Lecture

Out of nowhere, he threw his head back and laughed…

His laugh echoed through the hall as tears streamed down his face.

"What the are you laughing at old man?"

Leezy looked up at him and crossed his arms.

"You! To think that you really have the willpower to stand before me and flip me off....it's pure comedy."

He replied, shaking hard as he tried to contain himself.

"I haven't laughed that hard in centuries, You re-....You remind me of myself was I was younger. Foolish and stubborn…i'm actually starting to take a liking to you."

Saying that, the man removed the pressure from the room and closed the portal after dismissing the chimera.

Being able to stand now, Reyes laid the girl down behind him.

"Because I have taken a fancy to you…what did you say your name was again? Ahh that's right, it was Leezy! Because i have taken a liking to you, i'm going to impart some wisdom onto you and your brother, free of charge."

Listening to what the man said, they both looked at each other, shrugged, then sat down on the floor in front of the him.

"You two think Soul Gems and absorbing them is something brand new, yes? That couldn't be further from the truth! In fact, Soul Gems have existed since the beginning of time. The energy state of the Earth merely just wasn't able to support the existence of Soul Gems outside of the body. The very methods of utilizing Soul Gems that you two probably know of are probably rudimentary at best. There are far more efficient ways of using Soul Gems to become stronger that i just so happen to know of. If you would like to know more then i can spare the time to tell you a little about them."

Seeing the brothers eagerly nod, he asked them what methods they already knew. After listening to what they had to say, he continued on.

"Oh no, connecting your own Soul with a Soul Gem shouldn't be used in that way! Doing that to craft weapons is the most foolhardy thing i have heard thus far! Not only is the chance of success very slim, but even if it is successful, you will only find yourself with a trash weapon. You see…the process that the Gods use for that is called Soul Forging."

Pausing for a second, the man looked closely at the brothers. Seeing their confusion, he cleared his throat and moved on.

"Simply put, you take a Soul Gem and place it into a furnace along with other materials that you've gathered. Weapons, armor, jewelry and other things can all be crafted this way. You can also take multiple Soul Gems and place them within the furnace. This combines them and refines the gems into something called a Soul Orb. Unfortunately, the only furnaces capable of outputting the pressure and heat required for it to work can only be found in the higher realms."

Hearing this prompted Reyes to speak up.

"So I assume this is the reason why so many people fight so hard to ascend."

Nodding, the man smiled and continued without delay.

"Correct! Everything changes once you ascend, you will see once you reach that point. Back to the topic at hand…the type, appearance and power of the things you forge all depends on the element associated with the Soul Gems and the materials you have decided to use. There are many elements in this world, some of which I haven't even had the opportunity to experience first hand. The main elements are Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, Light, Dark, Nature and Arcane. Different combinations of these elements lead to sub-elements that vary in use and strength"

Pausing again, the man looked at Reyes and Leezy and asked if they understood. Nodding, they both urged the man to continue on.

"The main method that should be used for absorption of power is called Soul Linking. The method that you two said was being used to make weapons is what i'm referring to. This method allows the full energy of a Soul Gem to be transferred to you once done correctly."

A thought popped into his head that made him hesitate before resuming.

"There is a place that i could take the both of you that will teach the proper techniques. Would you like to go?"

Without hesitation, they both extended their willingness to go.

"If you have any questions, ask me now before we go."

Taking the opportunity, Leezy decided to ask a question that burned in his mind.

"What was that pressure you used on us earlier? Some sort of spell or ability?"

"No, what i did was very simple to do. The both of you should be able to do it as well after some practice. What you two felt earlier is what we call Spiritual Pressure. You see, Spiritual Pressure is caused by the power of one's spirit. The spirit is essentially your life force. It's energy determines the strength or color of your aura and rises as you increase your Ki and Mana pool. The weight of your spiritual pressure effects those around you differently depending on their current level of spiritual energy."

Seeing their confusion again, the man just stood up from his throne. Bending down, he lowered his hand to the floor.

"Hop into my hand, i am going to take you two to the place i mentioned earlier. In exchange, all i ask is that you two kill that dragon for me after learning the ropes. I am only able to move freely around this this fortress and cannot leave to kill it myself. The two of you will figure out the reason for that once you ascend."

After taking a moment to consider his proposition, they both came to the decision that there would be no harm in seeing what the man had to offer.

