QT: Against My Will-Chapter 626 - 12.06 - Dulled Senses - Interstellar Voyage

While Lily pouted in objection, Nathaniel greeted Tia with a slight nod.

"Aren’t you supposed to be on a break right now?" asked Tia Knight, raising her eyebrow at the man and the little girl in his arms.

Nathaniel’s condition came to light unexpectedly during maintenance work, where he was unable to maintain the same pace as other soldiers and ended up collapsing. His physical strength might have diminished, but most still regarded him as a hero who sacrificed his powers for the sake of humanity.

Nathaniel lifted the banana he was holding, "I’m keeping up with my vitamins at least," he said with a humble chuckle. He quickly finished the fruit snack and took a look at the large screens, "Looks like we’re maintaining a steady course."

Tia glanced at the screens, following Nathaniel’s gaze. After a moment, she shifted the conversation, "The big clans are recovering and are ready to take over some of Shina’s influence. It’s turning into a power struggle."

Shina had the largest following in this space ship among the people. Her order wasn’t to defend their current home but to get ready to build a brand new one. With that mindset, everyone tried to save and scavenge what they could during the battle.

Nathaniel’s condition didn’t seem to improve. If he didn’t recover fast, the Hauxley clan risked plummeting to the bottom in terms of influence.

· ─────── · ⊱❈⊰· ─────── · ·

After Bertha had come to pick up Lily, Nathaniel returned to his dorm. Each step he took seemed heavier than the last. Because his overall senses were dulled by the curse, he didn’t sense the hidden figure lurking behind the doors. And when he had finally noticed, his body couldn’t react in time.

His uncle, with a sinister gleam in his eyes, raised his cane high. It came crashing down with a brutal thud on Nathaniel’s head, "Look at you now, a cripple without powers," he said, his laughter echoing menacingly.

Pain seared through Nathaniel as he collapsed, clutching his bloody head in an attempt to suppress any signs of weakness. His uncle’s taunting words rang in the backgromg and soon, the world faded to darkness before he lost consciousness.

Lu Kai wasn’t stupid enough to accept a deal that would endanger his soul, but he was naive enough to believe he could thrive through the curse without a speck of strength, just as his wife would in the past.

In those days, she used to be a fragile flower that somehow thrived in the harshest of conditions.

Nathaniel’s uncle fists clenched and trembled with rage, unable to hide the venom in his words. "You," he spat out, "always the prodigy, always the favored one. Everything has always gone your way. Now, let’s see how they treat you when that brilliant mind of yours no longer shines!"

· ───────── · ⊱❈⊰· ───────── · ·

Dai An frowned at the crack that had suddenly appeared at the side of Shina’s skull, ’What happened?’ She asked Bing Shi to pop a rejuvenation pill inside her mouth and went out to investigate.

Shina floated towards Nathaniel with an ethereal, almost ghostly presence. All the doors that lay in her path seemed to yield to her presence. Before she could even reach them, they swung open of their own accord.

It was then that Dai An caught Nathaniel’s uncle red-handed, ’Hm? Oh?’

Nathaniel’s uncle’s limbs were suddenly seized, and he was violently pinned against the wall by an invisible grip.

Desperation filled his eyes as another horrifying thing occurred. A needle, black as night, manifested in the air, its tip threaded with a long, ominous thread. Before he could utter a word, the needle pierced his lips, and the thread began to sew his mouth together — preventing him from defending himself with a magic spell.

Dai An dipped the cane, the one his uncle used to hit him, into the pool of blood beneath Nathaniel to write a note on the ground, "As his veins bleed, so shall yours, the essence of life and vitality, will pass from you to him, intertwining your bodies until the day he is healed."

Nathaniel gradually regained consciousness. Glancing around the room, his gaze fell upon the sight that left him speechless.

His uncle was pinned against the wall by an unseen force, his mouth grotesquely sewn shut, staring back at him with eyes filled with pain and terror — reflecting the harsh reality of the life force being drawn from him to Nathaniel.

The door to his dorm was wide open, letting everyone see what occurred inside.

Liam was whispering something to Juliet as they guarded the entrance, his eyes fixed on the agitated Hauxley members, "I always knew she was powerful, but this... this is something else."

Juliet whispered back, "Stay alert. The Hauxleys won’t take this lightly." Shina had told them to stay here until Nathaniel woke up, and they were ready to oblige.

They’ve always ’known’ their lady was ’proficient’ in magic, but to witness her effortlessly disarm a member of the formidable Hauxley clan was beyond what they had imagined.

In that moment, Nathaniel’s instinct overrode any other consideration. He scrambled to his feet and rushed out to look for Shina, ’No way did I just miss Dai An in her action mode.’

Dai An typically only showed her newly learned skills, for example her infamous flower shapeshifting. Whenever he asked her if she wanted to spar, she often remarked that she had invested too much time in developing her offensive and defensive skills already.

Shina’s team exchanged knowing glances, then quickly dispersed.

Ever since they learned of Shina’s intention on improving her magic powers, they had willingly taken over all her work to ensure she could concentrate without distraction. They only allowed the likes of Nathaniel and Victor to visit her freely because Shina needed some voluntary guinea pigs.

"..." Nathaniel held his aching head, the curse’s effects intensifying with every bit of strength he exerted. Overwhelmed by his own thoughts, his body couldn’t cope, and he passed out once again.