Chapter 77: Retaliation Demonstration

Soul creation acknowledged.

Creation Named: Pit

Creation can now gain experience like other System inhabitants.

Experience is not taken from the master (you) but rather given by the System in proportion to the creations’ contribution in battle.

Any experience gained individually by the creation will be given to the master as a 10% match.

Experience can be given for kills or protection of the Soul master (You).

With sufficient connection and Soul strengthening, creations can temporarily be given autonomy and direction, then sent to accomplish their master’s wishes.

Trint was shocked at this new information. Having these creatures to protect and work for him. He had to discover the extent of what they could do. This was a game changer and only seemed to be the beginning. And with these creatures also being in his Soul Space he could envision having defensive forces to protect anything in his Soul.

Trint spent the next several hours speaking with Pneuma and his mentor. He also identified and made connections with each of his Soul creatures. He ended up having 48. Some seemed stronger than others and some more eager to follow his direction.

He had to wrestle a battle of wills with two nightmares. They seemed to originate from the dark recesses of Trint’s psyche. They were also shrouded in darkness, even to his eyes and senses. He couldn’t determine what they looked like but could understand them. He called one Baba Jaga and the other Koshchei. Koshchei was the male counterpart to the female “boogeyman” Baba Jaga from Slavic folklore.

They both were intelligent, more so than any other of his Soul creations. He was able to make a deal with them. An unofficial contract to support each other. Trint felt like he was making a bargain with a devil, but he also knew they were his own ‘demons’. They only agreed after Trint with an immense force of his will restrained them and threatened to destroy them. He didn’t know how he could do that yet, but his threat worked because they all recognized he had the power although not yet, the knowledge.

The deal, for now, was to let Baba Jana and Koshchei follow the river downstream further away from civilization and the training compound. Trint didn’t know exactly how long they could be on their own or how far away they could go. They were permitted to explore that limit and given tentative permission to kill non-sentient creatures. Trint attempted and was able to perceive what they were seeing and their surroundings. That worked better than he hoped but even so, he couldn’t see the creatures when looking at each other through their own eyes. Either they couldn’t even see detail when viewing each other or something in Trint’s psyche wouldn’t allow him to view the darkest nightmares.

The pair flash away and soon were beyond Trint’s perception skills but when he tried, he could still piggyback on their visional surrounding and sight. The shocking thing now was the speed at which they were traveling. Trint would have struggled to move so quickly even if he were flying. They hovered above the ground and water and quickly attacked creature after creature. Devouring them whole by absorbing them into a gaping maw of darkness and teeth. Trint felt a trickle of experience and felt the creatures grow ever so slightly.

“They could be an issue. If I didn’t truly gain their trust, I would have had to destroy them. I hope it doesn’t come to that,” Trint spoke aloud.

The next experiment was to have Trint summon only a few of the creatures at a time. He figured that out without issue and then began giving each of them the autonomy to move around. Some showed personality and some seemed to only do exactly as instructed. He tried to categorize them as Nightmares and Dreamscapes. The nightmares were self-explanatory and originated behind Trint. The dreamscapes were less scary, except for those in Pneuma form. They were all given roles to follow if summoned, a sort of automated set of commands until instructed otherwise.

They were to first stand guard and surround Trint and any companions he identified. They were then to attack anyone attacking him and if he were unconscious, they were to follow Pneuma’s directions. Pneuma was also given command of all the creatures that were shaped as different variations of Pneuma.

So Pneuma had an additional force of 12 companions, many of which were bigger than Pneuma’s current 7-foot-tall form. The other 34 creatures were varied and seven were people.

Trint wasn’t sure how to deal with the people as they were people from his life before the System and those, he had the deepest connection with. Seeing his family especially was hard. Knowing they weren’t the actual people, but just creations of Soul, was a bit crushing. So, he unsummoned them and sent them to his palace to deal with later.

After all of this, Trint felt comfortable with the progress he made. He knew he had an explosive increase in his fighting ability. He could protect himself and his friends. He could also help others learn new things with their Soul and manifest it into the physical world around them.

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It was getting dark as their group made their way back to the compound. They met back up with the ladies and sat to eat a meal in the dining room. They had been laughing and enjoying the meal when a small group of mentors followed by their disciples came in and interrupted their meal.

“We have all agreed that the slight from this morning cannot wait for the official challenges. We have decided that Ele’Azar’s disciple Trint must duel another disciple of Scigren’s mentor’s choosing. The offense cannot stand, and we feel that appropriate examples must be made. Plus, this will be a good lesson for your disciples. Before you try to fight it…” The grouchy old man turned brighter red as he was cut off.

“He accepts,” Ele’Azar interrupted.

“Now don’t think, just because…”

“He accepted fool,” Interrupted again by another mentor the old man was getting flustered but realizing the acceptance of their judgment he relaxed.

“Quite right, follow me then, disciple Trint,” the old grouchy mentor regained his slimy smile, “Your punishment will commence in the courtyard.”

“I thought this was a lesson, not punishment,” Trint whispered to his group, as they stood to follow. “Mentor,” Trint addressed Ele’Azar, “How serious should I take this duel?”

