Black Spider looked away from Vanessa and turned to the crow-man. - And you?
The crow-man stood silent, staring at Black Spider for a long moment, if Ringo didn't know the state of the man's soul, he would think he was being rude on purpose.
Vanessa seemed to know about the crow-man's problem, so she spoke. -Korak is... well, it's complicated.- Ringo's clone sensed the mood swings again, affection, grief, and guilt.
Vanessa glanced at Korak briefly, the man gave her a subtle nod, which made her sigh and begin to speak.
-To sum it up, Korak was also a member of the Arcane Church. He came from the same planet as me and... he fell in love with a woman from there before joining the church, but the problem is that this woman is a nun.- Vanessa said slowly.
Korak's eyes darted erratically again, but he remained silent.
-Your mother?- Black Spider asked, raising an eyebrow.
Vanessa simply shook her head negatively. - No, my brother's mother.
Black Spider seemed to understand, nodding briefly, and Vanessa continued her story.
-He was selected by the church and had to travel far from the planet, after which he underwent an internal experiment, but as you can see, that experiment had consequences.- Vanessa pursed her lips in irritation.
-He was one of the few who survived, but due to the problems the experiment caused, he had to leave his post. At that point, he decided to return to his home planet and work with the local clergy, at least he could stay close to his beloved, but... he arrived too late.- Vanessa shook her head, exasperated.
-He sought me out because I was the only one who survived. He found me through magic, and in the end, he discovered the whole story through me. After that, we got together, and we're still together today.- Vanessa finished the story.
Black Spider was still looking at Korak, curious and surprised.
His emotions were too conflicting for Ringo to understand anything, so he shook his head and let it go. -So, do you want to join us too?
Korak stared at Black Spider for a long moment before nodding briefly. -Yes.- His voice came out deeper than Black Spider had expected.
-Alright, you're welcome too.- Black Spider shrugged, he was very interested in Korak, and Ringo wanted to see if he could help the man return to normal.
Theoretically, it's possible.
His situation is similar, but still different from Ringo's.
Ringo's parasite is actually created based on a different personality with different memories, basically, it's a subpersonality that also has access to Ringo's own power, meaning that trying to get rid of it is like trying to fight with your own hand.
Korak, on the other hand, is an amalgam of various unrelated souls. They have no power over his body or energy, although they can certainly interfere during its use, especially since he is a mage.
His situation is like Frankenstein's, a patchwork of various parts that aren't his, but in the end, it's the brain that controls everything.
Ringo is not only a nightmare, but he also possesses evolutionary energy, although he cannot act directly against Korak's soul. But what if he strengthens Korak's soul by ignoring the parasites? That's an idea worth putting to the test.
Vanessa, on the other hand, is an enigma, but Ringo had already thought of a use for the woman as soon as he heard her story.
Orozen's Esper power is very interesting to him, Racial Enhancement, what will be its limit? What could Orozen do with it? Furthermore, how did he manage to track his children and what were they used for?
Thinking about that, Ringo asked. -So, what are your skills?
Neither Vanessa nor Korak would hide this, Ringo is their leader, and knowing these things is important, especially during combat.
Vanessa spoke for both of them again. - Korak is a mage focused on curses, that's how he found me too, using items I left as a means, I can only be grateful that he arrived first, not an enemy mage.
Korak merely nodded briefly at her explanation.
-I, on the other hand, am an Esper, my power is called blood essence.- Vanessa continued. -I can accumulate a large amount of blood energy by consuming blood, the more powerful the blood I consume, the better. This energy can be used for different purposes: attacking, defending, healing, and even accelerating my training. Besides... I think this ability was given to me by Orozen.
Ringo narrowed his eyes and asked, alarmed. -What do you mean?
-My Esper gene is the same as my brother's, exactly the same.- Vanessa shrugged.
Black Spider paused for a moment, understanding where Vanessa was going with this. -So you think Orozen can pass that gene on to you?
Vanessa simply nodded and continued. -The blood essence within me keeps growing as I move forward, that essence is probably what he wants.
Black Spider became thoughtful, this was truly interesting. If what Vanessa said was true, he could almost imagine Orozen's objective. His Esper gene must have something to do with it, probably strengthening himself by consuming this blood essence.
But this only made Ringo more and more interested in Orozen and Vanessa.
Black Spider pushed his thoughts aside and asked. -Is there a limit to the amount of blood you can consume?
-No, but the higher the potency, the longer it takes to "digest", and if it's too strong, a lot of energy is lost in the conversion. Besides, once I transform the blood into essence, I can only use it to accelerate training, not to directly become stronger.- Vanessa explained, maintaining a cold gaze.
-That's a shame.- Black Spider said sadly. He thought that if Vanessa had an ability to drink blood and instantly become stronger, it would be very interesting. She would clearly be a model protagonist.
She only needed to drink the blood of powerful creatures and in a short time she would be Grade A, maybe even Grade S, but... unfortunately the conversion couldn't be that fast.
Of course, even Ringo's ability took time to take effect, so he couldn't ask for too much.