The thick metal blast door closed with a bang.

Astor sighed then turned to face the eight other kids who were left in silence wondering what the man meant.

The same thing happened in his past life, but he was luckily not part of this group which was also composed of 8 back then… What the guards said was true. Having blocked meridians was pretty rare, and having more than 2 or 3 in the group of 80 survivors was abnormal.

The only reason this happened was that 5 of those kids had a secret… They were all a group of the same gang smuggling before. The reason why they were here was that their gang was attacked by another group who killed the adults and sold the kids as slaves.

Those 5 seemed to have been using an alien narcotic all their lives before coming here, and this material that accumulated in their body, was the reason they all survived the burning, but it also caused them to have blocked meridians that are very hard, and nearly impossible to fix.

Back then, those five banded together, killing the three other kids with them, and survived three days here until that bastard came to find them after remembering them.

They had to eat their victims' bodies to survive!

Satisfied with their actions, that man personally trained them, turning them into lieutenants to supervise the other kids who had better qualifications than them.

It was a sort of training. Death Warriors were supposed to silently obey their masters’ orders, even if their master was a dog!

Astor was almost killed by one of them more than once during one of the drills as they would administer punishment for the flimsiest reason. With the authorities given to them by the ones who ran this place, those guys had the power to rape, maim, and torture to their hearts' content.

Astor casually looked at the first one of them who was standing right beside him. This guy was their little boss, a real monster who found fun in torturing his victims. He was frowning like the others at the moment…  He appeared timid, but he was a vicious snake!

The last time, right in this hall, he managed to find a treasure, left from the burning. It allowed him to fix his meridians. But he was smart enough not to reveal a thing, biding his time until this place was busted.

That’s when he revealed himself to his new bosses as having rank 2 meridians. Reaching the sky in one step, achieving greatness that lasted 3 days 2 hours, 30 minutes, and 19 seconds.

By that time the base’s files were fully reviewed, and it was found that he was one of the group who raped and killed Renya.

His death was not swift… and definitely not painless.

He confessed to what he did as he begged for mercy. That’s how Astor learned many of the things that transpired in this hall back then.

 

That guy was now frowning as he comprehended what the bald man meant and began to formulate a plan.

Before he could act and wink to his colleagues he felt something sharp go through his throat.

The children watched in shock as Astor who was standing peacefully a moment ago, broke one of the wooden brooms in one smooth move, then used the newly formed stakes to pierce the throats of the largest two boys in the group at the same time, making them fall dead to the ground as a fountain of blood cover’s his face.

"Kyaaaa!" one of the two girls on the group screen followed by the second one, Renya, who was in shock.

Astor didn't care as he broke the second broom by bending it under his foot then he and used it to kill a third guy. Although those kids might have not done anything yet, they were not good folks. Astor needed to get rid of them as they would definitely disturb his actions later… He was not really a fool to give them his back.

 

Too bad by this time he finished with the third kid the others managed to escape.

Astor stood up catching his breath as he looked at the children. Should he stop now? Of course not! He had to take care of them before nightfall when it would be pitch black! So he quickly bent down and recovered his makeshift stake for the dead man's chest.

" Why…" one boy asked in shock as he stepped back.

"We need to kill one more…" Astor said, feeling the two murderous intentions aimed at him. "Didn't you hear the man say only five can survive!" he casually added as he relaxed his body.

"Damn you…Murderer!  Who are you to decide who should live?" another boy who seemed a little smart asked, turning to the other who nodded. "We should quickly cooperate to subdue this crazy guy before… " he didn't continue to speak and tried to convince the others. He just looked down with shock at the sharp stake sticking out of his chest.

"First lesson… Never look away from a predator!" Astor said as the kid fell in a pool of his own blood. "Second lesson… Don't ever try to act smart in front of me… No this should be the first lesson…." He corrected himself as he headed toward one of the guys he killed earlier then bent down and took the broom at his feet.

"What are you looking at? Haven't you seen a handsome guy sweep the floor before?" He asked the horrified four remaining kids then began to sweep the ash-covered floor casually while whistling some catchy tune, as if he didn't just kill four souls. “Don’t worry… We have five people now, I have no reason to kill any of you…  So as long as you keep sitting there in your corner and don’t disturb me, nothing bad will happen to you!” he added as he swept.

