Zachary and Heather’s party returned to Roan Oak Village successfully. The fearsome poison worm had been caught. Being close to the village, not having this dangerous creature roaming free meant peace of mind. Without it, the swamp could also become a bountiful hunting ground.

As daylight was still plentiful, the members of the village went off to do their own tasks. Soul cultivation, battle training, or even foraging for food; there wasn’t any time to relax. It was the same for Zachary who found a deserted path of trees to greet his new summon.

He took out the soul orb containing the poison worm. The anima crystal within glowed with vibrant purple light, the color of the attribute of death. Even within the orb, the creature emitted a sharp, vicious aura, full of killing intent.

It was curious. Among the eight attributes, life and death directly opposed each other. Unless one side overwhelmed the other in terms of soul cultivation, battles would often into stalemates and tests of stamina. In the case of Wander and this worm, Wander had the advantage of physique while the worm relied too much on its poison. If it had tough defenses equal to a turtle, then he had no chance of capturing it.

“First things first, let’s heal it.”

Zachary touched the orb and connected with the soul bond. He sensed its condition through its soul. The worm was severely injured. The carapace that covered its head had been smashed into pieces. It was bleeding all over from multiple bites. If he summoned it right now, it was likely to die a quick death.

Normally, healing a summon involved feeding it Eternum which allowed it to slowly recover. If there were any medicinal herbs, the summon could come out to eat it and then quickly go back into its card or orb. However, since he Wander, the issue was hardly a concern.

Wander barked and activated his healing ability, “This little guy better thank me later.”

Glowing green Eternum surged out of Zachary’s soul sea, traveled through his body, through his soul bond with the worm. The Eternum poured out of his finger and into the soul orb, bathing it with life.

The worm soul within the orb thrashed around, as if in pain. It tried to escape, it tried to break the soul bond, anything to escape the apparent torture.

“Ooo, feisty!” Wander laughed, “What are you going to call it?”

“Hmm, I think Voodoo is suitable.”

“Voodoo. Voodoo. I like it!”

The soul orb shook violently, showing the worm’s discontent. Zachary and Wander both shared a laugh.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Soon enough, the worm was back to full strength or close enough to it. A good night’s sleep and it would make a full recovery.

“Alright, let’s meet Voodoo. Come out!” Zachary said and activated the soul bond.

A ray of vivid purple light shot out of his brow, landing on the ground in front. It took the shape of the poison worm, purple body and all. It looked around in confusion for a moment before turning to Zachary with a hard glare. Its small black eyes shined with hatred. Its mandibles rubbed together rapidly as if wishing to rip into fresh meat.

It opened its mouth, letting purple drool onto the ground. Wherever that poison landed, the vegetation around it would quickly wither and die. It started toward Zachary, its segmented body clacking as it crawled. Each movement produced small puffs of black smoke that could cause instant death to any creature that breathed it in.

“Stop,” Zachary ordered.

“Hsss!”

Voodoo was clearly unwilling. But compelled by the soul bond, it stopped. It could only furiously stare up at its oppressor.

“Hss! Hssss!”

Zachary frowned. It was difficult to understand the worm. Their soul bond was still new and there was clear resistance from the other soul. Obviously, it was cursing him in all kinds of ways. He didn’t need to understand its speech to know that.

“Voodoo,” He called out in a friendly voice, “My name is Zachary. I am now your summoner. What you feel is a soul bond between us. It’s a unique ability of my species.”

“Hssssss!”

“I know you’re angry. But we’re a team now. We should help each other. You have great potential. I can make you stronger than you could have ever imagined.”

“Hsss! Liar! Hsss! Eat shit! Hsss!”

Zachary tried a few more times to make peace. But it proved impossible. It was too strong-willed. It couldn’t be fooled by sweet words or even food.

This was not that uncommon among wild Ensouled, especially ones with high talent and intelligence. Such a creature would have never accepted a summoning card. It would have rather died. Even with the soul orb, if this went on for too long, it was possible that the worm could break the bond and escape.

Zachary sighed, “Wander, it’s your turn.”

“Hahaha! About time!”

Wander appeared in front of Voodoo, laughing boldly.

Voodoo hissed and retreated. This turtle was its mortal enemy. It knew that it couldn’t beat it.

However, Wander wasn’t slow. He rushed forward and caught the worm’s tail. With a flick, he flung the hapless creature against a nearby tree trunk.

Voodoo smashed into the tree with a dull thud and slid down. Before it could recover, Wander bit it again and threw it against some rocks.

“Hss! Turtle bastard! Hsss!”

It spewed a string of insults but it could do nothing else. Physically, it wasn’t a match at all. The worm’s body was long but slender. It didn’t have power like a python. It wasn’t fast either. It relied completely on its poison which it knew was useless.

“Hss! I’ll kill you all… Ahh!”

Wander simply laughed and continued to beat it up.

Soon, Voodoo was once again reduced to a blubbery mess. Its head was smashed in and it was bleeding and bruised all over.

“Peh.” Wander spat out some of the poison that got into his mouth and sneered, “Are you going to be obedient now?”

Voodoo hissed weakly, “Go die.”

Wander looked back at Zachary who shrugged.

“Let’s go again.”

“Sounds good.”

For the rest of the afternoon, the pitiful cries of the bullied echoed through the jungle. What used to be a fearsome despot of its swampy domain turned into a sad little worm. It was beaten up, healed, and beaten up again. In the face of such an unrelenting and unreasonable turtle, the poison worm finally gave up and bowed down in surrender. Even the strongest-willed Ensouled couldn’t bear it, not with such unfair torment.