As this sentence left Levi’s mouth, his mind snapped open as if someone had cracked a window into another life... then, a flood of shattered memories poured in: broken, scattered, drifting like shards of glass suspended in green mist.
At first, Levi saw a little blue-skinned boy with two eyes... one on his forehead, and the other at the back of his bald head. He was no bigger than a three-year-old human child.
Levi didn’t just see... but he also smelled the aroma of burnt wood, and felt the rays of sunshine hit his face.
He felt like he wasn’t peering into someone’s memories... but living them from their own point of view.
The boy was barefoot, laughing, chasing a wooden ball down a dusty village path... then, a woman... his mother, maybe, called for him. Levi didn’t know for sure, but he felt a close, intimate connection to her.
She had a radiant smile so warm it softened the entire memory... however, before Levi could react, the scene flickered, breaking apart into a green haze.
Then, right away... he dove into another memory.
The same boy, now grown, standing beneath a small arch of woven flowers... a woman beside him, wearing a simple white ribbon in her hair, touched his cheek.
Although their appearance was considered ugly and terrifying in the eyes of humans... when Levi saw her gentle smile, almost shy... he felt like he was staring at the most beautiful woman in the universe.
For he was seeing her through the eyes of the wisp’s owner... not his.
Then, they exchanged vows... nothing fancy, just genuine loving promises whispered like secrets they intended to keep forever.
’Is this... how genuine love feels?’
As Levi felt his heart throb in bliss, a feeling he no longer felt ever since his parents died, the memory fractured violently!
Darkness replaced sunlight... screams replaced laughter. The man was older now, and he was on his knees... the bliss of love was gone, replaced by heavy despair, desperation, and physical agony... it was so heavy, Levi felt like his heart was about to shatter into pieces.
But he kept control of his emotions and watched as the man’s wife was getting dragged before him by four blue-skinned men like him outside his house. She was crying and reaching out for him with trembling hands, but he could do nothing.
He was heavily injured and pinned to the ground by another one of his kind... his arms shattered, his face beaten black and blue, bleeding all over... he tried to fight with every inch of his being, and Levi felt his attempts at his core.
But alas... it was soon replaced by a surge of terror and panic scraping at his chest.
Then... a heavy thud was heard, and silence... the woman’s screams ended too quickly for Levi to react.
The last thing he heard was one of the most heart-wrenching screams he had ever heard... Levi felt the man’s soul rupture... it shattered until only rage, grief, and a hollow, bottomless hatred remained.
It was also the last memory that came out of the wisp’s owner before his vision went dark.
In an instant, Levi’s consciousness returned to the real world... his heart was beating out of his chest like everything that happened to the man happened to him too.
For he had devoured a piece of him, and now... he realized that he had to live with it.
Levi lowered his head and glanced at his palms... then, he smiled bitterly; that helplessness he felt wasn’t too foreign to him, as he watched the same happen to his parents before his own eyes. If it wasn’t for sharing a similar experience, Levi knew that his reaction would have been more severe than this. That pain... that feeling of despair and helplessness, wasn’t easy for first-timers... not at all.
"Is this the price of using the Lantern... to see, feel, and experience the most harrowing moments of the soul’s owner before his death?" Levi muttered, not bothered to even check what kind of benefits he had gotten from the wisp.
How could he... when he had just watched someone, who used to be an innocent baby just like everyone else, having his life ended in such a heinous manner.
Yet... the saddest thing about all of this was: it was just one experience out of many across the entire universe.
Levi had a feeling if he kept using the Lantern to devour souls, he was bound to see something so heinous... it might change him forever.
"I guess you didn’t see rainbows and flowers... huh." Ash’Kral shook his head, "Levi, have you forgotten that artifacts are born out of people’s strong memories and experiences by the Shadow Dimension’s corruption? Trust me when I say, these artifacts wouldn’t be haunted if the wisps residing within them didn’t experience a fate worse than death."
"I didn’t... and yet, I went in hoping it wasn’t the case." Levi showed a hollow smile.
Levi had no idea what the name of the wisp’s owner was, his race, where he lived, or any other information... after experiencing some of his sweet and hellish moments, Levi felt like he at least owed him some time to do his research on the matter and know about him a little more.
After all, he could feel his main soul had been enhanced a little because of him.
Unfortunately, after doing some research on the network... he came out empty-handed. He described the race to the letter, and the only results he found were related to other races that looked like them.
"Ash’Kral?"
"Don’t ask me... there are millions of races in the universe, known or unknown... if you don’t find anything in the network, it means that they had gone extinct already... since his wisp is found in an artifact, it can only mean that their planet was devoured by the Shadow Dimension." Ash’Kral shrugged and then added, "Plus, you should feel glad that you found the truth that the Sensebound Pearl amounted to nothing... even if you kept it and somehow awakened it, its limitation will never cross beyond Grade A."
Ash’Kral assumed at first that the wisp might belong to some powerful entity... he knew that was a long shot, understanding that the quality of the wisp would always give out the strength of its owner.
Just like when they found the Titan inside the Crown.
"All you care about are benefits... can’t you for once in your life have some empathy?" Levi shook his head while closing the screen.
"Empathy won’t help me fulfill my goal, will it now?" Ash’Kral sneered, "I thought you were done with these weak emotions."
"I am done with being told or following others’ teachings... but I have no plans of becoming an asshole like you just for the sake of it." Levi replied with an irked tone.
"Your loss." Ash’Kral was unbothered, continuing to drink his tea casually.
Levi ignored him and stored back the Sensebound Pearl... then, he decided to return to the World Tree, knowing that his brother and Jasmine must be antsy about his condition, considering that they were forced to leave.
All in all, the day went well and Levi had gotten more than he could ever ask for... he succeeded in splitting his soul, which meant clearing his evolutionary path to Warden Rank, free of pain if he managed to work out the trees’ growth within his body.
The trees’ roots might have separated from Levi’s soul, but they were still entangled in his body... the same would happen to the rest of the branches and such since he had only one body.
If the branches and roots remained entangled, it was the same as putting his misery in the hands of the three trees at all times... and hoping that they could keep up their truce.
Levi could do nothing to the roots, which were entangled in his lower spine, but he could make some changes for the branches and the rest.
For now, his next goal was to figure out how to evolve the other two trees without having their branches occupy the same space... and he had a week or less to figure it out before the Sun and Void Seeds started throwing another tantrum.