Chapter 175: You Tell A Story Through Death

The pleasure of killing the targets that the Passenger wanted sent electric shocks through his body, and Elias froze in place. There was a time when this feeling gave him such great boosts and pleasure that he almost did not hate the Passenger, but now, this feeling felt invasive and annoying.

With his growing Will and Perception, he could trace that this feeling was coming from his brain; somehow, the Passenger must have been able to hijack a part of his mind and was using it to control him, and Elias could only endure this feeling for the moment until he gained enough power to scrape off this parasite from his body.

There was a tug inside his body that would have turned these four to ash as his Lumina Space absorbed all of their essence, but Elias held back from doing so for the moment, partly because he wanted to understand how much control he was gaining over his instincts as a Siphon after reaching the Fury Forge level, but also because he wanted to study these four a little bit more.

When he was a Wisp, he could not control his Lumina Space, and the moment he killed anything, his body would automatically begin pulling on the Lumina inside their bodies, causing them to turn to ash in seconds. Now that he could hold back this instinct, Elias wanted to see how long he could do this.

Elias wanted nothing more than to consume these bodies for their Lumina, but if he wanted to defeat the Passenger in the future, he needed to understand and to suppress and process his urges.

The greatest challenge a man would face often comes from conquering himself. He was not an animal who was ruled by his urges; most, if not all, of his prey were people who could not control their urges, and Elias knew that there was a slim line between predator and prey.

“Control… control… Always have control of yourself and your needs. If you cannot, then their fate would be yours one day.”

He looked around the basement, his mind filling it with details of everything that had transpired, and he shook his head to break the hold of that memory before he proceeded towards the floor space pointed out by Aris.

The way they hid the hidden compartment was clever, and it took a few seconds for Elias to figure it out, and then he opened it, his eyes squinting a bit at the pale golden glow that he saw… Golden Marks, at least a hundred of them.

Lumen Marks were the primary form of currency in Trion, and Elias knew that even in other continents, they were used as a form of currency, although they were altered to the local environment and to the Royal Houses ruling the area.

Lumen Marks are small, coin-like objects about the size of a thumbnail, minted from a special alloy that can hold a minuscule charge of Lumina.

Each coin was a proprietary alloy of refined metals, including a trace amount of Lumina-conductive ore. This gives the coins a faint, internal glow that Elias had noted pulsing very slowly, approximately once every four days.

Not many people would have the patience to analyze a single Lumen Mark for days to discover this pulse, but Elias often did things like this to satisfy the endless curiosity of his mind.

From the base unit to the highest were Copper Marks, which were used by mortals and low-level Siphons, then Silver Marks, which were worth around 100 Copper Marks, then there were Gold Marks, which were worth 100 Silver Marks or 10,000 Copper Marks.

Elias had heard from members of the Order that there was even a higher form of currency, which was called Prime Marks; each was worth 100 Gold Marks or 1,000,000 Copper Marks, and they were extremely rare.

However, Elias knew that Lumen Marks were not the only means of exchange, as he had seen higher forms of currency called Lumina Crystals, and this was a currency unique to Siphons, and mortals would hardly have access to them.

It was possible to exchange Lumina Crystals for Lumina Lumina Marks, but this sort of exchange was very rare, as most people would not sell their Lumina Crystals, even if they were given Lumen Marks that exceeded the value of the crystals.

Elias did not know much about the buying power of Lumina Crystals or their grades, but he knew there were several of these grades. There may also be other forms of currency due to the enormous size of Trion, but Elias knew that Lumen Marks and Lumina Crystals were the greatest forms of exchange and would be accepted nearly everywhere on the planet.

Over the years, Elias had saved around twelve Gold Marks in total, and that was him being extremely frugal and lucky; he had also gathered money from some of his prey, and he had never seen so much money in his life.

Elias had never been interested in money, since he hardly suffered the needs of most people for shelter and food. In fact, given the way he was growing, the only time he would eat would be if he were invited and could not refuse, because up to this moment, he did not feel hungry or the need for food.

However, from the moment he became an Ascendant Candidate, money became extremely important to him. There was so much that he needed to spend money on, from his personal needs to his cultivation needs. One hundred Golden Marks may be a lot of money for the average Fury Forge, but he knew that for him, this money would vanish in a heartbeat.

Gathering the money and picking up the unknown Alchemistry Device and the paper with the coded words, Elias looked at the dead men and decided not to consume them; instead, their bodies would tell a story.

There were people behind them that were undoubtedly dangerous, and the best way to protect himself would be to absorb all of their Lumina, turning their bodies to nothing; this would reduce any evidence against him to be nearly negligible, but if he did this, then his reason for coming here would be invalid… he hated the fact that Josef and men like these would be mourned by the innocent.

It was not that Elias truly cared about the innocent mourning the dead, but his prey could not enjoy any benefits, even in death.

He knew that this was not a normal way of thinking, but Elias had never one day considered himself to be normal.

Despite his hunger and need for Lumina to fuel his growth, Elias would gladly give up these benefits if it meant that his prey would not gain a single strand of condolence from those who had not seen their real face.

Elias looked around for a moment before he began his real work. He began to position their bodies with the same care he had once used to arrange his tools before a hunt.

Aris slumped over the table, his crushed throat hidden by the angle of his head, making it look as though he had simply fallen asleep mid-confession. Corin sprawled on the floor, one hand reaching toward a child’s toy that Elias placed just beyond his fingers. Elias saw this picture as a final, futile grasp at redemption.

Mikel was propped against the wall, a page of victims’ names pinned to his chest with his own knife, and Derrick’s body was arranged to point toward the hidden compartment where more evidence waited.

Each position told a story, and each death was a statement.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep