"Sleep."
*Thud*
*Thud*
*Thud*
*Boom*
As if his body had suddenly become a skipping stone, Zack's body was lifelessly flung threw the training room. His unconscious body bounced off the floor several times before he finally crashed into the wall on the other side of the room, yet the explosion from it was enough to make Lloyd let out a small breath of relief.
He didn't want to have to use any more strength than he had just done. While he had expected to use at most 20% of his power, he was forced into using 25%.
While this number might not seem like much of a difference to a normal person, it was enough of a jump in power to make the likes of Benjamin suspicious.
Of course, Lloyd could try blaming the increase in power on his ability, but that is a short-term solution, not a long-term one.
"Good work. Didn't know you had such moves." Benjamin commented.
"Moves? I simply used my abilities with the correct timing." Lloyd replied with a small smile.
"Haha. As humble as always, I see. Good to see that didn't change in you." Benjamin laughed, and while Lloyd laughed right after him, it was more awkward since he didn't know why they were laughing.
He couldn't have changed that much, right? His eyes were purple, but that was about it, right?
Yes, he also realized that his personality changes a little when he puts the mask on and takes upon the name of Null, but that would happen with everyone, right? No one like to be observed. No one likes to be watched, so their personality and demeanor change when they are anonymous...
Right?
Shaking his head off those thoughts, Lloyd took in a deep breath before looking away from Benjamin's enormous frame to look at the unconscious Zack laying behind him.
"You think he's going to be okay? I hit him with everything I got... That can't be good, right?" Lloyd asked, yet all he received was a hearty belly laugh before a large hand-held rested on his shoulder.
"We are the Glades..." He whispered, his voice now more serious than before despite the expression on his face remaining the same, yet, Lloyd could not help but have a sinister feeling crawl up his back.
"Do you think that we would fall to such a punch?" He asked, and as if on queue, a loud explosion entered their ears, causing Lloyd to look over before widening his eyes in surprise.
Zack stood in the middle of the rubble with bloodshot eyes and bulging muscles. It looked like he had been taken over by a wild animal, yet Lloyd knew better than to underestimate Zack's power at that moment.
"That is our berzerker form. When our bodies refuse to stand, it takes over and makes us into wild beasts. It took me decades to get a semblance of control and rationality in that form, yet the boy before you has no such practice." Benjamin chuckled before taking several steps back.
"Don't worry! I won't let you die, haha-" Benjamin tried to laugh, yet his eyes widened in an instant before creasing into a deep frown.
Lloyd simply stood there with a nervous expression, yet after feeling the bloodlust emanating from Zack and the power exploding off his muscles, he finally made a decision, something not many would have been capable of making under the pressure of such a powerful bloodlust.
'His father is going to protect him anyway, right? So it's okay if I just try...' Lloyd paused, his eyes losing a glint they had before, while his nervous demeanor vanished into thin air like it had never existed in the first place.
'To kill him, right?'
The silence in the training room was deafening.
The tension could have been cut with a knife.
Everything was silent, yet it was not.
The low panting was almost inaudible.
The sound of Zack's blood boiling raged, yet Lloyd and Benjamin heard none of it.
'Right?' Lloyd thought as his eyes suddenly radiated violet light that came out in the form of ethereal smoke.
Without thinking twice, Lloyd summoned his katana, which began to glow with the runes that Grisha had embedded into it. Killing intent seemed to seep out of his skin, slowly flooding the training hall.
The ground around his feet began to crack, and just when he was about to shoot forward with the speed of a bullet, a subtle click drowned the room and entered his ears with a loud bang.
"Dinner is ready!" Olivia, Lloyd's mother, shouted as she opened the door.
The tension in the room seemed to almost melt like ice cream in 100-degree weather, and within that instant of distraction, it also seemed like Zack had snapped out of his berserk state.
"We'll be right there..." Lloyd answered while returning his blade to his watch to be stored safely before walking towards the exit. On the other hand, the other two didn't move from their spots, as one of them was gasping for air while the other was shocked beyond words.
"Big bro! How was training?" Asked Alice with a goofy smile on her face.
"It was good Alice, thanks for asking." Lloyd replied with an equally large smile that seemed to come from the bottom of his heart.
