Aftermath(Chapter 19)

"Ok, first, what's your name?" Hupia asked. "I do not have a name associated with my being; this custom is something carried on by mortals." The abyss explained to Hupia. "In that case, what is this place, and why can't I see you?" He quickly responded. "This is your Soul Realm. It is a place tucked away in the Soul, allowing you to escape your physical body and communicate with me, your Soul Beast. You cannot see me because after I was forced awake, you decided to get your hands on that stupid grimoire, so I am chained to my Realm, unable to cross over into your Realm to form an astral link properly. Until you find out how to get rid of this curse, I can have no contact with your Realm. Luckily you have a similar presence to 'J,' so channeling it wasn't too hard. My Soul Power is potent enough to transcend the dimensional barrier containing our Realms."

Consequently, I must communicate with you in this manner until the issue is solved." Hupia had just received a lot of new information, so it took a bit to comprehend. After trying to see from its point of view, it would have no reason to deceive him, and so he accepted this statement. "Last few questions, I should have asked earlier but are you male or female? Or perhaps you are genderless." The pressure in his Realm shot up. "Chill out. It's just a question. There is no subliminal meaning in my words. Since I lost my memories of the past, there are many things I still don't understand. The Realm's pressure relaxed after he explained this. My other question is, What do you know about my family? Finally, my last question, could you guide me in my cultivation journey? Even though I'm happy with my current situation, I would at least like to know about my past." Hupia inquired eagerly.

"Well, I can assure you I'm no woman, so hopefully that clears that up for you. I know a lot about your family, likely more than any others who remain on this planet. The moment I was born into this realm, I was raised alongside your ancestors as a young spirit, but it wasn't until many years later that I met 'J' and his family happened to coincide themselves with our kind. This is something that still has not been repeated by anyone. I'm sure of it, as for the last question. I will give you an answer. Once you help get rid of this curse, you will have your answer." The beast demanded.

Hupia took a second and thought of the time his mother was begging him not to start cultivating and thought."Sorry ma, This is something I feel I have to do. If someone tells me what I can do, I'll look into what I'm not allowed. This is just my nature. It's my understanding that no being rules this planet. Control is a social construct created by men. Some people do not resist other people, never questioning why life is the way it is, and that is not me." Hupia explained in his mind as if she could hear him. Once he finished his monologue, he said to the beast, "Fine, I will help you and wait for your response. Just tell me where to start."

The beast of the abyss responded, "That's for you to find out. I know of no way to destroy a curse of this magnitude. Of course, I would like to free myself as soon as possible, so naturally, I will assist you if I can while you are out searching. Enter your Inner Realm once again, and I will be there." Hupia felt a tingling sensation, the feeling of having a purpose. He had never before felt so encouraged to accomplish something in the way he now did. It was an enchanting sensation.

Narrowing his focus to try and place his Spirit back into his physical body seemed to be more intuitive now. Unlike the many times when he was forced out of the abyss against his will, he was exiting voluntarily this time around. As his physical senses returned, he opened his eyes and sat up, looking around the room. Hupia felt groggy, the same way someone waking up from deep sleep would feel. Everything was just as he left it. Hupia wondered if his mother would be able to know he was trying to cultivate against her wishes. With a new objective in mind, Hupia wondered where he should start looking for any leads about the grimoire. "I should ask Ido about it someday. Since he's the one who gave It to me, he should know something about it."

The next day Hupia left home to Ido's shop and see if he could find out anything about the Infinity Prison curse from the grimoire he obtained. Opening the front door, he yelled out, "Ma' I'm going out for a bit. I'll be back soon." Shutting the door behind him before Daisy could even respond, he walked in the direction of the shop. By now, Hupia was familiar with the area and started to feel more accustomed to living in Ari. So much so that he no longer stuck out from the crowd. From the way he walked and how he spoke, anyone would assume that he was born and raised in Ari. This was somewhat true considering that he lost his memory, although it would be more accurate to say he was reborn in Ari.

Arriving at his shop Hupia pounded on the wooden door barking out. "Yo! Ido ya' there It's Hupia ya' have a moment to talk? It's about one of the 'products' I got the other day!" He paused for a moment listening for a response. After a few seconds, when he didn't hear anything, he figured that he must not there at the moment. Letting out a sigh, Hupia turned around and walked away, heading back home, He thought to himself. "Well, that's unlucky. I guess I should just come back-" *Eirr* His thoughts were interrupted by the squeaking sound of a door opening. He turned around and saw Sergio poking his head out of the door, scrunching his brows together, looking at him as he asked in a curious tone. "Hoop? Whatcha' doin' here this early? If you're looking for scales, he ain't here right now. What's up? I might be able to help ya' out." Hupia thought about it for a moment. Sergio stayed here with the lizard man. He might know something. "Well yea' I was lookin' for me' but if he's not here, do ya mind if I ask about something?" By now, the door was wide open, and Sergio was standing a few feet from Hupia. "Yea, I don't see why not whatcha' want to talk about? I've got a bit of time left before I gotta go run the kiosk." Sergio assured him in an inviting voice.

