"Wow this city is so big!" Andrew said while being amazed by the city of Manstoul. It was his first time seeing such city.
"Of course it is. Afterall it is the capital of Pantheria kingdom." Sammy replied.
...
"Go to the Manstoul city and find the Everstiff rock there if you want to know the answers to your questions."
After reading these lines, there were a lot of doubts on Sammy's mind. He could not trust anyone after what he had gone through. But he did not have any other clue, so decided to come to the Manstoul city.
...
Sammy's mind was thinking about his previous visit to this city. He had visited this city to steal the book containing scriptures from the Church of Manstoul. This was bringing all the bad memories back to his mind.
To keep his mind distracted he asked Andrew while they were walking," So why don't you tell me the things you know about the supernatural?"
"Hmmm...about the supernatural, where should I start from? Well let's start from Dominators."
"What are those?"
"People with supernatural powers are called as Dominators. For example, the priest you fought was a Dominator."
"So how can someone become a Domintor?
Can I become a Dominator too?" Sammy asked.
"Yes, anyone can become a Domintor. To become one, first you have to enhance your spiritual energy. Every living being in this world has a life energy called as spiritual energy. Some people even call it life force, soul energy or even aura. The enhanced version of spiritual energy is often called spirit force. This spirit force is the basis for performing any supernatural activity."
"How do you enhance your spiritual energy?"
"Mister, there is no need for you to be this hasty. I will explain things step by step to you." Andrew said in a cocky voice.
Sammy looked at him, a little annoyed.
"To enhance your spiritual energy, you have to take some special ingredients, called spiritual ingredients. These ingredients are obtained from supernatural creature. These are mostly specific organs or parts of supernatural creatures. It can be a specific organ of some supernatural animal or even some plant. The only condition is that the corresponding creature should have some supernatural powers.
After taking the supernatural ingredient, your spiritual energy is increased greatly and is turned into spirit force. Spirit force is much more stronger than spiritual energy."
"Am I allowed to ask how do you get supernatural powers after consuming supernatural ingredients?" Sammy asked jokingly.
"Of course you are. The thing is after you take a supernatural ingredient, you don't have to do anything. When your spiritual energy is enhanced completely, supernatural powers will eventually start to appear inside you. The powers you get are most of the times related to the powers of the creatures, you obtained your supernatural ingredient from."
"This is the reason why choosing a supernatural ingredient is very important, because what powers you get will be decided by the supernatural ingredient."
"Most of the times, supernatural ingredient give you powers from two to three domains."
Sammy was about to say something when Andrew interrupted him and said," I know you are going to ask what are domains, right?"
Sammy nodded.
"Domains are classification for powers. There are many domains like fire domain, water domain, mirror domain, physical domain etc. And as for the powers from these domains, that is pretty much obvious from the name. Fire domain has fire related powers, water domain has water related powers and so on."
"Now as I said before, supernatural ingredients mostly give you powers from two to three domains, but this number may vary for different routes."
Sammy looked at Andrew as he was ready to ask his next question. Andrew also looked at Sammy in a way as if telling him there is no need to ask.
"Routes are like paths containing specific powers. When you take a supernatural ingredient, your route is also selected because a supernatural ingredient doesn't just enhance your spiritual energy, but also give you specific powers from specific domains."
"For example, by eating the heart of a Hilos fish, you choose a route called Nature Route. This route gives you powers from the wind, thunder and the water domain. The priest you fought had most likely chosen this route. This route gives you bubble related powers by mixing powers from water domain and wind domain, along with other powers. Most of the Churches of Pantheria kingdom has this route and their powers come from the corresponding domains."
"How many routes and domains are there in total?" Sammy asked as he finally got a chance to speak.
"No one knows about it. There are many routes and domains that have been discovered and are often talked about. But there are also many routes and domains that have been discovered and only a few people know about them. And at last, there are many routes and domains that have not even been discovered yet."
"Well, I have to say that this supernatural world is totally crazy and full of mysteries."
Sammy said, overwhelmed by the things, he heard about the supernatural.
"It sure is." Andrew gave an honest answer.
"Can a Dominator choose two routes?" Sammy asked.
"No, a Dominator can associate himself with only one route. If a person chooses two routes, it will result in destruction of his body."
"From the way you told me about all these, it seems everything is going to be fine unless you choose more than one route. Becoming a Domintor seems so easy. But I know that is not true. If it was, then everyone in our world would have these powers. So, what's the catch?" Sammy asked knowing that becoming a Dominator wasn't as easy as it seemed.
"Well mister, you got me there. You are right, it is not so easy. When you take a supernatural ingredient, you have to be strong, both physically and mentally. If you are not, either you will die or you will go mad for the rest of your life. Another reason is that supernatural ingredients are very costly and most of the people don't have any knowledge about what ingredients they should consume at all. In the supernatural world, knowledge is the most powerful weapon." Andrew replied.
Sammy now atleast had a general idea about the supernatural and was satisfied for the time. He then began his search for Everstiff rock along with Andrew. They asked many people but no one knew about it.
"No one knows a damn thing about that hardstiff rock. Do you think that we were lied to, mister?"
"It was Everstiff rock not the hardstiff rock. And I don't think we were lied to. No one would send such a dangerous raven just to fool us. I had expected that ordinary people wouldn't know anything about the rock. To know where that rock is, we have to find someone who knows about the supernatural." Sammy said as his gaze went to wanted posters posted on wall beside a shope. He had been seeing the same wanted posters ever since he entered the city.
"Do you know anything about this lady Louisa whose bounty posters are all around here." Sammy asked Andrew.
