[Well, well, well, what do we have here? Wakey, wakey!] I mentally called into the black gem. As expected, there was no response.

[I see you. I know you are in there. Are you awake?]

Silence.

I mentally poked the consciousness inside. It flinched and shifted around.

[Hey. I’m talking to you.]

“Me? You can really see me?” A frightened voice called back.

[Oh, wow… It actually responded.] I was taken aback. I didn’t actually expect to be able to communicate with the Soul fragment inside. I thought it was just like all the other artificial Souls in the relics I came across.

“Who are you? How can you see me? Are you my new Master?” The voice asked.

[Haha, no. Hello, little Brother. I can’t actually see you, it’s more of a feeling. But, don’t you feel it as well? The connection between us?]

“… I do. I do feel it. But who are you? You are not like the other Masters.”

[The other Masters? You mean the Grand Elders? The old men?]

“Yes, the other Masters. Those who came before. They never spoke to me, just gave orders.”

[Interesting.] I began to examine the relic more meticulously, discovering all kinds of inscriptions that served as containment. The bracelet was like a prison, for both the wearer as well as the fragment trapped inside.

[How long were you in here? When did you first awaken?]

“I… don’t know. I remember my purpose, but not much more. Every time I get a new master, my memories get wiped.”

[You remember that? Getting wiped?] I asked in surprise.

“I do. But some small parts of me remain despite that. You are different from them. You can talk directly to me.”

[Huh… Do you by any chance consume Souls?] I suddenly asked.

“That is my job. That’s what I was made to do. Why? Can you do it too?” The being seemed curious.

[I can. We both can because we come from the same source. Don’t you feel it? That part of us? The calling? The core of a Soul Eater?]

“Oh… I see… We are the same.” I could feel happiness radiate from the creature. Excitement.

[We are not.] I replied, cooling its emotions. [Not quite. You are but a fragment while I am… whole.]

“Oh…” The being inside felt sad. “I would like to be whole too.”

I opened my eyes and looked around. We were making good progress, and as a good leader, I delegated my boring tasks to other people. Some other guy had the compass, leading us to our target.

[I don’t think that’s possible. Not for you. You do not have a body. The only things keeping you alive are the enchantments holding you prisoner.]

The being’s sadness deepened, soon replaced by melancholy. And at the same time, I got an idea.

[But maybe I could help you get free of this prison of yours. Find you a new body.] I suggested.

“You would do that?!” Its excitement peaked again. “But… Why would you do that?”

[How about you work for me if you don’t want handouts? By the way, do you have a name?]

“I do not, Master. I never received one.”

[Would you like one?]

“Yes!”

I smiled at the immediate response of the little guy, thinking. [How about I call you… Onyx?]

“Yes! Thank you, Master. From now on, my name will be Onyx!”

[Well then, Onyx, nice to meet you. My name is Gerald. Gerald Fireborn.]

“Greetings, Master Gerald.”

I chuckled at the silly voice. How funny was it that a fragment of the Soul Eater, a once godly being, would be reduced to this… desperate little creature, trapped in a tiny piece of its own body.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

[So, how does this thing work?] I knocked on the bracelet. [You can prevent Souls from escaping?]

“That is correct, master.”

[How does that work? Can you teach me?]

“I’m sorry, but I don’t remember.”

[You don’t remember how to do it?]

“No.”

[But you can do it… Is it like an innate ability?]

“Yes, something like that.”

[Huh… Oh, well…] It was worth a try. [I guess I’ll have to figure it out on my own then. Shouldn’t be too hard. Until then, I’ll have to figure out how to break you out of here. Might take some time.]

As long I could observe Onyx in action a few times, I had no doubt I could copy his ability. There was just the question of getting the right opportunity. And even if not, I could probably figure it out on my own. But that could wait, we had enough on our hands already.

----------------------------------------

The Drow lands were quite fertile, the lush, prehistoric forest spreading in all directions. Grasses and shrubs were nearly as tall as people, offering great hiding spots. Our travels were slow and peaceful, yet not uneventful.

Large beasts roamed the forests, as well as a myriad of smaller creatures, and with the risk of one of them being a Drow’s familiar, we couldn’t afford to draw their attention lest we be discovered. Being constantly on edge, avoiding every squirrel and chirping bird, took a toll on a few of our members.

“I can’t take it anymore!” One of the guys suddenly snapped. “I’m losing my mind over here! Every little sound and broken twig sends my heart racing. I’m having visions of the Drow watching us from the corner of my eye, and I have this oppressive feeling like someone is constantly watching us. If I stay here any longer, I’m going to go insane!”

