Treatment!

Shit! The creatures are here!

Indeed. The dreadful ghost like creatures had returned for another round of their attacks on the white haired boy. Except this time, the white haired boy was not alone, Bastian was with him.

Bastian had been thinking about quite a few things while practicing with his Soul Force. For example, would he be able to fend off the creatures? Would they even attack him? Would they show up if the barrier was brought down?

At this point, Bastian was a few meters away from the white haired boy and he chose to remain there. The intimidating appearance of the creatures was a bit too stimulating for the scholar.

OK. This is scary.

Looking from the barrier, had given Bastian a sense of security. So even though he was intimidated by the creatures, he was still able to stand being close to them. But at that moment, the barrier had disappeared.

Bastian tried to soothe himself using logic.

I destroyed the barrier, and the creatures couldn't pass the barrier. So logically speaking they can't harm me...right?

All of Bastian's efforts to calm himself down were fruitless. Despite his somewhat strong mental fortitude, both Sebastian Tirius and Bastian Smith had one thing in common. Fear of ghosts.

The translucent appearance these creatures gave one, the impression that they were spirits. Their eerie red eyes had a penetrating effect, making one feel as if he could not hide anything.

Nope I can't do this. No way!

Bastian immediately started to run away the moment he lost his cool. At this instant, the white haired boy had woken up as well. He saw the creatures and started running like the madman he was. Unfortunately for Bastian, the white haired boy was headed straight for him.

Bastian tried to twist and turn but the white haired boy would only follow, and the swarm of creatures would follow suite as well.

The creatures were able to fly, so they were much faster than the duo, and were able to easily catch up. One of the creatures caught up with the white haired boy and entered him, causing the boy to scream in agony and trip.

Bastian looked back in pity, but he was far too afraid to do anything about it. At that point, Bastian noticed something. The creatures only attacked the white haired boy. They never went for him.

It's almost as if they can't see me, or maybe they can't?

Bastian moved closer and closer to the screaming boy, each step heavier and more unsteady than the last. And yet, with each step nothing changed. The creatures did not notice him and kept on charging straight into the white haired boy.

After some internal debating, Bastian gritted his teeth and shouted, running straight toward the white haired boy. He changed the shape of his Soul Force into that of a large sword, and chopped at the swarm of creatures.

To his pleasant surprise, any creature that was touched by the sword was disintegrated into nothing.

I can kill them! I can kill them! Haha excellent!

It is said that in battle, fear can motivate one to fight at their best just as well as courage could, and in this particular case, such was the occasion.

Bastian yelled like a madman, in a way not so different from his white haired companion. He charged straight into the swarm and started waving the giant sword about.

The sword was like a hurricane, sweeping away and destroying all in its path. At first Bastian was just waving it everywhere but he noticed that some creatures still got to the white haired boy, which gave Bastian an idea.

Bastian stopped waving the sword about and brought it back into his bubble.

He brought the white haired boy into his Soul Force bubble and waited. The creatures would head straight for the white haired boy, only to meet a purple wall of destruction. Just like with the sword, the moment they touched the wall, they would be disintegrated.

So it wasn't the shape of the Soul Force, but the Soul Force itself!

Bastian felt ashamed that he had not thought of this sooner. He knew that his Soul Force could easily overcome the poison in the white haired boy's body due to his experience with it in the arena. Yet fear had gotten the better of him and had clouded his judgement.

Bastian shook his head, and simply observed the futile attempt made by the swarm to attack the white haired boy.

Hhmm? Shouldn't this be over by now?

After a while Bastian noticed that the swarm did not show any signs of stopping. Normally they would stop after about 10 minutes or so. Yet they had been at it for what had felt like an hour.

Bastian had chosen not to act until the swarm had disappeared, yet the swarm showed no signs of dissipating.

Could it be that the swarm isn't periodic, but rather stops once a certain point is achieved?

Bastian looked at the white haired boy and sunk into thought.

The creatures enter the boy, but nothing comes out. Perhaps they only leave once the boy no longer has the capacity to accept more?

Bastian's idea was correct. These creatures would only leave once they had filled up the white haired boy.

This will be troublesome. What do I do now?

Bastian decided to go toward the white haired boy and see what he could do. He tried to touch the seemingly unconscious boy, only to elicit an unexpected reaction.

The white haired boy jumped up and attacked Bastian.

That's a stupid thing to do. You're in my world little boy.

Bastian was no slouch either. He was weary, so when the white haired boy showed signs of movement, Bastian jumped.

The white haired boy lunged at Bastian. As if according to plan, a large hammer shaped piece of Soul Force extended from the membrane above them. This hammer struck the white haired boy straight from above.

A sizzling noise, like something being burned, came from the impact point between the hammer and the boy.

A dark smoke like substance rose from that point, and disappeared into nothingness. The white haired boy screamed as these events occurred. Except this time there was something different.

This noise, it sounds like...relief?

To Bastian, the white haired boy's scream this time sounded like relief. Without much thought, Bastian used the hammer to strike the boy again. The same thing occurring. Smoke from would come from the impact point and disappear, and the boy would scream in a way that made him sound relieved.

Bastian decided to continue down this route, this time he brought down 4 more hammers from his Soul Force membrane and struck the white haired boy continuously.

At first only the same events occurred. But after a while, Bastian noticed a change.

The swarm! It's getting bigger!

The buzzing was getting much louder and the creatures were now attacking a much larger surface area. Although Bastian was somewhat scared by these events, he was further motivated to continue what he was doing. Bringing down more hammers, he started beating up the white haired boy even more viciously.

Then a change visible to the naked eye was occurring.

His hair, it's getting darker!

At that point, the boy was no longer white haired, but grey. And the grey hair was darkening as time went along.

Not only that, but the boy's Soul Force was becoming brighter and brighter as time went on. It was originally white, just like his hair, but it started becoming gold.

Bastian marveled at what he was looking at. These visible changes invigorated the Bastian.

The brighter the Soul Force the more resistance I receive, I have to get more serious.

Bastian shrunk the bubble by half, thereby increasing the potency of his own Soul Force, allowing his beating, or rather his treatment, of the now grey haired boy to go faster.

At some point, the creatures outside became so many, that Bastian had lost all visibility regarding the outside.

Doesn't matter, it's not like there was anything outside worth seeing anyway.

After some time, the boy's hair was now quite dark, to the point where it could almost be called black. It only had a few streaks of white here and there. Likewise, his Soul Force was then much stronger than before, making Bastian's job all the more difficult.

I'm not done yet, behold my awesomeness.

Bastian decided to switch gears and try out his new weapon, the needles!

The hammers each turned into many needles which assaulted the boy endlessly. They covered nearly every spot that was available on the boy's body.

At some point in time, Bastian started noticing that the boy's screams became less and less, until they were virtually gone.

Under those circumstances, Bastian stopped his needle assault to observe the boy.

Before Bastian could react, the boy's figure flashed, before reappearing right before him with a katana condensed out of Soul Force.

At that moment, the boy's hair was black, with only one little streak of white. Surprisingly, he was not shouting like a madman. His eyes were as sharp as his sword, with a gaze that made one's skin feel prickly.

Placing the sword on Bastian's throat, the boy spoke in a chilly tone, "Who are you and what are you doing in my Soul Site? If your answer is not sufficient, I will destroy your soul here and now.