The Legendary Junkmaster

During their walk back to Highrise, Jason began to plan out what he would need to turn the Nest into his own secret hideaway. Surprisingly, he had discovered what kitchen sinks were used for as the hidden structure had clean, running water. 

'There were bedrooms with good mattresses and sheets. So it's really only items to set up the workshop that I need. It helps a lot that the place is full of glass containers, which will save some of the costs. But how do I get this stuff to the Nest without being noticed?' 

"Don't worry about it, kid. We might never know what that place was used for." Harry sighed dejectedly beside him. He had mistaken Jason's expression for him trying to figure out the equipment rather than how he could exploit the structure for himself.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, it's just hard not to think about it." Jason lied casually.

After all, it was better if Harry did not get the urge to explore the space for himself. It would become awkward if he discovered Jason's Arbalest and other gear once he stored it in there. 'I need to talk with Dani as well and sort out equipment for the tournament…'

'Wait? Tournament?' Jason's mind reeled as he realised that the start date should be soon! 'Where the hell did the time go?'

Jason panicked as he thought about it. There was bound to be many people rushing to the different stores to buy equipment soon, and Jason had not prepared anything at all! 

Just as he thought that a large shadow suddenly loomed over the two of them! Jason gulped as he thought it must be some type of flying beast that had made its way into Highrise's territory. As he glanced up towards the sky, all he could see was a large shadow floating across the sky.

'It looks like a Sky Jelly, but there's something weird about it.' Jason frowned as he stared at it. Whatever it was looked like a jellyfish swimming in the air high in the sky, but its movements seemed unnatural.

Harry let out a loud nostalgic sounding sigh by Jason's side as he stared at the creature with a sense of longing. "Seems like it's time, huh?"

Jason frowned at his Gramps statement as he turned to study the creature again. It seemed to be getting lower, and Jason could finally see what had been throwing him off about it. 'Is that thing made of metal!' Jason gasped as his eyes went wide!

"Gramps! What is that!" Jason sounded somewhat excited as he pointed towards the creature. 

"That would be Rust. One of the Lord's Five Pillar Guardians." Harry chuckled as he placed a hand on Jason's back and pushed him towards town. Obviously urging him to continue walking.

"A beast is a Guardian?" Jason gasped at that before looking at the creature again in bewilderment. "How come nobody talks about it?"

Harry burst out into laughter when Jason said that! "Of course, there's no beast in the Guardians! What kind of imagination do you have!"

Jason frowned in response, feeling like he had said something foolish, but his eyes did not lie. That was definitely a metallic Sky Jelly swimming through the air. Harry noticed the confusion in his gaze and grinned.

"That there is the Stadium for the tournament. Master Rust is controlling it with his Power." Harry chuckled as he gazed upwards with an expression full of longing. "Some people are just born lucky."

Jason had to exercise his self-control when he heard Harry's explanation. 'There are real people who are that powerful?' Jason was shocked. If that entire thing was a structure, then how much metal was Rust controlling right now? How was that even possible?

'That's basically cheating!' Jason wanted to complain to anyone who would listen. He thought his ability was quite remarkable but seeing a natural disaster like Rust gave him a wake-up call. 'Was I overthinking my importance?' Jason sighed. If the Lord had biological weapons as strong as Rust, then was his own ability not quite pathetic in comparison?

That thought made Jason feel sick. He had hidden his Power from those closest to himself because he had deluded himself into thinking that anyone would want to subjugate him. 'Maybe I don't need to be so paranoid?'

"I think you were right to be paranoid." Syssie suddenly interrupted his thoughts as she glared at the sky. "Your Power isn't much right now, but what would you be capable of once you fully control it? Just think about the things we saw in the Nest as an example."

Jason raised an eyebrow at her statement. Of course, she was right. There was no telling what his Power would lead to right now. He had nobody else to compare himself because he had never heard anything about a similar ability. 

'If someone else ever had it, I wonder what happened to them?' Jason could not help but be concerned by that thought.

"Maybe they died?" Syssie sounded solemn as she hazarded a guess to answer his question. "Or maybe their potential was not enough to create something like me to keep it in check?"

'That seems like it could be the answer. Maybe they just couldn't get their hands on the stuff they needed to get it under control before their brain had a meltdown.' Jason sighed as he considered what might have happened to him if he had not been so lucky. 

"Or there's something worse that I can think of…" Syssie sounded hesitant to voice her next concern. "What if the materials don't exist to upgrade me? What if this is the best that you'll ever be able to do?"

Jason practically hissed at that. He had never considered that possibility! He had just taken it for granted that there would definitely be everything he needed out there somewhere! 'Damn it! I'm already living on borrowed time as it is! That's it! As soon as the tournament is over, I have to start my search! Delaying it can only hurt my chances of surviving!'