Seeing the little fella smiling and running around his mother jokingly, Ray smiled in ease.
Giving them time to notice him, he got closer to share how he would deal with the people currently inside Plana.
Sadly, before he could greet or even speak to them, Ray felt as if his blood had frozen.
A stabbing pain started from his heart and spread through his whole body, dropping him to the ground from the intensity.
Before losing consciousness, he could only murmur to Sophia, "Take care of this place," knowing instinctively what had happened.
The next thing he knew, he was sitting in Loge's house on a couch, in front of the lady who had sent him to this world—but this time, she was alone.
"Yo, boy. Good to see you still alive and kicking after that stunt."
------------unknown place, a certing log house.
"Yo, boy. Good to see you again."
Ray was surprised for a second, but the first thing he did was bow his head in gratitude.
"Thank you for helping me before, as I almost killed an innocent life."
Ray was referring to the incident with Sophia during the fusion process.
"Raise your head. I was going to scold you, but seeing that you know your fault and admit it, I'll let it go," the lady said, causing Ray to feel ashamed somehow.
Ray sighed, murmuring, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger," as a way to raise his spirit. And since no damage was done, he kept it in mind so it wouldn't happen again.
"Ancestor, although I am happy to see you, can I know why I am here?" Ray asked, confusedly. After all, he sensed that his bloodline was about to awaken fully, hypothesizing that he would enter some kind of sleeping mode or something.
"I will talk about that in a moment." She put a teacup in front of him. "First, congratulations. Second, thank you."
"On what exactly?" Ray asked, not getting her meaning.
Putting the cup down after taking a sip, she said, "At the time when I sent you to this world, I got into an argument with the Overseer, seeing that you have a unique bloodline that could cause problems in his plan and tip the balance."
Ray was surprised for a moment before gathering himself to ask, "Wait—what is an Overseer?"
The ancestor nodded. "It is the entity that keeps the balance of the worlds under its jurisdiction but is not allowed to meddle directly."
So the same as I thought.
"You can sometimes find different Overseers for different alternative worlds," she added to give Ray more understanding.
"If I understood correctly, you could find an Overseer overseeing the alternative world of One Piece, and another for a DBZ alternative world too. ore one for the two for example?"
Ray gave the example in the way he understood it. The lady smiled and nodded.
"Not exactly, but close enough. After we got into an argument, we made a bet. If you followed the normal route of cultivation, he would remove your bloodline. But if you created your own path, I would get that specific world you are in."
Hearing this, Ray didn't know whether to laugh at the absurd stakes or cry at what the bet itself contained.
"I don't really understand, but I'll take it as you winning a world and me keeping my things. What is my bloodline, by the way? Even the scan wasn't able to give me a name," Ray said, not really minding in the end—after all, he was here with her grace.
"Well, for your bloodline…" The lady chuckled at his reaction, which was more honest and unbothered than she expected—completely opposite of how he lived down there, especially in the last few days.
"It's the Fairy King blood in your veins, and the reason you're here." As she pointed it out.
the lady started to inspect his mind, and to her surprise, despite the stimulation from the last event, he didn't have any lingering effects. This allowed her to admire his mind and willpower.
"As in the Seven Sins Fairy King? And how is it the reason I'm here?" Ray not noticing what going on, asked in surprised tone.
"No, of course not that one. Yours is far stronger and has far more amazing things to give you." She laughed and waved her hand. "But sadly, it's something you must figure out on your own."
"You will learn what it can do later, but your body is now awakening the bloodline and will take some time. That's why I brought you here—to teach you while we have time." She looked at Ray kindly before patting his head.
In his confused state, she continued, "Although you have quite the talent and a higher capacity than most, you're still miles away from being a master in your world. So I thought it would be a waste not to deepen your wisdom and knowledge. What do you think?"
Ray was about to accept before remembering Sophia and the others.
"Will Sophia be affected as well?" he asked worriedly. After all, they were linked, and she was the one controlling things outside, along with her child.
