CHAPTER 20

"Hahaha…. BWAHahaHAHAhaha", the voice laughed madly. Time was frozen. The power of the person or thing which possessed that voice was immense and unlimited, who could even freeze the time. But for Arata and Rachel it was still running. "Well, you people are the most talented people and smartest people who I have met. Wonder if you will be able to meet me.", the voice said.

"Yes, I want to know what the hell is going on with this world.", Arata said. The voice had connected both their minds now, so Rachel could hear what Arata said. A three way conversation.

"Well, you will eventually know. So, what are you gonna do ?", the voice asked. "I want to punish you for insulting me also. Pretty bad position right ?", the voice said.

"Hmph ! If we were scared of this, we wouldn't have been here. This is part of being alive.", Rachel said.

"Then save yourself.", the voice said. This time, Arata and Rachel giggled.

"You can't let us die, can you ?", Arata asked. This guy…he is pissing me off. Well it's true that I can't let them die. "Don't worry. We won't die. You don't need to worry. We have been prepared for this. And we are compulsive. This is what feeling alive is."

"Well, you can not avoid it. So what are you gonna do ?", the voice asked.

"Well, that is what you are here for. To help us.", Arata said. The voice inside their head. The voice kept thinking. He can't control them. What can I do now. They will clearly die if I don't help. But they don't want the help.

"Why do you not want the power ?", he asked.

"The seven deadly sins. Greed, Gluttony, Lust, Envy, Wrath, Pride, Sloth. Due to these, you commit a sin. By getting power, I am going to commit a sin. Which is Sloth. And I am pretty sure, those 8 specialists you made are also related. They accepted some or the other gifts and were named this. But we are not gonna follow that path. A pure life. Not a hypocritical one.", Arata said.

The voice was surprised. He couldn't look into Arata's brain, so he didn't know, but Arata is going to be very dangerous. And so is that Rachel.", the voice said.

"What should I do?", the voice asked. He was lost here.

"Well of course, keep the time frozen. We are going to increase our power.", Arata said.

"What ! But you are unconscious ! How are you going to cultivate ?", the voice asked.

"We will. We can. We will figure it out. And we will definitely pay for freezing the time.", Rachel said. Pay me huh…? The voice thought. Interesting, really very interesting ! I will keep the time frozen in place.

Cultivation. It is a way to increase power, but it is also a method to grow your mind. Especially for enhancers. Purify the mind, and think rationally. Accept your fears and surpass them. That is what cultivation is. Arata and Rachel had already memorized the scrolls of Assassin and Enhancers. So they had no problem chanting them while lying down.

This continued for days, then months. Time passed, but they didn't feel hungry. They just cultivated, absorbing mana around, continuously. They even supplied a lot to their weapons. The star formed fully and bursted to form a galaxy. They continued. They wanted to reach an understanding of the scroll. So an year passed.

They filled the galaxy now ! They gathered all the energy again and exploded again. But what they saw next blew their mind. This was the start of the power they will gain. The cultivation has just started !