17 Raya.

Edwin awoke while the cart was still moving. The Plant was in sight, and so was proper medical treatment. The wound was still hurting, and Edwin had used up all his treatment options with Mark. Waiting to arrive was the only thing he could do. That was if he didn't consider his new eye.

Looking at the back of his hand he could see the faint pattern. He wondered if he could move it away from it, since it would arouse suspicion. That train of thought was interrupted by a foreign voice in his mind.

-'Yes it can be moved, it's just that I'm too weak right now.' The tiny voice explained. Edwin was greatly surprised. He knew that Hundred Eyes referred to it as servant, but he never expected it to be a literal servant. (A/N, I'm going to use -' for telepathy, and ' for thoughts.)

Edwin instinctively knew how to talk back to the mysterious tattoo, and decided to do so.

-'How can I help you become stronger then?' He asked.

-'I'm a spirit attached to your soul right now, my original master attached me by using mysterious arts.'

-'Just like you humans, I need soul-essence to improve my power. You humans use silver and adamantium right?'

-'To advance I need roughly ten rank I souls.'

-'Here, this should be convenient.' The tiny voice said, as a small number appeared in Edwin's vision.

___

0/10

___

The number was displayed in the standard human alphabet and didn't interfere with his vision.

Raya, just like Edwin, knew about humanities only advantage, spirit weapons. They allowed humans to go beyond the 5th rank, and surpass their natural limits. These weapons contained at least 5% silver and 5% adamantium.

The mixture of metals would attract the essence of fallen souls, and absorb their power. These weapons, once they surpassed rank III, would be marred by a long red vein, showing the bloodshed these weapons caused.

At some point these weapons would advance to the 5th rank, and gain consciousness. Little was known about these blade spirits, since only the strongest and most prestigious could advance their weapons to this rank.

The people at the very top of the empire were not very fond of sharing, especially their secrets. The only reason people knew about them was the propaganda spread in the empire.

Mentally returning to the conversation, he started to wonder how Raya knew so much about humanity.

He knew that the being inside of the domain had been there for millennia, and that he was very, very bored. Had he once been part of the empire? Had he once been human?

He decided that there was no point in guessing, and asked the tiny voice inside of his head.

-'Have you always been part of that domain?' Edwin asked.

-'Yes, I was briefed by my former master on the human world though.' The voice said.

-'So he used to be human?' He continued.

-'That is something I don't know. I've always been part of that domain, it was him who entered later on, and became the master of that small domain. He's never been able to leave since.' It answered again.

-'Thank you, uh... what is your name?'

-'My name is Raya, the 100th eye and now an independent spirit.'

-'Oh yeah, about that. How much can he see?'

-'Everything.' Raya answered.

Edwin internally nodded. He then inspected his blade. The huge sword was made of a cheap steel, and easily lost it's edge. The saving grace was that it was also extremely easy to sharpen, and that it would bend, not break.

The root-rat was not much of a challenge, and the blade was still as good as new. The only thing that changed was the crust of blood that now covered the blade.

He took a cloth and started cleaning the blade.

It didn't take long for them to arrive. Christopher was already waiting, sitting on a bench outside of the grinding plant.

Edwin approached him while assisting Mark with his shoulder.

''You two seemed to have underestimated these bastards quite a bit.'' Christopher said with a light laugh. He pulled some healing solutions out of his book, and passed them into Edwin and Mark's hands.

''Take it as a lesson to never underestimate your opponents. Here around the village you can afford to get injured. Things change in expeditions though, simple injuries can mean death if you're out of solutions.'' Christopher lectured.

'''Yes teacher.''' Edwin and Mark said in unison.

''There are more students to take care of. Go back to the village, it's not far from here.'' He said before standing up, bursting away with what felt like supersonic speed.

Mark and Edwin looked at each other, and messaged the other members of their squad. Edwin also contacted Spencer and Allan. They responded quickly, telling the same tale.

The two applied their creams, and almost collapsed. The itching was unbearable and this time accompanied by pain. It felt like they had dipped their legs in acid and countless insects assaulted them.

The pain quickly wore off, and both had relieved expressions on their faces. The injuries were almost gone, and both could walk with ease again.

They went to the main road and walked back to the village. Edwin sent and received some messages along the way, in the end they decided to meet up at their usual cafe. Mark did the same thing, and met up with friends of his own.