Chapter 171: Bonding... In Chaos? (2)
Somewhere on the Central Continent, beneath the overlapping light of the seven suns, an open field of colorful grass swayed in a gentle, steady wind.
Jovian sat alone on a broad, sun-warmed rock, the Fate Breaker Sword resting across his knees.
His long white hair drifted around his shoulders as he ran a soft cloth along the length of the blade in slow, unhurried strokes.
The metal caught the multi-colored sunlight and threw it back in clean, shifting flashes.
His blindfolded face remained tilted slightly downward while quiet thoughts turned over the weapon in his hands.
"Just when will you unlock for me?" He muttered to himself.
On the surface, the sword appeared almost ordinary—well-crafted, balanced, and sharp, yet nothing that should have drawn the attention of the powerful.
However, his status window told a different story; the deeper potential remained dormant.
He wondered, not for the first time, what exact condition or realization would finally draw the full strength of the blade into the open.
"Maybe... I have to reach a certain rank or something?" He said as, after a while, he set the cloth aside and stretched his arms back, joints loosening with a quiet series of soft pops.
The moment his shoulders settled, two distinct ripples of fate shimmered into existence a short distance away.
Melissa and Jack materialized in the middle of the open field.
Melissa already held a delicate teapot in both hands and was in the process of pouring, her body angled as though a cup should have been waiting directly beneath the stream.
Jack, meanwhile, had both hands at his waistband and was clearly in the middle of pulling his pants down for reasons best left unexamined.
The sudden change in scenery hit them at the same instant.
Panic flashed across both faces as they registered the open sky, the colorful grass, and the complete absence of whatever location they had occupied only a heartbeat earlier.
Their alarm lasted only until their eyes landed on the white-haired figure sitting calmly on the rock.
And... Jovian’s familiar smile was already in place.
"Jovian?!" they both exclaimed, as Melissa’s expression changed instantly.
She abandoned the teapot without a second thought; the vessel tumbled into the grass and spilled its contents in a steaming arc as she rushed forward and threw her arms around him.
"When did you get back?" she demanded, voice bright with relief and lingering surprise.
Jack only laughed with a rough, unbothered sound—as he calmly finished pulling his pants back into place and fastened them as though nothing unusual had occurred at all.
Jovian turned his blindfolded face toward Melissa, one white brow arching above the edge of the cloth.
"Oh... Since when did you start liking hugs?"
Melissa faced the question without a trace of embarrassment. She let go of him, stepped back slightly, and replied in her usual, straightforward tone.
"Jovian... don’t start with your shenanigans." She said, "I was only glad my friend is still alive."
Jovian clutched a hand to his chest with theatrical flair, his shoulders drooping as if the words had pierced him like a dagger.
"And after nearly dying," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm so heavy it couldn’t be hid, "I’m still stuck in the friendzone. Absolutely unbelievable."
At his Melissa only shrugged, a small laugh escaping her as she glanced sideways at Jack with clear suspicion.
"Haven’t I told you... you’re not the one for me," she said, as if it wasn’t obvious that Jovian had likely tried his luck once or twice with the stunning white-haired woman.
Though she had been clear from the start that she wasn’t interested in him in any way beyond friendship.
Letting the moment pass, she spoke with her attention back to Jack.
"And what exactly were you doing just now?"
Jack’s expression turned wry as he scratched the back of his neck before replying,
"Well... uh, I had to pee."
Before either of them could press the matter further, three more distortions of fate rippled into existence across the colorful grass.
Selia, her younger sister, and their aunt materialized in a tight group, the residual energy of the forced relocation still shimmering faintly around their bodies.
All three froze the instant their feet touched the ground, eyes wide with the same disoriented shock Melissa and Jack had shown only moments earlier.
Jovian’s familiar smile returned at once. He brought his hands together in a single sharp clap that carried easily across the open field.
"And now everyone’s here."
Selia, her younger sister, and their aunt stood rigid in the middle of the unfamiliar meadow, weapons already half-drawn and eyes wide with the lingering adrenaline of forced relocation.
The abrupt change from the icy northern defenses to the warm, open terrain left them unsettled, their boots sinking into the soft ground. They scanned the horizon in quick, cautious sweeps, looking for dangers that no longer lingered.
Selia’s attention, however, locked solely on the white-haired figure walking toward them.
In that moment, recognition flickered in her eyes, hesitant yet impossible to miss.
"Jovian... Savant?"
He closed the remaining distance with unhurried steps, long white hair drifting in the gentle breeze, the smile never leaving his face.
"The one and only."
The others turned fully toward him as he stopped in front of her. Selia kept her weapon lowered, yet her posture remained tight with unresolved tension.
"What is going on?" she asked, voice steady despite the confusion still visible in her expression.
"We were about to move out against the Academy of Veils. The entire Northern front is going all out to hold them back."
Melissa, still standing near the sun-warmed rock where Jovian had earlier cleaned his sword, gave a short, confirming nod.
The spilled tea from earlier had already soaked into the grass at her feet, leaving a dark, steaming patch that the wind slowly cooled.
"... The Central Continent is doing the same," she said.
"Every major force has been preparing a counterattack the moment the Academy of Veils sets foot on our soil."