Chapter 40: A Small Piece of the Puzzle
The two completed Nara's maiden monster killing voyage. Not only did she loot every monster, but everyone in her aura range gained equivalent loot as well, as long as she thought of them as an ally. Which meant both Nara and Encio got paid for killing a monster or just being nearby when a monster died, and then collected the rewards from the contract as well.
“…I take back what I said earlier. Your parents’ failure was not getting you a looting ability.”
“I'm rich, I don’t need one.”
“Fine, I’ll exclude you next time.”
“I didn’t say that.”
She now also had a few awakening stones to use if she wanted, as well as a few essences to sell.
“Monkey, stone, claw, blood, stench, fur, swift, foot, flesh, death…” Nara listed off, “there’s too many to choose from.”
“I suggest you chose none. You may not know, but there is a particular event Sanshi is known for that will occur in around two months. It will be the perfect chance to acquire the rest of your stones.”
“What’s this event?”
“The Trials of the Celestial Book. It’s an ancient training astral space left behind by the cult of the Celestial Book. It’s been repurposed for iron rank adventurer. This space is the very reason why Sanshi is known as the best location in the world to start off as an iron rank adventurer.”
“Repurposed?”
“For each trial you complete, you are granted an awakening stone. There’s an incredibly high chance of earning 5 star rarity awakening stones. Most people get at least one or two.”
“And how many can you get total?”
Encio shook his head, “The trials are randomized for each person. And only iron rankers can enter the space. So, in partnership with the Magic Society, new adventurers are sent in every four months to investigate the astral space.”
“New adventurers?”
“Each iron ranker can only enter once. The Adventure Society restricts it to adventurers for safety.”
“For…safety?”
“There’s no such thing as a risk free five star stone. The trial is optional, but you risk death.”
“Are you serious? People risk death for a rare stone?”
“An otherwise free 5 star stone, yes. You won’t go then?”
“I’ll have to hear some more details but… risking death?”
“Adventures always risk death,” Encio said.
“They seek challenge, that’s not the same.”
“There’s a fine line between challenge and the risk of death,” Encio said, “You cannot avoid crossing it. At least there you risk it for yourself, of your own will. You should consider the opportunity.”
There was no risk without reward. Slaying monsters wasn’t above her limit, but could she go beyond that? Nara felt she didn’t have a good grasp of risk and what she was willing to risk in this new world. Killing monsters and fighting was already beyond what she would have imagined herself doing less than a year ago, and Monster Hunter didn’t count.
*****
Nara sat at the lake’s edge, considering her options. Path-Seeker was within her hands, and Thanatos at her side, eyes looking out over the glassy water.
She had better control over the intensity of the sound of the lute now. As long as she focused on her aura control, she could produce an ordinary sound—still beautiful, but lacking the soul shaking quality it once had.
A figure sat beside her, wearing a low brim hat and cape, hair tied in a low ponytail over her shoulder.
“You again? I was expecting Redell.”
“Some things are easier to say to a mysterious stranger. I wasn’t so bad, was I? I offer you consultation without any of that Spirit Domain nonsense.”
The god wasn’t leaving so they may as well talk.
“Is this really how it is here? People risk their lives for magical powers?”
“People risk it all for power, all the time. That has always been true of any world.” He leaned in, “You aren’t haunted by curiosity for what treasures a mystical bubble realm holds within? The mysteries only iron rankers can uncover?”
“Even if I am, I’m not letting that cloud my judgement.”
“Then I shall offer you your cloud. The astral space was once the trial grounds for the cult of the Celestial Book.”
“I already knew that.”
“Ah, but you do not know what the Celestial Book is.”
“It’s one of those Great Astral Being thingies, no?”
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“Like the one who unintentionally started your path, the Weaver of Dreams.”
“The Weaver of Dreams…”
She had heard that name before, from The Reaper. Now she knew that it was her former warden. How did he know that? Or did he know because, although unwilling, it was the being that set her on her journey?
“The Celestial Book is the Great Astral Being of cosmic knowledge. All the knowledge in the cosmos, not just restricted to the knowledge that enters this world like our Knowledge. And its cult follows its will. They gather information and create new information. To it, nothing is lost.”
He paused for dramatic effect. He may not be Musician, but he had a penchant for theater.
“Can you risk it all for a way back home?”
Traveler pointed off to the distance, the direction of which Nara assumed was the location of the Celestial Book astral space.
“Perhaps, within the trial you may find the library of the Celestial Book.”
“Perhaps? I’d risk my life for a ‘perhaps’? Can’t you give me a more definitive answer?”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk, I am not Knowledge, Nara. There are no guarantees, just possibilities. Uh-uh, and before you ask, Knowledge does not know what is inside. We gods cannot enter astral spaces. They are not of ‘this world’. They are adjacent to it.”
And with that, he was gone again.
She laid back in the grass, arm thrown over Thanatos and ruffling his fur.
“I guess bud, the choice is made. Enter the astral space, take the trial, find the library, read the books, get the stones. Easy, right?”
Thanatos barked.
“Thanatos, I think you enjoy anything that involves fighting or food.”
*****
New lute in hand, Nara had been spending more time discussing and practicing soul-music.
It was Redell's life goal to create a method to interact with the soul in order to cure certain conditions that affected the soul. People like her with unusual circumstances, or those that had their wills and souls broken or otherwise transformed.
