Time passed slowly in the void I now existed in. I felt short bursts of power come periodically as Lukas used his Essence for one thing or another. Every time I collected a little bit and I slowly got stronger. A trickle here and a trickle there that I horded to keep myself going.
I had no way to know exactly how much time had passed. My power was so low I couldn't even communicate with Lukas. I had learned a valuable lesson. I was a being of pure power now. I didn't have a physical body at all. I was an existence outside of time, laws, and even logical comprehension. And while I waited for my power to build, I started to think about what I was actually capable of.
I was meant to help whoever I was attached to. I had access to every power and ability in every game I had ever played, and I had played many games in my time. From casual mobile games to AAA titles on all forms of consoles and PCs, and even VR games, I had played them all. I realized I had been too simplistic in my thinking. My only limiting factor was the energy I could absorb and with Lukas I was extremely limited in what I could do because his absorption rate was so low.
I waited and planned and thought as time continued to pass. I watched my power reserves begin to increase so slowly. I could only leech a small percent of the power Lukas used and he didn't seem to use his power often. I could only exist here and wait, hoping to recover from the overuse of my power to heal his affliction.
After what seemed an eternity of time had passed, I was finally able to gather enough power to begin to function again. I was finally able to see into Lukas life again and I found that it was still a horrible existence. I couldn't communicate with Lukas yet. I could however see through his eyes again.
Lukas was getting up in the morning and using his Essence to clean himself. He would then get dressed and go to school where he inevitably met up with his old bullies. Again, day after day, they would find him and beat him up. Lukas would then exhaust all his power to speed up the healing of his body. He would attend his classes and then he would go back to the orphanage to perform chores and to help out. He seldom left the orphanage except for school.
Lukas had no friends that I could see, except for one young girl. She like him was also weak and bullied. They spent their time together doing chores to receive a pittance of money, and to help them evade the presence of the bullies that threatened them. I continued to gather power and to try to grow stronger.
I watched in the mirror as Lukas aged. No longer a twelve-year-old boy, Lukas was now a young man. He had over the last couple of years grown some. He was still small for his age and seemed malnourished. His frame was extremely thin, to the point that you could see his ribs through his stomach, but he never seemed to complain.
Finally, After nearly three years I could contact him again.
"Lukas can you hear me?" I asked as he lay in his bed circulating Essence to help heal his daily injuries.
"You're back!" Lukas exclaimed inside his mind as he answered me.
"I never left. I simply had to hibernate and restore my power after healing you." I told him. "I had to use nearly every bit of power I possessed to form the connection between your Essence portal and your soul storage."
"I thought you had left me. It has been so long." was his simple statement.
"Only our death can separate us." I informed him. "I've watched for the last years as I was able to see what is going on in your life. I've seen how you have been treated and what this world is capable of doing to those that are less fortunate. Do you want revenge? Do you want to be more powerful than any other person in your world? Do you want to make them suffer for the way they have treated you?" I asked.
"Not really." Lukas replied, "I just want to be able to live a better life. I want to be able to just live and be left alone."
I was flabbergasted by his reply. In his place I would want revenge. If this was a game I was playing, and other players treated me this way then I would tear them down as I got stronger. I would kill them over and over and steal and take all their stuff. I would hunt down their friends and guild members and destroy them all, but not Lukas. No, he just wants a simple life.
However, Lukas has me riding shotgun in his head. He was just too nice, and I would see his persecutors destroyed. I just needed to convince Lukas of this fact.
"I am still very weak Lukas. I need you to use your essence more. Whenever you use your Essence I get a little bit stronger. Start to use it to do your chores. Use it around the orphanage to help out but do it where others can't see you. Always keep some reserves though in case you need to heal yourself though. Once I am a little bit stronger I will gift you something to help you out." I explained.
"Sure I can do that." Lukas replied.