Semi-Soul Encounter

"Leader, we saw many Earth grade materials. We had to get them no matter what. We sparred, but nothing else happened. Other than some discontent, our fellow students agree with the result. Just ask us," one of the students said as he presented some of his gains today. Heian Ciemnosc waved his hands for other students to keep their gains to themselves and looked at those who had sparred. They didn't doubt their leader's Spirit Sense was this powerful. It had always been a matter to discuss back at the Academy.

“You’ve found many items that the Academy lacks specialization in. When we go back, and you return, give these to the Academy so they can be studied. You’ll most likely keep them after they’re done researching and will gain many merit points.” Heian Ciemnosc said before turning around and looking in a direction with squinted eyes. He then added, “We’ll keep moving. We’ll only stay here for a couple days, so we must go as deep as possible before retreating.”

“Let’s go!” Heian Ciemnosc’s shout was cold and stern, not commanding, but it didn’t need to. The students behind him didn’t nod in return. But they immediately kept their gains and started marching with their leader, guiding them through these deadly lands. They only believed in their leader and his unimaginable Spirit Sense. Of course, only Heian Ciemnosc knew his Spirit Sense was also helpless and that only with their help could it be extended. It was a strange sensation.

… They went on their way as days quickly passed by. From the moment they entered the mist to their first treasure-hunting activity, not even half a day passed. This notion encouraged every student to keep going. According to the Earth grade materials some found, those who are the most capable and have the largest contribution will all get an Earth grade resource. This way, duels and fighting for them will be reduced, and everything will remain neutral.

It was impossible for each student to gain an Earth grade material. It was simply impossible to reward the best ones with them. Each one could get one, but not more. They were too many for too little such things. Even the Academy didn’t have more than a few thousand of their Teachers and Supervisors or higher with an Earth grade weapon, let alone a complete set of armor. Giving these students a little help to either spend less time gathering enough materials for a worthy weapon when they broke through the Second Step or getting richer with such was the least this group could grant them.

They continued walking for 2 days, finding 5 such treasure spots each day and about 100 Earth grade materials. Both times were a little over a hundred, but it was enough to keep everyone in high spirits. From the still more than 2,000 students, only 13 disappeared by the evening of the second day, which was immensely good compared to the losses of other groups coming after them.

Naturally, the speed at which gains were taken was also a source of motivation for the students to be high-spirited despite the disappearances. If anything, they were more careful with each other and were pending to the other’s safety when treasure-hunting. They were so far ahead that even the fastest groups behind them would need more than a day before catching up, but only if they stopped advancing. And that was precisely what Heian Ciemnosc had ordered to do when they arrived at a slightly different structure.

On their second day, in the evening, Heian Ciemnosc’s small group stood before a towering palace. One with a dual-tower gate and walls. These walls looked dull and decrepit but looked like they once were the most magnificent and luxurious structures in the world, not just in an Upper Kingdom. To enter it, Heian Ciemnosc had to just push the gates. There weren’t any restrictions or tricks attached to its entrance.

“Permission to speak?” Violet walked forward and stood before Heian Ciemnosc. Heian Ciemnosc nodded his head, and Violet commenced speaking. “Heian Ciemnosc, this has to be an important place, if not the center. How should we proceed? It doesn’t seem to have anything weird, but so is the hut at the mist’s inner passage. Maybe… you go first?”

“You read my mind,” Heian Ciemnosc didn’t become suspicious. It was Violet who spoke these words. If there was someone who didn’t want to harm those she cherished, even if it meant destroying the world, that was her. And, well… that had also spread over the entire Concealed Ornament Team and Heian Ciemnosc’s small group. He lowered his gaze from the grayed-down white wall of bricks and blue pearl tops at each palace’s tower.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine,” Heian Ciemnosc lifted Violet’s hands, holding his right one as if to bless it with many little protective spells, wearing a face so worried it almost looked as if he was either her son or her brave father, fearless of death. He brought her hands up to his face and kissed the back of each before ordering with a commanding tone. “Now go back and stay in formation, meditate, but keep yourself alarmed. I’ll leave this one with you with only one permission to use it. Do so only in emergencies.”

