Chapter 519: Air Step.
[Air Step]
[Details: You can temporarily solidify air particles around you for support. +60% movement speed when airborne. Effect duration: 11 seconds. Cooldown: 1 minute between uses.]
"A second’s worth of duration. A five percent increase in speed."
Moon sighed.
This was the fundamental issue with lower-ranked skills. The amount of lives invested was rarely proportional to the gain you received from the evolution. An Uncommon-rank skill at Second Order was still just an Uncommon-rank skill. The numbers improved incrementally, but the scaling never matched what a Rare or Epic evolution could deliver.
Still, the improvement was good. An extra second of airtime in a critical moment could be the difference between landing safely and being intercepted mid-air. And the cooldown remained the same, meaning he didn’t lose any operational availability for the upgrade.
[Lives: 115,593]
He still had a healthy pool remaining. Plenty of resources to draw on if tomorrow demanded emergency evolutions or quick adaptations. And tomorrow certainly would.
Moon closed his status screen and stood up.
The mood for sleep had left him completely. Knowing what tomorrow held, knowing that Third Order figures were almost certainly somewhere in the city plotting his death, lying in bed felt like a waste.
"I’ll farm some kills in the Second Sanctuary. The spiritual energy and lives will be useful."
Moon left his room quietly. Selene and Yara were both still asleep, their doors closed, their breathing tranquil. He locked the front door behind him gently and stepped into the night life.
The streets were empty at this hour. Moon made his way to the nearest Second Order portal facility, the soft glow of its entrance lights visible from blocks away.
Two Evolvers manned the front. Both wore the standard uniform of portal facility staff. They looked up as he approached, recognized him almost instantly, and rose from their chairs in tandem.
"Sorry, sir. We cannot allow you to enter."
Their hands came up in a polite but firm gesture, blocking his path forward.
Moon’s face darkened.
"Why? I was going to pay." He took out a stack of cash that he had prepared already.
This was the first time he had ever been denied access to a portal. The facilities operated on a simple principle. Pay the fee, pass identity check, get the access. The Association didn’t normally interfere with that transaction unless there was a security threat.
The taller of the two men swallowed hard.
"T-That’s not the issue, sir. You are a participant of the great Spirit Art Tournament. We’ve been specifically instructed that participants are not allowed to enter portals at this time. The directive is meant to prevent any possible incidents that could disrupt the tournament before the second stage begins."
Moon’s expression cooled further.
The two Evolvers before him were Second Star at most. He could have blasted both of them through the facility’s reinforced walls with a single strike if he had wanted to. They were nothing in terms of threat.
But they weren’t the real obstacle. They were just staff following orders from above. Pushing them aside wouldn’t accomplish anything except creating noise and drawing attention Moon didn’t want right now.
And after his conversation with Alaric, Moon wasn’t naïve enough to believe the cover story.
The Association didn’t keep tournament participants out of portals to protect tournament integrity. There were a hundred ways to ensure participants stayed available for the second stage without locking down every portal in the city.
This was about keeping the bait in place.
If Moon disappeared into the Sanctuary now, the entire trap they had set for the dark organization would be under the threat of collapse. The spy embedded in the Association would notice the change. The dark organization might in turn, change their attack timing to fit their goals. Long periods of preparation could unravel in a single night.
The Association wanted him exactly where he was.
Moon sighed quietly.
"I see." He looked at the two guards. "What are your names?"
They exchanged a quick, nervous glance.
"My name is Liam." The taller one said. "His name is Dean."
"Well, Liam. Dean." Moon’s voice dropped slightly. "Why don’t you both step aside? Otherwise, I’ll have to move you myself. I can be a little rough when I’m impatient."
The temperature around them seemed to drop.
Moon hadn’t raised his aura. He hadn’t channeled mana. He hadn’t reached for a weapon. But the pressure radiating from his body, the simple presence he carried as a Four-Star Evolver who had killed creatures and people far beyond his level, settled over the entrance like a weight.
Cold sweat broke out across Liam’s forehead. Dean’s hand drifted unconsciously toward his weapon, then froze when he realized that drawing it would accomplish nothing except his own death.
"S-Sir, please." Liam’s voice cracked. "Don’t make this difficult for us. We’re just doing our job."
"I’m not making it difficult." Moon said quietly. "I’m telling you to move because I don’t want to hurt you. If you are afraid of the consequences, you don’t need to worry, because nobody will know."
Of course, that was a lie. Moon knew that he was probably being tracked at this very moment.
"I’ll be back a few hours before the tournament begins. I have no intention of forfeiting tomorrow. I’m still planning on winning the whole thing. I just need to handle something in the Second Sanctuary, and I need to do it quickly. Nothing surprising will come up from it."
The two guards exchanged another glance.
They had been ordered to stop participants from entering. They had not been given the ability to physically restrain someone of Moon’s level. If they tried to fight him, they would die. If they let him through and the Association found out, they might lose their jobs at minimum. Possibly face consequences far worse.
But Moon was offering them the cleanest possible exit. He wasn’t going to be gone long. He would return before anyone important noticed. If they let him through and stayed quiet, the chances of consequences were low. If they didn’t let him through, the chances of immediate, lethal consequences were certain.
With gritted teeth and clenched fists, Liam stepped aside. Dean followed a second later.
"Don’t make us regret this." Liam muttered.
Moon nodded once.
"You won’t."
He walked past them and approached the portal at the center of the facility. Moon adjusted the strap on his jacket, his hand brushing briefly against the pendant Alaric had given him, hidden beneath the fabric.
Then he stepped through.
