I slowly pulled the map out of my soul, being extra careful not to drop it in the forest below. Raising my other hand I carefully tracked a line from the Forbidden Forest to my approximate location. From there I tried to find a rough route to the next area I wanted to visit.
My current destination was the Sky Palace, which is the trial that supposedly comes after the forest I'm in. Although I've already obtained soul force by combining Qi and mana, that only serves as proof that different energies can be combined to form a new, and arguably superior form of energy. Therefore, I still plan on completing the inheritance, as there's a chance I might be able to learn a new type of energy from it, and then combine it with my soul force to create a super energy. Of course, it's all just speculation at the moment, and even if I don’t obtain what I’m looking for by the end of it, then just the treasures I obtain from each trial should be plenty.
But it'll take a while, if I go off of my current location in comparison to the shaman's den I should be able to roughly figure out the time it'd take to reach the Sky Palace. Running some calculations in my head I'd say it'd take approximately a week at my current pace. Not including the breaks between flights.
-----
After another six hours of flying the strain on my wings was starting to hurt. So I began to search for an opening to safely land, and rest up. Luckily the trees had started to thin after about five hours of flight so finding an open space wasn't incredibly difficult.
I eventually settled for a clearing between two rows of trees. There was a nice river that flowed in the center and the space on either side of it was enough for me to stretch comfortably.
A small herd of deer had also decided to cross the river just as I appeared. Which also solved the food problem.
Locking onto the herd I stretched my wings and went in for a swan dive. As I came streaking past the river, I quickly grabbed a deer with my free hand, and another deer with my mouth. Once the two deers were in my grasp, I flew back up over the herd.
If somebody from earth was watching me, they might even mistake my actions for that of a vulture.
As the herd caught up to what had transpired they quickly rushed back to land, pushing the other deer out of the way in their panic.
The sight was quite adorable.
I swallowed the deers from my earlier dive before once again swooping back down for more. By the end I totaled seven deers in my stomach before the herd managed to escape into the forest. Which was more than enough to satiate my hunger.
After the last of the deers ran into the forest I collapsed onto the dirt to help the food digest. My level had also gone up nine times, which was surprising. Turns out they were some mutated deer that could peirce iron with their horns or something. Of course it’s nothing noteworthy in comparison to me, but interesting nonetheless.
7 Low Tier Souls Harvested
Oh?
I actually forgot about my ability to harvest souls. It seems the skill passively harvests the souls from monsters, and I assume humans as well, that I kill. Which is more than welcome. Can't go screaming harvest everytime I kill something now, can I?
Now I wonder what I can do with the harvested souls? Would enslaving the souls be possible without a body, although doing so would be a waste. Even if it did work, if it somehow brought the deers back to life, then I’ll have more than a stomach ache to deal with. So that’s currently off the table.
I pondered over my current options, before eventually settling on cultivating the souls. Whether or not I'm able to cultivate the souls, I should at the very least give it a shot.
Pushing my body off the ground I made my way to a small burrow not far from where I killed the deer, it should be just enough to hide my body from any opportunist that may pass by.
Once I got cozy in my little dug out, I immediately started cultivating.
My view shifted as my vision, or will, entered my soul.
Once I opened my eyes I noticed that the area around me was empty, no colours, no shape. It was nothing, but I still knew that there was something. The area was not a pleasant place to be, that much could be confirmed.
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After I examined my surroundings, I focused my attention straight ahead. Seven small wisps were floating not far from me, which I assume are the seven deer souls.
Pushing my will towards the souls I tried to absorb them, only to be repelled. I tried multiple times but the result didn't change, the souls didn't want to be absorbed.
This will be troublesome, for Qi I only had to pull it from the air before circulating it in my body. Though now I'll have to find a way to make the soul to listen to me.
Moving my will closer to the wisps, I tried to pull it out of my soul, not the smartest move, but it also failed. I tried multiple different methods but each seemed to fail faster than the last, and like that, time quickly passed.
----
After hours of effort, I finally made a breakthrough.
Unlike with Qi, which required me to circulate it within my body, soulforce is done within my soul. Which also means I'm not limited by a body, and with my ability to manipulate my soul, I could actually take a form inside of my own soul. Of course It's nothing detailed, but I can manage a basic set of arms at least.
With the new pair of arms I grabbed onto one of the wisps, it tried to repel me, but this time my arms kept it in place. After it's first attempt failed, the soul started to visibly shake in my grasp.
How cute.
By tightening my grip over the soul I was able to easily subdue it, and once I had it under my control, I forcibly absorbed it into my will. Following which, my will started to thicken, and ever so slightly gain a tangible form.
Haha! I finally managed to cultivate a soul!
Dragon Evolution System
Race: Baby Dragon
Status: Healthy
Level: 9/100
{New} Cultivation: Soulforce [Stage 1] 1%
{New} Cultivation Technique: Soul Absorption
{New} Rank: B+ [New Body: Stage 1]
Abilities:
[System] [Status] [Analyze] [Roll: Lv2] [Scratch] {New} [Ethereal Dragon Breath: Lv1] [Soul Bound] [Mild Regeneration] [Soul Harvest]
Titles:
[System Wielder] [Survivor: Lv5] [Little Bad Guy: Lv4] [Strong Mind: Lv4] [%^#(]
The soul seemed to have made me one percent closer to the next stage of soulforce, which will be incredibly useful! There also appears to be what seems like the Qi equivalent to my current rank, New Body stage one.
Focusing on the rank, I tried to learn more about the ranks by using analyze.
Rank: B-
New Body: Stage 1
Rank: B
New Body: Stage 5
Rank: B+
New Body: Stage 9
Luckily it worked, and along with my current rank, the three different B ranks were also shown. From the system chart I noticed a sudden surge in power for every monster rank, while the humans, or Qi users, had a more gradual progression in ranks. I wonder if that's just from the characteristics of mana, or if it's the monsters themselves that cause the sudden rise in power between ranks. Alas, questions for the future.
Going back to the six wisps that were left, I picked up the two wisps that were closest to me, and quickly subdued them. After I had them under control, I began the next test. Raising both of my arms, I pushed the two spirits together. Once they made contact, the two souls immediately combusted in a dazzling display of light; destroying the two souls.
Although I wasn't expecting much from the experiement, why do I feel so aggitated? But I did just waste two damn souls! They just had to explode on contact, I could have used them to boost my cultivation! I knew it was childish to be mad at such a thing but I can't help it!
In my anger I stopped cultivating, and left my soul.
My body was intact, and nothing was out of the ordinary. But the sun had started to fall below the horizon, so I probably had been cultivating for a while. My wings had also rested the whole time I've been inside of my soul, so I can finally continue my journey.
But what's with my emotions recently? My anger on the souls was so sudden that I barely registered it. It might just be my new life, but I feel as though I’m getting easier to anger. Granted it doesn't seem to be affecting me too badly, so I shouldn't worry about it too deeply.
Putting the thought to the back of my mind, I walked to the edge of the opening, and adopted a crouching position.
I spread my wings wide, and sprinted parallel to the river to gain momentum. Just as I was about to reach the end of the opening, I quickly flapped my wings, kicking up a small gust as I flew right over the trees.
Of course, it wasn't actually necessary to build up momentum in order for me to fly, but it's always a more thrilling experience with a running start.