While Others Evolved, I Understood Reality

"Get down!"

The police had also arrived, the officers rushing out of their vehicles with their weapons in hand. Adam turned just when the officers raised their plasma handguns.

Adam dove down and rolled forward. But he didn’t dare slow down, crouching as he ran toward the police. Just then, the officers opened fire at the skull-masked man.

A rain of plasma fire resounded across the flyover. People screamed as they ran and took cover behind vehicles and anything that could provide protection.

The police officers rushed past him as they continued firing at his pursuer.

"He’s not stopping!"

"The bastard is at least in the third realm!"

"What’s —"

"Ahh...!"

Adam’s heart dropped to his stomach, his eyes widening in horror. Moments after the last officer rushed past him, he rose to his full height and looked back.

The skull-masked man now looked like a man made of some kind of silvery steel. Plasma fire bounced off his body like ping-pong balls. With a casual swing of his hand, he slapped an officer aside like they weighed nothing.

’I’m so dead!’

With a thundering heart and a body charged with adrenaline, Adam burst forward even faster. He even called upon the wind element to boost his speed further.

Behind him, vehicles and people were slapped aside, their desperate and agonising cries pricking at Adam’s conscience. When he looked back again, all colour drained from his face.

The skull-masked man was almost on him. The officers had been unable to even slow him down! And the rest could no longer fire without putting him in danger.

’What the fuck is this?!’

Adam cursed at this absurd situation and made a desperate gamble. He dashed to the parapet of the flyover and jumped, uncaring about the fall height. But the skull-masked man was hot on his tail, as he too jumped after Adam.

’Damn it all!’

The wind whipped across his face and through his hair as the ground rapidly closed in. A quick estimate on his part put the flyover at a whopping 45 meters high, but that was of no consequence. Adam looked over his shoulder and his terror multiplied severalfold, his heart beating erratically.

Moments before he made contact with the cemented ground, Adam channelled his Spark and used the wind element. With a burst of wind from his extremities, he spiralled and veered to the side, barely landing before taking off once more.

Boom!

Behind him, the skull-masked man landed with a deafening boom, carving a small crater in the concrete ground. More screams echoed as the skull-masked man’s landing rattled the pedestrians who had approached the flyover out of curiosity.

Adam knew outrunning his pursuer was impossible, but he had to try. Sadly, before he could cover another meter, a heavy hand grabbed him at the neck and pulled back. A terrified gasp tore out of his throat as he clasped his fingers around the hand around his neck, attempting to pull it away.

Alas...

"You’re more trouble than you’re worth, kid."

The skull-masked man brought him close, giving Adam a once-over. His silvery metallic look was undone, showcasing his tightly packed muscles and imposing dragon tattoos that seemed to come alive over his steel-like muscles.

Adam looked at the terrifying man with dread in his eyes. Staring at him now, he realised the man was at the fourth realm. There was no scenario where he could defeat such a man.

"To break free right as those boys were about to complete their mission. We truly underestimated you." The man added in a deep voice, sounding almost impressed. "Those idiots did not forget to put the suppression cuffs on you, did they?"

"L-Let go of me." Adam struggled to get the words out, his feet dangling in the air. "Why are you do-doing this?!"

Before the man could even attempt a reply, multiple sirens once again resounded in the distance. The man turned his head toward the direction of the sirens and clicked his tongue.

’A chance!’

Adam dared not hold back. Channelling every bit of Spark flowing through his body, he erupted with a blinding flash of blue flames. The temperature rose to alarming levels in an instant, the extreme heat and flames spreading out like a wave.

"Ah!"

The skull-masked man let go in an instant. Adam wasted no time bolting in the opposite direction. He was not arrogant enough to believe his flames could seriously hurt the man.

"You brat!"

He had barely stretched the distance between himself and the skull-masked man when a hand struck him from the left. Adam grunted as the force of the strike hurled him into one of the flyover’s piers.

A soundless scream tore out of his throat as he slammed into the column, spittle mixed with blood flying out. His body slid down the column like a broken doll, his eyes wide and beading with tears.

"Ah...!!"

The scream finally tore out of his throat with raw intensity. Adam clutched onto his left arm as his agonising cries resounded dreadfully, sending shivers down the spine of anyone who heard it. That strike had broken his left arm and a few ribs.

"Why make this difficult on yourself?" The skull-masked man questioned in a deep, muffled voice as he quickly approached. His left hand looked burned, but that was it.

His right hand shot forward, clumping around Adam’s neck yet again, pressing with a bit more force than before. Adam struggled to draw in breath, his face strained with veins.

The man effortlessly lifted him off the ground and warned in a low voice. "Do that again, and broken bones will be the least of your worries. Do I make myself clear?"

Adam nodded with terror-filled eyes, tears rolling down his cheeks. His only hope now was the police and the academy. But would they make it in time? Would they even bother to send someone? The police were even more useless. There was no hope for him.

Mad fury burned within him like a volcano ready to erupt. He never thought those elites and powerful families could take such extreme measures just to get back at him.

He had not even killed anyone!

The skull-masked man lowered Adam but did not let go of his neck, dragging him along as he walked away from the pier. He looked up the flyover and then bent slightly, taking off with a single, powerful leap.

Adam silently endured the excruciating pain as the man landed on the flyover and quickly made his way back to his people. All around him were burning vehicles and wailing people.

The air was thick with smoke and the smell of burning flesh, the horrid scent making him nauseous. He shuddered at the sight before his eyes.

’T-they didn’t...’

Police officers and civilians lay in their own pool of blood, their eyes wide with terror. The skull-masked man’s people had killed them all. These people had nothing to do with his situation, and yet...

Adam closed his eyes in sorrow, his pain and anger nothing compared to the loss before his eyes. This was his first time seeing so many people die as collateral.

"We’re leaving."

The skull-masked man declared as he walked past his men, his presence overwhelming. The incoming reinforcement from the police would be a troublesome bunch to deal with.

Arriving by one of the vans they came in, the man tossed Adam into the back like he was a broken piece of luggage. He hopped into the back with him and closed the door.

’So this is it, huh?’ Adam thought somberly, hopelessness crushing down on him like a physical weight. ’I didn’t even get anywhere.’

He had dreams of standing at the top, dreams of becoming one of the powerhouses on Earth. But the world wasn’t so willing to allow him to grow unhindered.

As the van hummed underneath him while moving, Adam wondered what would become of his parents. He had assured his mother of his safety just this morning, yet here he was, broken and battered.

The van suddenly came to a screeching halt a few minutes into the drive. Adam groaned as the act rattled his injuries.

"What is it?" The skull-masked man questioned.

"It’s the Special Unit, 4th Lieutenant. They’re just ahead."

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