David staggered back slightly, his eyes wide with shock as he stared at the man before him.
"What… How are you here?" David's voice was laced with disbelief.
Saponu Sebastian, leaning casually against the cold prison wall, let out a low chuckle. "Relax, my boy," he said smoothly. "Do you remember the deal we made?"
David's breath steadied as memories flooded his mind. "How could I forget?" he muttered.
Saponu's smirk deepened. "Good. Then you remember that the deal was to help someone escape from prison."
David narrowed his eyes. "Yes, but you never gave me details—who exactly I was supposed to help or how I was supposed to do it." His tone carried suspicion now.
Saponu let out a small sigh, his golden eyes flickering with something unreadable. "Indeed, my boy. That's because the prisoner you were meant to free… was me."
David's body tensed. "What?"
Saponu took a slow step forward, his presence commanding despite the tattered robes he wore. "I have been trapped in this forsaken place for years. My powers have been sealed, my strength suppressed. But I wasn't going to sit back and rot in this hellhole."
He paused for a moment before continuing. "With the last bit of strength I had left, I opened a dimensional rift to the world of the living and sent a clone of myself to search for someone who could help me escape." He motioned toward David. "And here you are."
David clenched his fists, trying to process everything. "So all this time… everything you did in the living world… was just to bring me here?"
Saponu's smirk never wavered. "Not just anyone could pull this off. You have potential, David. That's why I chose you."
David exhaled sharply, his mind racing. He had thought he was the one using Saponu, manipulating him to get into the ancestral realm. But had he been the pawn all along?
So how did you end up here, David asked.
Saponu leaned against the cold prison wall, his eyes dark with memories long buried. He exhaled slowly before speaking, his voice carrying the weight of ages.
"You want to know how I ended up in this forsaken place?" He let out a low chuckle, shaking his head. "Then listen well, boy, for mine is a tale of power, betrayal, and a fall from grace."
He closed his eyes briefly, as if recalling a distant time.
"I was once feared and respected in the ancestral realm. They called me the Shadow King, a master of dimensions, the one who could bend reality to my will. My abilities allowed me to open rifts between realms, control shadows, and even influence time in small ways. There was nothing I could not reach, no place I could not escape from."
His expression darkened.
"But power breeds envy. The Ancestor Council—those self-righteous fools—feared my strength. They said I disrupted the balance of the realm, that I was meddling in forces beyond even the ancestors' control. But I knew the truth… They didn't fear my power. They feared what I would become."
Saponu's golden eyes gleamed with fury.
"They schemed against me, whispering lies to the masses. They painted me as a tyrant, a threat to the harmony of the ancestral realm. And then… they struck."
He clenched his fists.
"They came for me in the dead of night—warriors, sorcerers, elders wielding the might of the realm itself. I fought. By the gods, I fought like a demon unleashed. "My shadows swallowed them, my rifts tore through their ranks, and for a moment, it seemed I would prevail."
His voice dropped lower, almost a whisper now.
"But then… they used the one thing I did not foresee."
Saponu paused, his face unreadable.
"A Heart Binding Seal. A cursed magic, older than time itself. They lured me into a trap, and when I was in the heart of battle, they unleashed it upon me. "It shackled my essence, drained my strength, and for the first time in my existence… I felt powerless."
His jaw tightened, his eyes flickering with a mixture of anger and regret.
"They dragged me before the Council. Stripped of my power, I was nothing but a man. They did not kill me—they feared what my death might unleash. Instead, they cast me into this prison, sealing my abilities so that I could never escape."
Saponu gestured around the prison walls, his expression bitter.
"And so here I have remained, trapped in this hell for what feels like an eternity, biding my time, waiting for the right moment, the right person… to set me free."
He turned his gaze back to David, his smirk returning.
"And now… that person has finally arrived."
Saponu clapped his hands together, breaking the tension. "Enough about me. Now, it's time to figure out what your abilities are and how to activate them."
David, still overwhelmed, frowned. "My abilities?"
"Yes," Saponu said, stepping closer. "Close your eyes, my boy." Empty your mind. Focus on your core life, your life senses. Try to feel something within yourself. The moment you sense anything… tell me. I will use my abilities to identify exactly what you possess."
David hesitated for a moment before obeying. He closed his eyes, inhaling deeply. At first, there was nothing. Just the sound of his own breathing. Then—
A sensation.
Something stirred within him, a force he had never acknowledged before. It was powerful, yet undefined, like a sleeping beast awakening inside him.
David's eyes snapped open. "Something is happening… I feel it," he said, his voice filled with both excitement and uncertainty.
Saponu's golden eyes gleamed. Without a word, he raised his hand and activated one of his abilities. A wave of energy passed over David, scanning him, unraveling his hidden potential.
Then, after a long pause, Saponu's face shifted. A slow smile spread across his lips.
"Well, well… My boy, this is truly fascinating."
David looked at him expectantly. "What? What did you see?"
Saponu's smile widened. "You possess Amplifier abilities… and Necromancy."
The revelation hung in the air like a storm on the horizon.
David's journey was only beginning.
David's breath hitched as he processed Saponu's words. His eyes widened with excitement.
"Necromancy…?" He exhaled sharply. "So I can control the dead? And Amplifier—" his voice grew eagerly, "I can enhance anything or anyone I think of… including myself?"
Saponu chuckled, but there was a knowing glint in his eyes. "Yes… and no."
David's expression shifted. "What? "What do you mean by 'yes and no'?" His tone was laced with both curiosity and confusion.
Saponu leaned against the cold prison wall, arms crossed. "Relax, my boy," he said smoothly. "Abilities don't just work without limits." Every power has its conditions, its rules. And trust me, they're rarely simple."
David frowned. "What kind of conditions?"
Saponu exhaled, tilting his head slightly. "That's something you'll have to figure out on your own. Each ability manifests differently depending on the person wielding it."
David's frustration was evident. "So you don't know?"
Saponu smirked, a mischievous glint in his eye. "Not exactly. But I can help you discover them."
His smirk widened into a grin. "And trust me, my boy… the process is going to be very interesting."