Chaos Heir

Chapter 877: Influence

The red sparks accumulated between Roger's palms, condensing into an unstable, uneven, crackling sphere. Tiny lightning bolts occasionally shot from it, but their energy dispersed before reaching Roger's skin. Those small flares were too weak to live longer than a fraction of a second.

Khan studied that odd mana, his senses providing information even scanners would fail to notice. He felt the sparks' anger but found no rationality behind it. That emotion was intense but illogical, something too instinctive to come from a human brain.

'It has probably built up for years,' Khan considered, 'A subconscious accumulation of repressed desires.'

Truth be told, part of that consideration didn't come from Khan's senses. He could relate to Roger's situation and life, understanding his psychological profile and connecting it to his mana's nature.

'Its raw shape is stronger than mine,' Khan noticed. 'Although the comparison is unfair.'

Khan's mana anomaly and Roger's were too different to compare. A good parallel would be between the red sparks and Khan's cloud since they both acted as living elements. Khan had Roger beaten there, but only in terms of general destructive power.

'It's also denser,' Khan studied. 'Its piercing properties can definitely surpass me.'

Khan's thoughts didn't stop at the sparks' nature. He reviewed Abraham's words, considering the possible channels that dense mana might require to cast spells. Humans barely had something capable of containing the chaos element, so Khan knew nothing in the Global Army could suit Roger.

The seconds of uninterrupted inspection didn't last long. The crackling sphere gradually grew more unstable, adding strength to the flares that escaped its surface. One ended up hitting Roger's palm, who tried to suppress and control the mana between his hands.

"Don't try to control it!" Khan almost shouted, but his warning was late.

As soon as the living element sensed Roger's attempt to suppress it, the crackling sphere reached the critical point and released its energy. Lightning bolts flew everywhere, hitting Roger and the nearby equipment.

Luckily for Roger, the lightning bolts didn't carry much power. Small black spots had appeared on his palms and bandages, marking burns, but he suffered no real injuries.

The same went for the interactive desk and nearby equipment. The lightning bolts had created black marks during the clash, but everything kept working fine. It would take far more power to destroy those state-of-the-art machines.

"I'm sorry, Prince Khan!" Roger hurriedly apologized. "I panicked and acted on my own!"

"It's not your fault," Khan sighed, rubbing the corners of his eyes. "That's all they have taught you to do."

Khan rubbed his head with the bottle, refocusing on Roger. With his current knowledge and skills, he wouldn't have any problem dealing with the red sparks, but that element didn't belong to him. Roger needed to do most of the heavy lifting, and Khan couldn't teach him how in a single night. Even a decade might not be enough.

"Trying to suppress something that doesn't want to stay put will only result in a violent reaction," Khan explained. "Your element doesn't want to be controlled. It wants to run wild."

"But," Roger muttered. "How can I use it without controlling it?"

Khan opened his mouth but quickly sealed it with his bottle. Abraham, Lieutenant Dyester, George, and Monica had found it hard to accept his explanation, so Roger didn't stand a chance. Khan didn't even believe he could put into proper words what he did since much unfolded on an emotional level.

Roger kept looking at Khan, hoping for an answer, but nothing arrived. Khan silently drank, seemingly lost in a different world. Yet, his eyes eventually brightened, hinting at the arrival of a solution.

"Don't be scared," Khan said, approaching the interactive table. "You are only a second-level warrior, so this should be smooth."

Roger's fear returned when Khan placed his palm at the center of his chest and closed his eyes. The man expected some strange reaction, but nothing happened. He felt slightly odd, but Khan didn't give him time to think about that.

"Release your mana again," Khan ordered. "I should be able to guide you."

Roger remained confused but didn't dare to oppose Khan. He focused, removing the instinctive barriers he had placed on his mana to let its true appearance manifest in the open.

Red sparks gathered between Roger's palms again, condensing in the crackling sphere. Its texture was more unstable now, seemingly due to the previous outburst, but nothing dangerous happened in the first few seconds.

