Dion was sitting in a soft chair and a table in front while looking at the two girls in front of me. A staring contest began.
Well, the two girls were Ella and Karen. Ella was in Karen's house and she didn't want to miss the premium interrogation. As for Maya, Karen already separated her from Dion and kept her in a guest room.
"Okay, Ella. Get the truth detector. This thing won't be clean without that," Karen finally broke the awkward and tense staring contest.
"Coming!" Ella, in a long, big gown and flip flop, with her pink hair tied in pigtails, ran out of the room.
She came back, breathing hard with a metallic, silver, 'one-handed cuff".
"I don't accept cuffs," Dion said calmly.
He had already regained his calmness from the shock of seeing Karen.
Karen was about to explain but Ella beat her to it. "It's not a cuff. It's merely a truth detector. The light shines red if it's a lie. Then green if it's true."
After Dion discovered a white crystal shackle that could seal bloodline and limit powers, he became careful of cuffs.
Dion collected the bangle and studied it intently before putting it on.
"What now?" Dion asked. He couldn't wait to leave.
"You just need to tell me what happened and if my body is safe and intact," Karen questioned with her eyes shining fiercely in a green glow.
'Elf bloodline. The eyes of truth! Double authentication of cuffs and eyes ability," Dion thought in shock.
Now that he thought of the relationship between Karen and Liana, there was something weird going on between them.
"Aren't you speaking?" Karen's growl made him snap out of his thoughts.
Dion took a deep breath.
"Here is the short story. I became suspicious of Luke's agenda, so I carried your body and left. True to my thoughts, something is wrong with Luke; he's a half-corrupted Runic body awakened. During the fight, I had to throw your body. However, when I killed Luke, he scratched me and poisoned me. That's how I'm here," Dion said calmly but the light on the bangle which was green from the beginning shone red at the end.
"The ending part is either a fat lie or a combination of truth and lie." Karen's eyes squinted dangerously at Dion.
'Hell! Now I know what Luke feared. You can't even lie a bit.' Dion took another deep breath while steeling himself for anything that was to come after he finished his piece.
"Okay. Here is the thing. As a heroic, righteous, and noble boy, I gave your body to Liana to escape with it." When Dion said it, he prepared for her to react like a raging tigress but it didn't occur. Instead, her eyes widened briefly and then became calm. Even her shoulder relaxed a bit.
Dion noticed these tiny changes in her posture that many would have missed. 'As I thought, Liana and Karen know each other. I was the only person traveling alone. What a life. Well, I had my peace. But come to think of it, they acted perfectly like a stranger. I didn't even see it coming.'
"We will see if your statement is true when we get to the other side. Maybe you intentionally skipped some parts. You must sleep in my house today. If it's a lie, your body in this place will see hell when I wake up," Karen said with an eerie smile playing on her lips.
Dion's face scrunched up into a nasty grimace.
"Hey, it's not a bad thing. Your body on the other side might need help. Here is the perfect place to call for backup. You can ask Karen for help when you wake up since the status of your body is unknown and the location might be unknown," Ella quickly explained while playing with her hair.
Dion thought for a moment before nodding but he added, "Let me send Maya off."
"Is she your girlfriend?" Ella asked enthusiastically. With bright eyes, she squealed, "Boyfriend and girlfriend working together and doing deliveries. Cool!"
Dion ignored her and walked to where Maya was staying.
–––
After sending Maya off with difficulty, Dion returned to the room with a question in his head.
He reclined into the soft chair. "Do your parents know of you being a Realm Wanderer? Or are they also Realm Wanderers? Maybe the Realm Wanderer thing is transferred genetically. You can explain it to me."
"We're not close enough that would prompt me to explain anything," Karen said coldly and sat on the bed beside Ella.
She added calmly, "Let's talk about something that will benefit both of us. Have you awakened your bloodline? "
"Yes."
"Which bloodline?"
"Sanguine." Dion
Dion's reply made Karen nod before saying to Ella, "He's joining the team."
"I don't recall accepting to join any team," Dion interrupted them while swerving on the chair.
Karen looked at Dion for a moment before asking, "Haven't you noticed the amount of food you consume multiplied after awakening your bloodline?"
"I haven't eaten since I awakened the bloodline." Dion shook his head.
Ella quickly took up the conversation as she had been itchy to speak. "When you awaken a bloodline, the blood and body become energetic and superior to regular humans. That means it also requires more energy. If you eat regular food, the quantity you will consume will be frightening as time goes on. That means money is needed for your survival. Your part-time job won't be able to cater for your food. That's what Karen implies."
Dion became silent for a moment as the information was new. He asked after a while, "Your team gives food?"
