Chapter 280: Aether Gardens [2]

The plants or precisely, the 'rage seeds' Varian wanted were deep in the Wrath Garden.

So, he had to walk for a few miles.

With his speed, it should've been a cakewalk but—

"Argh!" With a roar, Varian looked around with red eyes.

Broken walls, spilled blood and charred ground.

This was the same location…his home on his last birthday.

In front of him was the flame wolf…the creature, the demon that killed his mother.

The air heated up from the flames it breathed out and touched his skin, the wolf raised its head and opened its fangs, revealing blood and bones with pieces of his mother's clothes.

Even in the iron scent of blood, he could smell his mother's fragrance—the smell of the flowers in their front yard which she tended to.

Varian's eyes slowly turned red as his vision turned blurry.

The rational part of him was very clear that this was just an illusion…but the emotional side of him was adamant.

He needed to kill the wolf at any cost!

"Graaah!" Varian clutched his head and bend down, his head was a complete mess as he suppressed his boiling rage.

If he started attacking, he'd fall into the illusion. Once that happened, he probably wouldn't wake up.

"The wolf is dead." He told himself in rage mixed with helplessness.

Suddenly, he recalled something and his voice turned seren. "Sia killed it."

His emotions slowly calmed down and his mental power quickly worked out and broke the illusion.

Varian was once again back in the garden, a few feet away from a dark red plant.

Retribution Plant.

With purple-red flowers blossoming, the one-meter tall plant made for a beautiful sight.

Sweet Vengeance.

This was the flower that caused the previous illusion. And it was able to do so despite his progress.

[Telepath Level 4: 900/1000]

Even the combined defense of peak level 5 Body Awakener and high level 4 Telepath couldn't prevent its effect.

"Though the reason I struggled so much is because of my past. Someone with nothing to agonize about wouldn't be so effected…" Varian paused in the end and shook his head.

"Who the fuck wouldn't have anything to be angry about?"

Throwing his thought away, he walked to the Retribution Plant.

With each step, his mind boiled and his rage spiked. His anger increased like there was no tomorrow, but Varian kept his cool.

The moment he bent down to pluck the flower, he saw Roxanna in the distance.

Behind her was an unconscious Sia floating in a pod.

"Haha! My experiment is a success! I just have to kill her!"

"Sia, you don't have anyone to help you, do you? What about the boy you grew up with? He doesn't even remember you. Haha!"

Then she turned around and saw Varian.

She sneered in contempt and smirked. "You'r the pathetic guy who can't even protect her. What about the promise you made to her?"

Then she patted her forehead and her lips curled into an evil and mocking smile.

"Oh I forgot. You can't even protect your mother. I heard you froze in fear. Is your body paralyzed from watching that wolf? Hahaha—"

Suddenly, her laughter stopped and she looked at Varian in horror. "No. Come kill me. Don't to that, don't—"

She collapsed into nothing as Varian violently pulled out the flower, unrooting the plant in the process.

Closing his eyes, he muttered. "It's alright. It's alright. It's alright. It's NOT!"

He opened his eyes and raised his arm to punch the ground. Right before he threw the punch, all the plants in his vicinity attacked him in self-defense.

They tried to pull him into an illusion.

If he really punched the ground, the sheer shockwaves would destroy their fragile bodies.

That's why, he must not be allowed to use physical powers.

Even the plants that were fighting amongst themselves worked together and tried to stop him.

Varian's fist was inches away from the ground, but those few inches seemed to be longer than a light year.

He tried to punch down, but his body simply refused to listen to his command. "Fuck! I'll destroy you all!"

His fist stayed motionless for a few seconds before moving.

[+10 Xp]

[+10 Xp]

…

[+10 Xp]

With each moment, the resistance he encountered was fiercer and fiercer. Yet, Varian didn't care.

He was subjected to countless illusions.

He saw earth getting destroyed.

Humanity going extinct.

He saw Sia dying in his arms and Sarah being killed.

Each scene was enough to boil his blood and push him to anger.

Yet…he focused his mind on one thing. That one punch.

Do it!

Finally, a clicking sound was heard and Varian's fist softly landed on the ground.

It had no power, and it didn't even raise the dust.

Yet…all the leaves of the plants shrunk and every flower, every seed, and every fruit seemed to shiver.

He broke the illusions.

[+10 Xp]

[Telepath Level 4: 1000/1000]

[Advancing]

"Haa!" Varian's eyes snapped open and his body moved on his own. Putting all his strength, he punched down.

This time, the illusions couldn't stop him.

Bang!

Kacha!

Cracks spread from the center of impact like a spider web. Rock and gravel blasted out in all directions as they smashed every flower, leave and fruit in their direction.

The sheer speed at which they flew out caused the gravel to turn bright red as their temperature spiked.

When the dust settled, a huge crater appeared in the central area of the garden.

At the center of the crater, Varian rubbed his fist and sighed. "I have some anger control issues."

But then again, some words were better left unsaid. Even in illusions.

Varian's body blurred and he teleported to a few more Retribution plants.

His mind still felt a sharp pain when he plucked away the flowers, but he avoided falling into any illusion.

Finally, after collecting a couple of Vengeance flowers, he exited the Wrath garden. Of course, the flowers didn't attack him anymore.

They were kinda dead. But that didn't mean they were useless.

If Varian channeled his mental power through  them, he could use their specialty to push others to rage. 

Of course, they  didn't have much effect on level 6s. But amassed together, they had an excellent effect on level 5s, including peak level 5.

"And that's all I need." Varian stored them away and asked Boo to check for the messengers. He wasn't supposed to make a commotion like this.

Thankfully, Wrath Garden was quite deep in the Aether Garden Area.

So, no messenger actually noticed.

As Varian was about to sigh in relief, Roxanna's words flashed in his mind. "…I am not a coward."

Then why did you freeze...?

As his thoughts threatened to spiral in a dangerous direction, he pulled himself together and rushed towards the exit.

"The teams will still spend quite some time trying to get the flags. But even then, I don't have much time."

Varian quickly passed by the numerous gardens before his figure suddenly halted.

Garden of Happiness.

He looked at it with complicated eyes.

"Just for a minute."

He told himself and explored the garden with his mental sense.

Instead of evading, he let the foreign mental powers bring him to an illusion.

The illusion he considered as happiness.

Varian's eyes lost focus as he stayed still for a few seconds.

Finally, his lips curled into a satisfying smile as he opened his eyes.

"It's going to be worth it."

His figure blurred and avoiding the messengers, he left the Psychedelic Region.

Next location: Vine Forests.

*** **** *** 

A/N: Discord link below:

https://discord.gg/kBKaTtsrp