101 observed the markings on his right arm. He flicked his fingers, only to find their moment foreign. In fact, the entire arm felt unfamiliar.
"Those markings are proof of the Divine Centipede using you as its host." Lyla sipped her cup of tea. "It's called a Divine Being, but do not misunderstand. You were only a means for it to escape the Pit."
101 shifted his gaze from his arm to toward her. He was rested in a bed in an unfamiliar room. Seeing the lamps, the ceramic bowls, cauldrons, firepit, and jars filled with organs such as eyes, fingers, and ears, he felt he was in a depraved alchemist room.
The most eye-catching thing in the room was Robert's body, naked from the waist above, unconscious on the bed, and the girl seated beside Robert's bed in a chair.
"Hm." She tilted her head. "Such a cold gaze. Almost makes a girl like me blush."
He remained silent.
"Ha." She gave a playful smile. "Here's a revelation. I summoned you."
His expression remained unflinching.
"Are you wary because of the room we are in?" she asked. "Oh, such an undignified room could never be mine. It's Groak's former workshop, no longer used. Perfect for hiding things."
…
"You are not a talker, are you?" Her smile faded. "Since you show no interest in being friendly. I will get to the point." From underneath her long sleeves, she revealed her slender fingers. "Surely, you must have figured out by now that people like Robert, your professors, even the Leige Lord, are different from us. They are humans." Her fingers mutated. A layer of lavender scales covered it as it increased in length and sharpness. "We are creatures born from the Pit and eventually will be buried there. The humans refer to us as, Bloodvermins."
As 101 listened, he felt his right arm itching. He looked at it and saw a centipede wobbling around, trying to reach the center of his palm. He loosened his fingers as the centipede crawled into his palm.
Right now, it looked nothing like the creature he saw in the Pit. It looked minuscule and harmless. If he squeezed his fingers and made a fist, he could easily kill it.
"Are you hungry?" 101 asked.
The centipede raised its body and rocked its head up and down, answering 101's question.
"You want to Evolve?"
Once again, the centipede rocked its head up and down.
"Do you want to kill me?"
The centipede trembled and rocked its body side to side, denying him.
101 grabbed the centipede's body, squeezing it with pressure. "You little liar."
The centipede faded into the air.
Lyla tilted her head. "It's still a Divine Being. You should treat it with respect."
101 met her gaze.
"You rather talk to the insect than me." Lyla sighed. "As of your current state, I cannot reveal my plans to you. You are not yet strong enough to protect your mind. I informed you of what we are. Now, the last thing I can tell you is how you are observed." she pointed her fingers toward her eyes. "It's through your eyes. Ryutchs are creatures born with 20 eyes, and they can see through the eyes of others. They cannot read your mind; however, depending on how close they are, they can hear what you hear and feel what you feel. It does have limits. It cannot see what I or any of the Governors see or observe those inside this room." The room they were in was a hideout Groak built so they couldn't observe him before he was a Governor. "Unfortunately, we're out of time. You have been out of the picture for too long." From her sleeves, she took out a black headband made from stone. "I will help you disguise those gold markings and make it look like a product of Dark Arts. Now, it's time for you to join the rest of your class." She threw that headband towards him.
101 caught it. He once again looked at Robert's unconscious body. "The price of nurturing intelligence." He met her eyes. "You won't survive."
"Huh?" Lyla tilted her head.
"I see now." 101 removed his old headband and donned the new one. "Who the puppet is, and who the puppeteer is."
--
"He's out." The Ryutch's eyes shivered. It stood near the two seated Governor Seth and Groak.
"Weren't the children of this lot supposed to be special? Yet I don't see anyone who's exited the labyrinth." Seth flipped a page from his book.
"Who's out?" Groak asked the Ryutch.
"101..he's out of the Pit." The Ryutch's voice slightly trembled. "I can feel it..his fury. The weight of his emotions. I couldn't tell before, but now I notice his presence. It's almost regal, kingly, like the Liege Lord of the 1st."
"That's some high praise." Seth closed his book.
As they conversed, the first one to exit the labyrinth appeared.
