Chapter 24: Connections of the Heart (Chapter 23)
After hitting the illucard with the light auger (Raitooga), Itami was about to pass out until suddenly, he heard a laughing noise that jolted him out of his barely conscious state.
**HAHAHAHA**
It was the illucard trying to free itself out of the rubble.
Itami, seeing its creepy, bony, deformed figure clawing at the nearby rock imprisoning it, started to freak out.
"How is this possible? I've thrown everything at it, and It's still not dead. What is it going to take? Scratch that. It wouldn't matter if I had the answer because I'm out of ether reserve. I used everything on that last attack. I don't even have a drop left in the barrel.
As he was recognizing his situation, the beast started making its way toward him.
"Stay back! Don't get any closer! "
Unfortunately, for Itami, his terror-filled words weren't going to stop it.
The illucard continued marching towards him, and with each step, his fear grew. By the first step, his heart rate tripled and pounded like a marching band.
**Badum Badum Badum**
By the 2nd step, his eyes became moist, and shed tears of fear.
By the third step, Itami started to wonder if these would be his last moments.
"This is bullshit. Why should I die? Why am I here? Why should my mom become a widower and have to bury her child? Why did I end up like this? Damn it, aren't I supposed to be the hero. If this is what it's like fuck this shit!"
As soon as Itami finished his monologue, suddenly, the creature stopped in front of him and said, "Daddy love me?" and then fell down.
Once Itami saw this. With his swollen eyes from the fight, crying, he looked at the creature with relief and curiosity because of Its last words.
However, feeling the strain from all the screaming, crying, and battling he'd done, his body gave in, and he passed out.
After the battle:
When Itami woke up, he was in the cave he'd been training at.
This confused him greatly because he knew he passed out in the monster's abode.
Eventually, he got curious, so he asked Edward.
The old man told him he contacted Kage's spirit Karasutengu, but Itami didn't believe it.
Nevertheless, he didn't have the strength to argue, so he let it be, trusting that if Edward was hiding something, it was for a good reason.
In truth, he'd possessed Itami's body and went home.
However, it took a lot out of Edward, so he never mentioned it.
After having that conversation with Edward, Itami went to sleep for 4 straight days.
This was mostly due to his exhaustion from completely draining his ether. Because he's not in the quality realm, Itami can't use his aether to regain ether, so whenever he completely exhausts himself like this it leaves him defenseless for days on end.
4 days later
Once again, Itami woke up to another oddity. The smell of tea.
This was strange to Itami because, to his knowledge, no one knew where they were.
'Except for Kage. Damn, maybe the old man did tell him.
Honestly, I didn't want him to know because it'd be a pain with his crows snooping around.
I dislike the feeling of constantly being watched.
It makes me feel uneasy.
Also, with the etherite, it would make things more troublesome if the family caught wind.
Then they'd really kill me even if I won.
After all, they wouldn't want knowledge of such a resource given to someone who could hold a grudge against them.
In all likelihood, if I win, they plan to make me an outer family member. That's probably why uncle can't teach me techniques.
'
After Itami finished his thoughts, he went to the room he typically ate breakfast in, expecting to see his uncle.
However, surprisingly, who he saw wasn't Kage, but the illucard preparing tea for itself.
When he processed this, Itami was shocked and was put on guard.
"How did you get here? You know what, it doesn't matter because this time, I will end you!"
After making this proclamation, Itami tried to use an ether fist to attack but immediately got dizzy.
This stunned Itami because this was the first time he'd drained all of his ether.
Even when he fought the saruyuki, he didn't tap out of ether.
He was just too injured to continue moving.
'Are these the after-effects of over-using my ether damn it. I'm defenseless.'
Then Edward spoke.
' Calm down kid, do you want to kill your first familiar.'
Hearing this, Itami turned shocked.
'What are you talking about!! You know I get at most 3 of those until king rank, right.
What did you do old man!'
'Don't worry, brat. First, let me explain something to you. The truth is you can get 4.
When I was still alive, I was a researcher who loved to explore the ancient ruins and observe our ancestor's way of life.
