91 Return

Under the rising moon, Ralf ran anxiously and swiftly in the birch tree forest after nightfall.

The Phantom Wind Follower's J-shaped, flexible steel prosthetics had a huge surface area at the part that was supposed to be his foot to maintain stability. It always gave him a weird feeling when he walked on flat surfaces, but surprisingly, the wide surface area allowed him to hurry on and walk comparatively easier on snowy ground, especially under the circumstance where he was steering the wind. It felt like he was practically walking on flat ground.

However, Ralf did not have any experience in tracking something across snowy ground. He had also never lived in the north, which was filled with snow that never melted. Constellation's Central Territory only witnessed seasonal sporadic snowfall, while the long and narrow Camus Union as well as the Five City States to the southeast were dry and warm. This posed as an extremely big problem for him to track down anyone despite being the first person who discovered the unusual condition of Serena's carriage and immediately chased after it.

Ralf's Wind Control Psionic Power allowed him to be able to move around freely in the narrow and crowded Red Street Market, like a fish in water. His speed in the dense birch forest was not any slower.

Nevertheless, he had to find that boy.

That boy who gave the Phantom Wind Follower a new life.

Ralf passed through the forest and saw the flat snow-covered ground ahead.

His gaze suddenly focused at one spot!

A shudder went through the Phantom Wind Follower's body as he landed on the snowy ground.

Under the moonlight, a coquettish woman wrapped in a cape gently released her grip.

A young boy about seven or eight years old, whose hands were tied behind his back fell from her grasp without any response and landed on the snowy ground like a murdered prey.

He was not moving at all.

That coquettish and alluring woman turned around slightly. She licked her lips in Ralf's direction and smiled strangely at him.

'No.'

Ralf fell to his knees on the snowy ground in disbelief. His trembling hands reached out to the boy, whose eyes were closed.

'No breathing.

'No heartbeat.

'No pulse.

'No.

'This boy.

'This adult-like boy.

'This boy who gave me a choice.

'This boy who saved me from the abyss of despair.

'This mysterious boy who taught me how to read, spell, and use sign language to communicate.

'He is dead.

'No.'

Ralf lifted his head. Half of his face was hidden behind the silver mask, so it was difficult to read his expression.

"What is it?" Serena Corleone tilted her head and blinked in an alluring manner. "Oh, are you here to find little Thales?"

Ralf clenched his fists tightly as he slowly stood up. His gaze was filled with anger and rage as he stared at the seductive, charming woman.

"Sorry, he fell asleep." Serena chuckled.

"You can go and look for him in your next life."

A fierce wind suddenly blew across the flat ground.

Serena's expression immediately changed!

The wind became stronger and stronger.

It blew up the snow surrounding Ralf, making all of his clothing bulge up.

The Phantom Wind Follower glared at Serena.

He did not know how strong this woman before his eyes was.

But he would do everything he could to make the other party pay.

This way, he could consider...

...the debt he owed that boy cleared.

But in the next moment, Ralf discovered to his surprise… that his entire body became rigid.

He was unable to move.

'What is going on?'

He moved his eyes. 'Is it… this woman?'

Serena laughed in delight. Her vision never left Ralf from the start to maintain the pressure of the 'Halting Gaze'.

"Children nowadays." she pouted and shook her head as if she was troubled. Then she pointed at the corner of her eyes as she stared at Ralf, who was frozen in place. She clicked her tongue and said, "Do you not use your brain when you fight?"

…

'It's so dark.

'It's so black.

'I cannot feel time.

'There's also no space.

'Why is it suddenly bright?

'It's too bright, it's piercing into my eyes.

'These are all… memories?

'So many memories.'

Different scenes which were either familiar or unfamiliar flickered before his eyes one after another swiftly.

It was extremely disorderly.

Eventually, only one chaotic voice was left:

"The center limit theorem provided enough basis for our random sampling… Don't doze off! Learn and master these things, at least after you graduate, you can work at any company's Market Research Department…"

'What was this?'

