Spirit's Ascension-Chapter 49—Approaching Danger

Cole knew something really big was actually going on in that location, but he was currently not in the physical state to even attempt going to check it out.

Cole was in a big dilemma as he had no way to heal his injuries.

He could feel a deep sense of urgency coming from a gut feeling and even from the forest itself.

For no obvious reason, the air tightened almost as if locking Cole in his place.

Beads of sweat began forming all over his body.

But then, It vanished leaving only a heavy and dreadful air behind.

"Something is coming. Something big."

As a desperate measure Cole finally decided on something.

"I need to fix my arm as soon as possible." A fierce expression appearing on his face.

He knew how crazy he was for the decision he was about to make, but he had no choice but to do it if he wanted to survive.

He proceeded to sit down and steady his breath while trying to mentally prepare himself for what was to come.

He looked at his mangled arm with a determined gaze.

"Hold on, Cole, you can do it."

In a fierce and swift motion, he twisted the first part back into place.

"Haaaaaaaa," He screamed out.

He didn’t stop, though; he moved to the next part and did the same thing.

He continued the action of resetting and screaming until he felt he had fixed almost all of them.

He was currently sitting with his chest heaving harshly and his tears forming slightly in his eyes.

What he just did takes so much conviction and resolution to pull off, even when he decided to do it. He stopped multiple times.

Now that he had brutally fixed the core of the problems he was currently facing.

He returned to absorbing Life energy to try to heal the injuries in his arm.

This time, the absorption was helpful as Cole began feeling a sense of ease and comfort in his arm.

"So life energy can’t heal extreme damage; it’s only useful for bruises and cuts."

"I need to prepare for the future," he thought.

Little by little, his injured arm regained its full health, and after a while it was back to how it was if you ignored the soreness.

While he was absorbing, Cole realized something chilling. His muscles were relaxing excessively as if they wanted to melt into the environment.

If he hadn’t forcefully snapped out of it, things might have become precarious.

Absorbing too much life energy makes you slowly merge into the environment. Like the world would absorb you as a whole.

This fact had been haunting powerful Spiriters for a while, but they haven’t disclosed it to the public.

The reasons for that remain unknown.

With a slightly back-in-shape body, Cole rose to his feet and looked in the direction of the explosion he previously heard.

"Now that I am barely fully functional, I should go check that out," he said.

He had been intentionally ignoring that fact for a while. After the large explosion.

Tiny explosive sounds have been coming from that direction specifically.

A sign that a big fight was currently ongoing over there.

Cole didn’t wait around leisurely anymore. Instead, he climbed a tree and began heading in the direction.

His journey started with increased adrenaline as he was partially frightened and partially excited for what was to come.

"I wonder how that second-year student is doing now."

"He can’t be dead, can he?" Cole thought.

The thought of the possibility of death of the senior caused another shift in Cole.

He carries a deep scar within him from the actions of others, so doing something like that to someone else makes him feel a bit uncomfortable.

"I hope he is fine," Cole thought.

He knew he was actually being hypocritical, but that didn’t stop him from worrying.

Cole was brought back to reality by a change to his environment.

The previous lush grasses and thick trees were slowly and gradually changing and reducing.

As if the aftermath of a large battle were destroying them.

Some of the trees carried burnt marks, while some of them appeared infected by something vile.

But irrespective of the type of injury or damage, something was constant.

Something big is happening in the direction he was headed.

Cole knew it, and the Empty Codex seemed to know it too.

Some time ago, it had begun its aggressive pulsation again, with the intensity increasing as Cole moved forward.

Cole suddenly stopped.

Ahead of him was what looked to be a barrier. It wasn’t made of energy or anything like that.

Instead, it was made of thick fumes and particles. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

For some reason, they didn’t disperse further than they currently were, forming a zone of separation between where Cole was and the inside.

Cole hesitated and thought for a while before deciding to risk it.

"I need to get to the bottom of this."

He said before rushing straight into the thick fumes.

The inside of the fumes looked nothing like the outside world. It was like a whole new world governed by intense heat.

The heat was so much Cole felt like his blood was boiling away; he couldn’t even sweat to regulate his temperature.

The water molecules seemed to vaporize before they could even completely form.

"This is crazy, can this really be caused by a battle between two students?"

"Ohh, can it be that man’s partner?" Cole suddenly realized.

The realization made Cole freeze again. He felt a chill spread down his spine despite the extreme heat he was in.

"I hope he isn’t the one; I am not ready yet," Cole thought before he continued his journey.

The deeper he went, the thinner the fumes got, and weirdly, the heat reduced.

It was as if they were only trying to keep people out.

The deeper he went, the louder the sound of battle also got. And after some minutes, Cole arrived at the epicenter.

In the epicenter of it all, what Cole encountered left him shocked beyond words.

His mouth wide opened in an agape state.

"Isn’t that Cain?" he thought.