Beyond Reality : the beginning of the end : Ethan path

Trevor gave no one any time to prepare.

He placed a hand on his pocket watch and simply said,

“Come closer.”

Ethan had no idea why he was in such a hurry, but he moved closer with the others.

The next moment, the house disappeared.

Ethan felt no movement, no falling, not even the sensation of being transported. One second he had been standing in his living room, and the next he was somewhere else entirely.

A massive corridor stretched out before them, so long that Ethan couldn't even estimate its length.

The ceiling was so high that Ethan had to tilt his head back to see it properly. Soldiers in advanced military uniforms moved along both sides of the corridor, while enormous vehicles resembling armored transport carriers traveled through the facility.

The place looked like an underground military base—but one the size of a small city.

The strangest part was that nobody stopped them.

They passed a group of soldiers, and Trevor greeted one of them.

“Morning.”

The soldier replied without hesitation.

“Morning, Trevor.”

They continued walking.

Ethan kept watching the soldiers around them.

He expected at least someone to stare at them, but no one seemed to care that they were there.

He moved closer to Adrian, who was walking beside him.

“Do you come here often?”

“Not our first time.”

“And they just let you in like this?”

“Yeah.”

Ethan looked toward Trevor.

“Is this organization part of the government?”

“Something like that.”

“That isn't an answer.”

“I never said it was.”

Ethan was about to respond, but they reached a massive door.

It opened without anyone touching it.

Everyone entered.

The next room was completely different.

White.

Spacious.

Almost completely empty.

Ethan followed Trevor inside, then stopped.

He looked ahead.

There was no one.

He turned around.

Clark was gone.

Alexandra was gone.

Amanda was gone.

Trevor was gone.

Only Adrian remained.

“Where did they go?”

Adrian turned toward him.

He was smiling.

“Don't worry.”

“About what?”

Adrian opened his mouth.

A faint gas escaped, barely visible in the air.

Ethan froze.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Adrian...”

Adrian smiled.

“Sleep.”

Ethan tried to step backward, but a sudden heaviness filled his head.

The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was Adrian's smile.

***

Ethan slowly regained consciousness.

At first, everything in front of him was blurry.

He tried to move his hand.

It wouldn't respond.

He heard the sound of metal scraping against the floor.

Then he saw something moving in front of him.

A woman.

But she wasn't completely clear.

A gray, mist-like outline surrounded her, and several sharp, solid cables extended from her back. They had been connected to Ethan's body.

He watched as she pulled the cables out of him one by one.

He didn't feel any pain.

The woman slowly put her clothes back on, then raised a mask and placed it over her face.

Ethan's vision gradually became clearer.

He recognized her.

Amanda.

She left the room without saying a word.

Ethan tried moving his body.

This time, he could.

He looked down at himself.

He was sitting on a metal chair without a shirt, his body covered in glowing magical seals and inscriptions.

He raised his hand.

One of the seals moved with it.

“What did you do to me...?”

A voice came from above him.

“It took longer than I expected.”

Ethan looked up.

There was a huge glass window high on the wall.

Behind it stood Trevor, Clark, Adrian, Alexandra, and Amanda.

They were watching him.

Ethan shouted,

“Adrian!”

Adrian raised a hand.

“Yes?”

“I’m going to kill you.”

“Later.”

Trevor interrupted.

“Calm down.”

“Calm down?! You drugged me, strapped me to this chair, and—”

“Because we wanted to test something.”

One of the restraints was released.

Then another.

Ethan slowly stood up.

The inscriptions on his body were still glowing.

Trevor spoke.

“Your ability is excellent for solving problems, and the book you chose suits you almost unnaturally well. But there's a problem.”

“What?”

“You're weak in direct combat.”

Ethan looked at the book.

“I thought that was why you sent me to the auction.”

“No. That was only part of it.”

Trevor continued,

“Your book gives you countless possibilities, but knowing the solution is useless if you can't execute it while someone is trying to kill you.”

Ethan fell silent.

Then he looked at the markings on his body.

“So that's why you did this?”

“We enhanced your ability to use inscriptions.”

Ethan raised his hand.

“I can draw them without tools now.”

“In the air.”

Ethan moved his finger.

A glowing line appeared in front of him.

He stepped back slightly.

“Okay... that's new.”

Adrian called from behind the glass,

“Thank me later.”

Ethan looked at him.

“I'll tear you apart later.”

Adrian laughed.

“Excellent. Then it worked.”

Ethan didn't give him another second.

He raised his hand.

He drew a circle in the air.

The symbols began to glow.

Then Lian appeared in front of him.

She was ready to fight the moment she materialized, her eyes rapidly scanning the room for danger.

“Where are we?”

“An experiment.”

She looked at him.

“Are there enemies?”

“Probably.”

“Good.”

Ethan raised an eyebrow.

“Why did you say that so enthusiastically?”

She didn't answer.

Suddenly, a section of the wall opened.

A man dressed completely in white stepped out.

Several playing cards spun between his fingers.