Violet looked down at Heian Ciemnosc’s left hand, which held a tiny cube without sides and empty inside. It was goldish in color, and its structure consisted of snake-like tubes. She lifted her face and asked in a hush, “Your Golden Array Snakes? But-”

“Mn, its maximum range is 50 kilometers. Just forget about its 2 people’s minimum space. It’s not significant. Don’t let the kids walk away. It might take me a minute or a day to resolve whatever it’s inside.” Heian Ciemnosc explained to Violet again so she would be left feeling more at ease. She grinned and shook her head when he heard about this Relic’s minimum space for 2 people but didn’t tease him and solemnly nodded. “Yes, team leader. We’ll wait for you here.”

“Mn,” Heian Ciemnosc nodded and glared at his Elena as she slowly blinked her eyes and nodded at him. Sakura and the other COs looked on with serened expressions, confident in their leader, no matter what it was. As for Heian Ciemnosc kissing Violet’s hands, with such a filial-like relationship, and since Esteban wasn’t narrow-minded, how could he feel jealous or frown at the act? Besides, they’ve known each other for years and weren’t little kids with bigger and stronger bodies but adults and hard-seasoned cultivators.

“Take care,” Heian Ciemnosc heard Violet whisper before he even took a step forward. He felt slightly funny and giggled inside his chest, not showing it to anyone, but the left little corner of his mouth was slightly crooked. Heian Ciemnosc nodded and stepped forward, pushing the gates with his right palm. They were pretty light, and Heian Ciemnosc even feared turning these ancient structures to dust, so he used both palms with the lightest of touches to push it further.

Step, step. Creeeaaaaaaaaa~aaannnkk~ puuuuwwfff…

As the gates opened, something from deep inside the palace seemed to have fallen, and the sound of smoke rising to the skies sounded. But nothing was visible, and everything remained the same. Elena looked with her eyebrows slightly furrowed. However, they weren’t worried about her husband. She just felt… notably strange… Just then when the palace’s bizarre noise spread to everyone’s ears.

Step, step, step, step… On the other hand, Heian Ciemnosc’s balls dragged and slid through the ground as he never stopped walking forwards. Even as his ears rumbled with the sound wave that seemed to come from nowhere, he wore a casual expression as he walked further into the palace. This time, his people could see his back walk inside, not suddenly disappearing or everything else turning dark or any other color for that matter.

Pah~~... tru–reeeee aaruuuuuurrrgghhh… Heian Ciemnosc walked to the 200-meter-tall doors of the palace’s central building. He pushed it open like he did to the gates in a lackadaisical manner and entered. The doors were heavy this time, requiring about 20,000 kg of bodily strength. Only with such prowess could he open them. One could only imagine the integrity of what this entailed, that only Second Step cultivators in the later realms could open these meant only the highest powerhouses in the world should have made this palace with some ‘ordinary’ materials in their eyes.

“... … … …” Heian Ciemnosc entered the palace’s central building, and this time, as the door closed in, his back darkened from the lack of light, not from some unnatural source. His people could only watch as he braved the danger for their sake. Otherwise, he could’ve just sent everyone to investigate, but only he knew about these kinds of things. Not Expectres, Entities, or… else. Ghosts.

But even Violet was no longer worried sick and frowning at this. She sat cross-legged after giving the 2,000+ students a glare, making everyone else follow suit and sit to meditate. They couldn’t cultivate at ease here anyway. They could only maintain their mentality, waiting for their leader’s return. They knew he would walk out of the palace soon. Esteb walked and sat cross-legged half a step behind her, to her right.

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Elena sat behind Violet, with Arla and Sakura to his left and right, respectively, nudging at her with their elbows on occasion as if to remind her of how much of a lusty, kitty-eating Elena she had become the last 40+ hours.

… Step-tep, step-tep, step-tep, step-teee~p…

… On the other side, inside the palace’s central building, Heian Ciemnosc walked in the dark into the unknown. He could see everything. But for some strange reason, the floor before him was illuminated with an arched gate’s shape. It was for the sake of whoever walked on this floor knowing where he was stepping next and was probably a mechanism of this palace. Heian Ciemnosc confirmed the existence of inscriptions everywhere in this wonderful but decrepit place as he walked through it.

