Black is a color, a code name, and a symbolic inheritance.

Black didn't like the codename. He hated black, even if he called himself "black", just as he hated all things dark and sneaky, even as his family, including himself, acted in the same way.

He didn't like himself, and he didn't like his family.

He doesn't like himself who doesn't have a sense of identity with every name he uses, and he doesn't like a family that doesn't even have a name, but it does exist.

Every family member of the Federation can arrogantly report his name, and just use this name to deter the group of fools who don't even have a surname, but he obviously has a family, but there is no name that can be reported at all. He still remembered the blatant ridicule of the fools he had received in front of the pretty girl many years ago, when he said, "I am a member of the family," but could not give his name, and the girl was laughing along.

Fortunately, they won't laugh anymore after that, so let's not mention this for now.

Black had long known that the spells practiced by their family were very different from the magic they usually used, and he had always thought that this was the reason why they had to keep it a secret. At one point, he slandered and ridiculed the narrowness and stupidity of this "tradition".

However, after he was twenty years old, he learned more about it, and he realized that this was not simply a so-called "tradition", but more for safety reasons. If a family member comes up with a uniform name and mentions it openly to others, it is as foolish as writing "I am a thief" on their clothes and running out to steal.

Not only do the techniques they use fall under the category of mages, "magic manipulators", but they themselves feel that they have nothing to do with "magic" in the broadest sense of the word. It is a more essential and closer to the real technology.

Because of this, they know things they shouldn't know and have conjectures that shouldn't be made.

Knowledge is precious, powerful, and therefore dangerous. Outsiders often envy the so-called freedom of the Federation, and there are quite a few people in the Federation who are proud of it, and have pride and even sympathy for the people of the Empire, who may never meet in their lifetime, but those who have wealth and power among them know that those commoners do not have the freedom to acquire knowledge—but they think they have such freedom, so they proudly keep it secret with the same pride and sympathy.

Take the thing that made him realize this, that is, the secret of the "Spirit Emblem".

The commoners of the Federation basically knew nothing about the "Spirit Emblem", and only the children of relatively large families and related people were qualified to know about it. There is no need to hide the existence of such a thing, but these people, out of arrogance and self-righteousness, keep this secret—a real secret that they don't even know about for those who hold deeper secrets.

Of course, Black couldn't touch the truth of that secret. It was only through the family's ancestral technology that he had a vague conjecture about the secrets, and because of the family's miserable situation, he glimpsed the existence of those who had deeper secrets to a certain extent. If no one ever knew the deeper secrets, no one would stop the family from going deeper.

Black actually doesn't like this kind of mysterious expression, it's just that his secret career over the years has made it his habit to keep his mouth shut. Even if you just think about it in your heart, you can ignore all the details that can be omitted, and use pronouns such as "family technology" and "that secret", as well as inconsequential metaphors, which seem to say a lot, but in fact it does not hit the point at all.

Fortunately, it seems that this secret life is coming to an end.

Black had heard of an old guy with the code name "Mister" before, and at the age of fifty-six, he still occupied the code name and refused to let go. I heard that his weakened spirit was no longer able to properly control the family heirloom technology, and he could only rely on years of accumulation to perform a little rough operation. In the past, Hei was very unhappy with the rumored "gentleman", and it was only recently that he learned that this gentleman was actually doing a very important job. A great job that will bring their family back to the light of day.

Well, it's time to change this sneaky habit. Let's make it all clear.

"That secret", in fact, is very simple, that is, the spirit emblem itself is likely to have consciousness, grow with the growth of the holder, and at a certain time, usually between the age of eighteen and twenty, the holder grows to a sufficient degree to completely encroach on the holder's consciousness. Of course, this is just a speculation, and even their family can't come up with real evidence.

It's just that their family's "family heirloom technology" is the technology that snoops on and harnesses the spirit. Unlike ordinary mages who use so-called "psychic powers" to perform magic, members of their family will use psychic powers to directly interfere with the spirits of others - of course, it is not as simple as words, and it is not as practical as it seems at first glance. There were complex operations and delicate requirements that distinguished each object, as well as many mysteries that even their family couldn't fully understand, and even if Kuro wanted to say them all, he wouldn't be able to figure it out for a while.

