Second Genesis

Grey closed his eyes, trying not to focus on the fact the rumbling was coming to a slow stop. He concentrated, and the focus he was looking for came quickly. Maybe it was due to all the mental clarity-related Mind Resistances he had, but he managed to find the flow he was looking for.

He recalled every feeling, every shift, every change he experienced while wearing the cloak.

Then it vanished into his inventory with a flash of his eyes opening.

Rotating lines of magnetic fields appeared around Grey. The process was a lot slower than normal as though he was trying to do something Helion Resonance wasn’t actually meant to.

He had created the Ability to help him interact more with solar wind. But now, he was trying to do the opposite and force them to stop interacting with his actual body entirely.

He was trying to become invisible.

The problem with this was that photons and solar wind were not the same thing, something Grey hadn’t known but became quickly aware of the moment he started.

He could use Helion Resonance to block out Solar Wind, but when he looked down at his hand, rather than seeing darkness, he just saw his hand as normal.

This sort of ability, had he used it properly, should have worked on himself as well. But it didn’t work. Instead, he was standing here looking like an idiot.

’Fuck.’ Grey cursed.

Of course it wouldn’t be so convenient.

There was another problem with his attempt anyway. Even if it worked to make him invisible, a powerful enough warrior would definitely sense the fluctuations of Neural Frame and realize he was there. At that point, it would defeat the purpose.

Grey had thought of that problem already, but he had just wanted to get close enough that it wouldn’t matter.

’Dammit, dammit, dammit. This is what you get for trying to Einstein, you didn’t pay nearly enough attention in school for this shit.’

Grey rubbed his forehead, thankful no one was here to see his nonsense. He would never live it down.

’Fuck. What do I do?’

Grey looked up. The hidden doors were still slowly jacking up, but in about another half minute, they would be fully open. And after that, it would probably not be long before they were just gone.

’Maybe...?’ Grey frowned. ’... From this far out? Could I even do that? Maybe if I could get closer...’

Grey’s thoughts spun in his skull as though going through a rinse cycle. He didn’t have many options left.

’Fuck it, we ball.’

Grey pulled his Skrill Mask and the Faded Cloak on and dashed out, running as fast as he could.

And that was pretty damn fast at this point.

There was only half a kilometer between where he was and the gates, but the underground hangar doors were about 50 meters from the walls.

By the time the doors finally stopped jacking themselves up, the curtain of dirt still falling, Grey had already long made it to a three-quarters point, his senses reaching out slowly.

’Come on, come on, stay distracted, stay distracted, stay distracted.’

Grey wasn’t moving at all. He had just wanted to get close enough, just close enough to...

Chi.

One of the carriages moved. The one with Blood in it.

All of the attention of the Holy Knights and guards immediately shifted toward it.

"Check it." One of them said.

Their weapons were drawn as Grey closed in.

As he was operating the Skrill Mask and the Faded Cloak together, he began to notice a sort of synergy between them.

The Skrill Mask also distorted sight and bent light though it wasn’t explicitly mentioned in its description like the Faded Cloak. That was why when a Proving Class warrior was fighting with Grey, they saw in triples or more, making it hard for them to aim.

Grey was only wearing the mask so in the event he had to escape, he would still have a bit of plausible deniability. What he didn’t expect was for the combination to give him far more insight.

Insight that made him bolder.

One of the Holy Knights looked up with a frown, his eyes narrowing. He was about to look back when Grey felt his oddity. He reached for Blood’s bindings again and shook them.

The behemoth of a man had probably been sedated with something or another, so even if Grey unbound him, it might not be effective.

But that didn’t matter. They just had to think it was happening.

The shake snapped the Holy Knight right back to attention and Grey slipped right by, not into the hangar, but instead into the second carriage.

The scent of B.O. and vomit hit him immediately, but he didn’t hesitate to flop down, removing the cloak and keeping his mask on as he faced down.

He looked to the side to find a pair of groaning eyes looking at him. How could eyes groan? Grey had not a single clue, but the man looked far too tired to even make a sound at this point, so his eyes could only convey his meaning for him.

Grey grinned. "Sorry about that," he whispered. "Don’t worry, help is here."

Confusion colored the man’s face and Grey cursed inwardly.

He would really be in trouble if these people weren’t aware they were about to be lambs to a slaughter. They might try to expose him.

’Fuck it. Hopefully they’re all too tired to say anything.’

Grey settled in and then stopped moving.

’Fuck me, when am I going to get strong enough that I don’t have to breathe.’

He didn’t want to smell what was going on around here, but he didn’t want to breathe through his mouth either. It practically felt like he was tasting everything.

Grey silently gagged.

As he was lost in his thoughts, the carriage began to move and he grinned.

’Perfect. Let’s see what these sons of bitches want with all these injured people.’

As Grey was settling in with his fellow injured comrades, the corpses of the two guards he had killed were finally found.