Bob was dying for whatever reason. None of them could explain why, nor figure out how to keep him alive. But once Epsilon returned back to the room, the spirit seemed to just narrowly avoid the jaws of death. It's vitality rapidly returned, and quickly it was back to its normal state.
Strangely enough, Bob could only survive while in Epsilon's presence. He didn't know why, but all he could explain was,
"It was you. The light that I saw, it was you."
Finding out that the only way this Spirit could survive was for it to stay within a certain radius of Epsilon was the absolute worst news he could hear. Just listening to it talk was already unbearable, but its self absorbed attitude made his ears bleed.
He wanted to kill it, but the other three didn't seem to mind its presence. Infact, they enjoyed it. There wasn't much of anything to do in this place, so he bit down on his tongue for now.
"We seem to be connected by life and death! Don't worry, I will reward you handsomely for your services... by officially knighting you as my noble steed! Now go forth, we shall head to my castle immediately!"
Epsilon gave Bob a serious glare,
"If you're going to be strapped to me 24/7, then we need to lay some ground rules. I won't put up with this any longer."
"You lay the rules? I am a king! A supreme! What kind of a king listens to their steed?"
Epsilons arm shot forward as he reached to grab the spirit of the king, however, it had succumbed to that move countless times already. Bob had studied and anticipated it's arrival the second he spoke back.
With just a simple change in its axis, the spirit easily dodged.
"Hahaha! Behold my unrivaled battle geniu-"
However, he had made a crucial mistake. In his own arrogance, he forgot that Epsilon had two arms, that would both leave the exact same result. His right arm quickly wrapped around the spirit of Bob.
"For a supreme you're awfully weak? Being crushed in the hands of a sleeper. Your kingdom is gone, your people are gone, your wealth is gone, your power is gone. All the things that made you a king are gone! You have no power here! So either you shut up and listen, or just crawl into a corner and die!"
Bob quietly nodded. Epsilon was completely right. He had no followers, although he had no idea of how much time had passed, he was sure that they were all dead.
His soul which was once that of a supreme, was so far below that level, that he couldn't even be called an awakened anymore.
All of his treasures were stolen, or atleast, had lost all value.
But even then, he had one hope left.
'The Jin Of Covet... if I can find it, I can get it all back. I can get a new body, start it all over. I'll build my kingdom from scratch if I must.'
That single name gave him hope. For some reason, he couldn't remember his own, heck, he couldn't even remember most of his life, or what he even used to look like. He just had faint visions of blurred people he couldn't understand, and feelings he couldn't explain but knew were true.
But that name, the Jin Of Covet, it resounded in his mind like an alarm clock. It was the only thing he believed to be an absolute. Just repeating it in his head was enough to remind him that it was his, and it was the sole reason that he was able to become a powerful king.
If he could get it back, he could make things go back to way they used to be.
And the moment he did, he would put this kid in his place.
'I'll listen to you for now and act like a fool.. but mark my words, I will take revenge for this mockery. Enjoy your authority while it lasts, End Of The Unbound.'
The spirit only had an eye for a face, and yet Epsilon thought he saw it smirk for a brief moment. Throwing that thought away, he gave Bob two simple demands.
"Rule 1. Don't speak unless spoken too. Unless you have anything useful to say, zip it or keep it short.
Rule 2. Everyone here is fighting to survive, and that includes you too. If I die, you die as well, so when asked to contribute, you will comply. Understood?"
Bob nodded, the rules were reasonable and they were ones he could work with. He just needed to give Epsilon reliable advice and gain his trust, so that eventually he would listen to him without a hint of doubt.
Even if he did decide to ignore him though, Bob had a trump card that was equally dangerous to himself.
Once that happened, he would be able to subtly push Epsilon in a certain direction. One which led him right to his victory.
'My castle.. I need to take him to my castle.. It should surely still be there.'
**
Ki Song took an old chipped tea cup from a cupboard and placed a light amount of crinkled grey tea leaves inside it. Then, with a boiling hot saucepan, she poured steaming hot water into it.
A dark-hazel colour began to swirl and bloom in the clear water.
She wrapped her finger around the teacups handle, and brought it to her delicate lips. Taking a sip, her face quickly reeled back as she spat it out.
"Disgusting."
Of course, like everything in this kitchen, the tea was outdated. Not that it was bad to eat, but rather it had just lost a lot of its former flavour, turning it into a weird beverage that tasted strangely plain despite its sweet colour.
Sighing in disappointment, Ki Songs attention turned to Smile Of Heaven who seemed to just be floating in the air haphazardly. She couldn't really do much, so she just followed her around all day.
"Aren't you worried about Sylas?"
The white Spirit went still.
"I would be lying to myself if I said I wasn't, but I know he'll be fine. If I'm more worried about anyone, then it would Rudo."
He was meant to be the tank of the Cohort. His Aspect allowed him to negate physical damage, with only the pain being left behind. In the whole school, he was ranked #6, simply due to the fact the his only weakness was being restrained, or a pain so unbearable that he passed out.
When it came to taking damage, he was undeniably the greatest shield amongst sleepers.
Ki Song threw her a look of confusion.
"Wait.. isn't that low ranked girl in your cohort? You're more worried about your shield then her?"
"To be fair, I do have my concerns about her. When it comes to using a sword, she is below average, yet her knowledge in survival basics more than makes up for that. But more importantly, Sylas told me something strange about her."
Ki Song had never talked to Emma, but from her observations of her at school, anyone could tell she wasn't particularly unique. If there was anything special about her, it was her sudden change in attitude when... Epsilon was nearby.
She had completely forgotten that the two of them were a thing.
Noticing her sudden loss of composure, Smile Of Heaven poked some fun,
"Could it be? No way! Well you guys did spend some time alone..."
She wanted to say it wasn't like that at all, but then she was timely reminded of that little incident that occured when they first met.
"Nothing like that ever happened! Stop trying to change the topic! Tell me what Sylas said about Emma."
She sighed,
"He said that she was a liar. He didn't elaborate further on it, and everytime I brought it up, he just dodged my questions. Something about her having that 'gaze'."