"I told you, he is an evil spirit! He doesn't even know of Elysium, the Lord Emperor's palace!" Sa Meri shouted.
"But...but sis..." Sa Muni mumbled.
"Hah..." while the spirit elder who currently looked like a black man wearing a straw hat sighed.
"As I said, I don't know of any Elysium in the World of Souls. I think I know of all the Lord Emperor's palaces there, but I have never heard of Elysium. Aren't you just mistaken?" He continued.
"Hmph! That is obvious. You do not know because you are an evil spirit." Sa Meri said.
"Talking to you is like talking to a bull. Hey kid, stop feeling sorry for yourself. Even if I was a evil spirit, you are not yet dead." The spirit elder ignored Sa Meri much to her chagrin. She thumped her leg to show her annoyance.
Sa Minu could not help but smile at the scene. How many times had he seen her do this before. It was just that before it made quite an impact as the ground would form a depression. However, in his soul space, it seemed quite tame.
"More than this Lord Emperor's palace, what I am interested in is the method that you used. Explain to me how did you absorb spiritual energy? You started out all right but then the speed increased phenomenally? Do you know of a forbidden method?"
The spirit elder's voice suddenly turned serious as he asked. Even Sa Meri stopped talking.
"A forbidden method?" She asked confused.
Sa Muni thought about what he had done. How he made himself have more depressed feelings which made his soul turn even more dark. It did pull the spiritual energy in faster.
"I thought of depressed feelings and my soul turned dark. It pulled the spiritual energy towards me. Then I thought that if I made my soul even darker, I might pull in more. I didn't know how much spiritual energy I needed to put Meri sis soul in my soul space."
"Hah...so it was just a rookie's mistake. For a moment you scared me there, kid. Listen carefully, never do that thing again. You don't realize just how lucky you were just now." The spirit elder sighed.
"Um...why is that, Elder?" Sa Muni curiously asked.
"That is...well...to explain that, I will have to tell you a lot of things. How much do you know about spiritual energy?" The spirit elder asked.
"Um...." Sa Muni simply shook his head. He actually didn't know anything.
"As expected. How bout you bull girl? You must have cultivated a bit, you have a soul link to a spirit." The spirit elder asked Sa Meri instead. "Wait, before you speak, didn't I tell you both to take on a spirit form? The kid may have it hard for now but you should be able to do it easy, right?" He pointed as he spoke.
"Hmph!" Sa Meri did not say anything. Instead she tried imagining her form. Soon enough, the spiritual energy around her soul, transformed into a lovely young woman. Her features were exactly as Sa Muni remembered them and she was just as beautiful. And yet, her beauty had paled as the healthy color of her pink skin was not present anymore. Instead made of spiritual energy, she looked like a lovely pale ghost.
Somehow after seeing that, Sa Muni felt like crying. But no tears came out. After all he wasn't using his eyes to see here, was he?
"I wonder how I am able to have a conversation with souls in my soul space?" Sa Muni thought. Yet somehow his thoughts were heard by the souls within.
"Hahaha...now he wonders. Good question kid. Inside this soul space, your physical senses or the eyes and ears of your body don't work. So how do you see and hear us?"
"You actually don't. Your conscious senses things using spiritual energy. It is actually your soul which is talking with us. In essence, you are your soul and your soul is you, that is why you feel like you are looking at us and hearing our words. As for how you speak, you speak through your thoughts. All souls have this ability." The spirit elder explained.
"By the way this sense with which you look at us and hear us is called spiritual sense. Before cultivating spiritual energy, the range of your spiritual sense is limited to your soul space. After cultivating, you can slowly extend its range."
"Ah thank you for explaining Elder." Sa Muni said and bowed. Or rather he thought he did.
"So how do I change my form too? You said it won't be easy for me? But don't I have to do it like sister did?" Sa Muni asked.
"Agh! You do not know anything about spiritual energy, hence it is difficult for you. Your sister can do it because she has a soul link. The soul link makes it easier for her. There are many more reasons but to explain all of them will take days. That reminds me..."
