“Priscilla Mason.”, Zachariel muttered a name.
“So you remember me, Zachariel? You bastard, how dare you show your face in here!”, Priscilla shouted.
Her sky-blue eyes crazily stared at Zachariel.
The latter didn’t answer back.
`Another crazy woman.`
He could not understand why women were like this.
He closed his eyes and focused on cultivation instead.
`Strange, I’ve become somewhat stronger again. It’s like I am cultivating all the time. My body feels a bit weak and tired.`
Meanwhile, Priscilla was annoyed by how Zachariel ignored her.
“Are you ignoring me? Well then, Zachariel. Just so you know, I messed up your sister, Amelia!”, Priscilla blatantly blurted out.
This intrigued the other prisoners and was rather interested in the development of their conflict.
However, they were bound to be disappointed.
Zachariel did not hear what Priscilla had said.
He was busy checking his mana essence.
`How come they’re transparent now? Did I lose my mana essences from before?`
He tried to gather his mana essences.
Seeing that Zachariel still ignored her, Priscilla’s temper ran out.
“Want me to narrate what happened? Doesn’t matter! I strangled her; I beat her to a pulp! Her screams of agony and pain, if only you were there, you would’ve felt pained too!”
Her statement amazed the other prisoners.
`Ooohhh, this girl’s sadistic. How domineering. Let’s see what that boy’s reaction to that is.`,
No reaction.
“You bastard! I did your sister, why are you not listening to me?!”
‘Cling!’
The anti-magic handcuffs broke, freeing Zachariel’s hand from restraint.
Shards of metals flew everywhere. Some of it flew near Priscilla’s face, slashing the skin and making it bleed.
Priscilla was dumbfounded, and so were the others.
`This can go through those anti-magic handcuffs?`
Zachariel felt his hands and rubbed them, then thoroughly checked out the other parts of his body.
`The hole in my abdomen from earlier vanished. Did someone fixed me while I was unconscious?`
`And I feel like I’ve learned a lot of things while I was asleep as well. This must have something to do with that thing from before.`
He recalled that strange voice inside his head.
`Why is that thing doing this for me?`
His thoughts were cut off when someone called out to him.
“Kid, did you just break through a beldum handcuff?”, an old man asked, nervousness present in his voice.
He had a robust body for an old man. And his black eyes exuded a deep mystery within.
The others lent an ear to Zachariel’s answer.
Zachariel looked at the old man.
“I just gathered my mana essences and it broke itself.”, Zachariel reminisced.
“Gathered… your mana essences… and broke it?”, the old man stuttered.
The other prisoners objected.
“Impossible!”
“I tried to do that before but why did it not break then?!”
Their voices alarmed the guards outside.
“So noisy!”, a captain guard complained.
“I’ll go check it out.”, the other captain walked towards their prison hall.
‘Bang!’
“You damn fuckers, why are you so noisy?”
The captain guard then emanated a suppressing aura to all of them.
It shut them up and sat back on the cold ground.
“Another sound and I’ll break a limb from each of you so you better behave well!”, he turned around and closed the door.
…
After a while, Zachariel took the lead and asked, “Old man, is there anything wrong with me breaking those beldum handcuffs you just said?”
“So you don’t know much, huh?”, the old man sighed, “What you broke just now is a beldum handcuff.”
“Beldum handcuffs? Is this beldum another metal?”, Zachariel asked.
The old man nodded, “Beldum is a metal with high magic resistance. It’s great for magic defense, and mana essence restriction as well.”
“Not even a diamond-level fighter could break beldum handcuffs, but you did.”
The old man paused, looking carefully at Zachariel before he continued, “There must be something special about your talent, or maybe your extense who did it.”
“Extense?”, Zachariel didn’t know what this word meant.
The old man rubbed his chin,
“Extense are unique skills, abilities, talents, whatever it is. They all vary in effect.”
“Some have an increased affinity to nature, or metals, while some are world-defying. It could make a person read another person’s mind, or call upon nature to do its bidding.”
