Lieren lingered and marveled at the sight of the intricately-made painting. There was something odd about it that bugged him, but didn't know what part exactly. A while later, he sighed, turned on his heel, and began to ascend the grand twin staircase.
'I wouldn't be getting answers here, anyways. I better focus on my own training.'
He was headed for his assigned quarters, the room he had woken up in when Master Feng Xing Liu had mercilessly thrown him to the air with a single, solid punch.
His memory of the event was vivid, his brain holding on to the blurry image of the blind woman with obsessive detail. He couldn't get it out of his mind even if he wanted to.
Then again, he rarely ever forgot things. It's why La… Berett was always fascinated at him and offered him lots of books to read, which at the time felt akin to heaven for him. It was books, after all! What could be better than the stories they held, and the knowledge waiting to be unearthed?!
Nothing, that's what.
Come to think of it, that's probably when it all started. On that fateful day when the exceedingly charming caretaker entered his only recognized home.
But that life was behind him now. As well, as everybody else he cared about. Nothing of them remained, not a soul, not their memories.
All except his rage.
If it wasn't for this selfish, righteous, and self-serving desire of his, he might as well have been dead. Without it, he would not have chosen to live, prosper, and desperately try to get stronger at all costs.
Without it, he would never have made it all the way here. In this godforsaken city.
Twisting the knob, he hurried inside and let out a tired breath. His physical training was going well, he thinks, even earning phrase from the lying giant, Vesba.
Still, he didn't really understand why the both of them instructed him not to use Augmentation throughout it all.
Not to mention his knuckles! His poor, broken knuckles…
Leaning hid head back to the wooden door, he let the growing pressure overcome him and fall down on hid bum unceremoniously.
Tired. He was really tired. To the point where he had to wonder where he got the energy to be able to even stand up until now.
Going back to his hands, he moved them over to his face and grimaced from the aching pain that followed. It was as if his muscles refused to contract and chose to remain idle, screaming every time he ordered them to move, stubbornly yelling at him from within. He had to take a deep breath to properly bring his arms up to his face where he could see them more intently for the first time.
Crimson bandages soaked with his own blood wrapped around his fist, as if it was keeping his bones from exploding out of his body. It was haphazardly wrapped around him like a mummy. It covered his palm up to just above his wrist like some kind of boxing fingerless gloves. Every now and then, he couldn't help but feel like some kind caught animal, with the bloody bandages acting like some kind of crimson shackles.
The image of the soulsteel chains connecting him and his Aegis appeared in his mind. Come to think of it, that invisible connection he had with him seemed to resemble the slave collars and ancient curses he so fervently read about before. Shaking his head, he banished the thought away and brought his arms down. He couldn't handle the strain anymore.
Which was really the worst state he could be in right now.
After all, he still had to repeat it all tomorrow.
Taking a deep, strained breath, he pushed himself up… and failed, pathetically falling to his bum once again. The shock sent shivers running up his spine.
Shuddering from the pain, he heaved for oxygen and willed mana to pass through his body. When he did, a subtle blue glow began emanating from his pocket like some kind of luminescent lantern from the deepest parts of the vast ocean.
Whether it was from the debilitating strain assailing his mind, or the surprise at having made a big discovery, the luminescent light that exuded from the black cube Master Selen had given him suddenly blinked and disappeared.
Lieren barely had the breath to say:
"Huh? What was that?" His voice was strained and husky, tired from all the training he had done just today.
He lingered for a long while until the sine began to set in the horizon, bathing the world with orange and red radiance. He sighed.
He was almost there…
Or was he?
Having a rested for a moment, though it was nowhere near enough, he sat up straight and leaned back on the wooden door and rummaged around his pocket. A second later, he produced a small black box the size of his palm. It was seethed with an impenetrable inky blackness, neither reflecting nor dispersing light. The dark cube seemed to absorb light passively.
Staring at the black cube for a long time, Lieren began to feel like a madman. Turning the cube over, he was disappointed to see the impenetrable inky blackness covering this side of the cube as well. The cube was perfectly even on all six sides, as all cubes shall be.
All except for one.
Scowling, Lieren stared at the inky blackness, and glared into a crack that his mana had created while he circulated it within himself.
'Odd… and ominous.'
Well, what was he waiting for?
Igniting Manavision, he peered into the crack and inspected inside. Inside of the impenetrable black box was…
Nothing. A whole disappointing lot of nothing.
However, he knew the cube was much more than it appeared to be. At least he hoped so. Inspecting the inside with a zealous eye, he peered deep into the dark item and held his breath.
Deep inside of the white expanse that the impenetrable blackness seemed to have trapped… a small ball of radiant light shone bright like the sun.
What could it have been?
As his eyes began to burn from an overload of mana streaming through his channels, Lieren peered even deeper into the dark item. His eyes bulged and veins began to show themselves around his eyes as he strained his vision to its outmost intensive capacity. Soon, he began to weep crimson.
Not minding the blood and pushing away the pain that accompanied it, he held his breath and inspected the circumference of the ball of radiant light.
Around it, seven translucent chains wrapped around like invisible shackles, stretching into infinity within the boundless expanse of white that the black cube trapped inside of it.
And then, the end came.
Suddenly, a sharp, torturous pain assailed his head and shot through his eyes, as though he had pierced through by an invisible arrow.
"Gah! Curses!"
Reeling back from the sudden wave of intense, piercing pain, Lieren glared at the black box with intense fury, a lonesome fire burning in his blue eyes. Wiping the blood off his face and around his eyes, he said with anger and confusion:
"What… what was that?"