Rumors

Braun stepped back and pulled the alarm while in shock. He could only do so because of his mental fortitude as someone whose soul was in the refined stage.

Cain didn't care, he moved his hand in two swift motions, sending out a foreign energy that cut down more than ten people. Their disfigured corpses decorated either side of the room.

Reeling back out of pure fear, Braun shakily screamed, "Why! Why do this?! Please...no! Stop this madness!"

Each step Cain took left Braun one step less, and before long he was leaning against the console used to control the pods and the production of the drug.

With no other options, Braun picked up a chair and held it up, ready to strike.

"I'll destroy it! Then you'll never be able to create the drug!" Braun was a smart man, there was only one reason Cain was doing this, to silence them. 

But his threats did not affect Cain because Braun forgot one fact.

"So? I'll just devour your soul and learn anything I want. Not to mention, I already know the majority of how to produce the drug, I helped create it remember. I'm only unclear on the processes I left you to do."

"This....this...." Braun lost his strength, he dropped his chair and began to pull at his hair. "No...it can't end like this..."

Seeing him completely losing it, Cain took the opportunity to get closer, at some point his feet were beside Braun's own, and he was leaning over to whisper in his ear.

Yet before Cain could have more fun, Braun's eyes opened, they were strained and had hints of red.

"Get away!"

Soul energy was utilized and even though Cain was of a far higher level, he was still pushed back a smidgen. This set him off.

"How interesting. Hah...the Path of Soul isn't so great without using other paths. Although I haven't augmented my soul yet, this is ridiculous I could be pushed back!" Thoughts of going down another Path filled his mind.

"Die traitor!"

Seeing an opportunity, a man clad in black escaped from the shadows and rushed towards Cain, a dagger in hand dripping with an unknown liquid.

Of course, Cain noticed them, he was baiting.

"Uaagh!"

The man in black tripped over a thin wire on the floor, more accurately, his foot was cleanly removed from his leg.

"Aaaahh!" They tried to clutch their leg, but their hand went elsewhere.

Cain yawned, "I knew there was an extra guard. Wholeness..." He chuckled, "You know, I never got to use this ability to its fullest yet."

The attacker found himself picking up the dagger they dropped and slowly brought it to their neck.

"What's happening?! What am I doing?! What type of witchcraft is this!" They panicked while Cain laughed at them.

Although Cain could get the same effect using telekinesis, he was much more interested in the Dao he never properly used.

"This is an interesting turnabout. So you are suicidal? Or was it just repressed, I need to learn more about human desire I suppose, and here I thought I knew it well."

Braun picked up Cain's words, even in the current situation, he, like Cain, was curious about the world around him.

"What do you mean? Are you saying you're using his desires against him, and that he wants to kill himself?!" Braun had no clue how deep the powers of the soul went, he heard stories about the Path of Voice, which made what Cain was doing believable.

Cain grinned. "There is tragedy in every human life, no matter how little. It is surprising how self-destructive humans are in the face of tragedy, even the strong-willed have such thoughts once in in a while. This is normal."

He turned back to the man in black. "Don't feel too bad you're acting on these thoughts after so long. They belong to you, I just made them surface with ten times the might."

"P-Please..." Tears dripped through the man's facemask. The knife was already shaving their neck.

Cain's choice was absolute. "No."

The knife slipped deep into the attacker's neck in one fell swoop. Their eyes turned completely red as they choked up blood and collapsed to the floor.

"Finally, we're alone. Now, what were you saying?" The youth's white teeth glowed like pristine marble.

Braun's face lost all color, his screams never seemed to end.

...

Darla was reading in her quarters when the facility's alarm began to blare.

"Oh no!" She got up from her chair and headed to the door.

The young girl knew the facility well, she passed some guards and scientists, making her way to the research chamber.

Slipping from the sight of multiple guards in the area, she successfully turned the corner to see a man clad in black ordering some guards.

"Stay here! Don't let anyone in. I knew this would eventually happen, shit!" They ran into the lab.

Darla was anxious, but she knew getting past armed guards was nigh impossible. Instead, she chose to wait.

Her decision paid off.

"AAAHH! ARGH! NO!" Muffled screams came from inside, the guards shook a little.

After a bit of time, the doors opened. Both the guards moved their guns and brought them up to their mouths.

Bang! Bang!

Darla's eyes dilated as Cain came out of the lab clean as a whistle.

His voice was as soothing as ever. "Darla? Good, we can leave immediately then."

Behind Cain, there were floating machines and materials. Darla paid it no heed and followed Cain out. Along the way, guards would strangely end their own lives and scientists would find the nearest weapon and do the same.

'The power is useful in this case, but too much energy is being used. Good thing I built up my reserves.' Cain analyzed the power of Desire.

Exiting the way they first came, the creaking of an old door brought with it light. For a second time, light touched Darla's fair skin.

"Where do we go?" She asked.

Looking down at the young girl, Cain smiled. "Wherever you wish to go."

The girl giggled and brought Cain along as she took to the streets. She was in a whole new world. The trash and drug addicts littering the ground on either side didn't bother her in the slightest. She was with Cain, that was all she needed.

...

Sitting in a coffee shop in a nicer part of the city, Cain finished his coffee and watched Darla reading from a book they recently picked up at the local library.

'Thankfully money isn't hard to get as long as you know where to look. Everything's settled for now but I should find a more permanent spot before distributing the drug and pulling people into my faction. In the meantime, I also need to research other paths and advance myself spiritually to reach the next transformation in the soul, if there is one.'

"Ready to go?" He asked Darla.

"Yep!" She smiled, lighting up the whole shop with warm gazes.

The pair returned to the apartment Cain was renting. Darla went to sit down while Cain entered the study where he put everything he took from the facility.

"I should first make and distribute the drug, only then can I take the next step." He got to work.