----- 14 years earlier -----
It's time
The first day of Ao's intensive training
Ao (Child): “I'm ready master!”
Ao stands at attention before his master, dressed in a white kimono, in a small outdoor training area covered by a thin layer of snow.
He tries to contain his excitement, thinking he'll be able to perform miracles in just one day of training with the great master he admires so much.
His master, dressed in long white robes that conceal his appearance, stands, running his hand through his long white beard, and looks puzzled

Ao's master: “Kneel down, Ao.”
Little Ao complies, and his master moves closer to him... then puts his hand on his little head, and suddenly
...
...
Ao (Child): Rugged “Hmm”
Master: Cuddles little Ao's head “Before we start all this I have to tell you... no matter how hard and strict I would be with you, don't forget.”
A whisper accompanies the sound of the wind, as if someone with a voice distorted between male and female were speaking at the same time as his master
Master and whisper: “Don't forget, we love you... Ao”

Ao's eyes shine and begin to fill with tears of joy, and as he looks up, realizes that his master is looking at him, with yellow eyes and a sincere smile
Ao: “I...”
Master: “... Right
Let's begin

----- Back to present -----

While Yumi and Gin are still unconscious, Ao and Kin face each other

Kin: “I'm asking you one last time, undo what you did to my brother and sister, or I'll force you to do it!!!”
Ao: “You're in the same state as them you know!”
Kin: “Huh?!” Look at his hands
Ao: “You've been bewitched by engram and soul magic, as I told you earlier, I've woken you up... and it won't be long before you remember who you really are!”
Kin: “What... What are you talki-” Stops..
Kin feels a great uneasiness inside him, and begins to suffer from “unknown” memories, from “another person
In these memories, he hears a female voice... and feels an irresistible affection for the person behind the voice
Female voice: “Let's stay together forever, Aiji”
Kin: “Aiji?!..” Confused and suffering
Suddenly, a memory darkens the previous one, giving way to a large hand standing in front of Kin, accompanied by a deep, authoritative voice
Authoritative voice: “Sign it !! Or she dies!”
Aiji: “No.. NO!!!” Panic

SMACK
Ao: Slaps Kin “Wake up!”
Kin: Breathes with difficulty and gets angry “You... !!” Rushes Ao
Ao: Slaps Kin again “What are the 4 fundamental aspects of a star bearer?”
Kin: Continues to lunge at Ao “Fuck you ..!!”
Ao: Slaps Kin back “Wrong, the 4 fundamental aspects of a starbearer are body” Kicks Kin in the stomach, and falls to the ground spitting bile
“Intelligence” Grabs Kin's head, pushes it hard to the ground, and crashes into the red sand
“Imagination” Lifts his index finger in front of him, and causes the sand to rise beneath Kin, who flies away
“And soul” Claps with his hands and makes floats the sand and Kin into the air

Kin is completely overpowered without any difficulty, and spits sand and blood from his mouth
He seems to be still disoriented by the memories running through his head
Ao: “Do you understand now, why you're weak?”
Kin: “I... am not weak!!!” Lifts his head and looks at Ao with a determined gaze
“Magnetic Submission MAX”

Magnetic Submission is Kin's signature technique, which sends a super-powerful magnetic force towards the ground, forcing the opponent into the earth
But Ao doesn't move, just his clothes seem to drop a little
Kin: “Im.. Impossible!!!” Shocked
Ao: “Huh... You're bound to a classic white dwarf... Normally, white dwarfs don't become great warriors, but you.. You seem to have potential!”
Kin: “Stop talking to me like you're an archmage!!!”
Ao: Sneering “An archmage? I don't spend my day in an office contemplating the world's existential crises!”

Kin: “Tss.. What kind of bullshit lesson is that about life?!”
Ao: “Oh, but what's happening is the lesson.”

Ao snaps his fingers, and the magnetic force around him disappears... and reappears on Kin, who gets shoved into the ground roughly

Ao: “For you to be a good starbearer, the 4 fundamentals must be balanced, and mastered to the best of your ability.
It's the foundation of the foundation, and the Pendragons are depriving you of it to avoid a rebellion.”
Kin: Sinks to the ground “ARGH.. What have you got against the Pendragons?! They... saved us all!!!”
Ao: “Right, by brainwashing you into forgetting your old life, and becoming a puppet?! Is that how they save you?
And the dark power infection, who do you think caused it?!”
Kin: “The infection... has receded!!!”
Ao: “3/4 OF THE CONTINENT HAS FELL INTO DARK POWER!!! AND IN A FEW MONTHS, THERE'LL BE NOTHING LEFT!!!”

