When Nalser started regaining any sort of feeling again, he opened his eyes to see that he was inside a blank white space. He remembered this place, it seemed like his consciousness. As he carefully looked around, he quickly found what he was searching for. He found his Soul but it was in a very bad shape. Currently, the Soul was suspended in mid air, and it seemed to be hugging his feet. However, cracks were visible all over the Soul. Seeing this Nalser truly felt how close he currently was to dying.
What he didn’t know was, whether these cracks were the consequence of the Foundation Establishment battle or they were created by him entering the Bloody Angel state. He felt that at least most of these were the aftermath of the Foundation Establishment battle but some of them had been added by the Bloody Angel state. As he let out a breath, he went in front of the Soul. As he placed his and on it’s back, he started inspecting it. Soul’s were very abstract things, the same applied to the sea of consciousness. Although, he had found some soul strengthening techniques in the library, he had only glanced at them and just read through them once. Since at the time, he didn’t have a Soul and he thought that he can use those techniques beginning from the Nascent Soul Stage, he hadn’t truly pondered over them.
Enn had given him all the knowledge he had on Souls as well but all it encompassed were a few methods to observe them or inspect them. The techniques used to strengthen the soul were all extremely high level and could only be used after he had Ascended. Before that, their potency is too strong and they could accidentally damage his soul instead. Since he couldn’t use any of those methods, he was in quite a tight spot. From his inspection he discovered that the Soul was currently in a very fragile state and even a slight wrong move could shatter it. As he started using his full attention on trying to remember the lower tiered soul healing and strengthening arts he had read about, he closed his eyes.
Since he didn’t commit them to the memory, it was currently extremely hard for him to remember the exact details. He remembered only bits and pieces. Since they were all bits and pieces, he couldn’t be sure that they were all from the same technique. Finally he let out a sigh, as he surrendered himself to fate. All he could do was wait for the soul to heal on his own, however, he had no idea how long it might take.
As he opened his eyes, he discovered that there was a book in front of him. He looked at the book in astonishment, then looked around and saw no one and nothing else. He carefully took the book and started reading it. His face betrayed more and more astonishment as he kept reading. When he finished reading the book fully, he gave a bitter smile as he sighed, “The consciousness truly is a mysterious thing.” The book was exactly the one on the Soul Healing Arts he had read about before.
Nalser remembered a section of Enn’s Legacy that was on Souls. It was a theory on the Souls and the Sea of Consciousness. Summarized, the theory hypothesized that the Sea of Consciousness was actually not part of the same world as the body but it existed in another, special dimension. The Sea of Consciousness was linked to a person through the Soul, since the Soul of a person takes refuge at the Sea of Consciousness. It was also hypothesized that Memories are all stored in the Sea of Consciousness. However, no one had found a way to interact with their Sea of Consciousness like Nalser did. So Nalser decided to test out this theory. He closed his eyes again as he started visualizing another book.
It was a book he had read through and through, a book on Qi Gathering Stages. When he opened his eyes again, the same book was in front of him. As he read it, it truly was a one on one copy of it. This proved Nalser’s train of thought and as he started getting more and more absorbed in thinking about it, he suddenly snapped back. “I have plenty of time to experiment with this later.” As he said to himself, he started focusing on comprehending the intricacies behind the Soul Healing Arts. As he sat there, time slowly passed. When he was done comprehending them, he opened his eyes with resolution. He extended his hands out again as he gently put his hands on the Soul’s back. He closed his eyes and started following the method described in the book.
Feeling a mysterious feeling well up inside as if answering the method, Nalser gently started channelling it through his hands into the back of the Soul. When he couldn’t go on any more, he stopped. He opened his eyes and saw that the method was working. He was happy but he quickly calmed down and started resting. When he was fully rested, he started healing the Soul again. He continued with this cycle.
***
In a modestly decorated room were 6 people. The room had a bed, a night stand and a desk with a chair but that was all. On the bed a young man was in a comatose state. This young man was Nalser and a week had passed since the incident. Currently, the effects of the Bloody Angel transformation had worn off and he looked like he used to. His body was wrapped in bandages as he laid there on his back. Surrounding him were Medic, Alchemist, Sweeper, Librarian and Dummy. Each and every one of them had a grim face on. Even though Mei had woken up, she was in an unresponsive state as she blankly stared out of her window. There had been a time Dummy had been so angry that he started yelling at Mei, demanding for answers however, Medic and Alchemist quickly intervened and threw Dummy out.
