"Um... Miss Twiggy?"
"What is it?"
"Are you sure this is really okay?"
Geno looked at the Hollow Fissure right in front of him, his face full of unease.
Behind this rift lay New Eridu—the place he had been longing for, the world outside the Hollow.
And he, Geno, an Ethereal, was about to create history today by becoming the first Ethereal to successfully leave a Hollow and enter human society.
This was one small step for Geno, but one giant leap for Ethereal-kind!
"Didn't you trust me quite a bit before? Why are you getting scared now of all times?"
Twiggy made a teasing cat-like face, looking at Geno, who was panicking out of his mind.
"I'm just being cautious... It's always good to be extra prepared. The last time I tried to leave the Hollow, I almost didn't make it back."
Geno scratched his head awkwardly.
During the past year, he had once engaged in a suicidal endeavor.
That time, he and a few members of the Silver Squad were wandering in the Hollow and passed by a Fissure leading to the outside world. Driven by intense curiosity, he boldly walked out through the Fissure.
At first, it was fine, but in less than three seconds, he felt symptoms like difficulty breathing and weakness in his limbs. Immediately after, the Ether within his body began to dissipate uncontrollably.
If Number 8, Number 9, and Number 10 hadn't hurriedly fished him back in, the grass on his grave would probably be three feet high by now.
"That was you seeking your own death! You should be secretly rejoicing that you only lost two legs!"
It was fine if he didn't mention it, but bringing it up made Twiggy angry.
She had been sitting at home, minding her own business, when disaster fell from the sky.
The experiment was going well, when suddenly her sisters dragged back a Geno who was half-missing and half-step into the grave, nearly scaring the soul out of her body.
Fortunately, it was just a massive dissipation of Ether within his body; after resting for a while, he recovered to his lively self.
But after that, Geno was still cursed out by Twiggy until he was soaked in dog blood.
"It's a good thing you're an Ethereal. If you were an ordinary human, that kind of injury would probably have required artificial prosthetics."
"Would I have to swap out my third leg too?"
"...Don't you look like you're in pretty good shape right now? What are you still preparing for! Just go!"
"Wuwah!"
As the saying goes, 'Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.'
The nutritionally void dirty joke caused veins to bulge on Twiggy's forehead. Following that, a 'Star Emblem Knight Kick' sent Geno flying out of the Hollow.
Then, following close behind, she took a step and went through as well.
After being kicked into the Hollow Fissure by Twiggy, the familiar bubbles of Ether particles floated before Geno's eyes, causing him to subconsciously close them.
After a brief sensation of imbalance and dizziness, Geno's feet touched solid ground.
Suddenly opening his eyes, the scenery that rushed into his vision made him freeze instantly; he even missed half a beat of his breath.
The narrow alley entrance faced a convenience store that had long ceased operations.
Next to the alley was a hardware store, though its gray-white rolling shutter door was tightly closed. A small pushcart to the side, equally covered in dust, proved that there were indeed traces of human life here once.
This was the final oasis for all of humanity—New Eridu.
"Human society, it's been so long... Wait? My body!? Ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh~"
"Ugh your head! It's been so long, and you're only reacting now?"
Twiggy, who had followed him out, saw Geno clutching his own neck and acting like a clown. She couldn't resist roasting him.
"I'm just enlivening the atmosphere. By the way, this thing is really amazing. As expected of Miss Twiggy's proud creation!"
Geno rubbed the ring-shaped object on his wrist, deep shock still resonating in his heart.
This tiny black gadget was the fruit of Twiggy's hard work over the past year: the Ether Inhibitor.
"Naturally~ This is a result I worked very hard to produce, of course it's amazing! Although it's just a prototype..."
The last sentence was muttered quietly.
"What did you just say?"
Geno looked at Twiggy in confusion. Why did her voice suddenly drop?
Twiggy, however, flusteredly tried to change the subject.
"Nothing. You must be very curious about the principles behind my genius invention, right?"
"No, actually I'm not."
"Let me explain it to you personally."
"I said I don't really want to know!"
After a bout of playful banter, under Twiggy's strong insistence, the lengthy explanation of principles began anyway.
"We all know that there are two main reasons why Ethereals cannot survive outside a Hollow."
Twiggy put on a pair of glasses she had pulled from who-knows-where and pushed them up gently, using the reflection of the sun to exude an air of 'everything is under control.'
However, Geno's eyes, filled with 'wisdom,' were clearly not very receptive.
"First, Ether cannot be synthesized outside a Hollow."
As long as one leaves the Hollow, neither the energy source for an Ethereal's activity nor the most important component of their body can be supplied anymore.
"Second, Active Ether Matter can almost never leave a Hollow."
Active Ether Matter—this is something of special significance to Hollows.
Not only is it the main resource maintaining the Hollow, but it is also absorbed by the Hollow Fissure the moment it comes into contact with it.
And the main component of an Ethereal's core is Active Ether Matter.
If the core cannot leave the Hollow, naturally, the Ethereal cannot come out.
But the Ether Inhibitor Twiggy made could perfectly solve these two difficult problems.
Twiggy triumphantly extended one finger, explaining it to Geno.
"First of all, the Ether Inhibitor collects Active Ether Matter for storage, then converts it into Inert Ether Matter. This solves the issue of activity energy."
Then Twiggy extended a second finger.
"Secondly, the Ether Inhibitor suppresses the user's Ether Aptitude, inhibiting it to the level of an average person—that is, a constitution with extremely low Ether Aptitude."
Hearing this, Geno, who was fiddling with the wristband, seemed to trigger a keyword.
"Wait? Suppressing Ether Aptitude? What is that for?"
Teacher Twiggy heard the student's question, so she generously explained for the student.
"To reduce energy consumption. The higher a person's Ether Aptitude, the longer they can remain active in a Hollow, because they can accommodate more Ether."
" The same logic applies to Ethereals."
Twiggy glanced at Geno and continued.
"The better the Ether Aptitude of a person, the stronger the Ethereal they transform into, precisely because they can accommodate more Ether. Particularly powerful Ethereals cannot even survive in low-concentration Ether environments."
"Which means..."
Hearing this, Geno seemed to understand something, and Twiggy's subsequent statement confirmed his conjecture.
"Correct~ If we suppress your Ether Aptitude, or rather, suppress your Ethereal level, then the Ether energy you require will decrease accordingly. In this way, you can move around outside the Hollow for a much longer time."
Twiggy stood with her hands on her hips, head held high and chest out, clearly silently demanding: Praise me quickly.
But she waited for a long time without receiving Geno's words of praise. Opening her eyes to look, she saw Geno just staring at the inhibitor on his wrist with shining eyes, which instantly made her angry.
"The power of science is truly great!"
"Hey! The amazing one is clearly me!"
Although somewhat disgruntled, seeing Geno's excited appearance, a smile also hung on Twiggy's face.
Although the road was still long, at least they had already taken the first step, which was also the most critical step.
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