Chapter 84: Yet You Married Me

Cassian stepped closer while the other researchers adjusted the equipment around them. "Emily, can you show us what you can currently control?"

Emily nodded. "Sure."

She raised one hand, and mana slowly spread from her body. At first, nothing seemed unusual, but the researchers quickly began exchanging confused looks.

Emily was only D-Rank, so her mana reserves were still limited to what a newly awakened D-Rank Awakener should possess. Yet the feeling coming from that mana was completely different from what they expected.

Emily increased the output slightly, and the atmosphere inside the room became heavy.

Several researchers instinctively straightened their backs as invisible pressure spread through the chamber.

Making it harder to breathe and forcing some of the weaker Awakeners to struggle against their own mana.

Cassian immediately checked the readings. "Mana Pressure."

"That’s what I used to call it."

Emily increased the pressure a little more, and one researcher had to take a step backward. Another tried reinforcing his body with mana, only to discover that maintaining the technique had suddenly become much more difficult.

"I could feel it from the hallway," another researcher whispered. "I thought the building was settling."

"The building does not settle like that."

"I was hoping."

Emily lowered the pressure, allowing the room to return to normal. Then with a grin she moved her hand slightly, and the mana followed before she pushed it farther, reaching ten meters.

The researchers became increasingly confused at what they were seeing.

"Mana Projection," Cassian murmured.

"H-How!?" One of the researchers shout.

"A C-rank technique..."

Lucien looked more interested. "She is breaking long established rules... Again."

"This is the part where I start questioning my own life choices," one researcher said quietly.

"Why?"

"I trained for six years to project mana half this distance, and she’s doing it like she’s reaching for a snack."

"Wait..." Cassian looked at Emily. "Can you try something more advanced?"

Emily thought for a moment before nodding. A mass of mana gathered beside her and quickly took the shape of a sword. She increased its size until it was taller than a person, then continued expanding it until the massive weapon occupied a large portion of the testing chamber.

Several researchers instinctively stepped backward.

Emily looked at the sword before casually reducing its size again.

Lily’s eyes lit up. "Can you make it bigger?"

"Probably."

Lily immediately pointed at the sword. "Do it."

Maki sighed. "Don’t encourage her."

Reinhard smiled. "I support Lily’s scientific research."

Cassian turned toward him. "Please don’t."

"I’m only encouraging academic curiosity. This is practically a university now. You should charge tuition."

"We are not charging tuition for ’make the sword bigger.’"

"Your loss. I would have paid."

Cassian shake his head before saying. "Scale Manipulation. That’s normally considered advanced B-Rank mana control."

"Is that unusual?"

Cassian slowly looked back at her. "You’re D-Rank."

Emily smiled. "I know."

Reinhard folded his arms proudly. "She’s always been talented."

Maki glanced at him. "You’re enjoying this far too much."

"Of course I am. Do you know how rare it is to watch my wife casually break rules in front of a room full of professionals? I should be charging admission. Someone go get me popcorn."

"Nobody is getting you popcorn."

Cassian took a breath before looking toward Emily again. "Try something more refined."

Emily formed the mana sword again, but this time she began compressing it. The enormous blade shrank smaller and smaller until it returned to the size of an ordinary sword.

The difference was immediately obvious.

The mana that had once been spread across a massive manifestation was now compressed into an incredibly small space, and its density was so high that several researchers immediately noticed it.

"How is a D-Rank doing that?" one researcher asked.

Another checked the measurements again. "Her reserves are D-Rank."

Cassian looked at the sword before answering slowly. "Her control isn’t."

The room became quiet.

Emily’s current mana capacity was still D-Rank, but her control, understanding, and technique were operating far beyond what her rank suggested. She had spent years mastering mana before her Gnosis shattered, and that knowledge had not disappeared simply because her Gnosis was gone.

Now that her Gnosis had returned, she could use that knowledge again.

Reinhard looked toward Cassian. "Is this supposed to happen?"

Cassian hesitated as he looked at Emily and then back at the readings. "I... I don’t know."

"You run a facility worth more than several small countries and the best answer you’ve got is ’I don’t know’?"

"It’s an honest answer!"

"It’s a very expensive shrug."

Cassian sighed. "I wasn’t there the last time someone recovered a shattered Gnosis. Doctor Vane was the only person present, but he’s dead, and the person whose Gnosis was restored disappeared afterward."

Reinhard nodded slowly. There simply wasn’t enough information to know whether Emily’s current condition was normal.

"Well, I guess we can chalk it up to muscle memory."

Cassian stared at him. "Muscle memory?"

Reinhard gestured toward Emily. "She was already a monster before. Maybe her body remembered. Monsters have good memories. It’s a known fact. I read it somewhere. Possibly a receipt."

Cassian clearly wasn’t convinced, but he didn’t have another explanation either.

Emily, meanwhile, seemed far more interested in her Gnosis. She had been using mana for months and had regained her physical strength, but this was different. This was the part of herself she had lost.

She slowly raised her hand.

The air around her fingers distorted, and a thin spatial crack appeared beside her hand before closing again.

The researchers immediately stopped talking.

Emily moved her fingers, and a nearby object suddenly disappeared from its position before appearing several meters away. She hadn’t touched it. She had simply moved it through space.

The object remained suspended exactly where she had placed it.

Lily walked over and poked it. Nothing happened.

She looked at Emily with growing excitement. Emily smiled, released the object, and then caught it with her spatial manipulation before sending it floating toward Lily again.

