Heartsbane

Counting the gold coins till he was satisfied Raymond again thought of the black gemstone. Instantly the visions of space inside the necklace came into his mind.

With a thought, Raymond managed to put all of his coins into the gemstone within the blink of an eye. After that, his eyes wandered towards the chest he had taken from Mobi.

If he recalled Mobi's reaction when he took the chest, Raymond was certain it had more valuable things than the gold coins.

Without further ado, he willed the chest to come out of the space and it magically appeared on his bed.

-Click!

Opening the top of the chest, Raymond was met with a few books that seemed pretty worn out.

After looking at the titles, Raymond thought some of them were interesting. But reading would have to wait for later as his eyes landed on the jade slips that were hiding below the stack of books.

His eyes sparkled with amazement looking at the smooth surface of the two-inch long and one-inch wide jade slip in his hand.

As far as Raymond knew they were definitely used for storing spells. Wanting to take a look at the spell ingrained in the jade slip, he channelled his mana into it.

-Crack!

But as soon as his mana entered the jade slip, spider web-like cracks appeared on its surface before it shattered into thousands of tiny pieces.

'Goddammit! Counterfeits again! Who the fuck did he steal from?!'

Raymond gnashed his teeth in anger. If he saw Mobi again he was going to beat the shit out of him.

Looking at the remaining dozen or so jade slips, Raymond's lips twitched.

'Are they all fake?'

Not wanting to find out if they were real or fake Raymond pushed them to the side. He would have forc—ahem convince someone to buy them from him.

If they agreed he was even willing to give them a discount.

As he was going through the contents of the chest, Raymond's gaze fell upon a wide leather belt, tightly bundled up. Curiosity getting the better of him, he opened the belt, revealing eight slots inside that acted as sheaths for daggers.

Six of those slots were already filled with daggers, with only the black-coloured handles visible outside. Raymond carefully pulled out one of the daggers and inspected its quality.

The blade was sharp on both edges, taking the shape of a long and narrow triangle that ended in a sharp point.

The leather of the belt was thick and sturdy, clearly crafted by a skilled artisan. The daggers themselves were finely crafted, with blades made of a gleaming metal that seemed to catch the light.

Raymond felt a slight aversion welling up inside him with each passing second as he held the dagger in his hand. For reasons unknown, he didn't like the feeling of holding a sharp weapon in his hands.

"Hah, I will let Jasmine take a look at them."

Without thinking further he put it back inside the belt and bundled it up like it was before. With just a thought from his side, the chest was back inside the pendant.

There were some random knick-knacks he had picked up from Mobi's hideout. Just as he was about to bring them out to take a look, the door to his room was pushed open with a bang.

-Bang!

"Master! I think something is wrong with Sister Becca! She hasn't come out since morning."

Jasmine burst into the room with an anxious look on her face, startling Raymond.

"Woah! Calm down, will you?" Raymond stretched out his hand to stop her in her tracks. "Tell me what happened?"

"Master, do you remember how she was when we arrived back at the inn last evening?"

"Yeah, she was kind of feeling down. I think it might be due to the weather."

Raymond replied. He too was feeling lazy and simply slept last evening. So it wasn't strange for Becca to do the same.

"She must have overslept, you are worrying too much." He added, thinking that Jasmine's worries were simply unfounded.

"What do you mean by overslept, Master? I literally banged on her door until my palms were red."

Jasmine showed her palms which were swollen red trying to prove her point.

Raymond sweat-dropped looking at her palms, how resilient was she to have banged the door till her hands hurt?

"Cough, I will take a look, don't worry."

Raymond got up from his bed and hurried towards Becca's room. He felt like there must be something going on if Jasmine was being worried like that.

He tried to push the door but it was locked from the inside. "Miss Becca, it's me, Ray. If you don't answer till I count to five I am going to break open the door!"

Raymond gave a warning before he started counting.

-Thud!

