by L. M. Kerr
Micheal smiled. Right after that, he closed his eyes and sat back down, assuming a meditative pose. He began to breathe in deeply, focusing on his body.
Slowly, Micheal’s senses began to expand as he looked himself over. He could see the lines of green energy that ran through his veins, the Ki Energy from his Ki Cultivation supporting and empowering his flesh.
As he scanned his body, he slowly began to see another type of energy spread throughout all of him. This energy held a golden hue and was concentrated in and around the various muscle groups in his body and his bones.
The more he looked at the energy, the more and more real it began to seem.
After a few moments, he realized that this wasn’t an illusion. The energy was visibly becoming denser and more concentrated, though he couldn’t feel it himself. He could only sense it when he focused.
From what he knew, he could roughly determine what was happening here.
After he successfully weathered the horrific transition period, Yvvtal managed to transmit his Spirit Body onto Micheal’s body.
Micheal knew from history that Yvvtal currently was in a ‘Spirit Body’ form. The Fallen Deity was left with only a fragment of his once-mighty Soul, using a complex construct of energy to house his consciousness and prevent it from withering away.
For Yvvtal to take control of another body, he would first need to implant his Spirit Body in that person’s body. From there, he would be able to gradually seize control in various ways. Of course, even when weakened, Yvvtal’s Soul was very powerful and unique. Very few bodies besides a Toren body would be able to house it without taking damage.
Indeed, Micheal could already feel a slightly uncomfortable feeling in his body from the framework of energy that was now planted within him. It was just a feeling right now, but he could already tell that his body would eventually begin to accumulate damage.
Of course, given that he could just regenerate anytime he wanted, that damage was likely meaningless.
‘If I respawn, will Yvvtal’s energy frame still be within me?’ Micheal wasn’t 100% sure when it came to this.
After all, whenever he came back to life, his physical body would be fully restored. The Ki within his body was a type of energy, and even if it was blown away, say, by an explosion that killed him, it would also come back when he respawned. It was only when he himself used the Ki that it would vanish until he got some rest.
If Yvvtal’s implanted Spirit Body was treated like Micheal’s Ki Energy, it would remain even if he regenerated. If it was treated like regular energy, say, from an attacking enemy, it would vanish.
Micheal felt it more likely that the first option was going to be the case, but he wouldn’t discount the latter. His Ability was mystifying in more ways than one; it wouldn’t surprise him if he was completely wrong.
Regardless… Now he had The Destroyer right where he wanted him.
While Yvvtal was still stabilizing his Spirit Body, Micheal leapt into action.
The first thing he did was open up his Spatial Ring.
From within it, he pulled out a small, glass vial about half the size of his palm. Within this glass container was a red liquid glimmering silently. It was a dark red, so dark it looked closer to black than any normal shade of red.
He quickly opened up the vial and downed the contents, not hesitating even a split second. He grimaced as he swallowed the liquid, the vile taste causing him to wince slightly.
Right after that, he stored the vial back in his Spatial Ring and returned to his meditation, acting as if nothing had happened. He quickly returned his focus back towards Yvvtal’s Spirit Body, observing its motion.
Gradually, apart from the vaguely uncomfortable feeling it caused, Micheal was able to sense the lines of energy settling within him more directly. That energy seemed to meld with his body in a synergistic way. He felt as if he had become stronger, and that he would continue to grow stronger as time went on.
Finally, after around 12 minutes…
Yvvtal’s Spirit Body finished settling in. The moment it did, a small flash of energy glowed from Micheal’s eyes.
‘Greetings, mortal.’ A grand voice sounded off within Micheal’s head, giving off a powerful and authoritative aura.
“Greetings, Yvvtal.” Micheal calmly returned an equal greeting, his voice sounding practically regal with the confidence he held.
There was no longer a reason to hide his knowledge or pretend to be naive. Lacking that, he might as well get this conversation started on the right foot. It would also help later.