One day, I was walking through an ancient ruin, and I found a dojo with a damaged asura mask on top.
Its name was Sinkemon, and inside was a well-hidden secret.
Do you know about cursed families?'
'Aren't they one of the three major family lines'
' Yes, they are. Cursed families are families that, rather than having spirits for their aspects, have demons or angels. They're often also referred to as seal masters. Being a seal master has many perks, but there's one that not many know. Their bloodline allows them to make contracts with 4 familiars. For eons, research has been constantly done into this by the other two major family lines and the Guild, but the cursed families have taken a stance against them and refuse to test.
However, when I was at the Sinkemon, I found a scroll, and in it, although damaged, was a technique.
It was called the twin demon sealing technique, and this technique described how to add another slot for a familiar.
Although I couldn't use it directly, I altered it by studying its principles to create a contract.
While you were asleep, I used aether to create the contract between you and the beast. It can't hurt you.'
Hearing this Itami was shocked.
He knew that Edward was a magus, but he didn't think he still had the power to interfere with the natural world, especially to this degree.
It was common knowledge, that one could only make 3 magic beast contracts in one's lifetime unless you are a king.
This was a boon for Itami, and knowing what type of beast he got, he was ecstatic.
It was just the thing Itami needed.
Although having one battle against the mimicry beast was good, having thousands of fights against it was even better.
This would allow him to sharpen his techniques for the upcoming event, Edward could even teach him other fighting styles, so Itami could get used to them.
The possibilities were endless.
Thinking about his new familiar, Itami's head filled with limitless thoughts and possibilities.
However, unfortunately, they were deflated by Edwards's next words.
'Also you will not be training for the next two weeks.'
Hearing this, Itami's head fell like a stone, and nodded slowly in agreement.
Two weeks later
During these two weeks, Itami relaxed for the first time in two years, and
during this time, he grew closer to the old man, got to know the illucard
, and learned what it was like to sleep in.
Honestly, it was refreshing.
Even though he put up a mature front, Itami was still a kid at heart, and this time showed him that.
He learned hobbies, played games, and went outside for fun.
However, he had the most fun playing with the illucard and hearing stories from his uncle.
He enjoyed playing with the illucard because, in a way, it was his first friend.
Even when living with his parents in Hana country, they lived in the boonies surrounded by nature.
This made it impossible for Itami to have friends. He was homeschooled and didn't have neighbors.
Honestly, the closest he got to kids his age was when his parents would go into the city for supplies, so although the illucard had the brain of a toddler at times, Itami enjoyed every bit of it.
However, his uncle helped with that.
Every day, he taught the illucard basic things like history, language, and math to allow it to gain better consciousness.
Because most of his knowledge came from stories, sometimes, Itami would sit in too.
Nevertheless, this was because of two main reasons.
One, he didn't want his familiar to become smarter than him.
Two, Edward promised to tell them stories afterward.
Itami never let go of his love to hear a good story, and thankfully, the old man had a lot to tell.
He had stories of defeating dragons, traveling to ancient ruins, and saving townspeople from magic beasts.
Sharing stories like these reminded him of the times he spent with his dad.
However, unlike his dad, they weren't one-dimensional.
Because he'd lived these stories, he had many details that fairytales didn't have like emotions.
Within this time, he'd made Itami cry, shiver, and laugh hardily.
He wouldn't let the old man know it, but he started to see the old man as the first father figure in his life he'd had since his dad left.
What about his uncle?
Itami's uncle to him was more like a caretaker.
He did his job, taught him some things, and showed him acts of kindness, but what Edward did was beyond that.
Edward never hurt Itami.
In the back of his mind, Itami still remembered those cruel months of torture, and although his uncle had changed, he couldn't simply forgive the man who killed his father.
Itami knew he was ordered and that it wasn't his choice, but still that tugged on him.
How can he care for someone who did all those evil things toward him?
How can he love them?
His mind tells him he hurt you; what are you doing?
However, his heart tells him to let him in.
Itami didn't know what to do, so he chose paradox.
Hating the man he used to be, Loving the man he's now, and never forgetting either.
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