The manual continues expanding my knowledge as it goes in depth about the soul and what it can do. It even skims over magical items, and how the soul can be used in unison with materials, many of which are apparently rare, to engrave abilities onto normal objects.

'Just like those storage devices Trista handed out... does that mean I'll need special materials in order to experiment around? That sucks.'

It contains so much information, yet everything seems half hearted, leaving me wanting more as it cuts off just before getting to the application side of things. I keep reading about things that just barely whet my appetite for knowledge, just to cut off abruptly and move on to another subject.

'Is this author just trying to torture me?!'

I continue getting more and more frustrated with each turn, and eventually just start skimming over the words, until I realize that I've nearly reached the end.

'This can't just be some overview about the soul, can it? Where's the "Dual Soul" part?'

As I nervously turn to the next page, I find myself looking at something I never expected to see in here. There, covering an entire page, is some sort of giant symbol. At first glance, it looks like it just cuts off halfway, but I soon realize that the other page folds out. I start unfolding it until I'm left with a jumble of huge symbols spanning nine pages.

'What a mess... who made those sloppy symbols? Do they even work?'

I decide to check them out with my soul, but as soon my soul nears the symbols, I'm assaulted with a massive amount of information, a feeling much more overwhelming than the one I got while studying the symbols around the Eggshell. My surroundings start getting dark, my mind growing fuzzy as the overwhelming amount of information invades my mind.

"Wha... what?"

I open my eyes and look around, my eyes finally stopping on Mama, who is sitting cross-legged meditating.

She opens her eyes and smiles, "You fell asleep while reading. The book must have been very interesting." she laughs, "That, or it was very boring."

"I... yeah, it was interesting. I mean, I think it was..."

I start trying to recollect last night, but after a certain point, I just draw a blank.

'Did I really fall asleep...? No... no, wait! I remember, there were those symbols!'

I look down in front of me at the manual that is now folded up and closed neatly. I start flipping through the manual until I reach the back where I remember seeing the symbols, and sure enough, there are symbols strewn across several pages.

I start to approach the symbols with my soul, but then I realize that's the last thing I remember from last night before passing out. So instead of making direct contact, I try examining the symbols from a distance.

'That's strange... I can't sense anything.'

The symbols, which should be giving off weak fluctuations, seem completely inert. Finally, I grit my teeth and try touching the symbols.

'Nothing? But I remember... yes, I remember now. It was... transferring something?'

Once I remember what happened, I immediately link it with the title of the book, Dual Soul Method. As soon as I make the connection, a flood of information enters my consciousness, but it's not overwhelming this time. It's less like an invasive force trying to imprint itself, and more like something that exists within my own mind.

'This feels so weird. And yet, somehow familiar... that's it! It feels a lot like those two visions I had. Huh...'

The information manifests itself into something that's not quite pictures and not quite words, but is just as if not more informative. It starts teaching me about the Dual Soul Method in such a way that it feels almost like I'm experiencing it firsthand.

I start sensing a soul more powerful than my own, moving and behaving in ways I never thought possible. Finally, after what seems like an hour, I sense something like a blade start to form above the soul. Suddenly, without warning, the blade chops down, severing the soul in half. It ends after that, leaving me inwardly horrified.

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'That seems like it would really, really hurt...'

I stand up and open my eyes, shaking myself awake from whatever it was that I just experienced. As I sit back down and breathe out a sigh, I notice that Mama has moved to the other side of what is now a heap of charcoal, and is sitting down reading a book.

I walk over and peek at the book, and several words catch my attention immediately, words such as 'burn' and 'heat', as well as many other temperature related words and phrases.

Mama smiles as she notices me, "Lyna, I have been waiting for you to finish what you were doing. Can you please tell me what this word is?"

She closes the book and points at the gray cover, the title of which I start reading off.

"Intermediate Forging, the Three Styles... um, intermediate is-"

Mama cuts me off, "Yes, I know intermediate. What is 'forging'?"

"Right. Forging is... It's when people heat up metal so that they can use tools to shape it into different things, things like your halberd for instance. I mean, I'm sure there's a lot more to it, that's just all I really know."

Mama nods her head, "I see, thank you. There is also this word..."

