Jacob opened his eyes to find himself in yet another unfamiliar environment; he squinted, seemingly tired of this familiar cliche.
He rubbed his belly as he felt a strange tingling sensation there.
"She messed me up real good... and they say girls are delicate... tch."
He sat up to find a child seated in front of him; the image of a kid seated cross-legged afore him made him hesitate, but he decided to ignore it.
"Fascinating," the boy muttered.
Jacob attempted to stand up when the rattle of chains caught his ears. He looked down to find his wrists and ankles bound to chains that stretched all the way to the wall behind him.
Realizing the situation, he quietly sat down on the floor and closed his eyes. However, he was immediately interrupted by the annoying voice of the kid.
"Is that it?... Come on, show more expression. I heard you were very gutsy on your way here."
"..."
"Hey! I know you can talk."
"..."
"How're you so fast?"
"..."
"Come on, I don't sense any mana in you, even when we cut you up, we didn't find a core. What are you, man?"
Jacob opened his eyes when he heard what the kid just said. He tore open the shirt he had on and looked down to find a large vertical scar extending from his suprasternum to a little above his pubic symphysis.
He rubbed his palm gently along the scar. His face revealing nothing, his thoughts undecipherable. He eventually paused and turned his gaze to the boy in front of him.
"This is the capital, right?"
"The dungeon under the capital, correct," the boy replied immediately with a chilling smile.
"Now that you've regained your ability to speak, we can hold a proper conversation. You can call me little butterfly or little B, whatever tickles your fancy. What should I call you?"
"...Jacob."
"Haah... isn't this better? Two men getting to know each other, and before you say anything, I believe age should be a measure of what's up here and not the nonsense we've been made to believe." Ralph paused as he pressed a finger against his forehead.
Jacob's eyes flickered with amusement as he kept listening to the kid.
"Now, Mr. Jacob, I believe you're a smart man, and you probably understand your situation better yourself."
"But don't misunderstand... I am a gentleman. I said we'll have a conversation, and that's what we'd do. I've been talking for a while now. Why don't I let you speak, ask whatever's on your mind?"
Jacob stared at the young kid with added seriousness and a bit of apprehension. There was no use hiding or sugarcoating it; a threat was still a threat. But even though the waters had suddenly gotten turbulent, he was determined to swim it.
"What did you take from me?"
"Ah, you're quite sharp. I half thought you won't ask... well, it's nothing serious. We drew some blood, urine, and all the usual. Oh, we also removed some organs for testing, but you don't have to worry. You'll get them back when we are done. And you don't need to worry about your health or something.... you'll be fine, I think."
"Hehe... You guys are quite something."
Ralph's smile grew as if proud of the compliment. He declared,
"I know right?... Okay, my turn."
Ralph's smile completely disappeared; his face became the epitome of seriousness.
"What are you?"
"Haha, you mean your tests didn't tell you?... Ah, and here I was hoping you could tell me... pity."
Jacob couldn't help but laugh, finding the situation funny. Sure, if it was before when he had Lucifer's strength, his body might have been different. But now that he didn't, his body was as normal as could be, maybe even a little malnourished.
It was obvious they'd be curious; he wasn't tainted, he didn't have a core, nor this so-called mana to explain his strength. But to go as far as cutting him up to satiate their curiosity, that's low even for him.
'Just you wait, I'll bash all your heads in soon enough.'
"Mr. Jacob, remember I said I judge a person's age by the mind. Well, that's not entirely true. You see, the mind truly fascinates me... Do you believe in the existence of souls, Mr. Jacob? I do; you could call it my childish fantasy. I believe the soul is the true seat of our existence, everything that happens to us, every book we read, every adversity we overcome, every breakthrough we encounter, every heartbreak we face... How do you think it affects the soul, Mr. Jacob?"
"See, the soul is like a shapeless object, like playdough, and these emotions, these events, they are the hands that play the dough, that sculpt it to whatever shape it becomes, and the result is what comes out as our personality, our demeanor, our cadence. Do you see where I'm headed, Mr. Jacob?"
"The soul is out there, abstract yet expresses itself in the physical through our personality and demeanor. How do you think it works, Mr. Jacob... a connection has to be established, yes? A bridge of some sort, now many assume it's the body, and truthfully I once did, or rather we once did. However, the body wasn't the bridge."
"A body was merely a construct to coat the connection, the support that held the bridge. Mr. Jacob, the mind is the bridge to the soul, the mind is the window to everything that is us, the mind is also the door to access the dough.
Imagine, Mr. Jacob, imagine if we could force the dough to bend, to stretch, MR. JACOB, CAN YOU IMAGINE? GENES AND DNA MODIFICATION, CELLULAR AGING, DISEASE, VIRUS, NONE OF IT MATTERS MR. JACOB, WE'LL HAVE CONTROL OVER EVERYTHING, MR. JACOB, OUR EMOTIONS WON'T SHAPE OUR SOULS ANYMORE, WE'LL DO IT WOTH OUR OWN JANDS, MR. JACOB, WE'LL BE GODS, GODS MR. JACOB, GODS"
Jacob sat quietly, listening to Ralph's ramblings. He was stunned because he thought this kid had hit the nail straight on the head. He was surprised since this was the first time someone had truly broken it down for him, and it was coming from a kid.
Then he thought back to the training he was doing in the abyss. Wasn't that exactly what he was doing? Wasn't he powering himself with his mind? Was it his soul he was manipulating rather than his body?
The moment Jacob had this thought, something clicked in him. He felt changes happening in his mind, and he felt his train of thoughts seemed to evolve, as they ran smoother than he had ever experienced.
It took everything in him not to moan out loud.
'This...'
"My apologies, Mr. Jacob," Ralph interrupted as he took a bow towards the uncomfortable Jacob. He turned his back, preparing to leave, but not before saying,
"I believe you have the piece to the final puzzle, Mr. Jacob. Please take some time to think about it. I'll be back in a while to hear from you...don't misunderstand your position, we've not done every 'test'"
Ralph took one last glance at Jacob's chest; he noticed the scar heal when he gave his apology.
"How truly fascinating..." He couldn't help but mutter