“Oooh… Is it true? Was the deadmaster truly vanquished?”
An elderly man hopefully looked at the two women that covered their faces with masks.
“That is correct, elder. The necromancer shall not be troubling your hamlet anymore. Unfortunately, by the time we reached the dark manor, some of the kidnaped people were already…”
The staff wielding one spoke regretfully.
“Is that so… Unfortunate indeed, but I suppose it is a small consolation that their souls will now find peace,” the white-haired elder said. “Praise be to Estelle to send the two of you to a place this deep in the woods.”
“...Estelle has nothing to do with it.”
The other woman with a spear strapped on her back rebutted softly so the elder wouldn't hear.
“W-well, if there’s nothing else, it’s time for us to return.”
“Please, the day will soon grow dark. Let us offer our hospitality to our saviors for one night, at least.”
The one with the staff looked to the one carrying the spear who gave a silent nod.
“Then we’ll impose on you tonight.”
After the two retreated to the best room in the village that the elder arranged, the one with the staff cast protection Arte on the room before removing her mask.
“Pwaah! So stuffy! How the heck is Viers so comfortable wearing masks all the time?”
“Mayhaps he was born with one.”
Following Paina, Farley also removed her headwear.
“If this is going to be a frequent thing, we need to learn face-changing Arte, or buy super comfortable masks, magical ones,” Paina raised her finger.
“Sounds good… Another job well done. This smiting evil and saving the populace lifestyle is really for you, huh?”
Farley poured water into two wooden mugs and offered one to her partner. The two made themselves cozy after their unpleasant trip through a dark manor in the middle of a dank swamp-like hell from some sordid story. The evil wizard truly went for the classic.
“Uh-huh… With each good deed, I can feel my powers rising and my mind at ease. The Codex is quite compatible with me.”
“My Codex is great too, but the flaw is pretty inconvenient,” Farley sighed.
Paina’s Give And You Shall Receive and Farley’s Moonreacher Chronicle, both were top-notch Profound Codices.
“It hasn't been that long since you started. I’m sure you can control it after you become more skilled with the Profound Codex.”
Farley gave a nod to Paina’s encouragement. They were familiar with each other as if they were childhood friends.
“How’s the harvest? Did the bastard have a lot?” Paina leaned her upper body forward.
“See for yourself.”
Farley took out a blue stone. Originally, the stone was white in color. During their trip, it changed color to red, and blue, just a step away from the highest rank, black.
“Kill Counting Stone… Viers sure made interesting things,” Paina hummed.
“Didn't you listen? The original stone doesn't have a soul-absorbing feature; it can only detect the lives lost in its vicinity. Lord Viers added the function later and then gave it to us.”
“So we don't waste the souls of our hunts. Monsters or people. Viers’ greed for souls knows no bounds,” Paina shook her head with a bit of sadness. “At first only he and his other self could collect souls. Now he can send us to do his dirty work.”
“I don't find it dirty. Why waste something that can be of use? Left alone, the souls will only dissipate to the heavens at best. After Lord Viers extracts what he needs, the souls will still go to the afterlife. But I understand your distaste. I’ll only take monster souls and bad people when we’re together.”
Paina didn't reply and slightly hung her head.
Depending on how many souls they brought back, Viers would give them cultivation rewards, things that they needed. The ‘price’ of what they could get was clearly written. Viers gave his employees plenty of work incentives.
After a pause, to change the sour mood, Farley steered the topic to a different direction.
“While we’re here, it seems Lord Viers is having quite a development in the northeastern land.”
“A vassal of a prince… Who would've thought? This isn't like him. What is his aim?”
“Amusement, for sure. And yet I suspect there’s something more. Our Chief Executive Officer prefers doing things that accomplish several objectives—Archion Volcano.”
“What’s that place and how is it important?”
“To summarize, the prince needs to go to the volcano, while Lord Viers has pinpointed the site to contain a possible avenue for Clarissa’s awakening.”
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“According to the last transmission, he should be already on his way there… I want to help Clarissa too but is it going to be resolved already?” Paina felt powerless.
Paina and Farley had gone through a ‘re-spec,’ they were born again into better bodies with greater potential alongside their more mature souls. Even though their progress was fast, they were still not fit for duty, just like militaries didn't send promising new recruits to dangerous frontlines. Therefore, Viers arranged them to ‘level’ in less intense areas. The two also needed to temper and polish their new abilities.
“Lord Viers also said he didn't suspect he would gain entry to the volcano so soon. Worse comes to worst, we can still help, no matter how meager it may be.”
Farley showed Paina a white card. They both had one. To the two’s knowledge, Viers gave these cards to his inner circle.
But, I feel there’s another meaning… Am I thinking too much?
Farley put her assumptions to the back of her head. She then silently put on a meditative posture and invoked a technique while holding the white card in front of her.
Seeing her friend’s actions, Paina did the same. Slowly and gently, the two seemed to channel their energy into the cards.
Even though the hour was late, they still made time for Pathseeker practice.
What they were doing was a soul method.
Viers with Aletro’s soul attainment was one of the most learned soul Pathseeker in the continent. He didn't use his mastery over the soul solely for battle. He found other means to utilize his gifts.