Reyes scooped the girl up from beside him and tossed her back over his shoulder, stepping onto the giant hand alongside his brother once she was fully secured in his arm.

"By the way, the name is Odin."

The man said, smiling as they vanished from the room in a bright flash of light.

…

Back in the bar, it had been a few days since Rachel had last seen Reyes.

Fearing that the worst had happened, she began to worry about her sister.

Her sister was only 14 years old, she still had a long life ahead of her and Rachel didn't want it to be cut short. She stared off into the distance as she recalled her time as an adventurer while she was a member of Thousand Eyes.

They were a well renowned faction that fancied looking for treasure and dungeons rather than killing other people for soul.

When her sister was born, she was forced to leave Thousand Eyes in order to make sure she was taken care of. Ending up in the city of El Diablo after her parents died, she worked hard to forge a life for herself and her little sister.

Rachel decided to become a treasure hunter because of their parents, who were also treasure hunters. One day, her mother and father had a run in with a few members of Devil's Hand while exploring a dungeon. They were both gravely wounded along with a few others that were part of their group after a ferocious battle took place.

Even with her wounds, her mother somehow managed to find the strength in her to give birth to her sister, but in doing so, lost her life.

Her father managed to live a few more days after the battle, before succumbing to his wounds. On that day, Rachel's tears fell onto his cold skin as she held him next to her newborn sister.

Thinking of this, Rachel could feel her sadness flowing down her face as tears fell from her eyes.

"Hey, would you mind snapping out of it and get me a drink lady, i'd like a bit-o-rum for me and my mates."

A young man stood at the bar with a small group of people who looked to be about the same age, gingerly snapping his fingers in her direction.

With a look of distain, she wiped her tears, grabbed a few mugs and poured some rum for the lads, sliding them over the counter to him after they were filled.

"That will be 125 credits."

"You must be fucking crazy thinking i'm going to pay that much for this grog. Thats 25 a mug!"

The young man said, scowling as he threw a handful of credits onto the counter, grabbed the mugs and started to walk away.

"I said, that will be 125 credits...if you are simply too damn broke to pay up front, then i'm only going tell you this once. Leave the mugs behind and go."

Rachel looked at all five of the young men with boiling anger.

Her manager paid her well to run the bar, and with the wages she received, she was entitled to work as the bartender, waitress and bouncer all combined into one. Turning around and seeing the look on Rachel's face, the young man started laughing.

"Little lady, take the credits before things turn ugly in ere aye? I don't like laying my hands on-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Rachel slid over the counter and kicked the man in the jaw, sending him careening into the table next to him.

Picking him up by the collar of his shirt, she held him up so that all his friends could see him plainly.

Blood oozed out of his mouth as his jaw bent at a weird angle, clearly dislocated. Reaching up to grab his jaw, Rachel popped it back into place and glared at him.

"Care to finish what you were saying? I'm not in the mood for bullshit today, so i highly suggest you pay up or leave."

Whimpering, the young man reached into his pocket and started handing Rachel the rest of the credits he owed her. As he was handing them over though, a loud roar echoed across the city.

'What the hell?'

Rachel thought to herself, she dropping the young man to the floor.

The credits he was about to give her flew from his hands and scattered around him. Quickly, she threw herself through the door of the bar and into the street as people ran about, screaming while pointing to the sky.

A huge shadow swooped over the city as a huge green fireball slammed into a cluster of buildings, annihilating them. Looking up into the sky, she could see a huge red dragon circling back to spew another fireball down into the city.

"Is that Azel? This is bad, very very bad."

Rachel took off running toward her home, as the bar she was just in was completely destroyed by the fireball. As she ran, many people were quickly running into their homes in an attempt to grab what they could.

After a few minutes, half of the town was in ruins as long streams of green flame scorched the sand. People lay among the streets, either dead or dying as the green flames which blazed hotter than the sun, consumed them.

Back inside her home, Rachel rummaged through her belongings in search of a scroll that once belonged to her father. To her relief, she eventually found it, just as the dragon turned its attention toward the remaining side of the city that Rachels home was built in.

Opening the scroll and throwing it down to the floor, she bit her finger and allowed a drop of her blood to fall on the parchment. The scroll, which had a drawing of a home on it, began to glow with a florescent blue light.

Another green fireball could be seen heading toward the vicinity of her home, but just as it was about to strike, Rachel, along with her home and its belongings teleported to another far away location, completely safe from harm…