Into The Reality

Chapter 38:- Marly's Decision

“Okay… that is something,” Kichu said, looking at Z.
“I don’t mean you’re dead,” Z replied. “But you have no soul energy that I can detect. This machine is the peak of technology. Even if you had the tiniest bit of soul energy, it would detect it. But you have none.”
“But he can use the fundamentals of soul sensing. He can even enter the activation state. How can he do that without soul energy?” Fizz asked.
“You have no patience, Fizz boy. I’m not done yet.” Z turned toward Kichu. “Can you enter activation mode again?”
“Yeah.” Kichu nodded and closed his eyes.
A faint light began to appear around his body. He slowly opened his eyes while maintaining the state.
“Yeah… just as you said. Interesting.” Z grabbed a soul-energy detecting globe and handed it to Kichu.
“I want you to focus all your energy into this globe.”
Kichu nodded and concentrated.
The globe emitted a light blue glow that gradually turned pure white.
“What…?” Z’s eyes widened. His body trembled in shock.
Fizz nearly choked on his own breath.
“Can someone explain what’s happening?” Kichu asked.
“Kid… who exactly are you?” Z asked quietly.
“Ah, cut the mysterious crap and explain already,” Kichu said impatiently.
“Alright then.” Z took a deep breath.
“Red glow means low soul energy. Yellow means average. Blue means above average. Green means extremely high soul energy. A person needs at least green-level soul energy to wield a sacred sword.”
He paused for a second.
“And then there are the final two stages. White… and pitch black.”
Everyone went silent.
“They are the absolute peak of soul energy. Most soul-sensing masters only reach green. White glow is nearly impossible. Only a handful of people in the entire history of the universe have ever shown it.”
“So… what now? Am I cooked?” Kichu asked.
“Not exactly,” Z replied. “It seems you have almost no control over your soul energy. That’s both good and bad.”
“The good part is that nobody can detect your soul energy normally. You’ll attract less attention.”
“And the bad part?” Kichu asked.
Z looked at him seriously.
“Don’t force it too much. If your soul energy goes out of control… you might destroy everything around you.”
Kichu smirked.
“I wish. And what do you mean by ‘less targeted’? Are white-glow users hunted or something?”
“Yes,” Z answered immediately. “And trust me… you don’t want to know what people would do to your body.”
The room fell silent again.
“What about the black glow?” Roco asked.
“The black glow…” Z muttered. “It’s not really a glow. Their soul energy appears as darkness itself. You can’t properly sense it.”
“They say people born with black glow are destined to bring destruction and chaos.”
“And there’s nobody in the universe with black glow right now except…”
He stopped speaking.
“Except who?” Roco asked curiously.
Z ignored the question.
“Black is the complete opposite of white. White glow is said to bring peace and kindness. Black brings ruin.”
He stared directly at Kichu.
“So try not to stand out too much.”
“Yeah, no shit,” Kichu replied with a grin. “What now? Should I hide somewhere for the rest of my life? Nah. Let them come for my body. I’ll show them I’m not some peaceful white-glow saint.”
Fizz instantly facepalmed.
At that moment, Moy entered the room holding a stack of papers.
“The test results are ready.”
“Oh? Did you figure out her disease?” Z asked.
“Yeah.” Moy nodded. “It’s contamination poisoning. She consumed some kind of toxic or unprocessable substance repeatedly during childhood.”
“Her lower body is partially paralyzed, but the damage is reversible.”
Marly froze.
“I can prepare an antibody that will slowly neutralize the poison,” Moy continued. “But treatment will take years. I can’t guarantee a perfect recovery… but…”
He smiled softly.
“She’ll walk again.”
Marly’s body trembled violently.
Kichu gently patted his head.
“It’s okay, kid. Sometimes you can let it all out.”
Marly ran toward Mira and hugged her tightly, crying uncontrollably.
“You won, Marly,” Mira whispered while holding him close. “You saved me. I’m proud of you.”
“Now that the job’s done, can we leave?” Kichu asked.
“Yeah,” Fizz replied. “We need to move as soon as possible.”
“What’s the rush?” Z asked. “Stay a day. Give this old man some company.”
“Can’t do that. You know how important this is,” Fizz replied.
“Yeah, yeah… go then.” Z sighed dramatically. “At least visit me sometime. You’re the only friend who still calls me. Even Hinko never contacts me anymore.”
He crossed his arms.
“Next time you see him, tell him this: ‘Call me sometime, you fake-ass friend.’”
Fizz laughed.
“I’ll tell him exactly that. Not a word less.”
“Are you leaving?” Marly asked Kichu quietly.
“Yup. Important mission. The universe depends on me,” Kichu replied proudly.
“Huh… I bet you’re just gonna travel around,” Marly muttered.
“Haha… no, kid. It’s serious. We might even fight a lot of bad guys.”
“Really?” Marly’s eyes widened.
“Yeah.”
“When will you visit us again?” Mira asked softly.
“I don’t know,” Kichu admitted. “Maybe I won’t come back at all. Who knows what’ll happen?”
“No… don’t say things like that.” Tears formed in Mira’s eyes. “You have to come back.”
Kichu smiled gently.
“Alright then. When I return, you better be standing on your own feet while holding Marly’s hand.”
He pointed at her legs.
“And then kick me right in my smiling face. I wanna see how strong your legs really are.”
Mira laughed through her tears.
“Let’s go, Kichu,” Fizz called out.
Kichu turned and began walking away.
“Wait!” Marly suddenly grabbed his pants.
“What? Don’t tell me you’re gonna cry and ask me to stay,” Kichu laughed.
“No.” Marly looked up at him seriously.
“I want to come with you.”
Kichu blinked.
“…Nice joke. Now let go.”
“I’m serious,” Marly replied, gripping tighter. “I want to come with you.”
“What are you saying, Marly?” Mira cried. “You’re not going anywhere!”
“No. I want to go, sister.” Marly’s voice trembled, but his eyes stayed firm. “I want to travel. I want to see the universe.”
“And more than that… I want to become stronger.”
He looked at Kichu.
“I know he can make me stronger.”
Kichu sighed.
“Kid… are you really willing to leave your sister behind? Traveling with us isn’t safe. We don’t even know what’ll happen tomorrow.”
“I don’t care,” Marly replied instantly. “Even if something happens, you three will protect me, right?”
Kichu stared into his eyes for a moment… then smiled.
“This is why I don’t like kids.”
Mira broke down crying.
“No… don’t go, Marly. I’ll be alone.”
Marly walked toward her and gently wiped away her tears.
“I love you, sister. I’ll come back quickly. And when I do…”
He smiled brightly.
“We’ll live in a huge peaceful house. Bigger than the old one.”
Mira slowly nodded through her tears.
Kichu and Marly walked toward the spaceship.
Mira raised her hand and waved at him one last time.
Marly couldn’t wave back.
If he turned around, he knew he would cry.
The spaceship slowly lifted from the ground… then disappeared into the sky.
Mira looked upward and smiled softly.
“Come back soon… Marly.”
She paused.
“And Kichu too.”

-To Be Continued...