Alex's attention was no longer placed on Toby; in one ear and out the other.
Little Gary was flying freely in the air, chasing sparkling dust particles in the morning sunlight, looking extremely happy and free.
"Did you hear what I said? You idiot!" Toby snapped.
"Oh oh, got it. Thanks." Alex replied perfunctorily, his eyes moving following little Gary's flight path, slowly smiling gently.
The tall teenager's gaze shifted slightly, stopping on the crescent-curved eyes and the rare smile of Alex; his breath stagnated a bit, his heart skipped a beat, and his Adam's apple moved up and down with difficulty.
Suddenly, his thoughts halted, his face flushed red; reason realized the loss of composure in this moment, immediately forcibly cutting off his thoughts that were losing control.
"Hmph, just a kid after all, smiling foolishly." Toby muttered, pulling his hat down to cover his face, then walked quickly outside.
Alex didn't notice when Toby left; he held out both hands, watching little Gary land in his palm like an obedient little bird.
"We succeeded?" He asked the spirit in his palm, his voice still trembling a bit with excitement.
The little boy nodded vigorously, flashing a radiant smile revealing pure white teeth.
The skeleton in the corner also moved, joints rubbing emitting dry clicking sounds, attracting Alex's attention.
"I succeeded." Alex turned to say to Elias, eyes sparkling: "I am already an extraordinary person, I can feel the power flowing in my body."
Elias's knuckles pointed lightly forward; the room door was closed by an invisible magical force with a "bang", separating the outside world. He "looked" at Alex with deep sockets: "Congratulations, Alex. You have crossed the boundary of life and death."
"It is I who must thank you." Alex's tone was happy and sincere: "I only remember being dragged underground, sinking into darkness; was it you who saved me? I felt the light was very warm."
Elias's smooth skull shook slowly: "No, it was you who escaped by yourself, Alex. Your will conquered the laws of death."
"Huh?" A look of confusion appeared on Alex's face for a moment, scratching his head: "But I don't remember how I got out... Everything is vague like a dream."
Elias squatted down to be at eye level with him: "Because of it." He pointed a bony finger at the black mark on Alex's neck: "It is stronger than we imagined, Alex. It contains ancient secrets." He held out a clear bony hand; little spirit Gary understood and immediately flew over, landing on his cold palm: "Because of the cause of 'it', your spirit has also undergone a rare mutation."
Little Gary nodded continuously following Elias's words, showing agreement.
The boy flew into the air, bright eyes looking around searching; he saw the oil paper bag Toby left on the table. A tiny hand pointed lightly into the air; the paper bag automatically opened, floating in front of Gary's eyes as if by magic.
The bag opened completely, revealing a croissant with fresh cream emitting the fragrant scent of butter and milk, looking extremely attractive. Little Gary's finger pointed at the cake, and a magical and unbelievable scene occurred.
The still-hot bread suddenly spun rapidly in mid-air; it became illusory, fading, countless illusions stacking upon each other.
Alex was amazed to see pure white flour particles separating, seeing the stream of golden butter and fresh milk flowing backward; even the things he saw were materialized into clear images. The illusions constantly changed, rewinding time; those materialized things also changed according to the process creating them.
Finally, before his eyes, there even appeared the image of a handful of golden wheat grains on a meadow and a calf grazing.
"What is this? Magic?" Alex asked wide-eyed.
Gary shook his head; the boy pointed at the wheat grains and the calf. They transformed again, the process reversed and became the intact cream croissant as initially.
"This is the power that the mark possesses - Decomposition and Reconstruction." Elias explained, his voice steady: "It is also the special power you hold, Alex. You can see the essence of things."
Alex smiled radiantly, picking up the cake to admire.
"That's pretty good." He touched the black mark burning on his neck: "Doesn't this prove I stole an extremely immense power from someone? I profited big time."
Elias helplessly shook his head at Alex's naive optimism, but also didn't want to ruin this joy.
Alex took the two cream croissants Toby left as a small reward after becoming an extraordinary person, sharing one with Elias even though he knew Elias couldn't eat.
He didn't think deeply about the unusual actions of the teenager who was often irritable with him, only remembering that the layer of cream in that croissant was particularly sweet and soft, dispelling the bitter taste of mud from the previous night.
In the afternoon, when the sunlight had turned yellow, Alex dressed neatly, combed his messy hair again, and prepared to go into the city.
He had to go to the place the two Arbiters mentioned to receive his special allowance, a not small amount of money for him, then use that money to buy some necessities and reserve food.
Elias said, a Necro-Speaker in the early stage was extremely weak; the physical body was no different from an ordinary person, their own combat ability was almost zero. The thing that made a Necro-Speaker powerful and terrifying was the spirits they controlled, turning them into weapons or shields.