Name: Daniel Willow

Class: Soul Reaper (Legendary)

Level: 10

Job: None

Available jobs:

Exorcist of the Night (Rare)

Stats:

STR:10

VIT:15

DEX:20

INT:30

WIS:30

LUK:14

Available points: 0

Skills:

Gate of Reincarnation (Legendary)

Phantasmal Puppetry (Rare)

Reaper’s Eyes (Rare)

Spiritbound Shield (Rare)

Mana Manipulation (Common)

Soul Scythe (Common)

Available skills:

Path of the Dead (Unique)

Soulfire Resonance (Unique)

Cacophony of Lament (Unique)

List of Souls:

167x Medium Soul

1x Large Soul

As the sun began to set over the emerald-green plains, bathing the world in a magenta sunset, Daniel stared at his status, deep in thought. With the twenty-eight new points, he made his stats even at the cost of neglecting LUK and STR.

The influx of so many points was euphoric - every aspect of his being now better. The world around him was more... vivid. Like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, Daniel beheld freedom of thought and movement. The action of raising his hand was smoother than ever before, and he could clearly see every pore on his body. The crisp wind accompanied by the distant sound of crickets brought him back to the days of autumn, where he would do nothing more than play outside.

The memories of his past he had thought forgotten resurfaced, bringing along a slew of different emotions. Vague concepts he had dismissed were now just a bit more understandable, and although Daniel wouldn’t say he had magically gotten smarter, his mind was both sharper and clearer.

The most uncertain changes came from his WIS. From a visit to his underworld, he found his soul to have expanded, capable of holding more, and as a result, his eternal rule over the domain had become even more absolute. As for what it did in the mortal plane, only time would tell.

He sighed, snapping out of the reverie over the beauty of the world. A decision was waiting to be made, and it wasn’t a simple one.

Path of the Dead (Unique)

Walk the road that none tread. For a brief moment, the wielder dies, interposing limbo with the mortal coil. The wielder’s body becomes ethereal, able to phase through physical matter at will.

Soulfire Resonance (Unique)

Shine bright for the last time. By igniting and burning their own soul, the wielder can magnify the intensity of any soul-based skill, making it more potent.

Cacophony of Lament (Unique)

Make the world drown in sorrow. As the wielder screams, every soul around the wielder experiences a tide of sadness, drowning them in overwhelming emotions.

Daniel assumed the unique skills were a reward for reaching level 10, which made his choice even more important. Path of the Dead’s wording scared him, but its effects drew him back in. It had countless uses in and out of combat, including phasing through wyvern claws and sneaking into locked buildings.

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Somehow, Soulfire Resonance unsettled him more than his previous skill. After experiencing the mental anguish of his soul splitting in three, the thought of purposefully burning his soul made Daniel shudder. Besides he couldn’t even utilise his skills fully at his current level.

Cacophony of Lament was no doubt a powerful skill that suited any battlefield. The problem he struggled with was how indiscriminate it was. Sure, out in the plains, it would work wonders against beasts, but in the city, the skill would damn whoever happened to be nearby. Besides, Daniel had no plans to tackle challenges alone, which made it even harder to use the skill.

In the end, after much deliberation, Path of the Dead won over the others. And, for the first time in a while, he had the chance to immediately test out his new skill. Stopping his horse in the middle of the plains, Daniel carefully observed his surroundings before determining nothing would violently ambush him. Then, he mentally recited the skill.

The world around him bled colour. The once vibrant plains full of life and noise faded into a grey monotony that flickered with shadows as if an unseen flame burned away everything that was sacred. An unsettling silence dug deep into his being, clouding his emotions with overwhelming apathy.

The air around him coalesced into a heavy mist. Although it didn’t obscure his sight, and he had no need to breathe, it made his movements stiff and unnatural, as though trying to move through the water. Daniel looked down at the ground, which distorted and wobbled, taking on unexplainable shapes, the borders of which were but mere suggestions. Like piercing a bubble, he sunk into the ground until he willed his body to stop.

