The sudden emergence of sunlight startled Orion; however, his eyes quickly adapted, and his gaze scanned the surrounding environment. And it was what he suspected and somewhat feared: He was in a jungle, and judging from the change in weather, he was on the other side of the Earth, still in the Inner World most likely.
'Is this for real? I was attacked and was moments from dying hours ago, and now, I am supposed to survive in a jungle for 3 years? Is this training or torture?'
Orion did not know the answer to the last question, but what he knew was that he trusted Uncle Graves. Though he was attacked, what truly affected him was exhaustion from the seemingly endless fall he endured, as well as the residual psychological trauma he received. But to say he was traumatized would be too much. He feared for his life, yes. He feared losing his stepmother, yes. But he was not traumatized. Given, he was angry and frustrated, not just about the attack but the culmination of all events that happened during the span of a mere week. From the heartache he constantly felt after his father's death, to the fact that a random girl interrupted his rest. All those events led to him snapping at the girl, which made him feel a bit guilty since he was not only older than her but also stronger. Still, he was glad the girl didn't take it to heart too much and didn't go cry to his grandpa or something; he would've been even more frustrated and restless in the future knowing that a 14-year-old prodigy had a grudge against him.
'Never mind, I need to focus.'
Right at this moment, Orion knew what he needed to do. His body was healed, exhaustion mostly gone, and his mental state almost reset.
Orion took a deep breath before focusing on what Graves had taught him when he was young.
'Vantage point, then locate dangers and water source, as well as hunting opportunities and more.'
Immediately, Orion took out his new Starlight sword, which was the same, yet different, and proceeded to cut his way through the vines and branches to reach a hill he could see from his current position.
Half an hour of chopping through branches and hiking later, he had finally reached the summit of the hill, and what he saw was... breathtaking. There, surrounding him, was an enormous jungle spanning hundreds of kilometers, if not more.
'Damn, I can't see the end of it. Where the hell am I?'
He quickly cast unnecessary thoughts aside as he knew that right now, he had to use his current advantage. He quickly scanned his surroundings and found a river descending from a nearby mountain, ultimately reaching a waterfall nearby, whilst passing next to where he currently was.
'I can reach it in an hour.'
Orion looked around and saw multiple bodies of water, some bigger than others.
'This lake is near the creek; if I make camp in between, I can have access to running water to drink and, if luck is on my side, fish in the lake.'
With that, Orion descended the hill and made his way towards his destination.
***
SLAP—!
THUD—!
"M-m-master—"
SLAP—!
"Michael. Tell me, what wrong have you done?"
Michael writhed on the floor of a massive and beautiful garden as he quickly came up with an answer.
"Master... I am sorry, I failed."
"Michael, it is not that you failed that is wrong, but something else."
"... I soiled a tree with my blood—"
The man opposite of Michael strolled across the green and pure garden and palmed the trunk of a certain tree, situated right next to Michael. The man retracted his palm and glanced at it before saying in a calm yet terrifying voice.
"When I slapped you, I expected you to not have bled. But oh well, it seems I was wrong, perhaps I was wrong in other things as well. Tell me, Michael, was I wrong picking you as my Lower Seat? Was I wrong, expecting you to be stronger than you are? Was I wrong, thinking you were talented enough to carry out this mission?"
At that moment, the gentle-looking man in front of Michael looked no older than thirty, but he knew better. That person was not a mere gardener taking care of a beautiful garden filled with the most beautiful flowers he had ever seen. This man was his master and one of the Seven High Seats of the Dark Brotherhood.
"N-no! You were not wrong, master. I was incompetent. I have wronged you. Not only in bleeding when struck and soiling this tree, but also in failing to kill Elisa Constantine."
"Michael, you are wrong yet again. How disappointing." The man sighed as softly as a feather falling to the ground. "Michael, you have done well enough. If killing Elisa Constantine was crucial for the future, a High Seat would have taken action. This mission was merely given out to take care of a witness, but it matters not anymore. We have a mole among us, and this mole talked. Due to that, the warrant level for that woman decreased. Though I am still disappointed. I still expected great results from this mission. Now, tell me, what wrong have you done, Michael?"
Michael wiped the blood from the corners of his mouth and got up to a knee. While kneeling, he thought for a couple of seconds and came up with an answer.
"I misjudged the situation. I thought my plan was perfect. From destroying the descent mechanism to catching up to them and ambushing them. I had not expected Raven Blades. I had not expected a young prodigy protected by 3 Raven Blades to be with the woman. I was overconfident. I should have gone all out from the beginning. As for the intervention of Graves Blade, I do not know how he knew..."
The man nodded slowly.
"Indeed, it is not you failing to carry out this mission which made me angry, but the way you did so. Anyway..."
The man reached towards the soiled tree once again, and a gentle hum enveloped the entire garden. In the next second, the blood which flew from Michael's mouth and landed onto the tree, as well as the blood which was in the man's palm, vanished. Right on the heels of that, Michael felt a gentle breeze pass through his entire magic circuits, and in the next instant, his injuries were gone as well, as if his master had never slapped him to begin with. Michael was in awe at this moment because his master seldom used his powers in front of him; worse, he had never got the privilege of watching his master fight. Hence, he embraced the mana which coursed through his body wholeheartedly.
'I see... I can't get enough of it. This power...'
The mana currently coursing through his body was not any type of mana; it was the mana coming from a Rank 6 individual at the Middle Stage. This was the power of the High Seat of Time—Kaeya.