"You can't seriously be expecting me to eat my own footwear, could you?" For once in his life, Brahman Elksworth, a worldwide famous Soul Oracle, was nervous.
"Lone-ro, please show some respect for Lord Elksworth. He is still a very important person, after all," Lossa requested.
Lone wobbled up to his feet while Sophie supported him and he waved his hand. "No matter. I was unjustified in my provocations earlier as well. I can see that he's an arrogant old man who's seen a lot, so it's only natural for him to overestimate his abilities."
'Lone, you promised to stop acting so rudely. Even if he was wrong, you shouldn't act like this,' Sophie reprimanded Lone telepathically for his childish words as she buried herself in his extra fluffy tails.
'This guy pissed me off. I'm not really gonna make him eat his own socks, but he's scared of Eolande, so can't I fuck with him a little bit?' Lone responded.
Sophie wore a thoughtful expression and rubbed a tail's tip against her smooth, youthful face. 'Mmm, okay. Just don't go overboard. I don't want a repeat of Clicker, if possible.'
"Don't worry. Even if I really push him to the point that he'll attack me, my Title, Lord of Possibility, will trigger, and freeze him. I highly doubt he can negate that like Clicker did," Lone said with certainty.
Clicker was definitely a Divine Level Being, maybe even an Ancient Level Being, while Brahman wasn't even a Cosmic Level Being since he wasn't an X, XX or XXX-Ranker.
Brahman's eyebrows twitched. 'Did this whelp really just use my own words against me? Very well, we'll see who's laughing in a moment.'
"I see that you managed to remove the curse, somehow, but do you truly believe that you've saved Mr and Mrs Redtail?" A hint of mocking could be felt from Lord Elksworth's voice.
"What? of course I've saved them. Can't you see that they're perfectly healthy now?" Lone was confused.
Brahman walked up to Lone and pushed him out of the way. he then sent a fierce glare towards Eolande. "Relax, Tylwyth Teg, I shan't kill him, as much as I want to. I still wish to live a few more centuries."
Eolande smiled and deactivated the spell that she was busy creating behind her back.
Brahman snorted and placed a hand on both Tama and Lars' chests. Neither resisted since he had done this for several years already. A warm, milky-white glow escaped Brahman's palms and entered the two Foxkin.
"What's he doing?" Lone asked Lossa. He now looked far more centred and no longer required Sophie's support, so she had fully immersed herself in her personal Kingdom of fluffiness.
"It's reasonable for you to not know. Soul Oracles are very rare, after all," Lossa said with admiration in her eyes clearly being directed at the very old Dragonkin.
"Lord Elksworth is currently using the famed skill of the Soul Oracles, Soul Binding," Lossa explained lightly before sighing. "His services are very expensive, but he is one of the few Soul Oracles that can actually use such a high-level technique."
Lone laughed at this. "I see. He's gonna love this when he's done."
"Lone-ro?" Lossa was confused. What did Lone mean by what he had just said?
A few minutes passed before the light faded and a few beads of sweat dripped down Brahman's weathered face. He exhaled in exhaustion and wiped his forehead. "There we go."
Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
Slowly turned to around to look at Lone with a face full of contempt, he continued, "While you did remove their curse, you did not enforce their damaged souls. Had they been left alone, they would have died within mere weeks."
Tiera and Trella, the Foxkin children, gaped at this and their faces turned pure white. They had brought Lone to heal their parents, and if Lord Elksworth wasn't here, then they would have certainly died... such a thought horrified the two teenagers.
"Ah, I knew that, obviously. In fact, I was going to do that... what was it called again?" Lone said before he looked at Lossa.
"Eh? Um, Soul Binding, Lone-ro," she replied in a bit of a daze. What of Altros was Lone saying? Lossa couldn't understand.
"Right, Soul Binding. I was just about to that before you stopped me," Lone said with the utmost confidence. It was like his question to Lossa hadn't even happened.
Eolande smiled. "As absurd as ever, I see, Husband."
Literal smoke puffed out of Brahman's ears in anger. "Preposterous! I will accept that you removed their curse, I will accept that you are married to the legendary Fairy Princess, but I will not allow you to disrespect the name of us Soul Oracles, you damned insolent youth!"
"Calm down. I'm sorry for appearing to insult you, but just watch, okay?" Lone said to the elder with a surprisingly gentle tone.
Lone had changed over the last two years. Lone had finally accepted that he was inherently arrogant. He had no opportunity to express this on Earth due to his situation, but on Altros, he was in control, and he could properly express himself.
If Lone could say one thing that had changed about him, it was that he had learnt how to show compassion. Brahman had not wronged Lone in the slightest. True, he had tried to attack Lone, but that was because of the dangerous power within him known as Darkness, so Lone could understand that.
"Fine! If you truly can Soul Bind them, then I really will eat my socks," Brahman huffed.
Lone grinned. "Don't make me responsible in a few minutes, okay?"
Lone walked up to Tama and Lars and kneeled down to face the two seated Foxkin. "Trust me again, please."
Lars nodded his head after a moment of thought. While Lone's attitude left much to be desired, he had cured them, so Lars didn't see why Lone would do anything harmful to his wife or himself at this point.
'Well, I just got you, but do your best, Soul Binding,' Lone said to himself before he checked his new skill again. Indeed, his absurd talent to learn had once again displayed itself and with a single demonstration, Lone had managed to learn the Soul Oracle skill, Soul Binding.
Soul Skill: Soul Binding
A very high-level and unique skill only performable by very experienced Soul Oracles.
Allows the host to strengthen the souls of other beings. It is stronger on weaker beings when compared to the host and weaker on stronger beings when compared to the host.
Cost: 1,000 MP Mastery: Beginner Level 1
Needless to say, it was very weak at beginner level one, but Brahman's eyes practically fell out of their sockets and his heart lurched to a stop upon seeing Lone actually perform such an advanced Soul Oracle skill.
"You... you... you're a Soul Oracle?! Impossible!" Brahman stuttered.
The Purity Dragonkin wasn't the only one who was surprised. 'Lone-ro... just who are you?' An uncommon level of depth could be seen in Lossa wise eyes.
Swind and Eolande both nodded their heads. "As expected of Mr Immortus-ss," Swind hissed with a praiseful tone.
Naturally, Lone's Soul Binding did very little to help Tama and Lars considering how badly corroded their souls were, but it didn't detract from the fact that he had successfully performed such a skill that should only be usable by people with a particular type of soul.
Thankfully for Brahman, Lone didn't force him to eat his socks and even told him to put them back on when the elderly man was actually going to consume his foot warmers. While arrogant and somewhat unlikable, Lone wasn't a fan of abusing his elders. As a side note, the socks were white.
Brahman stayed with Tama and Lars and the children, Tiera and Trella, to make sure they were still alright, but he had told Lone that he'd like to talk with him in private at some point. Right now, Lone and his group had returned to the previous pavilion with Lossa and the two Elves.
It was finally time to learn about Foxkin and maybe glean some insights into Kyuubi's true nature.