"Hey... hey. Wake up." A voice echoed in Ryojin's ear. "It's morning, dude, wake up."
Ryojin ignored the voice—he was too tired from last night's events.
"Hey, wake up!" The voice now grew louder, startling him. He raised his head and slowly opened his eyes, which were met by beams of light seeping through the tiny holes in the wall.
"My eyes," he muttered, raising a hand over his face. "What time is it?"
He slowly sat up, rubbing his temples, then tilted his head.
"What a night. I was so tired that I just collapsed on the mattress immediately after I came back."
"Yeah, you truly behaved as if you were drunk yesterday," a voice boomed opposite him. "I thought you had died." It paused. "Or maybe... do you have narcolepsy?"
Ryojin's eyes widened as realization began to sink in. With a deep breath, he slowly turned his eyes to the source of the sound.
What his eyes met was the fiery boy he had seen in Malakar—the boy was lazily seated on a wooden box, its glowing eyes scanning the room.
"This is where you sleep?" the boy asked, voice laced with disappointment. "This is not what I had expected." It looked at Ryojin, whose face was laced with surprise.
"What?" the boy asked, furrowing his brow. "Do I have something on my face?"
Ryojin remained silent, looking at the boy, his mind racing. "Am I seeing this boy for real? Well, I don't think it's an illusion, 'cause I've been seeing him since yesterday."
The boy flew to him and waved his hands near Ryojin's face. "Hey, can you still see me?"
"Yes."
A sigh of satisfaction left the boy's lips. "What a relief." He leaned closer to Ryojin. "So the people here—"
Before Ryojin could respond, a faint knock on the door interrupted them.
"Rio, are you awake?" Kina's voice called out.
"Yes... yes, I am," he stammered.
"I've brought your breakfast," Kina said.
"Shit," Ryojin hissed, getting up, in a low voice as he looked at the beams of light in the room. "I overslept."
He hurriedly walked towards the door and opened it.
Kina was standing there, a tray filled with bread and a cup of tea on it.
"Good morning," she said.
"Am... am sorry I overslept."
"It's okay. Here is your breakfast." She handed him the tray.
"Thanks."
"It's okay." She turned to leave, then paused. "And don't forget—you have a date."
"Date?" he muttered in confusion.
Kina chuckled. "Have you forgotten about Francine?"
"Oh," he sighed, rubbing his temples. "I have to go and meet her today."
"Eat up quickly then," Kina suggested as she walked away.
Ryojin then closed the door.
"Oh, you have a date," the boy said teasingly, floating beside him. "So, who's the lucky girl?"
Ryojin remained silent, turned, and walked past the fiery boy.
"I really don't appreciate you ignoring me," the boy sighed, lowering its head as it turned to Ryojin. "We need to know each other—that way, when we form a pact, passing Trial Two will be easy."
"First of all, I'm not going to form a pact with you," he said, his voice low as he sat down on the mattress. "If that's the reason you're following me, then forget it." He picked up a slice of bread. "Just leave me alone."
"Leave you alone?" The boy shook his head in disapproval. "I will not give up on something that can be beautiful." He flew towards Ryojin. "The very fact that you can see me, though you didn't summon me, is a sign."
Ryojin set the cup down. "Sign of what?"
"That we are meant to be together," the boy scoffed. "Anyways, what is an Abyssal Clan member doing here? While you were asleep, I checked it out—it looks like a prison for kids."
"It's an orphanage."
"Orphanage?" the boy laughed. "There's no way this place is an orphanage—it's so dirty and creepy."
"Did you see any cells?" Ryojin asked, voice laced with annoyance.
"Maybe you're right—this is an orphanage," the boy stopped laughing. "So what are you doing here?"
Ryojin remained silent as he sipped from his cup of tea.
"Are you here on a mission from your group?"
Ryojin still remained silent as he continued eating.
"I see you don't want to talk about your mission," the boy grumbled. "It's okay... it's okay."
For a moment, there was silence until a faint knock on the door broke it.
"Hey, Rio," Kina called out. "If you'd like to bathe, there's some warm water in the bathroom."
Ryojin lifted the tray and got up, walked towards the door, and opened it.
"Thanks, Kina," he said. "Here is the tray."
She gave a knowing smile, took the tray, and walked away.
Ryojin walked back into the room with slow and deliberate steps.
"What should I wear?" He ran a hand through his hair as he walked towards the box and opened it.
"These are the only clothes you have?" the boy asked in surprise. "And you're going on a date?"
"It's not a date, boy."
"Boy? Who are you calling that? I've lived a countless number of years."
Ryojin picked up a loose orange shirt and black trousers. "Oh really? Then why do you look like a boy?"
"How am I supposed to know that?"
Ryojin smirked before he walked out of the room and closed the door. The boy flew beside him as they walked down the passage. The chatter of children could be heard from the other rooms.
"How do you deal with this noise?" the boy grumbled.
"Now you're behaving like an old man," Ryojin muttered as he opened the door to the bathroom and stepped in.
He exhaled sharply as he began to remove his shirt.
"Oh my," the boy exclaimed. "What kind of skin disease do you have?"
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Ryojin muttered in a low voice. "I'm taking a bath. Go and wait for me outside or in the room."
"Hey, first of all, we're all adult dudes here—so no problem," the boy leaned towards Ryojin. "I want to know what type of skin disease you have. I hope you don't die before we form a pact..."
Ryojin looked down at his chest. The black vein marks were now slowly covering more of his skin.
"What is going on?" he thought as he touched the affected areas—shoulder, middle section of the chest, and bicep. These dark vein marks were different from the runes on his skin—the runes were dark purple, running across his chest in an intricate pattern.