Ronan opened his eyes.

Pain followed soon after. He felt heavy pressure in his chest.

He blinked. Dim moonlight shone from the window. He was in his room.

Aura’s voice reached him before he could process the rest.

"Ronan."

He turned his head.

Aura crouched beside the bed, one hand gripping his wrist. Her fingers pressed against his pulse.

The moment his eyes focused on her, she leaned forward.

"Are you okay?"

Ronan stared at the ceiling again.

His mind caught up in pieces. The ritual. The memories. Sophia. The original Ronan’s mother. The faceless entity.

The answer formed slowly.

"I’m alive," he said, a little sarcastic.

Aura’s expression hardened into a glare.

"You’re an idiot."

He ignored the insult.

His body felt different. Heavier. He tried sitting up, but his body refused.. Aura caught his shoulder and steadied him without asking. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Once upright, Ronan noticed the blanket half-pulled over him. His shoes were off. The ritual circle still marked the floor, parts of it scorched black where the ingredients had burned away. The blood in the outer rings had dried into brittle lines.

Aura must have moved him.

"How long was I out?"

Her jaw tightened.

"Hours. Not minutes. Hours. That’s not normal."

Ronan absorbed that. It’s true, that wasn’t normal. Bruce had been out for a little over half an hour.

He glanced at the ruined circle, then back at Aura.

"It looks like the ritual succeeded."

Aura stared at him.

Then she got angry.

"You’re impossible."

Her voice rose slightly.

"I thought your soul had been ripped apart, and the first thing you say is that you believe the ritual has succeeded?"

Ronan raised a brow.

"Should I have asked something else?"

"Yes!"

Aura stood, pacing toward the window before spinning back.

"I knew a five-ingredient ritual would be a bad idea. I knew I should have stopped you."

Ronan shifted, testing his limbs. Everything responded. Slowly, but they responded.

"Don’t stress yourself too much, Princess."

He smirked.

"I love how worried you are about me. You’re acting like an angry wife."

Aura didn’t even react to the teasing.

She called him stupid. An idiot. Reckless. Arrogant. Cocky fool.

The insults kept coming.

Ronan let her continue while he sat up fully. His body felt heavy, but functional. His head still ached.

His stolen eyes stung faintly.

Then something strange happened.

For a split second, he saw a thread.

Dark violet. Pulsing faintly.

It wrapped around him. Around Aura.

Then the image disappeared.

Ronan went still.

Aura noticed immediately.

"What’s wrong?"

Her tone shifted from anger to caution.

Before he could answer, the system messages appeared.

[Soul Pathway Established]

[Advanced Soul Pathway Detected]

[Five-Ingredient Ritual Completed]

[Identity Anchor Formed]

[Soul Stability: Irregular but Accepted]

[Foreign Soul Structure Detected]

[Demon Leech Interference Suppressed]

[Pathway Compatibility: Excellent]

[Skill Acquired: Soul Attack LVL 1]

[Skill Acquired: Soul Sense LVL 1]

Ronan read the messages in silence.

Irregular soul stability.

Foreign soul structure.

Demon Leech interference suppressed.

That explained some things. Raised more questions.

Was the original Ronan’s soul still present? Layered beneath his own?

Or was the leech interfering?

The system said it suppressed the leech’s interference, which meant the parasite had tried to stop the ritual.

That confirmed something important. The leech didn’t want him on the soul path.

Aura stepped closer.

"What are you looking at?"

She couldn’t see the system screen.

Ronan closed the notifications.

"The path established successfully."

Aura did not look relieved.

If anything, that made her angrier.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better? I thought you died!"

Ronan ignored her tone and opened his status page.

[Ronan Ashbourne]

[Age] – 18

[Status] – Severely Injured

[Gender] – Male

[Class] – Mage

[Mana Core] – Stage 2, Initial Stage

[Skills]

[Mana Control LVL 11] – You can control the mana in the air with beginner level proficiency

[Fireball LVL 8] – You can cast a small fireball that will explode on impact

[Mana Recovery LVL 12 (passive)] – You can regain mana at a very slow pace

[Stealth LVL 9] – Allows you to hide your presence

[Flame Mirage LVL 3] – Create a temporary flame afterimage while displacing the real body a short distance. The mirage carries heat, visual presence, and faint mana fluctuation before collapsing into a weak flame burst when struck or dismissed.

