“So… Lieutenant General Crewe?” I asked as I gently stirred my drink, admiring the way colors swirled with every motion of my spoon. “Who is that?”
As much as I wanted to sequester myself in an Absorption Station and try to improve my chances of survival, I also didn’t want to abandon Mia and Bronwynn immediately. Besides, both of them seemed to be enjoying themselves so much that I found myself gradually relaxing, too.
“One of our esteemed general’s most trusted men,” Bronwynn quipped, sipping his own drink with a contented smile.
We were in a fancy drinks store, but the infidel had gone with some kind of coffee-like grind. For only a single lesser soul, I had ordered the Galactic Berry Delight, which promised to let me ‘taste the galaxy of berry flavors.’
So maybe Bronwynn was right to play it safe. I was trying to be tactful. Sue me.
At least I had nothing on Mia. She had latched onto the Amazing Meats Swirly and refused to be talked out of trying the abomination. Unlike my sparkly chemical spill, her drink was an off-brown reddish color that kind of reminded me of a roast.
Worst of all, she was visibly enjoying the concoction, ears and tail flicking away as she bounced with a slightly goofy smile. I still hadn’t dared take a sip of mine. Call me a coward, but the server had promised me the drink would remain nice and cool until I finished, so I was taking my sweet time.
“You do realize ‘one of our esteemed general’s most trusted men’ tells me nothing, right? Right?” I pushed. Then, finally, I lifted my cup and took a sip.
My eyes widened as flavor exploded across my tongue.
It felt like I had just eaten a spoonful of mashed berries, except I was tasting every single one, distinctly, all at once. It was like someone had carefully segmented my brain and then disconnected the various pieces, dedicating each to experiencing a different flavor.
It was overwhelming. It was kind of terrifying.
It was… tasty, and I wanted more.
While I took a second sip, Bronwynn sighed. “He rose to prominence by single-handedly butchering an army of rakshasa on the world of Greybolt, dealing a decisive blow to the enemy force that let us drive them out of the world and claim it for ourselves. Since then, he’s gone on to lead no less than thirty-seven successful invasions, always in worlds that were either contentious or extremely well defended. Does that satisfy you?”
“No.” I grinned like the mischievous gremlin I was. “I want to know what he’s like and how he might react to the information we gathered.”
Once more, Bronwynn sighed. “He’s levelheaded and fair. Despite his reputation as being reckless, he’s not. He’s one of the more preeminent military geniuses we have, if rumors are to be trusted. Of course, that doesn’t really mean much in Torment. Ours isn’t a very… strategically minded layer. But he’s still good.”
“Do you think he’ll insist on taking that city?” I let some of my anxiety slip into my voice, though I tried to keep the emotion off my face.
Bronwynn spent a few moments just staring at me, but he eventually nodded. “Most likely, yes. You need to understand, the legion hasn’t found any major jinn strongholds. Not until now. We’ve been warring with them for months, and territories have exchanged hands multiple times, but we haven’t had a real success. This is the lieutenant general’s opportunity to show real progress.”
The delightful drink was starting to taste a little more sour in my mouth.
“And it doesn’t help that we only found the place because one of our cities was attacked, does it?” I asked.
Bronwynn shrugged, which was really all the answer I needed.
So it was war. True, that’s what we came to Lagyel for, but I had kind of hoped serious engagements were still a few months away. That would have given us time to build ourselves up as a unit. Time to learn how to fight together, rather than as a mob of demons breaking down into individual duels.
Time for me to advance further, and maybe even reach true ascension.
If things were heating up, though, there was almost zero chance that Glaustro would do anything to keep us out of the action. Try as he might to overcome it, the demon was still driven by his brotherly rivalry. The only way out would be if the lieutenant general specifically ordered us not to fight.
At least, that would have been my assessment before I found out Graighast got promoted. Now, though… I was willing to bet Glaustro would fight even if he was ordered not to.
It didn’t take long after that for us to part ways temporarily. Mia wanted to stroll through the city and shop for more food, Bronwynn had his own stuff to do, and I begged off to visit the Absorption Station.
In spite of the circumstances, I felt a dash of excitement take hold. I hadn’t yet had a chance to really sit down and go through all the spoils I had earned since the jinn attack. I had done a few cursory sweeps, like after the scorpion battle, but that wasn’t the same thing as properly counting out souls.
So, when I entered the comforting protection of the Absorption Station’s dome, the first order of business was a detailed inventory of my soul purse. The results were enough to leave me dazed, and more than a little lightheaded.
1422 souls.
Between what I had left on me when we arrived on Lagyel, my monthly soul allotment, and the souls I earned from the local critters, there were 1422 souls in my possession.
I had convinced myself that the scorpions would yield only lesser souls, since they were some weird kind of insect, but no. Each and every one of them was worth a regular, basic soul, which meant I now had a small fortune on my hands.
Better yet, it was souls I had earned, rather than getting some generous gift from the general.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Don’t get me wrong. I was grateful for those thousand souls he gave me. But it didn’t feel real. Besides, I knew I would be spending most of those souls immediately.
But now? I had personally spilled insect blood to earn these souls. I had pried each one from its body myself. And I didn’t even feel guilty about any of it because… well, scorpions.
The real crowning jewel of my bounty, however, was the superior tier soul from the golem. The fact that I had landed the ‘killing’ blow was apparently enough for the Abyss to assign the soul to me, even though I never would have succeeded without Glaustro.
