Waiting for a long time? Maybe his sense of time is off. Half an hour hasn’t even passed since Leon called him. But wow, this room is huge! The equipments look so advanced. I wonder how much does all this cost? They sure are filthy rich, I wish I also am.

“Amazed? This lab is my pride and joy! I spent my half my life in this room you see”

Drake told me with confidence. Of course I’ll be amazed. I do not think I would be able to make a place as great as this even though I work my ass off my whole life. Wait a minute… Drake and Phoena, I think I hear that name before.

“Wait, are you the Student council president?”

“Yes, yes I am and Phoena here is the Vice President you see”

He is a student? I thought he is a working man already. So the genius Student Council President who rarely goes to school and just let others do all his work is that idiot’s brother? And the punk looking girl is the one who does all the council work quite efficiently. So these are really wonderful people after all. I need to get to their good side immediately.

“So what do you do around here?”

` “Experiments, Specter related”

Phoena replied coldly, she is really scary. I avoid my eyes since it is quite scary to make eye contact with her.

“I see, so do you have breakthroughs that you can share with me?”

“Direct to the point eh? It takes courage to do that you see. Okay then follow me”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

I followed Drake deeper inside the lab. I looked to the left and I see test tubes and chemicals. I look to the right and there are weird machines.

“You see those? You can pick as many as you want. Even if you have spectral powers, there are also times when you won’t be able to transform, you see.”

I see lots of weapons in the walls that come in various designs and kinds. There are swords that look like those that I saw in the museum once. There also spears of various lengths but all looks quite sharp. There are also guns, from pistols to machine guns. There are also bows, axes, gauntlets and a lot more.

“Won’t I look like a psychopath if I walked around carrying those?”

“And that exact concern is what this technology I am about to show you is all about.”

Drake then raised his right hand sideward and a dark orb appeared in his hand which is like Leon’s. Then the dark orb became something that looks like a mini black hole. He puts his hand inside and pulls a large scythe from the hole. The hole closed after he pulled the scythe completely.

“These weapons that I have here can be stored in the space that you cannot see, I call them warped spaces. Normal objects that are stored within these spaces are lost when you are going to retrieve them, you see.”

“But I do not have the power to do that though”

“You are greatly mistaken in that, my friend Rei. Every specter has the power to manipulate space to an extent. You saw the place where we fought? We call that a warped field. You can also create one of those quite easily as long as you are in your spectral form but destroying them might be a bit tricky unless you are the creator.”

“My brother is right. The concept is quite similar to a warped field you were just in. To create a warped field, you just have to put your concentrate you see. Imagine the energy going into your hand, control the energy to form an orb and imagine the space you want to create then let go of the orb”

I transformed then I followed Drake instructions. I raised my hand frontwards and concentrated as I close my eyes. The energy then went to my hand. An orb, I imagine an orb forming in my hand. A place, I imagine a place, a place which is quite spacious and dark. I then let go of the orb then opened my eyes.

“Whoa! I did it!”

“Of course you can. But the warped space you can maintain even though you are in human form is quite small you see. And that small space is the one where you can put the weapons I made you see.”

“I see that you can now create a warped field but, why an abandoned warehouse?”

Leon asked. This place is just quite memorable you see. I just want to see if I would lose my cool if I see this place again but I guess not.

“Just a random idea, that’s all.”

I then imitated what Leon did back then after the fight with the bats. The whole place cracked and we are back to the lab. I then reverted to my human form.

“Now try to create a warped space”

I repeated the process again while in human form and a small hole in the air appeared. I put my head inside the hole to see how large it is and it is quite small. Maybe it is about a meter wide.

“Now that you can do it, you can pick as many weapons as you want. I made all of them you see.”

“With my assistance of course.”

Phoena added. Let’s see, I think having three kinds of weapons might be quite good. Having too many might give me a hard time picking the weapon I need during emergencies after all. Since my fighting style can be quite varied like my powers, I should have one that I can use at a range, one with quite some power and one with some speed. Let’s see, what should I choose… It is quite hard to decide with this many choices…

“Having a hard time? I suggest you pick the shield there. Not because I made it but surviving should be the main objective.”