It's just that it was this wonderful coincidence that made their family speculate about that secret, and thus angered people who they themselves didn't know who it was, and since hundreds of years ago, they have been hidden in the darkness - specifically, hundreds of years ago, and the black himself does not know. Everyone in the family is as tight-lipped as he is, so that the members of the family themselves are basically unable to get a glimpse of the whole family.

And that "sir", he contacted the eldest son of the Fernando family, the former first in line to the throne, Thrace Fernando. The Fernando family is definitely one of the largest families in the Federation, if not the largest, and these big families often marry each other, and the relationship is complicated, in fact, in the eyes of outsiders, they have long been connected, and it is not a joke to move the whole body. It was this Mr. Thrace who wanted to tell the secret to all the people of the Federation.

Kuro thought he was trying to reclaim his heirship from the brother who held the emblem, but Thrace denied it. In fact, it doesn't matter if he admits it, Hei and the family don't care what Thrace's purpose is, they just want to use his power to spread the news quickly.

When a secret ceases to be a secret, those who try to keep it no longer have a reason to keep it.

It is not enough to just say the words of a random person, only a person of at least a status like Thrace can ensure that this matter will not be suppressed in the first link, and then there is the possibility of spreading. However, Thrace does not seem to understand how important he is to the family, and instead thinks that he is using the family's power. From this point of view, "Mr. " is really old and strong.

The location of the first exposure of secrets was set in the academy city, even those mysterious secret-keepers, the control of the academy city may not be as thorough as in the federation; the event is set as a life-and-death duel between Thrace and a spirit emblem holder, which is enough to attract attention, although it is a pity that the object is only a commoner, but the duel between the spirit emblem holder and Thrace among the nobles may attract too much attention at the beginning, and those who keep the secret may also vote in advance.

The method is simple. If you invite a notary with enough power, a magic circle will be set up at the edge of the duel arena to block the magic from entering. But the technology used by their family is not magic, it will not be blocked, it will not be detected, it will not cause the slightest ripple. At the right time, it is up to the family to destroy the spirit of the emblem bearer, and to cause the emblem to take over the entire body in advance, and he—it will be frantic because of its excessive suddenness and incompleteness, and will not be able to conceal itself as smoothly as other members of its kind.

...... At least Thrace thinks that's the way it is.

In fact, as it was said before, the family could not find the true evidence of that secret. If the family can let the spirit emblem occupy the body in advance, and there is such an obvious manifestation after that, this is the evidence is conclusive. If that were the case, the secret keepers might have wiped out the family long ago.

The real plan is simpler. Destroying the spirit of the emblem holder in the right way can make him look frantic and irritable, because as the spirit emblem holder, even in a state of madness, the ability to control magic is far beyond the ordinary, and it looks as if the unfinished spirit emblem has encroached on the wielder's body in advance.

Speaking of which, I have to mention that "sir" can only perform some rough operations because of his age, and he can't do this. Perhaps because of this, Thrace, who had been in contact with him for a long time, did not doubt him. The family has calculated everything, if it is usually he would have a little fear, but in this matter, he only has supreme joy.

To his delight, as the successor to the code name of "Black", which represents the best precision operator, the family decided that he would participate in this project and complete the most crucial step.

He didn't sleep all night, and at five o'clock the next morning, before dawn, he sat down in the special seat at the front of the dueling arena, and his body trembled incessantly, but he felt that it was not because of the cloudy sky and the cold wind, but because of the ecstasy and excitement in his heart. It seemed as if countless hours had passed, and he had finally waited for the signal that the duel had begun.

Even the holder of the spirit emblem, in the face of the second turn mage, that guy was unsurprisingly forced into a desperate situation. The most important, probably one-time chance to use a level 3 spell, was wasted on a defensive spell like the "Water Film" technique, so as to survive. Black who is not a mage knows that a mage is forced to this step, and it will be over.

