Absorb

"What do you think you're doing!? Don't touch me!" shouted Kelton, trying to get away from the skeleton.

"Don't move unless you want your brains plastered onto the floor," Cale said as he stepped on Kelton's hands and pointed the spear at the professor's face.

"Gulp..." Kelton gulped at the sight of the approaching weapon as he shouted, "Who is controlling you?! Do you even know who I am?!"

'He thinks I'm being controlled?' Cale thought, but after remembering that he was now a skeleton, it made sense.

"I don't care who you are, but if you scream, I will end your life," Cale said calmly before adding, "Cooperate with me and I will let you go."

"Really?!" Kelton suddenly turned excited, but the spear only approached until slightly piercing his neck.

"One more scream and you're dead," Cale repeated as the professor nodded.

"The first question then, what is the current year?"

"1256 Year, July" Kelton answered quickly.

'So it's been twenty-one years....That bastard shouldn't have died yet, nor anyone should have had the ability to kill him' A slight hint of Cale's murderous aura escaped, and Kelton unconsciously broke out in a sweat.

"Second question...Do you know anything about the Lulah Kingdom?"

"Lulah? This is the first I've heard of it"

"Huh?" Cale carelessly heaved a sigh. Since the Lulah Kingdom had grown so influential, there was absolutely no way it could be so easily neglected, especially by a professor who presumably traveled across the whole Empire.

Even if it was destroyed, there was no way that it was just simply forgotten by everyone.

'Tch...something's wrong here...either this bastard is lying or I'm really in a place where the Lulah Empire doesn't exist,' Cale cursed inwardly before regaining his usual calmness.

Before even thinking about revenge, he should at least get out of here alive.

"The third question...Do you know any hidden exits from this place?"

"??" Kelton's eyes flickered with doubt, 'Why would he need an exit? Did he just break into the kingdom to ask about this "Lulah" kingdom? Isn't he just a puppet, why would he need to escape?' wondered Kelton.

"I'll give you three seconds to answer," Cale thrust the spear further into the professor's neck, causing a bit of blood to spread onto his skin.

"There's one!" Kelton promptly said before Cale could even begin to count, "After researching the structure of the entire kingdom, I've found out that there's a hidden passage underneath the building, and although I have no idea where it leads to, it's still better than nothing, right? Now please let me go...I can even make some weapons for you!"

"Quiet" Cale said as he rearranged his thoughts. There's a high chance Kelton is telling the truth, considering he's in a life and death situation now, but it's still not enough to completely reassure Cale.

"How could I believe you without any proof?"

"Pro-proof? Of course, it's in that black box...And I'll give you the keys after you let me go," Kelton muttered, faltering slightly in the last part of the sentence.

"You think you're in a position to state your demands?" Cale gave the professor a kick in the stomach, while at the same time pinning his arms from above.

"N-no! I was just kidding, the keys are in my left pocket. Just take them and don't hurt me!"

"One more shout and you'll never see your fingers again," Cale growled as he took the keys from Kelton's pocket. After getting them, Cale didn't even bother to listen to Kelton's complaints and moved towards the bloody table, dragging the professor from behind.

'Let's see' After successfully opening the black box, Cale hastened through the numerous papers inside until he finally stopped.

'It seems to be the one' Cale thought while taking out a paper with a clear sketch of the entire kingdom. Fortunately, Kelton's words seemed to be truthful since there was a route right beneath the whole sketch, leading somewhere to the south.

"The last question then" Cale put all the papers back into the box as he turned around, "How were you going to extract the divine powers out of the beasts?"

'So that was his intention after all' Kelton sighed as he replied, "You can torture me or do whatever you want to me, but I will never give up the information about the project of my lifetime"

"Then you're no longer useful," Cale suddenly pierced right into Kelton's heart, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"What the he--cough!" crimson blood spurted from his mouth, flying all over the room, "We ha-had a deal!"

"Come on, Professor Kelton, I am quite disappointed in you. Did you actually think I was just going to let you live? Where did your collective and greedy personality go?" Cale tilted his head to the side as Kelton only grew paler, his eyes blurring as if getting soaked in water.

"Besides," Cale whispered, "I'm not being controlled by anyone."

Unfortunately, Kelton was unable to understand, nor hear the last part of Cale's words. The professor's heartbeat stopped and Cale withdrew his spear.

"There's no turning back now, I need to get out as soon as possible" Originally, Cale wanted to wait until tomorrow and act only then, but after seeing such a chance, he couldn't help it. Besides, Cale felt at least somewhat constrained by the sudden increase in his power.

"It's a pity Kelton didn't say anything about the research, but at least I have this" Cale took out a notebook from under the table. Formerly, it was hidden under the carpet, but since Kelton didn't know that the skeleton saw his every action, he had no idea that Cale knew about the spot.

"I should also take this" Cale picked up the transparent stone from the floor and threw it into the box along with the notebook. All this research could just be called treasure and it would definitely come in handy later.

Hiss! Hiss!

Suddenly, an ominous sound rang out from behind as Cale subconsciously drew his spear. A strange glowing orb could be seen rising from the guard's body, flickering throughout the room.

"What is that? I've never seen anything like that before..." muttered Cale as hunger rose up within him again. The same feeling of dryness overwhelmed all of his emotions and he reached his hand forward.

To his surprise, the ball of light flew towards Cale until it collided with his finger.

Immediately, an intense pain jostled all of his bones, causing him to fall to the ground without being able to resist.

'Damn it! I was too careless,' Cale cursed inwardly as he clenched his teeth, trying to endure the tremendous pain all over the body. Fortunately, the suffering didn't last long, and after only a few seconds, Cale could be seen casually standing up.

-

[Divine Powers: Not Found!]

[Qi force has been successfully absorbed!]

[Congratulations!]

-

"What just happened...Did I get stronger?" Cale's heartbeat increased with each new thought that crossed his mind, "Did I just absorb someone's Qi..and this screen said divine powers?"

-

[Name: Cale]

[Current Condition: Satisfied]

[Divine Powers: None]

[Qi: Middle-Rank Dispicle]

-

"I broke through an entire rank just by absorbing that orb?" Cale immediately looked at Kelton's body, and he was pleased to see another light beam rising into the air.

"So they appear after someone dies...Does that have anything to do with this screen?" Cale thought before he began to move forward. Even though he didn't really understand what was going on, he knew for sure that these beams of light were basically free power.

Cale clutched the ball of light and prepared to be engulfed by the tremendous pain again. However, he didn't feel anything, causing him to take another look at the light energy.

-

[71 hours and 59 minutes before having an opportunity to absorb again]

-

Another screen popped up right in front of Cale, which he read through carefully. He was rather disappointed with the contents, but it actually wasn't as bad as it seemed. An ability to absorb someone's power once in three days should already be considered absurd.

"This power...how did I get something like this?" Cale asked himself slightly confused. However, after only a few seconds, his mind turned sharp.

Cale clasped his hand and warbled, "With this power, I will definitely have my revenge on Lulah Kingdom....No, I should strive for something greater....With this power, I will rid this world of all the filth and create a new world."