A STRANGE TRAP-DOOR

Ace began to regret everything he was planning, and he looked into his soul to find a huge seal on it which greatly angered him.

"How dare you?" His anger reached the peak, causing a slight crack on the seal releasing a little thin strand of his power which he used to throw Martin across the room.

Martin's body slid down the wall as he went into a coughing fit.

"Don't worry. I'd take full responsibility of you. I just don't trust you. By the way, it's a permanent seal, and I am the only one that can release it." Martin dusted his body after he stood up.

He moved to the front of Ace, and brought his head to the baby's eyes level.

"Just you know, our souls are linked. If I die, you will follow me into the pit of hell." Martin's voice dropped to a low tone killing every idea that Ace was currently thinking of just to kill him.

Ace visibly shuddered, he didn't know that Axton has such side in him. He could only blame his ignorance.

"I want my revenge." Despite his display of fear, he stood his ground. 

Martin smiled down at him, completely changing into a cool personality, and he backed away.

"Of course. I'd let you have your revenge when I'm done with you."

Martin cocked his head, and patted the baby's head before moving to the kitchen to prepare another breakfast for himself.

"I hate you." Ace felt defeated, he thought he had the higher ground, only for Axton to put him in his place, and it was also his fault for not demeaning someone he had just met.

"You'll get used to it soon enough." Martin remarked, his face holding a bright expression.

Ace didn't say anything as he silently watched Martin opening another box of cereals, and making another round of round of breakfast before placing it back in the food board.

"You are smart, but you are quite weak. I mean, your cultivation is very low for your age." Ace said as he studied the boy.

Martin nearly choked on his meal as he heard Ace downrating his abilities.

"What makes you think so?" Martin spoke as his countenance returned back to normal.

"Any normal can perceive your cultivation level. How many spells have you cultivated with your rune?" Ace continued, rubbing his chin in a way that made him take on the image of an old man.

"One." Martin said without displaying any emotions, he knew that his cultivation was low, but now he had seen a way to increase his level, and when he was done learning that mana absorption, he would be able to absorb mana which would enable improve his spells. His spells could even be high tier, which happened to ten in a million people, from what he had read.

"And you are proud of that?" Ace was standing at the top of the food board, and he realized it had been locked.

"No." Martin turned to him with a smirk, as if he had planned for what would happen.

"Curse you." Ace frowned.

"You should learn to act like a normal baby," Martin had finished his breakfast, and he moved to his bed, "Or I wouldn't even take you aside. Not like I can by the way, it could raise a lot of brows, and questions." Martin looked down on a piece of flat cloth that had done a messy job at hiding the trap-door under the bed.

"I don't care, you have control over me, might as well do what you want as long it wouldn't kill me, and what's that?" Ace vanished, and appeared on the floor sitting on the floor close to the trap-door.

"I thought I locked your powers. How do you keep going poof?" Martin stared at the baby that sat by his side with inquisitiveness in his eyes.

"Don't look at me. You're that one who performed some voodoo shit on me." Ace looked away when he saw Martin looking at him with a weird face.

"Tell me Ace." Martin said with a stern look on his face. If Ace still had access to some of his powers, he could somehow develop means to fully break the contract, and find a way to go scot-free.

"Relax, so paranoid. It's like an instinct, or something. Like it came with me, and it's not part of my powers. I can't explain it, it just sort of happens." Ace folded his hands, as he glared at Martin.

"Ok." Martin didn't bother to push more, he tried opening the trap door, and he saw that it was not even locked. 

From the memory search, he was able to see that Axton had no idea about such place, but there were some parts of Axton's memory that he felt were missing, it was a possibility that Axton had tried to block these memories, or they brought a great amount of pain along with their remembrance so his brain blocked them to prevent him from being mentally attacked.

Martin couldn't seem to figure out what had gone so wrong, that it had made Axton shut himself in. It meant that it was even worse than his parent's death.

Martin pushed the thought out of his mind, that would have to be for another day, and right now he had to only increase his strength, and he would be one step closer to his goal.

The suspense was killing him, and he wanted to see what was under that trap door.

"Stay here Ace." Martin said as he pulled open the trap door, he wasn't going to let a now powerless get lost, or worst killed under his watch. It was better if it happened when he wasn't there.

"Why?" Ace had a look of disappointment on his face, he wanted to see what was leaking from that trap-door also.

The smell coming from under there, was a lot similar to what he had perceived, it was the exact reason he had placed himself at the doorstep of this cruel being, now he was not even going to be given the chance.

"Because I said so." Martin said as he stepped down a ladder that had been placed under the trap-door, Ace could only feel a sense of longing as he watched Martin enter into the trap-door, and closed the door on him.

Ace couldn't disobey Martin because of the contract, so he focused on something else; Unlocking that food board, and getting out a box of cereals.

Martin walked into the room that was hidden under the trap-door, and he realized that it wasn't a room but a passage-way.

It was dark, Martin had not cultivated his fire rune, so he had no choice to go back up, and get a torch.

Martin climbed back, and up to his room. He looked up to see that Ace had somehow gotten hold of a box of cereals, and his face was heavily stuffed.

"When I get back, we would talk about this, your obsessive craving for cereals, and don't forget your punishment." Martin didn't even bother taking another glance at the boy, as he rushed back down, ready to set of into a new adventure.

Who knew what he could find in that room.