"After all, it shouldn't take us long to reach the association.
"I heard they had a way to help you.
"As for how we will reach there quickly, I will use my Shadow Jump skill to carry us towards the association at a swift speed."
Neo shook his head instead of answering.
'I was wondering how did he become normal so quickly since he was acting goofy earlier.'
'I guess I was wrong. This guy lost his screws thanks to Darkness.'
Jack sat on the wall.
"What are you doing?" Neo questioned.
"Appreciating the view?"
Jack's expression said why Neo was asking something so obvious.
'...He lost more than a few screws.'
Neo clicked his tongue and sat next to Jack.
"I need to tell you about the Connectors. I couldn't tell you what they were earlier since you ran away."
"Oh, them. I totally forgot about it."
Jack pulled a candy packet – that he might or might not have stolen from a destroyed shop – from his pocket and offered it to Neo.
"No thanks. I can't eat it."
"Fine." Jack stuffed the candy into his mouth. "So, what is a Connector?"
"Someone who can connect to the Akashic Record and access the Records (information) stored in it."
"Huh? Isn't our trial here to save the Child of Mana, err, the Connector?" Jack questioned.
"Then the mission is impossible to complete.
"The Akashic Records haven't been created yet in this era. That means a Child of Mana doesn't exist," he noted.
"The Records stored inside the Akashic Record are 'eternal'."
"And?" Jack stopped munching on the candies while he appreciated the great bonfire. "The Records can't be destroyed. I know that."
'This is going to be hard to explain.'
"Eternal isn't simple. Eternal means having resistance to anything and everything."
"That's why the Records can't be destroyed, no?"
Neo nodded and explained.
"Eternal's resistance resists everything. Destruction, death, time, and anything else you can think of.
"Any type of harmful change is resisted."
Neo massaged his brows.
It didn't seem like Jack was following Neo's explanation.
"Now, what do you think will happen if someone goes to the past and destroys the Akashic Record before they were created?"
"Err… they will be destroyed."
"Logically, you are correct. But wrong at the same time.
"Destroying the Akashic Record before they are created is a 'change' and-"
"Records are immune to harmful change…"
Jack's eyes slowly widened.
"Holy mother of lord… Are you serious right now?! Is that even possible?!"
"Yes, the Records – the information stored inside the Akashic Record – exist beyond time. It is present everywhere: past, present, and future.
"This is an adaptive ability the Records gained when too many people tried to destroy it by going back in time."
Jack finally understood what Neo wanted to explain.
Since the Records were omnipresent, it was normal for a Child of Mana to exist in the current era.
While the Akashic Records didn't exist yet, the information did, thanks to it being Eternal.
"So, where is the Child of Mana we need to rescue?" Jack asked, excited, and thought, 'If Neo has collected so much information while he was here, I'm sure he must've gained the clues to the Child of Mana's location.'
"Sadly, yes," Neo said. "That's why I am joining the Awakener Association. I want to use their resources to locate the Child of Mana."
"I wonder if they already know the location of the Child of Mana."
"I hope they do, and I hope they don't."
The two became silent.
The scorching heat burned their lungs.
A few seconds later, Jack opened his mouth.
"How many elixirs do you have left?"
"You can ask for help, you know. Why didn't you request those association guys and Kane to help you with the Anomaly #79?
"You needlessly wasted your Divine Energy."
"It helped me train. It wasn't a waste."
"No, it was your stubbornness. Fighting against something that can kill you isn't how someone is supposed to train."
"It works the best for me."
Jack stared at his dangling legs.
Both of them were sitting on the roof of a high-rise building, and the view was nice.
"I would've called you crazy if you weren't my team leader."
The two became silent again.
Jack stared at the ground with varying expressions.
It was as if he wanted to say something.
"What are you thinking—"
"I have a way to help you regain your Divine Energy reserves."
Neo turned his head and looked at him.
"Devour a part of mine."
"You don't look surprised."
"A stupid suggestion, yes."
Jack broke the silence as he asked,
"So. Are you going to do it?"
"It's a good suggestion though. I can recover my Divine Energy, unlike you. There is nothing wrong with this method."
"You can't recover your lost body parts."
"I can't, but there are a dime a dozen methods to circumvent the issue—"
He had been trying to talk normally, but Neo's careless attitude was too much.
"You are going to die if we go on ! And didn't you make me devour your finger!?"
"It's fine you tell me to do it, but it's wrong if it's the other way around!?"
Neo's brows creased when Jack used logic against him.
He put his hand on Jack's shoulder and—
"Don't even try to talk me out of this—"
—pushed Jack down from the building.
The abrupt action caught Jack by surprise, and he wasn't able to react on time.
Jack used Shadow Jump to return to the top of the building as soon as he hit the ground.
The rooftop was empty.
Jack wasn't angry since a fall of that level barely tickled him.
However, he was exasperated.
"That team leader of mine ran away because he didn't have a retort...? Is he a child!?"