Jean froze for a moment. She didn't understand the reason why Identify now offered that information. Did it also improve with her own experience?

The spirit did not answer, so she had no choice but to search the notebook in detail. However, when she opened the inventory to get it, something had changed. “WTF!”

All the souls that had somehow ended there after devouring, moved in circles. Some within their own inventory square. Others swarmed with souls from other squares, interacting with each other. Since when did they do that? She had opened the inventory before and nothing had happened.

“The portal!”

Jean hurried back to the portal. Narhad followed her through the water at a brisk pace. “[Don't you dare enter it, monster!]”

Jean didn't even turn around. “I can't enter the portal yet, but you can be sure I will!”

“[What do you mean you can't? You should have already obtained the third accessory...]”

Jean glanced at Narhad with suspicion. Why did she expect her to have three accessories? That could only mean one thing. She immediately asked the whispers for a new mission. “I want the location of the nearest Yusthor accessory!”

These created a single arrow in her map that Jean followed without losing a second. The mission led her down the great tunnel that descended into the depths. The one she had explored after falling into the lake.

“[Where the fuck are you going, monster?]”

“Why ask if you already know?”

Narhad dove down to her shoulders. She looked regretful for opening her mouth, but mostly angry.

Jean eventually reached the point where the spirit had revealed itself. The number of souls only increased with each step, to the point where it became difficult to walk.

“What the hell happened here? What killed all these people?”

She checked the map in case the arrow had changed direction, and opened the inventory to unequip the accessories and walk without the fear of accidentally touching a soul. She thought she could advance with Devourer's Vision alone, but she was naive. It was too dark. She had to re-equip them.

For a few more minutes, Jean continued to descend watching every nook and cranny. She was not afraid, but if something assaulted her now, she would have real trouble not interacting with a soul.

As expected, it didn't take long for her to encounter a cluster of souls blocking her path. “I'm not turning back now!” Jean was about to unequip the accessories when... “ Hold on! What is that?”

A soul in the distance was different from the rest. It was the silhouette of a living soul, but it did not have the normal intensity of the tabaxis hidden in the rock or a suspicious vaporous form like that of the spirit.

Her soul emanated from her body like a maelstrom of uncontrollable blue flames. A visual spectacle that clashed with the pitiful state of the woman lying on the ground with signs of starvation. What was wrong with her soul?

»Tabaxi (Possessed)«

Level 38

Name: Maghthal

Marks: [Human Killer], [Tabaxi Killer], [Thief], [Soul Thief], [Rat Eater], [Spider Eater] …

Details: This player's attributes make her a powerful adversary for you. However, her vital state is lamentable.

Next to her were three more tabaxi, but they were already dead. From the intense and unpleasant odor, they had been lying there for several days.

“What a list of marks! … What! Soul Thief!?... Did the spirit ask them to collect souls before me?”

The tabaxi tried to stand up, but fell almost immediately. Her legs were shaking like crazy.

“[Don't get any closer to him.]”

“Where have you been?! … Wait! Him?”

“[Retreat!! Now!]”

Jean didn't question him. She turned around and walked away as fast and quietly as she could among so many souls.

The tabaxi leaned against the wall to help herself up. “Help me, damn you! Don't run away!”

Jean turned slightly only to find the tabaxi drawing her short bow. Although she seemed to be on her last legs, that didn't mean she wasn't going to put up a fight.

Jean quickly pulled out her shield and imbued it with orange and yellow to block the arrow with ease. Yet, what she did not expect was that the arrow would not even come close to hitting her. It flew right past her, cutting through the darkness with almost no power. She must have been very weak if even including the Dexterity effect she missed by so much.

The tabaxi drew the bow again with another arrow, so Jean shielded herself just in case. Something was not right. Behind her back another arrow was heard approaching. How was that possible? There were two archers? She cursed herself for not noticing the truth sooner.

Both arrows would hit her at the same time, leaving little room for error. She hardened her body at the same time that yellow and orange flashes traveled from her magic core to her arm. She intercepted the frontal one with the shield while the rear one was blocked with her imbued arm. Whispers had warned her that it flew straight at her head, so that made the feat easier. However, when the arrow hit her, it wasn't even able to pierce her skin. She understood too late the real plan. It had all been a distraction.

The tabaxi charged at her shield causing her to lose her balance. She had jumped from what she thought was an impossible distance in her state. Darkness enveloped her seconds later. The fall felt eternal, as if she plunged into nothingness with something invisible grabbing her.

“[Stand up! You are entering the soul plane of another player and you don't possess the skills and items needed to survive.]”

