` Adrenaline Factors `

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Xeph didn't know what to say in the midst of the silence, so she merely kept her mouth shut. At least, until Eric asked about the ones that had trapped them here. For most people, it probably would have been rendered a 'tense' moment to ask questions, but...since Xeph wasn't exactly what you'd call 'normal', she didn't see the conflict in it. After all, it was beginning to grow a little too silent for her preference and nothing particularly perilous was occuring right now. "Yes, I can tell you so you'll know who we are going up against." She nodded and continued to her explanation. "They call themselves the Hexcons but we just call them shadow kin because they are usually in their shadow forms when we're fighting them. I've never seen their alternate appearances though. And as you already know, they have the ability to control various dimensions and space...but that isn't all. They're abnormally strong and fast, rather cunning too. This alternate realm that we're in right now probably used to be full of life until they sucked it dry. You see, they need life essence to thrive and now that they've already sucked the life out of this dimension, they want to do the same to our realm. And that is one of the reasons why my agency exists--to make sure that never happens. There are plenty of other threats to the world we know, but I won't get into that right now. Our top priority, currently, is to take care of the shadow kin."

The young woman paused, silvery irises locked on the dim glow ahead. She was fairly decent at multi-tasking, so she didn't have a problem with explaining to him all the while focusing on evading the snares. "I have fought with these creatures before. Because of that, I am fully aware that I most likely would not be able to fight the 'ringleader' alone. And I know the leader is definitely around here if this is their domain..." she added, frowning deeply as she glanced down. "That's why...I'm going to need some help if we're going to have to fight them off, in order to make it out of here entirely." As she mentioned this final point, she turned her head and made eye contact with Eric. Apparently she was referring to him, seeing as how he was the only one there with the potential power of an agent aside from herself. Her voice fell back into the dead silence as she continued her moderate pace, listening out for any possible responses to the information she had delivered to him.​
 
Eric had been certain that it were humans that were doing that to them, but as she spoke it felt more like demons. A chill went down his spine as she mentioned how they sucked a realm dry on life. Hadn't he seen that in some alien movie once? Probably. This was things that only happened in movies, not in real life. And still he were there with a girl he didn't know, telling him that she would need his help against those shadow creatures.

'If I survive this then I will never help a person in need again.' Eric thought to himself even though he knew he wouldn't keep that promise.

"Woah, you want me.. to fight? I don't know if you have noticed but I don't have much to fight with." He said as he lifted one of his arms and pointed to the non-existing muscles. "I'm more of a computer guy than a work-out guy. I don't even know the basics of self-defense. I will try to protect myself but I don't think I will be able to for very long." It wasn't that easy for him to confess that he was completely useless when it came to fighting, it kind of hurt his pride a bit, but it wasn't like he could change how he was now when he already had gotten into such a mess.

Some seconds after he had stopped talking he got a bit worried that she would think about him as a game nerd because he had mentioned computers, but he also didn't want to tell her what he actually did when he sat at his computer in his comfy sofa safely in his room. Mostly since she seemed to be some kind of security person and he didn't know how involved she were with the police or the country security. Did they only focus on things like those shadow people or was it also normal humans? Either way he didn't want to tell her that he kind of worked as a hacker and had done some very illegal things even though they had mostly been for fun, he had never really looked at the things he found in the systems he hacked and he never sold any information even though he could earn a lot off of it. He saw it more like a challenge to get into a high secure computer without getting caught. He had been found out a lot when he started and had some problems with the police, but at that time he was so young so they let him go and it wasn't too big things. Now he was much more skilled, but if he got caught he could get in a lot of troubles.
 
Immediately, Xeph nodded her head when he asked if she wanted him to fight. She paused for that moment and stared blankly at one of the arms he lifted, as if emphasizing his physical weakness. "You might not be that strong right now, but you might be. Or you might become faster--it all depends on your unique energy signature, but for the most part, all physical attributes become better once an agent releases their power. I can help you tap into your power faster, so you'll be able to use it to your advantage. Such as the energy ball I showed to you earlier. I'm sure you'll be able to do that too." She merely explained her point rather than judging him on his lack of physical prowess. She didn't think it would be a negative quality if he was just a 'computer nerd' anyhow. Besides, she was a bit of a 'gamer nerd' herself. "I definitely don't expect you to fight as you are now. Whether you knew how to fight or not in your normal state, it wouldn't matter against these things. They are supernatural, so we need supernatural power to battle them properly."

