Via Deus

"These techniques were created by great minds such as heroes, sages, demons, and gods. Each of them has its own rank and value. If you want to survive, it is recommended to start developing your mind and body. At the moment, you cannot begin the path of a mage for the soul. It is currently wounded and will only complicate the situation."

"But did others only start one path? And if I start developing my mind, do I have to give up my body?"

"Others wanted to become masters of their craft. But there are records of mortals who achieved enlightenment in all three paths and even more. By developing your mind, you make it stronger, but your body will remain the same. However, over time, it will break down from the strain of your mind."

"But won't all these methods conflict with each other?"

"Yes, they will conflict if they are based on different energies. For example, if you fill your body with fire energy and your mind with water energy, they will suppress each other and make the owner suffer. He will feel hellfire and icy cold to the bone. They will change each other until the owner dies. But you can learn 'Via Deus.' This path creates a universal foundation for your soul. After that, you will be able to freely practice all types."

"'Via Deus'? But you said that the techniques are related to the soul and can complicate the problem with my soul?" he asked, confused. "Does the book want to kill me?"

"This is a special technique of the necromancer, which will create a foundation and strengthen the owner's soul. But you must pay a huge price," said the necromancer.

"Okay. What price? Do I have to pay for obtaining this technique, or is it a payment for practice?" he asked.

"Both. To gain the ability to practice 'Via Deus', you must pay with the energy of your soul and lose your humanity. And when you practice 'Via Deus', you will feel pain in both your soul and body. This technique uses all types of energy that can exist. The owner can use necrotic energy and soul energy, but all other energies are foreign and even harmful, such as light energy. Unfortunately and fortunately, there is very little energy in the world, except for those that the owner can use. Because of this, you can only achieve the basics, which is the limit of what is possible in your situation," explained the necromancer.

"I understand. If that's the case, then I'm willing to take the risk. If I can catch and process the souls of enemies, then I can restore my soul... Uh, I don't understand," he noticed as the book's pages became blank for a split second, then the phrase "B, also vitamin" appeared.

Blinking several times, he couldn't understand if this was really happening. The book was showing some kind of intelligence, but it seemed more like artificial intelligence than a living person. "But that's for later. Right now, I just need to buy it."

He was ready to make a deal with the book when he suddenly shouted, "Annie!" From the shadow of the room, a small wolf slowly emerged, wagging its tail happily. But it turned out that he wasn't there to play, but to guard.

"Annie, while I practice, you hunt for enemies and bring them to that room," he said, pointing to the room where he found the terrifying doll.

Annie, realizing that today was not his day, sadly nodded and turned to leave. As he was walking away, he heard his owner's words, speaking from behind him, "If you try hard enough, I'll play with you," the owner said with a smile on his face.

Joyfully entering the shadows, Anino went hunting for enemies. And who are these enemies? Enemies are everyone who has a soul, so he needs to catch a lot of them. And the owner wants them to be intact. He won't be angry if I play with them. But maybe that's not the case. Either way, they won't be able to escape.

He turned to the book and said, "Let's go." After that, the book displayed:

"To exchange, you must place both hands on the page."

Then both pages filled with runes and strange words. Placing both hands, he felt the energy being sucked out of the wound in his soul, and the soul was torn apart again. And a piece of the soul disappeared. In this piece of the soul, there was even a recently processed vessel.

The incomprehensible weakness enveloping him made him want to sleep and disappear at the same time. It seemed he was suffering from an incurable disease, like AIDS or late-stage cancer.

"How are you?" they asked him. He didn't feel terrible pain, but he felt weak and powerless, as if he had lost 20 dollars.

He fell to the ground, and his eyes slowly closed. At the same time, blue panels appeared on the screen with the message: "Access granted. Data printing related to 'Via Deus' begins."

Annino felt his owner fall into a faint and rushed back to find him lying on the floor, with a closed book beside him. Looking at the book, he instinctively felt a sense of mortal danger, and his loyal dog didn't want it near his owner. But he knew he couldn't do anything - his owner was already connected to the book.

The book, lying on the cold floor, opened and slowly rose to the level of the little dog, and words appeared on the empty pages: "I will draw these pictures with my claws. And then you bring your prey to the center."

Annino looked at the book with fear and didn't understand what was written. After a few minutes of playing hide-and-seek with the words, they disappeared, and a drawing appeared on the paper, and the book began to move to another room.

