Aimless Ascension

Oh, Mother, I have killed him!

I'm a murderer!

I stumbled to the floor next to Theodore, my chest heaving up and down. My mind chilled at the violence I caused.

There was no excitement. Not anymore. No glee or craziness. Just a chill, an inhumane chill feeling bobbled up in my chest.

Just a look at the body reminded me of how I had killed him. I did it with my own hand. I did it with. . . Oh god!

I groaned on my four limbs, trying the breathing exercise to calm myself, but no matter how much effort I put into it, it lost in my frantic wheezing.

'I need to get out of here,' I screamed inwardly. I couldn't watch the dead Oldman anymore.

Getting off on my feet, I wanted nothing but to shoot out of the sealed door, but . . . That's not really the right move to take at this moment.

Curse my common sense, but I probably wouldn't last even a couple of hours if I left right now, leaving everything exactly as it was.

I had to do something about the body and all the evidence I was leaving behind.

"What to do. . . What to do?" I wondered chaotically, pacing fast in the room.

The constant streaming of the cauldron was damn annoying, making me even more anxious and foolhardy. For a second, I thought of pouring a few top-grade fire crystals into the cauldron and letting it explode.

Sadly, I wasn't sure how much damage it could cause, probably not enough to destroy the whole lab. Besides, even if the explosion wouldn't be instantaneous, it would be within a couple of minutes, as Saarya taught me.

That wasn't enough time for me to get away, even if the explosion destroyed all the evidence of my sin.

Wait a second, why destroy it at all? When could I make most of the things vanish?

A crazy idea got into my brain, and it was probably the best I could hope for at that moment.

Sucking in a deep breath, I calmed myself as a rudimentary plan came to me. I was surprised at myself how quickly I calmed down. I was a bit sick at the ruthlessness as well, but I didn't have breath to waste on useless thoughts.

I re-established my connection with the fate mark and created another portal. It was smaller than I needed at this moment. I poured more energy into it, everything I had, and willed it to expand.

It did and was barely enough to dump a corpse into it. And that's exactly what I was intending.

Giving the dead Theodore a last look, I stashed his body into a world of darkness. Alright, the most critical evidence was taken care of. Nobody would believe I was walking around with a corpse in my person.

But my work wasn't done yet. Now it was to give a different story to what transpired here. I went on with the robbery.

Leaving the burned clothes, blood, and chemicals on the floor, I got to robbing off all that seemed valuable in this lab. Other than the delicate glassware that wouldn't survive inside the space, I poured all the ingredients as well as dozens of stashes of potions that I found hidden inside a black wooden box.

I looted the box completely, hoping this would help me somehow in the long run. Then there were many rough white stones. I had my suspicions of them being the spirit crystals—the primary resources of cultivation—and my doubts were answered when I found coins made of the same article.

I robbed everything. When that was done, I closed the portal hole. That released a lot of pressure off me.

Leaving most of the shelves empty, I moved on to the flasks full of liquids. I searched for anything that had an acidic smell to it. It wasn't particularly difficult, as I found over a dozen acidic solutions within a few seconds.

Without waiting for a breath, I picked up two long flasks delicately. I infused Qi into my arms, just in case.

Then I moved far away, to where the cauldron was steaming. Without a second consideration, I threw the two flasks where Theodore died, to wash away all the evidence he had left behind.

The flash shattered into the floor as a thick acidic scent enamoured the air. I wrinkled my nose, wondering if it was enough.

Just in my panic, I got to the shelf of acidic solutions again, and threw everything there. I managed to create fire yet again, a blue fire this time. Thankfully, it was put off easily without any effort from me.

When everything was done, I finally sighed in relief. Well, not in complete relief. That was when I would get out of this hellhole.

Now it was time to get the hell out of here. Before that, I checked my clothing. It was already wrinkled and in the worst condition possible. The only thing that could make others suspicious of me were the few spots of blood that smeared into my clothing.

There was blood in my fist and elbows as well, reminding me again of what I had done.

Searching around a bit, I found a huge jar of water. I drank a few mouthfuls first and then wiped my hands clean. As for the clothes, I just needed some rocky soil to camouflage that.

Okay, after I was done with everything, I gave the lab a thorough glance. The signs of robbery were more apparent than a murder. Well, as far as I'm concerned, people would search for Theodore, unable to find him here.

And if the Oldman was simply a caretaker of these labs, then they would suspect him of running away with all the wealth first.

I hope.

Satisfied, I got out of the lab; my pace was careful, slow, and quiet. Thankfully, nobody was around in this part of the mind.

Now all I have to do is escape without giving off any suspicious vibes.

Act cool, Gale. Act cool! You're the master of swagger. Use it!

Done with taking care of the blood spots on my clothes, I started to creep away at a rather fast pace. I thought about slowing down. But thinking that I had the quota to meet, my fast pace would look more convincing.

I only slowed down when I got to the collection hall. There were always people there, and now more so than before, as the collection hour was getting closer. I found a few of the guards watching me, including Joseph—the only earthling among the guards.

To act more believable, I grunted in front of the clock, stammering a few curses. I found Joseph staring right at me.

I bit my tongue, bowed down and started running towards the mine.

Thankfully, nobody was chasing me, but I didn't slow down. I was completely at my wit's end, after everything I pulled, from the murder to the racking of my brain to come up with something to hide that fact.

Cameron was still mining when I got back. Well, I hadn't been gone for much longer. Barely half an hour and a half of the time was for covering the distance.

"You're back," Cameron said, shooting me a look. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and considered me. "What was that about? Did they do something to you?"

I grunted, wanting to vomit out everything right at this moment, but I kept my mouth shut. Even if Cameron was the right person, it wasn't the right place or time.

"Gale?"

"Um," I croaked, picking up my pickaxe. "Not now. I'll tell you later at night."

"You don't look good," Cameron said. "Are you alright?"

"Not now," I growled, and that behaviour was enough to shut up the former accountant. I would have apologised on my better days, but I found no reason to do it now.

I just needed nothing on my mind now. So I concentrated completely on mining.

Unfortunately, mining wasn't a creative work as most of my mind was free to imagine the terrible ways I would die. Most were exactly the imitation of how Theodore died.

I gritted my teeth, hammering my pickaxe with all my power, which led Cameron to turn to me. I didn't even consider that, as I couldn't wait to complete the quota.

"God damn it!"

Cursing didn't change anything, but mining did. It tired me quicker as I exerted all my effort into it. I crashed onto the floor when I was done, tearing up.

I cried, scraping my fingers on the rocky surface of the world.

Why was I so lost? Why was I getting worked up about killing the old man? He deserved it. I already planned to kill him months ago when I barely had any power. He deserved it.

Every one of these people, all those slavers, deserved it. I would not have remorse for their deaths. Then why?

Why am I like this?!

I didn't have any answer.

"I have to go," I muttered, and stood back up. I collected all the fire crystals, enough to meet my quota, and scurried from there, pushing my trolley, not giving Cameron another look.

The collection was completed without much attention to me, much to my relief. After done with that, I turned back to the way to my room immediately.

When I got inside, I found Saarya waiting for me with a contemplative look in her eyes.

I broke down on the floor immediately as she came to my rescue.

"Did you know?" I barely asked.

She nodded and held me close. "I know. I know what you hid and how you felt. I know, trust me, you'll get better."

"My mother would be so disappointed in me."