"Vallynor, do you know why this world is cursed?" Alexander, leading the way and killing all the fallen enemies while using an artifact to capture their souls, spoke to Vallynor, who was walking behind him with a sorrowful Annie and Glazik.
"Yes," he replied briefly, collecting a few souls from the enemies he had killed.
Alexander was a powerful being capable of killing all his enemies with a single move. However, the journey was long, and the warrior, whose blood boiled after encountering his son, decided to relax a bit. But most importantly, to assess the strength of this unusual guy. From what he had already seen, it was clear that there was resilience.
By the standards of this world in which he and everyone else lived, Vallynor would be considered a weakling who couldn't even kill an ordinary dung beetle. On the contrary, he would simply die from the breath of that beetle. The difference in power was colossal.
And now? It was evident that we all had rusted so much that such a weakling could kill the Queen of the Forest. In the past, it would have been considered a bad joke, but now it is the bitter truth.
There were surprises too. Alexander was greatly surprised to learn that his current powers had no connection to levels. He was still considered mortal in all three types of enlightenment. He also tried to develop all three types simultaneously.
For this, he didn't even need Vallynor's personal admission. Just once, swaying, he was able to see everything. Shaking his head, Alexander continued the conversation:
"I don't know what you know, but still, I'll tell you. Maybe you'll learn something new... This world belongs to the God of Souls. This world is called Statera. All living creatures in this world, even plants, didn't originate in or were born in this world. This planet was dead. Our god chose this planet as his kingdom... Mmm, they even say that he was born on this planet. But that's nonsense. Only the god of death and the goddess of life have a strange form of birth. All other gods emerged from the collective faith of thousands of people or mortals like us, enlightened their paths, and completed them. They were born as new gods..." Killing a huge serpent and cutting it in half lengthwise, Alexander filled the artifact with souls. Taking another one from his ring, he continued his story while Vallynor killed weak enemies together with Annie and Glazik.
"I deviated a little from the topic. Caesar will tell you about the gods and all that filth. What I told you was to dispel all those silly rumors... Our god chose this world. For heroes like us, villains, great beings. Legends about our worlds, which didn't want to become servants of the gods ruling this world. This world has become our home. Maybe I told it poorly? Tell me, what is the job of the God of Souls? He is responsible for directing the souls of mortals to other worlds. To maintain balance or equilibrium. But it's not always possible to restore balance in a certain world. That's why we exist... existed. For example, if a world fights evil, and good ultimately triumphs, then evil no longer exists, and slowly but surely, good begins to distort the concept of goodness. Because of that, it gradually becomes the cause of the world's downfall. In such cases, to fix the problem before it's too late, the God of Souls sends a villain with a mission to bring destruction and chaos to the world. Likewise, in opposite cases, when evil almost completely prevails, a hero is born who, if not victorious, at least brings balance..."
"Why don't the gods themselves solve such problems, and why is it so important for the gods and the God of Souls?" Vallynor asked apathetically. He already knew almost everything that could be learned about the old woman's soul and Ego's soul, but some aspects still remained a mystery, like a fog he tried to penetrate but couldn't. And now, Lion Alexander begins to proudly tell, and Vallynor has a chance to take advantage of it.
"Hmm, powerful beings are the gods, but after the last war, which resulted in the destruction of 86% of all living creatures along with their planets, and the majority of those souls being destroyed or abducted by demons, the gods signed an agreement stating that they will no longer interfere in the affairs of mortals under any circumstances. Anyone who violates this agreement will be destroyed, and their power will be sealed in eternal torment. Now they can only observe and occasionally provide advice or commands. And when disasters occur, such as the emergence of a rift from hell and the onslaught of demons ready to completely destroy the world, the gods can, at most, create an artifact that seals the rift and send powerful weapons. Everything else depends on mortals, or rather, on people like us."
During their walk, Alexander didn't stop talking. He once again wanted to be a mentor. Out of joy, he kept telling Vallynor all the details. He understood that he could learn even more in the city. Images of envy and admiration that would surround him were already forming in his imagination. Ha-ha-ha! I should thank Caesar. So, I will remain silent about the gods.