The horrified kids didn't know what to do. They just decided to wait… Holding tight to the last two brooms for self-defense.

 

For the next hour or so they watched as Astor, who covered his mouth and nose that was smeared with his victims' blood, using a piece of fabric he cut from one of the dead guy's robes,  began to sweep the ashes all around like a maniac as if he was searching for something in the ashes.

It was exactly 82 minutes later when the last ray of sunlight was barely able to illuminate the insides of the hall, he stopped, bent down, and grabbed something from the ground.

 

Found it at last!

It looked like a grape-sized hot ember that seemed to be on the verge of dying down. It was not hot at all, on the contrary, it was very cold to the touch.

A Remnant Spark!

 

This thing only appeared when a person who had just awakened with a spark died before it got integrated with his soul!

It was so rare that the people here didn’t even consider such a thing might exist… Most of them didn’t even know what a spark was, as this secret was not disclosed to the public!

If this were to be sold outside it would bring him a huge fortune! Enough to buy a small country or two… And he would probably die shortly after to keep the secret of its existence.

In his past life, this Remnant Spark was the treasure taken by the boss of the kids here. It was what allowed him to fix his meridians as it gave him the chance of a second burning. That fool probably thought of eating it to hide it from his captors, unknowingly integrating it with his soul!

Astor considered eating the spark himself for a second, it would be very beneficial, but after some thought he shook his head. He had better uses for it…And he was not really in need of a lower spark at the moment, something he would be able to get plenty of later!

He smiled as he took the spark then headed toward the center of the hall where he stopped right under the spiraling rod and then began sweeping the ashes away for a few minutes creating a circular clearing.

That’s what the kids saw, they failed to notice the intricate array that he drew with the ashes on the ground.

"You!" He pointed to one of the girls, Renya. "Come here! I need your help!" he said in a rough voice.

She looked at him in fear, not daring to move.

“You better obey, or I will wait until the night and then punish you in the dark!… No one would help you then!” he warned.

The girl hesitated, then turned to the side and extended her hand wanting to use the broom she got to define herself… Too bad the broom was not there. The other girl who was sitting beside her seemed to have snatched it then stepped back moving to be with the two other cowardly guys who glared at Renya with sympathetic eyes.

They didn’t intend to help her face that maniac!

 

Renya as tears filled her eyes. She stood up abruptly and headed toward Astor, seemingly making up her mind as she clenched her fist intending to not fall without a fight.… At the moment she was regretting escaping her escorts and getting kidnapped back then. Astor knew that from the look in her eyes.

“Wh..What do you need… need me to do?” she asked nervously as she clenched her little fist and looked at the Astor’s masked face and sharp eyes.

He didn't respond but used the back of the broom to fix the array on the ground where she walked before turning back to face her.

 

“Just stand right here and hold this broom…” he said as he handed her the broom then grabbed her by the shoulder and adjusted her position right under the spiral as he looked up.

Feeling a little secure with a broom in hand, she didn't resist. She just looked up to see what he was looking at. She frowned at the spiral above their head then back at Astor.

 

That’s when she felt his kiss as his lips touched hers. It took her a moment to realize what was happening.

That this was her first kiss…

 

She froze as she felt something in her mouth… Was it his tongue? No… It was something hot that melted in seconds as his lip began to leave hers. Then he bit her lip hard.

“Ahh…” Coming back to her senses, she wanted to resist, but she couldn’t as he was holding her in place, hugging her tight.

Seconds later she began to feel something hot start to burn in her heart.

It hurts!

 

"Ahhh…." she screamed as she tried to get him away from her,, but he ignored her as he looked up making sure she was right under the spiral then spat the blood that he sucked from her lip at the array on the ground below!

Renia had no time to notice what he did.

 

“It is hot… hot… AHHHHHHHHHHHH!” she started to scream in pain as the children in the back stepped away shivering. The girl was literally shining with a dim red light as wisps of red flames began to flash around, some getting captured by the spiral above.

 

Astor, who was holding her in her position, was also in pain as some of those wisps hit him, but he didn’t care as he knew that this was just chaotic energy entering his body, he could easily solve it afterward with some meditation.

All he had to do at the moment was to make sure the girl remained under the spiral as long as possible, allowing it to capture as many wisps as possible.