“Extenses do not necessarily require mana or qi essences, as some of them are inert extenses. Some come from the old world of magic, otherwise known now as the mystic arts.”
“Some of them are inherited, while others are acquired. Most of the time, people acquire extenses, though that happens minimally and they won’t know whether they have an extense are not.”
“Why?”, Zachariel inquired.
“Because nobody knows how extenses are clearly acquired. Near-death, death of a loved one, never-ending battles, or even when someone is just reading a book in a library.”
“All of this could lead a person in acquiring their own extenses, but who knows? The chances are too slim, and nobody knows when their extense would arrive.”
“So my extense acted upon earlier, huh?”, Zachariel muttered.
[ Warning: User’s extense hasn’t been used yet ]The familiar voice resounded inside him.
`If that is so, then is this just my talent, or is this your doing?`
[ Clarification: User under the effects of Code 042: Primal Mana Essence Enhancement ] [ Protocols: Change of Mana Essence Nature to Universal ]`Universal, what kind of word is that? Anyway, I’ll check its effects later. For now…`
He stood up and stretched his body. He didn’t want to draw too much attention. If his enemies know of this, he will lose the advantage.
The others sighed at Zachariel. They were rather jealous of his ability.
Zachariel finished his stretching after a while.
“You’ve been staring at me for a while now.”, he called out to Priscilla.
“What kind of a monster are you?”, Priscilla became nervous.
“I’m not a monster. I’m just a human.”, he corrected.
The rest were interested again.
“You’re this strong, yet you didn’t help your sister from before?!”, Priscilla exclaimed.
“Help Amelia? What do you mean?”
Priscilla hesitated. The prison hall was reinforced with beldum metals all around, making it impossible to cast magic.
Yet Zachariel’s mana essence could go through the restriction.
She was afraid that Zachariel might attack her after knowing what she did to Amelia.
The others mocked Priscilla for being a coward.
`Little girl, you were acting high and mighty earlier, but where’d that arrogance go?!`
As such, one of them pre-emptively told Zachariel what she had said earlier.
“Young boy, this girl said that she did your sister earlier.”, the prisoner jeered.
Zachariel’s confusion increased, “Did what to my sister?”
They were speechless.
`This brat, he doesn’t know what those words meant?`
One of them facepalmed and lifelessly explained, “It means that she did something bad to your sister.”
The prisoner sighed, “How come you don’t know this?”, muttering in a low voice.
“Something bad to her, huh?”
Zachariel realized that Amelia’s behavior changed the day he missed her arena fight.
`Amelia must’ve lost to her, and she looked for me. Damn it, why did the seniors not tell me about this?`
Amelia was his close relative. The seniors or even the other Prospect candidates should have the initiative to tell him about this.
`Sabrina, she was there with her, but she didn’t even tell me a damn thing.`, Zachariel felt like he was betrayed.
His eyes narrowed, and this caused Priscilla to cower in fear.
`Did he realize it?`, then she noticed Zachariel coldly staring at her, `Oh no, please, somebody help me out of here!`
The other prisoners were getting excited, `Here comes the fun part!`
Zachariel, on the other hand, continued thinking more about the incident, `Unless she’s working for Prince Kane, that shouldn’t happen.`
He was getting annoyed by what was happening around him. If anything, Prince Kane’s name had been mentioned every time an incident happened.
Hal’s death, Amelia’s defeat, Lia’s attempted abduction, and Diega’s subversive action.
`He really wants to go at it against me, huh?`, Zachariel clenched his fists.
He was worried that his family might get implicated soon.
`If anything happens to Anastasia, I’m going to wipe out everything about the Royal Family in this world.`, he swore in his mind.
His indifference was non-existent in front of Anastasia. She had brought him warmth when everything else was cold to him.
Although they would fight sometimes, the relationship between them remains stable and the same.
‘Creak!’