"Why do they need these believers? Of course, because of faith. Why and for what purpose Caesar will tell you... Everyone you meet in this world, the beings who became subservient to the Soul God. Sometimes new souls are born in different worlds, from which great personalities are formed, like heroes and villains. When they die, the gods of their worlds, so to speak, want to capture them and make them their eternal servants. Who wouldn't want to have a powerful servant who is as loyal as a dog? Of course, this doesn't apply to all gods, but undoubtedly to the majority. Some of these legendary figures, due to ignorance or blind faith, agree to enter the realm of the God in exchange for eternal service. This hardly sets them apart from you and your undead, except that they lack reason or soul."
"What sets the Soul God apart from the others? How did he become their servant?" Vallynor asked with interest, listening to Alexander and his story. Anino and Glazik also listened attentively and, like their master, pondered.
"In a sense, they are similar, but the Soul God is more merciful. The world before his death was the paradise everyone had heard of. Nobody died, experienced hunger, and immortality allowed them to do as they pleased. And sometimes they ventured into other worlds with a mission. There were debates about who would complete their mission faster. But what about the other gods? For example, the God of War, who became their servant, you could say he became an eternal gladiator, constantly fighting and never finding a moment of rest. Essentially, he became a beast in a cage. I'm not very familiar with the realm of other gods, so my descriptions may be inaccurate..."
Alexander paused, stepped back, and drew his swords. A worm emerged from the sand in front of him, only to be promptly sliced into two parts. Then he returned the swords to their place and said:
"Because of that battle, many fallen ones gathered. And, as luck would have it, they ended up in our path. I became the sword of my god from the moment I first met him. Back then, I was a miserable lion forced to leave my own home. I wouldn't be here if the God hadn't given me a second life and the opportunity to avenge all those who wronged me. When I was still alive and training in my second life, I fell in love with the sword and the knight's code. Of course, I couldn't become a knight without my king, and as I walked the path of revenge, I decided that fulfilling personal desires would make me a knight of my god. He was merciful to me. I know the God had his selfish motives. Because of the discussion about my past, I couldn't stand it anymore. I wanted you to explain to all of us what you were doing with the Queen and why you fought, risking your soul. But still, I couldn't hold back until that moment."
"Because of a few of my actions, I gave away a part of my soul and humanity. I went to the old woman to obtain her soul and unite it with mine, thus solving my problem," Vallynor said, killing a strange deer with empty sockets instead of eyes and three mouths filled with wriggling beetles. Touching his stomach, Vallynor felt something alien inside him. Using magic, he explored it but found nothing. Then he concluded that his body had not fully adapted to the changes brought by the two strange necromancers.
"Old woman? You called... called the Queen. How unusual, but fitting... So, you went to her to restore your soul. The soul can be restored somehow, but you couldn't simply lose your humanity, only give it away... Wait."
"What?" Vallynor pondered, feeling a strange sensation in his stomach. He quickly regained his composure and looked around, noticing that they were surrounded by small creatures in black clothes with long ears. "Goblins?"
Vallynor immediately made a connection between goblins from fantastical worlds and the creatures before him.
"No, these are fallen elves. If the goblins hear that you called them fallen, they will send their entire army of ironclads against you," answered Alexander, swinging his sword and striking the air. Shockwaves headed straight towards the fallen elves. As he spoke, he said, "Elves and goblins have always had disagreements because some of them would cut down forests and collaborate with dwarves, while others always hated elves. Now, when we're all locked up, many conflicts have been exhausted, but not all. And this conflict between goblins and elves has only intensified due to the appearance of fallen elves who resemble goblins very much. They behave not like scholar-engineers but like savages, driven only by reproduction and killing."
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Vallynor was already aware of the conflicts between races and remembered some funny moments from the memories of the Forest Queen.
"But don't goblins kill and abduct women of other races for reproduction?"
"Of course, there are some who do. If you gather the souls of these elves, my artifact can detain them. But the process is still slow, and many souls may slip away," said Alexander, collecting the souls of the slain beings. Vallynor watched as the artifact in Alexander's hands gathered souls. Then he looked at Anino, who absorbed the souls of his slain enemies. Finally, thanks to the collected souls, Vallynor was able to repay his debt to the book. Because of this, Anino was finally able to absorb the souls of his slain enemies. Of course, he had absorbed souls before, but it was a secret.
