บท 21: Worry

[Semi-processed pure ceteorin has been extracted and absorbed.]

[You have acquired a new skill.]

[Levitate → Level 1]

[Hover in air for 10 seconds]

[Skill cooldown time: 5 minutes]

[You have completed a Main Quest.]

[You have gained 500 EXP]

[EXP - 1150/1000]

[You have leveled up.]

[Level - 11]

[Inspect skill has leveled up.]

[You can now see pressure points of opponents. You also have a 25% chance of finding your opponent's weak spots during fights.]

[Claw: Ability Reaver skill has leveled up.]

[A sub-skill has been created.]

[Tap: Ability Reaver]

[→Tap your opponent to copy their ability for a specific amount of time.]

[→You have a 100% chance of activating this skill when in combat with a weaker opponent. You have a 10% chance of activating this skill when in combat with an opponent as strong or stronger than you.]

Jesse raised his hand to swipe the tabs that appeared in the dark, however, he could barely move - like he was present but his body wasn't.

'What is this?'

[Searching for memories from extracted ceteorin.]

[...]

[Memories have been found.]

[Sending memories to host in 2 seconds.]

[2...1]

[Memory synchronization has failed due to host's low level.]

[Level up to unlock this feature.]

Jesse slowly blinked his eyes open, the bright, sterile white of the hospital ceiling blurring into focus.

"Geez, he's alive." An oddly familiar voice greeted him as soon as he opened his eyes.

"Goodness." Maxwell choked as he hurried to Jesse, "The healers quickly tended to your injuries, so you're fine... physically."

"They say it may cause you trauma, but that brute would have killed you if-" Maxwell paused and sniffed, "...if not for Avila who found you on time."

"If anything, that supposed brute should be the one in need of your tears." Avila looked away with her arms crossed.

"Are you alright?" Aland asked. His swollen red eyes could be seen behind his glasses.

"I'm fine. Thank you all." Jesse replied while sitting up, "What happened after I fell unconscious?"

"The pillars were destroyed and the building almost collapsed, but they quickly rebuilt it." Maxwell answered.

Avila sighed and answered instead, "They wanted to take both of you in for questioning, since that sort of damage was not possible for your ranks. However, they soon found traces of an illicit substance in Rank 99's blood, after an investigation, they found out that he consumed an illicit enhancer-"

"That means you won." Maxwell clapped happily, interjecting Avila's words."

"What he took, however, had a side effect." Avila continued.

"What is it?" Jesse asked, probing further.

"It suppresses one's ability - no, it completely nullifies a person's ability... Taking something of value in exchange for something else. His ability was the cost of that power outburst, just like how people lose their rationality and gain inhumane strength after turning into an infected." Avila's eyes peered into Jesse's unwavering eyes.

Though, his heart thumped at the thought that she had discovered something, he kept his emotions hidden, however the discomfort she caused him increased with each passing day - it felt like she could look into his thoughts and tell what he was.

Avila soon sighed and looked away, "Anyway, what he said is right, you're now in the second fifty ranking. Good for you."

However, Jesse's mind was no longer present.

Somehow, nobody suspected that what Gary took was pure ceteorin in a semi-processed form - a liquidized pure ceteorin.

How did someone like that get his hands on such thing? The ceteorin core from beasts could be used for energy generation and could be processed and treated to make ceteorin syrums but outside the beast's body, it could not turn a living thing into an infected. However, pure ceteorin could turn anything into infecteds, but they could only be found on the meteorites that invaded Earth - That was why Jesse never cared about the Pure Ceteorin Search skill in the first place.

How did Gary get his hands on something like that? His last name was not a popular one, hence, he couldn't possibly be affiliated with the government.

"Where's he?" Jesse's looked up, interrupting their Maxwell's and Avila's usual bickering.

"Where's who?" Both turned to him.

"Gary, the former ninety-ninth ranker."

"I don't know, I heard he's been sent home already. " Maxwell answered.

"That's a light punishment, I must say." Avila chipped in and Maxwell nodded in concurrence with her words.

"Did they conduct any investigation to know how he got his hands on something like that?" Jesse squinted and Avila scoffed, "Who cares? It was a weak powerless kid, even though he had died, they still wouldn't have done anything unless he was the descendant of some big shot family. Why do you care, anyway? You already won the duel."

The school authorities didn't conduct an investigation?

Then, more of the pure ceteorin will keep spreading among the students. And the only reason Gary was exposed was because he consumed a large amount of it. What would have happened if he had turned into an infected during the duel? How do they take light of such thing? Something that could suppress an ability to the extend that it disappears.

Jesse pressed his fingers against his temple. The harder he thought, the more complicated everything seemed.

"Right. That plant-based healer healed you since she was closest to your location. She found you as soon as Avila did." Maxwell said.

"I see," Jesse gave a short reply and the room fell into silence before he spoke up again, "I'm hungry."

Maxwell and Aland left the hospital ward to get Jesse something to eat, while Avila remained to watch him.

"Whoever's responsible for the distribution of that thing is in the first fifty ranking." She said, pulling out the chair that Maxwell once sat on.

"How do you know?" Jesse looked up at her and she shrugged in response, "It's not that hard to figure it out. After all, anyone with such cheat would have used it to increase their own rank."

Jesse stared silently at her - her words always seemed to carry inconspicuous meanings, but most of the times, she was right and also wrong, no one would use something like that if they knew the predicament... Unless they were like Jesse, who could be strengthened by the pure ceteorin without giving anything in exchange - if someone like that existed, then he needed to find them quickly.

"It wouldn't necessarily be a student, but I have a few suspects." Avila tilted her head, before listing, "The twenty-sixth ranker, the fifteenth ranker, the first ranker, and the new ninety-ninth, but then again, you wouldn't sell such thing to your opponent."

Ignoring her taunting words that were aimed to annoy him, Jesse stood up from the bed; he could find them out himself.

"When Maxwell and Aland return, tell them not to look for me."

"Sure thing," Avila smiled, raising a thumb up.