Rian ended up spending the rest of the time telling Ren Xiyang about things from his world, things that were common sense. Ren Xiyang ended up spending the rest of his brain cells trying to commit all the things he was being told to memory.

Eventually however, their allotted time had run out, and they had to leave the Realm of the Mind to return to the physical world. The “world” around them began to distort, colors merging and separating, colliding and fusing together.

Lines began to form, spirals took shape. Ren Xiyang was getting a headache from all these complex shapes and bright colors. Ren Xiyang closed his eyes to try and calm his headache, only to reawaken in the physical world.

His bindings rattled as he jerked away, the cold irons pressing somewhat painfully against his skin. It also served as all too vivid of a reminder that he was now back to being female. Ren Xiyang suppressed the rising waves of dysphoria, decided to instead focus on the people in front of him to distract himself from the harsh emotions and self-hate he knew all too well.

Rian settled back into his younger self, sighing as he did so. A shame. He would’ve liked to stay in that body just a little longer. It was fortunate he’d just have to wait a few more years to do so. Otherwise, he wouldn’t know what to do in this body.

Rian started talking first, settling back into his public persona with a slight and pleasant smile on his face, “Well, I do think that was a productive talk, Ayden Rosewood. I must say, you’re quite the interesting person!”

Ren Xiyang was thankful to have something else to focus on, rather than the rapidly spiraling negative emotions, “Thank you, Rian Azure. I think the same.”

Rian suppressed his twitching mouth and the urge to pinch Ren Xiyang’s cheeks. A kid like him shouldn’t be so serious! He was totally ignoring the fact that he also was a kid at this point in time.

“Well, I’ll be leaving you alone for now, sadly enough. I wish I could talk to you more, but this meeting is for you to meet your lawyer, after all,” Rian made an exaggerated sniffing sound, as if he were sad, before returning to normal. “And don’t worry. I’ll make sure to pay your bail.”

Ren Xiyang nodded, “Much appreciated Rian.”

Rian waved Ren Xiyang goodbye, to which Ren Xiyang only stared back. He chuckled as he walked out of the room, his bodyguards following suit.

Ren Xiyang was left alone with Andrew, who turned to him.

“Now that your chat with our client has finished, it’s time for our talk.” Andrew yawned, saying, “Sorry, when I use my powers, I get tired. Anyway, I’ll be asking you questions so we can formulate ways to defend you in court. Since we’ll be doing it in the Realm of the Mind, however, all lies you tell will be noted down and recorded, so if you have things you want to keep private, you can choose to skip questions.”

Ren Xiyang nodded. Andrew’s eyes began to shine once more, and Ren Xiyang began to see the same whitish cloud in his vision before he fell unconscious once more.

…

Rian returned back to the hotel where he was staying, being pestered the whole way back by FDH Aegean, who was very, oh so slightly, stressed out from the trip to jail.

So much so, that FDH Aegean vowed to never commit a felony that would land him in jail or prison to the end of his life. FDH Aegean then proceeded to head directly to bed, ignoring the fact that it was still only the afternoon when they returned to the hotel.

Rian was thankful for the alone time however, as he made his way to his own private room, his public persona melting away into frozen ice. He climbed onto the bed, and went over the events of the day.

Rian Azure wasn’t sure what to make of Ren Xiyang. Having lived a lifetime already, surrounded by politics and metaphorical landmines, Rian was able to tell some things about a person after holding a conversation with them.

For example, Ren Xiyang was most definitely a seasoned fighter. For example, Ren Xiyang was the type of person who would throw themself away in order to complete an important goal. For example, Ren Xiyang as a person was very fragile, very traumatized, and somewhat mentally unstable.

As for what Ren Xiyang’s goals were… Nothing. Rian couldn’t get a singular idea of what his motivations could have been. He was like a blank slate, drifting endlessly through the void.

Rian didn’t believe for a second that Ren Xiyang’s only goal was survival. Ren Xiyang didn’t seem to be the type to be seeking death, but he also didn’t seem to be the type who would scream injustice at it either. Perhaps it was true that he was still looking for something to do in this world, but Rian still didn’t trust him.