‘Hmm? You don’t seem to be surprised by my presence. How beyond the norm.’ A hint of confusion spread within Yvvtal’s faceless voice as the Toren replied.
“Indeed. To graft your Spirit Body onto me under the ruse of free aid was clever, but your overconfidence has become your downfall.” Micheal began to grandstand, building up an image of a slightly arrogant expert.
‘I see.’ Yvvtal was silent for a moment,
‘I’m not sure how you figured this out, but whatever you’re trying to do here, young warrior, it’s useless now.’ All of a sudden, shocking energy ran through Micheal’s body. The lines of energy that composed Yvvtal’s Spirit Body were giving off faint sparks of power that energized various points within Micheal.
This caused his entire body to shake with pain, forcing him to freeze up for several seconds. Tears leaked from his eyes in an unconscious response as he gasped out loud, unable to help himself.
Gradually, that pain died down and vanished as Micheal regained control, leaving him with his chest heaving as he took in air.
‘You and I may now share the same body, but do not mistake that for us being equals.’ Yvvtal’s voice boomed within Micheal’s head once more, brooking no argument whatsoever.
Micheal, however, only smiled as he heard this. He ignored the faint after-effects of the shocking assault as he crossed his legs and got comfortable.
“Yvvtal, Yvvtal, my Toren friend. It is you who does not understand things.” Micheal moved his hand over to his chest and tapped on his heart,
“Take a look at the body you have implanted yourself in.”
Yvvtal remained silent for several seconds. Micheal couldn’t sense what the ancient Toren was thinking or doing, but he could guess that the Toren was doubtlessly confused. In the first place, Micheal shouldn’t have been aware of what the Fallen Deity was trying to do.
Several more seconds passed. Just when Micheal was beginning to think he’d have to speak again, an outraged yell blasted into his mind.
‘What in the- What have you done?!’ Micheal winced as he felt the full force of this yell, the energy imbued within it enough to make him squirm.
“Ah, yes. About that…”
Within Micheal’s body, faint red particles were currently spreading complexly within him. These particles were a jumbled collection, some glowing in large clumps, while other pulsed in smaller ones. A large number of them were present in Micheal’s stomach, but plenty more had spread from there into his intestines and permeated into his bloodstream.
“That would be poison. Several deadly poisons.” Micheal’s smile widened,
“While you were stabilizing your Spirit Body, I went and severely poisoned myself.”
Yvvtal didn’t respond, so completely at a loss that he was unable to think of anything to say.
Before Micheal had entered into Yvvtal’s Inheritance, he had made certain preparations in light of what was to come. One of those was to gather up a number of lethal poisons, using Simone’s control of various snakes to make the job easy. She’d been all-too-willing to help him out when he mentioned that the favor involved helping obtain a cure for them.
And now he’d swallowed a combination of 7 different types of venomous poisons, each ones that merely needed contact with any type of mucous membrane to take effect, including but not limited to the linings of his throat, intestines, or mouth.
He was now well and thoroughly
poisoned with a large collection of clashing, magical poisons.
A rush of energy abruptly rushed into Micheal’s body out of nowhere. This energy flooded his veins and began to empower his body, trying to heal him.
However, the poisons he’d been poisoned with were completely ignored by that energy.
In the Ancient World, there was no such thing as ‘healing magic.’ The only way ‘Ki Energy’ could be used to heal someone was by pouring it into another person’s body to stimulate their body and enhance their Recovery, which had minimal effects at best. There was no true way to cast any type of healing Spell or anything of that nature, with a few exceptions in some Rakkonian Wizards, certain Farian Blood Masters, and humans that had a healing Ability from the Shop.
The Torens had, on the other hand, discovered several different systems of Magic and powers that existed. The so-called Divine Language, or High Divine, was the most prominent of these, but its usages lay in creating Artifacts or large, stationary buildings or objects.
When it came to individual, personal use, it had few powers.
And with the slew of poisons Micheal was now slowly dying of, it didn’t matter how much energy was poured into him. His body lay helpless before this onslaught of toxins.
