Chapter 267: Possessing Marzana

In a separate room inside the underground training hall...

Although the main hall was spacious enough to house more than one hundred people who were all training simultaneously, it still had five separate training rooms.

They were, of course, reserved if ever Regis, Pandora, Killian, or Aurelia wanted to train privately.

As for the extra room, they merely let it be just in case.

Regis was currently pacing around as he spoke out loud, and a pair of pitch-black eyes followed him.

"Your black energy is really strange. We need to learn how it behaves first."

"I wonder what training regime would be best for you..."

"What if we stimulate your energy using aether first... no, that won’t work. I’ve already tried both demonic power and divine power..."

"I also tried mana and aura, and aether isn’t really much different from the other energies in terms of behavior."

"But at the same time, I feel like your black energy seems to be the opposite of the other energies."

"As for what exact aspect of it gives this feeling, I’m not really sure. So I guess, we really need to do that."

"If we’re lucky, and your energy could also be formed into stars, then it would be much simpler. Otherwise..."

...

Lost in thought, Regis’s expression shifted restlessly between contemplation and a frown.

In contrast, Marzana seemed lost in a trance, her eyes locked on him without wavering.

The reason she could not look away from Regis was that her mind was replaying the memory of his battle against the three parties just a moment ago.

More importantly, his seamless control of aether was what captivated her the most.

’He’s amazing. But what’s more amazing is his strange ability to build immunity towards the attacks of his opponents...’

That was one of the most vital components that Marzana had noticed earlier.

’Every time an attack lands, the wound heals instantly... and that same attack won’t work on him again.’

The amazement deepened within the elven girl’s pitch-black eyes, ’Does this mean that, in order to kill him, it will need to be done in a single strike?’

Of course, her thoughts did not have any malice in it; she was purely curious about Regis’s ability.

’But his vitality and regeneration themselves are very outstanding already, even a thought of him dying was nigh impossible.’

Marzana could not help but have her hopes up, ’If there’s someone who could help me, then I believe it will be him.’

This was someone who had control over the four known energies, whether the lesser ones, such as mana and aura, or the higher energies like divine and demonic power.

Beyond those, he also wielded an energy unknown even to her—an elf of royal lineage.

At this moment, Regis stopped pacing around as he looked at the elven girl, "I think I know what we need to do now. Are you ready?"

"Mhm!" Marzana agreed, before adding with a slight pout, "But please let me know first what we’ll do... Don’t do it so suddenly like yesterday."

Regis scratched the back of his head with a sheepish smile, "Alright, don’t worry."

He then brought a stool over in front of her before sitting down on it.

"I prepared two options for you. I’ll explain them first to give you an idea of the process, okay?"

"Okay."

Hearing Marzana’s response, Regis began to speak.

"The first option will be to use various energies to stimulate the black energy inside of you. Then, when it materializes, we’ll take our time to study its behavior and other aspects. This will be a slow but steady process until we figure out a method for how you can nurture that black energy."

"The second option will be to use my evil craft on you."

Upon hearing the word ’evil craft’, Marzana’s pupils constricted.

Although she knew fully that the young man before her was not a demon, it had only been a day after all, so she still felt some shock deep inside her.

Nevertheless, she swallowed her fear and asked, "Please explain the details."

"Very well." Regis smiled calmly, "I have an evil craft called Soul Possession, which allows me to sort of take control of both your soul and body."

"This allows me to possess you in a way that I will be able to use every fiber of your being."

"In short, I will be able to try and control that energy for you."

As he finished speaking, the elven girl stayed silent for a few moments.

Regis remained silent in order to give her some peace and quiet so she could think deeply before deciding.

’As an elf, she must have some concerns over me using an evil craft on her, so it’s better just to give her some time to think about it.’

After a little while, Marzana asked in a low voice, "Can I just ask one question?"

"Ask away."

"This option... is it the same one you used to help Aurelia?"

Regis was a little surprised at her words, but he still nodded, "Yes."