"Again!"

Emily sent another object toward her, and Lily caught it as Emily froze it in place.

Soon, the room became a strange little playground. Chairs, pens, cups, and other objects floated through the air as Emily moved, froze, rotated, and manipulated them while the researchers tested the limits of her new abilities.

"Try my clipboard," one researcher said, tossing it toward her.

"Try my shoe," another said.

Several people stared at him.

"I need my shoe back eventually."

"Then don’t throw it."

"I panicked!"

Even Cassian eventually stopped trying to maintain a serious expression as he stood in the middle of a room filled with floating office supplies and one slowly rotating shoe.

Reinhard watched his wife with a grin while munching his popcorn.

Emily noticed him. "What?"

"Nothing."

"You’re smiling."

"My wife just got her Gnosis back and is playing with floating furniture. I’m allowed to smile."

Emily shook her head, but she was smiling too.

For the first time in years, she was using her Gnosis without fear. She wasn’t struggling to control it or wondering whether it would hurt her again. She was simply enjoying it.

After the testing finally settled down, Cassian looked at the readings one last time.

"You’re currently D-Rank, and your mana reserves are still limited by your current rank, so that hasn’t changed. However, now that your Gnosis is restored, you can absorb mana again, refine yourself, strengthen your body, increase your reserves, and climb the Awakener ranks."

He looked at her with a complicated expression.

"And unlike an ordinary D-Rank, you already possess the knowledge and control of someone who once stood near the top of the Awakener world."

Emily looked down at her hand and slowly closed her fingers.

Her future had been reopened.

She wasn’t finished becoming stronger.

She could finally start again.

Lucien approached Reinhard once the researchers began discussing the results among themselves.

"I must say, the rebirth of a broken Gnosis was spectacular."

"I’m guessing it meets your expectations?"

Lucien chuckled. "More like surpasses them. Just the fact that this is possible breaks a myth. Once your Gnosis broke, everyone believed your Awakener life was over."

Reinhard nodded. "This can’t be hidden, I’m guessing?"

"Not even remotely. I’m sure there is already news spreading through the base. Eventually, it will reach outside."

"Good," Reinhard said. "Let it spread. I want a headline. I want a parade. I want a statue, ideally life-sized and flattering."

"I am not commissioning a statue."

"I’ll commission my own statue."

"Please don’t."

"Too late. I’ve already picked the pose."

Reinhard looked toward Emily, who was still talking with Maki and Yuna while Lily tried convincing her to make something even larger.

"It seems my wife’s rise back to the top is going to be noisy."

Lucien laughed. "You have no idea."

Reinhard went on to pay for the treatment which took all of his money.

[$16,175,000 - $16,000,000]

[Current Balance: $175,000]

He was officially broken when compared to his normal tax bracket.

A tragedy.

...

The news was already spreading through Eclipse. Researchers spoke quietly as they passed each other, and the longer they talked, the more exaggerated the rumors became.

"Emily Ashcroft is really back."

"The Awakener world is going to turn upside down again."

"And with her husband..."

One researcher shook his head. "Those two are going to be terrifying."

Another laughed. "A heaven-defying married couple."

"Or demonic, depending on who you ask."

"I heard he brought popcorn to the procedure."

"That tracks."

...

For now, those were only whispers inside Eclipse.

But Reinhard knew they wouldn’t remain that way. Emily Ashcroft was no longer a forgotten former champion. She had her Gnosis again, and once the outside world learned that a shattered Gnosis could be restored, people would start asking questions.

Who had done it? How was it possible? Could it be repeated? Most importantly, how strong could Emily become now?

Once the formal testing ended, the family was finally allowed to relax.

Lily immediately started asking Emily to demonstrate more abilities, while Maki watched with a smile and Yuna continued questioning her about the spatial and temporal aspects of her Gnosis.

"Do the floating chair thing again," Lily said.

"I just did the floating chair thing."

"Do it again. I want to sit in it while it floats."

"Absolutely not."

"Why not?"

"Because I don’t trust you not to try to jump off it."

"That’s extremely fair, and I resent it."

Reinhard stood nearby, watching his wife with a smile until Emily noticed him.

"You’re staring."

"I’m allowed."

"You’re impossible."

"And yet you married me."

"Unfortunately."

Reinhard placed a hand over his heart. "Cruel."

"Accurate."

"Cruelly accurate."

The family laughed, and for once, there was nothing else they needed to worry about. There was no treatment waiting for them, no terrifying procedure, and no question of whether Emily would survive or remain trapped in a broken state.

She had gotten her Gnosis back.

That alone was enough.

Later, when they prepared to leave, Emily paused and looked back toward the treatment chamber. Only hours ago, that room had represented everything she feared. Now it represented the day she got her life back.

Reinhard noticed her staring and walked over, holding out his hand.

Emily took it, and together they left Eclipse Headquarters while the researchers continued discussing her Gnosis and the whispers spread throughout the facility.

Emily Ashcroft was back.

This time, she wasn’t the woman everyone remembered sitting in a wheelchair. She had her Gnosis, her family, and Reinhard beside her, and for the first time in years, she could finally begin climbing again.

...

By the time they returned home.

Reinhard went to the kitchen to begin making smoothies. As he began taking out the ingredients, the familiar System interface appeared before him.

[Investment Objective Completed.]

Reinhard smiled as a second notification followed.

[SS-Grade Investment Successful.]

His smile widened before the final notification appeared.

[Calculating Rewards...]