Phoena suggested. Now that she mentioned it, there is only one shield among the bunch of weapons. It is a small round shield with a gem at the center. She is also quite right on that note, maybe having a shield instead of a powerful weapon would be better. I grabbed it and put it inside the space I made.

“Thanks for the suggestion Phoena”

Phoena nodded. I guess she is not as scary as I thought. What else should I choose, I need two more. I think a sword is good for beginners so maybe I should just take the black bladed one handed sword since it looks cool. I then grabbed it and also stored it into the space.

“Good choice Rei! That was the design of the God of creation after all”

So the look was Leon’s idea. That might be the reason why it looks fantasy like. Third weapon, I need one for long range battles. I think a bow will be a little too much for me since it needs some training. Throwing weapons do not cover much range so I have no choice but to pick a gun. I grabbed an all white pistol and inspected it closely.

“That pistol is my latest creation, you see. It does not need any bullets, but it sucks a bit of energy from the user for each shot. Even though it is resources friendly, it still packs a lot of firepower, you see.”

That is definitely neat. A gun that does not use bullets will be very useful. I wish shooting games have this kind of gun. Since Drake’s description of the weapon is good, I then put it in the space and then closed it space.

“I know that you won’t help me like this just because I am Leon’s friend. So what do you want with me?”

“You’re quite sharp, I like that”

“Oh? You like him Phoena? Maybe you should ask him on a da-“

Before Leon was finished talking, Phoena gave him a kick to the face which sent him flying. She is quite strong… and scary. I really should not make her angry.

“I’ll say it simply. You see, all we want is to be of assistance to you”

“As if I would believe that kind of lie.”

I did say that but I honestly don’t think he is lying.

“I am telling the truth, you see. In short, we will help you get the title, my king.”

Drake told me with a straight face as he bowed, and the other two followed.

“Sorry for ruining your expectations but I am not a king candidate.”

“Hey Rei, you don’t have to lie you know”

“But I’m not lying, Leon. I do not have the mark that indicates I’m a candidate.

“Then why don’t you take your shirt off!”

“Sure, if that’s the only way for you to believe me.”

I then took my shirt off as Leon suggested.

“See? None in my arms, none in my chest, you can even look in my arm pit if you want.”

“But you have one right here”

Phoena said as he was pointing on my back.

“Come on, you’re only saying that because I can’t see my back.

“I’m not joking, look at the mirror.”

What’s that? There is a strange tattoo on my back that I never saw before. Is this the mark of a candidate? Must have appeared when my powers awakened. You might think it is just a normal tattoo at a glance, but upon looking at it for a little longer, I sense some power. I guess that is how you can tell if it’s a fake if someone had a tattoo just like it.

“So what if I am one? What would you get if serve under me then?”

“Even though we are not serving anyone at the moment, there are still a lot who want to steal our technology and our powers, you see. So being under a candidate like you would protect us. It’s a win-win situation, you see.”

“Then why don’t you serve another king then? With all those weapons, you can join anyone quite easily.”

“Then maybe I’ll just say it, your father had saved our family a big time once. I do not want to go to into detail about the incident you see. We said we wanted to repay him and all he said is that we should offer all the assistance we can offer to his son who is supposed to be a candidate if his powers set in.”

“As if I’ll believe that”

“As long as a rat breathes, there is a cat that will be after it. Your father told me to tell you that, do you believe me now?”

How come Drake knows of the password my dad created when I was a child before he disappears?

“I see you are telling the truth, but you could just pretend you are not able to locate me you know.”

“I’m afraid I would not be able to face my father in heaven if I did that. I promised him after all, I also made the promise to your dad.”

“Okay, I believe you but would you allow me to think this over first?”

“Sure, you can think as long as you like.”

“Thanks for being considerate. I will be going now then. I’ll just contact Leon if I ever make up my mind.”

“Okay, be sure to be careful out there Rei! Just remember that you can always call for the help of the God of assistance and support!”

He never forgets to spout nonsense even after the last second. Phoena then escorted me to the door and then I went straight home. At least I feel a bit safer walking the streets now knowing I have more cards within my sleeves.