Recalling that she had stopped to speak to him again, she resumed her gradual pace. They were just a couple of feet to the other side. "You know, maybe it was a good thing that you helped me earlier. If not with me, the shadow kin probably would have tried to kidnap you anyway. Can you imagine being in this place alone? That would definitely be bad..." She randomly mentioned this, but it did possess a bit of truth. Whether he had chosen to help her or not, the shadow kin would have wanted to get their grimy hands on him one way or the other. And considering that some sort of aid would be required to destroy the leader, defeat would have been almost inevitable if either of them had arrived here alone. "So...you're into computers? You know, every time someone says they're a computer person, I find out later that they're a hacker and they've blown up at least a couple of computers." Yet another random point, with a touch of exaggeration at the end of her statement.

Actually, she was only jokingly insinuating that he was a hacker. She didn't really come to believe that he was a genuine hacker because, of course, not all computer-savvy individuals were hackers. Though, if she did know of it, it wouldn't be much of a big deal. Her agency didn't really deal with...the normal crimes or acts that could potentially be considered a misdemeanor of some sort. They were only involved when an element was remotely 'unnatural' in it, to prevent the peculiar news from becoming exposed to the world as well. They chose to leave the normal crimes for the police officers the majority of the time. Xeph frowned as she squinted ahead to the lighted door ahead of them. Why was the light decreasing? "Damn...the door's closing. Let's hurry--," She silenced herself abruptly. The sudden dead silence had disappeared for her. Faintly, she could hear vibrations emerging from beneath the floor with keen hearing senses.

'This can't be good...' she mused, hesitating to turn around and look back. It was never good when sudden silence disappeared for no evident reason, and she learned that the circumstances were certainly becoming perilous when she turned around. Glancing back revealed that, in spite of not activating any of the spike traps, the spikes were beginning to shoot up through the ground on their own anyway. And unfortunately, the path of the spikes that were activating themselves were making their way towards them. Instinctively, Xeph urgently grabbed Eric's hand. "Run!" Immediately after saying so, she bolted for the closing door and kept hold of his hand. Thankfully, by the time she had reached the door, it had only closed about halfway. She only needed to duck to get under to the other side, safely away from the spike traps. Just beyond the door, it appeared a bit like a ragged concrete hallway.​
 
Eric wasn't that found of how she spoke about how he probably could become stronger, or get some good physical trait at least. It made it feel like she expected him to do this in the future too. Oh how he wished he could be in his room, or in school, even being arrested at the police station would be better. But he had already gotten himself caught up in that situation, so there was no turning back. And she had a point, they might have tried to get him in the future and if he would be alone he would probably die immediately.

He almost stopped breathing as she mentioned hackers, he wasn't the kind of person that talked to strangers, so he had never even thought what would happen if he would talk to someone that worked with crimes that didn't know about him being a hacker. Now he knew what would happen, he became nervous like hell. "Is that so." He said silently, trying to stay calm but his voice betrayed him a bit. He just hopped she wouldn't notice his nervousness.

She might not have heard him or she simply were too focused to notice at the moment, or she had noticed but were to concentrated to say anything about it. Because shortly after, instead of saying anything about his odd behavior she noticed the door on its way to close. Even though she said that they had to hurry she didn't start to run immediately. Eric looked at Xeph without realizing that the dead silence was gone. Then she turned around and Eric didn't even dare to look back to see what she saw. He simply started running at her command.

He might be locked up in his room most days of the year, but he weren't a slowpoke. He could run very fast, at least for a short period. They soon reached the door and they had to duck to get to the other side. "What is the point with all this?" Eric asked as he tried to catch his breath, his voice only getting half out. As fast as he were able to breath normally he spoke again. "I mean, why even kidnap people to this dimension if they are just going to kill them? Why not try killing them in their sleep instead? It seems like a lot of work just to kill one or two people at a time."
 
