That time I found coins in my pocket

Teleporting out of the cave, Shiro was greeted with the sight of an overgrown enchanted forest brimming with natural magicules.

{I'm finally out.}

Screamed Veldora in joy.

"No, you're not. I'm the one outside."

Shiro awkwardly retorted Veldora, slapping the true dragon back to reality.

{*Ugh* Nevermind. Still, it's good to see the outside world after 300 years of imprisonment.}

Said Veldora in a melancholic sad voice, crying invisible tears.

Shiro cringe to Veldora's antic but the more Veldora talked about being free from his imprisonment the more Shiro heart hurts.

'Endure Shiro, endure...'

Shiro repeated in his mind like a mantra.

The guilt of lying to his friend pains him.

Shiro though typically acted apathetic before strangers and to his enemies, behind that mask is an emotionally sensitive person to those he considered as family and to the people he cared for, and Veldora being one of the people he cared for, deceiving the guy hurts him more than he could have ever imagined.

This was due to the newly established soul corridor.

Veldora can now perceive Shiro's emotions clearly, another effect of the soul corridor, and the same can be said for Shiro, but thanks to the [Abyss] Shiro was able to perfectly hid his real emotions despite the connection he had established with Veldora making the latter believe that nothing is wrong.

"Stop, behaving like some paroled criminal. Who's fault you were sealed in the first place?"

Shiro teased, trying to dodge the subject of freedom.

His words silence the true dragon for a few seconds before it rebutted Shiro, defending itself.

{How many times do I have to tell you that was an accident.}

Insisted Veldora.

Shiro smirked as he added.

"Accident my ass."

{*Hmph* said by the person who carries around 32 million souls with him.}

Veldora's words silenced Shiro.

"…"

'Sage, what did Veldora mean by carrying souls.'

Shiro asked Forlorn Sage for an explanation.

[Master is carrying in him 32,500,150 human souls.]

"…"

Forlorn Sage confirmation dumbfounded Shiro even more.

'Where did these souls come from?'

[The souls came from planet Earth, it was the souls of the people you had slaughtered previously.]

'How is that even possible?'

Shiro couldn't believe Forlorn Sage's words.

[The acquisition of Unique Skill [Abyss] allows the user to transcend space and time and this concept didn't just affect the user but everything and everyone connected around the user.]

"Elaborate to me how did [Abyss] affect the souls of the people I killed back on Earth."

Shiro though a bit confused still gets the gist of it.

[The Unique Skill [Abyss] pull the souls of all that you have killed back on Earth after it deemed the souls to be useful for future uses and place those souls in a private dimension inside the abyss.]

"The [Abyss] did that?"

[Affirmative.]

Shiro was still a bit taken aback.

Shaking his head he decided to ask the foremost important question troubling him.

"What happened to the egos of the souls?"

The Ego is the "being" of an individual, and their sense of self that builds up a person.

[The souls inside the abyss are nothing but empty husks of its former selves that don't contain an Ego inside, these souls only carry the unique energy contained within every human soul. And as for the egos, they've long joined the cycle of reincarnation.]

"Is that so."

He let out a sigh.

Shiro was relieved to find out that the souls were able to pass on without any problems.

He doesn't intend to make the people he once hurt suffer more than they ever deserved, so Forlorn Sage words lifted a heavy invisible burden out of his back.

Though the same cannot be said for the people who hurt his family and the people who supported them.

"How about the souls of the people that I despise?"

Shiro asked Forlorn Sage in anticipation.

Based on his experience so far about his skills, it appears that skills unconsciously respond to the users intentions, emotions and desire.

[18 people still retained their ego and are currently experiencing nightmares never before, but all of them have long begun to show signs of crumbling into nothingness. It is estimated that in a day or two all 18 souls will receive true deaths.]

True death, the complete and utter erasure of one's very existence, a return of information into the genesis oblivion.

'That's reassuring.'

Shiro smiled wickedly making Veldora who's been watching him intently after he had become silent for a long time winced in fright.

{Hey, you look very scary right now.}

Veldora's voice in his head snaps Shiro back to reality.