I look at the word and read it out loud, explaining its meaning as best I can, after which she thanks me again and continues reading. I walk back over to the Dual Soul Method manual and start contemplating whether I should use it or not, but almost as soon as I sit down, Mama calls me back over wondering about another word. Eventually, after the same scenario repeats itself several more times, I decide to just stay by Mama until she finishes the book.

There wind up being several words that I don't even know, as with the cultivation manuals and such, so we just have to read around them as best we can. By the time we make it through the entire book, the sun has already set again.

"Thank you for the help, Lyna. I am sorry to have kept you here all day."

"Haha, don't apologize if there's nothing to be sorry about. But, uh, speaking of the book, do you think you'd be interested in forging?"

Mama nods her head, "I would very much like to try it. If I were able to forge, I could create as many halberds as I would like."

I barely hold back a snicker that tries to escape my mouth.

Since it's already night, we decide to just camp here again. Mama starts gathering some more wood, while I hunt a couple creatures to eat. Really, with our physiques, there's no need for us to rest, let alone camp, as long as we travel at a reasonable pace, but it's kinda become a habit. It also gives Mama time to meditate, something she seems to enjoy doing.

After eating, I walk back over to the Dual Soul Method manual and lie down.

'I guess I don't really need this out anymore.'

Since I already read the whole thing, and the symbols in the back don't seem to work anymore, I decide to put it into storage. After that, I start thinking about the Dual Soul Method. The manual didn't really teach anything except how to do it. It didn't say what it was useful for, or whether it had negative side effects or not, or if it's reversible.

I start playing the tutorial that the thing planted in my brain over and over again, hoping that I missed something, to no avail. I even try thinking about different keywords in an attempt to make more information pop up, but it seems it only transferred the knowledge on how to accomplish the Dual Soul Method.

"Ahhh! I want to try it, but..."

'It's kind of scary...'

Mama opens her eyes, distracted from her meditation, and looks over, "Lyna? What is wrong?"

"Oh, no, it's nothing. Just talking to myself."

Mama nods her head and smiles, "I see. Do not worry about inconveniencing me; you can talk to me if you need to."

"I know, thanks Mama."

With that, Mama goes back to meditating, and I finally decide what I'm going to do.

'I guess I'll try cutting off a little piece.'

I figure that even if I can't merge the piece back into my soul, a small enough piece should regrow pretty quickly.

'At least, I hope it'll regrow...'

With my mind made up, I start trying to form a blade according to the instructions. I start off by utilizing soul force, something I didn't even know existed before reading the Dual Soul Method manual, though it seems I've been using it inadvertently for a while now. Those golem simulations I made, for instance, or pretty much every time I've interacted with symbols. I also used it when I cleared Miina's meridians, and even those soul platforms I use require soul force.

'Now that I think of it, I rely on soul force a lot, don't I?'

It takes much longer than I thought it would, but finally, after several hours, there's an almost completely translucent blade hovering above my soul.

'Here goes nothing...'

I extend a tiny piece of my soul outward in preparation for the procedure. After several seconds of hesitation, I harden my will and chop down with the blade.

'Ah... stings a little. Doesn't hurt nearly as much as I thought it would, though.'

Breathing a sigh of relief, I start examining the piece of soul I just amputated. I try moving it, and although at first it seems to move just like my main soul, I quickly find something odd. Whatever I make it do, whether that's move in a straight line, turn in circles, or even more advanced things such as forming shapes, it seems to want to continue doing it automatically.

'Well that's something. Is it because it's too small?'

I continue experimenting with the soul fragment, and in doing so, realize that it's nearly useless save for its mimicking ability.

'It's probably due to its size, but I'm still not sure how useful it would be even if I split my soul into two equal halves.'

After a while, I decide to try merging them back together. As soon as I bring the two pieces of soul together with the intent to combine them, the smaller piece starts dissolving at a slow rate, reuniting with my larger soul.

'What's even the use? Sure, I can split my soul up, but I don't know what to do afterward. Is there more? Is this just part one or something?'

With more questions now than before, I decide to just push everything to the back of my mind and get some rest before the sun rises, as I walk over to Mama and lie down beside her.