The young woman noticed the way in which Eric's behavior had changed at the mentioning of 'hackers', but she did not obtain the opportunity to question it or even ponder about it any further. No, she was too busy concerning herself with escaping the spike pit that decided to suddenly activate itself. She realized that Eric was certainly quick on his feet too, making it far easier to evade the trap entirely. She released a faint sigh of relief when she heard the door slam upon closing. Xeph glanced over to Eric when he had asked his first question. Despite that he had been catching his breath while speaking, she was able to comprehend his words. "...That's a good question..." she replied to him softly. Honestly, she was no longer 100% positive that they had just brought them here to kill them. If asked earlier, she would have most likely stated that they definitely just wanted to kill them the 'fun' way. In that case, what was it that changed her mind on the notion?​
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"Well...I'm not sure if they want to kill us yet. I think they're just toying with us." she began, frowning. There could have been many reasons why they'd chosen to bring them here, but she was still uncertain about the correct reason. "And assuming that they think you already have your power, they probably wanted to bring us here so they'd be strong enough to kill us if need be. When they're in our realm, it does tend to weaken them." she added, preparing to walk forward and away from the closed door. Unfortunately, she was a little too late with moving forward. Just when she was about to re-position herself, she had been hit from behind. In spite of how sturdy the thick door was, a tinier spike managed to force its way through. And since Xeph had still been standing in front of the doorway, the skinny nail managed to penetrate her side from behind. If it were positioned any different, it would have hit her square in the stomach instead.​
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A faint and instinctive grunt of discomfort emerged from Xeph after feeling the sharp, but swift pain. Her optics widened with surprise when she looked down only to realize that the spike currently impaling her had been the source of the abrupt sensation of affliction. "Of course..." she muttered out in a weak tone prior to gradually moving forward. The petite spike eased its way out in an agonizingly slow manner, obliging her to close her eyes tightly. Eventually she had moved the smaller strip of metal from out of her side, covering the bleeding wound gently with her hands. Her eyes were still shut as she knelt down onto a knee, so the situation didn't look very good at that instance. However, her aura also became visible around her form. After about a minute or so, she reopened her eyes and allowed her aura to die back down. She removed the hand from over her wound to reveal that it was no longer there. It was as if it had never ceased to exist in the first place.​
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Although most agents possessed quicker healing rates upon tapping into their potential, her own unique ability allowed her to heal even faster. Though, as most unique abilities worked per agent, it tended to use up a lot of energy. Thus, she could only do it so much. If she were to get hit again, she could probably pull off the swift healing of a major wound once more, but...three times in a row would be pushing it. A fourth time would certainly be asking for a complete loss of energy and potentially damaging one's health from over-exertion. Or worse.​
 
So they were toying with them. That was a nice way of getting rid of your enemies. They were the mouses and whatever was after them were the cats. He almost wished that they would just kill them, at least then everything would end. But another part of him didn't want to die, that part would do anything to survive this situation. Even though half of him wanted to give up and just lie down, waiting for the final blow, he still couldn't let that side of himself win. He had to keep his survival instincts at the top of his consciousness. Eric weren't going to die there.

"So if we just get out of here, and gets back to our own dimension, then we will be safe." He mumbled, wondering how they would even do that. But a sound made him completely forget about the first problem and just focus on the second problem that just arouse. Xeph was suddenly shot by what looked like a tiny spike. Eric first stood paralyzed, just waiting for more to shoot of at them. But nothing more seemed to come.

Soon he forced himself out of his paralyzed state. "Are you alright?" He asked her, not sure what to do. He was almost about to mention that they should call an ambulance but were able to realize where they were before it had even escaped his lips. He also remembered that he couldn't ask anyone for help since no one friendly was around.

He relaxed first when she showed him the wound that wasn't there anymore. Had it missed her? Had he been seeing things? No, she had been hit, and then healed. He had been in such a shock at first so he had barely even noticed the aura that suddenly had started to surround Xeph. "H... How did you..."

Now would be a perfect time for someone to come with a blue and a red pill, remember the truth or forget and live in bliss. Too bad he actually lived in the real world. Going back to how it used to be wouldn't be possible.
 
