Varian decided to 'awaken' in Water Path.
Not only should he awaken, but he should also reach level 4 in five days.
If someone told him he'd attempt such a crazy thing a month ago, he'd have scoffed at them and said. "I might be crazy, but not that crazy."
Now, he wasn't so certain.
But even for Varian, such a feat was difficult.
Regardless of how fast he progressed, he hit bottlenecks every now and then.
But for him to reach his target, he'd either not reach any bottleneck or break it as quickly as possible.
Since the former wasn't under his control, he decided to ensure a perfect breakthrough of all bottlenecks.
But how?
Varian thought back to all his bottlenecks and observed a common point. He was stuck only because he overused a way of progressing that he couldn't 'learn' anything new to progress.
Secondly, when he was at the peak of any level, advancing also took time since he wasn't sure how to 'advance'.
For instance, to go from level 3 to level 4 in the space path, he needed to do the reverse of 'space binding', the Unbinding—weakening or loosening the space as opposed to freezing it. He achieved it only through a lot of trial and error.
So, the one-stop solution to everything was a teacher.
They would help him with bottlenecks and also in advance.
So, he needed a Water Awakener of at least level 5 or level 6.
But that awakener must be someone he could absolutely trust. Because not only would he show that he was going to awaken in a new path, but most importantly, his mind-boggling progress speed.
And that someone happened to be—
"Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!"
Varian helplessly smiled as Sarah softly punched him in the chest. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her waist and breathed in her scent.
Sarah's punches slowed down and finally, she rested her head on his chest while hugging him a bit too tightly.
"You still remember me?" She raised her head and asked with a grudging face.
"Ahaha." Varian laughed awkwardly and tried to think of a response. He hadn't contacted her since Valos began.
"Master did miss you a couple of times." Boo came to the rescue.
Varian gave the little ghost a silent thumbs up and nodded with a serious face. "I missed you a lot."
Sarah narrowed her eyes in doubt as her gaze altered between Varian and Boo.
Meanwhile, the ghost ship lightly shook as it soared into the clouds from the defense academy.
Varian looked at the shrinking academy while his brain continued to think of an explanation that could satisfy her.
"Really?" Sarah asked after a while.
"Really!" Varian nodded.
"Really!" Boo added. "While we were at Valos, Master even thought of buying you a gift."
Varian was about to nod when he suddenly flinched.
"Thought of?" Sarah raised a brow and smiled cutely. "So, he didn't he buy…why?"
"I—That gift wa—" Varian felt like a broken radio.
"Master said shopping would take too long, so he went back to training."
Bang!
Varian's heart nearly stopped as he felt the warm body in his embrace cool down like an ice cube.
"Gulp."
He lowered his gaze lightly to see Sarah gazing at him with an indifferent face.
'Damn it! Boo, during that time, I was anxious every day about the war! How do you expect me to shop, eh?'
Boo simply went back to driving while it kept an eye on them. Presumably, it was waiting to throw Varian under the bus.
"I—"
Sarah left his embrace and took a few steps back. Folding her arms, she said. "I have a question, please answer me honestly."
Varian took a deep look at her.
Today, Sarah was in a black top and blue shorts. With the ponytail adding to her liveliness, when he first picked her up at the academy, she looked like an energetic beautiful young girl.
Now, with spread-out hair that flowed down her shoulders and sharp eyes, she looked more mature.
Varian was distracted for a moment but managed to nod.
"Did you come to meet me because you missed me or…." Sarah's words trailed off, but her gaze was fixed on him.
'Fuck!' Varian cursed inwardly and was about to answer when a cute voice destroyed the chance.
"Master hopes you can help him train in water path."
Boom!
"Hmph!"
Sarah stomped and walked away.
Boo guided her to a room that they had recently built.
"…" Varian silently scratched his head.
'Wait, why did it come to this…?'
Then he saw Boo cheerfully humming a tune as it operated the ghost ship to a nearby water dungeon.
Veins popped up in Varian's forehead and he decided he'd let Boo sit through horror movies until it begged him to stop.
"Bo—"
"Boo!"
Sarah's exclamation cut him off.
Varian heard the surprise in her voice and quickly teleported to her room.
Sarah was inspecting a white bed. It looked perfectly fine, but Sarah's nose was wrinkled and she seemed to be smelling…
'This is Enigma's room.' Varian facepalmed inwardly and glanced at Boo.
Boo looked back at him with a cute and innocent expression that said. 'It's not intentional, I swear!'
'Swear your ass! This is definitely intentional!' Varian clenched his fists.
"Enigma?" Sarah asked, with her face facing the ground.
It was obvious. The fact that Dreamer was helping Enigma was all over the news after all.
Sarah clenched her fist and asked in a low voice. "…How is she?"
"Huh?" Varian raised a brow in surprise.
"I…I don't think what was done is correct. A lot of cadets in our military faction and in the academy, in general, witnessed Shadow Guardians helping others." Sarah said with a frustrated expression.
"She's safe. Don't worry." Varian said lightly and seeing Sarah breathe a sigh of relief, he added. "Her problem would be solved…soon."
Sarah raised her head and looked at him. Her eyes were slightly red. "And for her, you're going to risk your life, am I right?"