It is at this time, in the duel of life and death, no one can be merciful, there is no way to leave the hole cards, at this time, that is, the most appropriate time for the holder of the spirit emblem to let the spirit emblem encroach on his spirit.

And Thrace will use the rock wall technique to protect himself, a one-turn mage, even if it is completely encroached upon by the spirit emblem, it is not easy to break through the protection of the level 4 defense spell. At the same time, Thrace explained to all the spectators, who would also witness the fury and danger of the emblem, sowing the seeds of suspicion, which would then take root with the help of those arranged by Thrace and those who were hidden by the family.

The best part was that Thrace thought he knew the whole story, and he thought he was the one who liared people. As he said at the beginning, "But they thought they had such freedom, and with the same pride and compassion, they proudly kept it a secret." So the true truth is buried deeper and will never be discovered.

And because he didn't know the whole truth, as a deceived person, when he said that it was the danger of the spirit emblem, he would not have doubts, and he would indeed believe that what he said was the truth. His sincerity is also a necessary part of the plan.

As the rock wall technique was about to end, Thrace's arm was gradually raised, which was a signal to start moving. It looks like he and Black made the same judgment. Kuro pursed his lips and stuck out his tongue and licked it gently. He's only once in his life to make his mood clear, but there may be many more opportunities for that in the future.

His gaze passed through the yellow sand, locking on to the man in the tattered black robe, emptying his spirit, as if his soul had detached from his body. He seemed to see himself sitting in the audience from above, and everything seemed to be as usual, but his clenched fists were as white as death, revealing his excitement and nervousness.

His spirit successfully penetrated the shield against magic. He felt a slight resistance, but it was difficult for him to inherit the name of "Black". Then, more easily, he went deep into the spirit of the emblem bearer.

It is said that when each member of the family spies into the spirits of others, they experience different images. In the case of Black Personal, the imagery he sees is color and graphics. That's the secret of his ability to do the tricks. He's pretty experienced now, and he's familiar with some of the specific imagery.

Most of the inner graphics of people with dark blue backgrounds are subtle wavy lines, and some are even difficult to compose shapes, the inner graphics of people with red backgrounds are chaotic, and some will even jump irritably; and the inner shapes of people with yellow backgrounds are piled up in an unreasonable way, and most of them will twist and transform at a slow speed.

He had always felt that these colors had something to do with the personality of the person being spied on, but although many times he thought he had found a correspondence, there were a few people who didn't seem to match each other.

It's a pleasure, and he doesn't like everything about his family, but he enjoys the technology itself.

This emblem bearer is a bit of a special person. This was the first feeling he had after feeling the image of the other person's heart. First, the space he felt was too empty, and normally he would feel like he had entered a room, but now, it was as if he had fallen into a canyon—no, as if he had fallen into a whole world.

The background color is completely black, and black and white are often used as graphic colors, and it is rare to use it as a background color, and black has only been seen in a few children. But this spirit emblem bearer seems to be seventeen years old. Other than that, perhaps because the background color is black, he doesn't see any graphics either.

Only far away, there seemed to be a dark yellow light.

Does this symbolize this—is it the inner pillar of the Radiance bearer named Brunei Silai? This is not common, and Black is just a casual guess. In any case, it is only possible to operate if you understand it, and the black spirit moves closer to the light.

He felt like a long time had passed, but he knew that all of this was only a brief moment in reality.

When he finally got closer to the light, he could see that it was a strange square room that was glowing. The light came from inside the room. Black has never seen a house like this, I heard that Brunei came from the Empire, is this his home?

Coming closer, Kuro saw a door. He pushed the door open and entered, and saw a strangely dressed man, with black hair and black eyes, excitedly arranging empty plates in front of a wooden table.

It's not often that the inner image is so clear. Hei was taken aback, and besides, that Brunei, is there a face like this under the mask? I can't think of a second adjective except mediocrity, and it feels a little different from what Thrace described before.

Black couldn't help but stand still.

"Hehe, you're welcome, please sit down. This is the first time that guests have visited. ”

The featureless man looked in Hei's direction, grinned, and pointed to the empty table.