Alchemist also had quite solid knowledge in Medical Arts so from the state of Mei’s body he could also tell what had most likely happened. However, it was not something they could speak of so insensitively about. Sweeper looked towards Medic and he asked, “How is his situation?” Medic could only helplessly shake her head as she said, “Still in a comatose state. All the injuries point to a Soul Injury. We can use elixirs and medicines to accelerate his body healing but we have no way of healing his soul. It can only heal on his own, as for how long it will take...” As her words drifted off, everyone’s face became even grimmer.
They understood without Medic telling them. Soul Injuries were very hard to heal and in their Realm there didn’t exist any elixirs to heal Soul Injuries. They had a few techniques that could do so but they had to be cast by the person himself. Since they didn’t know that Nalser had found and Awakened his Soul already, they felt as though all hope was lost. Dummy gnashed his teeth as he asked, “What the Hell happened there? That girl seems like a soulless puppet, Master is in a coma. The remains of that lizard bastard were also in such a gruesome state. Not to mention the state Master was in when he exited. It is all questions that can’t be fucking answered. Also I would like to know, Where the Fucking Hell did that lizard bastard come from?” They were used to Dummy exploding like this but currently no one was reprimanding him.
The questions he aasked were all they were extremely concerned about as well. After the incident, they tightened the spell formations on the Island, they even went as far as to close off all the portals in and outside. They also decided on a patrolling rotation. Two were guarding at the bridge while 4 were simultaneously patrolling around just in case. They hadn’t even as much as found a crack where the Draconian could have slipped in from.
The more they thought about the sudden appearance of the Draconian inside the Island without anyone knowing, it all pointed towards one thing but not a single one of them wanted to think about that possibility. Finally, Alchemist steeled his gut as he asked, “Do you guys think that the Ancient Prince could have anything to do with it?” After saying so, silence ensued. No one refuted that because currently all evidence pointed towards him. After a moment of silence, Sweeper let out a sigh as he said, “Although, I absolutely despise to say so, he truly is the only person who could have done this.” Everyone’s expression turned grimmer and grimmer when finally Dummy said, “Even though everything point to him, didn’t he die in the Ancient War. The Previous Master said that he had struck him down himself.”
Librarian just lightly sighed as he said, “We have no proof he truly died. We only have the Previous Masters word for it.” Just as Dummy was about to say something, Sweeper cut in, “We didn’t see his corpse, neither did anyone else. No one even saw him and the Previous Master fight, much less strike him down. And also, he was his Father, I refuse to believe that he would have a heart cold enough to strike down his only son, the only one of his bloodline.” Hearing that Dummy closed his mouth.
He couldn’t not say anything because everything Sweeper had pointed out was the truth. Also the Ancient War erupted just because the Ancient Prince wanted to obtain the Ancient Kings Legacy but the Ancient King didn’t want to give it to him. Since the Prince had grown up on this Island it is not too far fetched to say that he would have special method or two to enter here without anyone noticing. The only one who most likely could have noticed was the Master of the Island but since Nalser did not have Qi, he could only operate the portal doors. Nothing else.
Also the room Mei cultivated in was the same room the Previous Master used. For an intruder to suddenly appear without anyone noticing and also appear inside the Previous Master’s room, they could only connect all of this to one person. If it truly was so, then everything actually made sense. They everyone let out a sigh as they all reached the same conclusion. Librarian could only bitterly smile as he said, “If it truly is that person, this is all because of the Legacy again. What I am more afraid of is what Master will do when he finds out about this.”
All the other’s could only bitterly smile to that as well. If Nalser found out about all this, he would probably be furious. Alchemist and Medic however were extremely frantic. Since they knew what happened to Mei, they were the most worried about what Nalser was going to do. With a glance at each other, they understood that the other was thinking the same thing. They could only bitterly smile to each other. This didn’t escape Librarians eye as he asked in a cold tone, “Just what is it that you two are hiding from the rest of us?” Seeing Librarians face Medic and Alchemist got shivers as the glanced at each other.
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Finally, Medic let out a sigh as she said, “Come I’ll tell you but this isn’t the place to talk about it.” With that she nodded towards Alchemist who stayed behind to guard Nalser. As Medic closed the door to the room after everyone had exited it, with a heavy heart, she told them everything. When they heard about it and Medic’s thought that Nalser going berserk like that was directly connected that, they understood it. The most regretful face was on Dummy, who thinking back to his actions, wanted to dig a hole to hide in. Medic repeatedly warned them that this was not to leak outside. Only the 7 of them will ever know this, no one else is ever going to find about that. Every one of the three nodded gravely as they understood the weight of this secret. They all left to carry on with their own tasks as Medic took over the watch from Alchemist. She and Alchemist rotated their watches to look over Nalser.
