PROSPECT SPECIMEN

"You all keep telling me about being a dead person and like it was some kind of big deal, yet when I ask you to elaborate, you arrive telling me a more terrifying revelation that it was almost pretty hard for me to believe." Arex soon replied, with a tinge of sarcasm. "Tell me, aren't you all tired of telling me lies?"

There was a brief pause between Leomold and Arex before the latter could reply. ""What gains do I even get by lying to you, human? Or, let's say, even as aberrant as you are, I don't see any profit in deceiving you. Truth be told, I am not even obligated to heal you, but I know the high lord would be furious if I didn't take the initiative."

"You all keep talking about this high lord as if he were some sort of royal figure to everyone. I also heard Merfestina calling him with such admiration. Who is he truly to all of you? Is he the one in charge here? you leader perhaps?"

"Leader?" Leomold echoed a term from Arex's questions as if it was what caught his interest. Standing tall before Arex, his eyes tinged with purple gleamed with pride, clearly expressing Leomold's emotions. "He's more than just a leader."

Leomold proceeded past Arex to make his way towards a door leading out of the onsen area. It appears to be a laboratory that has a lot of herbal medicines inside being formulated by Leomold, himself.

"Kindly follow with me, mortal." Leomold offered Arex an invitation and instructed him to accompany him into the adjacent room.

Out of curiosity, Arex ventured inside and discovered how spacious the laboratory was. There were numerous shelves filled with various jars holding liquid herbal medicines.

Arex attention was also drawn to the side as he noticed a cozy nook dedicated to growing indoor healing plants.

His eyes was still wandering around when suddenly, he was particularly intrigued by the oil canvas portrait depicting a group photo of the seven lords and their high lord seated at the center that was hanged on the wall.

From Arex's perspective, they almost look like normal human beings. However, given his experience from Roxina until he encountered Halze, Arex found it hard to convince himself that they were really not normal humans at all.

"Those were the days when officially formed the black parade all through the effort of the high Lord Grecko. He was the one who carefully selected each of us in that picture to become the members of the black parade."

"I remember Roxina mentioning something about a black parade once. What is it?" Arex couldn't resist inquiring.

"The Black Parade serves as the supreme governing body of Necropolis, a dimension acting as a mediator between the mortal world and the spirit realm. We, the seven lords, originated from the distinct regions of the spiritual realm. Everyone referred us as Shikaris, or much more commonly know as spirit hunters or grim reapers. We're tasked with preserving the equilibrium between the spirit world and the human world by managing the flow of souls between them. That is until the Jinnxes appeared." Leomold eloquently responded, his chin raised slightly as he gazed at the painting on the cream wall.

Arex became intrigued after listening to the detailed description from Leomold. He had been eagerly awaiting a clear explanation for the strange occurrences that had been happening to him recently, and Arex was thrilled to finally learn more about it.

Coming here to Leomold's chambers have been the best thing that happened to him so far, not only that he had not been treated badly by the lord, but he had also been provided with some answers to his query.

At the back of Arex's mind, he was still trying to contemplate whether it was really safe to continue inquiring to Leomold. But since Arex could sense that Leomold was actually very open to entertaining his questions, Arex didn't hold himself back.

"How did these mystical beings even come into existence?" Arex asked, his gaze brimming with curiosity as he glanced towards Leomold.

"There should always be balance in everything, human. Everything in nature always consists of two paradoxical phases or energies, which are opposing and complementing principles. These Jinnx entities co-existed with the good spirits. as I said, there must always be a sense of equilibrium."

Arex was feeling quite puzzled and ended up asking, "But earlier, you made it seem like they only just appeared."

"Actually, it's not just a recent thing," Leomold promptly replied. He proceeded to the opposite end of the laboratory to retrieve several bottles and concoct a cream to aid in Arex's wound recovery.

He then took a seat at a table and gestured for Arex to join him as he carried on with his explanation. Arex quickly followed, as he was still quite intrigued.

"These Jinnxes multiplied quickly as they found a way to enter the human world and realized they could reproduce there. Have you ever considered that a Jinnx could survive by latching onto a person with amplified negative energy? and eventually, they multiply to spread their influence to more humans. Things continued in that manner for more than thousands of years. Eventually, every human now started to possess a Jinnx within them from birth."

Leomold noticed Arex's curiosity and decided to provide him with the information he was seeking.

"You seem quite curious about the Jinnx, don't you?" Leomold abruptly halted to inquire of Arex on this occasion.

Arex, however, couldn't help but feel awkward about the situation. It made him quickly avert his gaze as if he was rejecting Leomold's statement.

"I was just curious because everyone keeps calling me an abberant Jinnx. It's unsettling to consider myself as a malevolent being." Arex stated nonetheless.

All of a sudden, Leomold had a brilliant idea to inquire from Arex. He considered it a potentially good concept, as long as Arex agreed to go along with him. Leomold leaned in closer to the table, resting on his two forehands, before proposing, "What if I share more information about these JInnxes, and in return, you assist me with my studies on Jinnx?" Leolmold's gaze sparkled with anticipation, hoping that Arex would see things his way.

Meanwhile, Arex suddenly flinched hearing that from Leomold so suddenly. He couldn't help but think about Leomold's favor since he wasn't even sure whether it was even safe to trust Leomold about his proposal, knowing that it would involve Arex being the specimen of Leomold's studies.