"Do it. Make me your servant," Ghost Corvus said at last, his voice determined as he looked at Corvus.
Corvus smiled at him. "You made the right choice."
He raised his hand.
Corvus pointed at the ghost Corvus, and in front of his palm a small black magic circle appeared. From it, many black chains shot out toward Corvus. They wrapped around him, causing Ghost Corvus to flinch.
"Don't resist," Corvus said, seeing Ghost Corvus uncomfortable. "If you do, the process becomes… painful."
Ghost Corvus flinched but stayed still, gritting his teeth as the chains latched onto him. Slowly, the magic circle pulsed, and then the bound ghost was pulled inside the magic circle.
With one final pulse, he vanished.
"It's done," Corvus smiled. "I do have your memories, but I'd rather live freely, leaving your family in your own hands," he mumbled, and then looked at Ghost Corvus's information.
[Ghost Subjugated Successfully]
Name: Corvus Neil
Rank: Tier 0
Talent: Ghost Lord
Description: The soul of a once-talented young noble whose talent was sealed, dooming him to the fate of never awakening his Mystic rune ever and later he died due to excessive energy his body can't handle from injesting a Tier 0 beast core ]
"So… the Ghost Lord talent wasn't mine," Corvus murmured, thoughtfully tapping his chin. "It was his. The original Corvus's power…"
He nodded understanding now why he have two Talents when there was no such case of it in Corvus memories. "One talent from him, one from me. I guess thats why I have two talents."
"But, his talent was sealed, meaning someone never wanted him to awaken" Corvus frowned as he looked at the description of Ghost Corvus.
But before Corvus could finish his thoughts, a radiant glow flared from his Rune suddenly.
The Lords rune on his hand, suddenly turned to Gold before changing back to Prismatic Color one.
"what just happened?" Confused he inspected his Rune.
[You have subdued someone with the same talent as you.]
[Your Talent has elevated in Rank.]
New Talent: Ghost King (Gold Tier)
Derived from one Ghost Lord proving his worth by subduing another ghost lord.
[Ghost King – Gold Rank]
A powerful talent that allows the user to see and interact with souls of those with lingering resentment or unfullfilled desires.
New Sub-Abilities Unlocked:
• Soul Conversion – Consume stored souls to empower your Ghost Soldiers or even help a ghost Soldier evolve to next Rank.
• Spirit Creation – Mix many ghosts to create higher form of the Ghost Soldiers. Elite ghosts, Ghost knights and such. ]
"Oh, it was this," Corvus nodded, as there were many such phenomena in the original Corvus's memories.
If two people with the same talent, or one with a lower-ranked talent of the same category, defeated someone with the same talent of higher rank, his talent would increase in rank.
Like if two Swordmaster talents fought—the winner would rise to another rank of sword grandmaster.
But of course, it wasn't easy. There were many factors like how long one had been awakened, the tiers, and such.
How much power one have gained on its own, thats why it is common yet a rare phenomenon that no one have yet undestood completely.
But in Corvus's case, it made sense that Corvus awakened later than the ghost Corvus. After all, he got it after ghost Corvus died, and later he reborn with this body, causing the subjugation result to instantly upgrade his talent to next rank.
"Not bad."
He looked at his Mystic Rune, and with a thought, it shifted from gold to platinum and then back to prismatic. He could easily control what he wanted to show, so he fixed it at the golden color for now.
Compared to the prismatic and platinum colors, this would attract far less attention.
"Seems like good karma really does exist…" he murmured before focusing on the Origin Corvus.
"I wonder if he knows about the seal on him," Corvus thought as he began to recreate him.
"Ghost Soldier Creation."
A shimmering magic circle formed on the floor in front of him, pulsing with black and gold light. From its center, a humanoid figure began to rise.
It was Corvus—still translucent white, but now with legs instead of the smoky lower half he had earlier, like a genie. His form was no longer see-through; he looked far more solid.
When he fully emerged, he opened his eyes, blinked, and touched himself. He picked up a nearby vase, surprised to find he could hold it. Looking at Corvus, he breathed out:
"…So you weren't lying," Ghost Corvus said, his voice tinged with disbelief.
Corvus simply shrugged. "Why would I lie?"
Ghost Corvus stepped closer to the body that was once his. He hesitated, raising a hand and hovering it over the chest.
"…Is it safe to touch my own body like this?"
"You tell me."
He lowered his hand and placed it on his former body chest. "It's weird," he said, pulling his hand back. "Never thought touching my own chest would feel this strange… or that I'd ever touch it like that."
"Thank you… for giving me this second chance," he said sincerely before kneeling. "I can't thank you enough for this."
Corvus raised an eyebrow at the gesture. "Why the sudden humility?"
Ghost Corvus looked up at him, eyes sincere. "Because I understand now. The moment I became a Ghost Soldier… the Ghost Lord talent awakened in me. And now it's my talent as well. So I understand now—you truly gave me the choice to live again."
He looked at him. "You could have simply ignored me, but you didn't. For that I will always be in your debt." he said.
Corvus nodded.
Ghost Corvus continued, steady but solemn. "So from now on, as long as you never harm my sister… I swear my loyalty to you."
Corvus let out a short laugh. "You do realize I could harm her, and you wouldn't be able to stop me?"
Ghost Corvus looked straight into his eyes. "You won't."
There was no fear. Just quiet certainty.
Corvus blinked, then chuckled again. "You're oddly trusting of the guy who took over your body."
Ghost Corvus smiled faintly. "Think of it as my lintuition. And besides… what choice do I really have?"
Corvus nodded. "Fair point."
Ghost Corvus gave a bitter, almost amused smile. "So… tell me. What new powers did you get?"
Corvus sat back on the bed. "I could just check with the Mystic Rune… but let's hear it from you first."
The Mystic Rune wasn't just a key to the Mystic Realm—it also had an Appraisal function and a small storage space, both of which grew stronger as the Awakener grew stronger.
"Everything's the same," Ghost Corvus began, "except now my race is Wraith, which gives me two new racial traits. One is Spiritual Form—with it, I can pass through solid objects as long as there's no magic on them."
"The other gives me the ability to turn invisible," he said, and Corvus nodded.
"Useful new abilities," Corvus said.
Ghost Corvus nodded in agreement.
Corvus then looked at Ghost Corvus as he said " Now, tell me everything about being a Lord"
Ghost Corvus raised an eyebrow at the unexpected question. "Weren't you a Lord too? Why are you asking me when you should already know this?"
Corvus paused, as he said with a bitter smile.
"…I don't have my memories. That's why."
"Huh?" Ghost Corvus blinked, confused by the sudden revelation.
Corvus let out a tired sigh, as he said. "Do you think it's easy to live after dying?"
He looked up, looking at him.
"Look at yourself—You are livig again but as a ghost now, And I was reborn, yeah… but that's all. I have no memories of who I was before. The Rebirth Talent might've brought me back, but it wasn't strong enough to preserve my past."
"I just remeber the basics and important things like my name and talent and such."