Chapter 10: New powers

"It's just your imagination, Flora. There's no way you could've met him before, is there? Now, shouldn't you go and collect some fruits for the jam. It's already noon." Said Galdof while patting the confused Flora on her shoulder to calm her down and after hearing him talk about the fruits, she jumped from her seat and left the house like a thunderbolt.

"HaHa, being young is really beautiful, isn't it... Meya?" Though Galdof loudly while looking particularly nowhere as he seemingly reminisced about the past. He stayed in that state for minutes before standing up and literally dissolving into thin air like he never existed.

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In the other room, Ray finally woke up from his sleep feeling like shit. Nevertheless, he didn't care about that and only wanted to check one important thing.

"Hey, grimoire you still there?" If it was a dream, then he honestly would be disappointed but looking at it objectively that was the more probable thing to happen. Waiting with anticipation for the answer. Finally, he got what he wanted.

"Of course, I'm fucking here! Stop asking stupid questions like an idiot." A foul-mouthed, voice echoed in his ears. Ray didn't like his voice at all, but he was still happy that he got an answer. This book would help him a lot in executing his revenge even though its appearance was unexpected. But hey! No one refuses godly gifts, right?

"Fine, stop nagging like an old woman. Show me what you've got!" Said Ray excitedly as he jumped from the bed and got out of the room searching for Galdof. He easily navigated his way through the house as Flora showed him around but he still was careful not to do anything that will make the owners of the house angry. It's enough that he owes them with his life, so at the very least he doesn't want to burden them in any way.

"Is anyone here. Sir Galdof, Miss Flora." He called while going around but no answer came so he assumed that they left the house.

"I guess I will go out alone then. The woods are a good place to try your spells, right?"

"Search for a wide space so that you don't hurt yourself in the process. I'm not in the mood to nurse a brat." His venomous tongue never ceased of insulting Ray which made him think 'Does he think swearing is cool?' but that will be left unanswered.

So he left quietly and then stood a few meters away before stretching his rusty limbs that didn't move in a while. "Hmmm...That's better, my body needs some movement...." His body started glowing with a deep red colour that startled Ray and made him freeze in his place inspecting his body.

"What is this? Why did my mana turn red like this? Grimoire, Any explanations?" Asked Ray as he looked at his hands.

"Oh yeah, forgot to tell you that. When we merged together my orb changed your mana to fit me and make the fusion possible. It gave you my mana and your mana core absorbed all of that and so it changed to red. Look for yourself!"

After hearing the explanation he was intrigued to see the changes that happened in his body and so he sat down on the ground crossing his legs and then calmed his breathing. All thoughts that passed through his head disappeared. This technique was taught to Ray from a young age, with this he could enter his body and check his mana core and other organs. It was not efficient in combat but if the user had the time, then knowing the state of his body would be considerably easier like this.

After feeling himself totally calm and peaceful, he closed his eyes and felt like he could see his body from the inside. Ignoring his organs after a brief look he then looked at a particular place near his heart. There, a stone shaped object was glowing with a strong red colour to the point where it illuminated its surroundings. 'What a weird mana core.' though Ray looked at it from all angles.

After checking his mana core, he got out of his state and then stood up.

"Now that you checked yourself let me show you what this great one is capable of. Hurry and find a good place."

Instantly, Ray cast body enhancement on himself and the red coloured light covered his body again. "Okay, let's go." and then he dashed like a bolt into the forest. His speed was simply unbelievable to the point where after two jumps he crashed into a tree headfirst. Compared to Flora's speed that was also fast on its own, he was nearly 10 times faster.

"Ouch.....I didn't expect to be this fast. Ok, this needs some practice to get the hang of it." He then tried again but this time with a less amount of mana, but it proved to be hard. The amount of mana he had was so high even the tiniest bit his mind could control was very big.

"Come on! I just need to use a very small amount." But even with his words of encouragement for himself. He was hitting a tree after a tree with very small progress every time. If not for his body being enhanced and so the damage he gets with every crush could be ignored he would've sustained a considerable amount of injuries.

"Grimoire! Any help over here. I'm struggling with this amazing gift of yours." Said Ray irritated as he stood up rubbing his red nose.

"I knew you were useless but damn you exceeded my expectations! Instead of trying to get a small amount of mana, why don't you just try to adjust your speed to fit your enhanced body."

"Ok, I will try that." And then he took a deep and instead of running, he tried to walk. Even his walking speed was very fast but still, it proved to be a success as on his third try he made a good 150 meters in 4 seconds without crushing.

"I'm slowly getting the hang of it!" cheered Ray with a satisfied smile on his face.

The journey of 1000 miles starts with a step, and our protagonist is making his first ones towards a bright future? Or maybe not so bright future? only fate and the author [me :)] knows what it holds for Ray.