(Chapter unfolds:18" key of mystery ")
Separating from Izuma, Sai walked towards the foothills in a rage. He was still convinced that Izuma had deliberately pushed him down that time, and now he had been called a 'scaredy-cat.' His goal was to somehow find Ray before Izuma did, destroy him, and thereby prove to Izuma that he was the stronger one.
"His lecture! Ray's power! I can defeat all of them." Sai muttered angrily to himself.
He finally reached the base of the large, dark mountain, the other beginning of the foothills. Just looking at the mountain from the outside was terrifying.
It was a mountain that seemed even the light was afraid to enter.
"Uff... I doubt if there is just one zek inside this," Sai muttered, staring at the mountain.
"No matter... Hunting a whole group instead of just one, that would be awesome!" He entered the mountain's depths.
As he moved past the valley and went deeper inside, the light continued to dim.
He didn't even remember if the path he chose was right or wrong. All that mattered was showing Izuma that he was the more powerful one.
Walking for a long distance, he entered the darkness within the forest.
"Hey..... Zek hiding inside..... Come out gracefully, or else you will have to answer to my sword!" Sai shouted loudly, trying to provoke the hidden zek to come out.
"Ray.... you powerful zek.... come out! Let's see who is stronger..." Sai was yelling, but there was no one there.
He continued walking forward.
Suddenly.....
He stumbled and fell.
"Aahhh..."
It was his previously injured leg that hit something.
"Aahhh.... Cursed stone!" Sai screamed in pain, lying on the ground.
After lying there for a while, he slowly got up and sat down at the base of a tree.
"Ah... this..." The injury was aggravated by the sprain.
"One injury after another," he muttered.
Time was running late. Sai was alone in the forest, unable to even walk properly.
**
In another part of the forest, Ray was sitting inside a cave. Having realized his power, he was now a slave to it. He was waiting for Shapta's next instruction.
However, something else was stirring in Ray's mind. He took out a small necklace from his pocket and looked at it. It belonged to his mother. Seeing it brought back a rush of memories to Ray's mind.
Ray's childhood was not pleasant. He loved to draw pictures, but his father, the farmer, was a greedy man. Even though he had enough savings, all he desired was more wealth. His father would secretly sell the pictures Ray drew with passion to anyone.
His father exploited Ray's talent. Driven by the desires of various people, he would force Ray to draw nude pictures and sell them to those who requested them, thus making money. Ray often refused.
"I can't draw this. I can't degrade talent in such a way," Ray would protest.
"You must do as I say. You have no other choice, Ray. You are just my slave," his father would insist.
When Ray refused, his father would get angry and physically abuse him.
Ray's mother was on his father's side; she too was greedy. The woman never even saw him as her own son.
One day, Ray left the house, intending to end it all and die, hoping to stop the torment.
However, where Ray stood, ready to die, he encountered none other than Shapta himself.
"Who... are you?" Ray asked.
"I am you, Ray..."
"Me?" Ray asked fearfully.
"Yes. But with a difference."
"What difference?"
"I am not the Ray who runs away, fearing everyone like you. Instead, I opened my own paths."
It was there, that day, that a new path opened up for Ray.
Ray startled awake from his thoughts.
The words of Shapta, whom he had accepted as his Master, resonated in his mind. Beyond feeling betrayed, he remembered that he was a key, and that his suffering was meant to fulfill a greater purpose. When the shadow figure revealed the truth, the blue flame in Ray's eyes intensified, but it was not one of resistance; it was one of acceptance.