31. Tracking necro-bonds

“He’s in there.”

Ray’s statement showed no doubt. Zeeta glanced at the Lord Necromancer’s son. Just in a few hours, Ray had been able to skim a voluminous book and learned how to track his necro-bond in a more effective way. It was impressive. They went to Akiba, and as Ray stated that Armen had gone to the Independent Hero Association, Zeeta went to check and entered the building asking if they had seen a blond-haired student; he met a calm receptionist and a gorgeous merfolk, somehow registered for the EPHT thanks to an unexpected vacancy, then kept wandering with Ray around Akiba until they stopped in front of an elevator that led to the underwater Venice District.

Zeeta had never been to Venice. He didn’t like much the idea of being underwater, even if the buildings were coated and didn’t let the water through.

Still, the building they had entered through the elevator wasn’t that different from a normal building. Though he didn’t expect it to be a casino. It was full of people. That place… He had a really bad feeling about it.

“You two,” a hoarse voice suddenly said. “Underage kids are not allowed.”

Crap, a guard? As Ray was opening his mouth, trying to say something, Zeeta took care of the situation, taking out his ID card.

“That’s mean, man. We’re eighteen. By the way,” he added casually throwing an arm on Ray’s shoulders, “it’s his first time going to that kind of place, so he’s kinda nervous. Where’s the bar?”

“Mmpf. Over there.” The corpulent guard indicated a direction. “But remember this place is to gamble and make money, not a place to get drunk. If you make a ruckus, I’ll throw you out.”

“’Kay!”

Whew. Zeeta looked at Ray as they were roaming between the tables and the gamblers.

“All clear. Where is he?”

A group of gamblers was passing by. Ray’s eyes weren’t looking forward, and Zeeta pulled him out of the way.

“Watch out. So?”

Ray was concentrating. Then he started to walk in a direction. They came across a wall. Zeeta frowned doubtfully.

“Behind this wall?”

“Yes.”

The way Ray stared at it, he almost looked like he was ready to smash it down. Let’s see… Was there a door somewhere near? As he scanned the place, Zeeta caught glimpse of a familiar face and jerked up, astonished.

“Snake?”

A punk-fashioned man with unkempt, black hair turned around and widened his eyes as if he had seen a ghost.

“Zeeta?!”

“Whatcha doin’ here?”

“That’s my line! Holy Goddy Crystals! You’re alive, you jerk! Hahaha!”

They shook hands with energy. Honestly, out of all the Cheetahs, Snake had always been the most untrustworthy. Zeeta knew it well because he had spied on him: Snake was actually a spy from the Coven, and worked for the VP. When Zeeta had told that to Ginger, the Cheetahs’ boss was surprised, but decided to do nothing. ‘Snake has a large family: he needs that money,’ he had said. Zeeta had then stopped stalking him, but now that the Cheetahs had disappeared, he couldn’t help but remember and think that Snake probably knew the Tiger Clan was going to be wiped out, he probably knew the Cheetahs were going to be dragged into a crazy mess, but he had kept silent… That bastard.

Zeeta squeezed Snake’s hand tightly.

“Ah, haha… You’ve got a good grip,” Snake chuckled. “Tell me. How’s everything? Is everyone doing well? After what happened, I have had no news of you or any of the Cheetahs. Well, I know that Ginger went to his hometown, and Rock-Beard told me he has found a job.”

“I’m doing fine, as you can see. Working for the DA like you.”

Snake blinked, then winced.

“You knew.”

“I’ve got a good hearing, you know. Tell me, how does it feel like to work for two bosses at the same time?”

“Well… I’ve never done anything against you guys. I was just sending information.”

Zeeta stared at him, then smiled.

“Let bygones be bygones. So, now you’re gambling in a casino?”

“Do I look stupid enough to gamble? I’m working here!” He grinned. Whoa, he even had a golden tooth now. Was he rich?

