Chapter 4 - Entering the Spirit Continent
Deon observed the situation within his soul space for a full minute. Each of his spirits absorbed the origin energy within the space, but this energy was continually being replenished at the same time.
The reason that an initial stage 1-Star shaman could only hold a maximum of two spirits within their soul space at a time, was because the spirits fed on their origin energy. If such a shaman held three 1-Star spirits within their soul space, their origin energy would deplete rapidly. Once a shaman's origin energy was entirely depleted, their spirits would have nothing to consume and would begin to lose vitality, eventually dying if the situation wasn't remedied.
For an early stage 1-Star shaman, it was possible to maintain four spirits without their origin energy depleting. However, with four spirits, the rate of recovery would barely match the rate of consumption. Since spirits consumed even more origin energy when they were in active use, an early stage 1-Star shaman would generally hold at most three spirits in their soul space. This provided the shaman with ample recovery ability to support each of their spirits.
Likewise, mid stage 1-Star shamans could maintain up to six 1-Star spirits at a time, but they would usually only keep at most five.
It was this difference between the small stages within the 1-Star rank that led to the difference in power between initial, early, mid, late and peak stage 1-Star shamans. On top of this, higher ranked shamans were also able to draw out more power from their spirits, using them more efficiently.
Whilst Deon was pondering these things that he had learned from the golden book left behind by Blood God, the recording of the imposing man appeared unannounced once again. This time though, his figure was even more illusive and transparent than before.
"My successor, this is my final message to you."
Deon turned and payed close attention.
He held complicated feelings towards this Blood God to say the least. On one hand, he hated the fact that he had been toyed with and forced to follow Blood God's plan to a fault. On the other hand though, he knew that he had been given an incredible opportunity.
"During my inheritance trial, you are sure to have suffered greatly. Whilst you have certainly developed an extreme level of resolve, I leave you with this warning: Do not fall into the trap of pride and arrogantly overestimate yourself. The spirit continent is no kind land, if you are to walk the path of a demon as I once did, then remember that you must learn when to retreat and when to attack."
After saying this, the man's expression became more severe.
"Your feelings do not matter, your pride is irrelevant, any principles that you may believe in are worthless. In this world, only strength is of importance."
Deon fell into contemplation on hearing these words. He had to admit that he mostly agreed with this sentiment. He also recognised that he needed this reminder…for too long he had become accustomed to fighting without considering the consequences of his actions. The spirit continent was not like the underworld trial, if he lost a battle, he might not have the chance to get back up and fight again.
In the real world, defeat usually meant death. Real, final death.
"My successor, I leave you with one final trial."
"Bastard, you already said that before the last trial!" Deon cursed out loud, unable to endure Blood God messing with him to this extent. In the next moment though, he sighed and shook his head, calming down immediately. It's not like he could do anything about it anyway.
VRMMM…
Deon raised his hands to cover his face as shockwaves exploded outwards from the centre of the hall. When he lowered his arms and looked forwards, he saw that a black swirling vortex had materialised, hovering in the air.
At this point, Deon had become numb to all of these bizarre scenes.
"The final trial is to pass through this portal into the spirit continent. At the moment you leave the inheritance site, this dimension will have served its purpose and will collapse into oblivion, destroying the souls of all life on earth and the underworld."
As he heard this, Deon paused.
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"Oh, so that's all?"
He smiled in relief and walked through the portal without hesitation.
Not long after he left, the underworld and earth were completely obliterated. Not only did all life within this micro-dimension perish under the collapse, but their souls also burned to ash.
**********
Blood God described the spirit continent as a land so vast that a man could spend a lifetime travelling and not reach its end. Since even the terrifying Blood God talked about this place so grandly, Deon thought that it would be best to find somewhere to live whilst he learned more about this new world.
Luckily, the underground cave where Blood God placed his inheritance world was close to a nearby kingdom. The cave was pitch black and large, but Deon fortunately found the nearest entrance after quickly leaving when he heard some worrying sounds of life stemming from deeper in the cave. He didn't know who or what was making those sounds, but he had no intention of sticking around to find out.
Deon spotted the kingdom as soon as he stepped out from the cave and onto a vast green plain. The kingdom walls were located around a mile from his position, so he made his way across the tranquil grassy lands without hesitation.
Since the kingdom looked like something out of a fantasy novel from the outside, Deon expected to encounter some medieval style knights or something similar at the gateway into the kingdom. Instead, he was met with armed guards carrying single shot musket rifles. These rifles were extremely crude, but he honestly did not expect to find firearms in this world.
The guards wore green uniforms with black leather boots. It was a similar but slightly different outfit to the uniforms of many militaries on earth.
