“Oh, what are all these goodies you have?” A sweet voice rang out from beneath the clouds. And soon, the man had flown back up, landing next to me with an entire drake’s head in his hand. A real Drake. You know, the pre-evolution before a dragon. “What? Not enough? I can get the rest of the body but it would be a bit hard to fit it in here-”

“No, you’re fine,” I chuckled, while the man dragged the head in and began to cook it under a fire in a small dirt pit. I had to admit, it smelled amazing even strangely smell amazing before he even began to cook it, and as it roasted on top of the fire, a salty-sweet aroma wafted through the air. My mouth was already drooling just sitting next to this, so I hurried up with these skill books.

You have activated the Skill Fusion Orb

A golden glow enveloped my hand and instinctively I knew what to do with it. Reaching out, I touched every single leather book that had a merman weapon art on it, and as they all came together, fusing into a single leather book but this time encrusted with a silver lining, the dragon glanced over, curious as to what I was doing.

“What’s this?” The dragon asked, yet it was obvious he knew what the spiked red orb was. It was the strangest item I had received from the gauntlet and it was the reward for me slaying that disgusting creep.

“An agony orb or something…” I attempted my best to explain.

“Yeah, I guess it is… do you know what it does?”

The dragon looked excited as I handed it over to him by one of the many spiky tips. And just from the smell dripping off of it, I could tell it was doused in poison. Whatever it was made of had to be extremely deadly… so then why was I given this? Is this some kind of weapon?

“This is a subgroup of the emotion orb better known as a mana core. Does your kind know what a mana core is or is that something that was lost with time… don’t worry, it’s a strange existence so I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t know what it is.”

“Yeah, sorry, I don’t know what it is… ummm…”

The man chuckled lightly before sitting down next to me and holding the core out, waves of blue light swirling around it, suppressing and crushing the large spikes into the orb. The poison dripping from each end was neutralized and even served as fertilizer to help the orb grow bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger until it was the size of my head.

Red, glowing, and almost angry. That was the only possible way I could explain this thing. Each strand of bloodlust coming from this was so powerful that it made me sick to my stomach, and forced goosebumps to erupt from my skin.

“It’s fine. A mana core is the center of the system. Your system, your status, your skills, your mana, your experience, your soul… all of it is held within this thing… this mana core,” The dragon handed the orb to me, and as its bloodlust dug into my skin, I felt the pure unfiltered hatred, anger, and misery coursing out of it.

“The soul is actually a real thing? I thought it was some concept that people used to push good deeds and karma or whatever…”

“Nevermind that. Aren’t you curious as to what this mana core can be used for?”

Why is he changing the subject…?

“No… not really. Just holding it makes me wanna ** myself…”

“You’re a funny girl,” The dragon chuckled, but I was being genuine. And as he took the mana core from my hands and held it out in front of him once more his nails extended from his fingers and crushed into the core, releasing a gust of miasma that whipped by me. “Absorb this miasma. It’s good for you. In fact, you’re close to evolving, aren’t you?”

“Y-Yeah,” I stuttered, the chilling sensation causing an innate fear to rise up within me, pushing past whatever was blocking most of my emotions. Sweat shot down my face and head and as the dragon placed the orb in my lap, I felt a familiar tinge of insanity creep its way into my body. 𝒪𝒱𝓁xt.𝑐𝒪𝔪

“If you absorb this, you can push past the requirements for evolution. No doubt about it. Also, let me help you so you can absorb it efficiently. The food is about to burn so let’s hurry this up.”

“Why are you helping me so much?”

“Because I want you as my student. That destiny of yours intrigues me because you will be the savior of the Promethean flame, yet… I’m the current owner of it.”

…

(Luna POV)

I was miserable. Being forced to relive the trauma of my childhood over and over was mind-numbingly painful. It was to the point where I could no longer shed tears of sadness, anger, or resentment because I had seen it so many times. My heart hurt yet my head refused to give in to such weakness any longer.

And in between that break of a day or two, where I sat in an endless web of baby blue and black memories, a figure appeared. After what seemed to be months, that asshole had finally revealed himself after watching me suffer.

Long baby blue hair, with shimmering golden stars for eyes, made his entire presence pop. He had the body and voice of a kid but acted like some deranged adult whose sanity had slipped long ago. He wore a set of mage robes that slung heavily across his entire body, making it look more like a pile of blankets rather than actual clothing.

“You bastard… leaving me here saying its for the best. You’re going to destroy my mind… who do you think you are toying with me like this? I’ll kill you one day… all of us will.”

“Who am I? Sweetie, you already know who I am… Juzil, The Demon Lord of Illusions.”