“I think that is up to you, but I would ask you not to kill any of them,” Ele’Azar encouraged. “That would only embolden them to kill you in any way possible. If not them, then their families or clans.”

“Ha, kill our disciple? How arrogant! Just wait young fool,” The other mentors had overheard Trint whisper and were indignant. Trint wasn’t bothered and they arrived at the courtyard to a large crowd around the grassy field.

Markings indicating a boundary were drawn in the grass and the spectators quickly backed behind the border of the fighting space.

The disciple Trint would face stepped forward. Trint had perfect recollection of everyone tested when they arrived. This wasn’t one of them. He wondered who this was and before he could ask Ele’Azar spoke up.

“Why is your son here Nerius?”

“Nerion happened to visit me today and offered to assist in tonight’s lesson. He is more than capable and has promised to not harm your disciple. At least not beyond our ability to heal him.” In the last sentence, he spoke with too much pleasure and satisfaction for Trint. Trint took a deep breath just to remind himself to not go too far if the duel got heated.

Trint stepped across the white line of the duel area and went to remove his outer robe. He turned to hand it to Ele’Azar and instantly felt a sense of danger from behind him. Nerion, his opponent had initiated the attack once Trint crossed the line and turned his back. This was not meant to be a fair or pleasant encounter for him.

Without effort or thought Trint’s defensive creatures began to form in less than a blink. Trint’s perception and command of them were faster than thought. He allowed one creature to stand in the way of the blow. It was the scythe mantis centipede. It was typically manifested behind Trint, so it was in the best position and was eager to defend.

The punch was aimed at Trint’s back but was intercepted by a scythe. The blade passed quicker than even Trint perceived and a fist bounced against its chitinous chest. The fist was detached at the wrist, and it fell to the ground. The stump was retracted by Nerion and cradled for just a moment as he immediately sealed the wound. With a great yell of anger, he lost all manner of control.

The enraged Nerion pulled a sword from his storage device or Soul storage, only he knew. And stepped back. He seemed to power up the blade as it began to glow hot like it just came from the forge. He swung one-handed as he also began to regrow his missing hand. The distance from Nerion to Trint’s creation was about ten feet as it stayed near its master. Trint had stepped to its side and was interested to see what Nerion had to offer next.

Nerius, the mentor and father of Nerion also lost control at seeing his son’s hand lopped off so casually. He too drew a sword and entered the dueling area. Approaching Trint from his left. Trint noticed the approaching threat. Rather than summoning another creature, he had Pit fight Nerion while Trint engaged his father.

Seeing the sword, Trint used Spirit to take on a larger frame and fueled it with Soul. In his right hand, he formed a void black Spear. He took one step and was in striking range. As Nerius had his sword pulled behind him ready to swing, Trint speared him in the right shoulder of his sword arm. The sword dropped to the ground behind Nerius and Trint pulled the Spear back as he took another quick step back.

The antagonistic mentors were at a loss. One moment they had been expecting retribution and validation of their superiority over this unknown nobody. And now their friend and his son were being maimed.

First one, then the others, drew weapons and started to charge as they all yelled.

Ele’Azar held back Trint’s friends and those near him. “Let Trint handle this alone. Unless he gets hurt, we need to let them see a glimpse of what he can do.”

Trint having superhuman hearing and processing the situation, heard his mentor and took that as his cue to unleash his full entourage.

Suddenly the attacking mentors were met and surrounded by about 20 Soul creations. Each exuded a power unlike what they were familiar with. But what they knew was they were outclassed in what they could project. A few took swings but were overpowered and the rest just held defensive positions.

Trint wasn’t even focusing on Nerion anymore but was taking in the entire situation. No one was severely hurt. His ability was sufficient to neutralize them all without needing to kill them, let alone do much damage. Killing them might have been easy. It was hard to say as no one was willing to truly risk their life. Nerion was the only one still swinging futilely at Pit. While Pit had been told to block the attacks and not hurt him anymore.

“That’s enough,” Trint commanded the entire crowd. Unknowingly he had infused his very words with Soul, and it carried a new authority. “I thank you for the demonstration and I assure you I meant no harm this morning or now. Tell Scigren I am sorry for the damage he took but not sorry for defending myself.”

Nerion tried one last attack with a quick sidestep of Pit. But Pit swung the blunt side of one scythe and clipped the back of Nerion’s head. Soul master or not, the blow knocked him unconscious. Even a Soul-reinforced brain getting knocked around in someone’s head can cause brain damage or a concussion when the hit is reinforced with Soul.

The scene diffused and the opposing sides separated. Trint had shown restraint and they all knew he was capable of more. The aura of each Soul creation he summoned had a profound impact on those that opposed him. They were visibly shaken. Nothing was being said, so Trint and his party left and returned to their respective rooms. They had agreed to another day of training together. Trint had exerted himself in ways he never had before but he felt amazing. The power of the Soul was beyond what he imagined. At first, he had assumed it was just a condensed and more powerful Spirit. But it was so much more. He knew there was more to uncover and depths to explore within his Soul and the realm of all Souls. Tonight, he wanted to try something new within the Soul Plane.