KINETIC

Just before entering the Gate, Leo was sitting on the back of the cart as the group made their way through the city. The Gate itself wasn't too far away so it wouldn't take more than 20 minutes to get there.

He was looking through the system, checking the rewards he had received for the quest to save Zoren and the enemies he had defeated.

Overall, he was disappointed with what he received. There was XP rewards for the enemies being defeated and such, but the quest to save the city had an underwhelming reward.

'A few stat points for the woman and... Plus one to all stats for the Re-taking Zoren quest... That's it?' Leo thought.

'Aren't you happy to see your stats increase?'  Dreifus asked.

'Of course I am, it's just... I would think taking back an entire city would qualify for a larger reward.' Leo replied.

'Well, it's not like you did it on your own. It's possible that the reward could have been higher if you did it alone.'

'I guess that would make sense, but still, I took down two Imperiums and they weren't exactly weak.'

'Does it matter how strong they were when you took both of them out relatively easily?'  Dreifus asked.

'So you're saying that although they were strong it wouldn't matter because they were weak to me? If that is the case then it seems we were right when we speculated the rewards system was based on difficulty relative to myself, not difficulty overall.' Leo thought, contemplating the systems criteria.

' It seems to be the way it works, until now we couldn't really confirm it. I think this proves that it really is the way it's decided. I mean, you're growing stronger, so naturally your achiements need to get better as well.' Dreifus explained.

'Yeah, I agree. Maybe I should look for some stronger monsters to kill, they should give me some nice rewards.'

Leo was about to go and check his stats when he realized something. He quickly went back and checked over all the messages he had received that day, confirming his suspicion.

'I didn't get any source material from that woman, the one that was like John.'  Leo thought.

'That's strange, you've always gotten it when killing an Imperium.' Dreifus said.

'Is it because she was created by John... Like how I wouldn't get source material from the beasts Trent creates.'

'Maybe... But I think that's a bit different. The beasts made by Trent are nothing like him so I can understand why you don't get any source material from them.

In that woman's case, she's just like John if you exclude her wings. Unless...'

'You're thinking the same thing as I am, aren't you? It's likely that John isn't an Imperium.' Leo said.

'But how would that even work? He went through the same process as the Imperiums so even if he's classified as something else, wouldn't he still give source material like they would when killed?' Dreifus asked.

'It could be because of what happened on that day. When Rene healed John, she changed the conditions of that ritual.

The Imperium that was there that day said that everyone else who had that happen to them died and that John was lucky he was still alive even though he was different now.'

Before he continued, Leo looked over the quests he had received again. He saw something that he had overlooked initially.

[Defeat the Sanguine Devoran]

' Sanguine Devoran... Definently not an Imperium then. Let's just call them Devoran, I don't want to use the whole thing everytime.' Dreifus said.

' So John became one of these... Devoran... instead of an Imperium, but why? If everyone else who's ritual was changed ended up dying, what makes John any different?

It couldn't be as simple as luck, there has to be something about him that makes it different.' Leo said while going deep into thought.

'Well, he had an ability, there's a good chance that's a first.' Dreifus said.

'Maybe. Trent became an Imperium, not a Devoran, but his ritual was likely conducted the way it was meant to be. If John was the first ability user to be exposed to an altered ritual, then it's possible that's the reason.' Leo said.

'To figure that out we would need to know what the ritual actually does, what is it that makes their bodies change so that they become an Imperium?' Dreifus asked.

'The Great One's... The Malum... They give power to their followers which then turns them into Imperiums. Surely they're literally receiving some kind of energy, like how I absorb energy.'  Leo said.

'So the Malum are sending energy to their followers and this energy is what gives them power. Then the reason their bodies change is so that they can make use of that energy and/or so they don't die from it.' Dreifus added.

'Then the energy is what changes them and gives them power. If that's the case, then the energy needs to have come from somewhere and it would need a way to get inside the person partaking in the ritual.'  Leo said.

'That woman, Jean, mentioned that the Malum needed to be freed and that it was the reason they need you. So wherever they are trapped, that's where the energy is coming from.

There's somethings that's bothering me though. If the Malum are powerful enough to grant people power like this, why do they need help to escape? What could even trap them in the first place?' Dreifus asked.

'Something that's atleast as powerful as they are. That could be who Jean was talking about. She said that it was surprising 'they' hadn't contacted me yet and even suggested that they would be my reason for opposing the cult and the Malum.

If 'they' are the ones who trapped the Malum, they would have to be more powerful than them to do it. I don't know why they need me specifically but it's possible that the only way for them to be freed is for something to intervene from outside.' Leo said.

'Then the only way for then to gather people to help them is by sharing their power with humans who are willing to follow them. Alright, we have a potential motivation but how do they send the energy that creates Imperiums?' Dreifus asked.

Leo went quite for a moment as he thought about the possibilities. Dreifus was of course thinking about it as well.

' The alter than was covered in blood.' Leo suddenly said.

' Hmm, what about it?'

' When we arrived that day, John's blood was literally being pulled towards the altar. The person who's receiving the energy cuts their arms and bleeds to death, their blood then covers the altar and the energy is sent to them...

What if their blood is what opens a link, like a portal of sorts? Then, not having all of that person's blood could cause the energy transfer or portal to be unstable.' Leo explained.

' So that's why John is different? Because the portal or energy transfer was unstable and he received a different amount of energy?' Dreifus asked.

'Maybe. This is all just speculation, we could be completely wrong.' Leo said with a sigh.

'But even if that's the case, why didn't John die like the others.'

'Like you said, he's an ability user. The others who had faulty rituals were probably all human, so their bodies couldn't handle the different amount of energy.

John's body is naturally stronger because of his ability, not to mention our potential for holding and processing energy is better. It's how our abilities work after all.' Leo explained.

'Is it really as simple as that?' Dreifus asked with a skeptical tone.

'What do you mean simple? There's nothing simple about what we just theorized...' Leo said with an annoyed tone.

'No I mean, you don't think John was special in any way? Could any ability user become Devoran or is there still luck involved?'

'I'll be sure to ask the first Malum I meet.' Leo said.

The Zoren city Gate was coming in to view a dozen meters ahead of the group. Leo hopped out of the cart and made his way to the front of the group.

He jumped up onto the platform and placed the crystal into the stone arch, returning to the cart immediately after. As he was doing this, Dreifus continued to speak.

'Still, the woman said that she was given her power by her master, not by The Great Ones. I don't think she was made into a Devoran because of the ritual, I think John made her that way.'

'It's possible. I didn't even see where that woman came from, she just appeared and grabbed me. Perhaps I can get some answers about all this when I see John again.' Leo said as he climbed into the cart.

"Mr Leonard...?" The young boy sitting in the cart said, grabbing everyone, including Leo's, attention.

"Yes?" Leonard replied.

"What happened to my mom...?"