A Hint of Hope

.....

As soon as Bastian had finished his words, the light in Tate's eyes had dimmed. Bastian let go of the giant, allowing the body to fall lifelessly to the ground.

Bastian walked away from the corpse and looked at his bloody hands.

Nope. Don't feel anything.

Bastian had thought that perhaps after taking his first human life, he would feel something. But the opposite occurred. He felt nothing.

Meh, it's actually a good thing. This will make my life easier. Speaking of my life, why did the giant know I was strong?

Never mind that, he's already dead. I have bigger fish to fry.

Bastian looked at the unconscious white haired boy. He truly pitied him and wanted to assist him. After a few moments, an opening suddenly appeared by the wall, with armored guards walking out.

...

Bastian was told to carry the white haired boy out of the arena as they were being led to their cells. Bastian was surprised to learn that he and the white haired boy shared the same cell.

This makes my plans much easier.

The duo was locked into their cells and the guards walked away in haste. Bastian noticed that they were quite nervous. At first, he thought it was because he was imposing, but after looking at his unconscious counterpart, he quickly realized what they were truly afraid of. The cells only had brick walls at the back, while the other three sides had bars, allowing Bastian to see the cells around him. To his surprise, all the cells nearby were completely empty.

Well, this is convenient. At least at this moment, I can concentrate on the matter at hand.

Like any scientist, Bastian worked best without distractions. He intended to help the white haired boy not only out of kindness, but because he felt this endeavor would help him understand Soul Force more.

At heart Bastian was a scholar. To him knowledge was of the utmost importance.

"Alright then, let's begin," said Bastian as he cracked his knuckles.

...

In a booth within the arena sat two people, one was an attractive woman with a Mohawk, who had an exposed arm covered in tattoos. The other was a middle aged man dressed in simple grey robes. The man was actually quite dirty, to the point where he could easily be mistaken for a beggar.

"So Miss Owami, what do you think?" said the dirty man with a smug grin.

The attractive woman referred to as Owami merely pouted in response and said nothing. The dirty man shook his head and continued on, "The facts are there, there are no doubts that this is a Karmic King."

"What facts? All he did was beat up trash with a slightly less trashy body." said Owami unhappily.

The dirty man sighed and said, "ok, let's recount the first startling facts:

He achieved harmonization even though he had a supreme affinity for both the fire and water elements.

He accidentally achieved a Bloodline Awakening without the use of any tools or prior instruction.

His Bloodline Awakening was of the highest class possible. His soul is immune to any form of spiritual attacks, including mine. He found an Inkume and befriended her.

He was personally selected by my Master to be a Mark Bearer.

He went from 2 Claws to 5 Claws within the span of a few months...the list goes on.

Now let's recount what happened after we intervened and put him in a dire situation.

He managed to wake up just in time for the match, even though the medicine was still in effect.

He immediately found a pair of enchanted gauntlets which magnificently fit his attributes that even you had missed.

He was placed in a match with someone who somehow knew of the gauntlets' true value, thus having to fight only two people.

He was able to gain a Master before the match had even started while being unconscious.

Last but not least the Master who bought him just happened to be the owner of the gauntlets themselves, practically guaranteeing him ownership of them in the near future.

Not to mention who his Master is-"

Owami could not take anymore and interrupted, "Fine I get it! The kid is really lucky!"

"To be honest, I do not think he is a normal Karmic King either, he could even be...hhmm that does it! I have made my decision! I have chosen this boy!" said the dirty man enthusiastically.

"I can't believe this. After ten years and searching through countless candidates with far better potential, you're gonna choose this piece of garbage?" Owami was clearly unsatisfied with her companion's decision.

"There is more than meets the eye when it comes to that boy, Owami you were no different."

"I wasn't this pathetic!" shouted Owami with a slight blush on her face.

"Doesn't matter, I have instructions for you, so pay close attention," said the dirty man in a stern tone.

Owami's expression turned serious as she nodded.