"Hey, you there little bird, come in here and join us! You can follow the soul link to your partner, can't you?" Suddenly the spirit elder yelled.
Both Sa Muni and Sa Meri were confused. Who was he talking to? Was he inviting more souls into his soul space?
"What are you..." Sa Meri began but then quickly shut her mouth. Sa Muni looked at her and wondered as well.
Soon enough another soul came into the soul space. It used the spirit form method and transformed into an eagle.
"Sis, is this your beast spirit?" Sa Muni was surprised.
Usually only the person who contracted the beast spirit could look at them like this. The rest could only tell based on the beast transformation effects it caused. But right now, Sa Muni was looking at his sister's contracted beast spirit, the yellow eagle. Though made of spiritual energy it looked like a black and white picture instead of having the colorful yellow it originally possessed.
"You do know we can hear your thoughts..." The spirit elder softly spoke.
Sa Muni was suddenly startled.
"Wait, you mean to say you can hear all of my thoughts! Even what I thought just now!"
"Not only me...but that bull girl can too." The spirit elder spoke. Sa Muni was speechless. On the other hand Sa Meri had a gentle smile.
"To hear all my thoughts....isn't that too frightening?!" Sa Muni thought and then remembered that they could hear that as well.
"Hahaha...do not worry. With training, you will be able to learn how to focus your thoughts but right now....good luck!" And the spirit elder simply shrugged. If Sa Muni's soul had a mouth perhaps it would have dropped to the floor right now.
"Now that everyone's gathered, let me speak about the thing I wanted to speak about." The spirit elder spoke.
"Kid, the soul has two states. The one you see now, glowing, is called the State of Life. When the soul goes dark like you made it, it is called the State of Death. Spiritual energy is the energy of life and will always flow towards the State of Death. Think of it as trying to keep your soul alive."
"The State of Death is a dangerous state. Because you are trying to will your soul literally, towards death. Dying by killing your soul, unless you are extremely powerful, is impossible. Even I cannot do that. However, the real danger is because of the lack of spiritual energy in nature. You must understand that not just you, but every living thing has a soul and is trying to pull spiritual energy towards them." The spirit elder explained.
"To completely explain it will take a long time. But understand this, the spiritual energy found naturally and the one surrounding your soul isn't much different. If you do not control the State of Death, it is very likely that instead of the natural spiritual energy you may pull the one surrounding your soul instead." The spirit elder said.
"What?! Is that possible?! Doesn't that mean that he will die if he does that? Wait...do you mean that he did do that before?!" Sa Meri yelled.
"I am sorry sis. I didn't know. I won't do it again." Sa Minu hurriedly apologized.
Sa Meri looked like she wanted to say more but then simply shook her head.
"This time was just an accident. Even I didn't know that it was so dangerous, though I have heard Teacher Tri Manlu speak about not overdoing it before. But he hadn't explained the reasons for it. Wouldn't one simply die if that happened! It is good that you are safe." Sa Meri said.
"I was lucky this time. Thank you Elder for your concern." Sa Muni simply said.
"This time you really were lucky. Generally the amount of spiritual energy at any one place is low. Also the range from which you can pull the energy is limited to your immediate surroundings. The spiritual pathways, however, make no distinction between the spiritual energy around you and the one linked to your soul. If you keep pulling indiscriminately, it will simply start pulling the spiritual energy around your soul."
"Many people do not realize the importance of this small bit of energy. Even though it is still spiritual energy, it is a bit special. It is the connection which binds your soul to your body. Lose it and the connection is lost. The soul may live without the body but a body can never live without the soul." The spirit elder cautioned.
"I understand, Elder. I will keep in mind for the future." Sa Muni honestly replied.
Nodding his head the spirit elder continued.
"Yes...fortunately the spiritual energy in this area is abnormally high. Otherwise you would have lost your body already."
Sa Muni unconsciously shivered when he heard that. He knew he was lucky but that was only because he believed he had come to the cusp of making a deadly mistake. Now he realized that he had already made the mistake and it was only divine providence which had saved him. Of all the places he had to make a mistake, he had done it in the area where the spiritual energy was very high.
