…

“How you feelin’?” Henneth asked.

“Perfectly fine,” Amaryllis replied, taking the seat in front of the desk. Henneth watched her with great interest.

“I heard what happened.”

“I didn’t want any of that.”

“Of course, of course, you didn’t. But you agreed.”

“I had no choice,” Amaryllis said, feeling tired. She didn’t want to explain to this woman her thoughts.

“Every choice that does not lead to a loss is better than one that does. You chose the worst option imaginable in that situation.” Henneth intoned, sipping the coffee Violet had brought. Violet immediately left after dropping her at the entrance to run another errand after dropping the coffee.

“There was no choice,” Amaryllis wasn’t lying, of course. She spoke with experience.

“If you say so. Now what? Surely, you’re not delusional enough to believe you have a chance against Zeran. In case you don’t know, he’s ranked five. And after receiving your points, he’d cement himself as one without room for a change.”

Violet told her about it. He had also taken the assessment without a soul-forged weapon and survived — even scored higher than her. That too, when she had a spirit and Blackfrost’s help.

That information was a bit heartbreaking, but she still held on to hopes. Her weapon, which she had no idea how to control, could slice through his hand without resistance. Perhaps it didn’t rely on strength attributes at all. The duel would not be one-sided.

“Right,” Amaryllis said. “I have shards. I just need to find the concept-type node, which Violet promised to search with me after the interviews. It should theoretically increase my chances to win.”

“Theory and practicals are two different things, my dear. And number won’t close the gaps.” Henneth tapped the desk as she mused over the thought. “Good Luck, I suppose. You should seek advice from Light in case you need help. Violet is a child. I don’t want her to feel guilty for your irrational decisions. Though it would be progress if she felt intense guilt because of you. Even a breakthrough, but I don’t want her to feel negative emotions. I suggest you seek Sanguine. He’d help. And you and he seem to have a better start than anyone else unless you are going to blame him for what happened at the hall of the forge.”

“I don’t blame him for anything. He’s a great and kind.”

“That’s great to hear. I’ll call him after going over a few things that we missed earlier. Keep your ears open this time…” Henneth paused, staring into her eyes, “You didn’t sleep, and you’re injured.”

Amaryllis kept her mouth shut. It was not a question.

Henneth let out a sigh. She searched for something in her drawer. A small bottle of serum. Red and smooth — light illuminating the glass and the concoction. “This will heal your wound, at least on the body. Drink.”

Amaryllis didn’t protest. Not that there was any choice. The taste was bitter. Sharp and hot. But, the feeling went out as quickly as it rose. She was fine now. The uncomfortable pain in her body vanished. Even her headache. “Thanks.” Amaryllis lowered her head.

“Think nothing of it. I won’t pry why or what happened. But, if you want to talk, I’m here. And talking helps more than you’ll realize,” Henneth mused for a moment. Amaryllis shook her head. She was fine now. She had no intention of pocking the sleeping bear. “ Then, we proceed. Only Soul Attunement and the Cycle Of Souls are important concepts.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll start with Cycle of Souls. There’s a thing called the concept of life and death. That’s what mortals are bound to do. We are born. Live. Then, we die. That’s a mortal life. Death is the end unless you put a part of your soul somewhere with memories for purpose.”

“There’s no heaven? Or hell?” Amaryllis asked. There should be a heaven, for people like her sister to live in after surviving in this hellish world.

Henneth chuckled, “No. But there is. You just need to find it while you are still alive. As the saying goes — heaven and hell are lived in this world. Quite literally, in this case.”

“Then, I must have found hell,” Amaryllis whispered under her breath.

“The old gods, on the other hand, were not bound to this concept — they couldn’t be killed. Hence, they were sealed by the Soul Hunt and not killed; I hope you’re familiar with the story.”

Amaryllis nodded, “But, that story is false.” She said, remembering how the Anvil was from old gods.

“Not false, just stripped of all its spices.”

“Is The Soul Hunt not the new god of this world if it has sealed the gods,” Amaryllis asked.

“No, of course not. We don’t have time to waste and fret over stupidities like controlling the world. And we are drifting away from the explanation. The world of Soul Hunt is very interesting, but ‘control,’ is not something it desires. Back to the topic, the old gods can decay. It is death but not ‘the death,’ death. But you need to understand death to know what I mean. Your mind is not ready for that concept. Just think of it like a mortal like you or me can never hurt the gods. Or even the gods among themselves.”

“I’ve heard that Old gods were immortal, just like Seran. So they fought till the destruction of the world.”

“Both of them are different. Seran adheres to the concept of Souls. It basically means they cannot be hurt physically, but when a wound is inflicted on their souls, it lasts for a long time. When a Seran dies, it floats in a sea of souls to be washed off all the impurities. Impurities such as memories, emotions, and soul states. Then, it’s born anew. Sounds familiar?” Henneth looked at her expectantly.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Amaryllis nodded. “That’s the process a human goes through, according to some religions, which do not believe in heaven and hell. Ironic.”

Henneth chuckled. “That’s for the better, I suppose,” Henneth then picked up the bottle, “Is this glass a concept?”

Amaryllis almost said no but stopped at the last moment. “Yes. It should be. Perhaps, of the roundness, the reflection, the smoothness, or something else entirely.”

“Nice. You get it. The Serans are born of these concepts. You met the ones in a circus. That’s a very narrow and derived path. Roundness would be far more scary, for how broad and undefinable it is. They have a theme, and they adhere to it. But in a twisted sense. The Serans you met were of the circus, and they wanted theatrics, drama, and such. A performance that would make you, the participant, weeping, and the audience, the soul hunters watching you, breathless. That’s all they cared about. You can think of it as a twisted sense of humor, but Serans are born from things that humans attach emotions to, and then they make it the worst imaginable display of it.”

