Chapter 101
The boy had finally made a decision and threw the pill into his mouth. He swallowed it with difficulty.
When the tasteless medicine got to his stomach, it turned into black and white fog, which immediately rushed to the keys and poured into them, then it went through the channels into his soul and there condensed into a black and white kernel. It all happened in an instant.
All of a sudden, Kyon felt weird: the whole world was changing the brightness. It was either getting too dark or it was a bright sunny day. His emotional state also fluctuated.
The kernel in his soul got fixed in the very core, it stuck like glue. It looked different from the pill he'd taken. Beautiful patterns of black and white intertwined in the medicine split up in hatred to different poles as soon as they appeared in the kernel. It resembled a planet with daytime at one side and night time at the other. A moment pa.s.sed... The core began to spin, faster and faster with each second. The dark and the white wanted to attack and absorb each other. Chaos reigned in the boy's soul.
Kyon let out a long moan and pressed his eyes with his fists to stop the annoying hallucinations. He did not understand what was happening. It should not be. At one and the same moment he wanted to destroy everybody and everything, get even with Juno, give her the order to finish off Dinah and turn over a new leaf and yet, he wanted to forgive each and everyone, free the lady from the slave shackles, and then apologize for his unforgivable actions. After that, he thought to thank Marina and Martha properly.
He realized at once that his emotional state was being torn between the good and the evil, the light and the darkness, Archangel and Archdevil.
{It's unthinkable… I've double checked everything a thousand times! This body must be stable because of the Creation cycle. Then why?!}
As time went on, the boy was getting worse and worse. The mood swings, like ebbs and flows, overtook his mind. Sooner or later, some side was going to win, and his personality would dissolve in the absolute evil or good, no longer able to return to normal. Either of the two options didn't bode him well. The good side would set him up, turn him into a weak and feeble fool. Juno would gladly enslave him and take advantage of him for all her needs. She'd never forget to torture him for everything he'd done. The evil side would ruin all his plans: he would lose all possible profit from the Stones. The Stones might even get him for his hasty revenge and execute without trial.
He knew one thing for sure… He had to do something.
Kyon picked up the medicine of the Dragon G.o.d body but he knew better than take it. As soon as the energy of the pill got inside, he would be dead. He suddenly remembered the medicine that could destroy any unique body, but there was none of the kind in the ring. He had to go to the Treasury. As he took the first step, it became clear he wouldn't make it too far. {Fuuuuuuck!}
Kyon roared and infused Synergy to the core trying to stop the spinning. In response, all of his Synergy disappeared and the spinning accelerated a thousandfold. Neither side had won. Instead, it flashed green. The glow was so powerful that it entered the channels and came outside from the physical body.
The s.p.a.ce around the boy warped.
Kyon collapsed to his knees, his head lowered wearily to the ground. It seemed to have worked out after all. He didn't lose his personality, the core stopped spinning, both sides (the dark and the light) calmed down. Or rather... Synergy worked as a negotiator, establis.h.i.+ng a temporary truce between the two sides. They made up for a while and turned into a spatial attribute.
{What?!} – Kyon was surprised. As far as he knew, unique bodies with spatial properties were only rumors. There had been legends about them for the last thousand years.
He called his body Seraphim because it symbolized the mighty angel close to G.o.d. He also remembered that Lucifer, the personification of evil, was once an angel, too. Now that he had some kind of synergy between darkness and light, he had to rename the body into something a.s.sociated with a spatial attribute.
{The body of the void!} – He had a name for it at once.
Kyon was really glad that everything worked out. Deep in his soul, there was a unique body with an unprecedented spatial attribute inside. He could only wonder what features it was going to give him. But it was too early to expect anything.
The question arose: how to grow it?
Kyon listened to his soul. He had listened for a long time... And he could hear nothing. Indeed, nothing but emptiness... When Juno got her body, she understood at once what she wanted, and he...
{What is this? Some kind of fraud?}
The boy
He calmed his mind, entered into a state of meditation, "silenced his mind," entered the deep phase of sleep to hear at least something but everything was in vain...
Kyon woke up and kicked the wall in a fit of rage.
The promising and powerful unique body refused to speak with the owner. How would he know what it needed?! How should he develop it?!
Kyon experienced a rare feeling of helplessness. At the moment of his despair, the gate to the site creaked. The false angel Juno appeared at the training ground in her attractive tight training uniform. Oh, what perfect timing for the cutie... It's high time to blow off some steam on her.
The girl approached him cautiously and bowed slightly as a greeting. Her voice was full of sincere reverence but it was obvious that she was pretending:
«The apprentice welcomes her master!»
First things first, Kyon ordered Juno to give Dinah an order not to harm him, never ask anyone for permission to cancel any orders given to her, and to discipline her for violating the lady's previous instructions. Let the maid think that he had told on her. It would be even better that way. He wasn't looking forward to the day when he woke up with his throat cut, or rather, didn't wake up with his throat cut.
When the girl came back with a frown on her face, Kyon flexed his neck with a crunch. The expression on his face did not bode well for Juno.
«I order you: release all your elements for sparring with me. Attack!»
The corners of the young lady's lips rose in a smile. In her bewitching emerald green eyes flickered a desire to fight but she did not rush into battle.
«Master, can I count on the reward of spheres each time I hit you?» – The girl asked ingratiatingly.
Kyon nodded. Juno could not hold back her joy, her pretty face was beaming with delight. The next moment, she rushed into battle without further ado. Juno was convinced that this time she would defeat her enemy and get a whole bunch of spheres. Her pure energy key had been cleaned well enough to give her a significant advantage over the boy at the pathetic 4th stage.