Glazik flew around, observing everything from a distance. Vallynor didn't forget that she was a grimoire, but she remained silent as long as Alexander was around.
"In the world, there are two types of goblins: one is intelligent, and the others are driven by their instincts. They don't have the magical strength to become archmage goblins, at least not in this world. Goblins are limited in magic not because of their intellect or their ability to memorize various spells and rules. On the contrary, they are very clever - I'm talking about the first type of goblins. They are limited by their physical bodies, which cannot accumulate a large amount of mana, and their ability to channel mana in their bodies is terrible. That's why they concentrated all their brainpower on science. Creating an underground city together with dwarves and isolating it from magical waves, they started studying technology. When they reached the necessary level, goblins began combining magic and technology. However, their technology, resembling the magic we have been using for centuries, was not accepted by the masses. Most of their technology is in the underground city... which fell. As for the second type of goblins, they simply consume and violate women of other races. Their origins are strange... Ha."
Killing a creature with a huge head and a human face, as well as a long neck, in a single strike, Alexander said, "The longer we live, the worse it gets. They started mutating, and it only gets worse with each passing day." Taking his swords, he severed the neck on the third attempt. However, the body and the severed part of the head continued to move. "This is terrible," he thought.
Lifting his swords, Alexander swung five times and split the head in half. But even after that, the body and the detached part of the head continued to move. Ready to attack, Alexander felt dozens of invisible hands flying around him.
Noticing that Alexander couldn't sever the neck of the strange creature on his first attempt, Vallynor decided to help him while observing the situation. Perhaps in the future, they would come up with something else.
Summoning dozens of soul hands, their number nearly reaching a hundred, Vallynor's control over the soul hands and overall magic had strengthened after merging his soul with the souls of deceased children, the Forest Queen, and her son Ego. He felt that he could do even more if he trained. And this was just at level zero, considered the level of ordinary mortals.
Previously, he could control a maximum of 47 soul hands, with great difficulty. Now he had reached around 97 hands. Their number had doubled, and the casting time of spells had reduced by two seconds, reaching seven seconds.
The soul hands attacked the monster, directly targeting its soul and attempting to rip it out of its body. The creature sensed the threat and tried to attack the culprit. However, Alexander stopped it every time it attempted to attack. In response, Alexander attacked the monster with even greater force, aiding Vallynor. Even Anino, who had been observing, attacked the monster using shadow skills and shadow magic. She slowed down the main body and the parts of the head, which were increasingly separating. However, they still continued to move and attack. Glazik, in turn, shot from her eyes and tried to weaken the enemy with curses. It wasn't much, but it provided assistance.
Slowly, Vallynor managed to extract the enemy's soul from its body. The soul appeared as a hundred monsters fused together. Their empty eye sockets were filled with madness and greed. They turned towards Vallynor and lunged at him, no longer resisting. They exited the body and leaped to attack his soul.
A grimoire called the Necronomicon appeared before Vallynor and absorbed them. Alexander looked at the enemy's corpse and threw it into his ring, intending to show it to Caesar and the others. Finishing that, he turned to the exhausted Vallynor, who was sitting on the sand.
"You used soul hands to extract the soul from this monster?" Sitting next to him, Alexander pulled out a cloth from his ring and began cleaning his swords.
Vallynor looked at Alexander, not understanding what he was implying. He had already demonstrated this simple spell before. Thinking for a moment whether to answer truthfully or not, he decided to tell the truth. He had nothing to hide. He still didn't understand many things, even with the memories of the Queen and Ego. He needed time to comprehend everything, but time was not on his side.
"Yes, it's a soul spell called Hand of the Soul."
"And how many hands can you create?" Alexander asked, continuing to clean his sword without pausing.
"Currently, around 90. But I feel like I could create even more if I train," Vallynor answered, closing his eyes, wanting to look inside his own soul and understand what was happening there.
Alexander paused for a moment, then continued cleaning his swords, lost in thought. Anino and Glazik decided to guard and eliminate any enemies since Vallynor's return. Glazik hardly spoke, as if she had lost her tongue. Or perhaps she could still speak?
Vallynor decided to first delve into his inner world to check if any changes had occurred since the last time. He created a pool that was supposed to contain mana. However, when he entered it, he saw that it was filled with stones, and the pool that had been created and stored for so long was destroyed.