“Right,” Amaryllis shivered as she heard the puppeteer's laughter in her ear. Henneth drummed on the desk, jolting her out before she lost focus.

“They derive their powers from it too. I don’t need to explain that, you’ve experienced it firsthand.”

“Yeah. Their name is enough to guess what kind of power they might have.”

“Serans cannot be killed,” Amaryllis nodded. She had just stated that Serans were immortal. Nothing about it demanded a pause. “Not even by soul-forged weapons.”

Amaryllis nodded, waiting for Henneth to continue. Soul Forged weapon did something. She knew that much.

“Joykill. Anyway, I meant that. They cannot be killed even by soul weapons. Instead, what a soul-forged weapon does is akin to the sea of souls. When it destroys Serans, it strips them of all their experience and captures the soul. Reverting it to its original form. When you capture it, the soul still has all the ability of the Seran but is stripped of all its cultivation, growth, or soul state.”

Amaryllis now understood how she got the puppeteer’s soul. Fia. She wondered what happened to her. She had not heard anything from her after waking up. Surely, Fia didn’t harm herself to help her.

“Now, You have a Seran soul with all its ability. What do you do?”

“Destroy it, or use it for some kind of magical rite or ritual?”

“No, you idiot. You use that soul for yourself. You have a soul progression system. All your powers are tied to the Soul. So what will you do when you have a Seran soul with all its power?”

“Use it for myself.”

“Right. And that’s how you, a mana-blessed, will get her magical power. Throw fireballs or burn forests. That is also the reason why mana blessed are invited to the hunt. You will get the skills by killing Serans and cultivating their souls. The Soul Hunt. Now the name makes sense, right?” Henneth grinned.

“Yeah, it does. I thought it was about hunting soul demons.”

“No. We hunt them for their souls, for it would make us stronger. That’s makes us soul hunters.”

“I see,” Amaryllis smiled. A very mute smile, but it was there. A part of her was elated — a very small part. She could learn real magic. Another way to grow stronger. If she had a puppeteer’s soul, she could have gained its skills. That thought was enough to convince her to fight that thing again, though she knew better than to agree to such a thing without preparation.

“A person can hold up to three Seran Souls at a time. If you acquire more and want to use it, you will have to discard an already cultivated one or fuse it with another Seran Soul. Possibilities are infinite if you think about it.”

“I can imagine,” Amaryllis said. Three different types of skill sets were already too far for her mind. She didn’t dare to imagine after that.

“Okay, now, you know you will use your soul-forged weapon to capture seran souls and use it to grow stronger. Very simple, so far. Now to make it complicated. I told you about the weight of the souls. It exists for serans as well. You following me?”

“I am.”

“So Imagine. Your soul’s weight is five. And you manage to capture and consume a seran soul that’s higher than five. Same as consuming humans — overeating and bursting your guts on the floor. But you need higher weighted Seran souls to continue to grow strong, do you not?”

“Yeah, we do.”

“That’s where Soul Attunement comes in. It expands your guts to host a meatier Seran soul. Soul Attunement is relative to weight — if a Seran’s soul is eight, you need eight points in soul attunement. Simple as that.”

“I see… This is still simple.”

“Wait till you learn about the soul attunement node, but I will refrain from burdening you, for now.”

“Thank you very much, Doctor Henneth,” Amaryllis lowered her head. Henneth had been so patient and kind to her all this time. She couldn’t imagine what would’ve happened if it was someone impatient.

“No need to get sappy. I am just doing my job,” Henneth waved her hand like swatting away a fly, “Do you have any questions, or should I proceed?”

“I am wondering if they do not die, what happens after a soul hunter who had captured their soul dies?”

“They are reborn in some other place, where the concept they hold is thick.”

“Then… There’s no end. Sernas never decrease.”

“Correct. Much like us. The only difference is that every Seran is a prodigy and cruel, and they don’t reproduce. There’s a saving grace for us mortals. Reborn Serans are very weak, so it’s similar to crushing insects if we manage to get hold of their location quickly.”

“Now, the soul-forged weapon. There’s not much to explain. First, you have grades, the higher the better. Your is unique, and from there, it goes to aberrant. But that’s a long way from here. Below it, you find the Type. It lists one attribute it requires for mastery or used proficiently, but intelligence is always given for your weapon type, even if it’s not a primary attribute. And I believe insight would come in handy as well. So, you need to cultivate Intelligence and whatever else it lists as.”

“Concept,” Amaryllis said.

Henneth smiled at her, “That’s great. I had a suspicion when I heard you cut off Zeran’s hand.”

“I never thought, you’d take such interest in a assessee. You didn’t seem the type.”

“If Violet wasn’t here, I wouldn’t give two shit about who’s at the top. You are all trash compared to my time.”

Amaryllis smiled. “Feeling old?”

“I am one of the youngest soul hunters in this place,” Henneth scoffed. “If you were hoping for some kind of advice by telling me your attribute, that’s not happening.”

Amaryllis tried not to show her disappointment. She had hoped to get some kind of guidance. She didn’t have anyone to ask, so it was worth the shot.

“You’ve already high concept stats, so the main thing you need is practice.”

“Right.”

“I will skip the rest of your status since they are easily understandable. Forge is something you’ll need help from Soul Smith to perform, and when the time is right, you’ll know.”

Amaryllis nodded.

“Congratulations! You’ve done it.”

“Yay…” Amaryllis said without any enthusiasm. One more question lingered in her mind. “And what I did to Seran with Blackfrost?”

“As far as you need to be concerned, Blackfrost is all ending ice. Whatever it touches ceases to be. Information on it is confidential.”

Amaryllis nodded. As Henneth plopped a file on the desk.

“Now, the next phase of assessment.”