"Then I agree." The elven girl spoke with a determined expression.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, I am."

To be honest, Marzana felt scared.

After all, as an elf, the feeling that demonic power gives her— even while knowing that Regis was not a demon— still made her feel incomprehensible dread.

But, even then...

’I’m tired of being weak. I’m tired of being called cursed. I’m tired of being treated as a disgrace to my family...’

Flames seemed to burn deep within Marzana’s pitch-black eyes, ’This black energy that made me suffer since birth... I’ll be sure to make it into my own power!’

Seeing that she was not changing her mind, Regis nodded while sighing.

"Alright, relax first. I’ll possess you after five deep breaths, okay?"

Marzana blinked her eyes, "Okay."

She soon fell into a meditative state as she took rhythmic deep breaths.

Inhale— Exhale

Inhale— Exhale

’This should lessen the toll on her.’ Regis thought as he readied himself as well.

Although he can forcefully possess her, it would take a toll on both her soul and body, as was mentioned by Brutt in one of their conversations.

Inhale— Exhale

Inhale— Exhale

Inhale— Exhale

As Marzana took her final deep breath, she felt something stir within her soul.

’W-What!?’

She felt shocked, but tried her best to calm herself down.

It did not take long before the weird feeling overtook her soul as she felt her control over her own body slipping away.

Regis felt the familiar sensation of taking control of someone’s body as ’Marzana’s’ pupils suddenly constricted.

’Marzana’ looked at her hands and at ’Regis’, who seemed to have fallen asleep sitting on the wooden stool.

’Marzana’, or rather, Regis, sighed in relief.

"Thankfully, it work—"

BA– DUMP!!!

Before he could finish his words, a sharp pain pulsed in his heart and shot out through every corner of ’Marzana’s’ body.

(What’s happening?) Marzana’s voice rang in his mind as Regis felt an overwhelming dizziness assaulting his very soul.

"I-I... don’t... know..."

Regis used all his strength to respond as the pain in his heart worsened.

Every nerve in his body seemed to bulge and spasm, as if rejecting something.

His eyes reddened due to the blood vessels that seemed to pop one after the other.

Thud—-

Regis collapsed on the floor as he did his best to enter his consciousness and feel his soul.

"I-It’s really like this!"

Regis felt a wave of energy trying to corrode his soul, wanting to drive it outside of Marzana’s body.

(A-Are you okay?) Marzana’s voice sounded within his mind.

"I’m good. Are you feeling anything strange?"

(No, it’s just that I feel weird not being able to control my body...)

’It seems like only I am affected by this energy...’

Regis thought in relief as he looked for ways to stop the strange black energy while resisting it with all his willpower.

However, no matter what he did, nothing worked.

It was not like he was in his own body, where he had a plethora of energy, nor was he in a body that had a type of energy he could control.

’This sucks, but I need to wait for my gift to work...’

Regis internally sighed in defeat.

But as time passed by, the pressure on his soul grew exponentially.

It did not even take a minute before he felt the pressure grow to the point that he could only barely hold on.

’Why is my gift... still not activating...?’

This was Regis’s last thought before he felt his soul become swallowed by the corrosive pitch-black energy.

Deep within Marzana’s body, a droplet-like ball of pure white seemed to be floating without direction.

It floated in the middle of space, filled with corrosive pitch-black energy.

After a moment, the ball of pure white vanished as it was fully swallowed by the pitch-black sea surrounding it.

Back in the private training room...

A pair of blood red eyes opened.

"Cough! Cough! Cough!"

Regis fell into a fit of coughs as he involuntarily knelt on the floor.

"Are you okay, Regis?"

Marzana looked at him with a worried look on her face.

Strangely enough, the elven girl looked as healthy as ever, without any signs of what happened earlier.

Regis could not respond immediately as his cough worsened to the point of blood coming out of his mouth.

However, a glint could be seen in his eyes as he smiled widely.

"I get it now!"