“And you're telling me this now?!”

The hit against the ground did not come. The ground simply rotated 90º as if she had never fallen. As if it had always been standing. She was no longer in the great inscription-filled tunnel that descended into the depths, and naturally, she was also no longer surrounded by souls everywhere. Only tiles and huge columns bathed in a similar darkness.

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“[Run! Your real body is defenseless in reality…]”

“Run? Where to?”

The voice of the spirit started to feel distant, and after only three seconds, its echo disappeared completely. At the same time, walls and furniture began to appear where there was nothing before.

Jean surveyed her surroundings, but only a large makeshift training room was visible. It looked like they had converted a cathedral or a temple. Tapestries of deities, benches and divine figures were piled up in a corner as if they were no longer worth anything.

Some echoes resounded in the distance, right behind the huge column where she had appeared, giving way to voices and several shouts of effort due to the impacts of practice weapons against wooden dummies.

“Keep going! Don't give up or you won't get anywhere! ... And you, rookie, aren't you going to train?”, an energetic and powerful male voice shouted.

“My name is Dih, not rookie! Besides... what you are doing is worthless!” replied a woman with a rude tone.

“Dih? That's a nice name! What's it from? From Diana, Diamond, ...?” asked a guy with a charming voice.

“Dih of, I'll smash your teeth in if you come any closer! Did you get it?”

“Ha ha ha! So this is the new recruit... I like them with character! That way they cry more when they take my training!”, said the man.

The guy kept pressing. “And what are you doing in White Chapel? Come to help with all this calamity?”

“That's none of your business!”

“How do I get out of here?” The whispers didn’t answer. “Shit! They can’t hear me…”

Jean circled the column and spotted several recruits punching training dummies. However, something was wrong with them. There were no traces of the familiar blue hue of souls. They were just shadows and not real players. Black shadows of blurry shapes. But the most strange thing was to see them disappear and reappear in disarray like unconnected fragments of a film.

The only clear and real shape there was Dih. A tall, strong young woman with her arms crossed. Short brunette hair and tanned skin. Her face was slightly masculine, but beautiful despite her wide jaw and full lips.

Her well-defined body wore armor made of hardened leather and a variety of metal reinforcements, especially on her fists, forearms, legs and feet. She looked like a battle monk.

Dih looked uncomfortable talking to a huge shadow, possibly the instructor. However, when she sensed Jean's presence, she ignored the man and he evaporated. They both stood still looking at each other intensely until Dih broke the silence by taking several steps forward with her fists imbued in red.

“Who the hell are you, monster?”

“I'm sorry! I must have touched your soul by accident and... By the way, my name is Jean, not monster!”

“Why the hell aren't you answering, asshole?! What are you doing here?!”

“Asshole?! I just did, or are your ears for decoration?!”

“She wasn't talking to you, redhead! You're not the only stranger here!” The new voice was audacious and arrogant. It came from a person lurking in the shadows. A man who dressed in a manner familiar to Red Eyes. How could he be there?

“Al-Hek!?” shouted Dih as she turned around in disbelief. “It's really you?!

“I knew you'd miss me, Steel Knuckles!” replied the one dressed as Red Eyes.

“That's what you'd like, you cocky bastard! How... How the hell did you get here?”

He pointed to the bewildered Jean. “She's the one who set me free, but let's save the tea and sweets for later. I can barely move and I bet that bastard knows why!”

They both saw where he was pointing now. Right behind Jean. Where there was a rift in reality floating in the air in an area of the temple near the statues of the deities. From within it came a strange white light and a light breeze. That could only be the exit.

“Hey, you fucking bastard!” Dih shouted again. “Why don't you answer!?”

A man laughed. “Shut up, you petty bitch!” He sounded as if a T-Rex could vocalize. However, the feeling of power he gave off with every word made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

The man unraveled his invisibility as he stopped lurking in the shadows. He was large and his body matched his dreadful voice. An aberrant mutation born of the fruit of the forced combination of dozens of races. Elves, orcs, tabaxis, reptilians, rat-man and many, many more. He even seemed to change slightly with every step he took. His body struggled to keep the balance, and his clothes, a top and a loincloth barely managed not to break.

Jean stepped back and tried to keep her distance as Dih moved closer to the man. “Get out of my sight! I don't want you here!” She then looked at Jean, as if she wanted to yell the same thing at her.

The man laughed again. “I don't think you're in any position to demand anything, you wretch.” Then he looked at Jean. “Your body is almost mine already, Child of Nimireth! All the souls in your inventory will suffer the same fate!”