That peace was short-lived. The sphere's higher instability caused more energy leaks, generating dangerous lightning bolts earlier than before. One hit Roger's palm, hurting him and triggering his basic instincts, but his mana failed to suppress his wild element. Even when The tried, it flowed smoothly.

The sparks seemed as surprised as Roger about that development. Another lightning bolt hit Roger's palm, almost testing his reactions, but the man kept pouring energy into the crackling sphere. That was a new experience for both the descendant and living element, and Khan obviously picked up on that.

Khan's aura had long since become a force to be reckoned with. His presence was heavy and powerful, capable of affecting his surroundings at the faintest thoughts. A second-level warrior wasn't as easy to influence as the raw symphony, but Khan met no challenges in overcoming that taller hurdle.

The closeness to Roger's mana also allowed Khan to study the sparks' reactions better. That living element had always had to fight and steal from Roger to show its power, so experiencing that willingness showed it a new path, a better path it didn't even know existed. The living element remained cautious. It again tested Roger with a slightly stronger lightning bolt before attempting a proper expansion. The sphere grew bigger, condensing its power to create more durable sparks. The latter eventually rose, creating a second shape above Roger's hands.

Khan didn't need to open his eyes to study the event. The second shape kept absorbing energy, expanding and reinforcing its texture. It turned into a cloud-like figure attached to the small crackling sphere below, and one spot grew denser to recreate the vague mouth from the first encounter.

"Open your eyes," Khan ordered, his hand still on the descendant's chest. "Don't panic."

Roger obeyed, slowly opening his eyes. The scarlet light tried to blind him, but his pupils quickly grew used to the glow, showing him the mass of lightning bolts floating before his

face.

Roger would have usually panicked at that sight, but something kept that emotion at bay. The descendant felt almost hypnotized, unable to control his feelings and reactions as he studied that cluster of dangerous scarlet sparks.

"It's studying you," Khan explained, his eyes still closed. "It doesn't understand what is happening."

The living element wasn't alone in that reaction. Roger shared those emotions, establishing a strange connection with the sparks. The two took a good look at each other, seemingly for the first time, slowly accepting that they were part of the same being.

The calm caused by Khan's influence paved the path for curiosity and courage. Roger lifted his right arm without interrupting the energy flow, and his hand rose toward the cloud. His fingers tested the sparks, which shocked and hurt him, and another unexpected reaction

unfolded.

The living element experienced Roger's pain, and the peaceful situation allowed it to discover its source. The sparks realized they shared Roger's sensations, and their crackling slightly quieted down, seemingly worried they could hurt him again.

'I see,' Khan realized. 'The element never got the chance to understand that they were one. Inflicting pain on Roger hurt it, too, which angered it even more.'

Roger tried to touch the sparks again. They shocked him, but the pain was bearable now, allowing him to place his whole palm on the cloud's unstable surface.

The living element and Roger remained in that position for quite a while, experiencing each other in the environment Khan had created. In those minutes, the two learned more about their respective natures than they had done in years, but the peace eventually ended.

Something suddenly captured the living element's attention. Its dense mouth moved, pointing at the hand on Roger's chest. The sparks didn't care about the limb but could sense the foreign energy behind it, which had long since invaded Roger's body.

"Shit," Khan cursed, promptly retracting his hand and influence.

Without Khan's influence, Roger snapped back to reality, finally experiencing his usual

reactions. Fear and panic immediately took control of his brain, and he quickly retracted his hand to get it away from the constant shocks.

The living element experienced Roger's fear and panic, sharing them and triggering its most primitive reactions. The crackling grew louder as its anger intensified. Roger had stopped sending energy, so the sparks attempted to steal it.

However, something far stronger suddenly appeared in the lab, snatching away the cloud's

attention. Two bright eyes were staring at it, seemingly able to pierce the very fabric of the sparks with their pressure. Death was looming, so the living element decided to retreat, unleashing all the accumulated power to cover its escape route.