Jade showed a slight smile at Delton’s question. She responded, “Yes. I finished the jump yesterday.” Ignoring Delton, who now has his mouth agape, she turned to Tekle, “What’s good here?”

The slack-jawed Tekle stared at her in a daze before being brought back to reality with her question. With a grin, he answered, “What isn’t good here?”

Seeing Jade’s calm smile and piercing gaze, he shuddered and hurriedly said, “Hehe. I’d recommend the meat and seafood skewers. Delton finished four plates the first time he was here!”

"That sounds good. Then four plates for each of us.”

Tekle quickly prepared the plates of skewers and presented them to the two. He excused himself before heading back to the stall. He took a quick look at Delton, gave a wink, then left the two alone.

Though the door closed behind him, Delton, who was focusing on the departing Tekle, could hear Tekle cursing in the back.

"How have you been?” Jade asked, gently taking the meat off the skewers and eating it wit her hands.

“I’m doing well. I still have another week of break,” Delton replied, taking a look at Jade.

"That’s good. From looking at the comments on those articles, you were pretty much public enemy number one here.”

Then, silence took control for a minute. Delton coughed, getting Jade’s attention, “I’ve mainly been working out.”

Jade looked back at him, blushed a little bit, and chuckled, “I can tell. If I didn’t know your talent, I would’ve thought you had the same as Boss Bopa’s. You gotta show me how.”

Delton also blushed then bent his head down to stare at the plates of food in front of him. “How have you been?”

"I’ve also mainly been training and practicing. Now my Hawk Eye evolved into Microscopic View.

"Sounds grand.”

"No. It sounds lame. Ugh, who comes up with these names?”

“What new abilities did you—?” Delton cut himself off before finishing the question.

"You know that’s a secret for Firsts,” Jade giggled moving aside her hair with her pinky to continue eating. She smirked and continued, “But I’ll make an exception for you. You did gain this pretty woman’s favor earlier.”

Delton scratched the back of his head, “Haha. I’m blessed.”

"Other than the typical physical improvements. Just like it’s name I gained an increased zoom for my eyes, allowing me to look at everything at the microscopic level, but I also vastly improved my mental capabilities to process such detail. After breaking through, I felt as though I can see through everything,” she stared at the empty food stall in front of them.

"Take a look over there, Delton.” Delton’s eyes followed hers, landing on the wall.

"Tekle’s over there, directly in front of us. By focusing a bit more, I can see what he’s doing.”

Delton also focused a bit more, but could only see the wall in front of him. He closed his eyes in exasperation. However, through the darkness, Delton saw a dim outline of Tekle.

Opening his eyes, he saw the familiar wall. Closing them again, he saw the outline.

“Can you guess what he’s doing?” Jade asked.

Furrowing his eyebrows, “It looks like he’s hunched over against the wall.”

Now it was Jade’s turn to be shocked. Delton continued, “He’s cupping his ears, trying to hear what we’re talking about. Right, Tekle?!”

At those words, Tekle’s outline shook, then retreated from the wall. The dim outline fading to black, leaving Delton in darkness.

Jade turned to Delton and saw that he had his eyes closed. With a puzzled look, she mouthed out, “How’d you—?”

Delton smirked, “I told you I’ve been training, too.”

"Did you reach that level, too?”

“No. And I don’t plan on it.”

Frowning, Jade said, “That’s a shame. I was kind of hoping that you’d join me in leaving this place.” As if in a hurry, she started to eat the meat directly off the skewers, instead of the previous way.

Then, Delton lowered his head and said, “When do you plan on leaving?”

Gulping down the food, Jade responded, “Tomorrow. I had some connections with Starbase Inc. and will be joining them.”

No more words were spoken between them as the only sounds that could be heard were Jade eating and groups of people passing behind them. Gritting his teeth, Delton sighed and raised his head to look at the ceiling. He turned to his right and saw Lucius, who stood in a daze. Looking closer, he found Lucius to be crying.

He muttered, “Like a mirror to my heart. This truly is fate,” then started to eat his now cold plates of food.

After his first mouthful, as if struck by lightning, he started to eat faster and faster, muttering, “Has it always been this good?”

"What’d you say?” Jade paused her eating.

Delton, having finished a couple of skewers already, turned to Jade and stared into her glistening purple eyes, then said, “This is fate.”

"What is?”

Having wiped his greasy mouth with a napkin, Delton said, “To meet you. You know, when I first saw you four months ago, I instantly had a crush on you. And I’ve liked you ever since. After talking to you more and more, I also grew to like you more and more.”

With wide eyes, Jade looked back at Delton. She blushed and meekly said, “Guess what Delton?”

"What?”

“Since back then, I liked you, too.”

Closing his eyes, Delton showed a gracious smile, “But this is fate. You’re not meant to stay here.”

Hesitating to speak, incredibly softly, as if she mouthed her words, Jade said, “I’ll wait for you.”

Delton turned his head away from her and closing his eyes with great difficulty, he said, “I’m sorry. But it is also my fate to stay here. I want to remain here.”

