His rest wasn't very refreshing. As he lay there with his eyes closed and his mind in deep slumber, something inside him constantly tried to pull him out of it and into their own dream world. Although they didn't succeed in showing him what they wanted, their feelings and intention spilled into Vern's consciousness nonetheless.

When he awoke, his head felt quite strained, the opposite of what sleep was supposed to achieve. He sprawled his limbs and only now noticed the soft fur encompassing his body. A smile appeared on his face, and he touched Velvet's tail with his hand. But that contact lasted only for a split second, as Velvet rug pulled it from beneath him, making his arms and legs collide onto the ground.

›Ouch, why?‹, Vern complained, rubbing one of his elbows.

›Well, you are awake now, so there is no need for that. How have you slept?‹

›Hmm, I would love to say well, but I can't …‹

›I see. You certainly seemed quite restless for some time … can you handle it alone?‹ He tilted his head, looking into Vern's eyes.

›I mean, I don't have a choice, do I?‹, he replied, averting his gaze.

»You have woken up«, Maggie said as she walked into the room. »So you probably need to eat.«

»Uh, ah, yes. I'm sorry if I disturbed you just now.«

»It is alright. Sit down there, and I'll bring you some food.«

»Yeah, well about that … «

But she didn't listen to his response as she vanished into the kitchen. Vern sighed and pushed himself off the ground, stretching his numb limbs some more. He sure hoped the food was actually edible and not similar to the tea from yesterday. At least her attitude was less hostile than yesterday.

When he sat down, Maggie already reappeared with a board of bread and topping. It looked normal at first glance, but Vern wouldn't risk anything. So as she placed it in front of him, he closely inspected everything and tasted some crumbs and bits. They all seemed to be what they looked like, and he happily dug in.

Maggie didn't eat anything herself and just watched him from the other end of the table.

»Do you not want to eat anything yourself?«, he asked, feeling a little uncomfortable being watched like this.

»Nah, I'm fine. I don't need food as regularly as you do.«

»Oh, is that so … ? By the way, how long have I slept?«

She shrugged. »Don't know. We don't really keep track of time here as it matters little.«

»Hah…« Vern quickly swallowed the bite in his mouth as he didn't want the conversation to dry up. »So you also don't sleep yourself?«

»I do, occasionally. Whenever I feel like it.«

Vern nodded. They certainly had a totally different attitude towards time, but it was somewhat understandable, given that the sky shone as brightly as ever.

»That's very delicious food. Very similar to what I am used to. Do you happen to have alcohol in your world as well?«

She shook her head. »We don't.«

»Uh, oh, that might be problematic then …«

»How so?«

»Well, you see … the souls I share this body with … they are somewhat noisy without it … do you know anything else that might help me?«

She eyed him up, somewhat intrigued. »Maybe I do. Give me more details on it.«

»Alright. As I alluded to before, they stopped being dormant when I killed that Eldritch. Back then, they completely took me over … and well …« He tried to avoid thinking about what he did afterward. »Then I regained control after being knocked down. Ever since they have been a nuisance in my mind, sometimes more, sometimes less. Essentially they are trying to convince me to give them back control. I managed so far with alcohol and Velet's help … but both of these things are not an option now.«

»What are they saying exactly?«, Maggie inquired. »How many voices are there? Do they have any differences in personality you have noticed?«

As she leaned forward, sending this barrage of questions, Vern leaned backward, surprised by her eagerness.

»Uh, so for what they are saying … while I try to ignore it most of the time, it usually revolves around killing with that sword to get stronger. But I can't really tell you how many there are … a few dozen, maybe? And I don't feel like there's any difference besides their voice itself.«

»Oh.« Maggie relaxed her body back into her seat, clearly disappointed. Vern expected an answer from her to his previous question, but instead, she just seemed to be lost in thought.

»Well, so do you have any idea on how to silence them?«, he asked and narrowed his eyes. »You are quite interested in it and probably know something helpful, right?«

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»Do I?« Maggie's face hardened for a moment before returning to a neutral state. »Well, I can tell you what I know about souls in general, at least«, she said. »I am pretty sure that topic doesn't get addressed in your world …?«

Vern signaled her to continue talking.

»So, as far as we understand this matter ourselves, all living beings posess souls except for plants. When death occurs in your world, these souls are not lost but merely leave the body and rejoin at some point into another as new life is created. During this process, all memories are normally lost, so they do not carry anything of their old lives over into the new bodies. For beings in our world, it may be different, and we are not entirely certain what the mechanics are. After all, we don't die or get born, so it is difficult to say for sure.«

She pointed at Velvet.

»So he is from your world?«, Vern asked for confirmation.

»Yes. He and his kindred lived in this world as well and exhibited similar properties to us in terms of immortality. But they unanimously migrated to your world after that option had been made available. But it seems like he doesn't remember anything of his old life, which is probably a side effect of his unclear state.«

›So there are no others of my kind living here?‹, Velvet asked.

›No, you always used to stick together, to begin with, which unfortunately means that all others are likely dead.‹

Velvet's head sagged back onto his paws.

»As you can see, there are different possibilities to what souls may be able to do or carry over that we are not aware of. Being bound to an area for a long time and then later switching over to another body wasn't something I was aware of being possible.«

Vern had just finished his breakfast and raised his hand.

