in the last chapter, Sam has decided to find his father, but Mercury is trying to stop him. they got through his illusion from earlier, but now are to face another challenge… let's see what happens next
Sam and Elisa are confused as to why they found this kid just sitting on the road, as if abandoned by someone
Sam: "so your name is Kaede huh? how'd you end up here?"
Kaede: "m- my parents abandoned me here because they say my magic is too weak… i hate being judged by my magic quality…"
Sam thinks back to the time he had no magic at all and was treated like a nobody everyone was seemingly free to mess with, feeling merciful for Kaede.
Sam: "hey, no worries buddy, i used to be considered a nobody too! all you need is a Seishin to multiply your mana and you'll be a lot stronger in no time!"
Kaede: "i've been looking for Seishins, but they are nowhere on the streets… and i'm too poor to buy one from the magic amplification stores… can you pleaaase help me?"
Sam: "oh.. sorry but we were actually just leaving our town to find my dad… maybe he can help you too!"
Kaede: "y- yeah! so… Sam, can i hop onto the back seat of your bike?"
Sam: "yeah, go ahead!"
Kaede hopped onto Sam's bike, the three of them went on their way further again, until after 2 minutes or so Elisa started looking longingly into Sam's eyes, not knowing what was going on
Elisa: "Sam… can we stop for a moment? i feel.. weird…"
Sam listens to Elisa and comes to a stop, stepping off his bike, then suddenly being pushed onto the floor by Elisa, as she gets on top of him
Sam: "whoa! what the… hey, w- what are you doing?"
Elisa: "Sam… i don't know where this feeling is coming from… why am i so needy?~"
Sam tried resisting, but starts feeling weird too
Sam: "Elisa.. i- i… nnh.. we… shouldn't do this but… it feels really good.."
Kaede laughs menacingly, before revealing his true identity
Kaede: "idiots! just because i'm weak doesn't mean i can't cast mind manipulation spells! you'll both be stuck here forever!"
but right when Elisa was about to go further with Sam, Zero suddenly took control of Sam
Zero: "make us aware: Clarity!"
Sam and Elisa come to their senses soon after, quickly getting up and averting their gazes in embarrassment
Kaede: "n- no! how?! a Seishin isn't allowed to take control at will! how is this possible?! i knew i did everything right!"
Sam: "sorry kid, but i saw through your act the moment you made a mistake, honestly without it you could've fooled me…"
Kaede: "bullshit! where did i mess up?!"
Sam: "remember when you asked to get on my bikes backseat? how did you call me by name if i never told you what it was?"
Kaede's facial expression goes blank in surprise of his own mistake
Sam: "from the moment you said that, i commanded Zero inside of my mind to take over and save us in case anything goes wrong"
Kaede: "you.. you!"
Sam: "Zero wouldn't have done that nor had he been able to if i didn't command him to take over"
Sam holds out his hand and prepares to cast a flare
Sam: "you get one chance to tell me… who do you work for and why…"
Kaede sees that he's unable to revolve against Sam or Elisa and decides to confess
Kaede: "fine, i'll tell you… what i said was true, i'm a weak magic user looking for power, but then i met this man called Mercury, who'd offer me a generous amount of mana along with my own Seishin if i stopped you guys, but since i failed to do so, i have no more reason to live… you may take my life.. with a flare…"
Sam was shocked
Sam: "w- what?! why would i kill you? sure it was bad that you tried to attack us but i'm not angry at you! when i was magicless i had the same setting as you, to do anything in my power for strength and mana, but… thinking back to how i met Zero, i realized that you don't have to be cruel to be strong, unlike what the norm of this world says…"
Sam reached out his hand
Sam: "Kaede… if you still wanna come with us, we can find a way to make you stronger too!"
that's when tears came up in Kaede's eyes, he was about to cry
Sam: "hey, what's wrong?"
Kaede: "it's just… nobody has ever given me a second chance… i messed up one time at something and i instantly got punished or would never get an opportunity to do something again… and you're giving me a second chance like it's a common thing to give… why? i hurt you guys!"
Elisa: "that doesn't mean people can't change! sometimes you just have to give people a chance!"
Maggie: "well said girl"
Kaede hugged both Sam and Elisa
Kaede: "if you guys allow me then… let's be friends, okay?"
