Steve just opened his eyes when the day had changed. He immediately felt that something was wrong with his body.
It was like, his body had just been entered by some kind of foreign energy.
But Steve can't wrap his mind around that feeling. It was as if a small part of his memory had been forcibly taken.
What he remembered was only the moment when he entered into another realm in his meditation.
A place consisting of barren wasteland with sandy red soil.
"The tree..."
Steve's forehead wrinkled thinking about what he saw in his meditation. A very tall strange tree.
But he couldn't remember anything after that.
"Well, whatever. If I can't remember what it is, it means that is not something important."
Steve got up from his bed. He sighed when he realized that he spent the whole night just meditating and forgot to sleep.
But fortunately, he wasn't sleepy. Once again because his energy has been replenished by that foreign energy.
Now his bed and body were wet with sweat.
He must have expended a lot of energy in his meditation.
This much sweat never comes out unless he concentrates his energy too much.
Steve again shook his head and rolled up his bed sheet. After that, he went to the bathroom.
After he finished showering and washing his sheets, Steve went to the gym to do his exercise routine.
He ran on the treadmill thinking things over.
This is where Steve can usually feel a little relaxed. He let his thoughts drift as his legs took off running.
'I have to beat Annie and Conrad. That way I will be seen to give the best result among them.'
'After that, I'll get an important position in the Republic. Then handle various important projects related to Magic.'
'From there, I will rise above and into the seat of power.'
He grinned. But since there was no one else in the gym, no one could see the grin and the devilish glint in his eyes.
'Should I kill them? But that will be suspicious. I have to kill them in front of the scientists and make it look like an accident.'
'That way I'll be able to show good results, and eliminate the obstructions at once.'
Steve's grin grew wider as he thought of the possibilities when his plan worked.
Too deep in the evil thoughts in his head, Steve didn't realize that Conrad had entered the gym.
Conrad frowned at Steve who was staring ahead while grinning.
'He must be thinking something strange. His smile never looks good.'
Conrad always felt that behind Steve's demeanor that seemed like a good person and always obeyed without causing trouble, there was a hideous dark side.
Even so, Conrad couldn't tell Thomas that because it wasn't a useful thought for a scientist.
Conrad walked over to Steve and climbed onto the treadmill next to him.
But before Conrad could get on the treadmill, he felt a strange feeling of a moment from Steve.
Conrad turned to Steve. His eyes were full of question marks.
Conrad studied Steve for a few moments with intense eyes.
Because of that, Steve noticed his gaze.
"What are you doing?" Steve asked in a sharp tone.
Conrad came to his senses.
"Oh, I... just want to do some exercises."
Conrad finally managed to turn on the treadmill as soon as he came to his senses after looking at Steve.
'What was that?' Conrad wondered. 'Is it because his Magic power has increased?'
Steve turned his eyes forward again. He now intended to be careful not to let his mood affect his facial expressions.
'He must be looking at me like I'm a freak,' Steve thought. 'But it's better than him suspecting I'm plotting something.'
The two of them continued their exercise in silence. Yet their minds still echoed various kinds of thoughts and prejudices.
~~~
On the other hand, the talks between General Lennard and the three of them were still going on.
Erend, Billy, and Adrien told all the things they had put together before.
The story - which was not entirely a lie - they told convincingly so that General Lennard could easily believe it.
"So you saw something going on under the sea?" General Lennard asked Erend.
"Yes, sir. I just remembered it recently. Maybe it was the effect of whatever it was that caused that incident," Erend said.
General Lennard seemed to think. Then he took out his cell phone and sent a message to someone.
"Thank you for your information," General Lennard said. "Anything else you'd like to say?"
"No sir."
"Then you can go."
"Yes sir."
The three of them came out of the General's room.
The three of them tried to hold back the grin from getting this amazing result.
~~~
Time flies. The sun had slipped to the west.
Erend, Billy, and Adrien headed straight to Erend's house, which had now become a kind of basecamp for their operations.
But they didn't forget to stop by Adrien's house first to get a laptop.
As soon as they arrived at Erend's house, they immediately opened the USB drive which contained the data they needed.
Aurdis came down shortly after hearing their arrival. But she was alone and that made the three of them wonder.
"Where's Saeldir?" Adrien asked.
"He came back to our world to check something. Said he would be back before night. So he will come soon," Aurdis said.
Adrien nodded at Aurdis' answer.
"What's that?" Aurdis asked looking at an unfamiliar tool that was on the table.
Billy seems to be doing something on the tool.
"This is called a laptop," answered Billy. "Soon we will know where the experiment was conducted."
Hearing this, Aurdis walked over to Erend's side so she could see it too.
Not long after, a portal opened in front of them. Saeldir comes out of the Portal.
"You've come at the right time," Billy said.
"What happened?" Saeldir asked.
They explained the same thing they had explained to Aurdis earlier. Then Saeldir also came closer to look at the laptop.
~~~