In Shuren's Office…
Leaning back in her chair, Shuren was smoking a cigarette and the smoke climbed up in the air, Shuren ran her fingers through her hair, and Pixia was looking through a magazine.
An extremely awkward magazine. They were both experiencing the same pressure that suddenly filled the room. Shuren did not bother looking up, she just took another slow drag off of her cigarette, and Pixia continued with her reading as if the pressure had not occurred.
Taura and Esme had been walking around the streets of Tasia looking for her when they both suddenly stopped. They felt the pressure in the air, as if a huge anvil had fallen on top of them. Taura looked back towards the facility where the Sweepers operated and her eyebrows squished together in confusion...
"What do you think Sévon is up to?"
As Assad attempted to move while his hands were pinned to the floor by the pressure in the building, he was unable to breathe normally. Any movement of any kind was impossible because he was being crushed underneath something substantial.
'I can't even get up…'
Then, in an instant, the pressure disappeared from the air. The pressure keeping him pinned down to the floor vanished in an instant; Assad gasped in relief as he was finally able to pull enough oxygen into his lungs to be able to move.
Sévon was still standing in the previous position, watching him.
Sévon came up to Assad hesitantly; his footfalls echoed lightly. Assad was still on his knees; he had to work at getting himself under control; he had just experienced a major physical shock from someone applying excessive weight and pressure to his body.
Sévon paused for a moment and looked down at him.
"....I don't understand?" he continued on after waiting for Assad to catch his breath.
Assad lifted his head just slightly and continued to breathe in deeply.
"You came here as a new agent; full of curiosity and observance."
He continued on as if injured but still interested.
"But now... you're being distant and acting in an aloof manner.
He gave a few seconds to perceive.
"Why?"
Assad continued to be silent, while Sévon rubbed his neck and continued on.
"Don't tell anyone, but some rare Sionels have the capabilities to manipulate two techniques simultaneously."
Assad's face became more focused on what S évon had said.
"Here's wind," he said, showing the wind that was blowing around his hand.
"But what was the other thing I did?"
Sévon lowered his voice a notch.
"What did I do to use as my second technique?"
Assad thought for a second and said, "..."Wind pressure?", which was not correct.
Sévon shook his head and said, "No."
He's hit the ground again and he's immediately back under heavy pressure again, but this time it's an even more intense and powerful force. All the way back down, with a force behind it that would crush his spine.
Just holding himself up is starting to give way to the force on him; he's starting to shake from it. The air in front of him has become so thick that it feels impossible for him to be able to draw a breath. He was looking down at him without any emotion.
"I will give you 20 seconds to do this," he said. "As soon as the 20 seconds is complete, the weight would continue to increase at this rate every second unless you figured out how to stop it."
As the pressure continues to rise, Assad's teeth are grinding together, the weight of the air in the room will keep getting heavier, his vision is starting to blur from the pressure in the room, and the muscles in his legs and back will yell at him with pain from not being able to withstand the pressure on him anymore, as Sévon put his arms together for support.
"Think fast!"
With each passing second, the pressure felt greater and greater, and as it did so also did that of Assad's body being pressed into the Octagon floor. He could hardly get up from the ground, as his fingers sank into it as he tried to move just one inch away. It felt near impossible to even breathe, with his lungs feeling like they were pressed flat.
''Think... What type of pressure am I feeling? Gravity manipulation? Atmospheric pressure? Domain pressure? Killing intent?'
There were many possibilities to choose from in his mind, and none of them matched the sensation he was experiencing. Above him is Sévon, who is watching him with a calm expression on his face.
".... Seven seconds left."
It felt as though that was the countdown leading to his death. Assad's vision began to blur; he could only hear the thumping of his own heart in his ears. Next, suddenly, something clicked in his mind and his light bulb surrendered to the concept of what was going to happen next. Assad raised his head slowly and opened his mouth to speak the word
"SPI...!"
As soon as the word came from his mouth, he lost consciousness completely. As Assad fell to the ground, the pressure on him instantly disappeared. Sévon looked down at Assad's motionless body.
"...SPI."
He shook his head in agreement, saying, "That means spiritual."
With a slight smile on his face, he said, "Good job."
Sévon dropped down to lift Assad up. He lifted him so it the way he could put him over his shoulder, and as he was walking toward the elevator, he was mumbling under his breath.
"...I will be having a chat with Ms. V."
He was squinting at the thought that...
"Maybe he is the right one for this job."
Sévon hit the elevator button.
Ding.
As the doors opened, Sévon stepped into the elevator as Assad passed out. As the doors were slowly closing the arena went back to being silent. When Assad finally managed to open his eyes the first thing he was aware of was this persistent noise.
Beep, beep, beep.
For a few moments, Assad's mind was blank, but it came back to him back at the training arena; Sévon putting that crushing pressure on him like there was a mountain pinning him to the floor.
"Right," Assad whispered to himself.
The sterile white lights above confirmed for him that he was in the medical bay now. Slowly he turned his head from one side to the other to see what was around him.
While everything seemed very quiet, his eyes settled upon a bed opposite him from where he was lying again. He could see Mya was still asleep with a tranquil and regular breath sound beside her on the medical monitors in a bed beside hers along with their rhythmical beeping sounds.
Even though Mya had gone through a traumatic experience just five days prior, she is still asleep. It might have been due to being shot by Shuren or because of his actions when they left there. He looked at her for a short while and then breathed out quietly to himself with relief to see that she appeared healthy. Very carefully he pushed himself up and sat on the edge of the cot. His muscles remain very stiff, but it does not appear any of them are broken.
Just having just sat up, a voice that he recognized was speaking from a place in the room.
"Yo! You're awake!"