Vol. 3 Chap. 111 Hey, Sis

Vol. 3 Chap. 111 Hey, Sis

The season very sickly everywhere of strange and fatal fevers.

Truth had no idea where the words came from, or why he thought of them as the explosion drove him towards Sophia. She looked like she was ducking in slow motion, a sleepy bird in front of Truths terrifying reflexes. He tackled her, pinning her to the ground as the blast roared over them.

He was so used to fighting, it was a little surreal watching the people in the lab fail to react to a woman exploding. There were bodies on the floor. Some dead, some near death. Didnt seem to be an intact talisman in the room either. He could feel Sophia starting to squirm. She had the good sense to be wearing discreet armor plate under her clothes, though given the circumstances, that wasnt a good look. Was she working her arm around to pull a weapon on him?

It almost brought a tear to his eye. He had really raised her right. He hopped up. Sophia was still Level One. That was normal, actually, but still not good. His cheek twitched. Actually, it was very good. She would have a harder time surviving the collapse of civilization, but she would survive the collapse of magic far better than the level threes and fours in the room.

Looking down at his sister, he could only silently salute the Medici ability to make literally anything a problem, and beat simple solutions to death with a shovel. Probably a stolen shovel, because blood will tell. He hesitated a bit on that last thought. He was being unfair. Sophia wasnt like her brothers. She would engineer some kind of shovel-beast to do the beating for her.

He offered her a hand up.Alright there?

Yes, thank you. Where did you come from? She sounded shaky, which was fair enough.

Other side of the room. Prof. C wanted to recruit me as a test subject, though I think that plan is now off.

Sophia looked around the room, then gasped in horror. Oh no, Professor! She rushed over, patting him down. Truth kept a sharp eye on her. Had she hidden something in her palm before touching the professor?

Off. Off! Call a doctor if you are so concerned. I have my potions, stupid girl! Damn! Who sabotaged me?!

Cuinoirds voice was thready, coming from behind the ruins of the lab bench. The walls were painted with the woman who had been on the table, as well as several of the people who had been around it. He didnt know how many were still alive, other than Sophia, Cuinoird and himself. Not a high number. Time to be elsewhere.

Yes, Professor, at once!Read latest chapters at novelhall.com Only

She rushed out of the lab, Truth trailing along behind her. She went straight to the security call box, and reported the explosion. She then, to Truths mild surprise, did not return to the lab, but rushed back to her dorm, collapsed into bed and curled into a ball. She shook. It looked like she was choking down sobs.

Truth looked around the room. Two sets of bunk beds- a four person dorm. About middle of the pack as dorm rooms went, from what he had vaguely picked up over the years. Not a million miles from barrack rooms, if a million times messier.

She hadnt seen him at all. Since the moment she rushed over to the Professor, Truth had simply ceased to exist for her. He wasnt deliberately hiding. Its just that, these days, he had to make a conscious effort to let Level Ones see him. He could caress her, pat her head, hug her like he used to when they were children, and she would have no conscious awareness of it. The rules of the world would forbid it.

Sophia, his blood, the sister he loved and the sibling he was most proud of, was too far below him. Cultivation was a big piece of that, but so was everything. The accumulated weight of his blessings, his spells, his understanding of the world. He was seeing layers to things that she likely didnt have language for. Not because she was stupid. She was certainly a lot smarter than he was. Just because she didn't have all the information. Hadnt experienced the same things he had.

He remembered Merkovah explaining the problems with obtaining wisdom by revelation. He had a very true, very accurate understanding of what was going on, but it was all filtered through his perspective and his life experiences. It would therefore be, for anyone he explained it to, some degree of wrong.

You couldnt tell someone the truth. They had to see it for themselves. What a world.

So what, exactly, did he want? What, exactly, did he want to do here? All the arguments for not revealing himself to Vig applied triple to Sophia. Not only would it put both of them in unreasonable danger with no benefits, she was still enmeshed in Jeon society. She was still part of that system. A goddamn university lab assistant.

Ohshit!ThatlabImsupposedtobreakinto!

Truth jolted out of his maudlin musings. Hopefully he wasnt too late! Truth lept away from Sophias bed and sprinted back across campus to Dr. Ss lab.

To his immense amusement, it looked like others had the same idea. A pair of aggressively ordinary looking twenty-somethings were disarming locks, defeating surveillance, and generally scraping anything of value into a cardboard box marked for storage. Truth stood back and supervised.

Oh great! I have a girlfriend. I think you will like her. I sure hope so, anyway.

This seemed to throw her for a moment.

Are you after some kind of polygamous arrangement?

With you? Gross. And no, my girlfriend would absolutely, one hundred percent, not be okay with that. And I respect that. Truth shook his head with the serious look of an older brother winding up a younger sibling.

You turn up at my apartment and call me gross. Fantastic. Go away.

You arent gross. Wait, are you gross? Doesn't your boyfriend mind? Truth asked.

Sophia was getting visibly more irritated, but then, to Truths amazement, she took a deep breath and calmed herself down.

Who are you, exactly?

Truth gave a crooked little grin. That is a matter of some dispute, philosophically and legally. And a very long story. May I come in?

No. Why have you come to see me? Her eyes narrowed.

Because Im not really hanging in there well. Im starting to come apart. Actually, I have been coming apart for a while now. And I could really use some company.

Shook up after the explosion? Sophia asked, her eyes getting a little softer.

Something like that.

She hesitated, then nodded. You can come in, but you sit in the chair. Im taking the sofa. Just keep your distance and well be fine. She waved the asp wand. Truth nodded, thankfully.

They sat. Sophia looked around, clearly not knowing how this was supposed to go. Do you want a glass of water or something?

No thank you. Truth fidgeted. How do you tell someone you came back from the dead? So. You wanted to know my name?

Yes, thats probably a good place to start.

Well, theres a lot of people that call me Johnny Wells, or Tommy Bells. In any case, Im a certified Talisman Maintenance Technician.

She snorted a little at that.

And the Talisman maintenance bit is true. But the name isnt. He took a deep breath. And this is where I start running into legal trouble. She waved her hand, encouraging him along. He grasped around for some way to prove his identity.

One day, that pedophile pimp Thierrie lured you towards an alley with a cigarette. Your oldest brother turned up seconds later with an empty beer bottle and chased him off. A couple of days after that, Theirrie vanished, and a couple days after that, your oldest brother broke through to Level One, and less than a month later passed his SATs and emancipated you all and took you to live in the Tier-C apartment of his dreams.

Truth was rambling, speaking quickly. And his name was Truth Medici, and he died on an op for Starbrite. But he didnt stay dead. He did a shitton of body cultivation, and changed his face and physique. And now hes come home. Truth was almost gasping by the end. Hello Sophia. Im back. And you have a lot of questions for me.