"Balance what?" I repeated, my brow furrowing. "Laila? Aries? Elena? My emotions?"
I waited, staring at the yellowed parchment as if I could force the ink to provide a roadmap for my survival. What was I supposed to balance?
"Just make sure of something—don't talk in unfinished sentences!"
But there was no response. The ink remained stagnant, as if the book itself had grown bored of my questions.
'It looks like I have to figure it out myself.'
I shut the book with a dull thud, sliding it back into the dark gap beneath the floorboards. I dragged myself back to the bed and collapsed onto it.
Phew!
I lay there, the room silent except for the frantic thumping of my heart. I began to think about everything—the sharp, refined disgust Laila had poured into me, the hot, messy rage Aries had unleashed, and the suffocating, protective care Elena had tried to wrap me in.
Now that I think about it, everything was going smoothly... until it wasn't. The stability spiked when Laila showed hatred, but it plateaued.
It surged when Elena cared for me, but then it nearly killed me. It was like an engine that could run on gas or electricity, but would explode if the voltage wasn't perfectly matched to the fuel.
'Do I need to balance hate and care?' I wondered, looking at my hands.
I have to balance the positive and negative emotions I receive. I can't be a villain, and I can't be a hero. I have to be the 'Zero Point'.
"So, when I left the library and ran into Elena... she was already caring for me. That side of the scale had gone up," I murmured, staring at the canopy of my bed as I traced the timeline in my head.
The math was starting to settle, even if the logic was insane.
"Then I met Aries on the way. He hated me, so the hate side shot up, trying to meet with the care side that was already high. That's why I felt so strong when he looked at me with hatred. The scales were being leveled."
I sat up, the realization hitting me like a physical blow.
"But then I went to Laila. She poured on even more hate, more disgust. The scale tipped too far into the negative, and the 'Malice Override' kicked in."
I paced the small space of my room, my shadow flickering against the stone walls.
"And after that, I met with Elena... she was smothering me with care. The 'Care' side shot up while the hate side was already up because of Laila. And when it balanced I felt good again."
I abruptly stopped in my tracks, the cold air of the room suddenly feeling like it was vibrating with the truth.
"But Elena cared for me 'too' much," I whispered, my eyes wide as I stared at my reflection in the darkened window. "The positive side spiked, and the resonance stability began to decrease because the scales tipped."
Yes. That's it.
I think I have finally figured it out.
In the prequel, it was stated that demons feed on the negative emotions of others—fear, rage, malice. That was their fuel. While there was nothing explicitly stated like that for Dragons, they were creatures of light, pride, and order. They thrived in the "positive" spectrum of the world's energy.
But looking at what has happened to me... I think the "Two Extinctions" in me both feed on the emotions of others.
If I get hit with too much negative emotion, the Demon side begins to take over, demanding more until it consumes the host. If the emotions are too positive, the Dragon side begins to dominate, trying to "purify" the vessel—which, for a body this weak, is basically a death sentence.
"I can't let Aries hate me too much without Elena loving me," I realized, the weight of the task ahead sinking in. "And I can't let Elena care for me too much without making Laila want to kill me."
I have to play a game of emotional chess where the prize was my own heartbeat.
Suddenly, an otherworldly warmth began to spread across my body, and a sharp, knowing smile tucked at the corners of my lips.
'Then wouldn't that mean if I get too much positive and negative emotion at the same level, high intensity but perfectly equal, my resonance level could reach much more than just 5%?'
The possibilities were staggering. If I could provoke a dragon's fury in one hand and a saint's devotion in the other, I wouldn't just be stable; I would be an engine of pure, unadulterated power.
And if that happens, would I get to use the powers of my demon or dragon blood that is hidden inside me?
The thought was too addicting. Because that way, I won't just be some weak guy waiting for his execution; I will become someone who is fundamentally weak but still terrifyingly strong.
I would become someone who is weak but still strong. Like I will be OP without being OP.
Most people in this world spend their lives trying to increase their mana capacity or hone their sword skills to become a singular pillar of strength.
But I? I would be a walking contradiction. A void that only exists because two opposing forces are trying to crush it into nonexistence.
If I could keep the scales perfectly balanced at a high enough intensity, the friction between the Dragon and Demon blood would generate a power that didn't belong to either world.
I wouldn't have the massive mana pools of my siblings, but I would have something much more terrifying: The Absolute Middle.