Chapter 261
261 Perfection Needs Sacrifices (1)
(Tom’s PoV)
I took a deep breath as I tried to stabilize my self. The whole process of cleansing my body and mind took a lot of time and effort, but it wasn’t in vain. I questioned myself a lot and answered a lot of questions myself. It was a dialog with myself and the universe.
As soon as it had done, I could feel and sense everything in full clarity. My whole body and mind felt unbelievably light. Was it the peak of cultivation a human could achieve? I had no idea. I only knew that what I was feeling couldn’t be felt by ordinary people.
I had just finished the last step of the meditation when my connection with Jane shook in urgency. The image of Jane collapsing filled my mind. My heart thumped loudly in my chest. It wasn’t painful but it was uncomfortable. Something was telling me that something bad had happened to Jane, that I needed to be by her side as soon as possible.
So, I got up and crossed the dimension, heading straight ahead where my connection to her brought me. The link between us brought me to a place I found familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time. Physically I didn’t recognize the place, but the aura was familiar.
Only after pondering a second, then I remembered. It was that kid’s place; the Death Volcano.
Sure enough, I saw him sobbing near a body that looked like Jane. From our connection, I could sense that Jane was alive. She was nearly a goner but she was alive, nonetheless. Her breath was weak, but her vitality was charging up slowly. However, if I didn’t have this connection between us, I would have assumed that she was dead by now only by seeing Putra’s reaction.
Whatever she did that led her to collapse like this must be big. It pained my heart that I was useless to her, that I let her become like this just because of my own stupidity to think that I was already invincible.
Turns out I was wrong. I was far from invincible, even after my meditation. I was just a small creature in the universe. I realized that too late and brought harm upon Jane in letting her do anything all by herself.
.....
“She is not dead. Stop crying.” I smacked his head hard enough to pull himself together and stopped acting like an abandoned child. Putra’s eyes lighted up when he saw me, but he didn’t say anything.
I sat beside her, took her hand in me, and gently transferring my energy to her. It took an hour for her vitality to return to a safe level and her breath to gradually get better. Both Putra and I heaved a sigh of relief. After making sure that she didn’t have any physical injury that would make the moving tricky, I picked her up carefully and brought her out from that dimension.
Putra followed me out without saying any words, but I could see his worry reflected in his eyes. He was even being proactive with helping out. He pushed the door open, fixed the bedsheet, and prepared a comfortable room for Jane.
After laying her down on her bed and making sure that she was in a comfortable position, I put the blanket over her and left the room with Putra. We sat in the living room face to face. There was guilt in his eyes now that he was sitting in front of me.
“Tell me.” I started. Only two words, but he obediently told me everything.
I frowned when I heard the story. Jane was so strong that she could take care of those portals all together. She even managed to handle some high level devils on her own. Her power kept developing in every move that she took. Her experience brought her new information which further enhanced her knowledge of the limit of her power. Her level of managing her power was beyond my understanding of her. She looked so calm and a bit mischievous considering her young age, but she was unexpectedly more serious and put more efforts than anyone I know in learning and discovering her limit.
Jane was in comma for several days. On the next day, I called a nurse to put her on drip. The nurse didn’t say anything and just did what I asked her to do. She even told me to watch on several things and to call her if there was something wrong.
“I see nothing.” She said before she left. I didn’t ask her to do it, and it was weird that she could catch on what was going on without any prejudice in her eyes.
Later on, I found out that she was one of those gifted people. She must have sensed that Jane’s comma was not for any medical reason. Or maybe, she saw something that normal people couldn’t see on us.
A day before Jane finally woke up, we put away the drip and focused more onto massaging her limbs. I had been doing that for days as it was instructed by the nurse. I didn’t know if it would bring any benefit to her, but at that time, I was practically ready to do anything for her.
If I wasn’t tending to her, that I was meditating nearby. Putra would be sitting near the bed to watch on her. I told him that she wouldn’t wake up soon even if he stared at her, but he insisted in doing so. So, I let him do whatever he wanted as long as he didn’t disturb her.
Other than this weirdly quiet kid accompanying Jane and me, there was no one else in the house -which led me to my next question that has been bugging my head.
Where was Sanji?
I thought he was just going out and would return soon. But, it had been days and he had not come back. Did something happen to him during my absence?
It was highly unlikely since he was strong. He might be not as strong as Jane or me but he was one of the strongest exorcists as normal human. He had his own resources and he was smart, there was no way he would be on disadvantages while being Jane’s temporary side-kick.
I had tried to contact Siji, to ask for what had happened when I wasn’t here. Siji, being an indifferent creature as ever, just said that everything was fine and there was nothing to worry about. He even congratulated me on earning a new enlightenment during my previous meditation and said that it was all he could do to help me upgrading myself. The rest of the training depended on me solely.
Then, he disappeared. Even if he was the Advisor of the White Army, I had no idea where he went since I couldn’t sense him in the camp where the army stayed.
He was acting suspicious but knowing him, my questions wouldn’t get satisfying answers.
On the day Jane woke up, Putra was the first person who found out about it. His series of usual cursing and crying even made the Kuntilanak nearby jolted in fright. But, I finally understood one thing after hearing his usual tsundere action.
He was either feeling guilty or worried about Jane, that’s why he didn’t act spoiled and arrogant as usual. He was behaving well, which made me questioned myself in silence for several times whether this kid was still the same Putra Semesta or an imposter. Well, no one could fake the spirit of Death Volcano, so I rejected the idea.
Now that Jane had woken up, he had returned to his usual self -even though the first word he said to her was an insult.
“That woman also said that she wouldn’t die, but she died in the end!”
That woman? Who is he talking about?
Sitting on the other end of the bed, I looked at the gorgeous girl in front of me. “Welcome back.” I smiled at her.
Her soft smile blended with her aura made her glow beautifully, like the description of angel in the movie or novel. “Welcome back to you, too. You’ve leveled up.”
“Well, things happened. Still, I felt bad that you had to close those portals alone.”
“It couldn’t be helped. I could challenge myself to a new limit by doing so.” She shrugged her shoulders lightly.
“And you almost died because of that!” Putra interrupted with a glare.
“Stop saying that. I’m fine now, can’t you see?” There was a hint of helplessness in her voice, but she tried to glare back at Putra.
“Hmph. You’re just lucky. Don’t overly stretch your limit next time, woman, or you’ll die without knowing why!” Putra pushed himself to stand properly while scolding her again.
“Stop jinxing her.” I flicked his forehead lightly. How dare he used that word repeatedly? Didn’t he understand how sacred he was that he might have jinxed her to her death?