"There are many things you do not know and understand. But for now, let's stick to what's necessary." The spirit elder simply smiled.
"To start with, let's all introduce ourselves. My name is Ba Dun."
"I am Sa Muni. This is my elder sister, Sa Meri." Sa Muni introduced both of them. He looked at his sister but she was still fuming and had not the slightest intention of acknowledging this spirit elder.
"And you young bird, what is your name?" Ba Dun asked.
In return the spirit eagle simply shrieked.
"Ah Fea Yu..." Ba Dun nodded.
Both Sa Muni and Sa Meri were shocked. For neither of them knew that this yellow eagle beast spirit had a name, apart from the one Sa Meri had given it. Let alone Sa Muni, even Sa Meri didn't know.
"Wait...you actually have a name? Why didn't you tell it to me before? I wouldn't have given you a name of my own accord. So should I call you Fea Yu now?" Sa Meri actually spoke to the eagle spirit.
But the eagle only gave a piercing shriek in response.
"Do not blame the bird. She cannot speak the human tongue so talking with you would be a bit difficult, don't you think?" Ba Dun calmly explained. "Anyways us, not of the human race do not really care much about names. It just helps to differentiate when we are among our brethren. Other races simply refer to us by our clan names or our race. The young eagle says you can keep calling her with the name you have given. She likes it."
"Hmph! For being an evil spirit, I guess doing good is your only salvation. For now, let me offer you my thanks. But do not mistake for a moment that I trust you." Sa Meri coldly said.
"Yeah yeah...even if you do not have the power to do anything to me...I should still give you some face owing to myself borrowing your brother's soul space." Ba Dun simply smiled. But that did nothing to improve Sa Meri's look.
Just then Sa Muni had a thought.
"Elder, you are able to speak with the eagle so are you of the eagle race as well? But then how can you speak the human tongue?" Sa Muni asked.
After hearing his question, even Sa Meri had a look of curiousness appear on her face.
"Haha..well I am not of the eagle race. The reason I can understand the young eagle's words and speak the human tongue is because I am very old and very powerful. Much more powerful than you can imagine." Ba Dun laughed. "Anyways, lots of races can speak the human tongue after they reach an advanced stage of cultivation. Even the yellow eagle should be able to after her third evolution, I think."
Sa Muni knew that beast spirits evolved just like they would have if they had been alive. A yellow eagle would change color to brown after its first evolution which happened when it reached the cultivation of spirit level 5. So when the beast spirit would reach spirit level 5, it would also gain the powers and abilities it would have gained after evolving into a brown eagle. This would also reflect on the abilities of the contracted human. Even the beast transformation will change.
"Then what is your race?" Sa Muni asked directly.
Hearing his question, Ba Dun frowned. In any other situation, perhaps he might have told his identity readily. But now...
"Kid, pretty direct aren't you? But let's leave my race as is. Right now I cannot tell you other than I am a really old and powerful spirit. Let's just leave it at that." Ba Dun spoke with a kind of finality in his voice.
Thinking he may have been rude, Sa Muni quickly apologized.
"I am sorry, Elder."
"Forget it. At your age, kids need to be simple and free, unlike a scheming grown up. It is just that I have some reasons for not telling you."
"I understand. I will not ask again. But could I ask one more question?" Sa Muni simply ploughed through.
"Haha...you always ask these many questions?" Ba Dun laughed out loud.
At this moment, Sa Meri placed her palm on her forehead. Her curious brother perhaps even in death wouldn't be cured of his curiosity.
Sa Muni simply smiled looking at this. What could he do? He was in the habit of saying whatever was on his mind. It just turned out that most of what he had in mind were questions.
"Alright kid. Speak your mind." Ba Dun said laughing.
"Um...could you make a contract with me?" Sa Muni asked.
The laughter instantly froze. Sa Meri even looked up in horror.
"What crazy thing are you saying?! You cannot be serious! You cannot make a contract with this evil spirit! I completely forbid it!" Sa Meri immediately said out loud.
"Do not get your stomach in a knot, girl! He is not my type anyway!" And Ba Dun yelled out in reply.
Hearing this, for some reason Sa Meri became very happy.
