"Do you think that... a person be born without a soul? A spiritual core is the essence of the soul, the root of a being's existence. Therefore, it is perfectly reasonable to assume that a creature that doesn't have a soul would... naturally not possess a spiritual core either."

A sigh of muffled despair escaped Laude as he gazed at the distant Emerald Sea. Lovely as Windell Temple's view of the Emerald Sea was, it did little to soothe Laude's bitter heart.

He'd come up with more than a dozen theories about why he had not been able to detect his spiritual core over the last year and a half and he had virtually ruled all of them out through his research... except one.

He turned to Belladonna and said, "I think I've known for a while, to be honest. There's nothing left for me to test. I just didn't want to admit it. I didn't want to admit that this was a problem I wouldn't be able to solve by myself..."

I don't have a soul.

All living things possessed souls, but when they died, their souls would depart for the land of the dead. There, they'd be judged by the Lords of Hell and begin preparing for their next life once the karma they accumulated over their life was completely accounted for...

Had Heavens shattered his soul? Had they robbed him of it? Did they misplace it somewhere? Or had it been cast down to Hell as punishment for his insolence?

In any case, what did that make him? What was a person without a soul still a person? Or was he just an afterthought of a real person once called Laude, the mortal flesh that had been left behind?

Was he just a hollow echo or the real thing even without his soul? There were so many questions that Laude desperately wanted answers for...

In the end, what the Heavens had done to his soul didn't matter — what mattered was that he had been left bereft of it.

"You know, I've always believed in myself. I know that sounds arrogant, but let me finish before you judge me. I've idea that anything was possible, given enough time and effort. It amounts to how much time and effort people put into making their dreams come true. That's what I meant by 'I've always believed in myself'."

"But now... I see that there are things beyond reach. That there are limits to what human hands can accomplish. There is naught for me to do but accept that I cannot solve this problem. No matter how determined I may be, I can't make something from nothing. It maybe possible for gods, but not little mortals," said Laude ruefully as he directed his weary eyes upward.

What a cruel lesson... Even if the Heavens wanted to teach me humility, they shouldn't have done it like this. I'm not so arrogant as to need such a painful lesson, right? At least, I don't think so...

Belladonna struggled to find anything to say. If Laude was correct, then not even the Head Elders would be able to help him. Suffice to say, Laude would be doomed.

Devoid of a soul, yet still alive. Forever denied the mercy of death...

Stuck in a perpetual state of limbo, Laude would be forced to endlessly wander the Earth as an immortal. He would be condemned to witness everyone he loved die and turn to dust before his eyes, along with anyone else he ended up befriending in the distant future.

It was a punishment Laude would not wish on anyone, not even the people he hated the most. Such a macabre fate was far, far too cruel for even the lowliest scum on this bitter Earth.

Laude wanted to cry at thought of the fate that awaited him, but he couldn't even manage to force tears to come out. He was too distraught to even do something as simple as that right now...

And then, without warning, the formerly clear and sunny sky above Windell Temple began to stir. As if in response to Laude's despair, the sky turned foul as swarthy, brooding clouds condensed and swirled menacingly above the old temple.

Both Laude and Belladonna jumped up when they noticed the sudden change in weather and glanced at each other before they hurriedly turned tail toward the temple. Neither one of them desired to tempt fate by remaining outside any longer than was necessary. The last thing either one of them wanted was to expierence the wrath of the Heavens...

Laude, in particular, scuttled away like a frightened rat as if his life depended on it, screaming all manner of obscenities at the turbulent sky, which seemingly only made things worse.

A muffled roar from something within the growing storm echoed across the mountain range, which drew the attention of everyone at White Dew Society. And in response, all Head Elders immediately emerged out of thin air in front of Laude and Belladonna and turned their attention toward the quickly developing storm.

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The five Elders quickly surrounded both disciples and began working together, creating a large circle out of paper talismans around them.

Alnus looked at both of them and gravely said, "You are NOT to leave the ring! Remain motionless and say NOTHING! Have I made myself clear?! Not a single word!"

Far above everyone's heads, a loud crash of thunder reverberated across the land and a booming voice furiously declared, "...WHAT GALL! I SEE YOU! YOU DARE DEFY THE WILL OF—"

But before the enraged voice in the sky could finish, it was mysteriously hushed into silence and the storm above Windell Temple began to coalesce into a gigantic finger pointed directly at Laude and Belladonna.

A stifling pressure unexpectedly engulfed everything on the mountain range as if the world itself had been told to remain quiet. The sound of the howling wind, the heavy, pounding rain, the cries of terrified beasts across the mountain range — it all faded into silence when the finger emerged.

