Slug

[Lost Soul Detected]

[Would You Like To Transfer?]

"Yes!"

[1 Lost Soul Transferred]

[Fledgling Package Unlocked]

I turned to look at Baku, "Fledgling Package?"

"Although the System will never give you a quest, certain achievements and milestones are met with rewards. The Fledgling Package is a result of you reaching the Fledgling Rank."

"Then why didn't I get it earlier?" I prodded.

"The System requires Lost Souls to interact with the universe. It used that one Lost Soul in exchange for granting you the package." Baku summarized.

"Okay." I answered, "So where's the package?"

Baku raised his paw and pushed it to the side and amidst travel, another portal similar to the one entering the void appeared. Baku reached his arm into the portal and began rummaging around until eventually, as his eyes widened, he pulled his arm out.

"Here." he said, lax, as he tossed over a pile of black rags.

Catching the amalgamation of cloth, I immediately looked at Baku with a confused expression.

"And what am I supposed to do with this?" I asked with an attitude.

Baku rolled his eyes, an expression the bear is already setting as precedent, "Open your Status."

This little shit just gets more disrespectful doesn't he?

He's almost entirely dropped the Lord stuff already and it's been what, a week?

But nevertheless I listened to the adorable little bear and summoned my Status screen.

—————————||—————————

Host: Cain

Species: Corrupted Human

Class: Lesser Evil

Rank: Fledgling

Souls Harvested: 63/100

Strength: E

Endurance: E

Agility: E

Dexterity: F+

Intelligence: D

Spirit: E+

Vigor: D

Items: |Reapers Cloak|

—————————————

I narrowed my eyes at the Items tab.

That was new.

—————————||—————————

|Reapers Cloak|

|Reapers Cloak| Description: Become what can not be perceived.

—————————————

I raised my eyes in shock.

"It's an invisibility cloak?" I spoke to myself while considering the ramifications of giving someone like me something like this.

But before any of my dreams could even be fully visualized, Baku interrupted the fun once again.

"Not exactly –" He cut in, "it completely vanishes your identity. It does not make you unnoticeable."

"Explain." I ordered.

"Anyone who looks at you will just see the cloak and a mysterious entity within it. They'll see you, but they won't know it's you."

"They'll see me, but they won't know it's me." I reiterated to myself.

"And that's all it does?" I asked.

"Yes. It provides no other defenses or utility." Baku crushed my dreams relentlessly.

I asked him if there was anything more to the Fledgling Package, but the |Reapers Cloak| is the only reward. Although certainly invaluable, it doesn't really help me out all that much at the moment. Until Olive finds a way to re-summon me, I'm trapped inside my own Domain. And to make things worse, I have no effective means to grow my strength during this down time.

Summoning that Lost Soul slug took an unfathomable amount of time. Of course, the more I practice manipulating my Spirit the easier it should get, but the effort to reward ratio is atrocious. In the hours it takes me to spawn forth enough Spirit to coat my fingers, I could have harvested countless Lesser-Souls to advance my Rank or – if I happen to find a place dense in Lost Souls – consume like a mad king.

Extracting Lost Souls from the Void just generally seems like a poor means of collection. Demon's aren't meant to occupy the Void, probably. I'm not really sure, but that's what I'm going with.

Unfortunately, after racking my brain over what to do, it came down to two things: either exercise physically or spiritually. Here's another unfortunately, my physicality has skyrocketed since reincarnating.

Damn!

I sat down on the pale orange stone that stretched across my Domain. With my legs crossed and my fingers balled, I pushed my knuckles together and connected my thumbs. I started controlling my breathing, going so far as to count the length of my breaths – demanding they remain constant until it became automatic.

Then, once I felt my mind slip into somewhat of a trance, I continued breathing slowly but shifted my attention towards my heartbeat. As a result of my breathing, my heart beat slower and slower until eventually I began to doubt when the last time I heard it was.

In that state, unsure of myself and my existence, gazing solely within, I felt a warm pool of energy shift in tides in response to my heart; every beat casting waves of energy to ripple across my soul. It was there, in the space between my life and my soul, where Spirit resided.

And now that I've found it again, I'm somewhat able to influence it.

