----

Lucian looked around as he returned to Alteria from within the Fractured Monolith. Initially, since the sun had set, Lucian thought that barely any time had passed. After all, he was in the monolith for no more than half a day.

Though, the time spent inside the actual floors was much less, even when factoring in his trip to the odd laboratory and the room in which he experienced his transformation. Most of the time spent inside the monolith involved Lucian explaining the plan to the team and running out the clock on the first run.

Outside of that, there was also his chat that, while only appearing to take a few minutes, actually went on for more than an hour because of how much basic information Lucian extracted from Vohr.

When Lucian looked at his wrist, specifically the high-tech watch given to all inhabitants of Alteria, Lucian noticed something odd.

'Over 10 days have passed?!' Lucian thought with widened eyes. Just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, he rubbed his eyes and looked at the date once again. Still, it remained the same.

Twelves days had passed in what seemed like an instant!

Eventually, Lucian looked at his current status to see if it had experienced any change.

...

Name: Lucian Salvatore

Title: N/A

Archetype: Variant (Hybrid/Evolver)

Fractal Rating: D+ (C+) [E-]

Authority: Delta

Health: 100%

MQ: 325/325 (3.75 MQ per min) [163]

[«Attributes»]-

»Strength: D+ [E-]

»Agility: D+ [E-]

»Endurance:D+ [E-]

»Dexterity: D+ [E-]

»Vitality: D+ [E-]

»Perception: D+ [E-]

»Spirit: D+ [E-]

»Wisdom: D+ [E-]

----

[«Enhancements»]

»Points: 181.6

----

[«Abilities»]-

»Limitless [??? Rank Trait]

»Hypervigilance [SS Rank Trait]

»Manifestation [D+ Rank Ability]

»Duplication [D+ Rank Ability]

»Amplification [D+ Rank Ability]

»Assimilation [??? Rank Ability]

…

〈Weakened Period Remaining: 14 day(s), 22 hour(s).〉

Just as Lucian thought, there was essentially no change in the weakened period's remaining duration. Eventually, Lucian wondered just what warranted the unchanged duration of the period and what was this based on?

Soon enough, Lucian had the urge to go back inside the monolith just so the weakened period went by quicker. If the rate of time flow was truly that fast, then it was possible Lucian could finish the rest of the time by wasting another half of a day inside the monolith's space.

After all, the monolith's interior wasn't linked to Alteria's temporal fabric. The monolith's interior was linked to a different space or rather several portions of the quadrants comprising the universe. Hence, the reason Overseers such as Vohr, who weren't of the human race, could appear before these Guardians.

In fact, it was because of the monolith that humans even became aware of other intelligent species. Before the Priming, the humans lived their lives attempting to perfect spatial travel.

Yet, with the appearance of the monolith, the technology to bridge the mysteries of this question was acquired within a few years. It simply required a Guardian with enough authority to be born.

Regrettably, the stone seemed to be against Lucian's intentions.

〈The weakened period operates on the same temporal signature as your body. In other words, the weakened period will only elapse while inside your world.〉

〈As we loathe the origin of the monolith, unless it is to crush the order that has been established, there is no reason to appear in that place. Besides, the signature of the monolith is too scattered for you to benefit from it.〉

'Is the resentment that deep? The stone won't allow entry unless I intend to clear floors?' Lucian thought in faint shock. In his opinion, the stone didn't sound like an omnipotent item, but rather a petty individual who sought the most satisfying type of revenge.

〈Deeper than you can currently fathom.〉

Lucian frowned for a moment before shrugging off the information. Since the stone forbade him from doing so, Lucian simply placed his attention elsewhere. For example, what he forgot to do.

'I should have gathered their contact information. They still owe me my compensation,' Lucian thought to himself. The ultimate reason for the team clearing the second floor was because Lucian had lent out virtually all of his tokens and points while intending to get them back.

However, the matter had momentarily slipped his mind as he was occupied with learning about the weakened period. Of course, the possibility of them reneging on the deal didn't worry Lucian. He simply felt it was inconvenient that he couldn't contact them on a whim.

Besides, power was a huge deterrence in this day and age. And, from what they saw, even if he wasn't the strongest person ever, for their current level, Lucian possessed loads of it.

Not too long after thinking about this matter, Lucian glanced at the utterly destroyed wall of his family mansion. It reminded him of the reason he stepped foot inside of the monolith in the first place―the safety of his family. They were his greatest worry, but also the source of his determination.

As a result, Lucian looked towards the distance before jumping out the window. The distance to the floor was no more than 10 meters, something a person of his level could handle without injury.

Once he touched down, he closed his eyes and activated his Hypervigilance ability to recall the quickest path to the medical center. While he could simply take a train, why would he squander credits when he was essentially on par with the speed of those jet trains now?

After verifying the correct path, Lucian sped forward while passing through a district plagued by poverty. As he looked at some of the sickly children on the street, he was reminded of the state of his younger siblings.

It triggered something deep inside him.

'If they managed society better, such situations wouldn't need to happen. It's all backed by greed.'

Gradually, Lucian decided what he needed to do.

Even if he couldn't help everyone personally, he could at least use the opportunity given to him by the stone to gain a substantial footing. The only way to acquire a voice was through gaining power.

…

Eventually, Lucian arrived before the Strellia Medical Facility. After going through the standard process, Lucian walked to the front desk and tapped his finger against the counter, "Is Doctor Arc in?"

The desk nurse looked at him before blanking for a moment. It wasn't often that someone with crimson eyes and silver-white hair appeared. In fact, this was a combination of features that never appeared.

Lucian's eyes weren't just red, it was as if his eyes were formed from congealed blood.

"D-Doctor Arc? He's in, he's always in. He's…" the desk nurse sifted through the schedule while occasionally glancing up at Lucian. Eventually, she came across his location but her expression changed, "He's… in the classified sector."

"Thank you," Lucian said before walking away from the desk, towards the back of the facility. The nurse initially tried to stop him, but when she saw the name he signed, her expression changed.

"Isn't... Isn't this the name the doctor said to look out for?"

Following the directions left by Doctor Arc, she clicked a button under the desk.

…

Down in the classified sector…

"Hmm?" Doctor Arc murmured while glancing at his watch that emitted a blaring signal. As he browsed through the information, his expression brightened before dashing towards the elevator.

Enthusiastically, he started smashing the button without the faintest sign of patience, "Come on! Come on! Hurry up, damn it! He's alive. HAHA! He's alive! It's been over a week, yet he's alive!"

Soon enough, the elevator opened to reveal to a tall youth with silverish hair and crimson eyes staring at Doctor Arc.

"Who... are you? No, how in the heck did you get into this elevator!?" Doctor Arc exclaimed.

Rather than answer the question, Lucian passed by Doctor Arc while asking a question, "My siblings; where are they?"

"Siblings? Wait… Lucian?! L-Lucian?" Doctor Arc guffawed before circling Lucian with odd lines surfacing in his eyes as he accessed his ability. Sure enough, from what he scanned, this was truly Lucian! Same bio-structure, identical plasma signatures. All the recorded data matched except the fact his body was stronger and his Mana was compact.

"Yes," Lucian nodded.

"Come, come," Doctor Arc said excitedly while leading Lucian deep within the underground level of the futuristic medical facility. Soon enough, they came before a heavily sealed door marked with the label: "HAZARD"

Lucian didn't even stop before gesturing towards Doctor Arc, "Open."

"Just to warn you, you're risking your safety by entering this place."

"Doesn't a matter, I'm a Guardian," Lucian responded in a nonchalant tone.

Immediately, Doctor Arc blanked once again. Meanwhile, Lucian received another message from the stone.