'I am not.' Ash'Kral said seriously, 'Why do you think I have chosen you? Your situation is far too compatible with my unique seed. Without eyes, the Void seed will be able to extract the dark energy residing within the spiritual bridge of darkness.'
'Wait, we are in the presence of dark energy now? How come this is the first time I am hearing about it?'
Levi raised an eyebrow in surprise as he extended his senses around him, trying to feel it, but failing every time.
'Because dark energy can be utilized only by those with bloodline or evolutionary traits related to it. Across the entire Shadow Dimension, only a few remaining royal bloodlines with its affinity are still alive.'
'You may not possess as great of an affinity as them, but your permanent exposure to the spiritual darkness bridge since childhood has helped you improve your affinity.' Ash'Kral clarified, 'This is a unique trait only you humans have. In the case of nightcrawlers, it doesn't matter if they spent their entire lives in a different environment; they won't be able to grow an affinity for that said environment. They are locked with what they are born with.'
Levi nodded in understanding as he had read about this subject in great detail in his mother's textbooks.
He understood that nightcrawlers came with seemingly infinite types of species, each one stranger than the other.
Some species had amazing affinities to poison, sand, earth, wind, ice, and some even had affinities to peculiar elements such as fog, glass, bones, gold, and such.
The only elements the nightcrawlers were cursed to not wield were the ones related to light, such as fire, magma, lightning, or even plants. It wasn't like they couldn't wield them exactly, but they could not produce light radiation.
For example, lightning would become dark lightning, or normal flames would turn into black flames.
Just like the black wooden umbrella, it was created out of wood, but it was dead black wood that could not absorb light at all.
'With the Void seed, you will be more than capable of tapping into this infinite source of dark energy and use it to slowly feed it or even refuel it to utilize its related abilities.' Ash'Kral added.
'That sounds good, but what am I supposed to do with the other two seeds.' Levi frowned, 'Since I need to keep growing them simultaneously, this means I need to be just as good at cultivating them as well.'
Levi's concerns were in place. He understood that while the Void seed would not be lacking in the energy department, he couldn't replicate the same consistency with the other two seeds...Especially, the Sun seed.
After all, it was more or less similar to Shadowlife seed as it needed sunlight to grow, and this was one of Levi's greatest struggles without eyes.
'Don't worry, my Nine Senses seed can grow by feeding it any source of energy available; it accepts everything and rejects none. However, since it can feed on everything, it requires tenfold the amount of energy when compared to the other two seeds.' Ash'Kral shared.
'Any type of energy?' Levi was amazed.
Levi understood that the world and the Shadow dimension were filled with all sorts of peculiar potent energy sources, which were still being studied as they were speaking.
If he could grow those energy sources, his Nine Senses seed would be dealt with properly too.
'What about the Sun seed?'
Levi knitted his eyebrows, knowing that it was the only seed that Ash'Kral shouldn't have a solution for unless he wanted him to grow through abusing growth totems and such sources.
While it was doable, Levi knew he would need to hunt down nightcrawlers 24/7 to collect their crystallized seeds and trade them for Solar Aegis Coins.
Even then, he wouldn't be able to secure a constant supply of growth totems since the Solar Aegis Sanctuary used a unique system, where their resources were handled based on each Holy Region's rank.
The Holy Heliodor's region rank worldwide was somewhat in the lower middle of the barrel, which meant their quota for all types of Totems was extremely limited.
Because of this, the government ensured the purchase of most of their stock and resold it to the rest of the Daywalkers at an increased price of Solar Aegis Coins.
Yet, the described situation was the most favorable.
In reality, the government prioritized selling the best of totems to private agencies, lineage families, governors, and anyone with a connection to the government, like the Anti-Sleepwalkers Department, the Outposts defenders, and such.
In simpler terms, obtaining totems was an extremely difficult and pricey endeavor. That was why Jamal and Sergio were pissed at the thought of employing them as bait.
'You have been taught your entire life that without eyes, you're a failure as a Daywalker.' Ash'Kral said bitterly, 'Poor thing, you have no idea what you are truly capable of.'
'But, you were one of the main people abusing me cause of it, making me remember every day how foolish of me to dream of becoming a Daywalk...'
'Shshe, there was no such a thing.'
Ash'Kral shushed Levi with a wing near his spiritual mouth. Then, he said, 'All I did was try to motivate you. Look at how far you came.'
'...' Levi's eyebrows twitched at his shamelessness.
'For anyone else, losing their eyes might be considered as the end of their Daywalkers' dream, but you are different.'
Levi knitted his eyebrows in intrigue, 'Different? Are you saying this to make me feel good?'
'You know that's one thing I will never do.' Ash'Kral frowned, acting like he was insulted by his remark.
'True, your mouth is disabled when it comes to compliments.' Levi nodded.
'Have you ever wondered why your eyes were stolen?' Ash'Kral suddenly asked, 'Have you wondered why no eye replacement surgery worked on you, even with all the technological development?'
'Every single day.' Levi squinted his scorched marks.
After a thorough digging into the public data in the network, Levi had found some information that showed his situation wasn't quite unique.
It was the signature motto of an infamous hidden organization called The Duskbound Order. He had heard that they were mainly employed as hitmen and assassins to high-profile Daywalkers or civilians.
Once the deed was completed, they would either remove the eyes of the next living entity to the target, whether it was a child, an animal, a maid, or even an unrelated stranger. If no one but the target was available, they would remove the eyes of the corpse.
This was everything he knew about them, and one of his goals was to reach a higher authoritative status to find their classified data and know who had put a target on his parents.
As for the eye replacement surgery? The doctors had already tried everything on Levi when he was a child, and nothing worked...Even Arthur had volunteered to donate one of his eyes for Levi, so both of them would have a chance at seeing the world.
Unfortunately, even when they were blood-related, his eyes weren't compatible with Levi's. In fact, nothing was.
This peculiar situation had driven the doctors to seek a different alternative, such as a cybernetic eye.
Yet, to their shock, his body rejected it as well...It was like his body wanted only his stolen eyes and nothing else...Not even using high-grade recovery totems was able to regrow his eyes.
'While I don't know if the Duskbound Order were targeting your parents, and you ended up as collateral damage, I do know one thing.' Ash'Kral dropped a bombshell calmly, 'Your bloodline may not be 100% human and there is a chance they have found out about it.'
'Huh?' Levi was startled.