The echo of his footsteps seemed to want to make Heian Ciemnosc grow crazy, anxious and irritated. But he persisted, not even feeling his skin itching at the constant noise. This central building was a hall, and although hundreds and hundreds of doors leading to other places were at the sides, this hall was several hundred kilometers long, already surpassing that of the mist’s covered territory.

Clearly, this was something Heian Ciemnosc had never experienced. He could only compare this to those times his Master brought him to those strange illusions where he saw old worlds from yore. It was a kind of power level Heian Ciemnosc hadn’t seen for years and always felt wondrous about. As he experienced it and walked forward for what seemed slightly less than a minute, he suddenly felt his world change and a voice emerged several dozen meters before him.

Warp, whoosh.

“... What is a path without light? Darkness can always strike and obscure anything, but it is just the concept that is the obstacle. Dark is just a color. Light is but a word. When one walks the walk, what is it, if not their lives and the choices whose results they have to live with?” It was an old voice but seemed somehow young and elegant. Gallant, even.

Step-tep, step-tep, step-tep~~.

Heian Ciemnosc’s footsteps continued to echo as its single, crispy noise was far too conspicuous. When he walked forth enough to know he was transported forwards just now, far inferior to his Master’s teleportation, he saw an old man sitting over a border behind a small throne whose back towered several kilometers. His right leg up, left leg down, and waist twisted so he would look in the same direction as Heian Ciemnosc’s, hiding his appearance and wearing a white toga.

“Sir? Since you’re clearly not a living being, how about: instead of being mysterious and showing off, you ask me about the recent things about the world? Like… the Great Sage’s demise, or the new Change having no one nor anything leading it?” Heian Ciemnosc said as he halted, tilted his head and body to the left, appearing about to fall off balance.

“...” The old man had long, luscious white hair, somewhat curly but very decently. He didn’t respond to Heian Ciemnosc’s words for a while and continued to look in the same direction. When he finally spoke, his voice was aged but tireless. Yet, he didn’t seem bothered or disliking of Heian Ciemnosc. “What is the Great Sage? Some Lord? No. It can’t be. I would’ve been visited by that ‘Great Sage’ if that was the case.”

“... Nah, not even a Lord. He just rose to power and formed a new Change before his demise.” Heian Ciemnosc responded, momentarily pausing as he looked at the old man speaking those words deeply casually. He then critiqued a dead man’s reputation, giving rise to a silent period as the old man didn’t talk for a while.

“That Great Sage, he must’ve started, influenced, and ignited the previous Change, right?” The old man asked. He didn’t look back immediately, but he at least started slowly turning his head. He continued, his voice was still as aged but tireless as before, “But that’s just the weakest of all Changes, haha. No wonder you dare curse such characters after their demise. How did he die?”

“Mn, can you first tell me what are the other Changes?” Heian Ciemnosc asked instead of responding. If anything was valuable for a ‘thing’ such as this old man, it was knowledge. The old man didn’t even offer a haggling word and said. “If you patronage a Change, it could be said you unquestionably are Lord material. But if you ride one… oh, hohohohoho, that’s when many Lords fall, and only the strongest remain at the top.”

“Now, tell me, go ahead.” The old man urged after he finished explaining. Those were far too few words, but with his Master’s teachings, Heian Ciemnosc felt enlightened! Heian Ciemnosc didn’t act petty and spoke calmly. Since this old man treated himself as taking in his grandson from overseas, Heian Ciemnosc was like an obedient, clever little boy. “The Great Sage rose in the past 2 Archeons. He defeated and killed many, entrapping other beings and existences on the same level. Other than that. The Great Sage built an organization, taking charge of the entire Universal Lands.”

“A little more than 18 years ago, he died in a tragic event, where only he and whoever was with him, bloodline related or followed him, went extinct somehow.” Heian Ciemnosc finished his words. The old man was pensive as his face was revealed to Heian Ciemnosc. It was smooth and handsome but wrinkled and wasted by cruel time’s passage.

