8 Chapter 6: The Soul and Crysaztel

<(Strike Resistance Lv. 1) merged with (Strike Resistance Lv. 1): (Strike Resistance Lv. 2)>

<(Strike Resistance Lv. 2), (Thrust Resistance Lv. 1), and (Slash Resistance Lv. 1) merged and synthesized into: (Omni-Physical Damage Resistance Lv. 1)>

<(Fear Resistance Lv. 1) merged with (Fear Resistance Lv. 2): (Fear Resistance Lv. 3) acquired>

<(Strike) merged with (Strike): (Heavy Strike) acquired>

<(Strike), (Quick Strike), and (Heavy Strike) merged and synthesized into: (Strike Mastery)>

These pop-ups are hellish for someone who got used to the dark…

But then again…

Gracious! I received the skills of the Treant…! Even the resistance skills…!

Hold on… You mean… Isn't this Soul Consume too overpowered…? If I just consume monsters, I can actually acquire their skills. Damn. I'm getting so excited now. Let's turn on the Perception skill right away…!

*flash!*

Wh-Whoa… I… I can see…!! I can actually see the surroundi- Wait… Ugh… I'm getting dizzy…

*prick*

Urk…! What the hell… It hurts…

All of a sudden, a numbing pain assaulted my core as if it began ripping apart in small pieces. The pain throbbed, it's as if it's piercing me from all direction. It's as if it's beating me with a club. It's as if it's strangling me, preventing me to breathe. It's as if it's splashing magma all over me, it's scalding hot. In any case, it's an unbearable pain… I feel like my consciousness is fading away…

Damn…

It…

…

Hm…?

Uwa…! My HG is decreasing…!

I immediately turned on my Intangible. The attacker, which looks like a large bird, hurriedly flapped its wings to escape and left with a low cry. I guess, it got scared when its prey suddenly vanished. It looks like my HG recovered from the evolution too. Nice, very nice.

Once I made sure the attacker has gone now, I deactivated my Intangible. I have to get used to it sooner or later if I want to sense more things.

On the other hand, it seems that my skills, which I can activate or deactivate at will, will automatically deactivate when I'm unconscious.

I checked my status and carefully analyzed Trigger Fear. It turned out that it's also one of the skills that I can activate and deactivate it at will, just like Intangible. Now I understand why the bird got near me. My Trigger Fear was deactivated.

Wait…

Whoa… I can see. So this is the world right now. Or rather… It's still dark. And the color is off. It's blurry too. It's like I'm wearing a glasses that doesn't fit my eye prescription or something. Also, the color is like I'm watching an old movie or something, with static and stuff. Anyways, it's far from being clear and perfect. But it's better than nothing…!

Mufufu… Finally. I can see now.

Phew… I think this is the work of the Perception that I got from the Treant. So this is how it got to see me, huh?

Even those Apparition Type monsters around the area are visible, even though they're using Intangible. Although, they appear like they're shadows. I can't see their actual appearance, but I can see a dark shadow instead.

At any rate… Really. I can finally see, huh? I can even hear the sounds. The wind, the rustling of fallen leaves, a flow of water… Ahh… It does feels good to perceive things…~

The place around me is like a desolated area with only rocky ground and dead trees. Or maybe they're Treants? This place remarkably resembles a cemetery. The sky is dark, it's like it's in the middle of the night. No stars, no moons. Only dark clouds.

I turned my Intangible on once again. Upon doing so, I no longer feel the cold atmosphere. And I can still see, huh? Now it all make perfect sense.

The cold atmosphere, the black trees or Treants, gravestones from here and there, skulls and bones, small flame-like silhouettes, the rustles around the vicinity, the peering gazes, howls, this is definitely a graveyard.

Based from what I saw in the status of the Treant, this place is called 'Dastrientel Forest of the Deceased.' It's not exactly a graveyard but it has the word 'Deceased' in its name so it's not far-fetched, right? And from the looks of it, this place does looks like a forest. But the trees are pitch black and without leaves. The area really gives off an eerie feeling.

A befitting place for a Soul to be born, eh?

Anyways. Earlier, somehow, I fell unconscious.

I don't know for how long but I feel like it took quite a while. I feel like I went into a deep sleep there and my mind still feels a bit numb. But there seems to be no problem other than that.

If I think of the reason why I fell unconscious, it can only be concluded as it being the aftereffect of the Soul Consume.

From the past days, I've been thinking about some things and how they work. One of them is the Crysaztel.

When I was fighting with the Treant, I learned about how the Soul is related to the Crysaztel Gauge.

[Crysaztel: The fundamental element of every energy. It is an extremely vital component for every living organisms.]

When I first analyzed it, I didn't understand it quite yet then. But after gaining a few related information about it, I can come up with one hypothesis.

'The soul is made up of Crysaztel.'

If I include the elements of the games here, which is the Crysaztel Gauge being the Mana Points or MP, it's not far off. But I don't have any proof yet, so I can only treat it as a hypothesis.

If this status display is designed like that of the status displays in game, then Crysaztel Gauge is really the Mana Points. Mana Points is usually located under the Health Points, which in this case is Health Gauge. I don't really know why the words are different, though.

So from that, I can also deduce that Crysaztel is also the same as that Mana in games. The one that is being used to use skills and magic. Then going back to the description…

'Crysaztel is a fundamental element of every energy.' Meaning, it's used to create a form of energy. Or in other words, it's the source of a 'result'. In which, that 'result' here we're talking about, is actually the skills that uses the Crysaztel Gauge.

And…

'It is an extremely vital component for every living organisms' Meaning, if it's lost, then the living organism will be in some form of danger. Or to simplify, it could die. That's fair enough, since the soul will be gone after all.

The last deduction and proof to my hypothesis, is when I consumed the soul of the Treant. When I drained it off of its CG, it died. And so, that forms my hypothesis that the soul is made up of Crysaztel, and Crysaztel being the source for some skills.

I said 'some' since there are skills that uses no Crysaztel. Passive Skills, if I have to state an example. On the other hand, Active skills uses Crysaztel, just like the Strike skill I used earlier.

Therefore, the reason why I fell unconscious is because of some kind of 'Soul Overload.' Or so I wanted to call it.

With my soul being unable to endure the large amount of the Treant's soul, I assume that my soul went into a turmoil and forcibly shut down to handle the burden. The larger the soul that was consumed, the larger the drawback. I guess, that's it?

I have to be careful next time. If I happen to pass out in a dangerous place because of Soul Overload, I won't have any means to counter, let alone defend.

Well, that's only my speculations anyways. But, I'll make sure to keep it in mind from now on.

So, why did I go my way just to analyze that, you ask? Nothing. I just kind of did so. Well, it's kind of my habit to analyze things. So, bear with me, please.

Wait, who am I making excuses to, anyways?

At any rate, I'll proceed to my evolution now.

Mufufufu. It's really exciting when the word 'evolution' appears on the screen.

Why yes, of course.

Yeah.

No need to think. I will evolve. Mufufu… I wonder what kind of monster I will evolve next.

…

Chapter End

Next chapter