Feeling the weight pressing down on the side of his leg, Noctis could not move a muscle. His heart was still pounding wildly, a wave of adrenaline he had expirienced few times before washing over him.
"I-I survived?" Bewildered by his own thoughts, Noctis's eyes started wandering through the large facility and the destruction they had left behind. His back was spread on the cracked floor, a bit uncomfortable if he had to describe it, but at this moment, he couldn't care less.
That had been crazy. He had a part in a few minor fights at this point, but this… This was incomparable.
As crunchy footsteps resounded throughout the hall, rough, labored breaths escaped Nocit's mouth, a light expression of fear and shock, and… joy tugging at his lips.
He had never gotten this close to death. Well, maybe one time. The image of a man in a dark robe and an eerie smile briefly flashed through his mind, overlapping with that of a yellow-robed youth who now stood above him.
His reddened hand stretched out towards Noctis, a strained smile on his face and the scar spanning his forehead still emitting steam.
A bit surprised by his sudden appearance, Noctis had expected him to be out of service for at least the entire day. Noting the eyerings and shaky appearance of the second disciple, which pointed towards Notium exhaustion. He took the hand without a word.
Pulled out of the wreckage of the giant creature's carcass, his eyes couldn't help but wander along its disfigured, melted-together heads.
They had looked so incredibly humane before. This wasn't too uncommon, especially with creatures of the change authority, which they assumed it to be off. But it still left him shaken. It was the first time he had to meet a creature of that kind.
The one of a woman, that of a middle-aged man, that of an elderly man, and the one most disfigured and torn apart. The one of a child. Its short orange hair were now tinged with blood, its brain matter devoured by its breveren.
He had seen grotesque and disturbing scenes over his life, especially since starting his service in the government. In all honesty, it had started even before, during his short stay at the academy, and his life on the outskirts. But this, without a doubt, reached its pinnacle.
Noctis had never killed or planned on killing a person. He might have felt the anger to do so in the heat of the moment, but he had never come this close to such an action.
This just left a weird, uncomfortable aftertaste.
"That… cough cough… was truly a great tribulation of the heavens."
Not entirely in the mood to ruminate over the second disciple's indecipherable choice of wording, Noctis nodded along half-heartedly.
Caught up in his own thoughts, his eyes lingering on the orange kid's disfigured head.
"Ohhh, junior disciple… your leg doesn't look that good.
I'd recommend visiting the local alchemists."
Taken out of his thoughts for the first time, his mind deciphered a few of the words. His first thoughts were caught on the word "alchemists". There was only one man going by the title, the Alchemist, a person Noctis had a deep impression of, but before he had the chance to dive deeper into that strain of thought.
"Argh"
A groan escaped his lips as a terrible, indescribable pain shot up his leg.
Clutching it subconsciously, his bloody mess of a leg finally came into sight, as he fell to a knee the next moment.
It had been half-crushed under the pressure of the colossal body of the beast. The dark greyish cloth, which his pants were made of, was soaked in blood.
"How did I not notice?!" Noctis asked subconsciously, his teeth clenching tightly, as he tried to endure the pain. Pain had always felt a bit numbed or distant after he had received his Authority, but it didn't mean he felt nothing.
"Adrenalin is a hell of a thing." A voice came from afar, tinged with an overplayed empathy.
"Yes, yes, the warrior's spirit does often allow people to break through their limits." The second disciple added on with respect and enthusiasm. He seemed to be ignoring a truckload of pain of his own.
Just as he was processing their words, the word "Adrenalin" in particular, Noctis started feeling pain slowly flare up over his entire body, bit by bit.
Looking over from his crouching position, his eyes before lingered on the completely empty vat, where gallons of Notium should have been stored. Recks saw Noctis's expression slowly contort in agony, a resigned sigh escaping his lips the next moment.
"Sigh. You two go to the medical base and get treated. I'll take care of the rest here.
Dont feel sorry for leaving me all of the paperwork. I believe in you."
Seemingly thinking over his words for a moment. He let a moment's time pass, letting his words sink in. Finally, Recks added on, his gaze lingering on Noctis.
"That was a truly well-aimed shot at the end there." He nodded towards Noctis with approval, who, on the other hand, could not care less at the moment, his mind preoccupied with the pain.
Who cares about your praise? I want pain suppressants!! And a fat raise!! Of course, he did not say it out loud, simply nodding in acceptance, which Recks acknowledged as they walked off.
Who could be so clueless about what had priority at the moment?
Do that shit later!
___________
Walking arm in arm, each a support for the other, just exiting the factory. Noctis was humping along as the second disciple strode shakily. His left his leg dragging behind him.
"Seconde dec…" Noctis stopped speaking. The person helping him walk turned his head slightly.
Not getting a response for a while, the second disciple spoke out, his tone still lacking some of the energy it usualy held.
"What is it, my fellow disciple?"
Noctis shook his head lightly, a laugh escaping his lips.
"Can't I call you something else. After a fight, people grow closer, right? So can't I call you something more familiar?
Like discount Zeus, little thunder or Thor almighty?"
Hearing the suggestions, the second disciple's expression grew a bit conflicted. When he spoke, his voice had taken on a more refined tone, as if in an attempt to mimic another.
"Names have great power. One should never reveal them lightly, nor should one exchange them for another thoughtlessly."
Confused by all of the rubbish. Names were names, for God's sake.
"Aren't you exchanging your name for "second disciple" at this very moment? What would be the difference between that and something more intimate?"
At a loss for words for a few moments, he spoke a bit hesitantly as Noctis sluggishly pointed the way.
"T-That's different," He stuttered, clearly unsure of his own words.
