Runihoril stood behind Kieran in silence, his face dark as his eyes alternated between Luna's body and Kieran's when he saw a small, palm-sized ethereal form leaving Luna's body and moving closer to Kieran. His face was filled with surprise at that moment.

Soon the ethereal form appeared in Kieran's vision. As he slowly raised his bloody fist to strike again against the rock that had many cracks on it now, the ethereal form began to circle around his fist.

Kieran shook his hand, trying to make the ethereal form go away, but it continued to circle around him.

Crystal essence began to circulate through his body. He was about to smash the ethereal form with his fist filled with crystal essence when Runihoril's agitated voice reached his ears.

"Wait, Kieran!"

He stopped his fist in the air. The ethereal form shifted before him, taking the form of a small whale with a horn.

He raised both hands to hold the ethereal form while his whole body quivered.

"Lu..na... Ma... Master. Is... Is Luna still alive?"

His voice was weak as his eyes stayed fixed on that little ethereal form in his hands as if she could disappear at any moment.

"It's only the remains of a wandering soul that will eventually fade away," replied Runihoril.

Kieran gritted his teeth, but his eyes didn't leave Luna's soul, which slowly circled above his hands.

"Can't I... Can't I keep her with me?"

Runihoril looked at him, hesitating for a moment, but finally, he couldn't bring himself to leave him in such a state.

"There is a way you could keep her soul, but she will be tied to your spiritual world until her soul deteriorates or you die. Unless..."

Kieran finally looked away from Luna's soul to look Runihoril in the eyes.

"Unless?"

"Unless you find a way to reconstruct her body and integrate her soul into it, but before you make your choice, know that reforming her body will not be easy. Only a few rare treasures can allow you to do it. It's possible that you never will be able to find one in your entire life."

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Kieran looked back at Luna's soul in his hands.

'I don't want to lock her up. She loves freedom so much that she even attacks birds because they can fly, and she can't.'

A slight smile crept over his face as he remembered how she attacked birds in her path because she was jealous that they could fly. He didn't even remember how many birds had been knocked out by her during their trip.

'But... I don't want to leave her... not now...'

His gaze becomes complicated as he stares at her soul in his hands.

"I'm sorry, Luna. I know I'm being selfish, but I promise I'll reform your body no matter what!"

Luna's soul moved, rubbing against his hands.

"Master, please tell me how to preserve her soul."

Runihoril placed himself in front of Kieran, and his hands began to form seals.

"Don't resist, or her soul wouldn't be able to sustain the shock."

Kieran nodded, his eyes fixed on Runihoril's hands which were forming more and more seals in the air.

A faint golden light shone around Runihoril's hands before gently moving around Luna's soul, creating a cocoon.

Runihoril slowly moved one of his hands before pressing his palm against the cocoon of light, drawing it inside Kieran's body.

Kieran felt a slight shock, but he forced his body not to react, not wanting to hurt Luna's soul.

Runihoril formed several seals again before lowering his hands.

"It is done. Luna's soul now resides within your spiritual world."

"Thank you, Master."

"Don't thank me. I would never have done such things if she wasn't so attached to you that her soul refused to disappear. Being sealed can sometimes be worse than death."

"I... I'll reform her body! I'll do whatever it takes!"

"I hope you're right. I don't want to see that little whale sealed inside your spiritual world forever."

"I'll go home and look for anything that can help me reform her body or strengthen her soul so it doesn't deteriorate. But before that, I need to find these guys."

A cold gleam crossed his eyes as he thought back to the faces of the members of the Thundershields guild.

"You should try to breakthrough to the Bronze rank before you go looking for them. You might not even need to look after them with the way they chased after you. Chances are they're already looking for you at this very moment."

Kieran nodded, getting up before looking at Luna's body.

With a wave of his hands, a huge stack of crystal cores and earth elemental stones was removed from his spatial gem. Soon, the pile exceeded the size of Luna's body. It was only then that he stopped before storing Luna's body inside of it.

He took only one last look at the treasures he left behind before sinking further into the island where Luna had deposited him at the cost of her life.

***

On the deck of a ship, twenty men and women at the peak stage of the Iron rank belonging to the Thundershields guild stood straight without moving the slightest eyelash.

A few meters ahead of them, Kade walked with his eyebrows frowning.

"Are you telling me that after four days of searching all the surrounding islands, you still haven't been able to find the slightest trace of Kieran?!"

"Chief, there are over 50 islands near here, we also have to search them all to find any trace of Kieran, but some of them have Bronze rank crystal beasts crawling everywhere, which prevent our teams from entering deep inside the islands."

"You're a bunch of incompetents. I'm giving you one more day. If by then you still haven't found any traces of Kieran, I'll find someone else to replace you for leading the teams."

"Yes, Chief!"