When he opened his eyes, Blanco did not recognize where he was, and he vaguely remembered waking up a few times before. But he is sure whether it happened or was a dream. He felt somewhat dazed and closed his eyes so he could clear his mind.
After he opened his eyes again, he realized he didn’t have his glove on his left arm. Now, unlike when he was infected by this thing that was living in his arm, he no longer felt those overwhelming sensations and emotions.
If asked how he felt, he would answer, “He’s asleep now. He looked around and saw his unconscious companion on the floor.
He honestly didn’t care if he was right or wrong; he didn’t care what he did as long as it entertained him. Although he was fine with anything, he smiled after thinking that.
A few minutes later, he explored the place, and it looked like some old building. Sometimes he could see creatures walking around, and he hid for the moment. He didn’t feel like dealing with them. First, he wanted to know what this place looked like.
Sometimes I saw creatures fighting; sometimes they were sleeping. Some noticed it, but ignored it, continued to explore it was an immense structure. Somehow it reminded him of those games with a mythological setting.
Finally, he arrived at the biggest room he had found so far. He could see creatures of different kinds of talking.
Another bearer of the zodiacal series has appeared.
With this one, his series is complete boss.
Did anyone make contact?” asked the centaur-like creature totally covered or made of golden armour, which was in the centre, after nodding on the zodiacal series.
No, we only know that after getting the artefact it left the place.
Blanco felt that he was being lifted off the ground, raised his head and saw that it was the creature he had met at the lake.
Jefe is here,” he said as he approached and dragged Blanco with him.
Mmm.
Blanco noticed that the looks on him were quite expectant. They were waiting for something that only he could give them. It drew a smile on his face as he thought about this; the creatures that were looking at him did not understand why and murmured among themselves.
You can indeed improve our kind? – asked the chief. He was not interested in the name of this human, only if he could do what he said – there were some cases these months where some became stronger accompanied by a mutation.
I’m sure it was me,” answered White, after it released him, “if you want we can start now.
The leader stared at him, trying to understand what this human was up to. Blanco did not look away; he took it internally as a staring contest.
A few seconds later, the creature waved and asked for the weakest to be brought in. Later, a line of creatures appeared in front of Blanco.
Can I know why they want to get stronger?
Because any living wanting to be,” the chief answered coldly.
Heh, I guess that’s a good reason,” he asked, “to test it out, whether they told him, it didn’t matter.
I spend the rest of the day administering the black drop that would improve the creatures. There were enough creatures, and I didn’t know if they were on the spot or had arrived later. But since he couldn’t squeeze that liquid, he always had to stop in the afternoon.
They didn’t stop him, and they told him to do what he wanted. Since he will do so for a few days, he was told to rest.
At some point, he fell asleep.
He had a dream. It was about something that happened a few years ago. He was walking down the corridor of some ruins, and he and his companions heard a voice. They couldn’t distinguish whether it echoed in their heads or inside the complex.
The technology of this ancient civilization was mostly inorganic compounds, so it wasn’t easy to distinguish what was going on around him.
Thanks to that sound, they could not distinguish the characteristic hum of those “drones” that were chasing them when they reached a crossing.
Blanco had found an opening in the middle of the fight that had started and run after his companions urged him to do so. It is not as if he had waited for their permission to do so, and he ran because every time he moved in the direction he was, that voice or noise in his head seemed to diminish.
At the end of the tour, there was a room that had four entrances, was quite large and in the middle was a black sphere.
He could not help but approach it.
A sound woke him up.
When he opened his eyes again, it was night. There were some fruits nearby, and he ate them.
That dream was when he got the black thing that now lived in his arm.
And that group of people who followed him at that time were the most useful to date. It was a pity they were not alive.
Still, it was a waste of energy to think about things that no longer exist, so he focused on what happened today.
He did not know what this group of creatures would do after receiving that mutation. All they talked about, at least the ones he could understand, was how they improved their use of their abilities or whether they had absorbed their opponents.
Clearly, they were not in favour of these groups for or against the tamers…
He thought that a large-scale battle of creatures would be quite colourful and that he would like to see one.
After eating, he tried to squeeze a drop out of his hand but could not. He had found the limit of how much he could squeeze out; now he just had to find out if it was definite or if it would increase with more use.
A restlessness suddenly came over him. He seemed to forget something. After a sigh, he stopped thinking about it, explore the surroundings a little and later sleep.
***
After Blanco went to rest, the boss and his closest companions stayed in the central room. They observed some creatures.
Although the human told them that there would not be a mutation until at least a day later, apparently it took longer than the first time, but somehow as he travelled through this world, the time had shortened.
He wanted to observe firsthand how the mutation happened, and the improvements reportedly raised the creature’s power to twice its pre-assimilation state.
Thanks to the artefact he had, he could see details that could not be detected with the naked eye. He spent the rest of the day observing, even when other creatures left because of boredom.
Therefore, he captured the changes that happened in the creatures in front of him. The next day, even when Blanco was still at work, he continued to observe.
***
Going back to the previous day.
Adam had regained consciousness an hour after Blanco. After identifying his situation, he discovered that Blanco was also in this place. Still, he could not approach him because a creature prevented him from doing so. He decided not to oppose his guards, there were too many of them, and Blanco seemed to collaborate with them…
He knew that his benefactor would do whatever he wanted. And because he did what he wanted, he could become a “normal” gifted person.
After watching him for so long and meeting his sister, he felt that he was free of a dangerous devotion to Blanco.
Although the encounter with Noelle was somewhat abrupt, thanks to this, he could rethink his situation and thanks to this introspection, he could look at things with fresh eyes.
She did not know if the followers of the “White Walker” were aware of his chaotic nature. Somehow he understood why they called themselves followers and not companions.
He thought it was too arrogant of him to believe that he could correct this person’s path.
But he felt the need that someone would have to be the shackles of Blanco, and at this point, he was the only person by their side. Also, he believed that if he talked about this with other followers, there might be some problems…
Even so, I still didn’t know how I would do it or if I could somehow correct his behaviour.
A few weeks ago, after Blanco offered a drop to an injured child. I asked him why he was doing it, but again, as many times before, he answered that it was natural to help someone who was asking for help.
His smile, a smile that now gave him the chills. I told him there was something dark behind that answer.
The next day the creatures allowed him to move out of the building. Recalling what happened a few days ago, he couldn’t help but wonder how that creature could have killed the human.
It was not supposed to be possible. All the information he had said that while a citizen of Vyndra could kill a creature, a creature could not kill a person.
There was a limiter that prevented them from finishing the job. At least directly, if they were resourceful, they could find ways to do so.
But again, I didn’t know of any cases where they killed directly.
Obviously, I wouldn’t get any direct answers about how they did it… maybe… if I could adopt one creature from this place, I could get an answer out of it.
Apparently, the creatures that were adopted would have a little more sped up growth than those that were not…
He tried that approach. At least as long as Blanco continued to do what he was doing.
