First Encounter
1321 Words
As soon as they get out of the car, Eric leads Mia into the Black Tower.
The two of them go through a strict security check before entering the elevator.
The doors slowly close.
Eric reaches out and presses -3.
With a faint mechanical vibration, the elevator begins descending deep underground.
Mia watches the floor numbers change, her brows knitting slightly.
She has been to the Black Tower before, but only to the areas above ground. She has never been to the underground levels.
Eric notices her expression and explains,
“The third underground floor is the Black Tower’s research center. It mainly conducts research on Contaminants. Some rare Contaminants are also contained here.”
He pauses before continuing.
“After Leon’s mental world collapses, a massive amount of mental power begins leaking out, creating an intense mental storm around him. The research center is the only place in the entire Black Tower with a strong enough mental barrier to prevent his mental power from spreading further.”
“That’s why the military arranges for Leon to receive treatment here.”
Mia nods, indicating that she understands.
Soon, the elevator gives a soft ding.
The doors slowly open.
A cold, narrow corridor appears before them.
Pale fluorescent lights illuminate the gray-white walls. The corridor is unnaturally quiet, with only the sound of their footsteps echoing through the passage.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Eric leads Mia forward.
After turning several corners, they finally stop in front of a heavy metal door.
The entire door is made of titanium alloy, so thick that there are barely any visible seams. Even a rocket launcher would probably have difficulty penetrating it.
Eric stops.
“We’re here.”
He looks at the metal door, his voice turning serious.
“Leon is inside. Be extremely careful when you go in. His mental storm is very powerful.”
“I’ll wait outside.”
With that, Eric walks to the screen beside the door and enters a string of numbers.
A low mechanical sound follows.
The heavy metal door slowly opens.
A violent surge of mental power immediately bursts through the opening.
Mia’s expression turns serious.
She tightens her grip on the medical case, takes a deep breath, and steps inside.
The next second—
A raging mental storm slams into her.
It feels as though countless sharp blades are scraping across her skin, sending waves of pain through her body. The violent wind whips at her white coat, making it difficult for her to even open her eyes.
Mia immediately raises a mental barrier.
A transparent shield of mental energy spreads around her body, blocking the raging storm outside.
Only then does she finally have a chance to examine the room.
A faint white light glows from the ceiling, illuminating the gray walls with a pale, almost colorless glow.
The room is roughly thirty square meters.
A hospital bed stands in the center.
And Leon is lying on it.
His arms and legs are firmly secured with restraints.
Mia takes a few cautious steps forward.
One step.
Then another.
The closer she gets to Leon, the more violent the mental storm becomes.
When she is only one meter away from the bed, her mental barrier is already trembling violently.
Fine cracks have even begun to appear across its surface.
Mia stops.
She raises her head and looks at Leon.
His eyes are bloodshot, filled with violence and madness.
He does not recognize the person standing before him.
In his mind, every living thing in front of him has only one purpose—
Destroy it.
Leon suddenly struggles against the restraints, trying to rise from the bed and tear the person in front of him apart.
But the restraints hold his limbs firmly in place.
After several desperate attempts, he can only fall helplessly back onto the bed.
His heavy breathing mingles with the raging mental storm.
Mia does not move any closer.
On one hand, she does not want to provoke Leon further. On the other, she knows that if she takes even one more step, her mental barrier will likely collapse completely.
As expected…
There really is a huge gap between A-rank and S-rank.
But she has already promised Eric that she will try.
She isn't going to give up so easily.
Mia lowers her eyes and looks at Leon.
If she wants to continue the treatment, she first has to make Leon control the mental power constantly leaking from him.
Otherwise, she won't be able to proceed with the next stage of treatment.
But how can someone who has completely lost control of his mental world possibly control his own mental power?
Unless…
She first awakens his sense of self.
Mia opens the medical case and takes out a disc and a slender rod.
Both the disc and the rod are made from the same meteorite.
The surface of the disc is covered with special mental circuits designed to calm the mind and stabilize mental energy.
Mia does not rush toward Leon.
Instead, she finds a spot nearby and casually sits down on the floor.
Then she picks up the rod and gently strikes the disc.
Ding.
Once.
Then again.
The rhythm remains steady.
The sound is completely inaudible to human ears.
At first, the mental storm in the room remains violently turbulent.
But as the rhythmic tapping continues, the raging mental energy gradually begins to calm.
The storm slowly weakens, and its range begins to shrink.
Eventually, all of the mental storm contracts around the hospital bed.
It continues to swirl and churn, eventually forming a massive mental cocoon that tightly envelops Leon.
Mia continues tapping.
Ten minutes pass.
The mental storm still hasn't disappeared.
It merely stabilizes in its current state, no longer shrinking.
Mia finally stops.
She puts away the disc and rod and rises from the floor.
It is time to try another method.
Mia brings the index and middle fingers of her right hand together and slowly raises them toward the center of her forehead.
The next moment, a flash of white light appears.
Her spirit animal emerges.
A snowy owl.
Its white feathers stand out vividly in the dim room.
It is only about the size of her palm.
After appearing, the snowy owl flies around Mia twice before stopping in front of her. It blinks its large, round eyes, as though asking what she wants.
Mia looks at it, a faint smile appearing on her lips.
“Eira, sing a song.”
She speaks softly.
“I haven't heard you sing in a long time.”
Eira flutters its wings.
Then it begins to circle gracefully around the room.
A clear, ethereal melody fills the air.
The song echoes through the gray room, carrying a strange, soothing power that makes one's mind instinctively grow calm.
Leon lies on the hospital bed.
Inside his world, there is originally nothing but countless dark, twisted sounds.
They constantly intertwine and distort, like countless hands tearing at his consciousness.
Until—
A rhythmic sound reaches him.
Once.
Then again.
His consciousness is instinctively drawn toward it.
He wants to know what the sound is.
He wants to know where it is coming from.
But just as he tries to grasp it, the tapping suddenly stops.
A strange sense of disappointment surfaces from the depths of his consciousness.
Then, an ethereal melody drifts toward him.
Leon has never heard a sound like this before.
It is like a stream of cool spring water slowly flowing through his chaotic mind, washing away the darkness and filth little by little.
The mental storm surrounding the hospital bed begins to weaken.
The violent mental energy gradually settles.
And finally—
It disappears completely.
The room falls silent again.
With the mental storm no longer blocking their view, Mia finally sees the man lying on the hospital bed clearly.
Leon slowly raises his head.
Their eyes meet.
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