Steven repeated the name deep within him again. The girl right before him, with long brown hair, was Favour. Apparently, she barely looked anything like the Favour he knew and he only knew one Favour, and that one was dead. So how was this even her to begin with?

Steven took a long look at her features. Young. Beautiful. With pale white skin. Her body was well endowed, possessing a well-attractive shape many girls in this world would pay fortunes for through surgeries. And most importantly, it was the look in her brown eyes, one that seemed rather recognizable, disturbingly familiar, like a memory that refused to stay buried.

Steven cleared his throat and decided to speak, breaking the lingering silence.

"Favour is dead."

Favour smiled awkwardly, her fingers tapping slowly against the table in an uneven rhythm.

"Yes, that’s what you would think. But I didn’t die actually and that is all thanks to you, Steven."

Steven wasn’t buying it. He had no idea how this woman knew him, nor how she knew what had happened in the Realm of Entry. He needed to be sure this was truly her, here and now.

"How in hell am I supposed to believe someone who bled for almost an hour survived long enough to escape the Realm?" Steven stated, his insecurities slipping into his voice.

"Yes, it’s true that I bled out. But you and Drake weren’t the only ones hiding something. I am able to manipulate liquids... in a way, and I managed to keep my blood circulating. At least what was left, maintaining some of my consciousness throughout." She fell silent for a moment, her eyes losing focus as horrid, painful memories resurfaced. "It wasn’t easy... but I managed it."

She exhaled softly before adding with a wide grin, one that held both relief and disbelief,

"Thankfully, you did not kill me to steal my abilities."

Many would have simply killed her and stolen her abilities, especially since she was already halfway dead to begin with. But Steven did not, for reasons unknown even to himself.

If what she was saying was right, then she had simply lasted long enough for him to complete the Third Condition, sending both of them back to Earth, despite Steven doing all the work.

Still...

’She knows my Talent, thanks to Drake’s stupid mouth,’ Steven dreadfully thought, imagining all the things that could go wrong from now on.

In the world of the Awakened—no, in the world itself, letting people know everything about you left you vulnerable, like an open wound before a shark. People desired control. And when they knew your secrets, they would not hesitate to use them to get it. Either that—

or in his case, her Clan, once learning of his ability, would forcibly kidnap him and experiment on his entire being just to uncover how such a Talent existed.

Steven clenched his fist beneath the table.

’So I’m afraid she has to die...’

Clank!

Favour slammed her head against the table in a bow. Or rather, she attempted to bow without considering the table’s position, accidentally meeting it brutally with her forehead. She winced, quickly disregarding the pain as she stretched both hands forward, holding something out toward Steven.

"Please, Steven... accept my gift."

Steven’s face paled at her sudden action.

’Gift?’ he thought, staring at the black card resting in her palms. He hesitated for a moment before finally taking it, its cold surface settling into his hands.

"What is it?" he asked.

Favour sat upright and, with a glassy smile, explained,

"It’s my savings account. It contains fifteen thousand Credits and five thousand Realm Credits."

"What?!" Steven’s face paled further, his mouth falling open, utterly fazed by her words.

"Thousand?" he repeated.

Favour nodded, her grin widening even more.

"Typically, it’s a small fortune. You can use it to take care of yourself and your family. It’s nothing compared to the life you’ve given me. And I will forever be indebted to you."

Steven barely caught the rest of her words as something else completely occupied his mind.

’Fifteen thousand fucking Credits! That’s enough money to rent a luxurious house and feed myself until my guts practically explode—for three whole years. And she’s just giving it to me for accidentally saving her life.’

At that moment, he wiped out every lingering thought of trying to kill her. After all... this was the largest amount of money he had—

Wait.

This was the largest sum he had ever received in his entire life.

"Thanks for this," Steven replied coldly, hiding the excitement boiling violently within his chest. Though his face remained controlled, his eyes betrayed him and at that, the young woman laughed softly, covering her lips with her fingers.

"Anything I can do to help, I would," Favour added.

Steven nodded, and as the excitement slowly faded, he said,

"Please keep the secret of my ability to yourself. I can’t risk people knowing about it just yet."

Favour hesitated for a moment before nodding in response, agreeing to hold his secrets to herself alone. Everyone had secrets, and trusting others often led to those secrets being exposed. But Favour had already resolved herself. Even if it meant death, she would die carrying Steven’s command.

She rose to her feet and smiled once again at Steven, turning as if to leave. But before she did, she stopped and leaned forward, placing her hands roughly against the surface of the table.

"Is Drake still..."

She didn’t finish the sentence. She didn’t need to.

Steven shook his head.

"I killed him."

She nodded slowly, pulling back from the table and standing upright. Her expression was conflicted, worried and relieved at the same time. Steven could tell why she felt relief: the man who had killed her did not walk out of the Realm untouched. He was dead, lost to the calamity of the Realm of Entry. But her worry... that was something else entirely.

Steven waited, allowing her to gather herself at her own pace. It took a while.

"If you want to prolong your life, Steven," Favour finally said, her voice dark and edged with warning, not from her, but from the unseen threat behind her words. "Never speak of what you’ve done in the Realm of Entry. Especially what you did to Drake. What is done in the Realm stays in the Realm."

Steven nodded slowly, his voice grim as he repeated,

"What is done in the Realm stays in the Realm."

***

It was finally morning again, and as early as Steven could wake up, he rose from his bed immediately, tearing himself away from the comforting softness of the mattress. He yawned, sitting upright, his back slightly hunched as sleep slowly released its grip on him.

It’s finally time.

He thought as he walked toward the bathroom of the room and took a shower. The warm water cascaded over his skin, washing away the remnants of exhaustion and unease that had clung to him since the Realm of Entry. Afterward, he came out and got a change of clothes from his wardrobe. Apparently, all the clothes there were almost a perfect fit for Steven. They must have really made this room specifically for him—probably something the government did for all Marked before they even came back from the Realm of Entry.

After picking a total black hooded sweater and trousers to match his black, silky hair, he was finally ready.

Taking a few glances at his room one last time, Steven placed his fingers on his sigil and willed it to take him to the Sanctuary.

{Lobby: First Sanctuary}

A bright light shone, swallowing his vision, and in the next moment Steven appeared in the First Sanctuary, exactly at the same spot where he and Richard had stood the first time he entered this place. This was how the Sanctuary worked; it had particular respawn spots where people would appear, avoiding the disorientation of returning people to wherever they had last been.

Steven sighed and hurried forward toward the flight of stairs. This time, he was faster in scaling them, not wasting a single second looking around in interest at the surroundings that had once left him awestruck.

He had six hours and very much intended to make use of them crucially.

He activated the digital map on his room card, which he had already figured out the other day after careful fiddling and watching other people activate theirs. Using the map, he quickly made his way out of the temple and toward the next section of the Sanctuary.

The next section was like a village, with many well-crafted houses standing neatly along stone-paved paths. Each one looked to be selling something, ranging from small stalls to larger, more imposing buildings. Around them were numbers of Awakened, searching for things to involve themselves in learning within the First Sanctuary. It was crowded, but not enough to make it look rowdy, he guessed there was an underlying order to the chaos.

Steven immediately moved down the last flight of stairs, reaching the rock-hard ground of the village. Now, he slowed his pace, moving through the road, his eyes scanning from stall to stall and house to house, searching for something that could interest him in learning.

***Author’s note***

Almost made a big mistake of releasing a wrong Chapter. If you read the Chapter before correction I’m sorry. Pls keep reading.