Chapter 138 – Veteran
Did one feel danger? Did one feel pressure. Did you think that meant you’re feeling fear?
NONONO!
The pressure toward an individual from this C Grade restricted region wasn’t big since all they needed to do was survive. They didn’t have to resist completely and get wiped out and could even run if they faced a powerful mutated beast. All of this was especially possible with the appearance of the KD Heavy Industries weapons. Everyone’s confidence grew to an unprecedented level.
At this moment, they were all very happy. Even those who were more cautious and more prudent than others were moved by this kind of atmosphere.
They’d spent entire days training and had already lost interest in that. When they thought of how they would be having real fights in this place, they began thinking of it as more genuine training. And with so many people grouped up together and with all of these strong and powerful weapons, what could stop them?
Reeves observed everyone. When he saw Wang Zhong and Grai again, a faint smile appeared at the corners of his mouth. Hymin’s choice had indeed exceeded his expectations, but it wasn’t anything of note. It was just a small variable that wouldn’t cause any lasting influence for the current situation. Everything was still within his control. He was now anticipating the hunting and the killing atmosphere within the Disorderly Burial Lake Region.
The armored vehicle flew across the land. After over five hours of travel, the group arrived at the closest restricted region to Tianjing; the Disorderly Burial Lake Region.
As a C Grade restricted region one could see from a distance that the environment there was different from other areas.
Mysterious dimensional energy had assembled in this region under influence from special laws and principles. It formed a dusky, hemispherical area roughly 800 square kilometers in size. The inside and outside of this place was marked with distinctly different ambiences and colours, like seeing two different worlds.
Normal people definitely wouldn’t be able to enter a restricted region. Although this was just a C Grade restricted region, the radiation contained within the dimensional energy was much more intense than what existed in the wilderness. It was at least two or three times as thick. This was a difference visible to the naked eye just by observing the contrasting colours of the two worlds.
As the armored vehicle got closer to the region, the students couldn’t hold back their excitement and nervousness any longer. Everyone had heard quite a few introductions of the various restricted regions. Yet, it was just like what happened when they first saw the refugee camp; seeing it with their own eyes and experiencing it with their own bodies gave them an unprecedented feeling. Gradually, they all turned quiet as they stared fixedly at the approaching barrier.
The instant the armored vehicle crossed the barrier, numerous kinds of feelings were immediately dampened.
They first felt as though their bodies were sinking into the floor. The head-on wind pressure had been instantly increased by two to threefold and the dimensional energy as well as dark matter that permeated the air was obviously denser than the normal outdoors air. Inside the high-speed vehicle they could feel the obvious increase in air pressure as they traveled onward. The gravity being forced upon them had also increased by approximately a fold.
Next was their breathing. The air here was mixed with a trace of a sour taste and a bit of a rotting flavour. They weren’t used to the strange sensation after their entry. Every breath they experienced with their noses and throats felt as though they were being sliced with a knife. The mysterious part of all this was that the air didn’t really bring their lungs any harm as they breathed it in. On the contrary, they felt an extremely refreshing feeling being emitted from their internals.
Lastly was the radiation factor that saturated the entire region. It was present throughout the entire world, but the degree to which it gathered in this region was different. The cities of the Freedom Federation were protected by rune arrays, so the radiation there was weak to the point that normal people couldn’t even feel it. In the vast, expansive wilderness it was to the degree where normal people might feel as if something was off or not right if they stayed too long. New humans, however, didn’t even notice that.
But it was different within the restricted region. Seemingly everyone felt the sensation of scratches caressing their skin. Though it was just a feeling on the surface, the most frightening part was that the radiation penetrated through their skin and into their bodies. The mass of those invasive bodies was miniscule, smaller than even the so-called atoms of the old era. Even so, they brought about extremely damaging devouring and assimilating characteristics.
This prompted the use of soul power for protection. The energy that came from one’s soul sea would protect their bodies from receiving the stimulations of this radiation and work to rapidly expel such ‘foreign’ particles from their bodies.
“The itch on your skin is unavoidable. It’s best not to try and scratch at it. The more you scratch the more you’ll itch. Tearing your skin apart and breaking apart your flesh is one of the more common things to happen.”
Grace, Markis, and Markos sat at the back of the armored car and tried their best to guide these newbies on their first entry into the restricted region.
“Your soul power will automatically remove the radiation that just entered your body. You will still need to pay attention to your control of your mood and soul power, however. If you panic and lose control, it will be easy for you to expend large amounts of energy and soul power. Just endure it for two to three days and your bodies will get used to it. When that happens it’ll be more relaxed.”
Although this sounded very easy, it wasn’t so when they tried to accomplish it. The itch they felt was still manageable since they weren’t ordinary people. It was, however, extremely uncomfortable and unbearable and required a bit of self-control. No, the main issue for them was the aspect on controlling their soul power.
Without having personally experienced the restricted region and make contact with this degree of radiation energy, one would find it hard to suitably control their soul power consumption within an adequate range and at a stable rate. This applied to the majority of new humans with soul power.
Generally speaking, if one controlled it well then this kind of damage could be completely smoothed out with an average recovery rate. But if one used too much energy the problems become great. If one’s soul power dries up, not only would they lose their combat capabilities but they could also lose their soul power defense. The radiation particles themselves would be sufficient enough to take the lives of new humans at that time.
The formidability of radiation particles could be seen in any related textbook. What was good was that the techniques to controlling one’s soul power weren’t a secret. Everyone had made mental preparations in the past and even experienced a two to threefold increase in radiation inside laboratories. Yet, regardless of their state of mind or psychologic state there was still a great difference between sitting in a laboratory and sitting in a car traveling at high speeds within a restricted region.
After experiencing this restricted region there seemed to be more than half of them that felt pressure from this place. Quite a few were unable to continue their leisurely watching of the transforming environment around them. One by one they tried their best to calm their minds. They closed their eyes and concentrated, trying to use the least amount of time to adapt to these changes.
It could be said that the first training phase had somewhat fixed the ‘greenhouse’ sickness of the group and allowed them to stay calm as they responded to all the changes.
Wang Zhong’s situation was comparatively better than most. Within the five-man team it was only Barran who sat while wrinkling his forehead. The other four were obviously more relaxed. Emily came from a small aristocratic family and Grai’s depths had yet to be revealed. Their fine control over their soul power far exceeded that of ordinary students. Wang Zhong didn’t even need to be mentioned with his strong point being his fine control over his soul power. And with that terrifyingly large soul sea of his there wasn’t even a need t worry about his consumption of soul power.
Hymin was also comparatively special. She gently patted Barran’s shoulder and he immediately felt an ice-cold sensation spreading throughout his body. This kind of cold temperature couldn’t completely prevent the radiation from entering his body, but it did reduce them by a portion. Barran instantly felt the pressure around him lighten. Even the itchy sensation on his skin had stopped due to the cool, refreshing feeling.
“Thank you, Senior Sister Hymin!”
“No need to say thanks for such a trivial thing. Also, call me Sister Hymin!”
There were quite a few occasions where special abilities users had uses outside of the battlefield.