Hei turned his head, and there was nothing behind him: "He's looking at me, he's talking to me?!"

Black couldn't help but take a step back and let out a low exclamation, "Scared." ”

Only then did Hei realize that he didn't know when he himself had an image in this room, and his body gave him the same feeling as usual: the unprecedented situation of "this ......" made him feel frightened and wanted to retreat, but he couldn't leave as quickly as usual, so he had to turn around and run.

Pushing open the door and walking out, a featureless man still smiling, maintaining his previous posture: "Is it the first time you've seen someone else? You may be seated. ”

Black swallowed and turned back again. "Bang", the door closes automatically.

"Sit. The man repeated it again, only this time as if he were giving orders, and he had no choice but to go to the table and sit down where the other man had pointed out. It was empty, but when Hei sat down, a chair came out of thin air and caught him steadily.

After a few seconds, Hei suddenly came back to his senses, and bursts of cold sweat fell like rain on his body.

"It's not right, it's very wrong. "There shouldn't be a room here, there's no one there, there's no image, there's no running away, there's no chair out of thin air — but the worst thing is, "Why am I sitting?"

The man finally lined up the empty plates on the table, turned around, and when he turned again, he had taken an empty bottle with a strange shape out of nowhere, tilted, and dark yellow juice appeared on the mouth of the bottle, flowing as if it had been poured out, and landed on the table—in a cup that had existed for nowhere.

"Fanta. The man uttered the words that didn't mean much, "Taste?" Or do you want to drink the same thing as me?"

He sat down and picked up a cup out of nowhere, which contained juice of the exact same color, even the properties of inexplicably bubbling were the same. The man seemed to sense Hei's uneasiness and doubt, but seemed to have misunderstood the direction: "This is called Bingfeng, and it is a specialty of my hometown. Would you like a drink?"

"......" Hei hesitated for a long time, and finally decided to answer the other party's question, "No." ”

"Then you can drink Fanta, it tastes good. It wasn't until this time that Hei realized that the weird byte was actually the name of the drink in front of him, "So, guest, you are here this time, is there anything wrong?"

"......" Hei hesitated for a long time, "I'm very interested in you, so I want to come and observe." ”

"To me?" the man grinned, and for a moment Kuro felt as if he had seen an indescribable monster with scarlet eyes, but the next moment, Kuro found that the man's smile was as mediocre as his appearance, "Haha, guest, you are laughing." Well, since you don't want to say what you mean, how about answering me a few questions?"

"......" Hei thinks that maybe this question is the key compared to the question later.

However, the man didn't give Black time to think: "Since you don't speak, then I'll acquiesce to you." ”

"First question, are there many people in this world who have the ability of Your Excellency?"

"......" Hei shuddered for a moment, and finally decided to say something half-truthed, "No. ”

The other party said "such ability", in terms of ability level, black is confident that no one can fight to the same height as himself.

The man didn't seem to notice Hei's scheming, or didn't care, and laughed twice: "So, the second question, Your Excellency, how did you do it to appear here?"

"I want to know, too. Hei thought to himself, and then he realized that he had spoken it unconsciously.

The man nodded: "I don't know if you have noticed, guest, you seem to have misunderstood my question." But that's okay, it's just a homely gossip between the host and the guest, and I'll know sooner or later, so you don't have to be so nervous. ”

"Third question, would you like to eat something before leaving?"

Kuro looked at the empty plate on the table, could it be like anything else, and it would be food out of thin air? All the abnormalities made him uncomfortable, and even reminded him of a few ghost stories he had heard when he was very young. Fear drove him to shake his head: "No, not eating." ”

"yes, it's a shame. The man laughed again, still with a featureless smile, but somehow revealing a clear malice, "You see, you could have been a little more nervous and thought a little more about this issue. ”

The man suddenly crossed Hei's line of sight—and after a while, Hei suddenly realized that the person who was crossing was actually himself. The man smiled at the black lying on the table, and rubbed his hands a little expectantly: "In that case, I'm going to cook alone." ”

"Hey, hey, hey, ha

A mad and vicious laugh filled the last leg of the journey before the end of the black consciousness.