"What happened back there? How were you able to connect to Edict?" Hildegarde who was seated atop Mane's shoulder asked the young man who was gazing at his reflection in a bowl of water.
After Mane killed the banshees, he and Dan returned to the village. Of course Dan questioned him about the bizarre sight that was Mane being burnt alive but not burning at all. Mane responded that he didn't have a clue about what happened. He told Dan that just when he had made up his mind to escape the fireball, he had a strange feeling in his heart that there was no need to. He explained that he felt that the fire was beneficial for him, and not detrimental. But he didn't know why he had that feeling or how he was able to withstand the flames and had even grown stronger instead. And to this Dan joked that Mane may be the son of a Phoenix and could be strengthened with flames, and that if he had known this when he met Mane he would have just set him on fire to treat his wounds instead. When they got to the village Dan went to see Old Fan to tell him about the 'abundant' meat available, and Mane went back home.
Mane could only fake a laugh when he heard Dan's joke since he was feeling guilty for lying to the man once again. Obviously the thing about feeling that the fire was good for him was a lie. Even before the fire reached him he could feel its scorching heat and understood just how foolish it would be to accept its baptism. The only reason he had received that attack was because he was rooted to the spot; most likely a trick employed by his ancestor – the Selfish Titan King of Old and the Keeper of the Clock of Eternity, Cronos. But he couldn't tell Dan this so he just cooked up a lie.
As for how the fire was inhaled into his body, it was because of the 'gift' Cronos gave him. A gift that was so precious that Mane was skeptical about what the Selfish Titan really wanted. After all it wasn't a meagre gift. Cronos gave Mane the ability to devour Edict! What an ability! It was something so amazing that Mane was right to be skeptical about the Selfish Titan's ambitions.
"You're not going to tell me?" Hildegarde asked again seeing that Mane was silent.
"Sorry. I wasn't paying attention." Her words brought Mane back to land and he quickly apologized.
"Of course I am going to tell you," Mane stated. Who else could he confide in in this place? After all, in the Dreamworld Universe he was all alone. His masters weren't with him and his friends were off somewhere in Systema. Hildegarde was the only person he was close to.
"I met my ancestor. Well you can call him my Great Grandfather." Mane stated.
"Who?" Hildegarde wondered. Although Mane was the descendant of the Allfather, she didn't really know who his parents were or how far away his bloodline was from the God King of Asgard.
"Cronos" Mane murmured.
"What!" Hildegarde's loud exclamation shook Mane's eardrums as the young man felt a dizzy spell hit him.
"Others may not be able to see or hear you but I can," Mane reminded as he tried to shake off the dizzy spell.
"Sorry," Hildegarde apologized sincerely. In her shock she had ignored that she was sitting on Mane's shoulder and had unintentionally screamed into his ear, much to the young teen's pain and displeasure.
"I was just surprised," she confessed.
"You and me both," Mane smiled bitterly and said. He could understand Hildegarde's astonishment because even he who was aware that Cronos had a certain hold over him from 5 years ago, was stunned to see the Selfish Titan in his soul realm.
"What did he want?" Hildegarde felt a bit of fear from hearing the name of the Selfish Titan.
Although she was a fairy who rarely had the chance to tour the True Universe, she still knew the legend of the Selfish Titan. This was a god who escaped the Dark Realm and was the only one known to have accomplished this feat till date. He was a powerful wielder with immense power and free reign over time. This was someone belonging to the Allfather's generation of gods, titans and giants. And when it came to raw power, he easily exceeded the Nordic God King and had no problem besting the Battle God in battle. And it was because of his numerous identities and his seniority that Hildegarde didn't even question how he had appeared in the Dreamworld Universe. She was curious as to how he did it, but that wasn't the issue here.
As famous as the Keeper of the Clock of Eternity was for his strength, his greed and selfishness were even more resounding qualities. He was a selfish god who hadn't hesitated to consume his own children to stabilize his rule. He killed his father and oppressed his wife. He wasn't one known for doing anything for nothing in return and Hildegarde was terrified of what his appearance meant.
"I don't know. He didn't say," Mane narrowed his eyes and said. As much as he tried to glean the truth from his brief interaction with Cronos, but he still couldn't figure out what the Selfish Titan wanted – and why he was still in his soul realm for that matter.
"All he said was that since I wanted Edict so badly he would give it to me. And when I returned to myself I was able to devour the power of Edict around me" Mane explained.
