Korn looked at Madd and said "Of course it is a cruel place. In fact every single thing in this world can be a cruel place. But trust me when I say that the cruelty of the world of seekers is unlike any other. Other than the other seekers in the world that only care about themselves and only want to strengthen themselves, the abandoned should be a lot more feared than everything else. Anything you can possibly imagine can happen. Endless torture, disgusting monsters that should never have been born and many many more things. But even though it is cruel it is also very rewarding. Once you achieve the peak power of a mortal seeker no abandoned can harm you. At least not on this planet."
When Madd heard that he started to sweat just a little. But after thinking about it for a while and thinking about all of the things that he has seen, it starts to make sense to him. 'I just have to be stronger than everyone else and that's when I know I will be able to completely protect the ones I love. But I don't know how long it will take me so I have to be careful until I get to that point.'
Korn noticed the hint of worry in Madd's eyes slowly go away as it started to be replaced with a look of determination. 'Good he once again does not disappoint.'
"Ok enough talking for now. Let us go get your cousin out of here. Hopefully it doesn't upset him too much."
Korn then proceeded to draw lines on the door with his finger. Madd payed close attention to it so that he can remember it if he ever needs. After about 10 second of Korn drawing on the door, a loud creaking sounded out.
*ssscccrrreeeaaaccchhh*
Madd thought for a second that his eardrums exploded but they quickly felt better.
"I have just healed your ears but next time I will not. You have to be at least a three ringed formation master if you don't want to get hurt. Only the power that is provided from the shadows can protect you from this sound. But since you have an ancestoral core it might be two for you. But I don't want you to come out until you achieve that level. Do you understand?" Korn asked Madd.
"Yes grandpa."
"Good. Then let us go."
They then started to walk and once they entered the room Madd felt a mysterious pressure on him. The more and more they walked to the center the more pressure he would feel.
After walking for 15 seconds they finally made it to the center of the shadow formation. In the middle Madd could see a boy with short blond hair, a clean shaven face that looked like a model's, and when they approached closer he opened his eyes and he had the same eye color of Madd and Michelle.
'He must be my cousin Elijah!' Madd got a little excited because he never had any friends or siblings other than his best friend. But soon his hopes of having another friend were crushed.
"Why are you here grandfather? And who is this poor boy that is coming along with you?" Elijah asked in a mocking tone.
"Enough. This is your cousin Madd and he will now be using the tier 10 room. I am asking you to go to an empty tier 9 room so that Madd may start his path of a ringed master."
When Elijah hears this veins started to appear on his temples and his eyes blazed with hate. He look over at Madd like he was about to kill him just for thinking of stealing the tier 10 shadow room.
*SMACK*
A loud smack echoed around the room and everyone turned silent. Madd looked over and noticed that Elijah was on the ground holding his face with his hands.
"That will be the last time you look at your cousin like that. If I ever see it or hear of it again you shall not remain in this family. I thought that I fixed this arrogance of yours but it seems like I was mistaken. You have truly disappointed me Elijah. Leave now or you will leave this house forever."
A look of panic could be seen on Elijah's face as he slowly turned toward Madd. "I apologize for the things I have said." He have a short bow to Madd and proceeded to leave. Madd realized that Elijah is about the same height as him with a similar build as well.
"Ok, now that he is gone it is time for you to step onto the path of a ring master. Remember this will not be easy because every time you break through to form a new ring you will have to face one of your inner demons. Every three rings is when you are able to finally suppress that inner demon that holds you back from achieving anything. Remember condensing the three rings is not that difficult but the inner demons that you will face will be like nothing before." Korn looked sternly at Madd to make sure that he prepares himself for all of the trails he is about to face.
"But you should be fine before the first condensing as you will only face little parts of those inner demons hiding in the condensed rings. Now step onto the middle like you did in the ritual."
Madd started to walk toward the middle when he suddenly turned around and hugged his mom. This made Michelle feel warm inside and she hugged him back. The hug only lasted about five seconds but it felt like an eternity.
"Goodbye my sweet Madd. I will see you when you become a peak ring master." She then missed Madd on his forehead.
"Of course mom. I am going to be the most powerful ring master so that I can protect you and everyone else." Michelle gave a warm smile in response to that.
When Madd saw that he started to once again walked to the middle. Once he was there he sat down and crossed his legs.
"Since this will be your first time trying to form a ring we will be here with you for the first one to make sure that nothing goes wrong. Just remember that there is always a way to overcome your inner demons you just need to have a strong enough willpower to get through them." Korn gave Madd one last warning before he placed his hands on Madd's back.
"You can begin now. Feel the shadow power around you and try to pull it into your core. Then your core will proceed to form the ring. Do you understand?"
"Yes grandpa" Madd said in a resolute voice. He then started to close his eyes and feel the power around him just like in the ritual room.
It didn't take him long to start to feel the power around him once again. Once he could feel most of it around him he attempted to start pulling it into his core. Nothing happened for a little until Madd felt an unknown power start to come from his back.
"I am helping you have better control of the power around you. But it will only be this one time. Remember this feeling and try to replicate it on your own." Korn said.
Madd heard what Korn said and did what he was told. It didn't take long for Madd to start to pull all the power around and he pulled it to his core.
After a couple of minutes of doing that Korn let go of Madd's back and he proceeded to the exit with Michelle next to him. They then left out the doors and closed them behind them.
"Are you sure that Madd will be okay? I know you already know everything that has happened to him in his childhood." Michelle looked very concerned to Korn.
"Of course my daughter. You need to have more faith in your son. He is a strong boy and I believe he will do a lot in the future. You need to believe in him too."
"You're right dad, thanks." Michelle looked tenderly at Korn and have him a hug. She then told him "I missed you most out of anyone."
They hugged for a little and left.
In the meantime Madd was still gathering the shadow power around him when suddenly...