Ray awoke and stood from his bed, his bare feet touching the room's floor. He raised his hand towards a potted flower resting on a desk before him.
Ray's purple eyes glowed faintly, and in an instant, the pot shattered, crumbling into fine powder without a sound.
"I know every technique of Ebon," Ray murmured, a strange realization dawning on him. "All about Curseumans, Spiritumens... he knew it all. My mind feels like there are two minds within my single mind."
He walked to a mirror on the side of the desk and stood before it, examining his reflection. "These purple eyes. Also, my jawline has become more defined, kind of stretched down. My height is a bit different too. I wasn't this handsome."
Ray stared at his reflection. "Ebon usually activates this space manipulation technique without chanting or hand positioning. I have all his experience and a certain conviction that I can also do it because of his memories. But I should try."
He leaned closer to the mirror. "I will not make any noise, dear mirror. Let me test it on you."
Ray's eyes glowed purple in the mirror, and then the mirror itself crumbled into powder.
He sat back on the bed. "So, when I activate any technique, my purple eyes glow. Yesterday, my blood was also purple. Is it the same blood, I saw yesterday in me?"
Ray looked at his hand, and a small amount of blood seeped from his veins. It was purple blood!
"I can use this destructive technique with this much control," Ray mused. "But it's still purple. A Curseuman's blood is crimson, same for Spiritumens and humans. Then why is mine purple?" He sighed.
"With time, I will understand all this. For now, there is something I have to do."
Ray stood from the bed and walked out of the room, into the palace hall.
Ebon's memories don't contain much knowledge about the modern era, Ray thought as he walked. He was sealed six thousand years ago.
If I'm right, if I still have that absorbing power, it works when I kill someone. I have to kill someone to test if I still have that power and if the conditions for absorbing are true.
Ray stopped near the stairs leading to the lower floors.
But the problem is, who do I kill? he pondered. I have the strength to kill, and I could easily kill a servant here. But I can't kill people mercilessly.
He began to descend the stairs. Also, if I killed a Spirit Possessor, their body would still be there, but I'm not sure about that!
On the lower floor, Ray looked around.
"Where are those magical fireflies? So they only fly at night."
Suddenly, Ray vanished from his spot, reappearing outside the palace.
I don't know how far I can teleport, Ray mused. But that Curseuman was 10,000 times stronger than me, I know after absorbing his memories.
Ray turned his head. Nearby, he saw a few servant women watering flowers and plants. Suddenly, a voice called "Ray" from behind him.
Ray turned. Behind him, Ash was standing.
"Seeing how plants are watered, or from where to run?" Ash asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.
"Why do you always think I will run?" Ray retorted.
"Your tone has changed," Ash observed. "Like you got something. So, you got the powers of that Curseuman."
"How... how do you know?" Ray asked, his eyes wide with surprise, a touch of panic in his voice.
"Don't be surprised," Ash replied. "It's my powers that let me know it."
"What are your powers?" Ray inquired.
"When the time comes, you will know it," Ash stated. "But now, we have to go to the Military Sector. I want to see how powerful you are. Will you be of any help to us, when we will need you?"
"You look relaxed, but isn't there a war...?" Ray began.
"Don't worry," Ash interrupted. "The war is over, and we have won."
"We won?" Ray repeated, surprised.
"Yes," Ash confirmed. "Now, let's hurry, because we have to go to the King's palace after that."
With this, Ash began to walk towards the Military Sector.
"I am coming..." Ray said, following him.
The scene shifted. In a grand hall of a palace, a man stood before a group of people kneeling before him. One of them spoke: "Head, we didn't find anything there."
A red aura, thick with anger, began to emanate from the standing man. His face contorted with rage. "What did you say? My father, my sister, my soldier—all are dead!
He kicked the floor, and the marble shattered, creating hundreds of large cracks that spread across the surface. The entire hall trembled. "And you are saying you found nothing there!"
One of the kneeling figures spoke, his voice trembling with fear: "We are speaking the truth, my lord. We truly didn't find anything."
From behind the standing man, a Spiritumen emerged.
"Prince Erik," the Spiritumen said, addressing the man, "I was there when your father suddenly collapsed to the earth."
Erik turned, his eyes blazing. "What do you know? Tell me everything about this."
"It all started when Princess Yuki took a boy with her," the Spiritumen recounted.
"That's why she was late, and she reached there when a powerful Curseuman was unsealed. Because of that Curseuman, she was unconscious but not dead. Yuzuki sent a message to us that Yuki was badly injured. As Master heard all this, they instantly ordered is to prepare. When we were going, that boy stopped your father and asked to let him accompany us there, but your father denied, and they were about to kill him. As we reached the battlefield, we saw that Curseuman eating her. That's why your father became unconscious. He was very powerful; he killed all the soldiers just by looking. I was lucky that I was released from there to run, as I already had a teleportation gate to the castle."
Erik vanished from his spot, teleporting instantly near the Curseuman. With his bare hand, he slashed the Curseuman's head clean off with a single swing.
Body of Spiritumen started to disintegrate slowly into particles.
"How dare you say he ate her?" Erik snarled, his voice laced with cold fury.
"Maid! Clean my hand!"
A maid from the hall came running and began to wipe the blood from Erik's hand with her own clothes.
"Where is that boy?" Erik demanded of the others. "I want to kill him!"
One of the kneeling figures, a yellow-haired man—Adam, one of the three to whom Yuki had assigned the duty of taking care of Ray—spoke up.
"My lord, as he knew about all this, he ran from that castle. We don't know his location as of now. But if you order, I will find him, no matter where he is in the entire Osis."
"He ran?" Erik's eyes narrowed. "Find him! I want him!" He fixed his gaze on Adam.
"I am assigning this task to you. Take anyone you want from the palace, but I want him. If you fail to find him, I will kill you instead of him. Understand?"
"Yes, my lord," Adam replied, bowing deeply. "I will bring him alive in front of you in the next ten days."
"Even if it will cost my life."