[Of course, it’s me. Who else would it be?]
Realizing that Devo is the one talking inside his head, Rex widens his eyes as Chandler never said about any spirit can retain its consciousness after getting assimilated with.
Any spirit that got assimilated and has its media destroyed will not retain its consciousness.
One might think that what the humans do to the spirits is cruel, but that is the only way to reach higher power and the times are also desperate.
There’s no cruelty in this time, only survival of the fittest.
Just like when humans sometimes died during the assimilating process, it’s because of their media being destroyed forcefully by the spirit they’re trying to assimilate with.
So hearing Devo talking inside his head greatly shocked Rex.
‘How did you retain your consciousness? Isn’t that impossible?’, Rex thought.
[You are not even knowledgeable about the spirit world, I’m disappointed in myself for losing to you], Devo said mockingly.
Hearing Devo’s still cocky tone, Rex then said, ‘Just answer the damn question’
[You mistake me, for a lower spirit!!], Devo answered angrily, it seems that his pride is hurt.
Rex was put into thought when he heard this, ‘So basically, the spirit has rankings too?’
[Yes! and to think that someone would mistake me for a lower spirit never crossed my mind for thousands of years], Devo added.
Based on what Devo said, Rex deduce that spirit has rankings too.
Devo the Gatekeeper that he just assimilated with should be high-rank just like what the system stated, so this somehow makes him able to retain his consciousness even after getting assimilated or absorbed by Rex.
But this lead to another conclusion,
If the norm for the sixth rank Awakened stated that a spirit’s consciousness will be erased after getting assimilated by someone, then that means all of their spirits are lower-rank.
‘So basically, you’re going to be inside my head and can read my mind?’, Rex asks.
[Pretty much], Devo replied with a calm tone.
But his answer piqued Rex’s interests, ‘I bet there is a way to get rid of your consciousness right? but you won’t tell me’
Hearing this, Devo didn’t reply and went silent.
‘I knew it!’, Rex thought evilly.
[You won’t find the way to get rid of me, and besides, you will need me], Devo said assuringly.
But this didn’t convince Rex at all, ‘System, Do you know how to get rid of Devo’s consciousness for good?’
Reading this, a smile appeared on Rex’s face as he just confirm that the system have the information to get rid of Devo’s consciousness.
[Are you asking me? I’m not going to tell you], Devo replied feeling annoyed.
Rex then frowns hearing Devo’s reply, ‘What do you mean I’m asking you? Can’t you hear all of my thoughts?’
[I can, and asking me about how to get rid of me is just plain dumb]
After Devo said that, something suddenly hits Rex’s mind.
Now that he thinks about it, if Devo can hear all of his thoughts then that means Devo can hear him talking with System!
But Rex is not worried because Devo can’t spread around that he’s talking to the system.
‘I’m not talking to you, I’m talking to the system’, Rex answered nonchalantly, it’s futile even if he tries to keep the system a secret from Devo who can read his mind.
[Talking to who? Can you think clearly?]
‘The System!’, Rex shouted inside his head, he’s starting to get annoyed.
[You’re messing with me, right? If you’re trying to fool me then it won’t work]
Hearing this, Rex started to doubt that Devo is trying to make him feel annoyed, ‘So you can’t hear the word System?’
[I don’t know what you said but I can’t hear it]
Realizing this, Rex sighs lightly realizing that Devo can’t hear the word system.
He then got back to the topic they were talking about before, ‘So, Did you see the remnants of the fruit I just ate too?’
[Vaguely, but yes]
‘You said that figure is your race, What do you think he’s trying to say?’, Rex asks.
[That figure is certainly older than me, his hair is very long, and also the markings on his body show that he’s what we call the ancient one], Devo explained with a hint of awe in his tone.
He then continues, [I think he’s showing you something, but I don’t know what]
Hearing this, Rex was put into thoughts because Devo didn’t quite help understand the remnant.
‘No matter how I remember it, the ancient one is showing somekind of mantra? or Spell?’, Rex thought, because there’s nothing to it other than that.
But Rex is still unsure whether his hunch is correct or not.
[I must say the world has deteriorated this much, I’m not surprised everyone is weak here], Devo suddenly said snapping Rex out of his thoughts.
He then shouted when he saw a plane go past them, [What is that?! I never saw such a thing since I was born to this world]
[10,000 years ago, there are no spells for traveling like this]
Devo kept talking every time he saw a car, a plane, or even a hologram map beside the street making Rex’s thoughts rowdy.
This clearly annoyed Rex until he finally asks, ‘System, Can I push Devo’s spirit aside?’
<3,000 gold to learn Spirit Suppression, Do the user wants to continue?>
‘Yes’, Rex replied hurriedly.
Right after he said yes, another fragment of information enters Rex’s brain as he instantly learn how to suppress a spirit like Devo.
Turns out, to suppress Devo’s mind is simple.
Rex just needs to concentrate on his permanent mana with the sole purpose of containing Devo and supplying them to the brain media to push off Devo’s consciousness to the side.
After Rex started to regulate his permanent mana,
[Wait, What are you doing?! Stop!!]
Devo pleaded to try to stop Rex as his voice inside Rex’s head started to fade, it went on for a couple of seconds before Devo’s voice can’t be heard anymore.
‘Ah… Finally some peace’, Rex thought in relaxation.
The road is rowdy and they still haven’t left Ratmawati City yet, because the Crystalline of mana is located in sector two which means they’re more in the center of the city.
It takes quite a long time to reach the end of Ratmawati City.
While on the road, Rex got bored with only listening to music and hear Adhara playing with her phone on the back.
He wanted to open the Moon Box he got from the system, but he can’t do it in here.
