X1 had just three items.
While Varian wasn't much interested in the other two, he would not tolerate someone stealing the materials about Hybrids—not after all the trouble he went through just to get here.
The space-time flow around him distorted and in a blink, he breezed through the security mechanisms exploiting the loopholes opened up and entered the facility.
Unlike X4, this place was a simple room with only three discs placed in a glowing barrier each.
A young man with refined features in a blue coat, white shirt and black slacks. Out of all the members here today, only one guy was mad enough to come in the usual academy uniform.
'Prince Samatv!'
The young man swiftly turned his head and his eyes with Varian's. And they both froze, seeing each other in totally unexpected situations.
Samatv was initially overjoyed at his 'experiment' succeeding but as 'Telor' revealed his strength with each match, the Prince grew disturbed.
It didn't feel right.
Of course, he's risking it all for a future where Palarians wouldn't be discriminated for their natal treasures. In the utopia that Lady Serenthia envisioned, everyone would have a natal treasure.
This sickening culture of treating non-awakened as inferior beings would end.
A happy future where his children, awakened or unawakened, could raise their heads high and live with dignity.
That's the future he longed for, fought for and was ready to die for.
But.
Varian's strength gave him a new, scary perspective.
What if…it doesn't just go away?
What if, instead of discriminating between non-awakened and awakened like now, a Palarian society where everyone awakens natal treasures starts discriminating based on the quality of their natal treasures?
People that he wanted to help—people like like Telor, if they got lucky—would awaken natal treasures that would propel them to the top of the pyramid.
What's the guarentee that Telor wouldn't discrimiate against people with weaker natal treasures?
…And there was a quiet voice muttering in the corner of his heart. It was an ugly opinion he did not want to think but it kept repeating, like a broken tape, over and over.
These people 'HE' helped, they should be grateful to him, helpful to his needs and respectful to his position. But would that still be the case when they're stronger than him like Telor?
Since he gave him the pill, not once did Telor come and thank him. Heck, the guy didn't even bother to smile at him in public.
So, a part of him got thinking.
'It's good to help downtrodden. But only as long as they remain below me. The moment someone tries to become an equal, now that's crossing a line. A big red line.'
The noble thoughts, the twisted thoughts, the humane thoughts all twited in his head, causing the Prince to frown in confusion and exhaustion.
But despite that, he kept his calm and said. "This is mine."
Varian had already noticed that the Prince was taking the [Palarians: Natal Treasures, Eugenics Factor, Distribution Patterns].
Without any argument, he dashed to the barrier enclosing [The Perfect Hybrid: Hypotheses of Origins, Slivers and Stability For Existence] and started drilling it with his sliver powers.
Even though he focused on cracking the barrier using the bugs breeded for this exact purpose, Prince Samatv kept an eye on Telor's actions.
He didn't understand what the power coming out of the man's fingertips was. He assumed it to be a 'borrowed' power from a powerhouse, most likely a rank 9.
'…Wait!'
Prince Samatv's eyes suddenly widened.
Everything…everything was so weird in hindsight.
There were strong rumors that Telor died. But he returned.
The man who didn't awaken his natal treasure for centuries managed to do it in a day after taking an experimental pill which gave highly unstable results so far.
Moreover, none of the candidates ever awakened in a single day. They took a week at the least. And they were quickly riddled with side affects in the aftermath of an artifical awakening.
But this bastard, he had no problems at all!
Researcher Rake said the only reason it could happen was if Telor was already on the threshold of awakening but never found that final push.
Even if that's fine, nothing would explain his monstrous ascent from 50th rank to 1st rank in two mere weeks.
'He…probably has a lot of latent potential, right? A jump in the sub-ranks is not uncommon.'
The answer from Researcher Rake wasn't built on proper reasoning. He was merely trying to work it backwards.
'Latent potential or not, the next fastest record is for 4 fucking months. It's wrong! It's all wrong!'
With a cracking sound, the small barrier dispersed and Varian grabbed the storage disc in a swift motion.
Wasting no time, he turned around to head out so that he could seek a place for a space jump.
"Wait!" Samatv's voice was subdued, as if he was holding down something.
Varian raised an eyebrow but didn't turn back.
He's lucky the madwoman was taking this long. Perhaps it's because she couldn't get into the facility through the loopholes like he did. The reason he could do it with ease was his space-time powers providing him clear guide on how Samatv entered the facility a few seconds ago.
But it's best not to underestimate her. She had proven herself crazy enough by trying to assassinate the strongest student of the academy.
"You aren't Telor, are you?" Samatv's voice was shaking. "And you didn't awaken your natal treasure. It's all a hoax."
Varian threw something back with a flick of his fingers and the Prince caught it in his palm.
Red pill.
…The same pill that he gave them two weeks ago.
"Y-You…fooled everyone, you fooled me!" Samatv's eyes turned bloodshot, his face distorting violently. "I took such a big risk because I trusted you! You cheated me!"
As he stepped forwad with clenched fist, Varian's figure moved slightly.
Samatv's instincts screamed and he reached for his defense treasure. With the sound of metal breaking, the Prince crashed against the floor, forming huge cracks even though the marbles were of high-quality.
"Get off your moral highhorse. If it was a desperado, he'd have taken that pill and died."
Varian didn't bother with him anymore and reached the entrance before he exhaled in frustration.
With new injuries that seemed to have been caused by the failed attempts in sneaking in all over her body, Zara Woz entered.
