Soulless Players

72  Xavier

When Philip emerged from the rubble and reached Gerald's unconscious body, he didn't utter a word. He just stumbled there, dazed, and knelt beside Gerald. His gaze was especially dark and empty as though he had experienced the greatest calamity in his life and suffering from a severe case of PTSD.

The mentalists around Gerald simply allowed the child to approach without interference. Their faces were marked with frowns as they observed him. Especially for those who were at least empaths in level, their frowns were particularly deep and concerning. "Hey, child, are you hurt?" a soothing female voice echoed behind Philip as if trying to calm his troubled mind. Hearing this, Philip turned around, his expression blank and devoid of words or reactions. He resembled a lifeless statue, lacking any trace of humanity. Observing him, the woman shifted her gaze to a seventeen-year-old blonde-haired, blue-eyed teenager nearby and nodded, silently instructing him to handle the situation. However, the teenager remained similarly silent, his focus locked on Gerald's condition. His eyes flickered as if trying to remember where he had encountered Gerald before, sensing an uncanny sense of familiarity from him. "He's one of us. We will take care of him," he finally spoke after a prolonged silence, then shifted his gaze. "As for him..."

He carefully examined Philip, who remained bare and naked like Gerald, and continued, "My organization will look after him as well."

After this, the mentalists swiftly moved to locate the other survivors of the battle. Fortunately, it was not difficult as they immediately found over 30 children about 300 meters away, sleeping soundly in the damp, smelly sewage tunnel. "Most of these children are those who have been reported as missing due to kidnappings. Some of them were children of those men who believed in a great devil. Two of them were friends of that awakened teenager." The woman earlier reported. She then cast her look to Philip, "And as for this child, he is also the son of one of the believers who had perished from the ritual. Both of his parents are now deceased, leaving him as an orphan."

Upon hearing the report, the mentalists split up to take the kidnapped children to their homes. Some of the higher-level mentalists were left behind to use their psychic and telekinetic powers to clear away the debris. "This is the remains of the spiritualist, Gregorio Damion. He hails from the southern part of Nadia Queendom and is a follower of one of the great devils in the mirroring world," one mentalist explained. "The other bodies of men and children, which have similarly turned into ashes, will take time to identify..."

"Although we wished to investigate further, we can't do so as ordinary citizens are starting to gather at the scene of the explosion. We need to prioritize the clean up immediately..."

***

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As the mentalists worked on cleaning the area, Philip and Gerald were brought to the sleeping quarters of one of the mentalist guilds. Currently, both of them were dressed tidily. While Philip sat near the unconscious Gerald, many children peeked at them with curiosity, their gazes intense and eager to understand the two newcomers. However while Philip noticed them, he remained unresponsive, a result of a corruption in his space of consciousness. Currently, Philip employs the same technique he used to hide his emotions from Lala. But instead of the second core, he drew upon the dominant emotion from his first and largest core memory. Enveloped in this heavy emotion, Philip couldn't think or react. He simply sat there, driven by an instinctual desire to protect and to stay near Gerald. The children, aged between eight and seventeen, watched the two of them with mixed emotions. While their feelings were distinct, their thoughts were similar.

"This is the consequence of unlocking a tainted core memory, a memory filled with a person's painful and sad experiences," they reasoned.

Observing the two children, they could somewhat piece together what had occurred.

Gerald had unlocked two core memories. One had forcibly accelerated his growth, granting him the ability to borrow strength from his future self; and second, allowed his eyes to glow gold, providing him with night vision and a powerful and brilliant light encasing a 300-meter radius field.

The children surmised that the first stemmed from a collection of memories marked by a desire to escape weakness and childhood. This usually happened to children who had suffered abuse during their formative years and could not help but wish to grow up as quickly as possible. Although, based on the records, this core wasn't especially rare and dangerous, in Gerald's case, it was particularly unique and concerning. Normally, children who wished to grow up were only granted the strength and mental capacity of their adult counterparts. However, Gerald's case offered much more than that as not only did he achieve maturity, but he was also given the powers of a mentalist. This indicated that Gerald was destined to be a high-level mentalist, one that he would grow up into the future!

And this was also the source of the children's worry. They were concerned about the potential mental toll on Gerald due to the strength of his unlocked core. Unlocking a tainted core came at a heavy price, often resulting in mental illness. The severity depends on the core's strength and impact on the awakener. And given Gerald's performance, it was to be expected that his suffering would be not small and negligible. Fortunately, Gerald had also unlocked another core related to happy memories. From studies of core memory powers, the children around believed that Gerald had unlocked something related to someone who gave him light and hope for his future. Seeing that their leader was in the middle of mental distress, they could only leave him alone with the 15:21

other two patients.

With this, it provided balance within Gerald's consciousness and mitigated the potential harm. So for now, the children's worries were not that deep. However, for the child sitting next to Gerald, it's a different story.

For those who were at least empaths in level, they could see dark orbs fiercely swirling around him. Its pitch-black color was especially ominous, representing the combination of extreme negative emotions within the child. Although they were unsure of what kind of power his core granted him earlier, they were certain it came from a tainted one. Given the gravity of his emotion orbs, they also surmised that the child was currently experiencing the aftereffects of unlocking it.

The children's expressions grew solemn as they contemplated how to deal with him. They could only watch the seventeen-year-old teenager sitting at the corner, who appeared to be in a mental turmoil similar to the child beside Gerald.

Seeing that their leader was in the middle of mental distress, they could only leave him alone with the other two patients.

After a long silence, the teenager named Xavier finally reacted and whispered, "Yes, it's him."

Xavier looked at Gerald and reminisced, "I remember. He seems to be one of the children who had escaped from that experimental unit..."

He recalled the time when he was only thirteen, running alongside other children to escape from a dark tunnel. He recognized he had caught a glimpse of Gerald at the front but had lost sight of him afterward. "Is he one of the experimental children locked in that room? Is that why he's able to unlock two cores at once?"

Unlocking a core memory and harnessing its potential power to escape from a dire situation was exceptionally difficult and required talent. It also poses a significant risk to one's mental well-being, especially when a core is unique and powerful.

Gerald's situation was at high risk as not only did he unlock one but two powerful core memories at the same time.

In fact, Xavier believed that Gerald should have perished and that there was no way he should have survived. However, seeing that he was not and was just unconscious, he could only assume that Gerald possessed immense mental strength and a powerful anchor that prevented him from succumbing to death.

"Additionally, the strength of his two cores is on par, creating a delicate equilibrium," he mused. "However, this balance is extremely fragile and could collapse if heavily stimulated. It might also lead to his immediate death..."

Xavier then shifted his attention to the unknown child seated beside Gerald. He observed the dark orbs swirling around him, almost engulfing him.

A sudden smile played on Xavier's lips as he sensed a profound familiarity in the child's emotions, and he whispered to himself.

"Philip?"