Seeing this, Vallynor was surprised and then realized the reason for the problem with regret. The techniques he had tried to master and enter the world of mages were created and directed toward humans. They assumed a human mind, but he was no longer human. Even if his soul had mutated and become half-dragon, the same could be said about his mind. He was no longer human, and the methods used by humans no longer suited him. Therefore, he had to follow a different path. Fortunately, thanks to the old woman's memories, he already had several good methods that could replace and work with the Vias Deus technique.
However, for now, he put that aside and focused on his soul. Luckily, the plateau remained as he had left it. The rune created from the soul of the time butterfly was sealed to prevent harm to his soul. He wondered if he could remove this seal, even partially. Smiling, he looked up to where his soul should be.
He saw a massive sphere surrounded by black threads. Some parts of the Soul were white as milk, while others were dark green. Somewhere there were shades of blue and red... There were all colors except for violet and bright yellow. His soul was several times larger. As he observed it, he felt how it was tainted and covered in stains that pierced its entire being.
"So, this is what the beginning of a fall looks like," Vallynor thought, stepping back. He began to cleanse his mind of the filth and contemplated how it would evolve further. The Vias Deus path no longer suited him until he made changes for his soul. This path was created for humans and all races, but not for a creature that contained two, no, three races. He could no longer use it since he could no longer coexist in the unity required by this path.
His soul was not yet whole. And if he chose the path of humans or dragons for his development, one part of his soul would thrive while the other slowly but surely weakened and eventually detached.
After destroying all his efforts and even the efforts of the old woman and Baba Yaga, killing himself, he now needed to somehow merge the fused souls into a single whole. Reflecting on how he could solve these problems, he took hold of the Necronomicon. However, as he pondered, a blue panel with missions appeared, and to his surprise, he found that all three empty slots were filled. Quickly pressing the first one, he read:
[
The Path to the Last City.
Meet the great warlord Alexander in the legendary city of Sinif (????). The journey will be long and full of trials.
Objectives: Reach the city within 1 month (29 days, 8 hours, 35 minutes, 26 seconds, 12 milliseconds...)
Reward: 1000 necro-coins (a currency that can be used to pay for the services of other necromancers, purchase items, weapons, knowledge, etc.).
]
"Necro-coins?" Vallynor pondered. It was a new type of currency created by the book. Why did it replace souls with necro-coins?
While Vallynor searched for an answer, the Necronomicon appeared before him, revealing its empty pages. The following words appeared on them:
[Souls, in their primary understanding, have many differences and standards, and they cannot be considered equal. For example, a dragon's soul would be several times more valuable than a human's soul. Because of this, souls will be analyzed and exchanged for necro-coins based on their value.]
After reading all of this, Vallynor was able to understand why they had transitioned from souls to necro-coins. But it was very disheartening for him to remember that in the past, he had collected one million souls, which could have been worth much more in necro-coins. Leaving the past behind, he moved on to the second quest.
[
Taking the First Step!!!
You have already spent more than 3 years in this world, but you have yet to take the first step towards enlightenment, understanding this world, and mastering it. As a mortal, you have only managed to survive due to the Hero's Effect, which increased your luck. (???????????? Weak????mind????diminish????virg?????)
Objectives: Take the first step in all three paths of enlightenment. Develop the paths of the Body, Soul, and Mind.
Reward: 1 gift from the God of Death (The box can contain anything. Whatever the God wishes, you will receive as a reward. Advice: PRAY not to receive legendary bikini armor or swords commanding women. The God has many such items.)
]
After reading the second task, Vallynor's eyes twitched but quickly calmed down. It surprised him a little. In the past, he would have been outraged, but now he quickly considered this task and understood why it was written this way.
"After all, having restored my soul, I have changed. For the better? Although I haven't changed much, by my standards. But it's a fact that my tolerance has improved. And for the better. Still, deep down, I'm uneasy about it. Perhaps I haven't changed that much."
Vallynor quieted his thoughts and left the written task aside. He didn't want to examine it closely yet until he saw that question mark. After reading the words, he understood nothing except that he was referred to as a virgin and that he possibly had an invisible shield protecting him.
Leaving the second task, he looked at the third quest, expecting it to be written with insults once again.