Sam: "sure thing! now hop back on and let's continue on our path!"
meanwhile in Mercury's basement
Magno: "master, i haven't sensed any direct tampering with the recursion field yet, something feels off"
Mercury: "that's okay, even if they passed that, they won't get past my other tra-"
Magno: "yeah… about that…"
Mercury was starting to get agitated
Mercury: "those brats are really testing my patience here…"
Magno: "should we stop them ourselves?"
Mercury: "no, we ourselves need to get stronger first"
Magno: "but we are already strong enough aren't we?"
Mercury: "just wait for the right time"
Magno: "wait too long and i'll do the job myself…"
Mercury went back to his desk and sips his tea
Mercury: "we'll get those brats back… all 3 of them"
meanwhile back at Sam's team, the three of them are now in the village
Sam: "alright guys, we're here… my father should live at door number 2"
Elisa: "in what street though?"
Sam: "this village only has one long street, so it shouldn't be that difficult.."
Kaede points towards a drive-in in the distance
Kaede: "i see the number 2 on a sign over there!"
they bike over to the house and finally arrive there. the three of them walk to the front door, Sam ringing the doorbell. the door opens and a guy with a labcoat on answers
???: "hi, can i help you three with something?"
Sam: "i'm looking for my dad, we need his help with something important…"
???: "your dad? i don't know who your dad is… maybe if you tell me your name i-"
Sam: "it's Sam Hart"
the scientist's eyes widen in shock
???: "S- Sam? is it really you boy?"
Sam: "a- are you my dad??"
the scientist hugs Sam revealing his name
???: "it's me! Eryndor Hart! i'm your dad! god i thought i'd never see you again after your birth…"
Sam: "i'm sorry, you haven't seen me since the day i was born?! i believe i'm really at a lack of information here"
Eryndor: "come in and i'll explain everything to you"
a minute or so later, Sam, Elisa and Kaede sit down inside and get comfortable
Eryndor: "tell me if any of you need anything okay?"
the three nodded
Sam: "so tell me, why were we separated from the day after my birth?"
Eryndor: "we were told frightening news that your body contained too much Mana, too much for you to control. then we heard they were gonna perform a surgery to remove that excessive Mana from you, but something went wrong and they removed all of it… your mother blamed it on me and didn't wanna see me again."
Sam: "wait, so i wasn't born magicless?!"
Zero: "that explains how you survived our soul fusion"
Eryndor: "no, in fact: you were incredibly strong. maybe too strong, it could be that they removed all the Mana out of fear for your death. cause enough Mana can give a newborn quite the seizures"
Sam: "but wait, i recently found a Seishin… why can i now use magic since it fused with me despite the fact that they only multiply Mana?"
Eryndor: "huh, that is unusual… can you show me your Seishin?"
Sam: "sure thing! Zero, come out"
Zero manifested from the palm of Sam's hand, still linked to it like a genie to a lamp
Eryndor: "a black Seishin… Sam, i don't know how you found this thing, but it explains why it got you from magicless to… well.. not magicless"
Sam: "huh? why so? is it like a special thing a black Seishin can do?"
Eryndor: "correct, it's part of it's Spirit Art. a black Seishin can absorb Mana from one person and transfer it to another, it's called Fallen Angel of Freedom"
Zero: "oh right, i haven't told you this yet Sam, but when you adopted me into your body and soul, i was carrying the Mana of my last master with me, but at that time i had no master, so the Mana was starting to decay, and without a master or Mana to live off, a Seishin will enter a coma-like state, only to be awakened after being linked with a new master's Mana."
Sam: "wait, why did you get abandoned by your last master then?"
Zero: "he didn't, i abandoned him… i was disgusted by his only wish for more and more power.. and for what? just to kill and hurt people… so after absorbing as much Mana from him as i could, i unstitched myself from his soul and ran away, i found myself running from him and countless bounty hunters, eventually hiding in that dumpster, until you found me"
Sam: "wait, could that master have been Mercury?"
Zero came to realize that Sam was right and remembered all of it
Zero: "you… might not even be wrong…"
Sam: "well it's a good thing you sided with me then, because together we'll defeat him!"
Zero: "yeah!"
Eryndor: "Mercury… he used to be my student…"
Sam: "i'm sorry can you say that again?"
(TO BE CONTINUED)