During lunch break, Rio and his friends were sitting on the school rooftop, the city skyline stretching out before them. Just as Rio was about to take a bite of his food, the air around them suddenly flickered and distorted like a heat haze.
"Yo."
The trio jumped, looking toward the source of the voice. A figure stood there, seemingly having appeared out of thin air. The man leaned against the railing, his eyes fixed intently on Rio.
"So, you're the kid the others were talking about. Rio-kun, right?" the man said, his gaze piercing. "I can feel Lord Shizen's energy radiating from you. That 'monster' inside you... is actually a fragment of Lord Shizen's soul."
He stepped closer, the pressure in the air increasing. "Tell me, how does it feel? You've got a legendary entity anchored to your spirit. What's it like?"
Rio sighed, rubbing his temples. "To be honest? It's incredibly annoying. She never stops talking. It's like having someone screaming insults in my ear twenty-four-seven."
The man chuckled, but his expression remained serious. "I have a question for you. You were 'possessed,' correct?"
"That's right," Rio answered firmly.
"Interesting. Usually, in possession—like in those horror movies you see—the spirit comes and goes as it pleases, treating the host like an empty vessel. But tell me, what was the very first thing you felt the moment she entered your body?"
Rio paused, thinking back to that cold night in the mansion. "It felt like my body was being crushed... like I was carrying ten times my own weight. The pressure was suffocating. But... within a few seconds, it just vanished. Everything felt normal again."
The man narrowed his eyes, processing the information. "I see. It's either a unique dormant power of yours, or a complete 'Body Swap' synchronization. Or perhaps... her original vessel was so badly damaged that she had to merge permanently with your soul. Regardless, you've changed."
He leaned in, a curious smirk on his face. "Your senses have sharpened, haven't they? Specifically, your sense of smell... or rather, your spiritual scent."
Rio looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"
"You can sense them, can't you? The other monsters. You can feel their presence before you even see them."
"Yeah..." Rio admitted, remembering the chill he felt earlier in class. "I can definitely feel them. It's like a cold shiver that points me in a specific direction."
"Exactly. It's a perfect resonance," the man said, crossing his arms. "Now, I need you to explain that sensation in detail. Every tiny feeling, every pulse of energy. Tell me everything."