It was a critical moment.

Varian had no time to teleport and acted instinctively. His arms moved up to guard his vitals while the space around him solidified. A barrier mixed with the telekinetic powers was stacked with a lightning wall.

Boom!

It was like a durasium hammer struck his chest. Varian felt his ribs snap like dry wood as he crashed into a hill.

Kaa!

He flattened the sharp mountain top on contact and formed a crater on it.

"Arg!"

A distinct sound leaked from his mouth as a sweet liquid filled his throat. Without any control, Varian was coughing out blood, adding it to the already large red puddle he was in.

'Move!'

Varian commanded, but he couldn't move. His whole body was falling apart and strength was leaving him with each passing second.

From head to toe, blood flowed out from every inch of his body.

Moreover, Varian felt his vision blur. His hearing also turned vague and he was losing the sense of his own body.

However, his mind was hyperactive.

Perhaps it was because of telepath powers, but Varian never stopped thinking since the moment he got hit.

'Fuck! I wasn't prepared for the attack at all. If I took proper measures, I'd have only gotten a minor injury.'

But right now, he had to stop his bleeding.

Varian channeled his prana. His bloodied body flashed and turned into a tree-man. The bleeding immediately stopped and Varian sighed in relief.

"Roar!"

Following a triumphant roar, the stone giant dashed towards him. In no time, it'd reach him and if he didn't escape, it'd crush him to pieces.

'Boo?' Varian yelled again.

'….'

His heart grew heavy and he quickly used his authority to check the inside of ghost ship.

'What the—?!'

"Roar!"

The hill he was on started to shake and Varian knew he was running out of time.

He shifted his mental power to his storage ring and found a square-shaped item.

'Damn it!'

"Roar!"

Cracks started to spread on the hill.

Ka! Kacha!

It first began at the edge with the land cracking into two as metal spikes shot out from it.

The cracks quickly approached Varian and were about to engulf him.

'C'mon.' A medal appeared out of his storage ring and shot out a silvery light. It enveloped him and space twisted violently.

Kacha! Whoosh!

The moment the spikes shot up, Varian was already gone.

"Roar!"

The stone giant extended its level 7 earth sense and searched for his presence. The reason it was able to track him despite his teleportation was through this. Even if he teleported, a level 6s teleportation range was well within a level 7's sensing range.

"Roar!"

But unlike every other time, there was no sign of Varian.

Kaa! Kaa! Kaa!

The small hill started to break down and a cloud of dust rose into the air. The only thing that remained standing was the stone giant.

Even though it seemed perfectly fine, there were cracks on its body.

Varian…had managed to inflict injuries on level 7.

*** *** *** ***

"Cough! Cough!" Varian clutched his chest and coughed out the remaining blood stuck in his throat.

As he lay in a cave on one of the hills, two potions were being poured on his body by his telekinetic force.

'The teleportation charm…'

When Varian won the solar trial, the Sovereigns decided to gift him privately in addition to the enlightenment potion.

Sovereign Vianne gave him too much money. The bastard Julius gave him quite a few luxurious healing potions.

Ironically, Kreo, the bastard who messed up his memories gave him potions to heighten his mental powers.

Micheal Caron was stingy, but he gave him expensive armor which was honestly useless.

Irene told him she'd assign a prince from the Nial family to guide him from level 6 to level 7—and she also offered to bethrow him one of her granddaughters who also attended the banquet.

It was an awkward episode that Varian quickly forgot, but now that he thought back to it, that girl was looking at him with glittering eyes.

Moving on, Ares gave him a stupid badge. "Take this and come to the frontlines. They'll deploy you to the most dangerous place for your level. Thank me later."

If Varian thought he himself was a battle maniac, this guy was already past the point of no return.

But the one that really helped today was the gift of Sovereign Kevin—he gifted Varian a teleportation talisman.

Looking back, Varian didn't feel like it was that important. He had Boo after all. If he used Boo's one-time teleportation, he could escape even level 9s.

On the other hand, this talisman was only effective against level 7s.

But now…

'Sovereign Kevin, I owe you one.' Varian exhaled.

Then, he checked the ghost ship again.

His brows arched into a deep frown. With his guard up, he used his authority as the owner of ghost ship and searched through.

Boo was definitely present. But it seemed like some 'force' was preventing it from manifesting.

It wasn't just Boo. Even the ghost ship was also prevented from manifesting itself.

'There goes my plan.' Varian groaned inwardly.

Now, he can't play easy mode anymore. In fact, it felt like he had been playing the easy mode for a long time.

Ever since he had ghost ship, Varian had a sense of security. It was even more so since ghost ship also offered him a teleportation formation.

But now, that sense of security was continuously broken.

First, on Pluto by the strange abyssal devices. Then, Julius nearly tore apart the ghost ship. And now, in the Ruins.

As he laid down on the hard and cold floor with a back riddled with injuries, Varian was confronted with an uncomfortable truth.

Ghostship wasn't invincible as he initially thought. Nor could it help him through all his problems.

Despite its great usage, there were things it couldn't overcome.

If there was an absolute thing he could rely on, it was something he seemed to have been neglecting.

'Strength.'

*** *** ***

A/N: Sovereign Kevin's gift was mentioned in chapter 315.

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