"Hmph. Obviously he is not your type. He is good and kind. Definitely not your type."
"Ah...it is so difficult to talk to you. Even bulls might be easier." Ba Dun simply shook his head.
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"Anyways, kid. You are not my type. So no, I cannot make a contract with you. Rather, even if I wanted to I couldn't." Ba Dun added.
"What do you mean Elder?" Sa Muni asked.
"I haven't told you before but you cannot contract a beast spirit before the age of 14." Sa Meri explained instead.
"Ah. Wonder why it is.." Sa Muni thought. Obviously it was heard by all parties present who collectively smacked their heads. Even the eagle shrieked.
"Kid, ever heard the saying curiosity killed the cat?" Ba Dun said.
"Um...no I haven't. But I am not a cat so no problems there." Sa Muni innocently replied.
"Um...I don't know what to say. Let's just make this the last question. Then you need to eat. I am sure you don't realize but you have been talking to us for a long time. You must be quite hungry." Sa Meri said. Having taken care of him for so long, how could she not know his nature. However she did not know that he had foregone food for a day already.
"Ah...now that you mention it, I think I am starving." Sa Muni agreed.
"Thought so. You cannot contract a beast spirit before the age of 14 because your soul has not matured and grown up. Now hurry and go eat." Sa Meri said.
Ah...yes I will do that. Thanks, sis." And Sa Muni moved his consciousness back into his body.
A loud growl greeted him as soon as Sa Muni opened his eyes.
"Ow...I can eat a mountain." He clutched his stomach as it rumbled once again. After all, he hadn't eaten anything in a day and half by now.
Only when he stood up to go look for something to eat, he remembered.
"I am still stuck in the hole!"
Sa Muni was perplexed. He had tried getting out before but had not found any footholds to climb out. Moreover the opening of the hole was extremely narrow, so hoping for something to fall down into it, was only a dream within a dream.
"There are places which can serve as footholds. Here I will make light so quickly notice." Sa Muni was shocked once again hearing Ba Dun's voice. Like before, his voice sounded directly in his head. He looked around and found Ba Dun's soul still at the same place as before.
"Elder, did you come out of my soul space to help me?"
"Ofcourse not. I have always been here. What is inside you is just a small part of me. But let's talk about it later. Quickly notice."
Just then, Ba Dun's soul increased in radiance, instantly filling the hole with light. Sa Muni immediately looked up and saw the slight depressions which could be used to climb up. Thankfully, even though the walls were almost smooth, there were enough of the footholds for even his small size.
"It's good that I am so good at climbing." Sa Muni gulped looking at the depressions. If he were not so used to climbing, perhaps he would have been extremely daunted by the slight depressions which could perhaps only accommodate the tips of a few fingers at best.
"If I fall, it shouldn't hurt much. Its not very high, I think." Sa Muni consoled himself. Truth was, it would hurt terribly. But right now his hunger was worse than his fear of getting hurt.
And then the light went out.
Sa Muni placed his hands on the nearest foothold. And then testing it, he slowly started to climb up. It was slow progress. He had memorized all the footholds he had seen. But still, he made mistakes and sometimes had to hang on for quite some time before he finally found the next one. Often times, he had to back down a little bit as he found no footholds to move forward. It was not like they were not present, it was just that his small size did not allow him to reach up to them.
Labouring in the dark for almost half an hour, if not more, he finally reached the opening.
"Ah..." He sighed gladly as sunlight hit his eyes. He blinked a few times adjusting to the bright light as a smile involuntary came upon his lips. Being alive had benefits. His eyes finally took in the scene all around him.
And then he shuddered horribly.
"Is this...is this the bottom of the Valley of the Mist?!" In front of Sa Muni's eyes was a thick jungle.
The valley surrounded by towering walls made of rock and stone was completely cut off from the rest of the world. It had mist covering it and hiding it all year round. Yet the thick mist was only present high up. If one looked up from the top of the valley, they would only see the mist. Whoever knew that such a dense jungle grew below it. But that was still not much of a problem.
