Ray opened his eyes slowly.
His mind couldn't work properly for the moment. The pain had gone completely! No matter how many healing souls one used, the pain would continue to live on, and with his conditions, his body had already found some resistance to healing souls.
"I'm not hungry...?" He said with a low voice to himself. Long had passed since he had eaten a proper meal to satisfy his needs; at this point he felt weird to not feel the hunger.
"Poor child."
Ray looked at the direction of the voice; an old woman with a green dress sat on a wooden chair. Next to her was another woman with the same features as her behind a wooden chair. Both had blonde hair and a small nose, with eyes resembling a jade stone.
He didn't answer and checked the room. So much wood was used in the design of the room! In the age of metal, even a small wooden chair was worth more than the payment of a normal person's whole life. The other side of the room was filled with many books. Who even reads physical books anymore? And everything had a color of green to it that was making Ray sick.
"Take your time, child. One of our agents was already in the prison, ready to take you away. Thank god he saved you!" The old woman talked with a warm voice as she took her hands to her phone. She continued, "You are in academia; I guess we need an introduction, but be sure you are in safe hands.
"The younger woman still ignored his existence.
"The warden died?" He asked with an expressionless face.
"Yes." The younger woman told him as she stared into his eyes. "He had two young children and a sick wife. Now they have to live a hard life because of you!"
"Anyone that has a family doesn't deserve to die?" The answer he wanted to give was different, yet at the moment the situation seemed to be favorable toward him.
The woman stood up from her seat: "You don't get to choose who has the right to survive!"
"Yeah, whatever." He turned to the right, looking at the older woman: "Let me guess. You want information regarding the facility."
The older woman didn't look at him; she kept working with her phone. "What makes you think we need anything coming from someone like you?"
"So you took me here to show off your wealth and saved me for no reason. Thanks for your generosity!" Ray didn't wait for his response and continued, "There is a clock on my head at the moment. I don't even know how much time remains until the summoning day so we can help each other. You guys have a healer at hand; that's a rare case in the world, so I'm going to assume you have the foundation to help me."
The older woman looked at him with a smile: "You are right to some extent, but the help you can provide us is the minimum that we need. Why should I waste my resources to help you?" She took her hand to her chin: "Tell me everything you know, and I will help you depending on its value."
"Maybe I should have tried to negotiate with the younger one!" The old woman seemed like a fox with a kind attitude. Ray thought for a few more breaths and answered, "So what counts as valuable information?"
"Were there any marked ones in there?"
"No."
"Did anyone in there have a symbol with a chained crow?"He knew the symbol; it belonged to one of the great families, but he didn't remember which one. With this question everything became clear to him. They probably were part of a great family too, and their goal was not to stop the facility but just to find a weakness about their opponent.
"No."
"So you have nothing in use for me." The smile on her face had already disappeared.
Ray felt like he was being pushed to a corner; he had nothing to bargain with. However, this was his best chance, so he used his last chance: "If you give me the chance, I can investigate them for you."
The old woman seemed to be in thoughts after Ray told her his offer. Meanwhile, the younger woman looked at her mother. She didn't know anything about whatever this facility was yet, but at the mention of another great family, her attention was piqued. This matter ran deeper than she had thought.
Ray blinked, and then the landscape changed completely. He was no longer in the green. The whole world had turned into a vast black fog; in any direction he looked, it continued.
"This is my soul; we can continue here alone." The sound didn't come from one direction; it seemed like the whole world was talking to him.
Ray's hands started to shake; his body went against his mind. He knew if they wanted him dead, he would already be dead, and with such an ability, searching his soul for information was not a hard job. The only option that remained was that this was her goal from the very beginning.
The fog rose from the ground in front of him, taking the shape of a human, soon turning into the woman she was talking to.
Her mouth didn't move, yet Ray could hear her clearly: "Based on your case, even if you survive, you must serve the academia for a decade. I can help you with that; I will provide you with any information that you need. Instead, you will serve under my command."
"For how long?" Ray was going to accept it no matter what; he just had no other choice.
"For the rest of your life."
"As expected. What are the conditions?" His face was still expressionless. Being at a disadvantage meant the other side was going to use him as much as she could.
"Any order I give, you must try your best to fulfill. And causing any harm to someone from my bloodline will mean your death." Ray felt what was wrong at that moment. He was not hearing her with his ears; instead, she talked straight to his brain. The conditions were not that bad either; his only question was whether the harm included indirect harms too."Do you agree?"
"Yes."
She had refused to tell him what she was going to do on her side; however, Ray had a vague guess about her identity. If it was right, she counted as an elite among elites, and any help from her would be valuable.
Once more the fog rose to the sky, taking the shape of chains. Each one was at least five meters long; like snakes, they slowly moved toward Ray.
"I, Cypris, from the Lighthouse family, from today onwards know you as my loyal servant." Chains found their way on his body. His whole body became one with the chains as they ran deeper into his body, melting into his flesh. Unlike his thoughts, the process didn't cause him any pain.
"From chains to more chains." Ray whispered to himself as he watched all the chains fade into him. He didn't feel anything new in his body; nonetheless, he knew they were there in places he couldn't reach.
"All of us are in our own shackles, young man."
The two worlds mixed together in front of his eyes. Again he was on the sofa looking at his new master.
The Lighthouse family was the hope in the hearts of many people that good still existed. They were the symbol of a true light god believer. Among its leaders, one stood out the most. Cypris was the kind soul who gave everyone healing souls for free; in her eyes, everyone was the same. Whether you were poor or rich, a criminal, or anything, she would reach out to help you.
"Rumors are rumors after all." Ray thought to himself while analyzing his situation. It was not that bad after all; even if she was a terrible person, she was not a killer. One look at someone's eyes was enough to know if they were a killer or not; his experiences in prison had their own uses.
The two seemed to be talking, but Ray couldn't understand them, so he just asked his questions: "How much time is left until the summoning day? And what should I do?"
Cypris returned to his kind tone: "First you must go and enroll your name in the academia. One of my servants is behind the door; he will guide you through the process. After that you can go for a meal. The academy serves its students free meals twice a day. After you finish your food, I will send someone to come after you, and he will teach you what you need to know." She drank something out of a bottle next to her and carried on: "Ah, and about fifty hours are left until the summoning day." She dismissed Ray with her hand: "May the god of light be with you."
Ray stood up and went for the door; the less time she spent with her, the less she would be in danger. He didn't know what exactly was meant as a harm to her.
Before his hands could reach the door, a voice rang in his brain: "Also, if you tell anyone what happened, that would also count as a harm."
Ray turned around and looked at her. A warm smile was on her lips as she was smiling at her own son.
A new light shone in Ray's eyes.
He really wanted to kill this person.