“My inventory?! ... That's it! If Red Eyes came out of my inventory...”

Jean tried to open the inventory to equip herself with her weapons, but it didn't respond either. She tried again, demanding it. The result was the same. Was something wrong with the place or was she the problem? It didn't matter. There were more ways to shut that jerk's mouth.

Jean clenched her fists with all her might, waiting for them to imbue in red to attack. Nothing happened. “Oh, shit!”

In contrast, his hands did imbue themselves with red.

»Espectral Abomination«

Name: Jacob

Marks: [Soul Devourer], [Killer]

Details: Abomination born from the assimilation of dozens of souls. This creature is invincible to you in the plane of souls.

“Invincible?! ... We'll see about that!”

Jean charged with her arms crossed as if they were a shield. She tried with all her might again, but they didn't light up in brown. That was exasperating, but it didn't stop her. The problem arose when her charge failed to even unbalance him.

Jean didn't give up, and unleashed a series of punches straight at his face. It was mildly painful for Jacob, but it was excruciating for her. His skin was extremely tough.

Exasperated, Jacob went on the offensive as a grotesque grin flashed across his face. “You're on my turf, rookie!”

The impact was so strong that Jean flew several meters into the air. Under Dih's astonished gaze as a witness, Jean slammed into one of the central columns of the cathedral. If the stone in that place had been real, Jean would probably end up crippled.

The pain, on the other hand, felt very real. So much so that she was surprised she hadn't lost consciousness. Cringing on her knees and with her forehead about to touch the ground, she muttered furiously. “Who the fuck are you?”

“Go fight somewhere else and leave me alone!” Dih's cry of impatience was met with disdain from Jacob.

“Come on! The party is in her honor. No guests, no fun! ... How long has it been since you've seen anyone? ... A year? Two? ... Tell me the truth! Why do you resist, you loser? Why don't you give up? Do you really believe that someone will come to save you?”

Jacob's body glowed red to the point of being blinding. White and brown flashes preceded it, coursing through him as well until all that power was concentrated in his right fist. “I'm sick of this insatiable hunger!”

Dih adopted a fighting stance without losing her composure. She then raised her fist. “I have just what you need right here! ... COME!”

Jacob smiled and closed the gap between them in the blink of an eye.

Dih managed to protect her head with both arms, but the impact sent her into the corner where the statues of the deities were, destroying them. The blow made the shadows training fade away and the cathedral itself trembled.

“Motherfucker! I’LL KILL YOU!” shouted Al-Hek desperately trying to move.

Trembling with pain, Jean crawled to hide behind one of the huge columns. It didn't take her long to get to her feet. She needed to get out of there. She wasn't sure she could take another blow like that.

It was at that moment that she realized that Al-Hek was not the only one lurking in the darkness. There were the gnomes, Thitad and many more with whom she had not even fought. Yet none of them reacted. They just seemed resigned to what they thought was going to happen. Did they know that being?

Jacob laughed as he watched her crawl away in fear. “Have you figured out your situation by now? Come, you coward! Let me show you what that lying bitch has done to me! She hasn't kept a single one of her damn promises.”

Jacob walked to stand between her and the rift. “Don't think you can run away from me! Your body is mine and it will help me get back what she took from me. You're not going to take away from me what is mine. WHAT I HAVE WORKED SO HARD TO ACHIEVE!”

Jacob concentrated power in the palm of his hand and made it grow into a large sphere of fire and lightning. Although the column blocked the impact, the explosion sent her through the air. It was more painful than expected, but it didn't knock her down for more than a couple of seconds. There was no damage to her body again. How was that possible?

He laughed again. “You're tough! ... Good! You'll suffer more that way!”

“Shut up at once! You're annoying! ... What's wrong with you? Do you need to hear your voice every second?”

Jacob bursted out laughing. “Guilty!”

“Come on, Dih! Stand up and fight! You can do it!” Al-Hek was trying to disguise his helplessness to move. The others just watched.

Eventually, Dih rose from the pile of rubble, kicking the fragments of wooden statues in her wake. The pain and the blood only seemed to motivate her. Her body glowed with a brilliant white light as she healed at breakneck speed. That made the reality around her begin to crumble, as if she needed to consume that place to recover.

After five seconds glowing brightly, she was back in top form. This time she didn't say a single word. Her stance made words redundant.

Jacob looked at her with a contemptuous smile. “Well, well! You look like you want to be the first course! ... I have no problem with that, scum! ... I love a good arrogant steak with a side of tears!”