[Steel Bone Armament LVL 7]

A brutal reinforcement technique that uses repeated fractures and forced mana circulation to harden the user’s skeletal structure. While active, damaged bones recover faster and become denser after each break, but the process inflicts extreme pain and strains the body heavily.

[Soul Attack LVL 1] – Attacks the soul.

[Soul Sense LVL 1] – Senses attributes of the soul.

Ronan selected soul attack first.

[Soul Attack] – Allows the user to direct mana through the soul rather than the body, producing an attack that targets the opponent’s spiritual structure. At low levels, Soul Attack may cause disorientation, delayed reaction, spiritual pain, disrupted mana circulation, weakened possession links, or temporary loss of focus.

Ronan read it carefully.

Not a killing skill.

Not yet.

But still very useful.

Even a half-second disruption in mana circulation could decide a fight.

"What did you learn?" Aura asked.

"An offensive skill."

Aura narrowed her eyes.

"Soul-based?"

Ronan confirmed it.

Aura’s expression became more serious.

"Soul attacks are dangerous. Even among demons. Most young mages avoid them because mistakes damage the user as much as the opponent."

Ronan hummed. That was useful. So he couldn’t use it rashly. He had a feeling using it against stronger opponents would lead to that.

Then he opened the second skill.

[Soul Sense LVL 1]

A foundational perception skill of the Soul Path. Allows the user to faintly perceive soul signatures, emotional residue, contract threads, and spiritual damage. Detection depends on difference in rank.

Ronan’s eyes paused on contract threads.

He looked at Aura again.

Then he activated the skill intentionally.

The room changed.

Aura’s body remained the same, but something else overlaid it.

A dark-violet thread stretched from her soul to his. Pulsing faintly.

It only lasted a second before disappearing.

He also saw something inside himself.

Red-black threads wrapped around his chest.

The Demon Leech.

This one lasted even shorter.

Ronan deactivated the skill before the headache worsened.

His expression remained calm.

Internally, he took note. It made sense why he would be able to see the contract threads, as they were called. Contracts were made through the soul.

Aura stepped closer.

"What did you see?"

Ronan met her gaze.

"The contract. I was able to see a physical connection between the two of us."

Aura froze.

For the first time in the conversation, her anger dulled.

"What do you mean?"

"I can faintly perceive the soul connection between us." Ronan tilted his head. "Nothing detailed yet. Just the thread."

Aura looked away.

She looked uncomfortable.

Then she said, "That’s dangerous information to casually announce."

Ronan asked what she meant.

Though he already had a hunch.

Aura explained that only higher-level soul path users could detect contracts. She said it was probably because of his secret recipe – the one she still had no idea where he learned.

But from her expression, she had an idea where he’d learned it. She didn’t ask.

Ronan smiled.

"You’re the best. So knowledgeable."

Aura grumbled something under her breath, but he could see her lips curve upwards.

The tension softened slightly.

Then Aura asked what happened during the ritual. She said his body reacted strangely, and the contract felt wrong. Almost strained.

She wanted to know what he saw.

Ronan thought about the memories.

Sophia.

Irene.

Ronan’s mother.

The faceless figure.

He did not tell her everything.

"The Ritual tested identity, from the looks of it."

Aura frowned.

"Identity?"

Ronan exhaled slowly.

"It showed me memories. Some mine. Some not entirely mine. It tried to see whether my soul could hold together."

Aura studied him carefully.

"Did it?"

Ronan looked at the fading ritual circle.

Then he said, "Apparently."

Honestly, even Ronan didn’t know what the ritual was testing. It just showed him memories.

There didn’t seem to be any type of test in the ritual, with bothered him a little. Or perhaps there was, and he just didn’t notice.

Whatever the case was, he seemed to have passed.

Aura did not like that answer.

But she let it pass.

Ronan closed the status window.

His body was exhausted. His soul ached. His eyes hurt.

But the path was established.

With a content smile, Ronan closed his eyes and allowed himself to rest.