47 Chapter 19.4: The Essence (2/2)

Water began shooting upward as two arms reached out from the depths,

pulling itself up from within the water something humanoid surfaced.

Like the room it was ink black, something ancient overcame us making us kneel by the pressure.

Unable to see what had surfaced because its appearance blended perfectly with the room we looked confused at each other. Unable to see? Let me give you a glimpse.

The entity shrouded itself in the aura, revealing a thin outer layer allowing us to perceive it's from.

Purple aura slowly rose from the ground as smoke to the air enveloping the entity.

I blinked with my eyes trying to see the entity more clearly in this darkness.

But when I did, it had disappeared… thinking this wasn't over yet I looked around.

Only to let it resurface in my blond spot. Where it spoke to my mind.

It seems you are trying to ressseal me, but child… I mean you no harm, for you sssee.

You too are needed for my sssurvival… without you… I will ssseize to exist.

For now, I'll let you do what you want as I can't let you die here today…

But when the time comesss, I'll take over and eat your exisstence alive!!

Murderous intent shot through every fiber of my being, I knew this was serious.

The entity reappeared in front of us and bowed down mockingly with a wide grin from cheek to cheek to abide by our customs.

I sssee… the othersss are almossst finished… I'll leave a sssmall gift behind for you to ussse… when the time isss right… Then this iss goodbye for now… Next time…

I'll be waiting for you to accept my proposssal.

Shigure and I fell backward onto the surface of the water, the shallow water had become an unending depth, which we now found ourselves in. Unable to resurface we lost consciousness only for me to awaken back in the room inside the rogues association.

Slowly regaining my senses it became apparent that Ragnee, Blair, and Alexandra were finished with the ritual and never left my side. They looked worried at first but quickly showed relief as they noticed my awakening. Ragnee jumped on top of me as relief was almost too much to bear for her heart.

You're awake! You're finally awake. I thought we had lost you…

Ragnee cried as she almost suffocated me as she tightly hugged me.

Ragnee… I-I can't… Breath…

Alexandra laughed.

We were all worried, but she worried about you the most Michael.

We found out who the entity might be, which is why we had to quickly increase the strength of the temporary seal which the church had placed on you.

Alexandra gave me a mirror to show what the seal now looked like.

My… appearance has had quite a chance, first only covering my chest with a normal ritual pentagram now covering half my body with black flames?

What is this? How come I look like this? To be honest, I look rather… cool!

I am sorry Michael, I understand if you are in shock by the sheer size of it.

But… This was the only way to… wait… did, you say… it looks cool?!

Yes! Well… to be honest I can't get a good look at it right now…

but for what I can see, I do find it rather awesome. Tell me, how did this happen?

And you found out who the entity is? Might you tell me?

Alexandra bowed down and began explaining what had happened while I was struggling in my subconsciousness.

As for what transpired during the time you were out cold, we had opened the seal the church had placed on you for temporary protection. You see, the essence of this being was so powerful that black flames began spreading the moment you lost consciousness. These flames embedding itself in your skin spread out throughout your body when we finally realized who we were up against. Blair instantly began reciting the proper incantations to prepare to embed the seal with your elemental affinity. This, in turn, would allow you to take control of the seal's power after cultivating and training your body through training. This will eventually allow you to withstand the destructive prowess of the entity and eventually make it your own.

But for now… we have found out that it feeds on negative emotions. In the future giving in to them will result in the weakening of the seal. Allowing the entity to take over like what happened during the tournament.

As for what the true identity of this entity might be, you have to find out for yourself.

As we are intending for you to learn how to harness its power.

For now, we think it is best to focus on the principle of shadows because this will allow you to grasp an understanding of the darkness element allowing you to gain resistance against the black flames from within.

Trying to grasp an understanding of what Alexandra just told me I knew there was only one thing to do to prepare myself for the future… I had to train as my life depended on it, literally!

When Ragnee had calmed down a bit she allowed me to freshen up and observe what had happened to my body. To be honest, it needs some getting used to, but thanks to everyone's efforts I'm still alive and well. For that, I will be eternally grateful.

Say Ragnee, does this look weird to you?

I turned to Ragnee, allowing her to see the full extent of the seal.

Embarrassed by my naked appearance she quickly looked away.

I think it looks good on you! But please! Put on some clothes!!

You, sure? It doesn't look weird or anything?

I closed in on Ragnee who tried to cover her eyes as I was still not wearing any clothes.

Look. Don't be embarrassed.

I grabbed her hand and held it against my chest.

*Babump* *babump*

Thanks to you all I am still here. I wanted to thank you for that.

I gave Ragnee an innocent smile showing her I felt truly blessed by their help.

F-Fine… I understand… I'm also glad you're still here, but please… Put on some clothes!!!

Ragnee didn't know where to look as impure thought began to flood her mind.

Why? What's wrong? You look all red…

Ragnee couldn't hold it in anymore and pushed me back, quickly running out of the door and slamming it shut behind her.

Because it's inappropriate you Idiot!!!

Oh well… it seems I have teased her a bit too much, better apologize when I see her again.

Alone in the room, I took one last long look at myself in the mirror, the seal had reached half of my body. The right side, covered in black flames, but something looked like it had broken through on my arm. As it looked like lighting shot down from my shoulder trough the tip of my hands.

Quickly getting dressed I went towards the training area to prepare training for the principle of shadows.