Problem was, I didn’t quite know what to do with it. Theoretically, I could absorb it or use it in place of a hundred basic souls, but the idea did not appeal to me. It felt disingenuous to use the soul of such a significant fallen foe just to further my progress by a little.
The golem also had no skills worth plundering through the station’s surgical powers. The station zeroed in on learned skills and hard-earned abilities, rather than any innate magical nature. Since golems could never develop such things, and the soul’s previous owner had been stuck guarding a single border throughout its entire existence, all it could give me was some basic knowledge about the world of Lagyel.
Honestly? The best option was to devour the soul like a demon would. That way, I could tap fully into its memories and live through the experience of being a construct.
This wasn’t just to sate my curiosity about such life forms. By reliving the golem’s life, I would be able to sense every mana circuit, every rune, and every single component that went into building the construct. Golems were preternaturally aware of their bodies, after all.
If all went well, I eventually would be able to recreate the construct, this time under my control.
For this reason alone, the soul was immensely valuable. Valuable enough that, if I handed it over to high command, I might get showered in thousands of basic souls.
Unfortunately, I felt strongly disinclined to do that.
The last time I was in possession of a superior soul, I had no choice but to gift it to Glaustro. Trying to keep it would have led to my untimely demise, at minimum.
Things were different now. I was building up my power, I had actual allies, and I might be claiming my own spot as a demon in the near-ish future.
I wasn’t a demon yet. I wouldn’t be able to devour this soul until after my ascension. But its allure was intoxicating, and I refused to give it up.
I even wondered sometimes how things would be different if I had been able to keep the soul of that Archmage. I pretended indifference, but I couldn’t ignore that I was caught in an awkward situation: I was at the second highest tier of magecraft, and I had about 3.5 spells in my repertoire.
As a mage, I was a disgrace.
With the memories of an Archmage, one who had studied advanced forms of mana, I could have been so much more already.
I sighed, rolled my shoulders, and cast off my regrets for the time being. Then I seriously considered my options.
Unless I wanted to learn how to burrow, the scorpion souls were only good for purchases or trading. Likewise, I was definitely shelving the golem soul. That left me with the choice of whether or not to sacrifice a couple hundred souls in the name of further ascension.
It was definitely something I had to do before we left the city, but… As shameful as it was, I was afraid. Already, the side-effects of my ascension were getting out of hand, and it wasn’t that long ago that I had gorged on the soul sacrifice.
I wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t stop, but maybe I could afford to take a bit more time? At the very least, there was something I realized I would have to do if I wanted to maximize my advantages.
Slowly and reverently, I drew my sword from its scabbard and let the station show me its traits again.
Legacy of Lethaniel: Demonic Soul Blade
Tier: Damaged Demonic Weapon
Damaged demonic weapon. The sword that had saved my life time and again was a ‘mere’ damaged demonic weapon.
Well, that simply won’t do.
I ran my fingers over the blade lovingly, then focused for a moment.
Would you like to nurture the blade through sacrifice?
Quietly, I pressed yes, and watched that same pedestal rise from the station’s ground. It was worn and ancient-looking, yet it emanated such might that I wondered how I had missed the sensation the first time around.
There was a groove on top clearly meant for my blade, a receptacle for souls, and channels connecting the two. I slotted my sword into the groove. Extracting a soul from my purse, I gently pushed it into the sacrifice receptacle.
The soul dissolved. The light it released travelled along the glowing channels and covered my blade, which slowly absorbed it.
One by one, the sword steadily gulped down the souls. But, just like last time, the changes were slow to appear. Some of the blade’s cracks grew more defined, as if they were part of the design rather than just accidental damage. The edge grew a tiny bit sharper. That was it.
Everything changed when I slotted in the thousandth soul.
The day I bound the blade to myself, I was nearly overwhelmed by the power it had brought to bear against my soul. I was living through the same sensation now.
A crimson glow erupted, and a wave of power slammed into me. The sword hummed and tried to rattle out of its groove. Light surged around the blade, equally blinding and hypnotic.
When the show finally ended, I was breathless.
The sword was beautiful.
The blade now gleamed, its soft lemon-green color on full display. It looked like waves were constantly rippling over its surface, hinting at power trapped within.
The ‘cracks’ had resolved themselves into vicious-looking grooves that ran from the tip of the blade down its full length. They culminated in the handle, feeding a gem that gleamed with cyan light. The gem looked like chaos itself was writhing in its depths, and its soft glow illuminated my hands as I gripped the sword and pulled it away from the pedestal.
The Abyss thoughtfully provided the new description of my item.
Legacy of Lethaniel: Demonic Soul Blade
Tier: Basic Demonic Weapon
I couldn’t put my feelings into words. Warmth, trepidation, guilt, and a host of other nameless emotions all pooled in my chest.
This was a true priceless gift, the gift which my mother had prepared for me.
Compared to the last time I had upgraded the blade, there was no point denying how much of me was Hayden anymore. I could now let the tears slide down my cheeks freely as I indulged in feelings of affection for a parent I had never met.
Gently, I brushed my thumb over the gem, then stiffened when a shock of power responded. The power reached out and brushed against my soul, searching for something.
Legacy of Lethaniel detected.
Assessment in progress…
Error. User is not eligible for the full inheritance process.
Further your ascension, and claim what is rightfully yours.