"Yes, she will evolve too, but not at your pace. Right now, she's guarding your body outside. Her change will be gradual and won't affect her directly until you're finished. Also, the method you used had a different effect than you expected—but in a good way, so don't worry," the lady confirmed, reading his concerns.
Remembering something, she added, "And about the people you saved—how about I help you organize them and let them use your normal method?"
"You created that method to have an effect similar to what you saw in your past life, right?"
After Ray nodded, her smile deepened. "then effect you achieved is actually something far from that.in your case every breakthrough will grant a soul ring from sophia and that also along with the drow back wich ionly alow you on spirit bt materil soul. Its age and ability depend on you and your partner. It's not suitable for normal people—but the contract itself is good. And with the new beast resident, they'll be fine."
She explained this while looking toward the descent, as if searching for something.
"New resident?" Ray asked, confused knowing she meant the beast side, and he hade no memorie of them intering insied.
"Oh, Sophia's little fellow. He actually took some injured beasts inside. Don't worry—he has good eyes for them," she answered absentmindedly. "All the beasts he saved were allowed in only after swearing in blood to avoid violence inside. A smart move on his part."
Ray nodded in understanding. "Then I will be in your care, Master." He bowed to his new teacher.
"But before that," she said, snapping her fingers, "I'll give Sophia a little help with the new resident. Take it as an awakening present."
Ray was about to thank her, despite not knowing what she did, but noticing the smile on her lips—one that looked oddly scary—he stopped himself.
"Now, let's start by smoothing things out. Let's analyze your last fight and how you did." She clapped her hands, and a board appeared behind her, along with glasses on her eyes.
"Honestly, smart use and strategy—but I'd only give you a five out of ten."
"I guess I did a good job, though," Ray answered. "Not getting discovered, controlling the base from the beginning—why the low rating?"
"Those are actually the reasons you got five. Otherwise, it would've been much lower," she replied. "The main issue is how you perceive your own material souls—and how you use them."
— 3rd POV —
Sophia was receiving a summary of the year her son had passed here, and to describe it simply, it had been quite the adventure.
The moment she noticed Ray approaching, he fell to his knees, grabbing his heart. The next thing she knew, after coming closer, was him murmuring a couple of words before losing consciousness.
Then, a soul-power wave exploded from him, blasting her away.
Stabilizing herself, she saw a tree growing rapidly, with Ray at its center. He was in a fetal position, floating within an energy globe. Sophia could still feel her connection to him but couldn't enter his spiritual sea, blocked for unknown reasons.
After checking with her spiritual senses, she calmed down, realizing he was fine—his body was simply undergoing evolution. From the memories, she guessed that his bloodline was awakening fully.
From what Sophia sensed, the awakening was rebuilding Ray's body from the inside out. She could feel it decomposing and reforming cell by cell, organ by organ, slowly changing into a superior version with greater capability.
She sat beside the tree, which continued to grow at a visible rate.
Not seconds later, Sophia noticed something surprising. On one side of the tree, a root platform spanning hundreds of meters formed. On top of it, a formation began to engrave itself.
It was very similar to something she had seen not long ago—the contract formation—but from what she could tell, it wasn't the same.
As the light engraving completed and dimmed, the ground on the other side of the tree began to shake again. A complex building started to rise from the ground like reversed quicksand, slowly pushing itself out.
Taking a moment to wrap her head around what was happening, Sophia looked up at Ray's position. Feeling nothing wrong, she sighed.
"Take care, partner. I'll be waiting."
As if answering her, a screen appeared in front of her. Reading it, she was surprised for a second before laughing at the signature at the end.
With one last mischievous look at the tree, she added, "I'd really like to see your face after you wake up."
Slipping alongside her child, she headed toward the place where the humans were watching from—planning to fulfill the favor Ray's ancestor had asked of her.
It felt strange to do something for someone other than Ray, but the information on that screen gave her a tip that made her genuinely excited.
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