"Okay here is what I want you to do. First I want you to keep this human near you at all times. He is quite inconspicuous and I have taken a liking to him.

From now on I will communicate to you through him. Secondly..."

....

In his cell, Bastian was breathing heavily as he lay on the floor.

This, this shouldn't be this hard!

For the past few minutes, Bastian had been trying to locate the spirit of the poison, that was inflicting the white haired boy, but to no avail.

Bastian's control of his Soul Force was just too poor. A continuous cycle of searching and failing had thrown Bastian into a hopeless state of mind. After about ten minutes or so in contact with the white haired boy, Bastian's Soul Force would find the spirit, but only to discover that the spirit would be in its troublesome form. The spirit of the poison was like thousands of tiny needles.

Bastian's Soul Force was thick and heavy, which made it quite useful for defense and simple attacks. But for such a delicate operation it was a serious disadvantage. Due to the fact that the poison spirit was needle-like in structure, it could split up into thousands of parts and run rampant across the white haired boy's body.

Bastian did not have enough Soul Force, to allow him to go through the entire boy's body. He learned that if he stretched his Soul Force thin like that, then the somewhat sentient spirit would concentrate on one area and attack, forcing Bastian to concentrate his Soul Force at that area.

At that moment, the spirit would once more split up and run away. Even if some needles were destroyed, the remaining ones would propagate, creating new ones. It was a never ending cycle that had drained Bastian's mental faculties.

The only way to completely destroy the spirit is if I could split my Soul Force in thousands of needle like forms and attack each spirit needle individually at once, but that...is impossible.

Indeed the idea required a control over Soul Force that Bastian did not have. Bastian felt helpless as he saw the white haired boy lying on the floor unconscious.

That was when the environment changed. Bastian was back in the all-white room with a table in the middle. Except that this time, there was something different. This time, there was a man sitting cross legged on the table. He was a handsome middle aged man with a gentle aura. His face looked very friendly. One look at this man, made one want to trust him. He was adorned in golden robes with pictures of dragons here and there.

Bastian recovered from the shock and looked at the man sitting on the table, curiosity filling his gaze.

There is nothing in the information I gained from the Mark about other people being able to enter this place.

"Hello Sebastian. I have wanted to talk to you for a long time." said the man with a friendly smile.

"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" said Bastian with a defensive tone.

"My name is Li. I am your Avatar," said the man in a calm manner.

The man saw Bastian's confused expression and decided to help the boy.

"Every Mark Bearer gains three tools to assist them. The Mark, This Mark Zone and an Avatar. The Avatar is responsible for monitoring all of the Mark Bearer's activities, and interfering when necessary. We do this through giving gifts, punishments, and sometimes advice, such as in this case."

Bastian listened carefully throughout the whole explanation, and a light shined in his eyes when the explanation was finished.

He is probably going to come with a barrage of questions. Sigh I better prepare myself.

Any normal person would have plenty of questions to ask in such a situation. Such as why they were chosen, or why Li chose to appear at that moment, etc. So Li decided to simplify the whole situation.

"Young man, it is best you carefully think about the questions you want to ask and then ask them all at once because we do not have time-"

"I only have one question," said Bastian as he interrupted Li.

Li was surprised by Bastian's statement but gestured for the boy to speak. He was curious to see which question the boy had wanted to ask, to the point where he would forsake all others.

"My question is quite simple, what advice do you have for me?"

Li was at a loss for words.

So bold and straight to point, wait, he noticed I am here to advise him?

After looking back at the words he had previously said, Li realized that he had said the words 'and sometimes advice, such as in this case.'

He picked up on that instantly, in a situation that would normally confuse quite a few. What an interesting person.

Truthfully speaking Bastian picked up the phrase carefully because as soon as he heard the word advice, a hint of hope bloomed in his heart. And it seemed his instinct was on point

Either way, Li was quite happy with the current situation and was more than happy to oblige.

"My advice is simple. I can tell you how to save the white haired boy."

...