The first thing to take note of is this,

"Your Spirit, much like your mind, can get shocked and overwhelmed. When this happens, the sea that represents your Spirit becomes restless – turning into something like a tsunami. Something that you simply cannot control. However, when you are calm and your sea is tranquil, that water becomes much more malleable and easier to manipulate." ~ Teacher Baku.

With that, the starting process to accessing one's Spirit is to first calm their being. Since only then will they actually be in a state able to notice it.

I concentrated on my Spirit and slowly began to introduce my influence. First, I pushed the water ever so gently – merely confirming that my influence was taking place.

Then, I pushed the water in a circle. Spin after spin, the water started picking up pace. As the current grew stronger, more water began to get drawn in and started flowing along until eventually the center of the spiral began to dip.

Waves began to form. The sea started to aggressively crash into itself causing huge bursts of water to explode in the air. And when the water was spinning as great as I could control it, I pulled it up and out into existence.

The sea of Spirit soared into the air as if it were a tornado, only that it wasn't air at all, or water in this case, but a vortex of Spirit erupted into my body and I immediately felt a sudden warmth embrace my chest.

But instead of directing that warmth to my fingers like I did prior, I now ignored that warmth and allowed it to foster. Whereas for my attention, it remained on the sea and vortex of Spirit as it took nearly the entirety of my concentration to work the two components in tandem.

***

Under the familiar blue sky, the band of three marched in silence. Isaac led.

His two swords dangled along his back, each sheathed in a leather strap that wrapped underneath his arms and soared across his burly chest. The two swords are identical. Each one made of pure and reflective silver.

Behind him skipped a little girl, in comparison to Isaac at the very least, as gray continued to swallow his mustache.

Lily skipped with her hands swaying at her side. She bobbed her head up and down while she moved and, if you listened close enough, you'd be able to hear the girl humming a familiar tune from the radio. She followed closely behind Isaac, her uplifting spirits desperately attempting to infect the rest of her party.

Behind her, a red-head walked slowly and steadily. Her arms were folded and her head was tucked down. Deep in thought, Olive continued to march on autopilot — doing nothing more than recognize Lily's bright blonde hair and follow every which turn she makes.

Like that, their trip back to the pyramid was nearly over. As they had been traveling towards the dojo, the Goblins ultimately returned to their shells of themselves – nothing more than mindless beasts. Once this change miraculously occurred, the trio began fighting less and less; instead opting to avoid confrontation in favor of returning quicker.

And as they climbed the final hill before descending towards the pyramids entrance, the sight of the behemoth structure appeared in their view along with the pulsating jewel that hovered above it. Black stone, red pulsating rays of light, all surrounded by trees that competed with redwoods and yet still, the pyramid stood out.

"And now just half a day more." Isaac commented, "Let's rest here and set foot in the morning. No point getting there when they're asleep." He grumbled.

Without any form of acknowledgment, the three split up and began doing their tasks. After having traveled so long together, the three started to develop an intrinsic understanding of one another. Their combat became more fluid, they began to not only trust, but rely on one another amidst fights. As such, the know-how for who gets what for camp isn't something that needs to be expressed in words.

Two hours later, at the cusp of the setting sun, the group of three finally sat around a fire. With meat over the flames and a bag of berries going around, the atmosphere was peaceful.

Isaac panned his gaze from the flames over to Olive's figure. From this perspective, her hair became ablaze as its shades of red molded with the ever changing flames. On the other hand, her expression remained cold and inexpressive – or perhaps deeply in focus?

"You've been staring at that screen of yours all day," Isaac said, "did something change?"

Startled, the glossiness in Olive's eyes disappeared just as she raised her head to look at Isaac.

"Hm?" She responded, "Sorry – nothing's changed. Just fascinated by it all." She gently smiled.

Isaac looked back into the fire before releasing a pent up sigh, "I find it hard to believe myself most of the time."

Olive didn't respond. Nor did Lily. For more than a few moments, the three said nothing and stared into the fire.

"Status." Olive said to herself.

"Cain's summoning requirements." She asked for the millionth time.

—————————||—————————

|Lesser Evil • Cain|

|Lesser Evil • Cain| Summoning Ritual: Only Love may seek Death.

—————————————