“Damn it!” He muttered.

He flung the dust and fragments away. He glanced up at Jean-Pierre and Katherine and fought back the heat in his cheeks. They were watching his every move, his every failure.

He took out another summoning card and repeated the process. This one only lasted two tries before it too crumbled to dust. These cards were really garbage.

“You alright?” Jean-Pierre asked from above.

“Yeah… just need to focus.” Zachary replied.

A third card came out and a third card turned to dust.

He muttered a curse to himself. He had caught many, many novice rank Ensouled before. They had never been this hard. He knew what the problem was and it wasn’t a lack of effort or focus.

It was his wounded soul. He was an adept rank summoner so all eight soul paths had been opened many years ago. Only right now, one of his soul paths was broken.

One soul path out of eight didn’t seem like a big deal but it was… because it was his very first and foundational soul path. It was the first path he opened to become a One Path Novice Rank summoner. It was also the path that he broke through to become a One Path Adept Rank summoner. With it crippled, it created great instability, making his soul force unfocused and easy to resist.

Zachary took out a fourth card but paused before putting it toward his forehead. He already failed so many times. He didn’t want to ruin another card. Despite its cheap quality, it was still a precious resource at the moment.

He let out a long sigh. He closed his eyes and slowly looked inward, into his consciousness. In the center of his very being, there was a sea of energy. It was constantly swirling and flowing according to his thoughts and emotions. This was a representation of all the Eternum contained in his soul.

At the edge of his soul sea, there were eight channels arrayed in a circle. East, south, west, north, southeast, southwest, northwest, and northeast; these made up the eight paths of the soul. His first path unlocked had been the east. Compared to the other seven, it should have been several times as wide. Instead, there were only shredded remains as if the path had been forcibly ripped away from his soul sea, leaving a gaping wound.

He could no longer absorb or expel Eternum through that broken path. Because of it, his capacity for using soul energy was less than one-tenth of what it used to be. And whenever he strained too hard with his remaining seven paths, he would suffer agonizing migraines without fail.

What was he going to do? What could he do?

Jean-Pierre walked up beside him and gave him a nudge, “Be careful, it's about to die. You probably only have one more chance.”

Zachary nodded and raised the card to his forehead. He hesitated for a long while before finally putting the card back down.

“You do it.” He said.

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He turned away abruptly, hiding his face.

“Hey… hey!” Jean-Pierre called out.

But Zachary continued walking away.

“Tch, crazy bastard…”

Jean-Pierre drew out a summoning card, powered it up, and pressed hard against the stag beetle’s head, almost crushing it.

“Little bug, listen up!” His voice was low but it contained an overbearing aura, “I know you can hear me. You aren’t dead yet but you are going to be. If you don’t want to die and become food for worms, you better be obedient! I will give you this one chance! Summon… capture!”

The card glowed white and Eternum shot out. It pierced the beetle’s shell and went inside. Unlike the previous rounds with Zachary, there was no resistance. Perhaps it was already too weak. Or maybe, Jean-Pierre’s condition was far better.

The beetle and Jean-Pierre’s soul energies combined according to the mysteries of this eternal world. The air around both of them throbbed as everything seemed to suddenly stop. There was a flash of white light. The stag beetle’s body disappeared, leaving behind a solitary summoning card that landed neatly in the midst of the now-empty vine net. Only, it was a little different now. Instead of a featureless surface, there was now a tiny crystal the size of a grain of rice embedded in the middle. Even in the darkness of night, it glittered with a mix of purple and cyan light.

---

Zachary returned to the tree and sat down cross-legged on a branch. He ignored Katherine’s curious look and closed his eyes to think. He didn’t expect that he couldn’t even catch a small stag beetle. The weight of his wounded soul pressed down his state of mind. What little hope he had of surviving this ordeal seemed laughable now.

He concentrated on meditating, reading drifting and random motion of Eternum in his surroundings. With seven paths open, each breath carried fresh energy from the surrounding jungle. It was rich in multiple elemental attributes. As it all coalesced with his soul sea, the wild and untamed energy became calm and submissive, transforming into a slightly different form that was solely under his control. This soul energy, as it was commonly referred to, helped replenish that which he had expended trying to capture the beetle.

After that was done, he slowly examined his soul sea. His seven open paths were in good condition, aside from the fact that they were all still at the novice rank. He had originally been a One Path Adept Rank summoner but now, he was equivalent to a Seven Paths Novice Rank summoner. He was probably the weakest among the survivors. And with one path broken, he would never be able to complete all eight paths and break through to the adept rank again. He would not be able to progress any further than his current state.

He had to heal this wound but he didn’t know if it was possible. In the Old World, it would have required summoners several ranks above him utilizing life-attribute Ensouled with powerful healing abilities. And it would have probably required multiple sessions. Or maybe, if there was some kind of rare and expensive medicine or healing herb, he would be able to rebuild his broken path and start again.

Only, he had none of those things. He had no summons. He had no belongings. He was stuck in the New World. There were untold dangers everywhere but also hidden opportunities waiting for the brave and the strong.

He was so weak right now. Could he be brave enough to make up for it?

He had no idea. He had never been in this situation before, fighting for his life against such impossible odds. His life had been smooth until half a year ago. His progress as a summoner had been quick and uneventful. It wasn’t the best by any means but it was respectable. He even managed to get admitted to one of the top universities in the republic.

Maybe if he was a generational talent, he would be as strong as Aaron White or even stronger. Maybe if he was the scion of some venerable summoner family, he would have the lineage and special training to bravely face life-threatening situations. Or maybe if he was the descendant of an explorer family who had lived his whole life in the New World, he would find this jungle as simple as a walk in a nature preserve.

But he was just Zachary Zhang. He thought he was pretty smart. What use was that? He scored well on summoner training courses, ones offered by the republic to all youths. What use was that?

He wasn’t special, at least not anymore ever since his wounded soul.