»Interesting. What's the difference between monsters and normal animals then? Do the former have no souls?«

»Well, they somewhat do and don't … some kind of artificial replacement that makes it possible to create life. That is likely also the reason why that sword of yours only activated after stabbing the heart of a real being, the place where souls reside. Soul Devourer has the unique ability to rip them out of the soul cycle and fuel its wielder with their destruction. It ultimately made the souls slumbering within you awake and get stronger, which basically created that problem of yours in the first place.«

Vern looked at the sword hanging on his waist. »Hmm, so what am I supposed to do then?«, he mumbled, but Maggie had already taken away the dishes and was heading into the kitchen.

»Now that you've eaten, you should go and look for Valdin«, she said. »Just walk down the main street. He'll surely be in one of the houses there.«

Vern watched her vanish. She had avoided answering any of his pressing questions, so he decided to just wait at the table instead.

After a few minutes, she returned and looked at him sternly. »Have you not heard me?«

»Well, yes, I did, but–«

»But me no buts. You've come here for our help. Therefore you have to do what we tell you.«

She continued to stare him down, so he slowly rose from his seat. Velvet also sat up and started to stretch his body. However, when he got ready to follow Vern outside, Maggie stopped him.

»There is no need for you to come with him. Instead, it would be better if I showed you around in your old habitat.«

Vern and Velvet exchanged glances.

›I'd like to see it‹, Velvet said. ›Is that alright with you?‹

›Sure‹, Vern replied hesitantly. ›See what you can find out.‹

Velvet nodded and stayed behind as Vern left the house.

Out of habit, he looked up into the sky, but it was the same as before – greyish but illuminated. The wide street stretched along the house before it faded into the fog, together with the houses on either side of it.

Vern started walking, and the gravel beneath his feet was one of the few sounds breaking the silence. When he reached the first house, he looked inside the window. Everything looked perfectly intact, only people were missing.

Now that he saw this, he wondered how many more Immortals still lived here. He continued down the empty street, along the empty houses, until he heard some commotion.

Intrigued, he closed in on the house the noises came from and knocked on the door. A few moments later, the door opened, and a man appeared.

»Oh, Vern, are you ready to train?«, Valdin asked.

Vern nodded but had a disappointed expression on his face.

»What's wrong? You don't feel well?«

»I do. I just thought someone I didn't already know would open the door.«

»Hahaha, well, that would be quite impossible. After all, you've already met all inhabitants.«

»Oh … so is that where you live?«, Vern asked to shift attention away from that potentially sad topic.

»No … no, I'll just keep all of them intact of my fallen brothers and sister as a memorial.«

»My deepest condolences«, Vern said, lowering his head.

»Well, it is alright.« Valdin patted him on the shoulder and moved passed him. »Although we do experience time differently, it has been quite a while. That much I am aware of. Follow me.«

He took the lead, and they left the main street.

»How does it work though?«, Vern asked. »How far do your memories reach back?«

»Well, that is a difficult question«, Valdin replied. »It feels like they really reach back infinitely, however, memories from long ago are rather blurry and difficult to separate from each other. But once in a while, I happen to remember things from very far back clearly.«

»I see.« Vern thought about his own childhood memories, and they seemed to work similarly.

»Alright, here we are.« Valdin stopped at the edge of a wide meadow.

»What exactly are we going to do?«

»Well, training, obviously«, he replied, raising his fist to underline.

Vern frowned as he remembered his first training with Durant.

»That … so there is something more pressing«, Vern explained. »I only was able to control the other souls in me with the help of Velvet … and alcohol. Can you help with this first?«

»Yes.« Valdin grinned. »That is the reason we are training, after all.«

»No, no, no. You don't understand. If they overtake me, I will go berserk and kill all of you.«

»Well, that would be difficult. While in this world, you don't stand a chance against us, so don't worry about it.«

Vern blinked a few times in disbelief before accepting that answer.

»I reckon we will do hand-to-hand combat … ?«, Vern asked, already dropping his sword to the ground.

»Indeed. It might seem silly to you, but improving the movements of one's body will increase your mana capabilities and also the strength of your mind. That should help you deal with your inner conflicts as well.«

Vern nodded and gulped, now understanding where Durant derived his methods from.

They walked onto the meadow and took positions a few meters away from each other.

»Ready?«, Valdin asked calmly.

»Yes.« Vern nodded. But before his head completed the motion, Valdin had already closed the gap between them. Vern gasped and instinctively moved his elbows closer to his upper body, ready for the blow.

However, Valdin just swept him off his feet with his own, making Vern fall onto the grass-cushioned ground.

»Hah, not bad«, he said, looking down at him and reaching out a helping hand. »At least you managed to react.«

Vern took his hand and pulled himself up.

»Well, since I can't use my mana, maybe you should go easy on me …«, Vern said and brushed some grass off his clothes.

»I mean, I can't use any mana, to begin with, so I don't see the problem.« Valdin smiled and returned to his position from earlier.

»But how am I supposed to learn anything like this?«, Vern complained.

Valdin shook his head and raised his index finger to his lips, signaling him to stop talking. »Are you ready?«