"So, I have a question for you, Marvens," asked Kayne. "Are you able to switch bodies with your Spirit?"
"Uh, I'm not really sure, to be honest. The only times I've talked to him were when I was unconscious," I replied, scratching my head.
"Hmm," he said.
"I think I've figured something out. In fact, when you pass out and come into contact with your Spirit, your features begin to fade. That means if you faint and ask him to take control, he might be able to," said Komi.
"This Spirit inside you... does it have half-Spirit traits?" asked Kayne.
"No, it looks like me, just without any traits," I told him.
"Hmm... that means the Spirit inside you is you," said Kayne.
"Wait, I don't really get it," I said.
"Tell me, what happened right before Komi's death and after?" Kayne asked.
"Well, she and I went to a restaurant after school. Not long after, someone walked in and started shooting everywhere. Katia got hit and died. After that, I lost control of myself, and when I came to, I had this appearance."
"So, you didn't look like this before?" asked Kayne, his face full of confusion.
"Exactly," I said, a bit worried.
"I think I have an idea, but to confirm it, I'll need to talk to your Spirit," he said, stepping toward me.
"Alright..."
I saw myself fall. I guess he knocked me out.
I found myself in that same dark place again, without any light.
...
"What do you want this time?" said the Spirit, who shared my name. This time, I only heard his voice—I couldn't see him.
"I'd like you to take control of my body for a bit," I shouted, unsure whether he was close or far away.
"No need to yell, I'm right here. I just wanted to mess with you," he said, stepping out of a dark corner and covering his ears.
"Sorry! I didn't know..." I said out loud.
"I just told you to lower your voice!" he yelled. "Anyway, how long do you want me to control your body?"
"Before I give you a time, I have a question for you," I told him.
"I'm listening," he said impatiently.
"Will I be able to see and hear what you do during that time?" I asked.
"Normally, yes—at least, based on my experience," he replied.
"Alright then. You get twenty minutes—no more, no less."
"Fine. Now let me take control."
He extended his hand like he wanted a handshake. I shook it, realizing this was how he'd take control of my body.
At first, I thought it hadn't worked—I could still see and hear everything just fine. But when I realized I wasn't in control of my body anymore, I knew it had worked.
I woke up in the training room where we had fought Kayne.
"Well, you're finally awake," said the Spirit.
I figured my half-Spirit traits must have disappeared—he must've noticed something was off. The Spirit scanned the room, and once he spotted Kayne, he said:
"You're the one who asked him to call me out, aren't you?"
"You're pretty sharp for a Spirit," said Kayne.
"So, what do you want from me?" asked the Spirit.
"I'd like you to tell me what you know," Kayne replied.
"I know everything. Because I'm from the third generation," said the Spirit.
"The third?" Kayne asked.
"You should know that heroes reincarnate after each death. And each time, they meet again and try to defeat the King—Glucux."
Heroes? Heroes of what, I wondered.
"Ah, that's interesting. So there are three of you in his body?" asked Kayne.
"No. Normally, we reincarnate without remembering our past lives. But for some unknown reason, my consciousness became that of a Spirit, and I ended up inside this era's Marvens," he answered.
"I see now," said Kayne.
"Wow... So you were around during the Middle Ages?" Kayne said, half-joking, half-shocked.
"Use your brain," the Spirit snapped, annoyed.
"What I do know is that something went wrong during this reincarnation. And what I think it means... is that this is the last era," he said seriously.
"So that means they'll win, right?" Kayne asked.
"I'd like to say yes—but that would be a lie. Nothing guarantees they'll defeat him. But the same goes the other way around."
"Hmm, I see. So I guess you're relying on me to train them, right?" asked Kayne.
"You're very perceptive—for a human," said the Spirit, mimicking Kayne's earlier remark.
"Still, I can't promise anything. Even though I'm in Class S, I've never seen the King of Spirits in any of my missions."
The King of Spirits? I wondered.
"That's okay. But try to increase the number of participants in training. Make sure they have a wide variety of abilities so that Marvens can learn to control as many powers as possible and counter as many as possible—because their king has the same power as the Marvens you know, except he can control every psychic ability perfectly."
"Alright. I promise. But I'd like to have a fight with you—just to see what you're capable of," said Kayne as he got up and stretched.
"Very well. But we only have two minutes left before Marvens takes back control," said the Spirit.
"Don't worry. Time isn't a problem," Kayne said with a mischievous smile.
They both took a combat stance. 30 seconds left.
From what I could see, Kayne seemed to be trying to activate his power, but judging by the look on his face, he couldn't. 10 seconds left.
"Why can't I activate it?" he asked.
"Because I'm preventing you," said the Spirit. 5 seconds left.
Then the Spirit moved so fast behind Kayne that I thought he teleported. 3 seconds left.
"Well, I guess I win," he said, landing a powerful punch to Kayne's stomach—just like the one he had given me. 1 second left.
"Kayne, are you okay?" I asked.
"Don't worry about me. But I can feel that everything is going to start moving a lot faster now," he said, looking up at the ceiling with a big smile, like he was lost in thought.