"Hell no," Ella vehemently denied.
Karen explained, "There is a drug dealer who will bring a cash of three million dollars to a nightclub. We will—"
Dion couldn't hold his patience at her speech. "Don't tell me I'm going to join you guys to play vigilante to catch bad guys at night. I can't do that job."
Ella's eyes enlarged. "We're not doing that but that's interesting. Robbing the money is what we do."
Dion's jaw dropped and his eyes nearly popped out as he foolishly stared at the two girls sitting on the bed. The girls being realm wanderers was a surprise, but performing robbery was a big shocker and eye-opener. When they talked about robbery, the first thing he thought of was Ella with a cute face wearing big, black boots carrying out a raid with a gun and shouting, "Everybody on the ground! It's a robbery! If you move…"
He shook his head to shake the overlapping images.
'Everything is all mask and disguise! I can't even tell the real face of people. They even rob?' Dion screamed in his head.
"Stop looking like that. We are raiding bad guys, so your conscience, if you have one, would be clean," Karen said impatiently.
Dion took a deep breath and began calculations.
'If what they said is true about increased food consumption, then I would have to join them. I need to survive. Borrowing money from Ivy is not an option. She already helped me in high school. Wait… something doesn't add up.'
Dion's eyes glared at them. "I might need money for my food but what about the two of you? Your parents are rich, so I don't see any reason you should perform robbery."
"You're right. We perform it for fun," Ella replied while spinning a book.
However, Dion noticed a hidden glint in her eyes. A hidden, deep-seated hatred in her eyes veiled by her lively nature.
Dion couldn't help but think why they did it. 'I need to observe.'
"Let me think about it," Dion said.
Karen nodded.
The rest of the evening was spent eating and talking about Aeon for better understanding.
Dion quickly got some information like why he could fluently speak and understand the language in Aeon, which is a benefit of the Void Shuttle.
Most of his doubts were cleared.
Karen shows Dion the guest room. Her parents weren't coming home tonight, so Dion was a little comfortable.
Just as she was about to leave through the door, Karen paused. "When you wake up on the other side, you should get into battle mode. Maybe your situation there is worse than you thought. Sometimes, you might find yourself in your previous situation or worse. Well, it might be good too. All I'm saying is that you should hope for the best while preparing for the worst case."
Dion's heart shook as she spoke. He didn't even notice when she left. He could feel his hands trembling as he remembered when he first got captured in Aeon. His first torture is still vivid and fresh in his memory. When he looked out of the window and saw that it was night, his pores constricted.
The leisure sleep he was about to fall into became scary.
'Let's hope it's all good on the other side.'
He steeled his heart and fell asleep.
–––
When Dion's eyes opened on the other side, his mind felt groggy at first, like a person who woke up from a long sleep. Pain radiated from all over his body.
'Where am I? I–f**k!'
Dion sprang to his feet like a man who saw the clock and was late for work.
[Eyes of Dread activated!]
Dion's eyes instantly transformed as he looked around the dark room he was in. His improved vision enabled him to see color now, unlike before.
When his eyes darted around, he spotted a woman with long, black, silky hair cascading like a waterfall behind her back. Her green eyes regarded Dion with curiosity. She wore a black robe.
"You woke up earlier than I predicted but your body reeks of blood, death, and corruption. Killing you now should eliminate future destruction and save lives," she spoke to herself even with Dion in front of her.
It instantly sparked the instinct to survive in Dion.
He pounced at her. All his mind was prepared to take his third life. When he was a meter from grabbing her neck, her iris abruptly glowed purple like an amethyst gem.
Dion felt an invisible force pound him to the ground. He fell to his knees with his red eyes staring at the young woman in shock. His eyes seem to not affect her.
When Dion tried to fight against the force pressing him, his knee sunk deeper into the floor. Blood leaked from his knees. He suddenly remembered something from Ella's note.
'Dark Sorcerer!' He screamed in his head. Now he is frightened for real.
Although Ella skipped the part about Aura Flare intentionally, she wrote about Dark Sorcerers in red. A short introduction and a stern warning.
Bloodline Awakening, Runic Body, and Aura Flare belong to one rank — the Body Realm.
Then the next rank — Blood Magic Realm — starts with Class One Dark Sorcerer.
And the warning from Ella was, "If you are below the Blood Magic Realm and you meet a Dark Sorcerer, you run. Bloodline Awakening, Runic Body, or Aure Flare… RUN!!! The Body Realm can never beat the Blood Magic Realm. They could control mana with their eyes!"
'Damn it! I didn't envision my case to be as bad as this. Is this karma for taking life?' Dion thought as he slowly stopped fighting against the invisible oppression.