The huge main prison door was opened again. This time, 2 Imperium guards were carrying a girl over inside.
Her body was filled with injuries, limping as she walked.
Her messy blonde hair and downcast blue eyes were too familiar for Zachariel.
He clung tightly at the prison bars, “Amelia!”
Amelia’s eyes widened up. Her face brightened and looked around to see where he was, “Zachariel!”
However, one of the guards grabbed her hair and forcibly pushed her head down.
She groaned in pain.
The guard reprimanded her, “You behave well, young girl.”, then coldly looked at Zachariel.
“Brat, what are you shouting at? You want me to beat your ass right there?”, a mocking expression was plastered on his face.
One of them opened the prison cell where the old man was before. It was right beside Priscilla, making it easy for Zachariel to see what was on the other side.
Zachariel noticed this and was about to say something when he realized that the old man wasn’t there.
`What’s going on? Where’d the old man go?`
He observed the other’s reactions, but they had a calm look on their faces as if everything was normal.
`Do they not remember that an old man was there?`
Amelia was brutally kicked inside. She rolled on the floor until she hit the wall.
“Ah!”
The guards smirked in satisfaction. The one who confronted Zachariel looked at him then gestured, pointing at his own eyes, then to Zachariel.
Zachariel narrowed his eyes, implanting the face of the Imperium guard in his mind.
The guards left while grinning.
Zachariel looked back at Amelia who was in a battered state.
He gathered his mana essences and broke the handcuffs that restrained Amelia. This time, it didn’t break as loudly before.
The others didn’t notice it.
Zachariel wanted to talk to her, but seeing her body unresponsive for a time, he chose to let her rest instead, `That kick must’ve knocked her out.`
He sighed, then gripped the prison bars, bending them on the process.
The sound alarmed the other prisoners, `Something’s bending?`
They looked outside and saw Zachariel.
`This boy is getting out of hand! He’s too dangerous to be here, why did they not put him in the dungeons instead?`
“Priscilla…”, Zachariel’s voice resounded in Priscilla’s ears.
She trembled in fear, “No, please don’t hurt me!”, begging him.
“I won’t hurt you. I just want to ask you a question.”, Zachariel replied.
Priscilla gulped.
Zachariel’s red eyes fiercely stared at her, “Were you forced to beat Amelia up?”, asking coldly.
“Y…yes…”, she replied.
Zachariel calmed himself down, `How annoying. I want to charge at the Imperium Palace and deal with that Prince Kane at once.`
`I don’t have time for this.`
He sat down and focused again on his cultivation.
`I need to gather more strength. The qi essence seems to be not restricted. Good, I can do with this for now.`
After seeing that Zachariel had calmed down, they sighed a relief.
Priscilla slumped on the ground.
`I thought he was going to beat me up.`
She felt her chest, calming down her palpitating heart. Her body was sweating even though it was cold underground.
She suddenly snorted, annoyed that Amelia was here alongside her. Her hate for the two of them did not vanish, or so she thought.
The only thing in her mind right now was to please Prince Kane to make him hers, and prove to the Mason family that she was a capable woman, unlike her mother who was not.
`At least I was able to know that he has… what was it again?`, she tried to remember something, but she could not.
`Strange, I knew that this guy used his powers earlier. But how come I can’t remember a certain part about it?`
…
The day progressed until nighttime, during which another rumor had spread.
“Hey, hey! I’ve got some news from my father. They said that they had already apprehended the suspects about those attacking ghosts earlier!”
“Really? Have they released the identity of the suspects?”
“No, not yet. But my father said that there were two of them, and they would be trialed on court tomorrow!”
“That fast?”
“Yeah, my father said that many people died this day and the Imperium wanted the suspects to be trialed as soon as possible to deliver justice to the bereaved!”
“Wow, the Imperium guards work so fast! They really bring honor to the Imperium!”
…
Zachariel continued cultivating while checking out on Amelia from time to time.
