"V-Varian? What the hell happened? You vanished for five freaking minutes! I-I thought…" Sarah muttered in shock before her voice was raised into a yell and finally she whimpered.
"…Something came up. I'll be in front of you in a moment." Varian said after some thought.
"W-Wait…damn!" Sarah was about to refute him when he cut her off and the ghost ship descended a few miles away from her.
A water sphere enveloped Sarah and cleaned off the green bloodstains on her body. More importantly, it cleaned off the tear traces on her face.
Sarah's ears perked up and she caught the sound of footsteps a few miles away.
She kicked the ground and dashed into the distance.
The familiar figure stood in front of her. He had no injuries on his body and looked perfectly fine.
Sarah heaved a sigh inwardly before she glared at him. "You better give me a good reason or you know what will happen."
Even though knowing that she meant no harm, Varian felt her expression was a bit scary.
Her usual smiling expression had turned completely cold and she looked at him with indifference.
Varian sighed and explained the matter to her. Even though revealing his true combat to her was dangerous, after seeing her earlier, he felt like he could trust her.
Sarah's gaze relaxed but soon her brows knit together.
He knew that she was trying to understand why the Demon King himself wanted Varian dead.
After a while, Sarah shook her head and looked at him still with that unfamiliar, cold gaze.
"Until we can ensure you some safety, you're not going on any mission, am I clear?" She said coldly.
"…But-" Varian naturally wanted to refute.
"Am I clear, Junior Cadet?" She raised her voice up a notch as she stood with her hands folded behind her back.
Varian didn't answer and looked at her cold expression. Had he not seen her reaction a few minutes ago, he'd have thought she was only angry.
But he knew better. She was just worried. With worry came her anger.
Through his space sense, he could even see she was clenching her fists behind her back.
'So you're blaming yourself for what happened to me?' Varian fell silent.
After the lunch of that day when he broke down, Sarah's behavior slightly changed.
She…she was careful with the words she picked. She tried to remain as cheerful as possible. But she was worried.
She thought she was responsible for his break down that day. Even now, she must also be blaming herself for allowing him into the mission despite the power to stop him.
"There is no such thing as safety in the world we live in. I am going to take the missions, whatever the danger." He expressed his stance and tried to reason. Big mistake.
In the end, he added. "I'm sorry for worrying you."
"No." Sarah's figure trembled as she looked at his calm expression. "You don't look sorry at all."
Why was it always her that was reacting like this?
Even when he woke up in the hospital, she was the one getting emotional. His response was fairly calm.
In normal times, she could still comprehend his reactions. But now…why is he so indifferent?
Despite knowing that the Demon King himself was targeting him, he was still insisting on going to missions!
With his talents and status, he could just practice indoors and still maintain a high progress rate.
"Fine! If you want to die, then die! Who am I to stop you?" Sarah showed rage towards him for the first time and dashed away.
Varian looked at her receding figure and sighed.
"Master, why are you pissing her off?" Boo asked in confusion.
As far as it was concerned, Varian had plenty of options to deal with the situation. But he chose the most destructive route.
"S-She's just not listening. I won't be in danger." Varian said weakly. He had Boo and even in case he was targeted by a high awakener, there was an option to teleport out.
"She doesn't know I exist. To me, it looks you just want to distance yourself from her." Boo replied as it cocked its head.
Varian gritted his teeth. Boo was right.
He didn't want her to be worrying about him. In fact, their relationship was slowly growing closer.
Given how things were going, one day, she might become extremely important. With how things went with his mother and Sia, Varian didn't want another tragedy in his life.
So he wanted to push her away.
But was his choice correct?
By pushing the ones you care about far away because you want them to be fine? Wouldn't that hurt them more?
What's more, the world could very well end if the Abyss Emperor decided to intervene.
So despite Varian's resolve to grow strong enough to defeat Abyss Emperor, he had almost no control over how much time he had until the other party arrives.
Heck, it could even happen this very second!
If the world was going to end any moment, then he might as well not hurt the people he cared about.
Varian peered his eyes and looked into the distance. Her back was about to fade away from his vision.
Taking a deep breath, he shouted. "Wait!" And teleported towards her.
Sarah increased her speed instead. She was really angry by his response.
Varian tried to catch up using his body and space powers. However, a blue light covered Sarah's body and her speed rose beyond his reach.
In the background, Boo controlled the surveillance of the region and blocked off the scenes with Varian's teleportation.
As he continued to chase her, the distance between them only increased.
Soon, he could no longer see her back.
"Ha! Ha!" Varian bent down and clutched his knees. Running at his highest speed was exhausting.
As he tried to catch his breath, Boo spoke. "Eh? Don't the characters in movies usually catch up in the chase and talk out things? Why did you miss, master?
Is this Universe's way of telling you to give up? After all, she didn't even stop once to glance back."
Varian cursed between his rapid breaths. "That's moronic. If I can't chase her by my divine path powers, I'll chase her on a space ship. Boo, let's go."
The ghost ship shot into the air and in a second caught up with Sarah.
"Eh…this is not cinematic at all. No protagonist would use a space ship. Master, this is not what happens in the dramas. The misunderstandings should go on for at least 100 episodes or 6 months time!"
"Stop watching those weird shows." Varian cursed and jumped from the ghost ship appearing in front of Sarah.
She was shocked to see someone just appear in front of her and instinctively punched out.
Only at the final moment did she recognize the person and forcefully shifted her punch.
"What is it?" Sarah endured the discomfort caused by forced change of her attack and asked cooly.
Varian took a deep breath and said. "You know one of my secrets. I am a Space Awakener."
Sarah's gaze chilled. "You don't have to worry. I won't reveal that to anyone."
Inwardly, she felt that something broke.
Did he see her as that kind of person? A distrustful woman? Was that her impression on him?
Why? Why was this hurting so much?
It was like someone was prickling her with needles.
Varian felt the air turned cold. Despite her best efforts, Sarah's figure was trembling.
'Did she misunderstand something again?' He facepalmed inwardly.
"You have my promise. I hope we can not see each other again." Sarah said and was about to leave.
"Are you not going to ask how I suddenly appeared here?" He appeared in front of her and said again.
"That's your secret. I don't care. If you're worrying, I am not going to tell others. So get out!" She replied with increasing coldness in her voice.
She felt like he was asking her to not reveal his secrets. It was insulting!
Varian appeared in front of her again.
This time, Sarah's anger shot through the roof.
Varian said before she could blast him away. "Then know one more secret."
He caught her hand suddenly and before she could yank him off, they appeared in a blue cabin.
Sarah was taken aback as she stared at the huge space.
She could see almost five miles inside and it was not even ending. The ceiling itself was a few miles above.
"Where am I?" She asked in surprise.. Even though she didn't know what it was, she already knew she stumbled onto a secret enough to shake the Solar System.