Cultivation Through Artifacts

Khal remained silent after he told Neo the sad news and waited patiently; his eyes never leaving Neo's gaze.

Minutes passed like that and just when Khal thought Neo will throw a tantrum and start shouting while also trying to beat him up, unexpectedly, the only thing he did was start to laugh.

"Ha... Haha... Hahaha! HAHAHAHA!"

Khal watched as Neo began to laugh like some kind of maniac with his palm over his face and didn't know what he should do.

The whole situation right now was so shocking and at the same time so confusing that Khal couldn't find his words for a brief moment.

"Haha... Ha... So that's how it is. I see, I see..." Neo lowered his hand after several minutes of loud laughter, revealing such a wicked smile that Khal felt his blood freeze for a second; this was the very first time in his entire life that he saw someone smile that wickedly!

However, what Khal found even stranger that even though Neo grinned like that, his eyes showed not madness but instead extreme pain. It was apparent that currently he was in so much grief that no words could describe how he felt.

"He lost his family, his home, his title, and life. And now Miss Mary too... the things he went through truly is hell in itself." thought Khal but suddenly Neo began to talk.

"Tell me everything... The way she died, what lead to her demise, and who was brave enough to kill her. I want to know everything."

"I..." began to say Khal, but the moment he saw the emotion behind Neo's eyes he knew that lying here would only make things worst.

Lying was like a good painkiller; it gave instant relief but had permanent side effects. On the other hand, truth was like a good surgery that gave pain but cured scars and deep wounds.

That is why, Khal decided not to lie and even though he knew he was 100% the cause of Miss Mary's death, he accepted what should come.

Taking a deep breath, Khal looked at Neo and told him everything. The way he met with Alde in the Ceremony, the way assassins that were sent by Alde came to kill him, and the way they killed Miss Mary.

All in all, he told how a single, arrogant, and at the same time naive mistake of his led to an innocent human's death.

When he reached the end of his story, Khal closed his eyes gently and waited for Neo to punch him in the face. But strangely, even after several minutes, he felt nothing.

"?" opening his eyes, Khal noticed that Neo was still before him with an indifferent expression and didn't know what he should say.

"So that's what truly happened?" asked Neo in a surprisingly calm voice.

"Eh? Oh, yeah. And that is why even though my following words do not matter to you, I must apologize to you deeply! It was all because of me! If I wouldn't h-"

"That was not your fault, be at ease," said Neo unexpectedly, making Khal flinch with surprise in a flash.

"What? How? If it we-"

"As I said, it was not your fault." cut Neo into Khal's sentence once again and continued, "You said yourself that you were from a completely different world right?"

"Eh? Yes, bu-"

"Then that means you couldn't be blamed there. You came from a world where laws, rules, and the way people lived differed. As I can see, the world you have lived in does not know what 'the strong makes the rules while the weak obey them' truly means."

"Yes, that is true. But that doesn't mean I couldn't have acted with caution!" said Khal which made Neo nod instantly.

"That is true, but you didn't. Which again, came from your inexperience about this world and the way you have lived in your past life. What you did, you can't make it back no matter how sour it seems to be and how much both of us want to redo it. On the other hand, there is still something that only you can do."

"To take revenge on that bitch Alde."

"Exactly! Wait, what?" asked Neo suddenly, surprised that Khal said the exact same words he wanted to say.

"What? Did you think you were the only one who wanted to kill that fucker? I even made my plan to do it!"

"Really? How?" asked Neo, his eyes brightening up with curiosity.

Khal was about to tell Neo his plan, but suddenly his body lit up with a silver light while a loud voice resounded in the surroundings.

[Notify! 1% of 'Body Essence' had been replenished!]

[Pulling 'Owner' out of 'Soul Prison'!]

Without waiting for Khal to even say a word, the silver light enveloped his entire body and in a flash vanished into thin air, leaving Neo behind once again.

However, this time Neo didn't start to shout like previously, but simply watched Khal's vanishing figure with an indifferent expression, while his hand gradually tightened into a clenching fist.

***

Back inside Blade Mountain, where in fact only several minutes have passed, Khal opened his eyes slowly, only to feel Rubie pricking his cheeks powerfully.

"Arg..H-hey... Stop it, that hurts!" said Khal with a pale complexion and pushed himself up from the ground with trembling hands.

His entire being felt extremely numb, every muscle inside his body was twitching like crazy while he felt as though his soul had been sucked out of him!

"Chirp!"

Before Khal on the ground, Rubie was fluttering her wings from time to time, her eyes hold great worry.

"I am okay, I just became a little bit tired that's all. But thanks for your worry," mumbled Khal in a hoarse voice and petted Rubie gently on her head, causing her to calm down immediately.

"It seems I need to suffer this pain every time I want to unlock or strengthen something? Amazing indeed!" thought Khal with a sour expression and leaned against the wall behind him.

After waiting for an entire hour in sheer silence with Rubie on his shoulder, Khal raised his hand and began to move it around.

"Okay, it seems the pain lessened quite a bit and my Essence had been replenished." lowering his hand, Khal took out a small pebble from his pocket and began to examine it.

It was the purplish Power Core he made from the Galaxy Steel thanks to his Creation Mode.

"Now that I have unlocked the Power Core Holder ability, I can use this Core too, right?" said Khal and without hesitation placed the core into the empty space that appeared before he fell unconscious.

['Power Core: Stellar Domain' detected!]

['Power Core: Stellar Domain' obtained...]

[Starting 'Fusion'...]

In a flash, the tiny pebble in the bracelet erupted with purple light while several thin veins with the same purplish color began to move below Khal's skin.

Sometime later, the light began to dissipate, and Khal felt as a new power appeared inside his body.

['Fusion' completed!]

['Third Stage: Stellar Domain' active!]

The voice inside his head made Khal feel instant ecstasy, but soon his complexion changed into confusion with a deep frown.

"Wait, what? Third Stage?"