This scene was mystical but also gave off a horrifying feeling.
A breath was taken. It entered his body through his nostrils and mouth. And then he could feel some kind of a superpower infusing with his body.
Immediately, Roy's body heated up so much that warm air gushed out with him as the center, blowing away the ones who weren't expecting it and fluttering the clothes of characters like Arlo, Vizards, and all the truly strong ones.
Under their gaze, he started going through genetic changes. The people of this era would say that Roy was shedding his humanity and becoming a Soul Herder. That's what people called those who possessed the power of soul shards.
His genetic makeup experienced a ridiculous change, and so did his DNA strands.
AD
There was nothing special to see. They would only see a boy gaining new powers and feel jealous. Sticking around was a decision as stupid as hammering your toe. Bodies turned around, ready to get out.
Creak! Krk! Creak! Krk!
But it was at this moment that they heard the whispers of pain and agony that rooted them in the middle of their steps. The foot they had raised was placed down and they turned around to Roy. What they saw left them breathless. And then… their heartbeat increased.
The sound of bones creaking and cracking and teeth scraping was coming out of Roy.
"Argh!" A bestial roar came out of the depth of his throat as his spine broke down and all of his muscle strands snapped. This resulted in him falling to his knees and bleeding from his eyes, looking like a ghost who died unjustly.
His bones were grated down to fine dust..
His organs, brain, heart, and all, were compressed into the shape of a pancake.
AD
What was left of him was only a piece of skin that decorated the floor like a carpet.
A puddle of blood was beneath it.
Seeing this, the guards felt lucky that they didn't merge with it.
Some were so affected by this sight that they puked their guts out.
Merging with a soul shard was sometimes as easy as breathing, but sometimes it was as hard as climbing a mountain without equipment.
But for Roy, it was as hard as swimming without fucking limbs.
The onlookers then saw the blood crawling back into the skin, which turned into a black mist that swirled up and slowly reassembled into Roy Badulf Baldwin!
『Ding! Congratulation. You've gained the ability, The First Mist of Night!』
『You can disassemble your body into a mist and reassemble it into your human form.』
Roy's new human form, which looked nothing like the one before, was revealed.
His eyes were like a starry night sky; they seemed to reflect the universe. It was advised not to stare at them as one could lose themselves in them.
His skin was fair like a fairy, yet his figure was ghastly. Part of him was just mist churning up and down. This showed that he wasn't in full control of this new power. He squinted his eyes, forcing the mist to reassemble into his human form.
AD
Instantly, the dreadfulness surrounding him vanished, and he looked like a sunny lad who would appear in one's happiest wet dream.
His height has also increased. It was hovering between 6.2 to 6.3 feet.
His hair also experienced an increase. They now fell down to his shoulders.
Arlo felt fascinated with his nephew's new power. "Is this the power you've been granted?"
"Yes, as you can see, I can turn into a mist, which can turn back into me."
After speaking, Roy showed his power to them by scattering into black wisps of mist that flew past them like wind and landed outside the room before reassembling into his true form.
"I've seen humans shapeshifting into beasts growing out horns or covering their entire skin with diamond with the power of their soul shard, but this is my first time seeing this."
"A human turning into gas… it's something unheard of! Lord Roy's ability is ridiculous!! It hardly makes sense!!!"
"It is at least comparable to a rank-4 soul shard."
The person at the tip of everyone's tongue coolly ignored the shocked and amazed people behind him and walked into the neighboring room to see how Delilah was doing.
"Has she awakened?" Roy asked.
Amelia replied, "Well, yes, she has."
"I heard a commotion going on. What was it about?" Delilah said as a look of wonder was apparent on her face.
She looked like a curious cat wanting to know about everything that piqued her interest.
"Your master, meaning I, has acquired a new power. It is just that some people went nuts after seeing it."
His words reached Amelia's ears and a pleasant smile formed on her face.
AD
"Oh, really? Show it to me." Delilah said excitedly.
Her mesmerizing eyes were staring at his.
She looked like a curious little child.
One could not say no to her.
When she looks at someone this way, declining her is impossible.
Not to mention, Roy owed her a debt of gratitude.
"As you wish." Roy showed the wonder of Night's mist to her.
"It's amazing!" She exclaimed, showing more emotions than usual.
Roy leaned back with his fingers interlocked behind his head as, with a look of pride, he said, "I shook hands with Dead to get it. If it were any less special, I would've felt cheated."
AD
"Congratulations for adding a powerful ability to your arsenal, master!" Amelia congratulated.
"Thank you."
Amelia didn't stick around for too long. Roy and Delilah were left alone in the room. But only a second after, Julian, who had woken up while Roy was merging with it, opened the door and entered it. This looked like a perfect time to make some things clear.
"Why did that knight call you lord?" Delilah asked after a while.
Roy replied, "I honestly have no idea. Maybe it mistook me for someone else. Or maybe it was trying to push this headache on me."
He really didn't know what it was talking about.
It could be that it was a knight that had inherited the duty of serving Ninam's bloodline or inheritor. Maybe since he used Ninam's techniques, it mistook him for Ninam's inheritor.
But Roy liked his second theory better.
The knight just wanted to hand down his responsibility to fresh blood, and Roy was the one he chose.
Roy: "The fact that I have this must be kept a secret."
He had hidden the existence of the Chaos-Causing Flute's shard from even Arlo and Amelia.
"Why? Shouldn't we expose this to the lords to get their help regarding this matter?" Julian couldn't understand why Roy came to such a decision.
Swift Death was able to understand Roy. She could be seen staring a bit disappointingly at Julian.
"Doors have eyes; walls have ears. Be guarded against the Chaos and also the man. The difference between a man and a beast is only that of one decision. Who can say that the good neighbor you knew yesterday would never fall prey to Chaos and accept it today? Wouldn't we be hunted down if the person we tell this to defect to the Chaos? The less mouths that know of this, the lower the chance of this information being leaked to Chaos." She recited words of wisdom passed on to her by her twin. free𝓌𝗲𝒃𝓃𝒐𝐯𝒆𝙡. 𝑐𝗼ｍ
Julian felt enlightened. "I understand. It's not necessarily a good thing to let other knows. A servant of Chaos has disguised itself as an old man and snuck into the County. Who knows if there are any serving my father? It's best to keep quiet about it."
AD
"You got that right. What we need most is time to grow stronger in order to prepare for the worst." Roy said, "Until then, we can only hide it."