As darkness cast its vast, unending wings over Vinegard City and people returned from work, Elvis and Caelithia, dressed in casual clothes, sat in the back of Maria’s car.
The silence was as threatening as being under a guillotine.
Both of them made sure to keep their breathing as silent as possible.
It was another moment that made Elvis vow to increase his bond with Caelithia so they could communicate telepathically.
To avoid meeting Maria’s eyes in the rearview mirror, he could only watch absentmindedly as the streets lined with streetlights rushed past.
His mind wandered as he wondered why he was being arrested again. He ruminated, attempting to figure out what crime he had committed that warranted an Enforcer of the White Order knocking on his door.
Twenty minutes later, Maria slowed down and pulled over at a large, fenced building, light spilling from its windows as uniformed guards patrolled the premises.
She parked among a few cars in the parking lot and led them to the elevator. After punching in a few codes, scanning her fingerprint and retina, and presenting her silver badge, the elevator finally began to move.
Elvis’s heart pounded as he felt the elevator descend instead of ascend.
’My humble and law-abiding soul is about to be skewered in an underground hell, where only demons walketh,’ Elvis joked inwardly to alleviate the mounting pressure.
The elevator finally stopped and opened onto a well-lit passageway that might have made Elvis forget he was who-knew-how-many feet below the surface. The walls were adorned with beautiful paintings, too.
Maria led them into a room nearby, which turned out to be an office. It was modestly decorated, with a few metal briefcases of various sizes laid on the desk.
She settled into the high-backed chair and gestured for them to sit opposite her.
"Do you care for any drinks?" Maria asked.
Both of them shook their heads.
’Girl, do you think anything I drink now will slide down my throat?’ Elvis almost rolled his eyes at her.
"You should know why I called you, right?" Maria asked calmly.
Both of them shook their heads again, even though Elvis had an inkling.
"Well, when you guys came to this city, what did you tell me? You told me you weren’t Awakeners, but magically, you are now Awakeners," Maria said.
She continued, "Do you know how someone can wield the power of an Awakener out of the blue after turning eighteen?"
Caelithia shook her head, and Elvis followed suit a second later.
Maria turned the dial on a small metal briefcase, which soon unlocked with a click.
Then she lifted the lid and turned it toward them, revealing a padded interior containing a few thumb-sized black crystal shards.
Elvis’s heart pounded at the sight. An insatiable craving surged through him, making the black crystal shards look like the most delectable things he had ever seen.
His fingers twitched as he suppressed the overwhelming urge to snatch them from the box and devour them on the spot.
Maria tapped her fingers on the table as she explained, "These are black nexite shards. After turning eighteen, becoming an Awakener is impossible. However, when unawakened individuals consume black nexite shards, there’s a chance they’ll awaken the Devourer System. Even Awakeners have a high chance of becoming corrupted if they absorb too many, although absorbing a few is harmless. So, which are you?"
Elvis let out a strained, hollow chuckle.
"You must be joking, Miss Maria. We are neither of those. We never understood what you meant back then. It was a gross misinterpretation on our part because it was the first time we’d heard the word Awakener; we grew up in a village," Elvis clarified while Caelithia kept nodding along as his backup.
"I trust you, but we still have to conduct the test. Are you ready?" Maria asked with a friendliness that still unsettled Elvis.
Both of them nodded.
After turning the dial on a larger metal briefcase, she opened it to reveal a block of white nexite.
Caelithia merely stretched and placed her palm on it without warning.
’Damn, girl! Aren’t you scared you might just test positive?’
Fortunately, nothing changed.
Elvis extended his hand, his heart hanging in suspense, since his Devourer System was no longer at Level 0 like the first time.
Yet the cubic block of white metal nexite remained unchanged.
He exhaled lightly, careful not to reveal anything, as his suspended heart finally settled.
Maria gave a thumbs-up while swiveling in her chair. "Nice."
"Do you need me to drop you off?" Maria asked.
Caelithia nodded while Elvis shook his head.
"So, which of your answers should I take?" Maria asked with a chuckle.
"We haven’t had dinner yet, so we want to eat before going home," Elvis quickly replied before Caelithia could speak.
"Okay. Here’s a gift from me for wasting your night. But first, what’s your corruption level?" Maria suddenly picked up two black nexite shards.
"Zero," Elvis answered without hesitation, and Caelithia followed suit.
"Good. Just chew these, but don’t get addicted." She passed each of them a black nexite shard with a wink.
Elvis accepted his while giving her a suspicious stare.
"Don’t stare at me like that. You don’t know how many people would love to get their hands on these. But these are the lowest of the lowest tier black nexite shards," Maria said with a smile.
Elvis pleaded, trying to maintain a pitiful expression. "Ma’am, I don’t know if we’ve wronged you in any way—"
Caelithia suddenly tossed hers into her mouth while Elvis was still hesitating.
Elvis snapped his head toward her, nearly choking as he fought the urge to make her spit it out. ’Girl, what kind of impulsive—’
A flurry of notifications appeared before his eyes, cutting off his thoughts:
[Your Spirit Beast has leveled up!]
[Your Spirit Beast has leveled up!]
[Level: 2 → 4]
[All Attributes Increased.]
[...INSUFFICIENT BONDING...]
Elvis’s pupils constricted. ’She leveled up twice.’
He swiftly tossed his shard into his mouth.
A notification appeared on a blue, translucent screen that instant:
[Poison Artificer Activated!]
[Shadow Essence Extracted!]
———’Not a level up?’ Elvis arched an eyebrow before chewing the shard.
The black nexite shard was crunchy, cool, and tasteless, like a piece of ice.
It quickly melted.
A warm sensation coursed through his body.
〈Your Devourer Class has leveled up!〉
〈Your Devourer Class has leveled up!〉
〈Level: 3 → 5〉
〈All Devourer Attributes Increased.〉
〈+4 Devourer Strength〉
〈+4 Devourer Agility〉
〈+4 Devourer Constitution〉
〈+0 Devourer Intelligence〉
〈+8 Devourer Essence〉
〈+0 Devourer Free Attributes〉
But that wasn’t all.
〈Congratulations on reaching Level 5!〉
〈Two Skill Slots Unlocked!〉
———’Right. Devourer Systems don’t grant [Life Inspection] at Level 5, but the skill can still be learned, unlike with the Awakener System, which grants [Life Inspection] and only one Skill slot,’ Elvis pondered, remembering what he read.
"How was it?" Maria’s voice jolted him back to reality.
"Nice." Elvis flashed a fawning smile while staring at the remaining black nexite shards in the briefcase.
"Stop looking at them. Remember, I told you that too much would get you corrupted. Your corruption has increased just now." Maria chuckled.
Elvis quickly pulled up his systems, his gaze dropping to the bottom section.
To his shock, his corruption had increased from five percent to twenty percent. But to Elvis, it was madness spelt in figures.
’Sh*t! Leveling up is bad!’