***
Inside the white space, Nalser just finished resting as he put his hands on the back of the soul again to heal it again. He had already lost count how many times he had repeated his cycle of heal→Rest→Heal. All he knew was that it was working and that there were only a few cracks left on the Soul. For some reason, he had feeling that when his Soul was fully healed, he would finally be able to leave this damned white space. As he closed his eyes to concentrate, he started pouring that mysterious energy in the Soul again. Time passed and soon, Nalser took off his hands from the back of the Soul. He wasn’t exhausted, he was finished. He regulated his breathing for a second before trying to connect with Soul.
As he finally managed to connect with it, he opened his eyes. What greeted him was a stone ceiling. As he slowly turned to look around, he discovered Medic rushing to his side. As Medic rushed to his side, she did a complete examination of his body. His body had healed by 70%. Luckily there wasn’t anything serious left and he would not have any hidden injuries either. Nalser didn’t say anything through the entire process.
When Medic had finished, he opened his mouth for the first time, “Where is Mei?” Hearing this froze Medic for a second before she said that she was in the next room. She also said that she was completely healed from the external wounds but she had suffered a very deep psychological wound and that was something she had no way of healing. Nalser only said “Ohh.” Before rising up and going to the next room. Medic could only watch his back as he left. She couldn’t find any words to tell him. When Nalser had entered the room, Medic locked it, to prevent anyone else from intruding. When Nalser saw Mei just sitting there staring out of the window soullessly, he felt a pain stab in his heart. He took a chair and put it a meter away from the bed. As he sat down on the chair, he was quiet.
This situation was exactly the same as the one they were in when they first met. Mei looked towards Nalser. This was the first time, she had responded to anything after the incident. Even if you jumped in front of her playing a drum, she would bat an eye. She looked towards Nalser and asked, “Where is the lizard?” Nalser looked at her straight in the eye and said, “He is dead. He died a very gruesome death.” Mei opened her mouth again, “He did things to me.” As she said so, tears started falling from her eyes as she looked towards Nalser. A clump was caught in Nalser’s throat as he hoarsely said, “I know. And he paid an extreme price for that.” She started sniffling her nose, as she said, “He was after you. He told me if I didn’t bring you to him. He would break me.” Nalser couldn’t hold it in any more and jumped on the bed, he held her tightly in his arms as he said, “You can let it all out. I am here and will never leave your side again. I swear that you will never go through anything like that again.” As he said so the resolution his voice grew as determination appeared in his eyes.
As Mei finally let everything out, she cried herself to sleep. As she started sleeping, she held Nalser’s hand and would not let go of it no matter what. As Nalser sat there, Mei’s head on his lap, he thought to himself, “I do no give a shit who is behind all of this. I swear I will murder you in the most gruesome way possible.” As Nalser sat there, thinking over everything, the door opened and Medic’s head peeked in. When she saw Nalser’s gaze, she wanted to immediately pretend she never poked her head in here. However, before she could completely remove her head, she heard Nalser call, “Medic.” Knowing that she was busted, she went in.
When she saw the gaze that Nalser had, she started feeling heavy. Nalser just simply said, “Tomorrow, I want every single one of you guys to gather at the Library at noon. Not a single one of you is allowed to be absent under any circumstances. Am I clear?” His words were filled with authority as he said so. This made Medic feel cold inside. She could only say, “Yes Master.” With that, she quickly left to inform everyone of Nalser’s order. Nalser looked gently at Mei before falling asleep himself.
***
When he woke up, it was already 11 o’clock. He gently picked up Mei and brought her along. Since she was still sleeping, Nalser wasn’t going to leave her side. Halfway to the Library Mei woke up. Hearing Nalser describe the situation, she could only bury her head beneath the blanket that Nalser had left on her. When they finally reached the Library it was already half past 11. When Nalser entered he saw that everyone was already present and they all had a determined face on. Nalser went into a little room in the Library that seemed like a conference room.