Paina and Farley were still not soul Pathseekers but all living beings had souls. What they were doing also doubled as soul training, making their souls stronger and healthier. Stronger souls would provide a plethora of benefits and one didn't need to be a soul Pathseeker to experience this.
At first, channeling their energy into the cards took all of their concentration and effort. Now, they had leeway to converse.
“Thinking it again, I never thought the Coalition would become this chaotic… Viers really blew things up,” Paina said.
“This is exactly Lord Viers’ style, making a bigger problem so his enemies don't have the resources to spare on him,” Farley replied.
There was a soul path renaissance in the Free People Coalition.
People with soul affinity, which normally was extremely rare, seemingly sprouted like mushrooms after a rain.
The culprit was none other than Viers.
More accurately, his other self, Arsène, that donned the name ‘Tanael’.
When he was collecting souls en masse was the start signal. People that could detect souls were rare but they existed. Bizarre happenings, souls missing, the Church was alarmed and began to make a move on Tanael.
The leader of the task force that hunted him was someone that made Viers warry. It was Freya, the woman that once bested the villain so utterly and completely.
If he hadn't lost training time recovering from the Level 5 that Dumuzin sent he might have more confidence facing the young church’s champion who was in the same generation as him. While he spent months mending his broken body and soul, Freya definitely surpassed him in growth. This was his assumption and it didn't bode well for Viers, not to mention other Silver Legion members besides Freya, zealot inquisitors that had no patience for evildoers like him.
So what did Viers do?
Where would a wise man hide a leaf? In the forest. If there were no forest, he would make a forest. And if he wished to hide a dead leaf, he would make a dead forest ― G.K. Chesterton.
To the poor, the oppressed, the powerless, the desperate, and the hungry, Viers offered power.
A Pathseeker that was crippled by his bitter rival, a man that wanted to protect his hometown from monster incursion, a poor mother that tried to feed her baby, a despairing boy that had his Pathseeker dream destroyed because he didn't have an affinity… Many took up his offer.
To these people, Viers was like a messiah offering a way out from their pit of despair.
Viers, a soul master almost unrivaled in attainment, awakened their soul affinity. Granted, it was mostly soul affinity of 0s or 1s, with some 2s. Weak affinities that were a far cry from Viers’ soul 5, certainly not the making of Pathseekers armies that would make nations tremble.
But the beauty of soul, blood, and death Pathseekers was they could grow stronger rapidly, depending on the price they were willing to pay.
So what did these people do next? Each of these newly awakened thirsted for power so they could accomplish their ambitions. Viers didn't need to push them to seek stronger power. Those that had wrongs done unto them, were quick to dispense retributions to the perpetrator. Some were living for that very purpose only.
Thanks to Dia’s teleportation network, his reach was far and wide, across cities that were separated by vast distances.
Although not every person he bestowed soul affinity with turned into a life of crime or bloody carnage, most did. Those who did found the soul path was a slippery slope. Getting stronger rapidly was indeed possible, but done without restraint and care, dangerous. Those that ate souls wantonly and became mad could attest to that, if they still had the faculty to talk. Wanton destruction followed.
In a matter of weeks, it was as if there were a hundred wildfires all across the Coalition. There were no city-wipe crises, but there were intense smaller-scale disasters, courtesy of these artificial soul Pathseekers. Nevertheless, for those who had to deal with these disasters, it was a nightmare.
The Silver Legion had to deal with the soul psychos and no longer had the resources to spare for the mastermind, unless they ignored the cries of the people, which they couldn't do. With their resources strained so thinly, the already elusive Viers would have breathing room to grow.
The necromancer that Paina and Farley defeated earlier was a soul user that Viers created. He became a menace, drunk on the corrupting power of the dark arts. Paina and Farley killed him because he was evil and building his power base too close to Luca's village, where they and Farley’s sister temporarily resided.
Although Arsène was no longer recruiting new initiates and the Silver Legion and a great many people strenuously quelled the soul psychos, even now the crisis wasn't completely contained.
The reason was Viers’ pyramid scheme.
He made a soul pact with initiates, that they had to awaken two others before they could unlock most of their abilities. They accomplish this by using the method Viers taught them. Families, friends, strangers, it mattered not. Viers wanted the soul Pathseeker birth rate of 2.0!
And just like that, through the deviousness of a single man, one of the four great nations of the Human Dominion was thrown into chaos.
The batch that was awakened by those that Viers originally awakened was much weaker. As was expected and by design.
Viers was aware he was unleashing a dangerous epidemic, it didn't mean to last forever, just long enough to keep the Silver Legion off his back.
He’d also leave a backdoor in the program. Viers could strip these artificial soul users of their abilities with a master key that he possessed.
“I’d say the plan worked splendidly. While the Church is running around like chickens with their tails on fire, Lord Viers is in Latias, doing his own thing,” Farley said.
“Well, the Church has branded Tanael as a great heretic. Extremely dangerous individual… Now he has a greater target on his back, greater hunters chasing after him. I’d say his plan worked too well,” Paina had a complicated feeling.
“Or, perhaps this was his plan all along,” Farley refuted.
Once again, the two thought their CEO was a truly outrageous man.