The real danger was that Sa Muni could hear loud grunts, shrieks, hisses and roars of several beasts coming out from this jungle. And through his experience, he knew that they were very very dangerous. Far more than he had ever encountered in the limited time he had spent in the Malabar mountains.
In fact, even if he could not see them, just by hearing their roars, he felt a cold wave penetrating right through his bones.
"What ..what is this?! How could there be so many powerful beasts?!" Sa Muni shuddered again.
Malabar mountains was a very dangerous place. But most magical beasts and powerful animals lived in areas deeper in the mountains while the less dangerous ones lived towards the outskirts. Among them Sa Muni was relatively safe.
Even when he reached the edge of the Valley of the Mist, Sa Muni was not really afraid. He had encountered a few dangerous animals, namely a tiger once and bears twice. But at all times, he was safely up on a high tree away from the reach of these beasts. Looking at these majestic animals, even Sa Muni had felt fear. After all, if he was caught by them, there was no chance he would survive. And yet, they had not made him shiver down to his very roots like this.
Right now, forget seeing them, just their roars were enough to make his bones shake. His instincts were wildly warning him to go hide in the hole once again.
"Could it be that only magical beasts live in the valley?!" He said out loud in an effort to calm himself and he could hear his voice quiver.
"Your thinking is not far off."
Sa Muni was startled. It was a tense moment before he realized that the voice he had heard was actually Ba Dun's. It took another moment to realize that this voice was actually in his head.
"Elder, what is this valley?" Sa Muni could not help asking.
"Haha...it is just a normal valley. It just has an enormous number of magical races for some reason. Also, as they cannot leave this valley, the concentration of these beings has only increased." Ba Dun replied.
"Too terrifying." Sa Muni shivered.
"Haha..this is nothing. It's just a bunch of stupid beasts. None of them have achieved spirit level 8 although not one is below spirit lever 4." Ba Dun laughed.
"Not one is below spirit level 4! How am I supposed to survive this? Won't you help me?" Sa Muni asked dejectedly.
"Haha...how can I help? I am just a spirit. Ever heard of a spirit being able to kill living things? The most I could do is protect your soul for a bit. Though it still won't save you from being eaten." Ba Dun's laughter just grew louder.
Sa Muni sank down to his knees. This was impossible.
At the moment he was above the hole which was at the edge of the jungle, near one of the walls of the valley. There were more rocks here than trees so it could be considered outside the dense forest.
But as soon as he took a step inside, Sa Muni knew he wouldn't be able to come out. He could hide against normal animals. But against magical beasts?! They would be able to sense him from miles away. Even now, he was expecting something to attack right where he stood. How could he look for food?!
"If I don't get killed by the beasts, I would definitely die of starvation! What do I do?" He asked helplessly.
"I don't know. Your life is your own. Your death is your own. What would be your fate remains to be seen. Just a thing which may help. The creatures of this valley try to stay away from this area. But if they sense you, they still might not hesitate to come over here. See you in the next life then. Hahaha..."
Ba Dun's loud laughter slowly faded from his mind.
"Damn! I should have never listened to him. He is definitely evil." Sa Muni loudly grumbled.
Fortunately, being angry at Ba Dun had removed the edge off the fear. He was still terrified but atleast the uncontrollable shivering had stopped.
"Dear Lord in the heavens. Help protect this poor soul..." Sa Muni silently whispered a prayer as he finally took a step forward. What choice did he have?
The dense green of the jungle seemed as creepy and frightening as those stories of evil ghosts capturing people in toxic marshes. It was like the mouth of a saw toothed lion as it yawned beckoning something to become it's prey.
As he reached the tree line, Sa Muni's fear returned and he trembled. He took a breath to steady himself and slowly entered the forest.
"Dear Lord in the heavens. Help protect this poor soul..." he kept on praying.
He cautiously took a few more steps inside. His eyes quickly flicked around scanning his surroundings for any danger. And then he moved a few more steps all the while ready to run for his life.
A few minutes passed and he found that his clothes had become wet with sweat. Sa Muni still didn't dare to be the slightest bit incautious.
"Hmm..what is this I smell." Sa Muni looked around and found some small shrubs. Several yellow flowers were growing on them.
