Reincarnated as an Energy with a System

Chapter 1998: Farewell, Hyrron

Ning found Larissa and Mira at the station.

Larissa was seated behind a desk when Ning entered, speaking quietly with Mira while several folders remained stacked between them. A male ogre worked with them now that Jack had left.

Larissa looked up first and immediately noticed that Ning had come alone, without his mask or any particular urgency.

"Hey, it’s been a while."

Ning nodded. "How are things here? It looks like you’ve got more people working with you than the last time I came by."

"We had to," Larissa said, glancing around the station. "Jack leaving created a gap, but we’ve filled most of it now. There are enough people here that the work will continue just fine without him."

Mira nodded from beside her. "And probably without us too, before long."

Ning looked between them. "You’re leaving?"

Larissa rested one arm against the desk and gave a small nod. "I’ve been thinking about it for a while. I stayed because I wanted justice for my father, and now I have that. The case is over, the people responsible have been exposed, and I don’t feel like I need to keep sitting behind the same desk just because this is where I started."

"What are you going to do instead?" Ning asked.

"I’m opening my own detective agency," Larissa said, and there was noticeably more excitement in her voice when she spoke about it. "I can use my power in a much more focused way without being tied down by every restriction that comes with working here. Missing persons, private investigations, old cases nobody else can solve properly... there are a lot of people who could use what I can do."

Ning looked toward Mira. "And you?"

Mira smiled slightly. "I’m going with her. She needs someone to manage everything, and my powers will come in handy too."

Larissa gave her an annoyed look.

Ning smiled as he watched the two of them. "Sounds like you already have everything figured out."

"More or less," Larissa said. "We still need an office, licenses, clients, and enough money coming in that this doesn’t become an expensive hobby, but we’ll deal with those problems when they arrive."

Ning nodded, then let the lightness in his expression fade slightly. "That actually makes what I came here to say easier."

Larissa studied him for a moment. "You’re leaving too."

Mira looked toward him with surprise. "You really are leaving?"

"Yes," Ning said.

"You’re leaving for..."

"Some other world."

"I suppose that makes sense," Larissa said. "You never really felt like someone who belonged to this world permanently."

"There are things elsewhere that I need to take care of. Tritus was one of them, but he was never the only one."

Larissa folded her hands together on the desk. "Are you coming back?"

"Probably not."

That made the room feel quieter for a moment.

Mira looked down, while Larissa let out a slow breath and then stood from her chair.

"In that case, I should probably say this properly," she said. "Thank you. Not just for helping with my father’s case, but for everything you’ve done for us."

Mira stood as well. "And thank you for everything else too. A lot has changed since you came here, even if most people probably don’t know how much of it happened because of you."

Ning waved the compliment away slightly. "You two will be fine without me."

Larissa stepped closer and offered him her hand. "We know. That doesn’t mean we can’t thank you before you disappear forever."

Ning took her hand, then Mira’s after that.

"Good luck with the agency."

Larissa smiled. "Good luck wherever you’re going."

Ning nodded once before leaving them behind.

There was only one person left.

He found Jun’Tal on a bus heading toward Restane, where the academy had grown into a proper international institution over the years. Jun’Tal sat near the window with a small bag beside him, watching the countryside pass by while several other passengers slept or quietly looked at their phones.

Ning appeared in the empty seat beside him without attracting anyone’s attention.

Jun’Tal looked over and sighed. He studied him for a moment, then looked back toward the window. He had already heard enough from Emma and others to know why Ning had come.

"Did you come here to say goodbye?"

"Yes."

"When are you leaving?"

"In a few minutes."

Jun’Tal was quiet for a while before asking the question he had been thinking about ever since he learned Ning intended to leave Hyrron. "Where are you even going after this?"

"There’s another being like Tritus out there," Ning said. "His name is Zaraxus, and I need to deal with him next."

Jun’Tal frowned slightly. "Another Constellation?"

"Yes. Another Constellation."

"And after you kill him?" he asked.

Ning looked toward the passing landscape outside the window. "I’ll probably leave this galaxy altogether. There’s someone else waiting for me in another one."

Jun’Tal stared at him.

"Another galaxy?"

Ning nodded.