*bam*
Their fists collided. Juno flew back half a meter, dumbfounded, with her fist numb, just like before. Nothing seemed to have changed since then, nothing at all!
«Why?! But WHY?» – The girl shouted holding back bitter tears. All week long she trained for hours every day as if she could not get enough of her newfound strength. She thought she would defeat the master in a couple of blows but... Nothing had changed! Why were her expectations in tatters yet again?!
Kyon gloated. «Did the apprentice really expect to surpa.s.s her powerful teacher?»
«It's not an answer!» – The girl indignantly stamped her leg.
Kyon had fixed the 4th stage in the bracelet of concealment. That's why Juno couldn't understand what was going on. When the fighters use their true power during the battle, they reveal their actual stage. The girl did not have time to react and feel the change in the power of her enemy.
«My mediocre student, never forget that your master is always in everything better than you. Now try again.» – He beckoned her towards him.
Juno arched her thin eyebrows and frantically continued sparring, focusing on defence, just like the last time.
Just a couple of seconds later, she exclaimed in shock:
«What?! Are you already in the sixth stage?!»
But a moment later, the slave girl felt pretty much better. She was confused at the fact that the boy was superior to her being two stages lower. But it didn't deny the amazing news that he'd raised two stages just in a week!
Kyon tried to take advantage of her confusion, but she retreated reflexively. A variety of emotions flashed across her beautiful face. As a result, she'd accepted the harsh reality and smiled bitterly. Juno had to admit that his flow was indeed 900%. That's why he developed so quickly.
The battle began again.
Juno tried to hit the boy with electrical current but for some reason, he was immune to her advanced grade. She sent blades of wind but he managed to put the barrier of the ether. When did he only manage to master it?! The girl always avoided the direct clash with his fists, using her advantage in speed. However, with two stages, he became a little faster and she no longer felt at ease.
Juno really... really did not want to lose. She used to be so arrogant. The young lady thought she got much stronger than she had been before. But now she couldn't get rid of the idea that the nasty and rude servant was going to beat her just like the last time. She didn't know what to expect of him. The proud little weasel claimed to be her master. But will he spare his own apprentice? Is there any honor and conscience in him?
Kyon was in his element. He could defeat Juno at once. All he needed was to use wind, water, and earth to raise his level of the battle fist to 13. Yet, he decided to wait until the girl finally gave up. He wanted to see the fear on her pretty face, the fear of being beaten and humiliated. And then, of course, he'd better bring all her fears to life. There was one thing he should fear. He could not create barriers of ether and isolation at the same time which means it was impossible to block the attack of electricity and the wind blade at the same time.
The girl looked depressed. Each of her movements was obvious for her enemy. She felt like a rabbit driven into the trap. The electric shock and wind blades did not work at all. Who is she without her speed advantage after all?!
Meanwhile, Kyon giggled to some of his s.a.d.i.s.tic thoughts, mumbling under his breath something like:
«The master isn't pleased with his mediocre student. The master will punish her with pain for her weakness…»
With a grimace of disgust on her face, Juno pressed against the wall, when suddenly a dense stream of water shot out of her hand with a splash.
*bam*
Hidden inside the jet, current discharge reached the boy and easily found a loophole in his insulation barrier. It struck him real bad. His whole body shook violently... For a second, everything swam before his eyes. When he came to his senses, Juno kicked him in the guts with a battle cry.
Kyon tucked in his legs in flight and quickly got to his feet. He stopped the approaching girl with a gesture.
«Stand still!»
Even if it was no order but a request, Juno stopped. Reluctantly. A triumphant smile lit up her hitherto desperate face. Her a.s.sumption that the servant's protection against electricity was only partial had been confirmed.
«Well, well… Who's mediocre here?! Last week, while you were wasting time and resources in the Treasury, I had mastered the element of water! Only a genius can bend four elements! Hhha! Master, you should see your face! Aren't you ashamed of your incompetence? Your student bends four elements and you only two! Hhha!» – It seemed that the stream of her angry words would never run out. How much neglect was there in her little voice... That superior air, those lips curved into a smile...
Kyon wanted to beat her even more. Juno was talented indeed. there was no doubt about that. Water and ether is a powerful combination, and given that his basic grade of ether can't create a barrier all over his body, he is extremely vulnerable against water attacks of the insolent mean girl.
Juno laughed mockingly, holding her stomach:
«Well, master...» – She emphasized the last word with obvious disdain. – «Do you still intend to fight? Or will you humbly acknowledge your incompetence and give up?»
Now the young lady was sure in her victory 100%. More than that, she was no longer afraid of the boy.
«I've punished you for your insolence more than once but you have learnt nothing.» – The boy said irritably, clicking his tongue.
Juno got serious at once.
«If you order me not to move and beat me right now, don't you dare to call yourself my master anymore. You will earn nothing but my eternal contempt!»
«Come on… Let's do it fair just like before.» – Kyon answered with a malicious grin. Juno had an unpleasant feeling of déjà vu. She made half a step back and said uncertainly:
«You are cunning! You have no chance but you act as if you are winning an unconditional victory!» – A bright thought flashed in her eyes. – «Master, you already owe me spheres for one missed blow. But let's make a deal. If you clear my key when you lose, I won't despise you, and even more so, I'll give you a foot ma.s.sage!»
Kyon burst out laughing at such impudence. «Why not?»