Life didn't get easier, even in another world.

368  To become one

'So this is what Reynold meant by 'devouring' the gate.'

Taking in the cold feeling spreading inside his soul, Kairen couldn't help but wonder about the definition that Reynold used.

The gate's energy had found its way to Kairen's soul, creeping inside it like a silent snake. Kairen wasn't sure if he was doing it right or wrong, but he knew that he finally had the opportunity to pull the gate down. It wasn't something that he learned, nor a thing that needed him to think much to find out. It was more like an instinct, a wisdom that came with the power he had. He knew that if he tried just a little bit, he'd be able to suck up all the energy inside the gate through the connection they had to each other.

"Kairen? Can you hear me? Severe the connection right now if it's burdening your body!"

Reynold's voice sounded slightly worried this time. Without opening his eyes, Kairen shook his head from side to side, indicating no problems.

Without delay, he began circulating his power and making it move deeper inside the gate. The energy within the gate rushed into his soul quickly as if it was running away from its previous container to a much better place. The cold sensation spreading inside his chest wasn't exactly pleasing. It was making Kairen nauseous and dizzy a little bit, yet, this didn't stop Kairen from consuming the energy within the gate.

"There..."

"What's going in..."

"...The gate..."

"It... down..."

"He's the same boy from before!"

"Red hair!"

While Kairen was standing still and concentrating on dealing with the gate, voices of people of various ages and different genders entered his ears. They were faint and hard to recognize as if a crowd in the distance was talking among each other at the same time.

It was obvious that after the anomaly he had created in the gate the residents of the city would be curious and walk over to where he was. After all, the huge gate that was the cause of all their misery started to sink down at the center of it, and a strange thread was connected to it that was in fact, too familiar to them. It was inevitable that they'd walk to where the thread came out from and see Kairen in the middle of 'devouring' a gate.

"Stand back!"

A deep, male voice rang out in the area, making the crowd go quiet and the area once again, become silent. However, even with his eyes closed, Kairen could feel tens of eyes staring at him, observing his every move and being on guard against him. This was a natural reaction and Kairen knew it too well, but he still felt a little bit nervous and uneasy being observed with so many people.

"Take it slow..."

Reynold was holding Kairen with both hands as if he was a fragile glass, even when Kairen didn't have any problems standing on his own. It didn't bother Kairen and felt rather nice to have someone beside him when he was facing the residence of the city, so he didn't say any word of objection.

"It might act a little bit wildly after a while..."

Upon hearing that, Kairen once again focused on the gate while wondering about those worlds' meaning. Act wild? Who? The gate? Would it attack Kairen all of a sudden?

WROOOMMM

It didn't take a second for Kairen to understand what Reynold intended to say. Just as his attention went back to the flow of energy, he sensed a huge wave moving down through the thread. It was cold, sinister, and threatening. There was no way Kairen could stop it nor did he have any intention of stopping it.

Without anything to hinder it, the wave of energy rushed down the thread and entered his body and his soul. Kairen felt like being slammed with an iceberg. His whole body went numb for a second and then he began trembling uncontrollably. What he experienced wasn't pain but a great shock that left him frozen on his spot.

"Gasp!"

 For a second, he even forgot to take a breath.

WROOOOOOMMMM

The gate began to shake violently like an enraged beast. The energy within it boiled and clashed like a volcano about to erupt. In Kairen's vision, the various colors of the gate began to eat away at each other all of a sudden. All the lights dimmed and the painting-like gate turned dark and gloomy, black in color and without any colors in it.

Like a black hole, the central point of the gate, the spot that was connected to the thread, was sucking all the other parts of the gate towards itself. All the energy was drawn to it in the split of a second and in the next instant, another wave, much larger than the first one, slammed against Kairen's soul.

"Gasp!"

Kairen didn't need to check the gate to understand that the whole energy and Irregularity within it has entered his body. Like two magnets, they were drawn to each other slowly till one side of the scale got heavier, and the other was pulled towards Kairen in an instant like a powerless piece of metal in the presence of a much more powerful magnetic force.

"Rey- Kairen? Can you hear me?"

Reynold, who was still holding Kairen, caught his trembling body as he slowly patted the boy's back.

"Mmm..."

Kairen slowly opened his eyes. Everything he saw seemed stage in front of his eyes. The colors were brighter and the shadows were darker. The whole scenery was swaying around and his sight kept blurling and going back to normal. His head was fuzzy and his ears rang.

"It's over. The gate is gone. You did it."

Reynold whispered reassuringly as if praising a little kid for his small achievement. He held Kairen with both arms, embracing the tired young man.

"Hmm." Kairen hummed in response.

"Do you have pain?"

"No..."

"Is your power under control?"

"...Yeah."

Besides feeling a little bit out of this world and still sensing a coldness in his chest, Kairen had no other symptoms.

"Are you dizzy? Sleepy? Nauseous?"

"A little bit."

Saying that Reynold lowered himself a little bit and sat on one knee, allowing Kairen to sit down on the ground while leaning on the redhead. It helped his fuzzy mind and dizzy head, calming him and relaxing his body a lot.

"You'll be fine!"

Kairen didn't know why Reynold was treating him like a little, fragile kid, but he didn't mind. It felt nice and warm, so he decided to enjoy it even though he felt slightly ashamed.

Even though Kairen liked being treated like a kid by Aaron, he was still a grown man! He would never ever allow this ketchup head to treat him this way if it wasn't for the fact that he was actually tired now. No! He didn't enjoy Reynold pampering him like a child!

He had just taken down a gate, a huge mass of mixed-up universal powers, so he needed some rest and praise! He believed that no one would reject such a thing in his situation.

Ahem ahem! 

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