"Then, what are the rules, the parameters, the extent to which they can be stretched. Without it, I have little to work with."
Watching the second disciple grow teary-eyed, trying to keep it all together, and struggling for an explanation. Noctis quickly regretted even bringing it up. It somehow felt bad to upset the guy, especially when he was in such a state, to save me.
Wellpe it was too late to backtrack.
"L-let's just go with little lightning. Your elders would definitely approve! Either way, I'll go with that."
"You think?" Little Lightning asked in a whiny yet hopeful tone.
The strong, a bit crazed image of the guy Noctis had constructed in his mind before slowly started to crumble, with every word.
He had never seen him as a perfectly sane person, but before, he simply assumed it was the place he had come from, but that seemed wrong.
This guy was just a child!
It can't be that there exists a city of people like that, right? It would be interessting to watch, in all honesty.
Sighing internally, keeping the exasperation from his face, Noctis asked something simply to distract the youth from the topic.
"Little lightning… Those yellow robes you wear, are they the common fashion in Oracle?"
Shortly, looking down at his attire, little lightning seemed to flare up with enthusiasm, unlike the fanaticism seen before. It was more like… Passion?
"This is not a common robe. It's a kimono. And not exactly. Our highest seer foretold that this would become commonplace in a couple of hundred years, spreading from the promised land. So he spread this fashion trend, among other things, in advance to better adapt to the future.
"From the promised land?" Noctis mumbled in confusion, ruminating on the wording for a moment.
Suddenly, a spark of inspiration hit, and he spoke once more, a bit louder this time.
"You mean the Central Realm?"
"I believe that's the terminology of most settlements for it. Yes."
Was that guy in dark robes, no, a kimono from Oracle, or maybe the Central Realm? Letting his curiosity take hold of him, Noctis continued.
"Can I ask another question?"
Hesitating a bit more since the topic was taboo for most Authority Wielders, Noctis asked with little expectation.
"Those rods you threw in the battle before…"
"Want to see one?" With an innocence-tinged voice, he pulled something out of his pocket. Noctis, in return, went on edge, his eyes tracing every movement.
Seemingly noticing nothing of this, little lightning continued rumbling through a hidden pocket of his until he finally pulled out a singular thin rod.
Tilting his head slightly at Noctis ' observant gaze, he then pointed the dull part of the rod at him.
Confused for a moment, Noctis mirrored little lightning's head movement, as it angled slightly to the left.
"Wanna take a look?" He asked a moment later, freeing Noctis from his trance-like state.
"Sure," He muttered half-consciously, completely bewildered by the transparency of the guy. He seemed almost as naive as Ouroboros, who was the equivalent of a newborn.
Thinking about it, what kind of state was he in at the moment?
Considering the violent clash before, he couldn't have been unaffected. He would fall silent whenever a fight broke out. This didn't seem to come from some malicious intent, as far as Noctis could judge. The waves created in his soul would simply throw him up and down, making any attempt at communication or anything, really, futile.
Not wasting another thought on the pest… crap… shouldn't have thought that, hell, definitely read about it later.
Distracting himself from the lack of privacy he was experiencing lately, Noctis looked at the metal rod in his hand. Its shape and weight were quite unremarkable. By all means, it seemed like a simple, sharpened piece of metal. Letting his fingers slowly trace over its rough exterior, however…
"Have… you already understood it?" Noticing the shift in Noctis's expression, Little Lightning asked.
Staying silent for a few moments as the two entered a train-like contraption that circled the middle of the city. This was the fastest way to get around in the mostly underground-oriented city. One just had to pair it with a few elevators, and one could get anywhere.
"Is this a ritual?" Noctis asked, a bit uncertain about the topic.
"They can be used like this?" He quickly added on, with a bit of bewildered astonishment.
He had seen rituals as more of a stationary thing, meant to prepare a location.
Satisfied with the reaction, little lightning nodded repeatedly.
"The sect master made them for me."
Not planning on going in-depth into the delusions of the kid, Noctis decided to tactfully probe a bit more. The relaxed atmosphere was just right for that, and little lightning seemed very loose with his bargaining chips. It felt a bit wrong, even like taking candy from a toddler.
Well, as long as I don't use it against him…
"So, was the ritual intended to pull out all of the power from your body or to ask for a higher being's assistance?"
These were the two most fundamental rules of rituals. Once one decided on the power source, one slowly narrowed down the intended effect from there.
Using your own authority as a basis or that of a higher being, each had its merits and demerits. Neither could be called better or worse as far as Noctis was aware.
Then again, he wasn't too knowledgeable about the field of rituals, so he couldn't speak too confidently on this.
He had just barely learned to read the language. It wasn't that he was slow or anything. It just felt far more difficult to see a pattern in all of the random symbols and make sense of them than anything else he had ever learned. A very alien experience overall.
"It has the name of a god engraved on it." Little Lightning said lightly.
It was a pretty clear answer. It meant he used the latter method.
Well, what could one expect? There might have been vast strength differences within the ranks, but the firepower of Assimilators was capped, and he had clearly gone over it. So it only made sense.
Noctis had asked the question more so to probe the guy's honesty, wanting to know if it was all rubbish.
Relaxing his mind a bit, Noctis fell silent the rest of the way, with a relatively comfortable atmosphere accompanying them. Little lightning was holding him up, his leg still pulsating with severe pain. Wasn't it said that friendships are forged in fire? That saying seemed to hold truth.
Following the announcement of technical-static voice, the two quickly left the train, a far larger building falling into view the next instant.
It dwarfed the factory that they had just been in before, built like a giant block, hundreds of people going in and out at every moment, civilians and staff mixing into a mush under their gazes.