"Ha, I can't run anymore." 18 darted through the last passage and only took a breath of relief when she saw the two governors and realized she didn't choose the wrong pathway this time. "Finally." She walked into the center and dropped 71. "I am never running again." She whispered.
"M'lord," The Ryutch flinched.
"Yes. I sense it." Seth's gaze sharpened. "This bloodlust."
"18!" A loud noise echoed through the hallway. 18 turned her head and looked toward the exit. 200 bolted in with his monstrous wings. His fingers now looked like long black claws. The entire room became immersed in his bloodlust.
"Not again." 18's leg froze. 200's claws came straight for her eyes.
Crumble!
The ground shattered as 200's head was mercilessly thrust into the ground. "Oh, 200." Groak's huge hand held 200's head. "No more killings unless I permit you to." He raised 200's face. "Or did you forget all of my teachings?"
200's body mutated back to normal and trembled. He couldn't look into Groak's green eyes.
"Now, let's wait." Groak was a monstrosity in the form of a man. He was big, standing at 6 feet 5 inches tall, yet lean and gifted with a charming face. He dragged 200 near his seat and made him wait for others to exit the labyrinth.
"Phew.." 18 took a relief of air.
"Heh, I'm not first." The second to exit the labyrinth was 84. With him, he carried a bundle of headbands. 82 stood up against him, but 84 used one more needle and won.
Numerous professors were on standby behind the two Governors. One of those professors took the headbands from 84.
The third ones to exit the labyrinth were 178 and her twenty group members. Four members lifted one of the unconscious kids from the other class, and on the back of that boy, 178 remained seated. Her group members guarded her against all sides, and she was in the center, getting carried.
"Using someone as a chair, what a dramatic entrance." Seth smiled.
The fourth and final one to enter was 50. He roamed the Labyrinth, hoping to gather more headbands, but alas, 84 and 178 had collected all of them, so all he found were unconscious bodies. And he didn't encounter either of them on his way. All he has was 200's headband which 18 threw towards him, hoping 200 to go after 50, but her plan didn't work, as 200 cared little for the headband and 50. He only saw her and flew past 50.
"These are it." The Ryutch declared. "The rest won't make it."
"And where is 101?" Groak asked.
"Soon." The Ryutch said. "He is almost here."
"It's time for the second phase." Seth stood up and gathered everyone around. "84 and 178, who both collected over 25 headbands, move on directly to the final phase. The rest will participate in the second phase. 'Tame the Lord.' We selected one from your class and sent him to a different trial. By surviving, he became one of the Dictators. If you don't like that, beat him and seize his headband. That's the second phase."
"Selected who?" 50 asked.
"Oh, he will arrive soon." Seth looked towards the Laybrinth's exit and returned to his seat.
"200." Groak rubbed 200's hair. "I know beneath all that rage and aggression there is a clever and compassionate man. You killed your classmates because they were mean. They didn't like you, tortured you, and made you an outcast. I understand that." He met 200's eyes. "But, now you're strong. You needn't fear anyone."
"What are you doing?" Seth asked. "He's a naturally dominant being. He fears no one. No one could make him an outcast or even torture him."
"I know." Groak smiled.
"You're rewriting his memories. Do you even have permission for that?"
"We have two abnormalities. It would be troublesome if they somehow managed to get along." Groak met 200's tranquil eyes. "Remember the one who haunted you in your dreams, harassed you, bullied you, made you feel weak? What do you feel against him?" 200's eyes started to redden. "He will enter this room soon. What will you do to him?"
200's fist clenched. "I will kill him!"
"Did you also break his seals?" Seth asked.
"Of course not. He will really succeed in killing 101 if I do that." Groak released his grip over 200. "Everything I do is only so I can find out what both of them truly are. Nothing escapes my eyes."
--
In the labyrinth passage, 101 walked with heavy steps. His skin radiated heat, and his eyes glowed. He felt such emotions for the first time after being reborn. He was enraged.
Since birth, he collected pieces of information. Those small pieces by themselves made no sense. However, as the pieces piled on, a clearer picture formed.