As Hupia began walking up to Sergio, he pointed inside, saying, "Let's talk inside. I don't want anyone prying into our business." Sergio moved to the side, signaling him to go inside. Following right behind him, Sergio shut the door closed and walked behind the counter. Leaning forward with his elbows on the counter, he raised an eyebrow, waiting to see what Hupia wanted to talk about. "Sorry bout showin' up outta the blue, but I had a question about the Infinity Prison Grimoire. Something happened the other day, and I thought Ido might know somethin' about it." Hupia stated matter of factly. "Wait? So you're tellin' me you figured out how to use it...Infinity Prison, is that what it's called? Who helped you to unlock it? I want to meet this person now. That book has not revealed its contents to anyone for so long it's said that only the creator knows what mysteries it contains. That grimoire has been passed down throughout many generations, yet no one has been able to crack it." Sergio wondered intensely. "Hmm, It has been around that long then. Why did-" Hupia stopped himself before he said too much. Clearing his throat, Hupia said, "Sorry, I can't say who helped me with this. But yes, this grimoire translates to Infinity Prison, and Its effects are pretty strange. If you know anything about it, please tell me I need to find out as much as I can as soon as possible." He pleaded, staring at Sergio intently, hoping to get a clue as to what he should do about his current predicament.

Sergio explained, "Well, sadly there ain't much I can tell you, that grimoire is as ancient as dragons. All I can tell you is a rumor which for all I know might not even be true." Hupia's eyes lit up as he begged, "Please tell me this is something I need to know. It's relevant to finding out who I was before coming to Ari. All I can tell you is that it might be related to the history of my grandfather. Anything will help even if it's just some rumor I want to hear it." Seeing how desperate he was about this, Sergio decided to tell him. After looking around, he took a deep breath and began explaining. "Fine, since you wanna know so badly, I'll tell you but remember you did not hear this from me." Hupia nodded.

"The story goes like this, Long ago, there was a powerful cultivator who was only known as 'J' who made a sacred pact with an ancient tribe of demons and fought against the order as a consequence of breaking this taboo amongst cultivators. It was a never-ending battle; he would be hunted by the order no matter where he went. But whenever they learned of his whereabouts, he would kill those from the order mercilessly without hesitation. However, one winter night after years of bloodshed, he became I'll and fled to what is now known as Blood Mountain, where he told his family they would be safe. To save his family, he activated a powerful spell transporting them to a place where they would never be found. J activated this magic at the price of his own life. In his dying moments, he encountered a wanderer who attempted to save his life when he realized the state he was in without knowing who he was. At that moment, with his last breath, he gave the man a mysterious grimoire and thanked the wanderer before asking him to spread his ashes into the ocean once he died. Rumor has it that in his final moments, he passed with a smile on his face. No one knows what happened after that, but that grimoire was rumored to contain ancient magic that no one has been able to uncover. As time went on, the grimoire was forgotten. That's how the story goes from what I've heard."

The look on Hupia's face showed that he was in deep thought. "Anyway, I've got to go open up shop. I hope that helped you out in some way," Sergio said optimistically. Hupia snapped out of his thinking spell and turned around, preparing to head back home. He thanked Sergio for telling him this and left. Hupia was one step closer to solving this mystery. Now all he needed was to find a way to get to Blood Mountain and hope for the best. He stopped at an inn nearby and asked the clerk for a map of Ari. "You want a map, are you lost? Where are you from?" The clerk asked him. "No, I'm not lost. I need the map to head towards another city to deliver something." He lied. "Ah, I see, here you can have this one. I have no use for it anyway." The clerk said, handing him a map. Now that Hupia had this map, he could begin his journey. He planned to wait a few days before he would sneak out. He felt bad that he would leave his mother, but he promised himself once he figured out the secret to releasing the curse, he would return home no matter what.

-->Blood Mountain section<--

Back at Blood Mountain, Lucy started to wake up. "Cero? What happened? Where are we? She asked faintly in a weak voice. Cero quickly assured her, saying, "Everything's fine. We already arrived. Before you passed out, you said you were a bit dehydrated. I'll fetch some water. While I'm gone, lay back, close your eyes, and focus all of your attention on the areas of your body that bother you." He lied, hoping to persuade her to induce a bit of a placebo effect to calm her and run to get a liquid inside a miniature bowl. Pouring it into a larger cup, he filled up the empty cup with water and walked back with the cup ready to hand over to lucy.

Turning into the room that she was in, Cero went inside and placed down the cup and helped Lucy sit up before getting her to drink from the cup. "remember, keep your head clear as much as you can and focus on your ailments again." He reminded Lucy. As she drunk from the cup after a couple of gulps, her blood pressure stabilized, and her voice stopped quivering.

Once Cero confirmed that she would be fine, he placed a curse on her. Usually, this would have begun to rot her Soul, but thanks to Cero transferring a portion of his ancient Soul-Spirit, it protected her from any harm, and she was placed into a comatose state. The drinks effects would take a minute to work because of the curse. "Even half of this Soul-Spirit should be strong enough for her realm to accept it as her own Soul Beast. Not only that, but it's the direct counter to my ukaro energy, so it would wake up and retaliate the moment I try to invade her realm. It will likely try to kill me, and I wouldn't want to risk her body becoming corrupted. So this is the safest thing to do for the time being. I should just let her get some rest while I plan my next move in the next couple of days." Cero conversed with himself.