Ethan frowned.
He didn't retreat.
Instead, he closed his eyes.
Then he slowly released his own power—
letting it extend outward.
Touch.
Brush.
Make contact with the sphere.
One second.
Two.
And then—
resonance.
The blood-red sphere suddenly began to shake violently, as if answering his existence.
Right then—
a splash sounded behind him.
Thalorien rushed in with several Thalaryn warriors.
The moment they saw the blood-red sphere—
everyone's faces went sheet-white.
Thalorien surged forward and seized Ethan by the shoulder.
"Don't touch it!"
His voice carried a fear Ethan had never heard from him before.
"That's a Demon Pearl."
The air seemed to freeze solid.
Thalorien stared at the sphere like it might lunge at him.
"In our legends, it isn't power."
"It's a curse."
"Everyone who tries to control it—"
"gets devoured by it."
Ethan looked at the sphere in silence.
It was still pulsing slowly.
Still responding to him.
Responding to his power.
