He turned around to discover a young and astonishingly beautiful woman with pointed ears and blond hair eyeing him up. Standing 1,70 meter high she couldn´t quite look him straight in the eyes but the power in these said him to not anger her.

“Now, young avatar, I am quite impressed with your first fights. You acted faster than most and this is quite promising. I did not get your settings for powers but it seems you are going for the mage way. And you havent´t missed the importance on enough health also. Seems to me you played a fair part of games in your former life.”

She grinned with flawless teeth and came a bit closer.

“My name is Arya and I am a goddess of another planet. Nobody wants a premature influence on fletching avatars so it is the duty of otherworldly gods to teach new ones the ways of the game. As you can see, i´m an elven goddess. Perhaps some time in the future you will visit my home turf and we can have a little chat about your adventures. It´s the only disadvantage as a god to leave the life as an adventurer behind with all its glory. Sometimes I miss these times!”

Arya seemed in thoughts for a moment before coming back to the here and now.

“Nonetheless I have to instruct you on your special power as a soul catcher. Yo have to be really careful to not let any god on this world get a clue on this ability because it gives you the same power like myself to sponge on souls either with their consent or not when you kill your victims. You can make contracts with unbound mortals and avatars alike but as you do, be careful with whom you choose such a ligation. I can promise you a short life if any god on this planet gets information about it. Your planet is a little bit overcrowded with gods and goddesses for my liking!”

She walked to a small boulder and sat down on it.

“Also your power enables you to revive any soul bound to you. You can even resurrect them as avatars which is something that is forbidden for any gods. It´s a rule that no one will ever break because the backlash of the universe is really serious. The last one to try his luck disappeared in a black hole never to be heard again.”

Then she stare harshly at Iranueel.

“By the way, this reminds me that I am the only one that knows of your power!”

Her look was calculating as she examined him.

Iranueel swallowed hard as fear for his very life hardened his gut.

“You don´t have to fear me, dear. You are worth a fortune for me because with your power you can do amazing things for me. And I am always paying my debts in full. There is someone in my sphere of influence back home that could use to get a promotion to an avatar somewhere in the future. She shows big promise to me, but she is also very young for her people and so you have much time to grow and grind the necessary levels for making her an avatar!”

Now real interest showed on Iranueels face. And a bit of greed, just a little.

“Hah, I can see it on your face. Now we´re talking!”

Energetic she jumped up and walked to him. Stopping right before him, she stared in his eyes.

“I will make you an offer you can't refuse!”

A smirk appeared on her face.

“I always wanted to say this phrase! The best sentence ever in my opinion!”

Iranueel had his doubts about her choice of entertainment!

She seemed to had sensed his feelings about her hobbies.

“What?! The entertainment industry of your world is amazing! I don´t think there is a single planet in this galaxy as interesting as yours in this special part of mental distraction! It is one of the best selling products that your hillbilly world has to offer.”

With that said she returned to her boulder.

“Now listen closely! I will save your life should you die too often. But only if you do not die willingly angering some bigshots knowing I will save you. And I will offer you a seed to build your own demisphere to collect your souls there for gathering energy!”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Iranueel sloped his head and looked sceptical.

“I have no idea how precious a seed is!”

“Ok, I will give you a hint! You need first 500 levels worth of power to even buy this power, and this is only when it´s in your choice of selectable powers. True, you can change this selection, but this comes with a cost. I can give you a seed now without you having first the necessary levels and the available power!”

Iranueel thought hard about this offer.

“I don´t think, that it´s a good idea to give me the seed now! Correct me if I am wrong, but is this seed possible to be detected by other gods?”

She nodded cautious and seemed in thoughts for a moment.

“You are right. It could provoke unwanted attention to your person if someone sensed it and also knows about your new status as an avatar! So let me keep this power on retention for the time being. When you are powerful enough we will resume this chat! Now let us come to teaching you about using this wonderful ability of yours.”

With this she walked to the small pile of ash on the ground.

“Concentrate on this place and try to sense the residue of your latest enemy!”

Iranueel looked at the place and tried to sense anything at the place. After a moment he felt a kind of connection. And after that he could see a faint golden sphere hovering half a meter above the ground.

Seeing his enlightment Arya grabbed him and pulled him to the small globe.

“Now reach out your hand and put it right in the center of the sphere and absorb it!”

Doing as said Iranueel reached out and tried to pull the energy in. He felt a slight sensation when the golden light began to lessen. It was almost sexual exciting when the power flowed into him.

With a satisfied look Arya nodded and went back to her boulder.

“Good! I think you saw the sphere being golden?”

Iranueel nodded curious.

“This means the soul being unaffiliated to any bigger power. Meaning that there will be no repercussions if you take it. Any other colour means game on! Only go this way when you want to reveal yourself and your power to the world!”

She had now a teacher like look on her pretty face.

“Next lesson! You can also absorb an avatar when his power is weak enough to die permanently. Also if you have some kind of contract with him and he dies unfortunately. Reviving him will cost you about 10 levels, so you have to keep a safety cushion for yourself!

Reviving a mortal soul to a normal mortal life will cost you only 5 levels, but then you have to give a good explanation for this special occasion. And as an avatar will cost minimum 50 levels depending on how much power you want to give the new avatar for his start!”

Now this was some serious energy for him at the moment. On the other hand he could get a loyal partner for his future, so perhaps it was an good investment.

“I can hear you thinking! Don´t do this on earth! Every god here will know what you did faster than you watching an episode of Star Treck!”

Apparently this goddess knew her shit!

“Now the next lesson! You can invest your levels in new powers or strengthen your body or just rise your level for safety. I recommend first to get a minimum of 60 levels for starters to be safe. If you acquire a new power it always starts as Basic. Only by starting as a new avatar you can rise your talents further. And when you die, and believe me, you will die often, you lose a small part of your knowledge and a bit more when you are killed by an avatar. The other way around gives a slight more power also so try to keep on the winning side!”

She stood again and saluted him grinning.

“Now it´s time for good bye! Keep cool and stay alive! And never forget to have fun. Eternity is waiting!”

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Had a long day full of stress and tried to relief some of it by writing a bit and to fix your needs! ;)