“So that’s what it was… huh… You kid… you are also old enough since that happened, aren’t you?” The old man was lost in reminiscence when he suddenly talked to Heian Ciemnosc. His old eyes stared straight into his darkest ones. Heian Ciemnosc lowered his head momentarily before raising it back up. His expression was casual as he darted his eyes around as if saying: ‘what does that have to do with me?’ to the old man’s nosy inquiry.

“Alright, alright, alright…” The old man stood up at once and repeatedly exclaimed, waiving his right hand up and down as if to dissipate the strangeness of the atmosphere. He walked to Heian Ciemnosc, as Heian Ciemnosc felt somewhat tensed and spoke. “You could’ve let your little ants come with you. I won’t harm you. I would have just looked on. Truth be told… I would’ve enjoyed having some fun with people finally making this dead place lively after such a long time.”

“...” Heian Ciemnosc kept quiet as he looked at the old man’s face, letting the latter have his time letting it out. The old man walked in front of the throne, his hands behind his back, suddenly turned his head and looked at it for a while before staring ahead, continuing aimlessly walking. But as he spoke, and Heian Ciemnosc tried following his figure, the old man’s voice came from different angles around the hall. Every time Heian Ciemnosc turned in the direction where the voice came from, the old man’s figure would be checking a book, walking, touching something, or stargazing.

“I am, indeed, as some of the stories have told, I used to be a powerful Sixth Step cultivator. However, I wasn’t just any existence. I was a Lord, too, you know. However, that didn’t matter to me anymore. Contrary to some other tales, I wasn’t injured. Nor was I ‘too old’ for the world. When one becomes one, one is naturally endless. It is the truth. But sometimes, it’s just not the same for everyone. One can feel lonely, against the world, and helpless.”

“But what I faced was uncertainty and disappointment. I wasted too many good things, wasted too much…” The old man appeared 50 meters before Heian Ciemnosc, his attire obscured but still wearing the same. He lifted his low head, his white toga slowly illuminated, as did his body. “I just wanted to try it again… life… from the beginning, starting all over again…”

The old man’s voice became more lost, and as he spoke, he stepped forward towards Heian Ciemnosc, who remained silent. Then, he continued, his voice slowly returning to soberness. “So I chose a place. Just because I wanted to die, you know? It wasn’t even one where I could hide from my enemies… it was the center of all my troubles, surrounded by their eyes. They could come for me at any moment, but they didn’t. Afraid I’d run away and… not give them any satisfaction of running away.”

The old man’s eyes became lost as he went from staring straight at Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes, with only 1 meter distancing each other, to the ceiling as if he could see the entire world. “But then, I didn’t want to go anymore, I didn’t… I was terrified and felt lost when I decided to finish myself, but at the last moment, I faltered… In the end, I could only turn into a-”

“Semi-Soul,” Heian Ciemnosc completed the old man’s words, bringing him back to the ‘real’ world and staring at this pale young man. He pursed his lips and filled his cheeks, “Yes, indeed.”

“...” - “...” Both fell silent for a while, looking at the ground and the walls and other doors to the sides. When enough time passed for their minds to play tricks on them and stars appeared on the ceiling, the old man’s voice rang again. “You know, it has been a long time since I sensed another Lord turning into one. Changes have been many, and the fight for power has always remained. But… I haven’t sensed another Lord for more than a Change… what happened out there?”

The old man was in tears and didn’t let Heian Ciemnosc speak as he looked above Heian Ciemnosc’s head, seemingly seeing something else. “Am I the only one? Am I all alone??! How could it…”

Pat-sshhh~...

Heian Ciemnosc didn’t think. He simply responded by placing his left hand on the old man’s left shoulder. As if a heart-to-heart connection was made with this action, the old man’s eyes lowered to stare into the current Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes and pale face. The old man suddenly felt comforted. He stopped lightly whimpering, and his tears ceased. But all Heian Ciemnosc grabbed hold of was pure energy and Soul energy. Still, he felt he reached the old man, not just emotionally but physically, too.

A strange epiphany about his locked Soul emerged in his head.

…