"You don't know about Louisa? She is the newest member of the Null Unit. She had been seen in this city recently."
"What is the Null Unit?"
"What? Are you for real? You don't know about the Null Unit? Which era are you from mister? Null Unit is a group of seven assassins. They are known for their ruthless behaviour and completing every mission they are given, throughout our entire kingdom."
"I wish I could meet this beautiful lady. I have never seen such a beauty in front of my eyes." Andrew expressed his desire jokingly.
"Don't even think about it. We are not going to associate ourselves with anything unnecessary." Sammy said in an irritated tone.
"I was just kidding mister. There is no way we are going to meet her." Andrew said confidently.
"How can you be so confident about it?"
Andrew moved ahead of Sammy, turned around and started walking backwards. While facing Sammy and continuing to move backwards he said," because I am lucky. I know that there is no way we are going to..." Andrew had not even completed his words when he bumped into someone wearing a black cloak and whose mouth was covered by a hoodie that was also a part of the cloak.
"Oh! I am really sorry. I wasn't..." Andrew was about to complete his sentence when he saw the face under the hoodie. It was none other than Louisa. Sammy also saw her face, but he was certain that as long as they pretended not to recognise her nothing was going to happen to them in the middle of the market.
"You are Louisa Belfort." Andrew said immediately.
Sammy clicked his tongue in anger. You moron, do you have balls in your head instead of a brain. Why did you say her name?
Louisa did not say anything. She just kept staring. Not at Andrew but at Sammy.
"You ..... Are you here to capture me? I can tell you are superssing your spirit force greatly. But you can not hide your spirit force from me."Louisa finally spoke.
"Me? Are you taking about me?" Sammy asked while being confused.
"There is no need for you to act. I know you are a Dominator." As she finished her sentence, she looked behind as if she had sensed something.
"Oh sh*t! They are here." She said still looking behind.
Sammy and Andrew also looked at the direction she was looking and saw three men in outfits of royal guards coming their way. They moved their gazed again to Louisa and found out that she was gone. They had look of surprise in their eyes.
The royal guards approached them." Come with us." One of the guards said. He was bald and had thick moustaches.
"We haven't done anything wrong." Andrew said in a flustered way.
"Don't make me repeat myself." The bald guard said angrily.
Sammy looked at Andrew and singled him to follow the orders.
...
The royal guards took Sammy and Andrew to an isolated street.
"Tell me where did she go? You are her companion, aren't you?" The baldy guard asked Sammy.
"We don't know her sir. We just happened to bump into her." Sammy answered honestly.
"Oo you don't know her, huh!" The guard slapped Sammy. " Don't you dare fu**ing lie to me." He screamed in agony.
Sammy kept himself composed and said,"We are not lying. We are telling you the truth."
"We have been chasing her for days now. Do you know how much frustrated we are right now? Huff....Let us just forget about that. If you are her accomplice, you might be a Domintor.Let's just test it."
The baldy guard held his right hand near his chest and threw it down with a sudden jerk. His hand grew in size. It looked like the hand of some giant's children.
He punched Sammy on his stomach with that hand. Sammy was sent flying and he hit the wall. He fell to the ground and coughed blood. He was on his knees.
Sammy tried to get up but before he could, the baldy again hit him on his head with that gigantic hand.
He fell to the ground completely and was lying down. His mind was going blank. Darkness was filling his eyes. With those eyes he saw that bald guard go to Andrew.
"How could you do this to an innocent person." Andrew asked.
"Shut up. We are royal guards. We just do what we want to do. No one can stop us." As he said it, he punched Andrew too. He also started to cough blood.
Sammy was on the verge of blanking out. It was just like the time, he fought the priest.
"These guys are no fun. They lost so easily." Bald guard said in a disappointed tone. As he said it, he sensed someone standing behind him.
He turned around and saw that Sammy was standing again, looking coldly at him with his extreme dark eyes.
"Oo, you still have some fuel left inside of you. Come at me then."
Sammy raised his hand and held it near his chest, pressing his index and middle fingers tightly together, pointing them forward like a blade, while the others curled into his palm.
Then with a sudden jerk, he threw his hand forward. As he threw it, a small bolt of lightning came out from between his index and middle finger and hit one of the guards. The lighting was not strong enough to kill him but it was strong enough to make that guard pass out who was an ordinary human being.
He again repeated this action and took out the other guard too.
"I knew it! You are a Dominator. Finally you have revealed your true colours." The bald guard said excitedly.
Sammy did not say anything. He held both of his arms near his chest and copied the action that guard had done a few moments ago. Both of his hands grew in size.
"You are a Dominator from the Shifter route. But that's not possible. Shifter route does not give you powers from the thunder domain." The bald guard was confused to see what was happening in front of his eyes.
Sammy moved forward and attacked the guard with one of his gigantic hands.
The guard bulged his chest out. His clothes from his chest region were torn as his chest also grew in size. Sammy's hand hit his chest. But it didn't do much effect.
Sammy started to punch him with both of his hands successively.
The guard was thrown back and his chest and hand returned to their normal size.
Sammy's hands also returned to their normal size. Sammy raised his right arm in upward direction, above his head with fused fingers.
"What... are you doing?" The guard asked in fear and puzzlement.
Sammy threw his arm downwards with great velocity. As he did, a thick beam of light descended from the sky and covered the entire body of the guard.
"Aaaaaaaaa..." The guard screamed in pain. After a few seconds, the beam if light disappeared. All it left behind was the completely roasted body of the guard.