"Dandelions....great!" Sa Muni was shocked and happy at the same time. He had found a rabbit eating a flower during one of his adventures and had tried them himself. The taste was not much to talk about, yet he found that it was edible. It was only later when he came up with a bunch of them and gave them to his sister, he realized they were called dandelions.
Sa Meri was quite happy receiving those flowers and Sa Muni had gotten a rare peck on the cheek for his efforts. Though at the time he had assumed that she knew a way to make them taste delicious. To his utter confusion, Sa Meri had found a vase and put the flowers in them. Thankfully, he did not ask his sister.
He found out, only after he asked his father later, that girls simply like flowers and had no intention of actually eating them.
"What a waste!" Was Sa Muni's thoughts at that time. Since then he had learned better. After all, it was not only his sister who was so weird. Presenting the flowers to the aunt next door and her daughter had the same effect. Why does everyone not eat food?
Sa Muni was not under any pretensions. Dandelions were food. And he was hungry. What a perfect match made in heaven!
He quickly started gather as many of the flowers, and if he could the leaves and roots as well.
It happened when he was busy with plucking these plants out.
"Grrrrrrrr!" A growl sounded at his back.
The sweat on Sa Muni's back instantly froze. He creaked his neck as he turned it around to stare at the sight slowly coming towards him. For a moment all his mind could register was two big fangs dripping with saliva.
It was another moment before his brain finally registered this beast. It was a black panther with slowly twirling tail like a snake. Wait, the tail stared at him with eyes of it's own. The tail actually had a snake head and it hissed and flicked it's tongue out. Combined with the growling fangs, it was enough for him to wet his pants.
"Dear Lord......damn!" was all he could get out before the beast started moving towards him in slow deliberate steps. The panther type beasts were his mortal enemies for a single reason. These damn things could even climb trees! What was the feeling when you found that your safe haven was not safe anymore. Not to mention, this was a magical beast.
For the first time in his life, Sa Muni saw a magical beast. Perhaps it would also be his last. Not that he was going to wait for it to end. At this moment his survival instincts kicked in and he turned around to run.
But!
"Kriiiiii! Grr!" came a sound in front of him.
Out walked a tall beast with an eagle's head but with legs like a horse. If that was not scary enough, it had a tail like an alligator with spikes on them.
"Mooorrr!!" And yet another beast appeared. Something with a bull's head and horns and elephant's legs. It was walking on two feet like a human yet the look it had was as if it had found the greenest grass. Two lines of saliva dripped out everytime it opened it's mouth.
"It's over..." Sa Muni was too scared, too helpless, too sure of his own demise that he did not even think of escaping.
Yet the ordeal was only beginning.
"Groooooooooooooowlll!!" A deadly roar came from another direction as another beast jumped out. This looked like a lion but it's skin shone like silver and it made clanging sounds as it walked as if it was made of metal.
"Grrrrruuuuupp!" A giant massive frog suddenly jumped out from somewhere else. Frog, no, that how it looked from the front, the behind was a serpent's body including two tails.
"Where the hell did these weird creatures come from!!" Sa Muni screamed.
Whether it was in his head or did his voice leak out, he wasn't sure! His small tiny voice was nothing in front of the loud growls and hisses and the other strange sounds.
Sa Muni belonged to a farmer's family. So he did not know of many magical creatures. Only the ones he could hear from stories told by Teacher Tri Manlu or some others rumored about by the various kids. How many of them were true was anybody's guess. And what he had heard came no where close to what he was seeing. What kind of name would he give his to-be killer!
Only the rich could afford an encyclopaedia of magical beasts. In the town, perhaps only the town lord might have it. Maybe not even him, let alone a simple farmer's boy like him. Ofcourse, what Sa Muni didn't know that even those books would not have the information about these magical beasts. He was in kind of a special area.
Not that it mattered to a dead guy. Or a soon to be dead guy.
If he had held on to his bladder, it was not in control anymore. To hell with propriety and manners, if you cannot be scared now, when would you be!
"Dear Lord....Damn!" Sa Muni stood frozen like a statue.
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