'Sorry about that, it appears to me that this is my lucky day.'

Shiro claimed, making Veldora confused.

{Lucky day you say that doesn't sound far-fetched. You met me the mighty storm dragon Veldora Tempest, received a name from yours truly, evolved into a higher species of your race, evolved a second time into something unique, and now what?}

"I found several coins in my pocket thanks to you."

Shiro was referring to the human souls.

{Those aren't coins you evil demon, those are human souls.}

Veldora retorted.

'Kukuku-.'

{Stop laughing like that. It doesn't suit you at all, and you sound like a fool.}

Shiro really wants to imitate Diablo, but Veldora's words are like a sharp arrow piercing his heart making him puke blood.

Shiro decided to ignore Veldora as a payback.

'By the way Sage, why didn't you inform me about this matter regarding the souls and [Abyss] earlier?'

[Master never asked.]

Forlorn Sage's instant reply shut Shiro up.

Shiro treated his Forlorn Sage like a person just like how Rimuru treated his Great Sage.

This made him forget the fact that [Forlorn Sage] is nothing but a skill that utilizes the Voice of the World to speak and doesn't have any basis for common sense and emotion that build up a person's identity.

.

.

.

Hiss… Hiss…

!!?

Shiro raised his eyebrows after his [Omni Universal Perception] picked up the presence of a massive snake-like monster slowly nearing his location.

"Hey, Veldora why does this snake resemble you?"

Shiro teased.

{Of course, after all it was born from my excess magicules.}

Veldora's proud reply made Shiro have a deadpan expression.

'This guy doesn't get my sarcasm at all.'

Shiro thought.

The snake type monster noticing Shiro quickly slithers fast in his direction.

In normal circumstances a monster would rather avoid confronting something far stronger than them but right now, Shiro hid his aura completely using [Abyss] making him look no different from that of a common man lost in the forest.

To the monster Shiro looks no different from that of a free meal, or so it thought.

Shiro took a simple step back dodging the storm serpent's first attack.

He could have used magic and ended the monster before it could reach a kilometer from him but Shiro decided to test out his current physical prowess and control in real battle.

Moreover, theoretical practice is wholly different from practical experience one can get from a live combat.

He did easily dodge the first attack, but the tempest serpent is no pushover as its speed suddenly increases tenfold, its serpentine body encircling around his locking him in place.

"Oh ho."

Shiro turned off all the boosts granted by his 'Skills' including Thought Acceleration and Omni Universal Perception.

This results in him not being able to react to the storm serpent's follow-up attack.

But that was the plan all along.

The storm serpent then began biting Shiro but to its utter shock it couldn't even penetrate his skin.

Looking at the storm serpent's confused expression, Shiro couldn't help but laugh out loud.

'Physical attack resistance sure is useful.'

Shiro thought.

Finding it difficult to penetrate Shiro's skin, the serpent decided it's better to crush the food first but instead of crushing Shiro, the serpent finds it difficult to even make Shiro move a single millimeter from his spot.

He is like an immovable mountain.

Feeling frustrated, the serpent decided to use toxic breath carrying strong corrosive and paralysis properties.

Shiro didn't bother defending or putting up a barrier as he received the full force of the attack.

As the green toxic smoke dissipated, the serpent found that its meal didn't even sustain a single bruise.

"Interesting."

Shiro muttered.

"Hey, little snake, can you do it one more time."

The storm serpent didn't understand Shiro's words, but it knew that Shiro was mocking it.

'Sage, is it possible to turn off my resistance?'

[Affirmative]

The storm serpent released another toxic breath, but this time Shiro's [Magic Nullification] was off and Shiro could clearly see the difference.

His skin is melting from the corrosive properties, but it was inconsequential as his regenerative trait offset the corrosive properties like it was nothing.

"This should be enough of an experiment for the day."

Shiro stretches his arms and the lock of the storm serpent loosens.

!!?

He nonchalantly steps out of the serpent's hold and gave the fella a gentle tap to its head, killing it instantly.

That simple tap of his carrying the energy of [Shiva God Of Destruction] instantly destroyed the storm serpent's soul.