"...What virtue is there in a starless sky? Without Us to light your way, will you be able to traverse the darkness that awaits you? We have chosen you to find us an answer... Laude."

Something that could not possibly be a human being whispered softly in Laude's ear, sending chills down his spine. The voice was so close to him that Laude swore he could feel the heat of the being's breath on his ear.

Laude was so terrified by the unknown presence that he dared not move so much as an millimeter as he kept his eyes firmly shut. He refused to acknowledge its existence out of a primal fear he could not comprehend.

"...Give us your answer, Laude. We await you and your answer... at the end of the world."

Immediately after the disembodied voice finished speaking, a blinding light shot out of the enormous finger and struck an ordinary plum tree not too far away from where Laude was standing, nearly destroying it except for...

A small tree branch about an arm's length long.

The tree branch, the only remaining part of the poor tree, flew in an elegant arc through the air and struck Laude square on the head at a dizzying speed. It painfully knocked Laude on the floor and he reflexively cowered into a ball as he beseeched forgiveness from the Heavens.

"Mercy, mercy!! I didn't do anything! I swear on my mom, I didn't say anything either!" cried Laude repeatedly, like a broken record until he realized that the danger had passed.

When opened his eyes, he found a relatively intact tree branch sitting right in front of his feet and let out a dumb croak of surprise as he curiously stared at it.

There was a small section of charred wood near the bottom of the branch where it had once been attached to the trunk of the plum tree but aside from that, it was untouched.

What a lucky little fellow... But then again, is anything ever straightforward when it comes to the Heavens? Did they leave this... branch for me? I can't tell if it's just a coincidence or destiny...

Laude picked up the tree branch up expecting something to happen but was disappointed when nothing happened. Still hopeful, Laude gave the branch a couple of test swings to see if that would cause it to do something, but it remained nothing more than a simple tree branch...

"So it was just a lucky tree branch, then. Pity..." said Laude softly. " And here I was hoping that'd be something helpful..."

Belladonna, who'd been observing Laude said, "When the Heavens leave something behind, it's rarely coincidental, Laude. That much I know for certain, despite my meager knowledge..."

"She's right, my boy," said Alnus as he and the other Elders converged on them, "There are no coincidences when it comes to Heavens. Everything has a purpose in their eyes."

When Alnus asked Laude he could examine the tree branch, he handed it over and the Elders huddled around Alnus as they private discussed amongst themselves. Their little session went on for a couple of minutes as they performed a variety of strange tests and then returned to Laude and Belladonna.

Alnus had a bewildered expression on his face when he said, "Sorry about the wait. Here you go, my boy. Keep it safe and secure."

He handed the plum branch to Laude and said, "This is a gift from the Heavens. I won't make any wild guesses about it's nature, but we've concluded that it's not dangerous. Whatever the branch's purpose might be, though, is beyond even our ken."

The old geezer keenly gazed at Laude and said, "By chance... did the Heavens speak to you? Did you hear or see anything during all that commotion? Notice anything peculiar, so to speak?"

Laude's eyes popped open in surprise and he nervously replied, "I did... hear something, sir. A voice whispered in my ear and said tha—"

But before Laude could finish, Alnus covered his mouth and said, "Whatever the Heavens said to you is none of our concern. It is a matter between them... and you. Never reveal to anyone what the Heavens told you today nor of your... unique connection to them, lad."

"Do you understand? There are certain individuals in this world and beyond here who would go to any length to exploit you to understand why the Heavens have such a keen interest in you. They would do anything that would help them storm the Gates of Heaven. These people I speak of have no bottom line; nothing is sacred to them, no sin too great for them not to commit..."

Deception. Betrayal. Blackmail. Murder. Torture. Sacrifice. Destruction. Chaos.

By all accounts, these individuals, these... rogue cultivators were unquestionably evil in the eyes of the world, but these evildoers thought otherwise.

Although each rogue cultivation had their own different goals, they were cut from the same amoral cloth. They concerned themselves not with the human concepts such as morality and ethics, but instead followed the tenets of nature and the self — that there was only what needed to be done and nothing else.

To them, there was no greater evil than not following their own heart. They refused to bend to the laws of Men and only heeded what their hearts willed...

In any case, Laude swore that he'd never utter a word of what transpired today once he grasped the type of miserable fate that awaited him if a rogue cultivator ever found out about him. The last thing he desired was to suffer endlessly at hands of an amoral madman in some remote, hidden crypt for all eternity...