Somehow, they seemed to speak the same language. The guards weren't particularly suspicious of Deon, since he currently had the body of a child, but they were confused as to why a child was alone outside of the kingdom walls. When one of the guards asked if he had snuck out to play, Deon decided to agree and go with that.
He was able to enter with little fuss, beginning his new life in the Kingdom of Restari.
This kingdom was similar in size to a small country from earth. The outer walls were laid out in a perfect square, each side measuring 50 miles across. The Kingdom was split up into 32 districts, Deon quickly learned that he had entered the Western gate and made his way into district 5.
The architecture in this kingdom was a bit like that of Europe in the late 1800s, simple roads and buildings were found in abundance here. The level of technology was much lesser though, there was no electricity, no motorised vehicles or any modern weaponry beyond the inaccurate single shot rifles.
After finding a place that resembled an inn, Deon walked inside and looked around. This place did not seem particularly fancy, but it was at least clean, which could not be said of the other inns he had passed by on his way here.
"Hmm?" The inn keeper, a skinny middle aged man, looked up and blinked in surprise as he saw a child walking up to him.
This child, with his pristine appearance and his oddly calm demeanour, seemed out of place in this run-down inn.
"I'd like to rent a room." Deon stated plainly, staring at the inn keeper without showing much emotion on his face.
It had been too long since he last interacted with other people, he was clearly out of practice…
"Uh…can you pay, kid…?" The inn keeper felt dubious about a child's finances, but his expression took a 180 when Deon flashed him multiple silver coins.
This currency that he was gifted by Blood God wasn't the same as that used in this kingdom, but silver was silver and gold was gold. He decided that it would be best to exchange these coins for the actual standard currency though.
Like this, Deon quickly settled into life in the bustling district 5. He would occasionally wonder about, buying food whilst talking to shopkeepers to expand his knowledge. He also started to learn the written language of this country.
Besides these matters, he of course made sure to properly search through the inheritance ring left behind by Blood God. Deon's hope was that Blood God might have left him some texts which could explain the state of this 'spirit continent' in better detail, or perhaps something that could guide him on his path as a shaman, but he was mostly out of luck.
All he had in his possession was silver, gold, an assortment of herbs and other natural materials, and a few books. Annoyingly, he was unable to read most of these books, only a few of them were written in a language he could understand.
The books described the use of the soul extraction spirit, the soul refinement spirit, the ancient demon spirit and also some more information about his current occupied body. There were also some other spirit refinement recipes, spirit identification guides, and just a single book describing some key matters of the spirit continent. It sounded like a lot, but it really wasn't enough for Deon to get the full picture of this world.
It seemed like Blood God intended for his successor to make his own way in the world. Perhaps the inheritance was only supposed to act as an initial boost, to give him a head-start and an incredible foundation. Deon knew that this spatial ring contained much more though, it was just that he couldn't access most of it with his current meagre level of power.
Deon remembered that Blood God described the spirit continent as a place where shamans ruled supreme, which led to him feeling confused for a few days after his arrival in the Kingdom of Restari. It wasn't until he did some more searching for information that he understood why he was yet to encounter a world ruled by powerful shamans.
The Kingdom of Restari was known as a mortal nation. A mortal nation was any nation that lacked a 4-Star or above shaman. Deon remembered reading that 4-Star shamans were also known as shaman lords, a title granted on account of their extreme power.
Shamans did possess a special status in mortal kingdoms, but they were basically like nobles. They were above ordinary humans, but not so far removed that they could completely disregard common human life.
When he walked around in public and paid attention, Deon noticed that there were indeed some shamans. He was able to identify other shamans based on their passive aura, a sort of feeling they released subtly but surely. Shamans could also actively release their aura, which would create a much more noticeable feeling, capable of rousing fear in those weaker than them.
None of these people gave Deon too deep a sense of danger though, so he assumed that they were all 1-Star shamans. Most interestingly of all, the majority of the shamans that he saw were actually in the Restari military.
The Kingdom of Restari often warred against other enemy kingdoms, meaning that they required a continual stream of people willing to fight. Deon came to learn that the kingdom withheld any information about spirits, as well as spirits themselves, from the general public. If one wanted to become a shaman, they would either need to get lucky and find a spirit outside of the kingdom, or they could join the army.
Of course, there were exceptions to this. There were some noble families that had their own spirits which were passed down through the generations. These families were rich with knowledge on the matters of shamans and didn't necessarily require the assistance of the military, but they strictly kept this information within the family. Regardless, it was common for such nobles to join the military in order to earn glory and prestige for themselves anyway.
After living alone for so long, endlessly battling against demons within the underworld trial, Deon felt quite detached from the common people around him. Even so, he gradually felt like he was beginning to understand this world.
Deon started to make his plans.