"You say that like you’re talking about going to another country."

"For me, it isn’t that different."

Jun’Tal leaned back and shook his head. "I don’t think I even understand half of what you’re saying anymore."

"You don’t need to."

Ning glanced down and noticed the ring still sitting on Jun’Tal’s finger.

"How’s that working?"

Jun’Tal looked at it. "Perfectly. I barely notice it anymore. Though it is a little annoying to constantly take it on and off, but I should suffer at least that much, right?"

Ning chuckled slightly. "That would be fine too, but it isn’t as though I hadn’t thought of that when making it."

Jun’Tal’s eyes narrowed slightly. "What do you mean?"

Ning smiled. "Use electricity on the ring."

Jun’Tal frowned. "Why?"

"Just do it, but make sure you keep it limited," Ning said. "You don’t want to zap everyone asleep in here."

Jun’Tal narrowed his eyes for a moment before touching the ring with his thumb. He had learned enough about converting energy that creating electricity was a simple task for him.

The moment he used electricity on the ring, something activated, and the ring suddenly lost all its power. Jun’Tal let go in a panic, and the ring began working again.

"What... what was that?" he asked. "It stopped working."

"Not exactly," Ning said. "The frequency it produces reversed."

He looked down at the ring again. "Reversed how?"

"Normally, the ring creates a frequency opposite to yours, which causes destructive interference and weakens your power. If you feed electricity into the ring, the crystal changes how it resonates and flips that effect, no longer suppressing you."

"Huh?" Jun’Tal looked down at his ring. "That’s neat. I won’t have to take it off to use my power, then."

"That’s just a side effect," Ning said. "What it is actually meant to do is interfere with outside suppression trying to affect you instead of interfering with your own frequency. So if you ever enter a suppression field while the ring is reversed, your power will still work."

Jun’Tal’s eyes widened. "You mean I can ignore suppression?"

"With the ring active in that mode, yes."

"You couldn’t have told me about this earlier?"

"Could you produce electricity before?" Ning asked.

Jun’Tal thought about that, then reluctantly nodded. "Alright. That’s fair."

"Use it well. There will be situations where it will come in handy," Ning said. "I never asked this, but do you want to be a hero?"

"Probably not," Jun’Tal said. "My life’s been hectic enough as it is. I’m fine holding a simple job."

Ning nodded. "Well, be careful."

"I will."

For a while, they sat without speaking, the bus continuing along the road toward Restane while towns and fields passed outside.

Jun’Tal finally broke the silence.

"I’m going to keep studying what Miss Emma gave me."

Ning looked toward him.

"She left enough notes and exercises that I’ll probably be working through them for years," Jun’Tal said. "I still haven’t mastered everything, but I’m not stopping now."

"You shouldn’t."

Jun’Tal smiled. "And I’ll do the academy job properly. If there are kids who wake up thinking their lives are over because of their powers, I’ll make sure they understand that isn’t true."

Ning nodded with approval. "That’s enough for me."

Jun’Tal looked away for a moment before turning back.

"Thank you."

Ning raised an eyebrow.

"For everything," Jun’Tal said. "I probably would have destroyed half my hometown before I even understood what I was doing if you hadn’t found me. Then I would’ve spent the rest of my life afraid of myself."

Ning smiled. "You did most of the hard work."

"Because you helped me first."

Ning accepted the words without arguing.

Jun’Tal extended his hand.

Ning took it.

"Goodbye, Master."

"Goodbye, Jun’Tal."

A moment later, Ning vanished from the seat.

Jun’Tal looked at the empty space beside him for a few seconds before turning back toward the window, while the bus continued carrying him toward Restane and the academy waiting there. Tears filled his eyes, though he held them back.

There was so much more to look forward to in this life.

Ning appeared far above the planet.

Hyrron filled much of his view, its oceans reflecting light while continents stretched beneath shifting clouds. Somewhere down there were the cities he had protected, the people he had met, the academy he had helped create, and countless lives that would continue long after he was gone.

He remained there for a while, looking down at Hyrron one final time.

Then Ning turned away.

He accelerated into the darkness beyond the planet, leaving Hyrron behind as he headed toward the next world and the next enemy waiting for him.

He too had eternity waiting for him.