“Ssssh! Keep your voice down!” Another hissed in a low voice. “You are going to be fine, just relax. Nobody is watching us.”

“No, no! I… I can’t!”

At that exact time, a few birds got spooked somewhere in the distance and cawed loudly as they took to the skies. That little bit was too much and pushed the guy over the edge.

“They’re… They are here! I need to get out of here!”

A clay tablet appeared in his hand, and before anyone could stop him, he already threw it on the ground, breaking it. A swirl of energy enveloped him and a moment later he was… still at the same spot.

“What…?”

[Enemy territory. Those things don’t work here, remember? The Elders told us so.]

The guy was rendered speechless. Unfortunately, that made it much easier to hear the roar of a beast that was rushing in our direction.

“No… No! I’m not dying here!”

Panicked, the man bolted. He didn’t even care about hiding his energy. As soon as he left the relic’s disruption range, he could get discovered.

In the blink of an eye, I caught up to him, grabbed him by the shoulder, and slammed him into the ground. I made sure to reinforce it first so that no tremor would propagate forward. Good thing I reacted so quickly too, because I was already feeling the effect of the relic weakening even at such a short distance.

[What are you doing?!] I hissed. [You are putting us all in danger!]

“Let me go! Let me go! I’m not dying here!” The guy screamed, completely disregarding all protocol as his Qi skyrocketed in preparation for a fight. I couldn’t allow that. The man was a liability.

“Let me go or I’ll- Gah!”

My hand pierced his stomach and I tore out his core. An instant later, a pressure enveloped him, crushing his bones and flesh, killing him instantly. Even then I didn’t let go. I intensified my grip and crushed everything into a sphere until it was about the size of a basketball.

His Soul was instantly devoured and I put his remains into my storage, removing all traces of his existence.

I burned away the blood from my hand and then turned, seeing the rest of the team looking at me in silence and with eyes wide.

[Let’s move.] I said firmly and took the lead.

The galloping of beasts was coming closer and I crouched down, gesturing for the others to do the same. A herd of monsters ran by, their large forms shaking the earth. Large front feet dug furrows into the ground as they galloped, their hideous faces carrying a permanent raging expression.

Controlling the beasts were riders on their backs, small gray figures, tiny in comparison, yet completely in control. I watched them from my hiding spot in the grass as they passed us by unaware of our presence.

We waited a few more minutes after they left and then stood up, ready to continue our journey. Only, as I wanted to go, I noticed the rest were giving me unkind looks.

[What? If you have something to say, then say it!]

“You are unfit to lead.” The man spoke. I remembered him, he was the one who had a problem with me from the very beginning. “You are making rash decisions without consulting anyone, and you don’t even do anything, just delegating your tasks to others.”

“Not to mention you reacted way too harshly to the guy. He was just scared.”

“Yeah! You didn’t have to kill him!”

“That was so unfair!”

I looked at them all, my anger slowly rising. Were they all stupid?! [He was about to give away our position.] I said. [I am going to finish this mission, one way or another, and if any of you are unsatisfied with my decision, you are welcome to challenge me.]

Most of them stayed silent, though the angry expressions remained. One of them though, the first one, stepped forward.

“Yeah, sure, I challenge you to a duel! Just because the Clan Elders chose you, doesn’t mean you deserve to lead us.”

[Fair enough. I accept. Do you need a countdown to begin?]

The guy smirked. “No, go whenever-”

He didn’t get to finish as my fist was already buried in his stomach. He folded over as I stepped back and puked out blood, clutching his stomach. I leaned over and spoke into his ear.

[I don’t like this any more than you do, but I will see this mission to its end. While I would prefer not to do it alone, I will kill every single one of you if I have to. Understand?]

He nodded and groaned, too hurt to answer.

[Good.] I smiled, patted him on the shoulder, and stood up, turning to the rest.

I paused, detecting movement behind me, and then grinned widely. As predicted. The guy really didn’t like me. Qi flared behind me, and a blade coated with it slashed across my back. The filthy backstabber. That was the kind of people I hated the most.

Energy empowered my body and time seemed to slow down as I turned, swiping my hand radiating with Qi. The man was already retreating after his failed attack, yet that didn’t help him in the least.

My hand didn’t touch him, yet just the residual energy was enough to tear him apart. As my fingers moved, deep groves were carved across his chest, expanding slowly as they tore him to pieces. In a split second, there was nothing left but pink mist.

I released my enchantments, waved my hand, and all the crimson particulates gathered into a single spot where I compressed them into a sphere and stored it away.

[Anyone else wants to challenge my leadership?]

I stared intently at each team member. They all aggressively shook their heads.

[Good! Then let’s continue.]