Even when Adhara and Edward believe the fruit Rex takes out before, it wouldn’t be believable if Rex suddenly takes another weird box out of nowhere.
They both believed him but they must have an extent, so Rex will open the box when he’s alone.
But then suddenly,
Ring!
Adhara’s phone rang as her ringtone plays,
She looks at her phone to see who’s calling before her eyes widen for a moment, “Hello?”
“Yes, it’s me”
“I’m out today, so can we reschedule to another time?”
“That would be great, but just so you know I won’t be the one coming there but my associate will be there in my stead”
“No can’t do, that is my term”
“Goodbye”
After talking with the person on the other side, Adhara turns off the phone before she suddenly notices Rex is looking at her from the center rearview mirror.
“What?”, Adhara asks nervously.
Rex squinted his eyes before he asks, “Who are you talking to?”
“My dad called and ask me for something, it’s personal stuff”, Adhara replied after averting her gaze, the way she acted made Rex suspicious but he won’t push it.
If he thought of it calmly, her excuse doesn’t make sense.
Edward repositioned the center rearview mirror that Rex used to look at Adhara before he too give a look to Adhara.
“So, Do you know anything about Lountain City?”, Edward asks opening a conversation.
Rex then answered while looking out of the window, “It’s a city in the east of Ratmawati City, Lountain City is a city located on the Bleak Everson Hills, the place is always raining and misty, there are also mutated animals roaming on the foot of the mountain”
“I don’t know about the actual city though”, Rex added.
But then, Adhara suddenly intervenes, “I searched for the city on the internet, and I find an interesting story about the Bleak Everson Hills”
Hearing this, Edward and Rex’s interest got piqued.
“They said there is a bat-like creature that haunts the mountain, the people there called this creature Vashag the Mist Demon. There are some people there that said to believe in this creature, they occasionally give sacrifice to that creature so that they’re not taken by it”, Adhara explained.
Rex and Edward look at each other,
Then after looking at each other briefly, both of them laugh in amusement.
“Are you sure you’re not just reading a horror story?”, Edward asks feeling that Adhara’s story is a made-up horror story.
Adhara pouted after getting mocked by both of them, “Fine, Ignore me then”
The day passed,
Rex and the others almost arrived at the foot of the mountain at night, they will be meeting up with Kyran who will bring Delta here.
The place they’re on right now is already rocky and cold.
Rains pour down from the sky making a ticking sound as they hit the windshield.
At the end of their vision lies a huge mountain with a couple of hills surrounding it with spikey tops, mist already started to block their vision as they approach the mountain.
It doesn’t take long before they can’t move further with the car.
Many cracks on the ground are deep and the car might just get stuck on it, so they needed to walk on foot and leave the car here.
“I’m sorry for not acting professional, but this car costs me 300 grand”, Edward said.
Hearing this, Rex glance at him with a slightly amused smile on his face, “Come on, there are no people that dare to go to this place so the car will be fine”
“That’s not what I’m talking about, what if a mutated animal finds this car offensive and just slams its body onto the car and destroyed it”, Edward replied with a slight paranoid tone.
But this makes Rex and Adhara chuckle, “Fine, let’s find somewhere to park it”
After deciding to go find a place to park the car, Edward reverse the car and went around the mountain to find a small outpost.
They need to drive slowly because the mist is thick here.
Because of how thick the mist are, the car’s windshield started to get dewy.
It makes their vision worst and it will be bad when they suddenly meet a cliff and fall, the car will definitely break if they were to fall into a cliff.
Even Rex frowns while looking at the view in front of the car.
‘I can’t see anything, my vision here is useless’, Rex thought in worry.
The darkness of the night, the heavy droplets from the rain added with the thick mist render his night vision ability useless.
It’s almost impossible to see in this kind of environment.
Rex opened the car window a bit before the cold wind and the rain suddenly rushes inside, this makes Edward and Adhara startled.
“Close the window! It’s freaking cold!”, Edward complained.
But Rex didn’t mind Edward as he feel the environment outside with a frown, ‘Not only my vision but my hearing and smell are weakened in this place’, Rex thought.
The wind is blowing hard, and it almost rendered his senses numb.
After checking the outside, Rex closed the window again as the car drive slowly.
“There should be a village over here”, Adahra said while looking at the map on her phone.
Right after she said that Edward saw a red light shining amidst the mist, then a couple more red lights appear.
“Stop the car”, Rex said when he saw a glimpse of a figure approaching them.
Edward stopped the car before Rex and Edward walked out of the car,
Their clothes instantly get wet because of the rain, and the cold air outside makes Edward immediately shivers because of the cold.
“You’re a Fire Elementalist, How can you get cold that easily”, Rex said with a slight chuckle, his voice is dimmed by the rough wind but Edward can hear him.
Edward summons a black fire on his palm before he said, “Look at my fire”
Rex looks at Edward’s fire that is now black before he frowns,
“Exactly, my fire doesn’t emit heat but you will still get burned if you touch it, and it can also turn anything it touches into black ash”, Edward added with a sigh.
It seems his elements changed nature since the accident.
After talking for a brief moment,
They walk towards the figure but then suddenly, the figure dashes towards them catching them off guard, “What the heck!”, Edward shouted in surprise.
Both him and Rex jumped back to create distance,
But as the figure got closer, they confirm that the figure is a human which makes them look at each other before their frown ease, “It’s just a human”
Upon closer look, the figure is wearing a tight winter jacket.
From the small frame of the figure, it is clear that the figure is a woman who Rex and Edward thought to be a citizen near this mountain.
The woman stops before she widens her eyes upon seeing both of them, “You…You’re not supposed to do that”