Afterlife : Journey to be strongest

It was night, and Ray and Ash were making their way to the capital, Eldoria.

Both walked in silence, the only sounds their footsteps against the quiet earth.

"Are we going to your home?" Ray asked.

"Yes, only for the night," Ash replied. "Tomorrow, we will go to Eldorwyn Palace to meet the King."

Krishna, should I use teleportation magic to go directly? Ash thought internally.

Of course, Krishna responded. Why are you walking for so long?

"Ray, stop," Ash said aloud.

"What happened?" Ray asked, halting.

Ash turned towards Ray. "This way, it will take too much time to reach. So, I am going to use teleportation magic to go directly. Put your hand on my shoulder, because physical contact is required to teleport you as well."

Ray placed his hand on Ash's shoulder.

"Be ready," Ash warned. "Don't release your hand, or the contact will break."

"SPACE PACT: TELEPORTATION!"

Both figures vanished.

Ray and Ash materialized directly in front of a colossal palace. The golden-colored structure was immense and modern in design. Its entrance stairs stretched long and grand, clearly built for nobles. The entire palace was bathed in a uniform yellow light, emanating from small, firefly-like magic cores that flitted around the palace, both inside and out, enhancing its beauty. These firefly magic cores were powered by Nature Energy stored within them, much like batteries.

"You... you said we are going to meet the King tomorrow," Ray stammered, gazing at the huge palace in awe.

Ash turned his face towards Ray and stared at him. "This is not the King's palace. However, you could say it is, because this palace is one of many within the noble sector of Eldorwyn Palace. This is the biggest palace in the noble sector."

"What?" Ray gasped. "There are others like this? How big is this place, Eldorwyn?"

Ash began to move towards the palace, Ray following him. "Though it's not a place, but a palace," Ash explained as they walked, "it has four major sectors: Noble, Servant, Commercial, and Military sectors."

They entered the palace.

"It's even more beautiful inside," Ray whispered, his eyes captivated. "My gaze isn't shifting from this. These fireflies emitting lights look like moving stars, and the roof like the sky."

That castle is nothing compared to this, Ray thought. However, that castle was only a temporary residence.

"We are in the Noble Sector," Ash continued as they walked. "In the Noble Sector, nobles live. There are many families who reside here. In the Servant Sector, servants live. While in the Commercial Sector, all work related to business, meetings, etc., happens. The Military Sector is specially for training magic techniques, and soldiers live there. All these four sectors make up Eldorwyn Palace. You could say its size is about that of a city. It covers one-fourth of the capital, Eldoria."

"This is too large!" Ray exclaimed.

As I thought, Spiritumens are very developed, Ray mused. And also very powerful. I don't know anything about this palace and about them.

Ash stopped on the stairs leading to an upper floor. "Are you hungry?"

"No," Ray replied.

"Then, we will talk tomorrow," Ash said.

"Go straight up, then turn left. Then go to the room at the fifth number. You can rest there."

"Okay," Ray acknowledged.

"Don't try to run or anything like this," Ash warned. "Don't think that these fireflies flying around can only light this palace."

With that, Ash descended to a lower floor, climbing down the stairs.

Ray watched him go, muttering to himself, "What did he mean? Do these fireflies fight or something?" Then he, too, ascended to the upper floor.

"He said the fifth room," Ray mumbled to himself. "Where is it? Fifth from where? There are many rooms, on both my left and right sides." He paused. "Umm... I should go to the right side."

Ray turned right, and without knocking—because he assumed no one was inside—he pulled the door directly, opening it.

Inside, a beautiful girl with black hair was taking a shower, completely naked! The room Ray had opened was, apparently, a bathroom. As he opened the door, the girl instantly turned her face towards him. With shampoo and white bubbles on her hair, her hands were raised to wash them, leaving her breasts uncovered, and her lower body exposed. The girl's face contorted in panic, and as she was about to scream, Ray instantly slammed the door shut with incredible speed, making no noise.

This was only possible for someone with extreme quickness and precise control. He then instantly vanished from that spot, reappearing directly in front of the fifth room on the left side.

Ray's cheeks were flushed crimson, a deep blush spreading across his face.

"What was that? I just saw heaven." He shook his head. "But more important is how I appeared here. My body suddenly acted on its own as I panicked at the thought of her shouting. It's like I teleported."

Ray opened the door to the room on the left. He then sat on the bed. There was a window from which the entire palace was visible. The room itself was huge, but Ray's mind was elsewhere, unconcerned with his surroundings.

I was right, Ray thought. That Curseuman's powers are inside me. It's not like he is in my body, activating different techniques; if that were true, I would have been killed by now. These techniques automatically activate when I panic or am in a serious situation. I just need to learn how to control it. Then his powers will be mine.