Jade also looked away from Delton. Delton visualized Jade’s outline in the darkness. Since there was not a wall to separate them, he could make out a bright image of her in vivid detail. He could see her scrunching her eyebrows and pouting.

“I don’t want to be a Second. I’m scared of it,” Delton continued.

Jade quickly stood up, “To think the first man I liked would be such a coward. I hope you live the life you want to live.

Delton could visualize the tears fall down her face in the darkness, then said, “I guess this is goodbye.”

“Goodbye,” Delton heard Jade’s last words, then visualized Jade depart with tears in her eyes, not bothering to wipe them. In a matter of seconds, the dazzlingly bright figure of hers dimmed as it walked away, leaving him only in darkness again.

Opening his eyes, Delton’s expression grew haggard, seeming to have aged a couple of years. His brimming confidence no longer there. He looked at Jade’s and his unfinished plates and started to eat from them slowly.

Tekle with a somber expression entered fro the back and saw Delton, by himself. He then started to grill another set of skewers. Tekle cleaned up Jade’s plates.

“Thank goodness…my mom’s not here. Because Tekle…these really are…the best things I’ve eaten in my entire life,” Delton said between sniffling. A couple of tears fell down his face, but he quickly wiped them away with the sleeve of his shirt, staining it due to the food.

Tekle tapped his head, then spoke, “Thanks, Delt. If you need anything, let me know. Though I’ve only met you twice, you remind me too much of my younger self. I’ve sent you my contact info.”

Drinking down a glass of water, Delton, then took, several water-less gulps. Shaking his head, he looked at the somber Tekle and flashed a sad smile.

As it was almost half past noon, more people started to walk the streets. Soon, people started to sit at Tekle’s stall.

One of the patrons was a balding, chubby man in his thirties. He was wearing orange manufacturer’s clothes. Chatting with some other patrons loudly, he turned to his right to see Delton silently eating. He called out to the other patrons in a loud high-pitched voice, “Hey! Isn’t that the coward?!”

"Yeah!”

“You’re right! He’s spreading the smell of his own piss everywhere. Because you know he’s so scared that he pissed himself!”

“We get the fucking joke. He’s annoying us, Chester. Do something about it.”

Brought back to the present by the commotion, Lucius wiped away the tears on his face and furrowed his eyebrows at the chubby man.

Chester got up from his seat, but Tekle spoke in an admonishing tone, “Sir. Please don’t cause trouble here.”

Chester’s voice echoed throughout the streets, getting the attention from the groups walking about and the people eating in the other food stalls, “I just wanted to take a better look at the drunk coward that’s been all over the news lately! I want to know if he even has the capabilities to do what he did! Either way I’m cleaning your food stall of trash like him!”

He approached Delton and placed his hand on one of Delton’s shoulders. Delton shrugged it off violently, as he finished the last skewer. “Fuck off with your fat ass. I’m not in the mood.”

Chester withdrew his hand quickly, then opened his mouth in anger about to say something, but Delton got up immediately. Seeing that Delton stood a foot taller than him, the chubby man held his words in the back of his throat.

Delton bid farewell to Tekle and tapped his temple to pay for the meal. However, Tekle spoke out, “Don’t worry. It was paid for already.”

Delton nodded, then turned his head to where he Jade left. He then left the stall, walking through the now crowded street full of people staring and sneering at him.

Behind him, Chester shouted out, “Hey coward! Come back here! I’m not done with you, yet!”

Delton turned his head to look over his shoulders to stare at the chubby man’s eyes. Lucius giggled and exerted a little bit of his aura, directed at the chubby man.

Being stared at and feeling a large amount of pressure, the chubby man’s legs buckled as he immediately smashed his knees to the ground. The sound of bones breaking resounded throughout the streets.

Craning his head slightly, instead of seeing Delton’s figure, he saw a large and incredibly frightening figure.

The figure stood a towering ten stories tall, taking a shape of a giant man. The giant wore resplendent armor, shining with a crimson hue. However, the reddish hue seemed to be moving, like liquid.

Drips could be heard, as red liquid fell from the armor into the ground. Each drop was the size of a food stall, and soon, Chester could feel his knees starting to be submerged. The smell of iron attacked his nostrils.

With blank eyes, he then raised his head higher to take a better look a the giant. He saw the crimson leggings all the way to the crimson-armored torso. The arms were covered with a similar material.

Most of the blood dripped down from the hands, which were closed into fists. On the back of each hand was a rotating circle. One black. One white.

Chester felt as though time moved extremely fast. Gasping for air, as if each breath was his last.

Craining his neck, which let out several cracks, more, he barely made out the figure’s face. The face looked exactly like Lucius.

Making eye contact with the figure’s blood red eyes, a booming voice echoed out in his head, “To look at mine body and face is blasphemy!”

The sound of glass breaking echoed in his mind as his vision turned black.

From Delton’s view, all he saw was a chubby man kneel down, then with his eyes rolling up, fall face first onto the floor with a heavy thud.

Delton, then stared at the body with a confused expression, as several screams echoed out from the crowd.