Inverse System

Chapter 108 - Meditation Room

Each person received 10000 Rol and 20 points, Rein checking his tablet to see his ranking update.

Rein Xilris

Points: 125 (Rank 26 [D])

Rol: 108000

He placed the tablet back into his pocket and made his way back to the dormitory, waving the rest of the group goodbye as Xenia went to the principal's house, and Raxo went to the Hasbin academy dorm. Quint went into the Ranger dormitory building with Rein and Saphrilla, then they broke away as Quint went to his and Reggie's room.

Rein and Saprhilla continued up the stairs and up to their room as they quietly opened the door and entered. Chloe and Emria seemed to be asleep, so they did not want to make any unnecessary noise to wake them. As they took off their shoes, Rein heard Saphrilla yawn, not having gotten enough sleep the night before.

"I am going to go back to bed now. I will do my best to not wake Emria," Saphrilla said as she headed to her and Emria's room, Rein waving to her as he headed to the sound-isolated room to exp farm.

This room was an extra room that they didn't know what to do with when they moved into the dorm, so Rein got Saphrilla to install some of the noise-reducing walls she had in her room back in the Elven Forest so that he could use it to test skills and level them.

He had already used it to level his memory flip skill, allowing him now to use it for 10 minutes every 12 hours instead of 1 minute every 24 hours. Using meditation, he next steeled himself to leveling the efficiency of STO so that it would be on par with Luther's.

As he approached the room, he felt the sheer silence emerging from the space, which always amazed him, even back in the Elven forest, whenever he would enter the girls' room. However, as he opened the door, he heard the faint sound of breathing, as if someone was sleeping in there. It was Chloe, who had set up a thin mattress in the room, and slept peacefully in the middle of the soundless room.

"What the hell? What's she doing in here?" Rein scratched his head as he walked in and closed the door behind him.

He sat down on the ground and crossed his legs, watching her face as she breezily slept, waiting for her to wake up. He sighed as he stretched, eventually getting bored of watching her sleep, turning around, and beginning to train anyways. He sat with his back faced to her as he took a deep breath, turning his hair black and eyes red as he felt his energy drain. He focused, trying to keep his energy from depleting as fast, furrowing his eyebrows.

Energy: 1294/1305 (depleting at 0.9 energy per second)

While stationary, the furthest he could lower the energy usage was to 0.9 energy per second, which would mean that he could keep it active for approximately 24 minutes while staying still, with no Springs active. However, as he began cycling through his Spring history using memory flip, he activated 5 springs at once. Fire and earth in one hand, wind and water in the other, all the while having Emria's inverted spring active.

Energy: 1253/1305 (depleting at 8.4 energy per second)

As soon as he ramped up his Spring usage, he felt the energy consumption spike up, making him lose his focus briefly. As he regulated himself, steadied his breathing, and grew accustomed to the Springs, he was able to reduce the energy usage by half.

Energy: 1197/1305 (depleting at 4.2 energy per second)

This would mean that while using 5 springs at once, he would be able to keep STO active for roughly 5 minutes. For some reason, his unconscious was telling him not to activate more than 5 Springs at once. Rein could feel some sort of ceiling over that number, an unseen barrier that he felt he couldn't overcome. Yet, he still tried. As he continued cycling through his history, he decided to activate Xenia's inverted Spring, enhancing his physical prowess exponentially.

As soon as the 6th Spring was activated, he broke out into an instant cold sweat, feeling the energy being sucked right out of his body at unbelievable speed.

Energy: 323/1305 (depleting at 874.2 energy per second) (CRITICAL CONDITION!)

He instantly de-activated STO, panting heavily as he felt his vision weaken, his head beginning to feel light. He put his hands on his forehead, trying to stabilize his breathing as he wiped the cold sweat off his face. He finally regained his composure, taking a deep breath before stopping his heavy panting, putting both of his arms behind him as he leaned back on them, staring up at the ceiling as he waited for his energy to regenerate.

"You had enough of peeking at me Chloe?" Rein remarked as he felt a twitch in the futon behind him.

The girl sat up, her bed head apparent as it poofed out, her sleepy face red with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry! Forgive me! I didn't mean to!" She spewed out apologies, Rein laughing at her cute efforts.

"No need to apologize. I was watching you while you slept for a while, so we're even," he remarked, making her face turn even redder.

"I didn't want to interrupt you… You looked so focused, so I thought I'd just watch," she fiddled with her hair, trying to ignore the thing Rein just said to keep her composure.

"What are you doing in here to begin with? Was Emria snoring or something? I've never heard her snore though…" Rein thought.

"No, she wasn't snoring. I went to sleep in my own room, but when I woke up a few hours ago, I decided to go to sleep here," she recounted, Rein tilting his head in confusion.

"Why would you do that? Your bed's a lot comfier than this thin cloth," Rein pointed out, to which Chloe ducked into her neck collar on her pajamas, hiding some of her red face.

"Come on… Read in between the lines, dummy. It's because I missed you. I wanted you to be the first thing I saw when I woke up," she whispered into her collar, inducing a slight red highlight on Rein's face.

His surprised face didn't hold for long as he lifted his hand to Chloe's cheek, caressing it softly as he pulled her in, their lips interlocking, their bodies embracing in the noise-binding room.

As their lips left each other's contact, Rein continued caressing her hair as they kept their faces close together.

"It's only been one day. How much could you have possibly missed me?" He whispered into her ear, making her lift both her arms and put them around his neck.

"Can I show you? I've been irritated every since our cooking date was interrupted. At least let me do this much," she responded as she went back in for another kiss, Rein returning it readily.

Eventually, Rein broke away from the embrace, not wanting it to get too far, leaving Chloe pouting in an unsatisfied manner, but understanding his reservations about their relationship.

"Oh, don't go looking at me like that. It'll make it even harder to hold myself back," he remarked as he looked away from her, making her transition from a pout to a blush.