“Hup.” Micheal coughed out loud as he spat up a small portion of blood. The violent regeneration forced upon him by Yvvtal was doing its best to combat these poisons as they began to damage his body, but it wasn’t enough. All it could do was treat the symptoms.
Half a minute passed as this energy poured into him unceasingly. The magical poisons within Micheal’s veins continued to spread and ravage him, though the damage they left was limited thanks to Yvvtal’s efforts. However, this wasn’t something that could go on forever.
After a couple more minutes passed with no apparent signs of recovery, and visible signs of Micheal’s condition worsening, a voice blazed into Micheal’s consciousness once more.
‘How can you call this a victory if you cannot walk away from it alive? You may have defeated my plans here, but I will always have other targets to work with, while you will die alone and unknown.’ Yvvtal didn’t waste time trying to cajole Micheal, and instead appeared to be trying to appease his arrogance.
Micheal was well aware that this type of magical implantation was one that could not be quickly, or easily, reversed. Yvvtal would need time to build his strength up before he could separate again. While he might be acting like he would be fine if Micheal died, Yvvtal would almost certainly suffer extreme injuries to his Spirit Body, and his Soul remnant here would likely perish as a result.
“I would rather die on my feet than live as a slave, even if I do have an antidote.” Micheal replied, coughing blood anew as his body shivered. His voice was imbued with determination, making it very clear that he would not break. Given all he had to endure to successfully let Yvvtal transfer without going insane, the ancient Toren would know his threat was a real one.
Simone had provided him with the antidotes to these poisons. In fact, he had limited himself to only poisons Simone had the antidote to. Otherwise, if he got asked about that, he would have no way to honestly answer Yvvtal.
In combination, the poisons seemed to be more potent than he had expected. That, or Yvvtal’s forceful regeneration was damaging his body due to an influx of energy. Probably a mix of both.
Micheal sensed something rather odd, a feeling of Yvvtal grinding his teeth, passed on through a wave of energy that he interpreted. It was an odd feeling to sense to say the least, one that vanished almost immediately, as if Yvvtal had let it out on accident.
‘Are you really willing to die here?! Are you just going to give up on your entire life, all your dreams? All your goals? Your desires?’ Yvvtal took another tack, doing his best to almost-benevolently convince Micheal not to commit suicide.
Micheal visibly paused, a frown appearing on his face. His mouth twisted, however, as if he was struggling in thought. After a few moments, he glanced down at the Contract Seals lying on the floor just a meter away.
Yvvtal’s voice immediately jumped in,
‘Yes, how about we sign a Contract? I can refund you another Contract Seal from the Treasure Hall. I will help you obtain the power you seek, and in return all you need to do is get stronger. It will be an equal partnership!’ The ancient Toren seized upon the loose Artifact like a man dying of thirst in the desert grasping onto a skin of water.
“Ugh…” Micheal groaned, clutching at his heart. The movement was theatrics, but the pain was very real. As of right now, though, physical pain had very little effect on him.
“I don’t know…” He muttered, his voice unsure as he picked up one of the Contract Seals.
‘Look here, I will go first!’ Yvvtal didn’t give Micheal time to react as he sent out a strand of energy through Micheal’s body,
The Contract Seal immediately began to glow. Ancient, white symbols fluttered on its surface as magical lines started to activate.
Contract Seals were written and created in High Divine, or the Divine Language. It was steeped in Magic that affected the Soul and could only be used between two willing parties, or ‘Oathtakers.’ It would create a binding promise between parties and if broken would essentially poison and badly damage the Oathbreaker’s Soul.
‘I, Yvvtal Talmundrus, shall willingly take this Oath, and enter into equal terms with my fellow Oathtaker. I swear to-’
Micheal interrupted him,
“I want the Brand of Janus transferred to my Soul. Add that to the terms.”
‘The Brand of Ja- what?! How do you even know I possess that?! That's not just someth-’
Micheal interrupted Yvvtal’s barrage of thoughts by bending over as his body shook, wheezing up blood once again. His breath turned extremely ragged as he sucked in air, sweat pouring down from his forehead.