"Qiren, if you reach a different world that is waiting to be saved, would you try to become stronger, farm, introduce science and technology to them, or strive to conquer the land… would you want to change it?"

"Forget about it. The changes of society can never be fathomed… Unless I am the god of creation…"

"Alright, in conclusion, it is meaningless to ask you this question."

"What's with that gaze, it's filled with scorn!"

'It's such a familiar voice…'

"The topic of hierarchy is often combined with inequality. Education, income, capital, these are all frequently seen nouns… Blau and Duncan, remember these two academicians. They will be your nightmare in the next two years… During our time, if you didn't know about logistic regression, don't even dream about performing an analysis on social hierarchy…"

'This is so confusing… Why is there no logic in all these combinations…'

"Why are you so confused! Just one word, are we going to get together…? What are you furrowing your eyebrows for?!"

'Why does everything seem like deja vu, but look like it's being separated by a layer of fog…'

"The key to the Logistic Regression Model is on this probability distribution, the Probit Model is actually similar to it... If you only know about the usual linear regression and have no knowledge on logistic regression, then don't even think about saying that you have learned about linear regression… There's no other reason to it, I just think that it'll be incredibly embarrassing if you don't know about it…"

'Where am I…'

"Everyone classified him as one of the three great masters, but Weber's paraphrasing of Eulenberg's theory and scientific argumentation… Some radical scholars, including myself, believe that his philosophy, which he created as he sat in his chair, was truly an insult to our field…"

'What are these memories… But, those names are so familiar…'

"Symmetric matrices can be used to express the one-model's social network, whereas the two-model network is more complicated… Look at all the dumb looks on your faces. Have you never learnt about linear algebra before…? If you have never learnt about advanced mathematics, what makes you think that you have the ability to master this subject? What a load of bull!"

'Wait a minute, I think I know what these are… I-I learned all these things before, even wrote and taught them before…'

"I don't know why we worked so hard to pay for your education, but the Wu Family always had this though: Knowledge may not always be useful, but it is always priceless…"

'Who is talking… just what are these?!'

"For example, teachers, school locations, social classes, parents' income, and different factors that cause an effect on the student's results always play a role in different levels of a person's life. Some will be on a personal level, some on a social level while some on an educational level. If we don't draw a distinction on the impact of the different levels but simply assume that they have the same effect throughout, the conclusion derived for 'what has the greatest impact on a student's results' will not be persuasive… So, pedagogy commonly uses the Hierarchical Linear Model to overcome this point, and this principle is also applicable to our research…"

'I know about this… I definitely know about this… Damn it, why can't I recall it!'

"Marx and Weber had entirely different opinions on the country's autonomy… The difference between the two various powers of a country as defined by Mann is… Didn't you read the text? Couldn't finish reading it? Then, why didn't you sleep less to finish reading it?"

'Wait a minute, who am I… Who am I?'

"Those people who treat Skocpol as their head started to rethink Marx's social schema and Parsons's Macroeconomic Theory…The society embedded in history may not operate as predicted… Historical analysis based on traditional methods returned before our sight like this…"

'What am I?'

"Do not assume that the qualitative method does not have to be measured. It is the exact opposite. We do not have the distinct and clear scientific criterions as those present in measurement system analysis, so we need argumentation even more to explain the scientific nature of 'the reason why this method is used', and enable the research axis to take root in your field… Otherwise, there is no difference to us conducting scientific research compared to us writing a news article… You may as well change your main field of study to mass communications and become a news reporter. I can assure you that you will earn even more than this…"

'Ahhhhh…'

However, the following voice was a lot clearer, and it stirred up his memory even more.

"Behrs, no matter what method needs to be carried out, keep him in the capital. He will continue to live… Hold him, this is my flesh and blood! You know how I will react if you fail."

"This one is named Thales… Allocate him to the sixth house, look at this foolish appearance… Little sh*t, I guarantee you would not live till your second year."