"This is a major headache," Hildegarde comically rubbed her temples and said. Mane only nodded his head in reply. It really was unsettling to find out that Cronos was still there. After 5 years he had assumed – or rather prayed that the Selfish Titan – had left his soul realm. Unfortunately, it was not to be.
"Tell me about devour," Hildegarde stated in an attempt to steer away from the depressing reality. Since they couldn't figure out what Cronos wanted, or how to deal with him, they could only focus on what was in the now. Since Mane had been given a new ability, he may as well use it.
"Why tell you, when I can show you? Take a look," Mane smiled and expanded his Status window."
Name: Mane
Age: 15
Current Setting: Healthy
Physical Attributes – *Strength: 5.8
*Agility: 6.8
*Stamina: 6.0
Test Difficulty: Chaos
Testing Ground: Chaotic Era
Daily Quest: Go hunting with Dan [Completed]
Tomorrow's Daily Quest: [Not Applicable]
Goal: End Goal – Become Chaos
Completion Rate: 5.67
Skills: Speedy Chaos [Active skill] – You have caused chaos after only one month of entering the testing grounds. You run towards chaos, and it runs towards you. Run Wild Supreme. Be Chaos! {Permanent increase in Agility stats by 1.5. Additional 10% increase in speed when activated}.
*Devour: You have been blessed by the powerful Selfish Titan with the ability Devour. You can now devour Edict unscrupulously from the living and the dead; from elements and from nature.
Soul-Body Integration: 40%
"This…" Hildegarde stuttered as she read the new addition in Mane's skill panel. She was so stunned that she didn't even realise that Mane's stats had increased by 2.0 for each physical attribute or notice that the young Supreme's Soul-Body Integration had improved massively.
"Amazing right?" Mane had to admit that the skill was impressive.
"Yeah it is. It is similar to the ability of Celestial's to devour the Edict of beings they kill. But this one seems like an upgrade" Hildegarde observed.
"You are right," Mane noted.
Celestials had the ability to devour Edict from beings they killed, and that was why they were constantly at war. But even their skill came with limitations. They couldn't use that method to improve their abilities past the Heaven Realm, and they couldn't just take Edict without killing a living creature. That meant that they could only devour from dead bodies. But per the description provided on Mane's status, Mane could take from both the living and the dead. And this meant that he didn't need to kill someone to take their Edict. Assumingly this would leave the person as a wielding cripple so Mane didn't know how to try it out. He really wanted to try it, but there was no one to test this on.
However, there was something he could do in the meantime.
"From Elements and Nature" Mane muttered, and looked down at the bowl of water in front of him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. And then he reopened them.
*Bang*
Mane felt a jolt through his system as the power of True Eyes was unleashed. The wind that was blowing passed him ceased and Hildegarde became as stiff as a statue as time slowed down to a screeching halt. Mane's beautiful blue eyes were gone and taking their place were a pair of equally exotic beauties that stole the light of the world. The formerly white sclera was deep blue, like turquoise shells. His iris was red as crimson and his pupil was golden yellow; its color rivalling that of the sun itself.
Mane gazed at the bowl of water with his True Eyes, and the formerly clear mirror-like element was presented in a different form to the young Supreme. Instead of water, Mane saw only the bowl. Within the bowl were tiny fragments of blue shimmering lights that swirled around endlessly.
"It's a lot fewer than what was in the fireball," Man observed. The blue fragments were Edict. To be precise, they were water elements of Edict.
"Is it because of the difference in origin?" Mane thought. The fireball was the product of a Magical Beast. It was purer in form and structure. But the water Mane fetched was something obtained from a well, and wasn't anything special.
"I have to start searching for Elemental Magical Beasts," Mane concluded. Using his True Eyes as a guide, he absorbed the water elements into his body and felt himself improve slightly. Then he closed his eyes and willed the True Eyes to disappear. Immediately it did, a heavy headache assaulted his senses and rendered him a bit dazed.
"Are you okay?" Hildegarde asked, her words forcing Mane to try and focus as he replied in the affirmative.
"Yes. Just a bit dazed that's all." Mane didn't tell Hildegarde about True Eyes because it wasn't a secret that he was ready to share yet. This was something that not even his masters knew about. He wasn't going to tell Hildegarde.
"I need to take a bath," Mane stated and downed the contents of the bowl. Then he walked towards the bathhouse, leaving Hildegarde alone in his room.
"What isn't he telling me?" the fairy narrowed her eyes as she watched him leave, feeling that there was something he was hiding. But once his figure disappeared round the corner, she decided to let it go and landed gracefully on his bed.