“Accept my terms, or perish with me.” Micheal responded as he caught his breath, silently cursing how effective the poisons he’d picked were.
A feeling of unbelievably pent-up outrage serenaded Micheal’s body as Yvvtal remained silent, struck dumb by the audacity of the human before him. Several seconds passed as the ancient Toren remained still once more, trying to think up any possible way he could get around this.
Before Micheal’s body could forcibly tremble once more, however, Yvvtal bit off a response,
‘Very well. I, Yvvtal Talmundrus, shall willingly take this Oath, and enter into equal terms with my fellow Oathtaker. We shall form a partnership in which neither partner shall abuse the other, operating as equals in good faith. I will, in good faith, transfer the Brand of Janus unto his Soul when I am satisfied that he has-’
“Transfer it as soon as you accept my Oath.” Micheal mercilessly interrupted once more.
Yvvtal paused for a full 12 seconds before he continued once more, giving off a dangerous sensation of utter calmness,
‘I will, in good faith, transfer the Brand of Janus unto his Soul as soon as I accept his Oath. All of these conditions shall be based on my acceptance of the terms of his Oath.’ Yvvtal continued,
‘I so pledge that I will follow this Oath unceasingly and without failure.’ The last sentence he spoke cause the air around Micheal to shiver, particles of light rising off the Contract Seal.
‘There, I have made my Oath. Are you satisfied with it?’ Yvvtal asked, his voice carefully neutral.
Micheal nodded,
“It’s acceptable, but it could be better.” He took a deep breath as he looked down at the Contract Seal, stretching out his hand and sending a tendril of Ki into it,
“I, Micheal Care, shall willingly take this Oath, and enter into equal terms with my fellow Oathtaker. We shall form a partnership in which neither partner shall abuse the other, operating as equals in good faith.” He directly copied what Yvvtal said, building the foundation of his Oath,
“I will accept my fellow Oathtaker’s transfer of the Brand of Janus onto my Soul the moment he accepts this Oath. Af
ter that, I shall restore my body to full health and maintain its condition in good faith. I have looked upon his Oath and found it satisfactory.” He added one last line,
“I pledge that I will follow this Oath, with honor, dignity, and fairness, unceasingly and without failure…” He went on, his voice taking on an air of grandeur,
“Until the day I die.”
He paused for a few seconds. Magical light rose off of the Contract Seal once more. Micheal felt this light seem to bore into his Soul, leaving a small, faint and incomplete mark there.
“Are you satisfied, Yvvtal?” As he replied, he abruptly leaned over and heaved his stomach.
Blood spattered out from his mouth yet again, the poisons in his body beginning to run wild. Micheal started to shiver again, a reaction from his immune system that he purposefully exaggerated instead of ignoring.
The ancient Toren was quiet for a moment as he examined Micheal’s Oath, going over it with a fine-tooth comb.
Finally, he replied,
‘Yes, yes. It is enough. I accept your Oath, let our Pledges be formed and the Contract Sealed!’
The Contract Seal that had begun to glow abruptly burst into flames. A wave of white light flashed out into the air, blinding Micheal as energy shot into his Soul.
The incomplete mark on his Soul rapidly began to form as ancient, divine power solidified it into a Divine Mark. As this energy formed, Micheal felt a connection form with another Soul, a channel that indirectly connected his Soul to Yvvtal’s.
The moment this Divine Mark solidified…
Micheal felt a strange energy zoom alongside the connection between Marks. This energy rose up to land right on his Soul, waiting for him to permit it to move past the Mark. It was a strange type of energy, a collection of powers that gave off an unfathomable feel.
Micheal immediately allowed it to cross over.
That unfathomable collection of energy rapidly coalesced onto his Soul, spreading out and then condensing back down into a series of three vertical circles connected by one long, straight line.
A heartbeat later, a blue screen lit up in Micheal’s vision…
.