698 Chill Out

"I…" When Varian regained the sensation of his body, he tried to breathe.",

He couldn't.",

His chest seemed to be stuffed with something and there seemed to be a lump in his throat.",

Varian tried hard. Really hard. But he couldn't even take a simple breath.",

Even though he didn't need to breathe, he felt suffocated.",

"I-I…"",

His heart stopped beating for a moment before it pounded against his chest. ",

The torture Sia faced flashed in front of him in an endless loop.",

Even though he only saw a brief memory for each day, it hurt.",

Varian's chest grew heavier and heavier until he couldn't bear it anymore and opened his mouth.",

All that came out was a pained whimper. "S-Sorry…"",

100 days.",

100 days of cruelest torture.",

His heart ached as her pained screams rang in his mind.",

He felt his shoulders shake and his fists tighten before his eyes snapped open.",

The teary-eyed figures of Sarah and Sia came into view. They looked at each other with complicated emotions.",

Even though Sarah didn't experience torture, her loss of family was a griveous emotional wound.",

If the torture was Sia's scar, then the loss of family was Sarah's.",

"I…S-Sorry." Varian lowered his head and apologized.",

Even though there was nothing he could do, he felt sorry for Sarah's and Sia's experiences.",

Feeling his sadness, Sia and Sarah shook their heads.",

"I saw your first month of life after she…" Sarah approached him and hugged him into her chest. "…I can't see everything, but my heart aches when I see you like that."",

"And Sia…" Sarah turned to the brown-haired girl and choked. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you went through so much…I'm really sorry."",

Sia shook her head fiercely and wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes.",

They all saw glimpses of others' memories. ",

Sia's torture, Sarah's loss of family, Varian's bleak life—everyone saw what the other two went through. ",

"Sia, I—" Varian raised his head and looked into Sia's eyes.",

Sia gave him a strong smile. "It's not your fault. I don't blame you."",

Varian's shoulders trembled as he felt like crying. But he held himself back and broke out of Sarah's hug.",

Step by step, he walked towards Sia.",

Ten feet, nine feet, eight feet…",

Varian's feet paused at eight feet. The limit.",

Then, he continued moving forward.",

The System said that the repulsion was a cause of his own negative emotions towards Sia and Enigma.",

Even though Varian tried his best, the bitterness and rage towards Sia didn't disappear.",

But by living with her and understanding her once again, they started to diminish.",

Pain. Anger. Grief.",

They all started to shrink slowly.",

Like the distance between them.",

Seven Feet.",

Six Feet.",

Fi—",

The strong repulsion stopped Varian from moving any further.",

He was still a long way from completely resolving the issue. But this was certainly a big step.",

Varian didn't think of any of that. He bent down on a knee and his eyes stared forward, right into Sia's.",

Sia looked at him and blinked. The tip of her nose was red and her eyes had wet marks under them.",

She cried.",

This girl who experienced so much pain in her life that she should hate the world and everyone in it cried because she saw his and Sarah's sad memories.",

She cried for someone else's pain.",

Why did the world decide to inflict pain on this kind of person?",

Looking at her still desperately trying to reassure him that she was fine so that he could be fine, Varian felt his emotions burst.",

Rage.",

Endless rage.",

Rage burned through his heart and coursed through his veins. It filled every inch of his body and set him on fire.",

But instead of bursting out like a volcano, Varian's rage was like lava. It flowed. It didn't make much noise. But when it melted everything it came into contact with.",

Taking a breath, Varian forced his lips to curl upward despite how he felt and said. "Sia, your bottleneck is loosening, I can feel it. You should retreat with Sarah."",

"H-Huh?" Sia let out a surprised noise as she blinked twice, utterly confused.",

Varian coughed lightly and explained. "Our memories are sad, but the only way to ensure such sadness won't repeat is to ensure we are strong enough, no?"",

Sarah and Sia took a moment to digest where he was coming from.",

They understood that Varian was also severely affected by the memories, but instead of being bogged down by the sadness, he decided to look forward and do what must be done.",

Sia felt proud seeing how far Varian had come in his thinking.",

"I…I think you're right. This synergy filled me with a lot of aura and insights, I'll need to retreat as soon as I can." Sarah confessed.",

"The bottleneck to level 9 loosened. I'm confident of clearing it and Enigma can help too." Sia said.",

Varian nodded with a smile and snapped his fingers.",

Two training rooms with all facilities were formed in an instant.",

"Now is the best time to start. Our vacation will resume once we're done with this." Varian smiled.",

Sarah gave a slight nod and stood up. With every action she made, lots of aura was being released in her body. She felt like she was about to burst.",

Sarah walked to Varian to bid farewell.",

Sia gave her an envious look before walking to the training room. But before she entered it, however, she paused and turned back.",

"Varian."",

"Yes?" Varian asked with a gentle smile.",

"What are you going to do?"",

Hearing Sia's question, Sarah showed a worried expression as she glanced at Varian.",

If she didn't have the aura outburst, Sarah would rather stay with Varia a bit longer. While Varian was reliable most of the time, she realized that he could go to the extremes when it involved people close to him.",

Varian seemed to feel her thoughts and he smiled at Sarah.",

"We're still on a vacation. I don't have any bottlenecks like you or aura reservoir like Sarah. I'll just do what I should do on a vacation." Varian said with a very, very peaceful smile.",

"…What will that be?" Sarah bit her lip.",

"Chill out. Haha. After seeing those memories, I really need to chill out, you know." Varian gave a warm smile.",

Sia was still unconvinced. So was Sarah.",

"Trust me! I'll just chill!" Varian patted his chest again.",

"…if you say so." Sia nodded and entered the training room.",

"Don't get yourself into trouble." Sarah gave him a light kiss and left for the retreat.",

Varian waited until the rooms of the two doors closed.",

The gentle smile on his face vanished.",

"Boo," his voice was bone-chillingly cold.",

"M-Maaster?!"",

Varian's face showed no expression, but his eyes burned with killing intent.",

"Find out everything about the earth planetoids and get me a good sword." He said in a low but sharp voice.",