The next morning, when Tria had come back, less than half of the slaves had stayed. It was great news to her, as long as there was at least one, but there were nine of them who stayed.
As the remaining people noticed Tria's arrival, they walked up to her.
"Master, we are indebted to you for our freedom, although we also don't have anywhere to go, we decided to stay because you had saved us. Slaves who goes to the capital eventually die not long after they're bought. You have healed our injuries, gave us food, and a place to sleep. We are determined to be your servants, we will serve you with our lives."
A teen girl had come forward along with the others and pledge to Tria. She was surprised, she was expecting some to stay, but since she had not promised them anything, she had not expected such determination.
"What's your name?" asked Tria after a while.
"I do not have a name, but everyone calls me Ka'an," she said while looking down, spiritless.
Tria could feel the pain of everyone standing in front of her. She could feel the the pain they have accumulated from abuse as slaves, the helplessness of their fate being controlled by others, and the hatred they felt for their abusers, and themselves for their uselessness.
Tria had finally felt the pain the ancient priestess from the book of knowledge had referred to, this was the pain of the universe. However, she could not get rid of it, not hers, and not theirs. For such pain, wisdom was the only thing that can alleviate their pain.
The people saw Tria standing there as she did not speak, nor did she move, but into her eyes they could see something that was extremely familiar to them. It was the pain, the pain that's been eating at their souls for countless years and had rendered them lifeless.
"Everyone, sit," Tria finally said as she sat on the ground, inviting them to do the same, "close your eyes and relax your breath. Until I tell you to open your eyes, do not move, or talk."
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Tria had Mexi keep a look out while was with everyone inside. Sitting cross-legged, she began to open her spirit field and reached out to the people sitting across from her. They had all experienced tragedies, and had their lives ruined. Tria could see it all, their families being murdered, them becoming slaves, tortured, imprisoned, and some of them were left to the brink of death.
She continued to probe towards earlier times of their lives and saw them happy and content with their lives. They were regular people, but some of them had come across evil people and had fell into their schemes.
After she finished exploring their pains, Tria began with the purification of their souls. Her spiritual energy invaded their spirit bodies, as she worked through each one of them. She had cleansed every ill energy that might have latched onto them, she had cleansed them of their negative thoughts, and had even either opened or repaired their spiritual roots.
The whole process only took a couple of minutes, the people were told to open their eyes, and as they were experiencing the changes within them, they had all tears streaming down their faces.
"You're the Priestess??"
"Yes."
They were all sobbing and kneeling on the floor as they thanked her and prayed towards her. They had never expected themselves to be so fortunate, to meet the Priestess and for her to cleanse their unworthy souls, they were revering her faithfully.
She did not stop them, instead she just walked towards one of them that was still sitting on the ground with his legs crossed. She approached him and tapped his shoulder to wake him up.
As he woke up, he saw everyone crying and praying, he was startled. Not long ago, all these people were just lifeless zombies, what had happened to them?
"I was not able to enter your spirit body, are you a native from the unknown Land?" Tria asked the man, he was not extremely handsome, but his untamed hair and stubby beard made him look quite manly.
The man was startled at the question, but he did not answer.
"Why did you stay behind?"
"To repay my gratitude."
"You don't need to, you can leave."
"….", startled he said, "I apologize Master, I want to stay, I am indeed from the Unknown Land, I was just surprised that you were able to find out- wait, how did you find out?"
"No need to apologize, and I could just tell."
"…."
"I can feel your pain, and I'm sorry. However, I need you to let me in, I cannot trust you if I do not cleanse you, there is so much negative energy surrounding you, and all it does is attract more."
"Let you in where Master?"
"Hey Chukah! You numbskull, Master is the renowned priestess! She had cleansed all of us, and I can even feel the energy around me now," shouted Ka'an from from the little crowd of people.
Chukah's whole body went numb from shock, but this gave Tria an opportunity to access his spirit and so she took it. However, she was not ready for what happened when she had her energy enter his spirit.