OLD-WORLD EXTRA-Chapter 223: Fourth Step

Pain.

Nothing but pain.

The purest form of pain imaginable.

That was what the current Emir was feeling.

Just as his eyes opened back to the real world.

He experienced hell on Earth.

He felt deadly heat, freezing cold, and shocking lighting crackling through his every nerve.

Emir's body was finally in the process of reconstructing itself.

He was becoming a Seraphim.

A being of high 'importance' on Earth.

Blood soon began to ooze out of his every orifice, surprising all who were watching him.

Yet Emir remained steadfast, not even letting out a whimper.

He wouldn't allow himself to show weakness.

Not in front of his family.

Emir had to be their shield, he had to stand like an unbreakable stone.

Never withering, never crumbling.

And that he did, as even some of the eyes above showed surprise.

Laura and Lily watched the scene with teary eyes, unable to imagine the pain he was going through.

But they didn't dare disturb him.

They remained far, and quiet.

As did the others.

Only Lyra remained by his side, watching him, ready to intervene at a moment's notice.

She didn't need to, however.

Emir's constant spasms slowed to a stop.

Soon the chaotic Aether around him dispersed, and what came after was a calm breeze of condensed Aether congregating in his core.

Since his entire Aether reserves were depleted in the process, his Aether core desperately sucked up all that was around it.

Begging to be refiled.

At that moment, all the eyes that surrounded them disappeared.

Yet the people there didn't even notice as their gazes were glued to Emir's every action.

After letting out an exacerbated sigh, Emir extended his stiff legs, breaking his lotus posture. He then dropped himself on his back.

What met his gaze was the sight of a crying Lyra.

"Hey."

"....Welcome back."

"Hmhm."

"Are you alright?"

"Yes. I think...."

"Actually, I feel like passing out. Carry my body to bed, yeah?"

Just as Emir said that his eyes closed, and he drifted off to sleep. A much-needed reprieve from the questions that plagued him.

Lyra silently stared at him, simply not in the know of how to react.

The others felt the same, they just didn't know what to say.

But his mother, Laura, was the first to step forward as she gently tapped Lyra's back.

"Lyra dear, let's ignore the eyes for a bit."

"We can't let him sleep on the ground like that, so help me carry him, now will you?"

Lyra nodded to her words and gently picked Emir up from the back, while Laura did so from

his legs.

Lily quickly joined in, helping out her mother and they exited their backyard...

Leaving behind their stunned companions.

...

...

...

Emir's eyes fluttered open.

He saw a white painted roof.

It wasn't black.

It wasn't the void.

He was not dreaming.

He was truly awake.

Emir's grogginess disappeared as he lifted his body and looked around the room.

Minimalist.

The best word to describe what his eyes saw.

Nothing too fancy.

Yet not cheap either.

His bed was placed in the far left corner of the room, opposite the door.

To his right were a few wooden cabinets for his clothes, and racks that housed his many

weapons.

Just next to them was his desk, which had his top-end terminal and VR equipment.

Near that was the door leading to the bathroom.

A simple room.

But it was all that he needed.

He raised his right hand and tightened his grip.

'I've gotten stronger....'

'Much stronger.'

Emir then noticed that his body was bigger than before.

It was barely a change but one he could detect nonetheless.

After a few moments of thought, his gaze returned to the bed.

He proceeded to pull the purple bed cover, which was hiding away a person-shaped bump.

Lyra was there.

Soundly sleeping without a care in the world.

Emir let out a chuckle.

'I can't imagine how worried she was.....'

'Especially mom, she probably cried a lot, unlike that grateful kid....'

'Though I guess it's a good thing that she never doubts my success.'

His 'success' being the breakthrough into becoming an actual Seraphim-ranked Celestial.

'It was a long grind, but I did it, and now, I need to do it again....'

Step forward, and reach the fifth.

But that was an unimaginable distance away, and Emir had many other things to think about

than waste his time with such a thing.

The first was the approaching date of his academy test.

Unlike Evelyn, who was going to teach normal hunters, Emir was tasked with the Elite.

The cream of the crop.

And many were eyeing that position.

Although Emir was given the go-ahead by their families, he still needed to prove himself.

To show that he was worthy.

Or so they said.

But Emir knew the true purpose behind the test.

It was for entertainment.

The Elite wished to be entertained and what better way than to have it come to them in

droves?

So they used whatever excuse they came up with and the UEF allowed it....

After all, what would they lose?

If it entertained the Elite then what of it?

The UEF had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

And now it fell on Emir to shoulder the fall.

He had to show his strength and expose his capabilities, his 'mind.'

'What a fucked up world this is....'

Emir raised his right hand and began delicately stroking Lyra's silky smooth hair, causing its

curly whites to straighten.

"What do you think?"

"...About?"

Lyra softly asked while remaining still, enjoying his gentle pats.

"About how fucked up this world is..."

"You've always known that. Why ask this now?"

She brought her head closer to his lap and her left hand shot out from the covers, bringing his

retreating hand back to her head.

Emir chuckled.

"After I 'reincarnated...' I met a primordial, in my dreams."

Lyra's body twitched as she heard his words, but she soon calmed down and placed her head a

top of his lap.

"And you remembered this during the breakthrough?"

"Correct."

"What happened?"

"Read my memories."

|| ||

After a moment, Emir heard Lyra's gasp echo through the room.

Her body began to shake like a vulnerable pet seeking warmth from its owner.

But her trembling soon stopped, as his pats provided enough warmth for her to survive even

the cold of Earth many millennia ago.

"May your god help us." "I don't think 'He' can."