"No! No! Don't hit me! Don't! I am only… only… ah!"

"You really don't want to drink water? It is obviously just next door!... Listen to me, I will think of the plan!"

"My name is Karak! I heard you are the head of this house? From today onwards, all of you have to give me half of your money!"

"This is the last medication, and you will get no more! You… don't come here again in the future… Wait! Here are some old clothes, you can take them…"

"Little sh*t, you must call me Big Sister Jala!"

"The newborn Mystic made a foothold high above the gods and watched over the other living things… You can say 'no', but you cannot refuse. This is only the first time you lost control."

"I know that you have within yourself something he does not."

"King Nuven wants justice, right? Take my son's life in exchange for his son's life!"

A mass of unprecedented flashbacks appeared in his mind within one moment.

It crammed his consciousness to the point that it almost exploded.

Suddenly, everything became silent.

Darkness arrived once again.

It felt so much more comfortable.

He was tired.

Maybe he ought to leave now.

Go back to the place he came from.

Or perhaps… just die.

At this very moment, two unfamiliar voices rang in his ears.

One voice sounded old.

"This soul… oh, this is unprecedentedly first-class… hmm, Mother felt it."

The other voice was flat and sharp.

"Wait a minute, the smell of danger… it is the same as six or seven hundred years ago…"

"Thou art always cautious and prudent… Be rest assured, Mother will surely handle this."

"No, it is not thoroughly dead… Such powerful vitality. No one is providing help from above, but it is still rising. According to this trend, it does not need long before it will rise back to the surface…"

"Yes, I can feel it. Mother is still hesitating. She is not averse to it, but also does not like it."

"Oh, oh my god…"

"Why are you panicking so much?"

"Have you seen this type of mixed-blood and mixed-soul… How is it possible?! Unless Alchemy Tower and Soul Tower worked together…"

"Do not lose your composure! Adhere strictly to your duty. Care less about the matters on the ground… Besides, the Three Great Magic Towers have been destroyed for one thousand years…"

"One thousand years, right? My long-term memory has deteriorated again…" 

"Mother has made a decision… Let it drift freely. Allow it to rise again… Prepare to open the counter-current gate."

"Counter-current gate? Seriously? There was one who rose just over thirty years ago… The time is too short. Will Mother allow this type of frequency? We should at least wait until the last one returns here once again…"

"Do not ask, do not speak. This is Mother's will! Only comply to it!" 

Immediately afterwards, he felt everything around him started shaking all of a sudden!

*Boom!*

*Pang!*

A sound, as if something had shattered travelled into his ears. He seemed to have heard a clear sound of something being smashed.

The next moment, he inhaled smoothly amid the invisible pressure and darkness, like he had just floated to the surface of water!

It was not only just one breath of air.

It was a surge of power.

A power that surpassed any mortal.

He, Thales Jadestar, finally remembered who he was.

His senses returned to him at the same time!

The pores on his entire body seemed to have opened in an instant, as they greedily received information from the outside world. His sluggish joints were no longer rubbing against each other, just like they were lubricated by a surge of power.

The blood that gathered on his skin seemed to have received the order to return back to his blood vessels and provide him with the nutrients necessary for him to continue living. The heart that had been beating too fast due to lack of oxygen returned to its slower, rhythmical throbbing. Only, it was stronger and more powerful than before. 

Thales felt it.

A surge of power began its journey from an unknown corner of his body and rapidly ascended to fill his entire being in an instant.

The pain in his throat slowly disappeared. He even felt the various internal injuries in him slowly recovering.

Soon, Thales felt the coldness beneath his body, the fierce wind around him, and Serena's familiar laughter.

Like a drowned person who was brought back to life once again, Thales opened his eyes swiftly!

Immediately afterwards, he stared into the sky, still trembling. He opened his mouth wide and sucked in a breath of air that he had not taken for a long time, as though it had been years before he last breathed!

"Phew…"

Everything was the same as before.

He had come back to life.