"Let's dig in, shall we?" Layla smiled and served everyone, yet behind her smile, her heart was pounding like never before.
"Honey, is something wrong?" She asked with a frown, yet instead of answering the question, Benjamin simply stared at Lloyd for a bit longer before shaking his head.
Layla looked at her son; however, he also seemed fine despite being particularly exhausted.
"So who won?" Elana teasingly asked, yet after feeling the gloomy atmosphere coming off both Benjamin and Zack, her eyes widened, and she was finally forced to look over to her brother, who was casually eating. freew ebnovel.com
"Holy sh*t! Lil bro, did you actually win?" She exclaimed, yet before anyone could answer-
"Lloyd? Win! Hahahahaha!" Delly cut in before letting out a hearty laugh that seemed to come out of the pits of her stomach.
'Is she a demon?' Almost everyone thought simultaneously after hearing her laugh, yet they quickly shook the thought out of their minds before turning their attention toward Lloyd.
Feeling the eyes of everyone on the table lingering on him, Lloyd could not help but fluster-
"Why is everyone looking at me?" He asked, his cheeks being dyed slightly pink.
"Who won!" Elana shouted.
"Uh... What do you mean who won? It was a spar."
"I know it was a spar, but who did better?" Elana asked, her hand balling into a fist as she got herself ready to punch her brother in the head out of annoyance.
"Well, I guess it was a draw then?" Lloyd replied, yet before his sister's fist could flatten him, Benjamin parted his lips and muttered-
"Lloyd won, fair and square..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Ben, are you sure? Like, I know we are friends and all, but you don't have to-"
"I'm not lying, right Zack?" Ben cut off Lloyd's father before looking over to Zack.
pAnD a(-)n0ve1.com "Yes... I lost pretty badly." Zack laughed awkwardly before ruffling his own hair.
"Hey, Lloyd. Are you sure you're only a 2-star talent? I know talents can change and all, but that only happens to people who are 1 in a million. Plus, it only occurs when someone ascends to the next commandment." Ana asked. freewebnovel(.)com
She was skeptical, yet when she saw her brother's innocent and clueless food-stuffed face, she could not help but let out a sigh and drop the subject.
"I don't understand why everyone is surprised. I always beat him when we sparred in the past, what's so different about it now?"
Hearing Lloyd's words, they all wanted to say something but chose against it.
How were they supposed to tell Lloyd that Zack was simply born genetically superior to Lloyd? That is a conversation that would ruin a child's dreams and hopes; how could they do that to him over a simple dinner table.
Of course, Lloyd was more than aware of what they were getting at, but they didn't know that.
Dinner after that was eaten in complete silence. While the rest of them felt awkward, Lloyd was never one to start a conversation, while Zack's body hurt too much for him to care about a bit of awkwardness.
After dinner, everyone went to do their own thing. The girls watched reality tv shows, while Benjamin and Noah simply went outside to do whatever grown men did at that time of day.
Lloyd's little brother simply used his smartwatch to look at some children's videos, while Layal and Olivia went out back to have a glass of wine in peace.
That left Lloyd and Zack, however-.
"Zack? Are you awake, man?" Lloyd asked and glanced over to the bed across the room, yet after hearing Zack's rhythmic breathing and calm heartbeat and sensing his close-to-nonexistent presence, he could not help but let out a defeated sigh.
Getting up from his bed, Lloyd muttered under his breath-
"Show me nearby dungeons."
[Nearby Dungeons]
A holographic map appeared in front of him, one that only the user of the watch could see, or at least that's what he believed after doing countless tests.
'I can go to an unauthorized dungeon. Dungeon finding is a pretty good job. Depending on the grade of the dungeon, I can be paid between $5k and $50 Million... God knows how much a 4th commandment dungeon would give me.' Lloyd inwardly laughed, yet his face turned grim after thinking of the implications of such a dungeon.
'However, I don't think it would be good for anyone if I found such a dungeon. The entire planet would have to be evacuated, and the army's best would have to come over. It would be a disaster.' He thought as a shiver went down his spine.
In the end, Lloyd chose on an authorized temporary dungeon and tried to go to sleep, yet after an hour of failing to do so, he finally got up and made a decision.
'I have to be back by sun rise... If I'm not, then I'm as good as dead!'
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