The wolf slowly followed it, entering the room. The book slowly stopped in the corner, and Annino, seeing the drawing on the paper and how it flickered, approached it without understanding. Maybe it was his imagination, or maybe he needed to draw it on the floor.

And with these thoughts, Annino began to draw with his claws. After drawing part of the picture, he saw how the part he had drawn completely faded, while the rest still shone brightly.

This confirmed Annino's suspicion that the book wanted something from him, but what for? Who would help or harm him? If you think about it, it would be more beneficial for the book if the owner was alive and strong, so he needed to try.

When he finished drawing, the book flew to another corner and showed a new drawing, which, like before, began to shine. Every line, circle, and curve connected at the end, forming a circle.

The book also showed two drawings in the remaining corners. Annie looked sadly at her two claws, which had already become useless and even caused pain. Now the third one would become useless too. But all for the sake of her owner, perhaps?

When she finished the fifth drawing, the book flew to the center of the room. The poor wolf saw it and it was three times larger than the previous ones. The floor was made of sturdy stone, not wood.

Finishing the drawing with a prayer in her heart, Annie looked at the book. All five circles and the lines that connected them appeared on the pages. It was enough to make Annie regret coming to her owner's aid. Now she stood at the entrance, hoping that her owner would return.

If Annie decided to leave everything she had done, she knew that almost everything had been done. She could not allow all her suffering to be in vain. But there was still a little work to be done.

Falling to the ground, Annie happily looked at the completed magical artifacts. She didn't understand any of it, and she didn't need to. Let her owner suffer, and let her be dull but free.

The book, which was floating in the center of the room, settled on the floor. Each line, circle, and rune began to glow, and the light spread through each circle through the lines connecting them.

Annie, seeing the floor start to glow, ran out of the room until the light completely faded. The book closed and flew out of the room.

Looking at the dark room again, Annie tried to enter, but right in front of her was a scratch from the entire circle, and for a moment she felt something invisible holding her back. And then she was able to enter easily.

Inside there was a different atmosphere. Before, he felt nothing but cold and loneliness, but now he felt some sort of pressure. Someone or something seemed to be pressing on him. Here he began to weaken and even felt tired.

Without looking for long, he decided to leave, but an invisible wall stopped him at the entrance. The book approached a little and fell right on the line where it then opened. Seeing this, Anino tried to leave where the book had fallen, and fortunately, there was no invisible wall there. And like lightning, he stepped out of the circle.

The book closed and began to float in the air. It stopped in front of the wolf and opened, revealing empty-eyed pages. Words slowly appeared on the pages, but quickly disappeared, and instead, pictures appeared. One of them was like Anino, chasing enemies and then catching them and dragging them into a circle where they couldn't escape.

Realizing what he had to do, Anino was happy. After all, he didn't lose four claws for nothing. And he understood that this would help him hold onto his captured prey. When he was hunting, he always asked himself, "What's next?" But he always put off the answer until later. "The master will come up with something," he thought.

But now the master may be sleeping. He wasn't sure. But at least he could follow the order. Joyfully merging,

At the same time, the book closed and sat on the floor next to its owner.

Every 15 minutes, Anino brought his prey. Some were wounded and couldn't move, while others tried to bite or escape. This went on for several days until one day the owner got up.

As he stood up, he felt pain, but not physical pain, but something deeper. He already knew this pain from his wounded soul, which only grew stronger to give him a chance to become stronger.

He wanted to call the book to begin "Via Deus," but realized he already knew the first steps.

Crossing his legs and closing his eyes, he began to meditate. At first, it was difficult for him to slow down his breathing because of the pain, but when he calmed down his breathing and heart, he slowly began to manipulate the energy and gather all kinds, even those he had never felt before.

At the same time, Annino was dragging something that looked like a crab. Seeing that his owner had woken up, the creature wanted to jump and lick his face, but its paw started moving, causing Annino to dismiss the thought and throw the monster away, holding himself in place. He looked at the huge pile of enemies killing each other, while others beat against the wall, trying to escape. Spiders, flies, and very disgusting creatures sat on the walls and floor, and the first two types were not ordinary. Spiders, besides their eight legs, had two hands, and their heads were slightly smaller, but it didn't hinder them from moving quickly. Flies had long, weak arms, and a long neck with a mouth full of teeth. Most of them were now eating the monster's body alive.

Seeing that the meat delay mechanism was working flawlessly, Annino turned to his owner. He already wanted to jump into his owner's embrace, but quickly calmed down, not wanting to disturb him. This made him feel sad. Waiting for more than two hours, Annino realized that he had wasted his time, which made him even sadder. But thinking about it, he stood up and left the house. Instead of waiting, he decided to start hunting again, as there were many weak enemies around.