Ray fell back onto the bed, staring at the roof.

"Yuki, I miss you," he whispered. "Today I saw a girl naked by mistake. I didn't want to, but I saw. She... her body was beautiful, well-proportioned."

"What are you saying, Ray?" he muttered to himself, shaking his head. "Just sleep. Forget that."

With this, he closed his eyes, attempting to sleep.

Hours later, the moon outside glowed white, occasionally obscured by passing clouds, yet it continued to shine.

Inside Ray's room, he lay sleeping, his legs dangling off the bed, his body resting on it. One hand rested on his chest.

A dream unfolded in Ray's mind.

He saw a child playing with other children, running after them. One child approached him and said, "Touch me, I will catch them in your place." Another child, who was running behind them to catch, said "Okay." He touched the boy, and suddenly the boy he touched burst into blood and pieces of flesh—a terrifying sight for children.

The child who had touched him recoiled, stepping back, seeing his hands shredded and covered in blood. The child cried, "I didn't do this! I didn't do this!" Seeing this, all the other children ran away. The child, tears streaming down his face, raised his hand towards the fleeing children. "Don't run from me! I didn't do that! Please don't leave me alone here!"

Suddenly, all the children who were running turned into blood and pieces of flesh, bursting into the air this time. The entire earth was watered crimson by their blood. The child, now alone, tears in his eyes, looked towards the corpses of the dead children, which were disintegrating into particles and disappearing.

Some people came running, and upon seeing the fearful sight, they were all terrified. Their eyes fixed on the child who stood still, crying and continuously repeating, "I didn't do this."

All the people began to beat that child, some with kicks. Then, one of them stepped forward, holding a black energy orb in his hand. The man said, "He will not die with this. He is a shame to us, Curseumans. Like this, he will kill everyone. We have to kill him. Let me do this."

He extended his hand towards the child, whose clothes were torn, his face and remaining garments covered in dust, lying partially on the ground. The man was about to kill him, but suddenly a voice echoed from somewhere behind.

"Stop!"

From the crowd of Curseumans, a figure emerged, a sword in his hand, armored soldiers behind him. The man with the orb looked back, and his energy orb instantly disappeared. The man immediately dropped to his knees, lowering his head. He was about to say, "Forgive..." but his head fell from his shoulders, and his body disintegrated into particles. The crowd became silent, fear etched on everyone's faces.

The Commander said, "He is not a shame; all of you are a shame to Dreadwill!"

The Commander approached the child, then knelt. He said, "Boy, what is your name?"

People in the crowd began to whisper: "Why is Commander lowering himself in front of a mere peasantry?" "Who is this child?" "What is happening here?"

The Commander shouted, "Silence!" All the people instantly fell silent again.

"Now tell me your name?" the Commander asked the boy.

"I don't know my name," the boy replied.

"You don't know?" the Commander mused. "Are you alone like me?"

"Yes," the boy said.

"Why did you kill those boys? Weren't they your friends?"

"They were," the boy replied, tears welling up. "But I didn't kill them. My powers killed them."

"Your powers killed them?" the Commander questioned. "Do you not know how to control them?"

"No," the boy admitted.

"Will you come with me," the Commander offered, "if I say I will teach you how to control them?"

"No, I can't be," the boy cried, tears streaming down his face. "Everyone who lives with me gets killed. My friends, my parents, all are killed by me."

"Don't worry," the Commander reassured him. "You can't kill me. I am the Commander of the Dreadwill Clan. I will teach you how to turn this curse of yours into your strength. From now, you are one of Dreadwill, and your name will be Ebon."

"Ebon," the boy repeated.

"Yes, Ebon," the Commander confirmed. "It will be your name!"

"Really?" the boy asked, his eyes wide with hope. He moved towards the Commander and hugged him while the Commander was still kneeling. Everyone in the crowd shouted, "Commander, don't touch him! You will be..." But the Commander raised one hand to signal them to keep quiet.

The boy was crying while hugging him. The Commander's body was continuously being damaged, with some of his flesh bursting, but it instantly regenerated.

"You see, I am fine," the Commander said.

In this way, many other memories of Ebon flashed through Ray's mind and dreams. In the end, he saw Ebon killing himself with his own technique.

Ray suddenly woke up and looked towards the window. Sunlight partially illuminated his face.

"What were those dreams?" Ray whispered.

"Why do I know everything about that Curseuman? No, his name is Ebon."

His eyes slowly opened, widening in surprise. "My mind, what is happening? Why am I getting all of Ebon's memories? His fights, his battle experience... it's like a pendrive connected to my mind, and I am fetching data from it."

"Why do I know everything about Ebon?"