Rian wholeheartedly believed in the phrase, “Live with friends, love with enemies.” All his life, he had kept a close eye on his enemies. While Rian wasn’t sure that Ren Xiyang was an enemy, he was similarly unsure if he was a friend.

To make matters worse, Ren Xiyang had the mutation of Increased Elemental Authority. By itself, Increased EA wouldn’t make a person much stronger than they already were.

The real danger was when the mutated person awakened another mutation. Usually, when a person awakens a mutation, the power of the mutation was limited by the individual's EA. However, there were a few mutations that would ignore this natural limiter.

Many of them were powerful mutations, and many of these mutations had dangerous potential side-effects. However, they were usually so powerful that the power usually outweighed the consequences.

The mutation Ren Xiyang had, Increased EA, didn’t really increase EA, but rather partially ignored EA limiters. This worked in conjunction with many abilities, making many things that were previously impossible possible.  It served to make weak mutations strong, and strong mutations even stronger.

There were two famous examples that used this mutation. One was a healer, which used it in conjunction with Life Transfer. Life Transfer was a mutation that did exactly what the name says it does. Namely, transferring somebody’s vitality to heal somebody else.

It was a mutation with several limitations, making it really only useful in niche or emergency situations, like in an ER. These limitations included needing the target to be unconscious or willing, being in physical contact for long periods of time, and only stabilizing the patient after all this effort.

Paired with Increased EA however, turned this relatively harmless ability dangerous. Not only did it work no matter the condition of the target, it could work at long ranges and multiple targets at the same time! No longer did it merely stabilize the patient, it could restore them to peak condition if enough vitality is transferred.

The healer used these two mutations in conjunction during the War of Paloma in 1682, sweeping many battlefields to become both a vitality draining manifestation of plague and death, as well as an immortal being.

The second was an ice superhuman, with the mutation of Frost Madness. Frost Madness was a dangerous mutation on its own, slowly freezing the individual over time. In time, this drives the individual mad, hence the name. The closer the individual is to freezing, the stronger they become.

Most individuals are killed as soon as they are reported, or become strong enough to destroy small countries. Eventually however, they will soon die on their own, albeit taking down millions with them.

This mutation became even more dangerous with Increased EA. It caused the freezing effect to leak outwards, affecting the physical world. Both mutations served to make the individual stronger, and with Increased EA strengthening the effects of Frost Madness, it eventually turned the individual into a global disaster.

Quickly, countries banded together to kill this individual soon after they were reported. Thankfully, the Frost Madness was only in the early stages, but even then, the individual had managed to take down two small countries and freeze over several major bodies of water, causing an economic crash lasting several years.

Of course, these were both extreme cases of the mutation combinations, but if Ren Xiyang were to have a mutation combination with even a slight fraction of the power that these two had… Rian would rather have him on his side rather than having to face him.

Rian resolved to keep a close eye on Ren Xiyang. He was a dangerous person, even now as a child. In the future, he might turn out to be even stronger. Either way, he’d turn out to be a great ally… or a powerful enemy.

Rian ended up taking until late night scheming, his mind occupied with Ren Xiyang and ways to counter him or bring him to his side. He eventually fell asleep(after taking a shower, changing to his pjs, and brushing his teeth, he was a civilized person, thank you very much!), dreaming of money and zombies.

...

Ren Xiyang: Chilling by himself.

Rian Azure: Hmmm... suspicious. Must keep keen eye on target. (≖_≖ )

...

Life really doesn't want me to upload these chapters. Just this weekend, my power went out due to heavy early spring storms, and it refused to let up until today! I'm really sorry about my inconsistent uploading schedule, I'll try to fix things up. It's unfortunate for me to say this, but there will be no chapter Tuesday. Once again, I'm sorry.

Anti-Re

1k views! We did it! ≧◡≦ Thanks for sticking with me!