Chapter 1135: It Worked
Simple-mindedness?
Certifiable.
But opportunistic?
One could only hope for that personality development; maybe then he’d have a healthier amount of greed.
Though maybe those were just trade-offs for such a unique attribute.
Because if anything, Jax possessed a level of animalistic instinct that honestly bordered on the absurd, even exceeding the Imperial Crown Prince’s treasure-level reflexes.
The truly irritating part was that those instincts had an alarming tendency to be correct, even when they sounded completely ridiculous.
Back when they were all much younger, there was a time when Jax abruptly decided he needed to stand in one particular spot and absolutely refused to move. Nobody knew why. Jax certainly couldn’t explain it. He simply insisted with the sort of stubborn certainty that made arguing with him feel pointless. Naturally, everyone assumed he was being strange.
Then a sinkhole opened.
And by some miracle, only the people who’d been dragged over by Jax’s rare refusal to budge happened to be standing in the one place that remained safe.
If only that was a one-time thing. But it happened more times than one would think possible.
After that, dismissing his random instinctive whims became considerably more difficult, as doing so could prove detrimental to one’s health.
No matter how absurd they sounded.
And after years of living like that, it wasn’t difficult to imagine how sharp his senses had become compared to someone whose entire life had been spent moving between different four-cornered rooms that varied only in size and design.
Which was perhaps why Killian found himself reacting the way he did now.
Because unlike most people, he rarely moved without thinking things through first. When possible, nearly every decision was weighed, considered, and dissected before he acted.
It was certainly advantageous for a strategist-in-the-making, but far less ideal for someone expected to become a combatant.
Thankfully, he had been self-aware enough to recognize that rigidity and tendency to retreat into his own thoughts early on. As a result, he deliberately carved out a path for himself that wouldn’t end with him getting killed simply because he was too busy anticipating attacks and working through contingency plans from A to Z while standing in the middle of an actual fight.
Of course, he could fight.
Quite well, even.
As children of House Nox, combat proficiency wasn’t optional. It had been one of the most basic requirements for survival.
Even so, losing to a younger loose cannon like Jax, whose fighting style seemed to operate on a complete disregard for logic and convention, had forced him to confront a rather uncomfortable truth about himself.
He was inflexible in ways that mattered in combat.
In a structured spar, that wasn’t necessarily a problem. In some situations, it was even an advantage.
But out in the field, where opponents didn’t politely follow expectations and battles rarely unfolded according to plan, that same rigidity could very well get him killed. After all, there was only so much anticipating attacks and preparing contingencies could accomplish when facing someone who seemed determined to invent entirely new forms of nonsense on the spot.
And yes, that was a ramble.
But it just goes to show how everyone had things they may be good or bad at. Which was why the moment Jax apparently decided this was necessary, Killian simply went along with it.
If that dingus thought this was the correct solution, then there was probably a reason for it. Strange as it was, experience had repeatedly proven that trusting Jax’s instincts generally led to better outcomes than questioning them.
Unfortunately, just when the rigid officer thought he’d already found himself in the most compromising position he never could’ve imagined ending up in, Killian would later discover that the universe apparently viewed that particular incident as nothing more than the warm-up.
__
Now on the flip side, the eldest son of House Nox was right about the weakened state of said person ruled by his impeccable survival instincts.
Jax was dead tired.
And when someone of his level were to say they were that tired, dead was actually quite literal of a word, as others, just like the Elders eventually pointed out, would’ve been dead by then.
At that point, Jax could be certain he was only moving reflexively, but he’d also been scared for a there was simply a moment when he couldn’t quite figure out what to do.
Now that hadn’t been something he had been concerned about growing up since he always had some sort of feeling about what he ought to be doing in most cases.
Even rest and fun activities called out to him in a particular way, which was precisely how he could tell it was the right time to relax, and he would rarely feel any guilt when doing so.
Others likely saw that as an excuse to laze around, but Jax was honest-to-goodness telling the truth.
So imagine that fearful moment when he didn’t have access to his usual intuition, and all he could do was get dragged around, hoping for something, anything, when at that point he couldn’t even get to his terminal, and screaming for D-29 hadn’t worked.
It felt rather suffocating; worse, he didn’t feel like himself.
However, that dreadful bleakness ended when he chanced upon someone and hope blossomed in his heart.
"!!!"
The incessant buzzing of the bees and him being drained of spiritual energy made it difficult for Jax to identify the person, when that was normally as easy for him as breathing.
Unfortunately, reaching Killian, whom he’d only managed to identify after the other man had spoken a few words, proved far more difficult than expected. The official had quite understandably run from him, considering that he probably looked terrifying at the time.
Honestly, Jax couldn’t even blame him for it.
He was fairly certain he would’ve reacted the same way if something that blatantly screamed dangerous had suddenly come after him.
And knowing Killian’s personality, there was absolutely no chance the man would’ve stood around waiting to find out whether the threat was friendly or not.
But the longer it dragged on, the more he felt his consciousness slipping away. Looking back on it now, perhaps the bees had realized he was already at his limit, because at some point he felt a small burst of energy spread through his body.
Under normal circumstances, he might not even have noticed it.
But at the time, he was running on fumes. His reserves were so depleted that even the slightest trace of energy stood out, making its presence impossible to miss.
It was then that he felt the instinctive urge to raise a wall of dirt.
The entire effort had been guided almost entirely by instinct and a desire to slow down Killian, but who could’ve expected his best buddy’s older brother to come charging straight into it?
Oops.
All he wanted was a little bit of help. Only before he could get said help, he had to make sure Killian would stay alive, and so Jax did the only thing that felt sensible.
When in doubt, take a page from Luca’s book.
Surely that would work, right?
"..."
"..."
The fanatics of one particular Nox, had they known about this momentous occasion, would’ve been reduced to tearful screeching on the spot. Some internally. Most very much externally.
Fortunately, Jax had never been the sort to pay attention to naysayers.
Besides, the facts spoke for themselves.
It worked.
Oh, and it most definitely worked in more ways than one.
Because what had started as a desperate attempt to supply air past the bees, who seemed perfectly willing to let him be while crowding around Killian’s, ended up leading to an unexpected discovery just as Jax was nearing his limit.
From those same soft lips and that warm mouth came a refreshing tide of energy that flowed into him.
And for someone whose vision had long since deteriorated into little more than scattered patches of light and shadow, it felt like a lifeline.
And Jax, naturally, leaned toward it.
Quite literally.
At that point, every instinct in his body was screaming at him to move closer to the one thing that seemed capable of keeping him conscious. If he could somehow draw in more of that refreshing energy, then surely that would be better, wouldn’t it?
But would that actually be alright?
For all that people liked to call him a brute, Jax had been raised with manners. His parents had made sure of that. And while he wasn’t always the best at remembering social conventions, he still knew there was a difference between doing what was necessary and taking liberties that hadn’t been permitted.
So he hesitated.
Briefly, but he did.
Yet perhaps his silent plea had somehow been heard, because instead of having to force his way through, it felt as though the gates had simply opened for him.
And all the redhead had to do was step through.
So he did.
