Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation

"Great! You agree to be special recruited. Shows you got good thinking!"

The H-country military offered really good benefits to attract talent. Raydwin didn't even think twice before choosing, making Chan Layne smile with satisfaction.

Clearly, when General Lee talked about "super strong individuals among Earth people," they meant Raydwin! Maybe they knew about his situation already and saw he wanted to join up. That's why they insisted on sending their own people for this recon mission.

"From now on, you can't leave this base for a while. Get ready for that! First, go to logistics to get your stuff. There's lots of army things you gotta learn too!"

Joining the H-country military meant following all their rules. Even though Raydwin was specially recruited, he could skip some of the steps.

"Yes, sir!"

Raydwin was super excited. He wanted to join the army before but couldn't 'cause of his health. Now his dream came true.

But special recruit or not, they still needed to know more about his skills. Especially since Raydwin was still pretty over weight, even old army hands like Chan Layne couldn't guess his actual level.

"After you finish learning, follow your guide to the training ground for physical tests!" Chan Layne called an soldier to show Raydwin around.

"What's really going on between you two? Since they called you here early, you must've talked to Raydwin alone, right? How'd it go?"

Before leaving, Raydwin kept looking back at Cyra. I couldn't stop worrying, so I pulled Cyra aside to ask privately.

"He was locked up. I got nothing to say in front of others. Anyway, I've said what I needed to say many times. We're nothing and shouldn't be anything. If he wants to follow me, what can I do?"

Cyra seemed annoyed that I brought this up again. But things were getting way out of hand, and even she could see Raydwin's feelings weren't as simple as she said. She just waved her hand, made some excuse, and ran off.

"A beautiful lady, a gentleman's pursuit! I can tell Cyra's not totally against it. If they could get together, that'd be great!"

As an outsider, Chan Layne could guess what we were talking about, even if he couldn't hear clearly. After Cyra left, it was just me and him. Seeing no one talking, he felt awkward and spoke up to break the silence. Then he remembered to ask, "Oh yeah! I heard angels are super rare. In your world, do humans and angels ever get together?"

"...Very rare!"

My head was a mess, so I just gave him a quick answer. Raydwin joined the H-country military and might become important later. Would his ideas affect how the H-country military and angels get along?

But Chan Layne seemed really interested. He started talking big about how if they got together, it would help the two worlds become closer.

This guy's thinking too big. We haven't even fixed the space portal problems, and he's already this optimistic? Suddenly, I had a thought and asked, "Have you been in charge of questioning Raydwin since he came to the base?"

"Of course! Wayne Peng should do this job, but he's busy with base stuff. Plus, the base is going crazy with visitors from other worlds!"

For H-country, Raydwin was a rare talent. Chan Layne, who discovered him, did a big service. He couldn't help bragging, "Without the space portal, Earth probably wouldn't have superhumans like Raydwin. When I found out Raydwin, an Earth guy, had powers way beyond normal people, I quickly reported it to General Lee! Now it looks like his relationship with Cyra is even much more than we first thought. We gotta pay more attention to this!"

Don't know what reward the higher-ups promised him, but after tasting success, Chan Layne seemed more fired up. Since I always liked working with the H-country military, he even tried to get me involved. "Too bad Cyra's being too careful. Why don't you, as her friend, help get them together? They're perfect! As proof of friendship between both sides, they might become the unbreakable link between our two worlds!"

"Really? I think you're being too naive..."

I get what Chan Layne means. If it was normal angels living in Edenmere, who knows! But he doesn't know Cyra and I both came from another world and turned into angels. Plus, Raydwin's no Adrian! Honestly, I don't think they'll hit it off.

The problem is, when this kind of thing gets mixed up with politics and the interests of states or even the whole world, it usually doesn't end well! Forget about what Cyra really thinks of Raydwin. As her friend, I can't just watch things go that far. Gotta nip this trouble in the bud!

"Huh? Why'd you suddenly spread your wings?"

Right then, there was nobody else around the room, just me and Chan Layne. He didn't react at first. Seeing me suddenly spread my four pairs of wings, he was curious and reached out to touch them.

"You know, up close these wings look kinda strange..."

But while he wasn't paying attention, I quickly touched his forehead with two fingers. A bright white light flashed from my fingertips into Chan Layne's mind.

"Raydwin and Cyra barely know each other. They're just a normal tenant and landlord. They only met me and Adrian once. You think there's nothing special to mention, so you won't put this in your report to your bosses!"

I repeated this several times to really plant these changed memories. After thinking a bit, I added more: "About where Raydwin's powers come from, after checking, we can only guess it's because of the space portal opening, for some unknown mysterious reason!"

"Huh? Why'd you suddenly spread your wings?"

When I took my hand away, Raydwin went back to normal right away. But seeing the wings on my back, he looked shocked again. "You know, up close these wings look really beautiful in a strange way!"

"It's nothing. Just haven't spread my wings in a long time. Stretching them out a bit!"

I let out a long, quiet sigh and quickly put my wings away, making up some excuse. Of course, I couldn't tell him what just happened!

That wasn't normal light element magic. It was high-level mind magic!

It's a typical kind of high-level magic invented by humans, but human abilities alone can't use it perfectly.

No doubt its effects are amazing. This magic can easily control, change, or erase key parts of someone's memory to do what the caster wants. The effect is permanent and can't be undone. Since it involves the mind and soul, plus basic moral rules, not many can actually use it, even among angels.

If it wasn't for Cyra, I wouldn't use it in this situation. This magic uses up a lot of power, and it's the first time I've used it since learning it. I'm not good at it yet, and it's really risky - I can't be sure if it worked exactly how I wanted. Just gotta take it one step at a time.

Also, because this magic used up most of the light element stored in my body, and it's hard to recharge magic power on Earth. Especially now with problems with the space portal. Even staying near the portal, I can't absorb much light element.

I figure the only way left is to find Cyrae...

"Alright then, let's head back to the base!"

Suddenly Chan Layne interrupted my thoughts. Obviously, he didn't doubt my excuse and couldn't tell his memory was changed. He led me out of the room, sincerely thanking me.

"Thanks to you and Cyra's help, I found out the space portal opening might affect Earth humans somehow. From Raydwin's condition, we can say it's positive for now. Hope there's no negative effects. Even better if more superhumans like him show up later!"