`She’s still unconscious, huh?`
Her body laid there, with her back facing him. He was worried inside.
`Amelia, Victoria, my classmates, my seniors. I wonder how they are right now.`
He did not know what was happening outside right now. Was everyone okay? Were the wraiths totally absorbed by Victoria?
He stopped cultivating, `Let’s go sleep, I guess.`
…
As things continued to develop, an old figure dashed in the outskirts of the Imperium Capital City.
He went towards a mountain and climbed to its peak, observing the big city from afar. It was the only source of light during the blackout, providing illumination not different from a firefly.
The old man’s long white hair and beard fluttered in the wind.
If Zachariel was here, he would recognize who this old man was.
He took out a small brown gourd and drank its content. Some of it dripped from his mouth, wetting his clothes.
It emanated a sweet honey scent, alluring anyone who could smell it.
“Ah! That was tasty!”, he wiped off the liquid in his face.
He sat down and leaned back.
“Impressive. Zachariel Strom, you are truly interesting.”, he chuckled.
“Did you diffuse their memories, Raskael?”, he talked to the wind.
A spiraling shadow cloud emerged behind him, turning into a dark-cloaked figure, “Yes, Supreme Elder.”
He laughed, then asked another question, “What do you think of it? Isn’t his extense otherworldly?”, taking another sip on the gourd.
“Assuming it was an extense of his abilities, I would agree, Supreme Elder.”, Raskael honestly replied.
“You doubt it was an extense?”, the old man rubbed his chin.
“No, Supreme Elder. Rather, I think that it’s just a characteristic of a Primal being.”, Raskael commented.
“Primal being, huh?”, this topic intrigued the old man.
There hasn’t been any record about Primal beings at all. Not even from the divine demonic beasts.
As such, Zachariel’s situation was extremely new to them. They did not know the extent of his talent and abilities, requiring them to carefully observe him from time to time.
`Was that just a characteristic of a Primal being, or is it a part of his extense’s ability?`, the old man mused on the subject.
Raskael sighed on the side.
He didn’t really take a liking to this old man. The guy was absent most of the time, and whenever he shows up, trouble would come.
Recalling his experience, he was about to go to the Imperium Continent when he stumbled upon the old man.
He was beaten badly and forcefully dragged away. Even his secret mission wasn’t that of a secret to the old man.
`How can I continue on my investigation like this?`, Raskael questioned in frustration.
He wanted to finish the secret mission appointed by Supreme Elder Wyngella as fast as possible.
“You are about to go to Brion City, right?”, the old man’s question stumped Raskael.
“Yes, Supreme Elder.”
“Good, let’s go there. Let’s not waste time!”, the old man then laughed.
He vanished from the mountain peak.
Raskael followed as well. He became a cloud of dark smoke and faded away.
…
Dawn had arrived, yet Solus’s light was still absent during this time.
Zachariel woke up after a cold night’s sleep.
He tried to rise but his body was too heavy.
`Damn it, my body is aching all over. Is it because my body cultivated on its own again or I slept roughly on the cold ground?`
He shifted his thoughts and looked towards Amelia’s prison cell. She was already awake, yet she had a weak figure compared to before.
“Amelia, are you okay?”, he called out to her again.
The weakened girl recognized his voice, “Za..cha..riel…”, she muttered.
`Damn it, she’s too weak to do anything right now!`, Zachariel cursed.
If only someone could heal her, everything would be okay.
Priscilla watched the drama between the two. She was happy to see that pained expression on Zachariel’s face.
The huge door was opened again. This time, it was a group of Imperium guards with two captains leading them.
They wore an additional white robe, making them look more majestic than usual.
A symbol was printed on the back of the robe. It consisted of two handcuffed hands with palms facing upwards and chains protruding from it and continued down below, ending on the edge of the robe.
The prisoners were shocked to see the Imperium guards in this apparel today.
After all, it only signified one thing.
A prisoner would be on their way to the Imperium Court for their long-awaited trial.