Since Xephele had been stabbed well enough, she didn't have the chance to reply to his former statement. However, she kept it in mind while she resorted to healing herself quickly. "Yes, I'm alright." she replied softly. When she glanced up from her healed injury, she blinked softly while Eric partially questioned about how she was able to do that. The healing was generally an instilled instinct within her, to use it when need be, so she had completely forgotten that it would probably seem peculiar to someone that was relatively new to all of this. "Oh, I just used the life energy I mentioned earlier. Sometimes the energy instills unique abilities within each agent and my own happens to be really quick healing rates. But...I can only do it so much." she explained, gradually standing back up to her feet from kneeling. "And about what you said earlier... I did say that while the enemies are in our world, they're weakened but that doesn't necessarily guarantee complete safety from them. We will be completely safe from them along with the rest of the world if we defeat them while we're here though."​
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She frowned at her own words, staring ahead into the dark hall that lied behind the unopened door. That merely deepened her frown. "Speaking of which, we probably shouldn't proceed to the next area yet. I'm sensing a powerful presence and it wouldn't do any good to fight as you are. It'll target you more if it senses that you haven't awakened your powers." She paused and scanned the cement room they were now in. "It seems safe enough to stay in here for a little while. Perhaps we can work together to at least awaken your life energy." she suggested, assuming that doing so would make him less of a target. Brushing her palm against the rough cement wall, she looked back to him. "Do you want to give it a try now, or rest a little first?" she questioned, a weak smile surfacing for a second. "I know with everything that's happened, you might want to rest for a minute."​
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Resting here probably wasn't the most comforting of ideas, considering where they were located. Though, Xephele wouldn't have suggested taking a break in the petite room if she possessed the faintest doubt of its safety.​
 
Eric just couldn't take in more information, whatever she had said about life energy for healing had just left his ears as fast as it had entered. His mind went back and forth on believing that everything was reality or a dream world. He just couldn't accept any of them as truth. Xephele continued to speak about presence and powers, things that he didn't even want to know about. He wanted to give up.

But just as he thought of giving up a realization hit him, he didn't want to die no matter what. He wanted to live. Maybe some kind of animal survival instinct woke inside of him. Suddenly he just knew that he had to do everything he could to survive.

"I wouldn't dare to rest in this kind of situation." He said with a strong determination in his voice. He knew what he had to do. He had to survive. There was no time to rest, no matter how calm it was in there. They never knew when something new would attack. "Just tell me what to do and I'll do it." It should have surprised him that he didn't even say 'try'. A word that he usually used when he was doing something completely unfamiliar to him. Because he could never be sure if he would fail in the task, nor if he would succeed. But this time, there were no time for failure. He had to succeed. That's why he would.
 
Taking a break here really wasn't the most comforting or safest of ideas, though the adolescent female suggested it out of consideration. She did not know how much of an unfamiliar and perilous situation he could handle all at once, so to prevent a potential breakdown, she asked for the purpose of giving him enough time to soak everything in if need be. However, Eric's response surprised her. On the contrary, for the first time in a long while, Xephele's surprise was actually evident upon her facial expression. She arched a brow and tapped her chin thoughtfully as she stared at him, moments after perceiving his answer. Then, a smirk returned to her features. "I like your answer." She favored the determination in his voice--in a way, it spiked her own senses a bit--and the way in which he said he'd do it with the absence of the word, 'try'.​
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"Okay, then let's begin. You don't need to do too much. Just stay focused on my aura for now." After saying so, she walked up to him until only an inch of space remained between their forms. She was going to perform a method that would assist with awakening his energy at a faster rate. Hopefully it would help him become more aware of his life energy, making it easier to wield how he saw fit. Silently, she allowed her own aura to spike back up to visibility. It eventually grew large enough to surround his body as well, and that was when she reached out to gently hold his hands in hers. The young woman also kept her optics shut throughout the entire process, still sharing the flow of her aura with him. When a minute had passed, she gradually let her aura die down until it was no more. Releasing a soft breath, she reopened her eyes and looked up. ​
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"There. You should be able to feel power flowing through your body a little better now. Your energy had been dormant this entire time, so it should react to my aura positively. Even if you can't fully wield it yet, the chain reaction will give the illusion that you've awakened anyway, decreasing your chances of being targeted." Xeph walked over to the unopened door, with the new obscured path just beyond it. "You're all set now. Let's go." she said as she opened the doors that led out into the dark hall. "Why don't you try making a small energy ball to light up this hall? I'm sure you'll be able to do it now that your energy has been coaxed to awaken. Just imagine the energy like a small stream, traveling up your arm and into the palm of your hand." she informed him briefly, keeping the heavy door open.​
 
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