Everyone entered after him and when they had all found their seats, Nalser sat in the Master’s seat. With a cold tone he asked, “I believe all of you know why I have summoned every one of you guys here?” Everyone could only meekly nod to that. What Nalser said next baffled them, “Then I would like to ask you guys, How did a Draconian, someone who doesn’t even exist in our Realm, enter here without anyone knowing?” This was the first time they had heard the term Draconian. Librarian asked cautiously, “What is a Draconian?”
Nalser answered in a cold tone, “A Draconian is a halfbreed between a Dragon and a human. Well, the original ones were but as their numbers grew they started breeding amongst themselves and developed into a separate race.” This made everything clear to everyone however everyone looked toward Nalser with a hint of suspiciousness in their eyes. They were all wondering how he knew this. Seeing this Nalser sighed as he narrated everything about Enn.
He did so because he was tired of beating around the bush and coming out in the open with everything would make all the future situations also easier. When he had finished narrating everything that had happened, he let out a breath. He gave a bit of time to let it all sink in to them. After half an hour had passed Librarian finally sighed, “This explains a lot. How you were able to survive the merging. The mysterious Qi that reformed your body. That Demonic appearance.” Nalser just nodded. Since no one had questions he continued on with their original subject.
He asked, “What are your thoughts on this matter?” Everyone looked at each other, not sure as to what to say, Sweeper opened his mouth, “Me and a few others believe it was the work of the Ancient Prince. Now I am even more certain.” Nalser’s interest was immediately piqued and Sweeper narrated everything they knew regarding the Ancient Prince to Nalser. After Sweeper had finished Nalser summarized it, “So, The Ancient Prince is the only person who would have the ability to enter without anyone noticing. Also, during the Ancient War, by his side were mysterious experts that were from a race never heard of before in the Realm. However, if he can enter without anyone knowing, why hasn’t he come here in person?” This question was also puzzling everyone.
If he could enter why hadn’t he entered to take over the Island yet. Finally Mei, who had been quietly sitting at the sidelines, opened her mouth to say, “Maybe he and the Ancient King truly fought but in the end he had to use a special escape method to escape. Since the Ancient King wounded him, maybe he is still recuperating and he knows he can’t take you all on by himself yet?” The room fell into silence again as everyone thought about that possibility. Dummy said after a long time of silence, “It is very likely that it truly is the case here. The Previous Master had many mysterious techniques of unknown origin.” Finally everyone agreed that that was the most likely case.
Nalser posed the next question without hesitation, “If I wanted to fight against the Ancient Prince with the intent to kill him, would you guys stand behind my back?” Hearing this sentence, after a few seconds of silence, everyone simultaneously stood up and cupped their hands towards Nalser, “We will follow you through Hell if need be.” Nalser had a slight smile on his face when he heard that. His cold demeanour disappeared as the friendly aura came back.
He had been truly worried that they would not follow him to fight against their Previous Master’s only son. However, seeing the determination in their eyes and hearing the resolution in their voice, he was reassured that they stood by his side. Nalser smiled as he said, “Now then, I am not going to make a move before I pass the Empyrean Tribulation. Before that I want to know exactly where that guy is, how many people he has and how many of those fence sitters are going to stand behind me on this one. Also, I want the formations on the Island tripled, I do not want to say more beings, alive or dead, walking around when they shouldn’t even be here.” As Nalser finished giving his order, everyone said in unison, “Yes Master!”
As everyone said so, they immediately started dividing labour. Everyone who knew anything about formation was put on formation detail. They divided the rest, who went to which Remnant, then who went to which World to collect information and so on. Seeing everyone so busily prepare made Nalser feel happy. He could feel that they had genuine drive to do it and they didn’t reluctantly do it because they were scared or ordered to do so. Some even took the initiative to suggest new ideas to better formulate a plan of action and so on.
Since Nalser currently didn’t have the necessary cultivation base to help, he could only leave them to carry on while he carried Mei out. Although it seemed like Mei had cried everything out of her system, Nalser could tell that something was still wrong. Nalser brought her to the edge of the island and sat down there again. When he asked what was wrong, he got an extremely surprising answer. Mei asked him, “Why do you bother with me? Why not throw someone as dirty as me away?” Nalser looked toward Mei with a shocked expression.
He just sighed as he pulled her into his embrace again, “I don’t care. You are mine. The reason why you got hut like that was because of me. If I cast you aside now just because of that, I would be no different from a trash.” Nalser looked towards the horizon as he said, “You promised to follow me through Hell if need be...” He didn’t finish the sentence out loud as he thought it to himself, “but I have to carve a bloody path through Hell first.”