Kin is shocked by this revelation... but refuses to believe it
As Gin and Yumi slowly wake up, worried by Ao's words

Kin: “I... don't believe you!”
Ao: “It's all right, you don't need to believe me... you'll just have to look around you, and soon you'll see those around you turning into demons too...”
Ao grits his teeth and clenches his fists, thinking of Zack and his old friends..
Gin: Closes in on Ao and Kin “Release my brother, Ao!!!”
Ao: Releases the technique on Kin by snapping his fingers, and looks at Gin with a look of anger “What are you doing here Gin?! Didn't you get your fill when you saw the massacre of the Silver Fang bandits?!!”

Gin: “I.. My sister needs the tournament prize to survive!!! She's no longer bound to a star... she'll soon die of natural radiation if we don't do something..”
Ao: “Huh, the prize is a link to a Celestial?”
Gin: “A piece of Celestial living flesh.”
I see. Unfortunately, the way the tournament's going... They're planning to kill everyone here

Yumi: Comes closer to Gin and Kin “The red cult is killing all the participants, it's a real bloodbath..”
Kin: “I don't like it... but we have to join forces with you, Ao”

Ao: Sneers softly “Given your condition, they must have been alerted..”
Kin: “Huh?!”
Ao: “Okay, I'll protect you from the red cult, but you'll have to obey me!”
Kin: “Tss.. Your arrogance knows no bounds.”
Ao: “Yeah, I get that a lot...” moves closer to Kin, and observes him quickly
Kin: “What are you doing?!”
Ao: “Nothing..” Takes a closer look at Kin, who seems increasingly annoyed “Yeah, that'll do”

Night begins to fall, and as Kin becomes increasingly irritated by Ao's personality, Gin and Yumi slowly return to the cave to prepare a fire

Let's go, it's time to piss off their “master”!
Ao: Places index finger on Kin's chest “Particle chaos”

Particle chaos is an Archmage-level technique that works on an atomic level.
The user can reproduce atomic phenomena that he has studied beforehand, if, of course, the atoms to be manipulated are present where the technique is launched

Ao has produced a phenomenon in Kin's body that causes his power to circulate through his body in a “natural” way, i.e. his body receives a quantity of power equivalent to if he had performed the Enhance: Full Body technique 100 times in a row

Kin: Twists on the ground, screams in intense pain
Gin: Drops twigs on the ground and runs to Kin “What's wrong, Kin?!”
Ao: Walks around Kin “I know... it burns! But you're not burning, so why does it hurt so much? Because your power is changing you!”
Kin: Crying out in even more pain, veins inside him pop out from under his skin and move
Gin: Gets angry and charges at Ao “What have you done to him ?!!”
Ao: Slaps Gin, who falls to the ground “The first step, to become someone, in this world..”

Ao remembers his master's words
Ao's master: “The first step, to become someone, in this world.”
Ao (Child): cry of extremely intense pain
Master: “Get used to this feeling, because... every second of your old life”
Ao (Child): cry of extremely intense pain
Master: “It'll come down to this burning sensation... but one day, maybe, it won't burn anymore... and that'll mean you've completed your evolution!!!
And then your life will begin!"
Ao (Child): “Master... please stop” cry of extremely intense pain
Master: “Class is over, child... now you're on your own... fight for your life!!!”
Ao stops remembering his master's words

Kin: cries out in pain “AAARGH!!!”
Ao: “You probably hate me, for now, but you'll thank me later” bends down to Kin, and incants “Sleeping Curse”

Sleeping curse is a curse that puts the target to sleep if it's very weak, and remains in a deep sleep until the user releases the curse.
Kin falls into a deep sleep, but the changes in his body continue to occur

Gin: Gets up, angry at Ao “Damn it, when are you going to stop torturing us like that?!!”
Ao: “When I've achieved my goal, if you have any objections, I invite you to confront me..”
Gin: Cracking his teeth, mad with rage, but not daring to attack
Ao: “That's what I thought, and you've made the right choice. We're not in your kingdom, there are no laws here, except one, the law of the strongest.
It's always the strongest who decides, and that's been the case since the dawn of time.”

Suddenly, Yumi lunges at Ao and tries to hit him, but her fist lands on the ground next to Ao
Yumi: “So, if I beat you, it's up to me, is it?!” Looks at Ao with a sadistic smile
Ao: “Ha, your orc friend's death didn't affect you that much after all!”
Looks at Yumi with a sadistic smile
Yumi: Takes on a face of great anger “What did you just say?!!”

Yumi's thoughts
You bastard, you're going to regret insulting Mu!!!
Yumi, earlier, recalled memories of another life, and a technique she used to use
A deep, familiar voice speaks to her
??? : "The bloodthirsty beast, Freddith”
If these are my memories... then this technique belongs to me!