Renya was at the moment getting burnt again by the spark. But due to her blocked meridians, she was suffering a backlash. Astor could tell from the energy movement inside her body.

 

“A Fire spark! No wonder the last owner died!” He told himself as he carefully observed the energy around him. It kept getting stronger…

Sh*t, at this rate Renya would really die…

 

“Damn it… Why do I have to keep being a good guy?” he questioned himself as he put his hand in her stomach then began to influence one wisp of chaotic energy to start moving in certain patterns… That wisp soon began influencing another wisp starting a chain reaction, making all the energy inside Reina Harmonious.

 

Moments later, all the blocked medians in her body got unlocked in one swoop, almost pushing Astor away.

 

He sighed… His action would definitely cause this girl to be a little too overpowered, but it was the only solution he could implement with his limited capabilities… This girl’s existence would be a great help to him. His long life had taught him to always pay his debts. Both good and bad.

It took forever to end… Translated into the normal time measurement this was about 9 minutes and 21 seconds.

The moment Renya began to dim down, Astor quickly let go of her, letting her collapse to the ground as he stepped away in pain.

He stumped a bit to the back, almost falling too, then bending down, he used his broom that he grabbed back from Renya’s hands to stabilize himself…  Then using it, he made a 180-degree turn and struck behind him, aiming at the other girl in the group, who sneaked intending to stab him in the back with a stake she took from one of the corpses… He just had to use the broomsticks to hit the center of her throat, breaking her neck in one move.

This girl was the last member of the monstrous gang from his past life. She must have been planning to take revenge ever since he killed her pals.

Well… He planned to give her a chance, but it seemed she was not a good apple after all.

 

“Third lesson… Always watch your back! Especially around slutty girls!” he stated, giving the cowardly two guys, who were left huddled in one corner, a threatening look before looking back at the collapsed Renya.

 

This girl escaped her escorts who were supposed to escort her to the awakening facility two months ago. She was going to meet some pedophile who catfished her online but ended up getting kidnapped.

In his past life, her family only managed to locate her six months later, after tracking one clue after another and killing no less than 79 men. Too bad that she was long dead by that time.

 

But now by making Reyna eat the Remnant Spark, he made her release a lot of excess energy as the Spark integrated into her body.

This energy was picked up by the BloodCalling array he drew below her feats that in turn pushed it to the celestial copper spiral above that would broadcast it like an antenna sending it around the world.

Although it would be barely detectable, those who held a similar bloodline as hers would definitely feel it and they would definitely follow her trail here.

 

Astor sighed, then used the broom to erase the ash array before he carried the collapsed girl, putting her next to the wall and sitting by her side.

 

He believed that the imperial army should be here before noon. Hopefully, they would arrive after that stupid prince was here, it would be fun to see his face as he tried to explain that he had nothing to do with this!

 

Regardless. He needed to sleep now, he might not get a chance tomorrow after all.

“You guys better not think of doing anything funny when it is dark… That is unless you want to die, then I would gladly help you!” Astro casually threatened the two boys as he leaned his head back on the wall behind him and relaxed his body.

Suddenly he felt strange… It was as if his existence was getting stronger.

He didn’t see this coming, seemingly saving this stupid girl’s life already changed many things!

The way he used to go back in time was not time travel, but more of the way a dead man’s life went through his eyes before he died. It was as if he was dreaming and he managed to hack into that dream.

His existence here is very fickle, so he needed to make enough changes in the timeline to ground himself and to be able to use his powers!

Renya was his first experiment, and it was a huge success!

 

“Do… Don’t we need to clean?” one of the boys suddenly asked timidly after a few minutes. Astor only swept the ash around creating a mess, he didn’t really clean anything.

“No…” Astor replied without opening his eyes. “Someone will do the cleaning for us… though if you don’t want to smell those corpses you are free to push them to the corner there!” he said with a smile. Even if no one came, those men would only open the hall’s door after three other days.

 

Now… He just had to wait…

Astor wondered if he should reveal his real identity tomorrow. If he didn't he would end up with the same fate of being a pawn for a lifetime.

He shook his head.

No one would believe him, and even if they did, his life would be put in grave danger.

He might not get a chance to talk anyway… This girl’s stupid father would definitely kill him for molesting his only daughter. Not giving him a chance to explain himself.

He could only reveal the truth to his parents or grandparents…Those were the only ones whom he truly trusted.