Redell had his own simplified soul-instrument. It’s capabilities were lesser, but his ideal was to create a simplified soul-instrument with predictable effects anyway. Not everything needed to be a soul-bound growth item, especially one that’d be used for therapy and healing.
In a way, this was a sort of soul-therapy for Nara. Redell’s guiding music induced her own soul to recall memories beyond her reach.
“Memories are a good start. But the kind of therapy I seek to achieve requires access.”
“It’s probably just me,” Nara said. “I fought for a long time against letting someone into my soul. It makes sense you can’t do it.”
“No, that is a universal truth of souls: the sanctity of the soul. The sort of guided changes I want to induce requires that level of access, and it is never freely given, except for the most trusting or the most desperate.”
“And torturing a soul for access would defeat the purpose of your goal in the first place.”
“I will not break a soul and claim I seek to repair it. That sort of damage is irreparable. You can recover but it never goes away. Turning that damage into strength would be a hopeful outcome.”
“Aliyah mentioned it.”
“One of your friends?”
“She’s more of an almost-friend. She’s Sen’s team member. She has dual membership in the Magic Society and Adventure Society. She mentioned one of those forbidden researches is soul torture for aura strength.”
“Yes…some survive with greater strength, like you. Some do not. Obviously I do not condone soul torture in the slightest, but what if the difference between one outcome and the next is just a helping hand guiding the soul?”
“I actually have an idea. Can I get back to you on this after a few days?”
“There is no rush, getting older is nothing new.”
*****
Nara detested one particular rule of the universe, the one she suffered from.
The sanctity of the soul.
Souls ignored rank. Higher rank souls could not bypass the sanctity of a lower rank soul, and vice versa, unless consent was given.
But the universe didn’t care how consent was given, as long as it was. Torture, unfortunately, was a viable option. The attacker cannot access the inside out the soul, but they can scour the outside, inflicting inescapable pain.
And consent once given, only ended when the one let in was finished, not a moment before.
It was like letting a burglar into your house, but you could not kick them out. You had to wait until they were satisfied and closed the door behind them. If they didn’t leave themselves a backdoor again for the future. It was always possible they made themselves a spare key, and there would be almost nothing you could do.
Nara had burnt her own house down to escape the robber, and luckily, she had remade something from the ashes. Even if consent was given to her on the basis of trust, Nara didn’t think she could bring herself to access someone else’s soul.
But why did she have to follow the shitty rules of the universe? She was the Path-Seeker! According to her lute, anyways.
She could not reduce an already barebones rule, but could she make it more complicated…more mutual?
It was a great focus on her world, mutual consent. One that could be revoked at any time by either party.
Her world sure liked binding signatures and contracts too… but she did not.
This pact would be one either party could exit at any time.
-------
-You have created the soul-song technique [Mutual Communion].
-Utilizing [Mutual Communion] while performing soul-song will allow a party to access the soul of another party, so long as the both souls allow it. The consent of either party can be withdrawn at any time.
-The recipient can detect the intent of the modifier before the modifier is able to implement any changes or access other aspects of the soul.
-------
“...How’s that?” she asked Redell after she finished playing.
She had been able to access his soul, and he let her. The objective was to access a childhood memory, and see it through his eyes.
She had managed it. He guided her to the memory, and she saw.
Redell Rowan was a periphery royal family member of the Rowan Kingdom. He was not in the line of succession. Royal families in Erras were large since their family members lived for hundreds of years at high ranks, and their old age didn’t stop high rankers from reproducing. The only expectation for Redell Rowan was only to fulfill his duties as a member of the royal family in a field that was acceptable to their reputation.
But when Redell was 18, his life changed. The arts was viewed as a craft of the commoners, not fit for royalty to pursue; Music was no exception. The Rowan royalty were researchers, adventurers, healers, clergy, officials, inventors, politicians, and craftsmen. Not artists, nor poets, writers, or musicians. It was their duty as royalty to either protect or advance the nation. Not to indulge in unnecessary pursuits of beauty.
He had heard the performance of a lifetime. Soul-song was not even a concept in his young mind, yet he felt his soul was shaken. He fell in love with music. He was a willing criminal of the wonderous music he heard that day. The way the percussion thundered within his body echoed through his bones. The way melody communicated emotions without words.
He was the shame of the royal family, but he would not give up his passion. He pushed against their ideals of traditional and honor, and they pushed back, by expelling him. He joined the Church of the Healer, and left for another part of the world with a changed name.
“And you haven’t seen your family since?”
“They may not even know I am alive. Enough about me though. My story is old. You’ve just managed something remarkable.”
“It’s just a small piece of the puzzle. This is just the access, the two handled key. Like the uh, double key you need to fire off a nuke. That’s accurate, right?”
“What is a nuke?”
“Not something for this moment. Anyway, for the actual process of changing a soul, I have no ideal how you’d accomplish that.”
“You might be able to.”
“In my domain, sure, but nobody else can go there.”
“Nobody else can go there—yet.”
“I’m not planning on modifying someone’s soul Redell. And even if I technically can, I don’t know how.”
His ran a hand through his hair, “No, you’re right. This is my goal, not yours. Thank you for your help so far.”
“Anytime just uh, don’t expect any soul scouring.”
“Of course not. I would never expect that from you.”