In the Pit, when the Sentient's Essence entered his body, he figured out how the Dark Arts could be used to control them. The essence doesn't simply give them power. It mutates their body, giving them strength beyond measure and sustenance even without food. It also accelerates their growth. This wasn't like the slave remedy. The slave remedy didn't have a permanent impact.
The kids here haven't even reached their teenage. Their body has yet to grow. But after the Mark Awakening, they will develop expeditiously. The constant flow of Sentient Essence through the Gate will cause them to age rapidly, making the Essence the core thing that molds their body. The essence would become something akin to air, or blood, a necessity for survival.
Now, why do the Sentient Beings share their power in the first place? Being born from the byproduct of the Sentients did allow the kids to harness their power. However, if they didn't share their Essence in the first place, the kids won't be able to harness it.
A pact – that was 101's theory. The one who created this place made a pact with the beings to obtain their biproduct and power. This way, he became a mediator. If he could grant the kids the ability to harness the Sentient's power, he could also strip them of it. If he blocked the flow of Essence after a kid's body has been groomed by it, then it would be like stripping them away of air or the blood in their veins. He would have absolute control over their life and death.
Now there was his summoning to take into account—the Lyla part of the story. Lyla was a Bloodvermin like him. He knew her intention. It was to rebel.
Why were the Bloodvermins created in the first place? That was the easiest thing to figure out— for war. When he first woke up, he saw 100s of kids sleeping. All weren't like him. Some were missing limbs, some disfigured, etc. Then there was his test for the right and left wings. He figured the physically and mentally fit ones were sent to the left wing, and others were sent to the right wing. The ones on the right wing likely ended up as foot soldiers, while the ones on the left were adequately nurtured.
The ones in the left wing were trained to be clever and knowledgeable. He figured out why this might be after Lyla explained the current contest for the position of the Dictator.
From the beginning, leadership, and hierarchy had always been promoted, from dividing the responsibilities to the books they were provided.
Foot soldiers might be capable and valuable in winning a battle or taking hold of a fort, but after the battle, you need proper leaders to hold a fort and run a civilization.
He had read the stories of summoners going against cultivators. Summoners originated from a small village, while cultivators dominated the world. He didn't know why a war started between them, but this war was the reason they needed to nurture children this way. Summoners were fewer in numbers from the beginning, and finding people to go against the Cultivators was like saying, help us go against the world. It was difficult.
101 could now see what the purpose of his class was. The Dictator would be the lord, and the rest of the class would be followers. They would be sent to the war to help expand the Summoner's Civilization.
Those who succeed would be promoted to a higher position like Lyla.
He saw Lyla as a consequence of the actions of the one who created this place. He might have control over everyone's life and death, but life always finds a way to persist. Lyla wouldn't rebel alone or without a plan. 101 had seen just how intelligent the kids nurtured here could be, so he didn't doubt her capabilities.
However, he didn't feel she would succeed because the one on top was a man who challenged the entire world yet managed to survive and build a thriving civilization.
This was all that he theorized. Some parts may be wrong, but he didn't doubt that most of what he estimated was correct.
He was enraged because he was a part of these shenanigans.
'New life. New Purpose. What a joke.'
One of his goals was to be so strong that no one would dare look down on him. That would certainly happen. As for the other goal of living a life without regrets, he saw a slim chance of that. Rebels, conquerors, and schemers – he was headed for the same path as his previous life.
On his palm, the centipede appeared once more. This time its color was disguised. It had a black and reddish look instead of the usual golden.
"You feel my emotions."
The centipede rocked its head up and down.
"You want to free me?"
The centipede rocked its head up and down.
"How noble. But my fate is sealed. To kill a tyrant, I once became a tyrant. This time I don't even know who I am fighting."
The centipede shook its head to the side.
"You mean I don't have to become a Monster."
The centipede rocked its head up and down.
"Ah, how nice." He squeezed his fist. "If I couldn't feel your lies, you would almost win me over."
The centipede faded.
101 halted as he finally arrived at the Labyrinth's exit.
"His eyes are prettier than yours." Groak mocked Seth.
"Does everyone need to point that out?" Seth winced.