“Oho. That’s great. I’ll forget what you did back then if you do me a favor.”

Snake frowned.

“A favor?”

“Do you know how to get to the room that’s on the other side of this wall? My companion and I are looking for someone. More specifically, for the Straw Head.”

Snake went pale.

“The St-t-traw Head you said?”

Zeeta scowled at him. So he knew something. That was surprising.

“Help us out or I’ll make sure to tell your boss you were selling information about the Coven to the UL. Deal?”

“How do you…?” Snake hissed. “And you were just a stray dog when Ginger and I picked you up from the streets… Damn you, Zeeta.”

“Just you know, I don’t hate you, Snake.”

The punk smirked.

“I don’t hate you either, brat.”

* * *

The orders kept coming.

“Jump.”

“I won’t.”

“Raise your eyes.”

“Don’t wanna.”

“Be quiet.”

“Heck no.”

“Hohoho!” Kaspar cried out excitedly, holding my hands. “You’ve improved so much in a few hours, Armen!”

“It’s all thanks to you, teacher!” I laughed.

We paused, holding hands, then drew apart, a bit embarrassed, but still excited about the good results.

Somehow, my kidnapping had turned into an amazing lesson. I was having fun. Kaspar was just awesome: thanks to him, I was now able to resist most of his orders. I didn’t really get how he did it exactly, but from what he explained, drowning my core with impossible orders exposed its weaknesses: he had used his device to repeat the process a lot of times, and as a result my willpower finally was able to oppose an order. He had “balanced the forces”, from what he said. Well, whatever he did, it worked.

“The deathforce path is carved too,” Kaspar noted. “Now you’re a new kind of undead, a new generation! However, don’t let your guard down. Skilled necromancers could still order you if they touch you, but you should be able to at least fight against it for a moment. Also, it will depend on the kind of order. The ones you’ve fought against the most today will definitely be easier to avoid. Well, well, Kiha, can you copy the results in this flash drive? Oh, and copy it in your laptop too before erasing it from the machine, will you?”

“I’m on it, boss,” the fish-eyed answered calmly.

“That deathforce path… What is it?” I asked as Kaspar helped me take out the costume connected to the device.

“Oh, you know, there are a lot of different ways to use flow control. Even living beings can use it. I’m using it,” he declared with self-satisfaction. “But the path I carved in your body is meant for undead people. You’ll see what it does soon enough. Now, the only thing you have to do is eat well and keep making the energy flow. Your core will normally do the work itself, as it already knows the path. Just so you know, it took around one million iterations to carve this path. With the Lord Necromancer’s technique, you wouldn’t have reached this stage even in a year.”

One… million. Incredible. His machine had forced my body to work that much? No wonder I was hungry. Kaspar yawned.

“I’m beat! We’ve been in here for about twenty hours! I suppose you want to go home, now, but let’s talk a bit before you go. Come with me.”

He led me upstairs to a small, comfy room with a sofa, a buffet, and a bamboo carpet. He gave me my cell back, and I switched it on. Since the phone was quite old, it would take a while for it to boot.

“Where are we?” I asked. I didn’t know, since I had been led all the way to his laboratory with my eyes shut.

“We’re in the Coven’s quarters.” I raised brusquely my head. The Coven? That was one of the four gangs that formed the Dark Alliance. On seeing my face, Kaspar snorted with laughter and threw himself on a sofa, a drink in his hands. “What? You thought I would be from the Necro-Haven? There’s no way I would work for my uncle. Some months ago, I decided to work for the Coven, because they offered me a good place.” He paused. “Are you going to call Ray? He will surely come if you tell him.”

I breathed in and out, then shook my head.

“I won’t call him.”

“Oh? Why? I want to see him, though.”

“Then go to his house, but don’t make him come to a place like that. Ray doesn’t want to have anything to do with the Underworld.”

Kaspar’s smile faded.

“Mm. You may be right. Plus, you two have a grudge against the Coven, right?”

