities, Empaths develop those abilities to a higher level.
An example of this is Adelaide. She can freeze water just by touching it. She is not an Empath, she never was. However, she had the ability to control the power of her Spectrum with minimal energy control.
Everyone in the world has a Spectrum, along with innate abilities that develop over time. But only those with talent and courage push their Spectrums further to battle the asteroid's Abominations and the Dimensional Portals.