Yumi: Extends her arms, and strikes a bloodthirsty beast pose, standing “Freddith”

Yumi transforms into a semi-beast, covered in hair, claws sprout from her fingernails and a strange green streak spreads across her torso

Ao's thought
A half-beast... Probably a human Goùd crossbreed
Ao: “You're resourceful, it's quite rare to come across a Nebula!”
Gets into fighting stance
Gin: Chooses to see Yumi in this transformation “Yumi, what the..”
Yumi: “Don't worry, I'll make him regret his words!!!”
Yumi lets out a beastly scream, and prepares to lunge at Ao

The two characters are about to fight, while other people in Kamelott... get restless

----- Kingdom of Kamelott, Royal Castle -----
----- King's audience hall -----

King Arthur is on his throne, listening to the laments of 2 peasants and a “taster” on the subject of their bread
Arthur: “Care to elaborate?”
Karadoc (Taster): “There's nothing to develop, it's just crap.”
The 2 peasants are offended by this “analysis”, and cry foul
Peasants: “Sir, taste our bread and give your opinion!!!” Throw a piece of bread to King Arthur
Arthur: Takes the bread, tastes it... then makes a nasty face “Ah.. no, there's nothing to do..”
Peasants: “IT'S NOT POSSIBLE IT'S A CONSPIRACY!!!”

Suddenly, the great door of the audience hall slams loudly, and out come William Shakespeare, Siegfried Pendragon and a troop of guards, all furious and giving off an oppressive aura.
They march rapidly down the long corridor of the audience hall, pushing the people in line to see the king in a hurry.
A peasant tries to stop their advance by refusing to move aside

Peasant: “We need to see the king just like you do! You wait behind the-” Gets interrupted
Siegfried: Grabbed the peasant by the collar and threw him violently to the ground, shouting in a deep, authoritative voice
“GET OUT OF THE WAY YOU IDIOT, THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!!!”
The people in line are frightened and shocked by Siegfried's brutality, even though he's known to be a very calm person.
Arthur hears the commotion in the queue, the screams, and rises from his throne to signal Siegfried and William's troupe to advance towards him

Arthur: “Why all the fuss about an emergency? You can contact me telepathically, can't you?”
Siegfried: Gets Arthur and pushes him out of the courtroom
“This is confidential, follow us”

Arthur, Siegfried and William move into a small corridor behind the courtroom, and begin their confidential discussion
Arthur: “What's going on?!”
William: “The red cult is attacking the inter-kingdom tournament in the desert of Artand!!! We must intervene, my childrens are there!!!”
Arthur: Shocked “What would the red cult be doing there?! And how did they infiltrate one of our official tournaments?!”
Siegfried: “We don't have an awful lot of information on that, just one person I've deigned to ignore who seems to be involved in all this..”
Arthur: “Who?!”
Siegfried: “Aotahi, the blue light, he's taking part in the tournament”
Arthur: “Isn't this thing supposed to be a rumor?”
Siegfried: “Except... Gin explained to me that he'd met him on his mission against the Silver Fang..”
Arthur: “What... WHAT?! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME ABOUT THIS?!”
Siegfried: “I thought it wasn't relevant, and that it was more someone having fun with him by talking nonsense”
William: “Listen, I don't care about all that! We have to intervene, NOW!
Arthur: “Yes.. you're right” Clenches his fist and emerges a menacing yellow aura
“Let's go”

----- Back to Artand's tournament -----
Gin is stunned... his sister, Yumi, is on the ground, defeated in a single blow by Ao, who seems to have shown him no mercy
Ao: “I told you, it's the law of the strongest here..” Sigh “Anyway, it didn't have to come to this!”
Gin: “Why are you doing this? Implanting strange memories.. Trying to make us believe that the Pendragons are the enemy.. When you, all you've done so far, IS HURT US!!!”

Gin looks hesitantly and angrily at Ao, unable to understand his actions
While Ao remains unmoved, and doesn't wish to reveal anything
Ao: “Well... If I'm not mistaken, we still have just tomorrow to win the tournament, or else the prize will pass us by.”
Gin: “Huh?! What are you talking about? The tournament's supposed to go on until someone wins, isn't it?”
Ao: “Your kingdom has been alerted to the invasion of the red cult, they'll certainly stop the tournament as soon as they arrive, which also means the tournament will be cancelled, and so no prizes for anyone”
Gin: “How do you know that?!!”
Yumi: On the ground, grunting in pain “Tss.. This tournament has taken far too bloody a turn, there'll be no winner..”
Ao: “Yes, there will! Don't worry about it..”
Yumi: “How can you be so sure of all this?”
Ao: “The tournament veil is rigged..”
Yumi: “Huh?!”
Ao: “In other words, nobody knows that the red cult has attacked us, except of course your kingdom, which I've alerted”
Gin: “And how exactly did you do that?”
Ao ignores the question, and seems to have become distant with the 3 people

Ao's thoughts
From what I can see... I haven't managed to completely free them from the grip of engram and soul magic...
I'll have to keep investigating.

Night has fallen, and the moon illuminates the blood-tinged sand, as our characters gather around their fire in a small cave surrounded by rocks.
As Kin continues to sleep, and Gin and Yumi can't sleep because of their distrust of Ao, a silence descends for several minutes..
then..

Check part 2 of the chapter 9