Secrets of the Universe

At the same time, the Tegylcas were still in the same building, making their big plan.

Seated at a corner was Jake who had begun spiraling into something he had no idea of.

It almost seemed like he had caught a mortal illness, the type that could easily be taken care of by warriors.

Jake clutched his head. He could feel countless hammers banging on it, threatening him for no reason.

It was only due to his strong will that he could keep a calm expression.

Apart from his body state, his senses were all over the place. He found himself hearing things that didn't sound right.

He lacked control over it. It clouded his ears and defeaned his other senses.

*Kyaaa!*

Jake heard a loud scream that pierced his eardrum. It was so loud, that he couldn't discern anything about it. All he knew was that it was a scream!

Standing up abruptly, Jake scribbled words in his notepad and flung it at Eden.

Despite the latter not being aware of it, his senses picked up on the moving object, which in turn, made him react fast by catching it.

Eden read it out loud for the others to listen, "...There is something wrong. I can hear it, a scream."

As soon as he got the information, Eden focused on his sense of hearing.

It was the same as the rest. They paid attention to their surrounding, but could feel nothing.

After a couple more attempts of lackluster feedbacks, Eden calmly said to Jake, "Are you sure?"

Jake nodded his head in reply. He didn't like the situation. He was almost tempted to go on his own, but he would probably die.

Hence, he needed the group to function well.

"Oh, is the fierce young man getting scared?" teased Archer.

"Jake, it is probably a misconception caused by your tense state," replied Eden.

The group then ignored Jake and focused back on planning. They didn't worry about Jake not being active as he was the best at adapting.

Meanwhile, Jake removed his attention from them.

If they couldn't heed his warning, then so be it.

'What a sad life?' sighed Jake.

What he was more worried about was his vision! 

It had begun to twitch again and he kept seeing the grey town. Having gotten used to it, he could endure the effects of the vision, but not for long.

Thankfully, it ended briefly and Jake was finally free from it.

'What does this mean?' thought Jake.

He didn't like this feeling?

He was always about control, about perfection. Yet, every day, he was reminded that he held none of them.

Now, Jake had begun having superimposing visions that felt complicated. It had to mean something, yet, he had no idea of what it meant.

When his sight became stable again, he saw something strange.

His [Akashic Eye], which had always been semi-activated caught on a transparent figure sneaking up on Archer.

It crept behind him and no one even noticed. It was like they couldn't see it, which could only mean one thing.

'Netherans,' sighed Jake.

A ghost, especially in this town, was never alone. They usually came in groups.

Only a ghost could usually not be seen by the naked eye due to their nature. Phantoms, and the other incorporeal netherans could also become fully invincible, but it required an active thought from them, while, in the case of ghost, their body was fully transparent.

With this new understanding in mind, Jake didn't bother to warn Archer but instead focused on what was behind him!

He could feel it. His back body hair rose up to warn him and he could slowly ear the grim silence!

A sword materialized on his hand and he slashed the creature behind him with it. 

It was a simple slash, but was also not simple.

*Shriek!*

An incomprehensible sound came out from the creature as it revealed its actual appearance. Its smoke-like body swam away from the corner and it materialized in front of Jake. 

From the way it snarled, it revealed its face, which was formless, barely able to gain a humanoid face.

'A wraith,' thought Jake.

If he hadn't sensed its presence on time, he might have already been killed by the creature.

"What are you doing?" a loud scream covered the building.

'Hmmmm….' Jake took his eyes off the wraith and focused on the commotion.

Just like he had seen, the ghost had successfully managed to possess Archer. 

Now, Archer was being controlled to attack the others.

'They can take care of it,' mused Jake.

He actually didn't care if they died, but he will probably die along with them.

'I have to focus on the wraith,' decided Jake.

Ducking an attack from it, Jake distanced himself.

He couldn't afford to physically touch it. So, he would rely on long-distance attacks.

'What should I use? It doesn't touch the ground. It's incorporeal and can use any part of its 'body. I don't know its weakness, but it's probably something that anchors its physical aspects,' analyzed Jake.

He didn't want to take any risk. So, he kept the wraith, evading its attack. Yet, it wasn't as simple as he imagined.

Just the wraith was enough to keep his full attention!

Archer, on the other hand, wasn't having a good time.

He found himself shooting arrows at the others. He couldn't stop it, his muscles wouldn't obey it

"What is happening to me," Archer voiced out.

He was glad that he could still speak.

*Pui!* *Pui!*

Archer was one of the best archer that was on this island. His every shot was aimed perfectly and could cause substantial damage.

This caused trouble for Eden, River, Sea, and Renee, who couldn't get close to him.

He was totally locking them down. Eden knew he could get in a good slash, but he would possibly kill Archer if he did that.

He shouted to the latter, "Archer, listen to me. You are being controlled. My guess is that it's a ghost. It's not strong enough to gain total control of your body, try to resist it!"

*Shui!*

Rain of arrows fell on the group as they tried to talk their way into Archer.

They were lucky that the ghost couldn't control Archer's energy, or else, the scale of the fight would have spiraled.

"Grr-rrr. I'm trying. The influence is strong. Get out of me!!" shouted Archer.

His weak arm obeyed him and held down the other arm. 

In one body, two different beings fought for control!

The weaker arm was slowly losing when Archer remembered something.

He quit the fight and used his arm to rub on his necklace.

Immediately, a bright white light encased him and freed him from captivity.

*Shriek!!*

The ghost which had been banished from his body disappeared from their sight after being injured by the white light.