There was a slight difference in Lucian's body after signing the marriage contract with Celine. The chains grew heavier, yet more fluid. His perception of the astral plane had broadened, allowing him to contain more energy.
He was getting stronger, which was good, amazing, right?
'She looked like she no longer recognized me,' Lucian adjusted Jax's body on the horse, who was half conscious at best. They were both covered in blood, looking like they crawled out of a grave.
'Am not really dead, am I?'
Lucian hit King Eon with a blunt weapon, before everyone's eyes and nobody chased after him. Celine took all the blame. Nobody uttered a word about him. As if he was an invisible ghost.
Lucian opened and closed his palm, still feeling the spear's handle in it. They should have seen him and gone after him instead of her. Why didn't they?
At that moment, he wanted nothing more but to tear King Eon to pieces, and then it happened. He appeared near the King in the next second, without even noticing how he got there. He was not thinking about how he could do it, he just did it.
His shackled powers manifested more than usual, beyond physical limits.
'I've lost control over my body,' he clenched his fist, 'I need to clear up Celine's reputation before she misunderstands.'
His horse came to a stop.
"Jax," Lucian called out, catching Jax as he fell from it, "I need you to stay awake."
Jax's head lulled, ignoring his request.
Lucian carried him on his back and walked on foot, using his blessing on Jax, to keep him from dying. Jax was weak. He had no talent for cultivation, despite working harder than most people. He had the will, but not the means.
A southerner's body was not built to absorb the blessings.
"What's your wish, Jax?" Lucian asked as he walked through the forest.
"Strongest...man..." Jax's faint voice answered, "...in the world."
Lucian looked over his shoulder, "Why?"
"Equal...to...you..."
Lucian's steps sped up, heading to the nearest Glory post. It was a small rest stop for the horses and repair station for the carts and roads.
The sight before him was not what he expected. No, it wasn't that. Deep down he knew it was a matter of time before he had to face this, but he still hoped he wouldn't.
Dead bodies of his people were scattered on the ground. Half a dozen. They had been slaughtered by something that had ripped their bodies apart. The goods were intact, the place wasn't ransacked. It was a pure act of violence against his people.
It always happened after a sense of victory, a moment of relief, of happiness. Nothing good ever lasted long, and this was a reminder of that.
Jax opened his eyes when the smell of blood hit him, his head lifting slightly, "Wha...?"
It had started. Lucian blinked away the mist forming on his eyes. This was what he was supposed to be thankful for. This was the reward for his life.
Lucian turned his head away, blocking the scene from Jax's view. "Close your eyes, Jax."
He entered the station, searching for painkillers, and anything that would help with the wounds. He then placed him on a cart, and tied the horse to it.
The horse huffed and stomped the ground, pulling on the ropes. The area was probably still infested with the threat that killed his people.
As soon as they reached non lead-filled ground, Lucian sent an order to the ferals to pass it on to the nearest vices, telling them to send backup and bring him the Varia woman.
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The ship arrived on the dawn of the fourth day. Lucian was waiting by the shore, next to the tied horse and the sleeping Jax, who was still alive, just unconscious.
The ferals came to pick him up on a small boat, cooing at his stained appearance. They thought he got himself into a fight and lost.
They lifted Jax's body onto the boat and took them both to the ship. Goblin was waiting there for them, a deep frown on his face. He did not make any comments as he led Lucian to the captain's cabin.
The Varia woman was waiting inside, her expression blank
The ferals laid Jax on the bed, and exited the room.
"You can start," Lucian nodded in Jax's direction.
She stared at Lucian for a moment, her crystal eyes unblinking. The gem on her forehead glowed brighter, the light traveling through her veins, turning her skin paler. Her eyes finally moved, locking on Jax's face. A thin silver line began to extend from her temple to his.
Lucian sent his astral projection inside Jax's body, and witnessed what the Varia woman was doing.
She was condensing what remained of Jax's weakened astral image into a spirit sphere, preventing it from leaving the world. The process was like compressing a gas into a liquid, and then into a solid. If not done properly, it could shatter her mind.
Lucian told Jax to cooperate and let her do her work while he assisted her from the side, protecting her from any astral attacks that might come her way.
Jax complied, not that he had much of a choice in his current state.
Lucian refused to turn Jax into a shackled, his soul was to stay untouched. His body, though, needed an upgrade.
The Varia woman would continue to keep Jax's soul from slipping away while he woulf focus on the body. He never entered a living body before, and it proved more difficult than entering a dead one.
Jax's body rejected him at first, as if trying to fight off a parasite. Lucian had to destroy the defences, and put his own, which made his head hurt and his nose bleed. "There are still some remains of him left."
The Varia woman didn't answer, focusing on her task.
Only when Jax's spirit was fully contained within the sphere, could Lucian possess the body with a beating heart.
The tattoos disappeared from Jax's skin with his soul gone and new ones began to appear. They resembled vines with thorns and flowers blooming on them. Golden in color, they covered his upper body and arms, leaving his face and neck clear.
Inspired by Mathieu's body's ability to swap souls, Lucian tried to alter Jax's body with his astral projection inside it, mimicking the soul swap itself. There must be a reason why the new Mathieu could cultivate much faster than the previous one. His soul, spirit or astral projection must have brought something new with it.
For it to work, the old one had to be gone.
Jax's memories hit Lucian like a hammer. He saw Jax's whole life flash before his eyes, feeling his emotions, his pain, his joy, his anger. The memories continued until the present, where he saw himself from Jax's perspective.
Lucian always thought it was never enough. It didn't matter what he achieved, he always felt like he was lacking. But to Jax, he was the one who was unreachable.
What took others a lifetime to achieve, Lucian could do in a fraction of the time. In Jax's eyes, he was a genius who could do anything.
The opposite went for Lucian, who saw himself as a loser who couldn't even propose to his wife properly.