"Varian, are you alright?"
Seeing Varian walking down the stairs into the living room, Sarah asked with a nervous expression.
Varian sat beside her on the sofa and held her hand. "Totally fine."
"…Last night, you woke up." Sia, who was sitting across them, tapped her lips with her index finger and said.
"…" Varian tilted his head and tried to think of an answer.
'I went to the toilet' wouldn't work since at his level, his body uses aura and absorbs every bit of food.
Since he was a body awakener on top of that, he could even eat stones and iron nails and digest them without a problem.
"…I was thinking whether I should go or not go." With a deep sigh, Varian confessed.
Sarah and Sia looked at him with a troubled expression. It seemed like they already knew what he was thinking.
Sia stood up and clapped her hands. "Earth's planetoid and level 7 problems, right? It's been a while since I fought than Enigma, let's gooo!"
"I'm on verge of reaching level 7…I guess I'll take a retreat. Good luck." Sarah said with a strained smile.
She had forgotten about the level disparity between them due to the vacation and Varian's promise, but once it was brought up, she was self-conscious of her own weakness.
Regardless of her own feelings, she too supported Varian going to the planetoids.
Looking at their unanimous support, Varian opened his mouth in surprise before shaking his head. "I'm not going."
Sarah and Sia were both dumbfounded by his response.
Was this really Varian?
"…Why not? Even though you put on a normal face, you're feeling guilty for what happened to Vin, right?" Sia asked.
"I can't even put on a normal face, eh." Varian chuckled bitterly.
"Your expression was perfect, but…I could feel it." Sia shook her head.
"I don't want to go before I can be a bit more assured about you two." Varian sighed and explained his fears about them facing the same thing he faced with Charles.
"…"
"…"
Sia took a deep breath and stopped her mind from imagining killing Julius.
Sarah clutched Varian's hand tightly as images of her father flashed in her mind.
But surprisingly, the two were in better condition than he expected.
"…I'm fine, I don't think I'll go on a rampage if I see Julius. If it really happens, I'll ask Enigma to stop me." Sia said as she patted her chest.
"I…due to his powers, I won't even go near Kreo. Approaching a psychic sovereign is stupidity." Sarah patted his hand.
Varian leaned back into the sofa and sighed. "I'm relieved, but I don't know, I'm still worried."
"Fool. I'm stronger than you and Enigma can also teleport if I face any danger. Why are you still worried?" Sia asked with a chuckle.
"…Hard to digest, but makes sense," Varian mumbled and turned his head to the side.
Sarah.
She had a normal expression on her face. But her lips were trembling slightly.
'She's blaming herself for being weak again…' Varian knew what she was thinking. 'But if she does get stronger, at least level 7, I can be more assured. But even for her, it'd take a month or more, how do I accelerate this…ah!'
Varian suddenly clapped and said. "Sia, the blood potion."
"N-Now?" Sia was startled.
"Yeah. How long does it take?"
"…An hour?"
"Let's start." Varian stood and walked to one of the rooms on the upper floor.
Sia was perplexed at first, but after a moment, she nodded in realization and followed him.
"Blood potion? What's that?" Sarah asked in confusion.
"Surprise. Wait for a while." Varian shouted and the room's door slammed shut.
"…"
Sarah sat silently as she wondered what was happening. 'Potion…blood potion.'
The first thing that struck her mind was Sia's potion.
Sia explained to her the effects of the potion already. Taking the potion twice was ineffective.
'…In the beginning, he also said he'll take care of my level.' Sarah didn't know how but she believed him without any questions.
For the serious things, Varian wouldn't lie.
As her thoughts wandered, Sarah noticed Varians stagger out of the room with a pale face.
'Wait...is it possible to do it with his blood? Is it dangerous?!' Sarah stood up abruptly and rushed to him.
"H-huff." With a pale face, Varian was panting heavily as he struggled to put one foot in front of another.
Sarah wrapped her arms around him and Varian leaned on her for support.
"How are you?" She asked in a scared tone.
"J-Just some exhaustion…d-don't disturb Sia and I'll be fin..." Varian's head fell on her shoulders as he fainted.
Sarah bit her lip and looked at the door. She wanted to barge in and ask what the hell was happening right away.
But…
'Sia won't hurt him.'
Sarah brought him to the bedroom. His clothes were soaked with sweat and his face was as pale as snow.
With the help of the bots, Varian freshened up and was in new clothes. Then, Sarah sat beside him and retrieved the potions from her storage.
Without caring for their expense, she fed him the most expensive options.
Varian's complexion didn't improve.
"W-What should I do?" Sarah panicked and raced back and forth in the room.
On the twenty-fifth minute, she noticed that his face was growing ruddy. From then on, his complexion improved.
Sarah sighed in relief and sat on the side of the bed as she stared at his face.
Varian's eyes slowly opened and the first thing that came into view was Sarah's worried face.
Her slightly reddened eyes and clenched fists.
"S-Sorry, it's a bit more taxing than expected," Varian said with a sheepish smile.
"Idiot!"
"He is an idiot. He should've waited to be at least level 8 at least." With a cold voice, Enigma entered the room.
Sarah stood up instinctively and shielded Varian behind her.
Her last meeting with Enigma, to be honest, wasn't pleasant and she was certain that Enigma didn't see her in a positive light.
Surprisingly, Enigma wasn't wearing a mask this time. So, Sarah could see her features clearly.
And she also wasn't in the 'form' of using full powers.
So, Enigma was in her true form.
Silvery white hair that flowed to her back, bright violet eyes, and a beautiful face with a cold expression.
She looked slightly older than Sia who seemed around eighteen. Enigma looked to be around twenty-two.
While they shared the same body, Enigma's facial features were different from Sia's, yet a bit related.
Enigma's gaze rested on Varian for a while as she checked his condition thoroughly and moved back to Sarah who stood between them.
"…No need to be so defensive. I won't interfere with Sia's decision."
"…" Sarah didn't reply and stood her ground.
On the other hand, Varian looked at her and sighed.
No matter what happened, neither Enigma nor Sia intended for it. He couldn't act as if nothing happened, but he could at least try to be normal.
Earlier, once they entered the room, Sia left and Enigma took over. He hadn't talked to her one bit.
She explained the process of 'extracting blood imbued with core essence' and he got out of the room once he was done.
While the process itself was taxing, staying in the same room with Enigma was even more so.
But he had to face her sooner or later.
"Enigma," Varian called out in a heavy tone.
Enigma gazed at him silently.
"Thank you." He said.
Enigma gave a slight nod. "Your strength will recover soon, but you shouldn't do this for a month at least."
"I see."
Enigma blinked once and closed her eyes, about to call Sia back.
But before she did, she opened her eyes and stared at Varian with an intense gaze.
"...?"
"I'm not going around distributing my blood," Enigma said in a serious tone and a bright light engulfed her body.
Varian was confused at first before he burst into laughter.
In the memorial complex, when he was asking Sia if it was possible to make a potion from his blood, he said:
'…I won't go around distributing my blood like Enigma, okay?'