He didn't give them even a second.

He threw one.

The card shot toward Ethan at incredible speed.

Ethan only saw it at the last moment.

But Lian lunged forward and pushed him away.

The card flew past his head and struck the wall.

Ethan looked at her.

“Thanks.”

“Focus.”

Ethan raised his hand.

“What do I do?”

“Use ice.”

“I don't know how.”

She looked at him in disbelief.

“You can use magic now.”

“That doesn't mean I know how.”

She extended her hand.

“There is water in the air.”

“I can't see it.”

“You don't need to.”

She closed her eyes.

“Feel it.”

Ethan tried.

Nothing happened.

She continued,

“Imagine pulling the water toward your hand.”

He tried again.

“Then?”

“Release it as cold.”

“That is a terrible explanation.”

“Just do it.”

Ethan took a breath.

He imagined droplets of water gathering in the palm of his hand.

Suddenly, a layer of ice formed.

He stared at it in surprise.

“It worked.”

“I told you.”

He didn't celebrate.

He drew a small circle on the ground.

Ice spread around the man's feet.

His legs were trapped.

But the man didn't stop.

He fired several cards in succession.

Ethan jumped aside.

The cards struck the wall behind him.

“Why didn't he stop?!”

Lian answered,

“I said you'd stop him. I never said he'd surrender.”

Another card flew toward them.

Ethan raised his hand.

An ice barrier appeared.

The barrier shattered the instant the card struck it.

“This guy is annoying.”

Lian spread her wings.

For the first time, Ethan understood why he hadn't noticed them before.

Her wings were large enough to carry both of them.

She grabbed Ethan by his clothes and rose into the air.

“Wait!”

“Don't move.”

She flew between the cards with incredible speed.

Ethan shouted,

“How do you do this so easily?!”

“Because I know how to fight.”

“Useful information right now!”

Lian began to tire.

She landed and placed Ethan on the ground.

“I'll keep him distracted. When he's focused on me, freeze his body.”

“Got it.”

Lian launched herself into the air.

The man tracked her with his eyes, throwing cards after her.

Ethan waited for the right moment.

Then the opportunity appeared.

He drew a circle.

The man's body froze from his feet up to his shoulders.

“Now!”

Ethan ran toward him and kicked him with all his strength.

His foot slammed into the frozen body.

Ethan screamed and fell backward, clutching his foot.

“AAAH!”

Lian laughed.

“I thought you were smarter than that.”

“Why didn't you tell me he would be solid?!”

“I was busy.”

Before Ethan could process what was happening, the glass above them shattered.

Clark appeared.

He threw the book toward Ethan.

Ethan caught it.

“I was wondering where that went.”

He opened the book.

New pages appeared.

He quickly read them.

**Flight Inscription.**

**Explosion Inscription.**

Ethan smiled.

“This is better.”

He drew the first inscription across his chest.

Then the second across his arm.

His body began to glow.

His feet lifted off the ground.

“I can fly.”

Lian looked at him.

“Don't get excited.”

Ethan shot into the air.

The moment he raised his fist, a short explosion erupted in front of him.

“And I can do this too!”

But the wall opened again.

A massive stone giant emerged, its head resembling the mouth of a volcano.

Ethan stopped in midair.

“Is this part of the test?”

Trevor's voice came through the speakers.

“Yes.”

“I hate your tests.”

The giant charged at him.

Ethan dodged at the last moment.

His explosive fist slammed into the giant's chest.

The giant only moved one step.

Then it struck Ethan.

Lian flew toward him and knocked him out of the way.

Then another enemy appeared.

And another.

This was no longer a simple training exercise.

Every enemy forced Ethan to use something new.

Ice.

Inscriptions.

Flight.

Explosions.

Summoning.

But his body wasn't accustomed to any of it.

As time passed, exhaustion weighed down his arms.

Lian was slowing down too.

And finally...

Ethan collapsed onto the floor.

He couldn't get back up.

Lian fell beside him, breathing heavily.

Ethan looked at her.

Then he started laughing.

A short laugh.

Then louder.

Soon it turned into hysterical laughter.

He didn't even know why he was laughing.

Maybe because he was exhausted.

Maybe because everything had become so absurd that he couldn't take it seriously anymore.

Lian reached out and lightly slapped his face.

“Stop.”

He kept laughing.

She slapped him again.

“I said stop.”

He didn't respond.

She sighed.

Then she crawled toward him with difficulty, placed both hands against his chest, and pushed herself up.

Then she slapped him with both hands.

Ethan immediately stopped.

He opened his eyes.

He looked at her.

She was glaring at him angrily while struggling to catch her breath.

“Are you sane again?”

Ethan remained silent for a few seconds.

Then he said,

“...A little.”

Behind the glass, Trevor smiled.

This test wasn't merely a test of Ethan's strength.

It was the first real proof that the man who had spent his entire life relying on his intuition could now turn the possibilities he perceived into actual power in his own hands.

But Trevor hadn't told him the most important thing yet.

What happened today was only the beginning.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!