Chapter 19: Silver Lining

From smiling to heavily panting. Turan turned pale and his body fell on the floor, motionless.

Zax released a bated breath. He succeeded. His experiment was affective! Previously, when Turan punched his left shoulder, he might have unintentionally sent the soul energy that dwelled in his arm through Turan's fist. If that was the case, then it was comprehensible that the alien energy did not carry a malicious intent and its effect was meager and only stopped Turan for a short second without causing any harm.

This time, however, Zax deliberately aimed his soul energy as a form of attack against Turan' soul. It did not go easy, though, for the third time in one day Zax had to reach his limits and that was only to manipulate a tiny stream of energy to the palm of his hand. Just when the energy left his body and entered Turan's, Zax could feel a relief. It was then carried solely by its objective and, for that reason also, was out of his control.

The stream of energy struck the defenseless blur that was Turan's soul and a shockwave spread across his consciousness. The pain was beyond what a ten years old boy could comprehend. One moment he had a clear sight on his opponent, the other a veil of nothingness engulfed his very existence.

In terms of soul's power, Turan was inferior to Zax without a doubt. His Qi level was approximately at the Advance phase of level H, which meant that his soul was at least at that level, as well, but since it was due to Qi training and not soul training it would have been too absurd if he could match Zax who specifically and almost relentlessly indulged only in the latter.

"Turan Ram!" Before any of the juvenile spectators could fully express their confusion and disbelief a hasty voice burst through the door that lead to the fifth floor from the stairwell and a middle age man with brown short air and in a purple suit suddenly appeared next to Turan.

The man was in a frenzied frame of mind. He touched Turan's head and for a few seconds did nothing but being by his side.

"Sir, Em Ram, yes, the stairwell of the fifth floor. Yes, little Turan Ram's condition has stabilized". The man talked to a hidden Caller and stood up with Turan lying in his arms. "Stay where you are". His stern voice resonated as far as the last kid from the Molten Core's group and where Serah and Dane stood at. It possessed a binding pressure which none of them could refute, a force that forbade them to move to save their lives.

Zax, who was the closest to the man in the purple suit, suffered the most. After the fight concluded he could not disregard the physical and mental fatigue anymore. Even the seats were no longer on his mind. In spite of this, the pressure from the strange man was too overwhelming, too much to even forget the pain in his arms, as if the man knew how strong Zax's soul was and so consumed a little bit more force to compel him to the command.

Less than two minutes had passed before another, red hair black eyes, man entered the stairwell.

"Em Ram..." The man in the purple suit approached Em and presented Turan to him.

Em examined the unconscious boy. His finger tapped in nervousness against his leg as he stood stiffly. "Mishe, take him back and let him properly rest. Don't leave his side again". Em clenched his hand and moved aside for Mishe to leave.

"Turan's schoolmates, I've heard from my son's guard. He allowed you to play around and my son ended up gravely wounded. Tell me in detail how did it happen?"

No more bound by the pressure that Mishe gave off, the six kids of the Molten Core's group and Zax, Serah and Dane all felt like a great weight was lifted off their shoulders. The two groups were now gathered on different sides of the stairwell in silence until Em permitted his son's friends the right to speak.

"Mr. Martinez", one of the boys stepped forward and spoke in a trembling tone.

Em Martinez, father of Turan Martinez, was the only reason the rest of them could stumble upon the chance of coming to the Young Mist Users Conference. To say that he was an influential man would serve as an understatement.

"It all started when we arrived to the fifth floor and searched for proper seats to watch the exhibition fights..." The boy opened and did not dare to miss a single thing. He told it exactly how it was, not even daring to contemplate the thought of lying or misleading Mr. Martinez.

"Is that so. All for a second row seats..." Mr. Martinez's gaze turned to Zax's group, packed with disdain and the veins on his forehead became visible. "Why O why did such an accursed thing had to happen to my boy?" He spoke aloud but to himself with reddish eyes.

Mr. Martinez surveyed Serah and Dane and then focused on Zax. The three did not know how to conduct themselves in front of Mr. Martinez. The boy from the Molten Core's group spoke the whole truth, what else could be said to prove that the fault was not on their side?

"You are standing too far". Mr. Martinez gritted his teeth as he spoke to Zax, in other words commanding him to come closer. As one could have seen, Mr. Martinez restrained himself with all his might, in any other place his voice would have echoed hundreds of meters, but in the Young Mist Users Conference he had the common sense to subdue the urge and not cause a scene.

Sensing the ominous aura that Mr. Martinez straggled to keep inside, Zax realized that he must obey the red hair man just as much as Serah and Dane were paralyzed and unable protest.

Mr. Martinez stared at Zax as if he was some kind of a prey that he was supposed to tear apart before devouring.

"Great great uncle", Mr. Martinez uttered. In less than the time it takes to blink, a black eyes old man in a red robe and completely bald appeared between Mr. Martinez and Zax.

"What's the matter, Em?" The old man, reading the atmosphere in the stairwell, inquired his great great nephew.

"A few minutes ago Turan and this boy here had a fight". Mr. Martinez spoke to the man in the red robe as if he was the boy from his son's group when he explained what happened to him.

"Oh ... This young fellow?" Expressionless, the old man already deduced what were the results. But even if Turan lost, he still pondered why his great great nephew seemed to be on the verge of mentally collapsing.

"These children over there are my son's friends. According to their explanation and Turan's guard's, Mishe, report, this boy is not from their school and neither a Qi user".

"Not a Qi user? Then, how did he defeat little Turan?" The old man bewildered and paid a closer attention to Zax. Right then his brows touched each other and his mouth tightened as if he bit something sour. "The boy's soul is extremely strong for a coreless child ... He did so like that... !"

"Then you understand?" Mr. Martinez rage slipped out and a little blood dripped from the side of his mouth. "He struck Turan's soul, great great uncle, my son's soul! You understand, do you? In what kind of condition my son is in ... The setback that it will cause him ... He already was accepted for the post Core program of his school..." The more he vented the more blood dripped out from Mr. Martinez's mouth. For what Zax did to his boy he hated him from the bottom of his heart!

"I understand, I understand, Em. It is indeed a severe case..." The old man tried to ease his great great nephew before his temper rebound against him. "Tell me how I can make it right for little Turan and you".

"Great great uncle, I would not have asked you if I thought that I had self control remained ... Death will be too lenient, great geat uncle, I want you to torment this low being".

"My, my, Em If that's what you want I'll will do this favor, head of our family, but you'll still have to remember that you had me deal with a child purely out of your temper and not because of little Turan's condition". The old man directed his voice in a manner that only Mr. Martinez could hear it. "In addition, I'm not sure how much in such a short time you have investigated of the boy's background. Clearly there is an expert behind him, otherwise how could the soul of any coreless child reach such a terrifying level at such a young age?"

"Doesn't matter. If you are worried about it, then that, too, can be taken care of by our family resource".

"Quite so, quite so, haha..." The old men laughed.

Seeing the old man laughed, the group of kids on either side had a small hope that now the suffocating tension will wear off. On the contrary to what they thought, though, some might have called that moment "The calm before the storm".