I blinked.

“Why would we?”

Kaspar stared at me, then rolled his eyes, and emptied his glass in one gulp.

“Forget it. About what happened, don’t say anything yet to Ray. I’ll try to talk to him when I see him. Knowing my cousin, if I don’t make things clear, he will surely get mad at me and think I kidnapped you or something.”

“You did kidnap me, though?”

“Haha, but wasn’t it worth it?”

“Yeah, well, I’m still wondering. Why does the Lord not use that machine if it’s so good?”

Kaspar chuckled.

“You’re asking me if there’s a catch, huh? I’ve told you that old man is a retro. Well, so are all those guys in the Necro-Haven. They think necromancy is a secret and mysterious art you have to learn painstakingly. My family always thought Ray was a genius, and they tried hard to win him over to their side. That’s why he told them to get lost several times, until he definitely decided to break all ties when he was fourteen. You were with him at that time.”

“… Well. I was. But I had no idea you were all necromancers.”

“Heh… Of course you didn’t.” He poured himself another drink. “Ray kind of inspired me. When I was twenty, I was but a greenhorn who couldn’t even dare tell my frightening parents to get lost. I just ran away from them and traveled the world to see what true freedom felt like.” He smiled. “Freedom feels great.”

I saw him drink up the white liquid, then said:

“No wonder your hair turned white if you keep drinking white liquors.”

Kaspar raised an eyebrow.

“It’s milk.”

The hell? He drank milk in a wineglass? He was so stylish. I smiled. Kaspar cleared his throat and said:

“You know, Armen, the Necro-Haven is a bunch of reactionaries. They’re against electronic necromancy. It makes me think of when the working class started the Crystal Wars against the use of Crystal energy after the Big Blend. You learned that at school, right?”

“I guess so? But it was back in middle school.”

“Machine-haters, Crystal-haters, they’re all the same: they hate every technology that makes things easier. Isn’t that absurd?”

There was a silence.

“I get your point,” I said. “But I get theirs too. After all, it’s like climbing a mountain on foot or by cable car. Can’t say which is better.”

Kaspar gazed at me with surprise. I added:

“But, in my case, I’d rather take the cable car for now.”

“…” The necromancer snorted with laughter. “I’m glad I wasn’t mistaken about you. Now that necromancers won’t be able to order you around that easily, I’ll be counting on you to take care of Ray.”

I smiled.

“Of course.”

Still, did Kaspar really just want to help his cousin and show off his new technology? Or could there be more to it? Well… I didn’t care, as long as Kaspar’s affection for Ray was genuine, and it seemed so to me.

Hearing footsteps, I turned around and saw Kiha appear from the secret passage and lock it up behind him.

“All done.”

“Thanks, Kiha. As for you, Armen… Thank you for your patience and your understanding. I’ll try to forget all the insults you threw at me.”

“No, bro, thank you for your teachings. I’ll try to forget all the stupid orders you gave me.”

Kaspar put down his glass with a chortle, then led me to an empty corridor and stopped before an elevator.

“Kiha, lead him out. Armen, call me if you have trouble with your flow control. I’ll check on you soon. Take care, little towhead.”

He was speaking to me like we were good acquaintances. Well, we did spend almost a whole day together. I smiled. What a weird necromancer.

* * *

About twenty minutes later, Kaspar was informed that two youngsters were looking for him, more specifically his dear cousin accompanied by a certain Zeeta O’Bell working for the Beholder. He ordered the latter out without even summoning him and received the former in the same room with the sofa and the buffet.

Ray was now as tall as him. Also, the gleam in his sleep-deprived eyes told him right away he had grown a lot those past three years.

“Long time no see, Ray.”

“Kaspar?!” his young cousin gasped. His eyes glared at him. “What did you do to Armen? Where is he?”

Oh, my, he was already mad at him? Kaspar handed him a glass of milk.

“Let’s talk.”