15 All Hail the King! (2/2)
”You used Luny and somehow interfered with where World Walker sent us.” Ed interrupted. ”You prevented him from picking us up as well. Now you should be planning to get revenge on him, right?”
”Mm.” Jarrod nodded. ”I knew you were smart, Ed. World Walker! That fucker gave me a death sentence! It was only a matter of time before he betrayed you guys as well!”
”So why did you bring us here?” Ed questioned. He sent mana towards the steam core in his arm to attack if needed.
”Simple really.” Jarrod grinned. ”I need strong espers for my revenge plans. I've already taken control of over fifty newly awakened espers in Reef city. The others are all in hiding or have left the city already.”
”I see…” Ed nodded. ”So, you want us to join you in your plan for revenge?”
”Haha!” Jarrod laughed. ”Close, but not quite right. I said I needed strong espers didn't I?”
”Then what do you want?” Ed frowned.
Jarrod glanced at Luny and smiled. Ed's eyes went wide, and he lifted his arm to shoot Jarrod. *Bang!* Ed shot the bullet, but it froze in midair. A large amount of wind had formed around the bullet and lowered it to the ground. Mordy began to create acid in his hands. Suddenly, wind covered Ed and Mordy's face. It bound their bodies from moving. Ed used his powers to melt the ground in the surrounding 2 meters, but it didn't help. Mordy couldn't aim or shoot his acid at all. They both suffocated until they passed out.
…
Ed slowly woke up and looked at his surroundings. He was in a dark room. Contrary to his expectations, there was nothing binding him. He had full use of his movements and powers. He saw Mordy lying down next to him. Ed chose to shake him awake.
”Mm?” Mordy woke up and his eyes widened. He quickly stood up and looked around.
*Click* A bunch of lights turned on. Luny and Jarrod headed down some stairs towards them. It would appear that they were in a basement.
Jarrod spoke, ”Ed! Mordy! No need for the tense faces. Why don't you give me a big smile?”
Ed tried to frown, but to his horror his lips lifted into a big smile. It felt completely natural, as if this was what he had wanted to do from the beginning. He glanced down at his left hand and saw a symbol of a golden crown.
”You two are to follow Luny's orders from now on. Good luck!” Jarrod turned around and left.
”Mm.” Luny nodded. ”Follow me.”
Ed and Mordy followed behind Luny. Their feet moved whether they wanted them to or not.
”Are you going to kill us?” Mordy questioned. His mouth was no longer blocked by goo.
”No, no!” Luny smiled. ”You might survive! It's an experiment after all!”
The two shivered in fear. Ed lifted his arm up towards Luny and tried to shoot, but he couldn't. He unconsciously lowered his arm back down and continued walking.
”Haha!” Luny laughed. ”Nice try! The king's subjects can't attack each other without permission. Just for that I'm putting you in group A!”
”Group A?” Ed questioned.
”Right.” Luny nodded. ”Jarrod gave me permission to put 10 people in group A and 40 people in group B. Group A will undergo a high emotion experiment. The casualty rate is 99.7% as mentioned earlier. Group B will undergo the surgery Jarrod had. This way we should end up with 12 espers of the 2nd awakening. If someone in group A unexpectedly succeeds, then that's just a bonus.”
Ed frowned. ”Why is the casualty rate for group A so high? It sounds like the surgery is more dangerous to me.”
”Tsk.” Luny grunted. ”Shows what you know. How much emotion does it take to awaken as an esper? It usually takes extreme fear, pain, or trauma. A 2nd awakening takes far more emotion. You're going to be in for a living hell soon! Mwuahahaha!”
Ed and Mordy soon entered a large lab. Almost 30 espers were here in blue gowns. ”Get changed!” Luny ordered. Ed and Mordy both removed their clothes and wore the gowns.
Luny glanced at Ed and frowned, ”Give me that arm to. It's in the way.”
Ed grit his teeth in anger. He used his power to send the arm towards Luny. She took it and carried it out. ”You're to stay here until you receive further orders!” She yelled as she left the room. The door behind her was left open. Ed and Mordy couldn't leave even if they wanted to.
”Hey newbies!” An esper walked over. ”Welcome to paradise!”
Some of the espers looked at Ed and Mordy with curiosity. Others ignored them altogether. The large muscular man that walked over towards them smiled, ”A lot of us aren't in the mood to talk as I'm sure you can understand.”
”Mm.” Ed nodded. ”Has she already started yet?”
”Yes.” The man nodded. ”You saw Quake up above right? He and two other people succeeded so far. One controls the wind. I'm not sure about the other one.
Ed looked around the room and counted the espers. There were exactly 29 of them. He frowned, ”There should be more here? The failure rate is too high if only 2 succeeded so far.”
”Oh, this isn't all of us.” The man shook his head. He turned around and pointed at two doors. ”The door on the left is where she takes those from Group B. She takes one every day for the surgery. The door on the right is where she took all those in Group A.”
Mordy frowned. ”What happened to those in group A?!” He glanced at Ed with worry evident in his eyes.
”Hmm?” The man noticed and looked at Ed with pity. ”None of those that have entered Group A so far have left. Most should still be alive though… I hear their screaming all night long.”
Ed, Mordy, and the large man continued to converse. Late in the night they began to hear bloodcurdling screams and shrieks of horror. Loud voices begged for mercy. Unusual sounds frequently rang out. Ed listened carefully in an attempt to figure out what was happening, but he had no success. He had never heard any of these unfamiliar sounds before.
The night slowly passed. Luny showed up in the morning. She was covered in blood. She pointed at the large man Ed had chatted with and spoke. ”Your turn today!” She glanced at Ed and grinned, ”Ed, we'll get you started tonight. Rest well. Gahahaha!” She laughed madly as she led the large man away.