Chapter 6 - the voice

"Who are you!?" Ryan yelled while he got into a fighting position.

'calm your self child' the voice spoke. It was clearly a man's voice. It was a deep voice with a hint of gloom in it. 'Use your head. there is no one here, so think about how I could talk to you'

Ryan paused for a moment, then took a deep breath. "you're in my head" he spoke with certainty and a little anger. "why are you in my head?"

'You lusted for my power, I am the consequence' the voice spoke again, not with anger but more so apathy. It was like he didn't care for the world around him.

"Your power?"

'yes. Or did you think there would be no consequence of stealing my bloodline from my corpse?' the voice now had a slight hint of mockery in his voice yet still it was very monotone.

"well, I didn't really know what I was doing?"

'ignorance is not an excuse for your actions. now we are connected and you will help me, or bear the consequences' he threatened.

"and what would those consequences be?" Ryan spoke with anger in his tone. This stranger had let himself in his head and now he was threatening him?

'I will use my superior soul to squash yours, leaving you a vegetable for the rest of your life' the voice seemed to not care for what he was saying. like he was just talking about the weather in passing. Yet the words chilled one to the bone.

"..."

'...'

"... fuck you"

'that's fair, doesn't change your situation, but fair.' he sounded kinda smug as he said this.

Sigh "well what do you want," Ryan said with defeat in his voice. it's not like he could do anything, he doesn't even know how this voice got into his head. he has no doubt that a soul that could persist in its body after death was stronger than his.

'swear on your true dao that you will help me get a new body when you're strong enough' he spoke with a serious tone that carried a sense of reverence when he spoke.

Ryan went quiet. he sat against the wall and thought of what he was getting into.

[I don't know what a true dao but from his tone, it sounds dangerous. I need more information]

"what is a true dao," He asked with reluctance. he did not want this stranger to know of his ignorance.

'something you are too young and weak to know of, just know that even I would not break a vow sworn upon it' he spoke with caution and what seemed like honesty, but Ryan did not know whether to trust him or not.

After more time passed, Ryan asked "what would I have to do to transfer you into a new body?" he spoke with trepidation in his voice.

'the process is not "evil" that I can assure you, just very difficult and take some rare treasures, but no human sacrifice or other demonic practices.' he spoke with condensation in his voice, like it was a stupid question.

Ryan chose to ignore the tone of that statement and just move on. He took a deep breath and said " ill take the oath if you swear that you won't harm me or my loved ones, as well as helping me grow."

'Hmm alright... I swear upon my true dao that I will not harm my host nor those he loves, and will help my host grow stronger till I enter my own body.' as the voice finished there was a crushing weight that came across the area. it seemed to focus on Ryan then went into his head, supposedly where the voice was.

Ryan Took a deep breath and said "I swear on my true dao to help the voice in my get a new body" Ryan braced himself, but was not prepared to feel something from deep in his soul come out into the world. To the outside world, it seemed as if the force that came out would devour everything it could. To Ryan, it was as if he was turned inside out and his soul bared to the world. then he was corrected as his body was righted. but it felt like there was a new weight in his body.

"That was... Unpleasant." Ryan said slowly.

'indeed. I... never knew it was so unpleasant' the voice said with the most emotion he had all night.

"wait that means you've never done this before! then how did you know it was safe!" Ryan yelled. he had just been through the most unsettling experience of his life and this stupid cat wasn't sure it would work!

'Calm down. I've seen it done before and it never killed anyone... well anyone honest' the voice spoke confidently but faltered a little at the end.

"what would have happened if it would be done dishonestly," Ryan spoke slowly anger in his voice.

'simple, we would have died, our souls crushed by the heavens' he said like it was no big deal in the first place.

"What! and you didn't think this was information worth sharing!?" Ryan screamed

'no, because I have no use for you if your dishonest' he said with a grave tone.

"... I hate you"

'alright'

silence descended. Ryan did not want to say anymore and honestly needed a moment to think things through. He sat down and got into a lotus position to start meditating. He focused on his breathes and slowly let himself think over the changes in his life.

after about 10 minutes to calm down and think he spoke to the voice.

"what's your name"

'... call me noir' he said after a moment of contemplation.

"sigh... fine. The next question would be what are you and what has happened to me?" he asked tiredly.

'well, luckily those two questions fit together' noir said. then he took a moment before starting to speak in a scholarly voice. 'I am a magic beast that ascended to be an immortal. For certain reasons I was going to remain as a mortal king for a while, but I was betrayed and ended up here.' he tried to sound nonchalant but there was a hint of pain in his tone. the fact that he rushed through his stories betrayed his thought process.

"right... well, let's move on" Ryan said with heavy sarcasm.

'right' noir somehow managed to make it feel like he glared at Ryan even though he was just a voice. 'so you decide that you wanted my power and chose to steal it from me... well done' another glare. 'so that means that you have my bloodline now, that of the moonlit lion. Moonlit Lions are powerful creatures with a strong affinity to the moon. What this means for you is that your body is naturally as strong as body cultivators and can still be strengthened further, a strong affinity to the moon, and 2 ability later on.' they carried on getting lost in stories of the Moonlit Lions for quite a while. till after a while, the exhaustion of the day caught up to Ryan and he went to sleep.