The door fell off of its hinges as Raymond pushed it a bit harder and entered inside when he didn't hear any reply even after counting five.

"There!"

Raymond's gaze fell upon Becca, who was lying on the bed with her eyes closed. She looked pale and her forehead was creased with perspiration. Her breathing was shallow, and he could see that she was struggling.

"Jasmine, hurry! Open the window and let some fresh air in here!" he barked urgently, knowing that the stuffy room was only making things worse for Becca.

He rushed over to her side and took a closer look. The sheet beneath her was soaked with sweat, and her robe was clinging uncomfortably to her skin. He gently brushed a damp strand of hair away from her face and could feel the heat radiating off of her.

"The fuck? How could she have a fever?"

Raymond furrowed his brows in surprise. It was unusual for powerful cultivators to be afflicted with common ailments such as colds and fevers.

He quickly grabbed a glass of water from the nightstand and sprinkled some on Becca's face, hoping to rouse her. He gently tapped her cheeks and called out her name.

"Master, is she going to be alright?" Jasmine asked in a worried voice.

"I don't know, Jasmine. It's strange for her to catch a fever, her body should be able to fight it off if we wake her up!"

Raymond answered as he lightly tapped on her cheeks and Jasmine sprinkled water on her face.

*******

Darkness was the only thing waiting for her when she closed her eyes. She never expected to be looking at a pair of lifeless violet eyes that reminded her of the despairing moments of her life.

"You can finally take revenge."

A cold and dignified voice rang out in the darkness.

"Who are you?"

Lyla asked, hearing a voice in her head. She had been staring into the eyes for an unknown amount of time without saying anything.

She felt strangely comfortable in the darkness and didn't want to disturb the quietness.

But the pair of eyes seemed to be thinking differently as its thoughts echoed out telling her to take revenge.

"And what revenge?"

A snickering sound replied to her question.

"Keke, don't feign ignorance! You know exactly what I am talking about!"

Hearing the hint of amusement in the voice Lyla frowned.

"Who are you?! Why should I listen to you?"

"Oh! I am you, I am also 'Heartsbane' and I am also not you!"

"I am everything you are not! And I am also everything you can be!"

As Lyla struggled to comprehend the voice in her head, a faint glimmer of light started to seep into the darkness. Slowly, the figure of a little girl started to materialise before her, adorned in a dark purple cloak that covered most of her features.

"Who are you?" Lyla asked again, her voice shaky.

"I am Heartsbane, and I am the part of you that seeks revenge."

Lyla's eyes widened in shock as she heard the little girl's words.

"What do you mean? I don't want any revenge."

But as soon as she said the words, memories flooded back to her, memories of the night which changed her life. Memories of 'Heartsbane' awakening and poisoning those two innocent servant boys.

Along with it came sickening visuals of a helpless mother being forced to enslave her own daughter.

Looking at the twisted face of Lyla struggling to get a hold of her emotions the little girl smiled again, a cold and calculating smile.

"Of course you do. And I'm here to help you get it."

"H-how?..."

Lyla croaked out feeling her imaginary throat drying as she talked.

"Use him! He is special!"

The little girl replied with a sinister smirk on her face.

"W-who are you talking about?"

"Keke, you know, the one who has been plaguing your mind lately."

With a dark chuckle, the little girl replied.

"Raymond Clover?"

"Yes! It's him. He is no ordinary mortal, even I have to remain docile in his presence!"

Her voice was laced with fear and frustration as the little girl spoke. When he touched Lyla she so wanted to poison him and watch his life leave his eyes.

But her instincts which were sharper than the wildest of beasts told her to bow her head and remain silent. She had never been so humbled by anyone's presence like that before.

"What?!"

Lyla's eyes widened, and a chill ran down her spine listening to her words.

"If-if he is not ordinary, how can I use him?"

She asked with dread filling her up, even the 'Heartsbane' which had rescued her from the Imperial Guardians when she tried to assassinate the emperor was scared of Raymond then she could only imagine what kind of power he had.