Far Away

Dyon stepped out of the shower. The moment he stepped through the threshold, he had practically become an entirely different person.

"I'm hungry!"

His voice bellowed, all signs of rage and fury having vanished.

Dyon flipped over his wrist. 'I'll have to find a new way to store all my things or figure out how to power my tech with Profound Stones as quickly as possible. If not, everything within my wrist watch will become inaccessible.'

Luckily, Dyon wasn't completely out of luck. The General had given him a spatial ring along with the profound stones. The unfortunate part was that Dyon used up the entire space to hold raw materials for his array plate selling business and also reserved a large area for holding his profits. So, there wasn't exactly any space left especially considering the ring wasn't very big to begin with.

Still, there was a small bit of charge left in his wrist watch, so Dyon didn't risk it any longer, dumping everything out.

'I should look into the qi pond they have flowing everywhere. Obviously, Focus Academy already has the technology to turn qi into electricity. I can waste less time just by snatching the technology instead of researching it all myself. I don't have too much time to waste on this…'

Making such a decision, Dyon began to dig into pile of beast meat. From his understanding, they called this beast White Furred Deer. It didn't look much different from deer from Dyon's Mortal World. However, they were much larger, much stronger, and their meat was packed with far more nutrition.

Even for Dyon, who deemed himself to be a big eater, it took him almost a week to clean just one of all its meat. This time, he had expected the result to be no different, but…

Half an hour later, Dyon sat amidst a pile of bone, his brows raised.

'It seems my body grew more powerful again.'

Dyon remembered reading in one of the fundamental knowledge books of the cultivation world that appetite often equated to strength. He hadn't thought much about the concept until this very moment.

'One of the crudest ways to force the body to grow more powerful is to break it down then repair it. I guess I owe Darius a favor.' Dyon thought to himself, a slight cold light flashing before vanishing.

Dyon had no idea how long he had been asleep. He knew that the military garb he had worn had a function to aid in healing, so he simply went to sleep, expecting to fall into a coma until he healed. But, he hadn't expected to gain like this…

Dyon shook his head. 'I'm still hungry, I'll eat another one.'

**

"Libro!" Dyon called out, once again finding himself before the large library desk.

However, when the monitors flickered awake, revealing a familiar glassed figure, all Dyon saw was quite a worried expression looking back at him.

"What is it? You look like you swallowed a dead rat." Dyon said.

Libro frowned and looked Dyon up and down.

"Are you really fine?"

"Do I not look fine?" Dyon raised an eyebrow. "You know, that's not a very polite thing to say, Libro."

Libro shook his head. Since this kid still had the mind to be cheeky, he must really be fine.

Libro had eyes all over the school, how could he not know what happened by now? However, since Dyon wasn't saying anything, it was impossible for him to continue pressing and being a bother.

"So what did you come to extort me out of this time?"

"Extort is such a harsh word." Dyon said with a grin. "It's more like a thoughtful exchange between a junior and a giving senior."

Dyon suddenly heard a giggle sound. He didn't need to think for more than a split moment to realize that it was Madeleine's voice.

"Is that Madeleine? Are you trying to hold my girlfriend hostage, Libro?"

Libro was speechless. "She's my niece!"

Libro suddenly caught him. "Wait, what? Girlfriend?"

If there was one place Libro didn't have eyes, it was Patia-Neva Peak, for obvious reasons. After all, that was the person territory of a young lady. It would be a bit to inappropriate if he could just casually spy as he pleased.

Dyon nodded very seriously. "I see, so you're her relative. It's nice to meet you uncle, we'll be a family soon."

Libro's lip twitched. 'This damn cheeky brat…'

Madeleine giggle sounded again, her sweet voice drifting to Dyon's ears. The moment she spoke, it seemed as though everyone in the library had been soothed.

"Stop teasing my uncle, Dyon. We are just friends, uncle."

"Ah…" Libro's face shifted, sending a glance toward his niece. Unfortunately, Dyon still couldn't see Madeleine on screen, but Libro could.

Those words were exactly the words Madeleine would say to anyone claiming to be her boyfriend, she was just that kind of docile, but firm willed girl. She would always politely reject with an eloquence few could match and even fewer could get mad at.

But… There was a difference this time. Though it was slight and only for a very brief period, Libro was certain that he had seen his precious niece blush, something that he never thought would happen in such a context.

Libro suddenly felt it was a good thing Madeleine wasn't here to see what happened to Dyon, or else who knew what kind of trouble would be stirred?

Dyon's grin didn't fade even after hearing Madeleine's words, his confidence still seeming to be sky high.

"Alright, unc. I came here because I wanted to ask if there was any books or if you had any information on turning qi into electricity."

Libro's gaze sharpened. "… This… Unfortunately I cannot help you with this. This is the trademark secret of the Storm family, they've kept quite a tight lid on this even from our Sapientia family."

Dyon raised a brow. "Is that so…"

Dyon nodded, feeling that something was off. But, he didn't pursue it.

"That's fine then, never mind. I was a bit too greedy this time around."

Dyon smiled. "I'll see you later, Madeleine!"

"Mm…" A soft hum tickled Dyon's ears.

With that, Dyon waved Libro goodbye, his expression casual. Libro only watched his back for a bit before switching the monitors back to their off state.

Dyon strolled through the hallways, eventually making his way toward the array alchemy faction. But, before he made it there, his feet came to a pause.

Before him sat one of the many qi pools of Focus Academy. Something felt different from the last time he had stood in this same position.

At that moment, Dyon realized that it wasn't only his body that had grown again after his run-in with Darius, but that his soul had improved again, and by a massive margin.

And now, his soul was telling him to stay as far away from these qi pools as possible.