The thought of what Ghostwire had to survive filled Leon with goosebumps.

And suddenly, his injury that forced him into a 4-month coma no longer seemed as bad. His was not a year, and besides, he didn’t have to live through the entire period hopelessly watching his body without being able to do anything.

He was stuck in that still, never-ending reality instead where he couldn’t really feel or experience unlike Ghostwire.

To him, 4 months still felt like yesterday. He felt like someone who just woke up from a very long and deep sleep.

But to Ghostwire, it was different.

He experienced and lived through every single day of those 387 days, feeling everything clearly and vividly.

’What is the exact logic behind the Ascended Trial system?’ For the first time, Leon asked himself this question.

’Why are they so random?’

’Is there no logic behind them? Is it truly random?’

’And... what even created the Trial system?’

Daren’s next words snapped him out of his thoughts.

Looking at his friend again, the Cyber Gladiator had a look of respect on his face. "Honestly, I’m not sure I would have survived if I was the one who had such a Trial. The Trials are so random".

Leon agreed with that sentiment.

But then Daren smiled. "But it’s not just suffering for him". He looked at Leon. "Do you remember Ghost’s unique passive ability, Cognitive Buffer?"

Leon nodded. "The one that makes him reduce mental overload from ADE and data streams right?"

"Yes," Daren’s smile turned a bit complicated. "Other Ascended don’t go about telling me their abilities, but Ghostwire is the only Ascended who I know to have a unique ability that’s different from others".

Hearing that, Leon suddenly felt a bit guilty.

Daren continued. "Well, after surviving such a ghastly Trial, Cognitive Buffer upgraded. According to Ghost, the ability now has an active version that’s even more overpowered than the passive version".

"Besides," his face showed a look of envy. "Apart from the usual E Rank NetRunner abilities that he unlocked, and apart from Cognitive Buffer being upgraded, Ghost actually got a brand new unique skill".

Daren scowled. "Can you even believe that?"

’Actually, I can’. Leon answered in his mind as the look he gave Ghostwire changed.

For the first time, he realized that Ghostwire was different from regular Ascended. He should have known all the way from when he saw that Ghostwire had a unique ability called Cognitive Buffer.

’I wonder what his Class Specialization will be at D Rank’.

Daren continued. "Well, Ghost’s new unique ability is ADE Magazine".

He sighed. "The ability is self-explanatory. It gives him literal ADE magazines like cloud storages of his ADE, each one having as much ADE as his maximum ADE".

"Ghost currently has 2 ADE Magazines, meaning he has 3 times the ADE of a regular E Rank NetRunner. From our speculation, the number of Magazines corresponds to his rank, which means when he becomes a D Rank NetRunner, he’ll likely awaken a 3rd ADE Magazine". Daren’s voice was full of envy.

Even Leon was shocked when he listened to the explanation. ’Cloud storages of ADE?’ His eyes widened. ’That’s just as overpowered as a Gene Augur’s Symbiotic Core passive ability!’

For the second time this morning, the way he looked at Ghostwire changed.

If General Sylvari Charr had this ability, he would have never lost to Ren Nora in such a manner 4 months ago.

Noticing his piercing stare, Ghostwire briefly looked at him before looking away. He clearly wasn’t comfortable but Leon no longer cared.

’Wow! He’s even scarier than I thought’.

After that, the group of friends discussed a lot of other topics, during which time Leon finally had time to settle down and organize his thoughts.

Of the many thoughts in his mind, one of them was more glaring than the others. ’The ChronoSystem’.

The mere thought made his heart ache.

By now, Leon already realized that even after 4 months of its disappearance after force-shutting down, the ChronoSystem was not yet back.

Without the ever-present proximity of the ChronoSystem that was always available at his call, he felt empty.

At some point as they discussed, the doctor who already received news that he was awake came to visit them. After conducting a medical checkup on him, he concluded that all his vitals were ok but he should still stay for observation.

In the end, a few more minutes later, around 5:34am, there was a sudden knock on the hospital door.

The door was pushed open to reveal a familiar face with long silver hair and emerald green eyes; General Ren Nora.

The moment the General entered, everyone stood up to salute and welcome him except Leon who was still lying down on his hospital bed.

And then, in tacit agreement, they all left the hospital room, giving the General and Leon privacy.

"You’re awake". Ren Nora said with a smile on his face, clearly relieved. "Tough bastard," he laughed. "At some point, I almost feared you were going to die".

Leon grinned and looked at him. "Heh, you look down on me," he shook his head. "Only if you know how fierce my will to survive is".

Ren Nora chuckled and sat down on one of the chairs beside the hospital bed, looking at him. "How do you feel old friend?"

Leon shrugged. "I’m alive".

"That’s fair". Ren Nora smiled. "How was it like? Being in a coma for 4 months".

Leon laughed. "Just take it like I went on a very long vacation. Honestly, I feel like 4 months was just yesterday".

After that, neither of them said a word as they let the silence reign, each of them engrossed in their own thoughts.

Their thoughts were collectively heavy.

In the end, with a sigh, Leon looked at Ren Nora in the eyes and asked. "How bad is it?"

Ren Nora shook his head. "Very bad".

"He knows that you intend to challenge the 3rd Trial, and he knows that I’m going to help and support you".

"But he’s not backing down," he leaned back on the chair. "In hindsight, I think letting Sylvari loose was all part of his plan to setup the stage for a justified Civil War between the Freegrid Collective and the Omnicore Federation".

"He doesn’t care about Sylvari’s humiliation".

"He wants to nip you at the bud before you blossom while at the same time killing me and ending the Freegrid Collective". He laughed. "He’s always wanted to kill me, he’s just been wary".

Ren Nora’s face became heavy with a frown. "What happened 4 months ago was just him testing the waters, what is coming next is going to be far bigger".

"Also," he smiled darkly. "Though it’s obscured and I can’t read his recent past for some reason, I feel like he has a certain plan for me".

"A plan to kill me".

Leon exhaled and looked at the wall of the hospital room.

’War’.