The skill was rapidly draining his mana pool. Thirty points of INT only allowed him ten seconds of this strange state, and as he floated up, everything snapped back to normal. He blinked in confusion until his emotions caught up to speed, and even then, the only thought in his mind was ‘What a neat skill.’

In a way, it resembled his Reaper’s Eyes, though instead of shades of black and white, everything was grey. Given the chance, Daniel vowed to research more about the various planes. Was limbo the in between that souls travelled to when they died, or was this a completely separate plane? He didn’t notice any vagrant spirits or any influence from the gods, but he was in the middle of nowhere. For now, he let go of his thoughts and rode on.

Just as he was nearing the village, he came to a halt, remembering an important fact - his current clothes would get him stoned to death. It was a choice between Morvina's robes or his noble garb. Ultimately, Daniel chose the former - he was quite curious about what regular villagers thought about her priests.

Perhaps it was because everyone near the church treated him with respect, or perhaps it was the sense of responsibility, but every time he adorned the violet veil and the full-moon necklace, he felt important, like his words carried more weight. It was true that clothes made a man, and with that in mind, he urged his horse to trot into the village.

The wooden walls were guarded by a few half-asleep youths, dressed in worn out chain armour, their spears leaning against the gate. One of them looked at Daniel and the metal horse, gave him a slight bow, and let him through without any trouble.

“Wonder what a priest’s doing here,” the guard said a few seconds after Daniel left. He slowed the horse, listening intently.

“Probably wants to convert some of us. Old Arga will give him hell for it,” another voice joined him a few seconds later.

“All he talks about is Agores. Good harvest and frequent rain are important and all, but I’d feel much safer at night with Morvina behind my back. Heard there have been more spirits around as well.”

“Gods, shut it. Agores’ grace lets us eat like pigs every day. Did you know that there are people actually starving in the big city?”

“No way.”

The rest of the conversation devolved into meaningless gossip, but from their tones, they seemed fairly indifferent. Still, it was better than the looks Daniel received when he pretended to be a nobleman.

It took him a few minutes of knocking on doors for him to find a barn he could sleep in. Back in the city, folks would be tripping over themselves to help him out, but the villagers were friendly enough regardless. Thoughts about his comfortable bed plagued him as he lay on the hay, staring at the ceiling.

Finding a moment of peace, quiet, and safety, Daniel sunk into the depths of his soul and looked down at the menagerie of beasts he had gathered. Deers, wolves, eagles, and boars solemnly marched along the blood river, their eyes glazed over, emotions already forgotten. Above them soared the wyvern, just as magnificent and arrogant as in life, but even it was smart enough to not provoke the ruler of this place.

“You owe me an explanation. What have you found out?” Xaviar emerged from his house, pointing his flame-tipped halberd up at Daniel.

“I can’t say right now - I lack information. But, worry not, I’m riding to find out more as we speak,” Daniel said, floating next to him.

“Who said anything about being worried,” Xaviar spat on the ground. “I couldn’t care less about my unfilial descendants who didn’t even have the balls to visit my tomb.”

“Right.”

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say, because Xaviar launched into another rant, which Daniel patiently endured, even if he felt like it was beneath him.

“You’ve become so damn arrogant for someone who couldn’t open my coffin. Just because you dealt with a couple of hundred beasts and a wyvern doesn’t mean you’re a proper warrior. My kids killed wyverns with ease when they were nine. A single skill of mine could burn down an entire plain and kill everything here.”

“Are you sure you don’t wish to reincarnate? Look, they’re all waiting their turn,” Daniel pointed at the river.

“Absolutely not. You won’t trick me with half-promises and a slightly improved INT stat. The number of imbeciles with INT numbering in the hundreds in my time was staggering. All it does is ingrain the bad habits you already have. You better fix that attitude before you get stuck with it.” At that, Daniel snorted. If anything, he was already being humble here.

When the conversation came to a crawl, he bid Xaviar farewell and got to his job. The current Soul Points numbered only ten, and it was high time to fix that.