At the same time, sitting in the lotus position in his house, the black man meditated, gathering all the energy that surrounded him. It didn't matter if it was harmful or useful, he collected all types of mana, but it was not enough.

He needed to create a foundation, a base, to become strong in the future. For this, he had to create a strong foundation for his soul. This foundation would become the basis of his soul, and as long as it existed, his soul would not disintegrate. It was like a plate that collects a broken cup, slowly but surely. It was not a bad way, if you knew that your soul was wounded, and the energy was leaking.

To create the foundation, he needed energy, which he would compress to such an extent that it would turn into a solid form, not a liquid. But for this, he needed energy again. Creating the foundation and each stage of the process required energy. And with each level, the need for it would increase.

Actually, to create a foundation, it is necessary to gather clean and quality energy, and for that... again, energy must be spent. But I am not immortal, my soul is dying. So I decided to pay for "Via Deus" because it can help me.

While I had this book, I realized that it works on the principle of equivalent exchange. I gave something important to me to survive. And if it says that I can survive by studying this path, then it's true.

Without having time for quality energy processing, he collected all possible energy. But a new problem arose: he couldn't contain so much mana and its different types. In addition, due to the wound in his soul, it leaked through the wound and then simply flowed out, and he collected it again.

Looking at the book lying there, he picked it up and forcefully released the gathered energy. After all, he can gather necro-energy or Death Mana, why not other types? In the end, he works as an accumulator, so he can become a full-fledged mana accumulator.

Maybe all of this is a bit confusing, Mana? Necro-energy and Death Mana are not the same thing, right? No, they are different. And now I will put everything in its place. Mana is one of the types of energy in this world, the universe. As I understand it, there are energies that are at a higher level than Mana. But essentially, they are only more concentrated and have different components at their base. Mana is energy that is used to control reality and achieve the desired effect. If you want balls of fire, use Mana. Want a Golem? Use Mana. Want someone to give you something? Use Mana. But Mana also includes different types of energy. It's like mineral water that consists not only of H2O but also of many minerals.

And Mana is a collection of all types of energy, including earth, fire, and so on. But there are also oddities, such as necro-energy or Death Mana. Death Mana appears after the owner, who filled himself with Mana, dies. Most of the Mana returns to nature, and only one part remains. It undergoes changes, turning into necro-energy. If Mana is fresh water, then necro-energy is spoiled dirty water.

At the moment, I think that's enough... Actually, I don't even know anymore. So I'll stay with that for now.

While he was contemplating all of this, he poured all his energy into the book. The book easily absorbed the necro-energy, but it struggled with other types of energy before finally surrendering. It churned and fought, even accidentally releasing energy. But slowly, he gathered the energy.

He could already feel other types of energy inside himself, but it still wasn't enough. Opening the book, he began to flip through the pages, spells appearing before him. Then clean pages with the words "Let go." Flipping further, massive circles appeared, but quickly disappeared and were replaced by "Let go" again.

Slamming the book, he said, "Quick, show me the array that will collect all the mana."

The book could only obey. He was its owner, oh, what a fate. He had to gather this vile energy.

The pages quickly filled with runes and words. Before him appeared one of the simple circles that could collect energy on its own, but in limited quantities. And to make it work, he had to collect energy from the array. Another problem was that it was slow, but that wasn't too critical. In any case, he would be there for a while.

Taking a horn from a spear, he began to scratch the floor. The floor was already full of scratches and blood, but these new ones were slightly different. There were enough for this array, and that was very good. He didn't have to look for a place to draw the array.

After 13 minutes, the array was ready. Now all that was left was to activate it. He took the book and drew energy from it, directing it into the array. Slowly, all the contours began to glow, and then the array began to work.

Weak attraction energy enveloped a vast territory. All the energy slowly moved towards the mass.

Thinking about what to do next, he heard strange sounds coming from another room. Looking in that direction, he saw Annino throw a cat-like creature into the room. And in that room... Where did so many monsters come from?

The room was teeming with monsters, but they didn't come out. This pleased him, but he began to fear that they might attack him. Slowly rising, he approached the room. A book appeared, on which was written: "The room has a mass that keeps them locked up. They won't be able to attack you until you enter."

At the same time, seeing her owner, Annino ran towards him and started licking his face, which was no longer black as coal.

Falling to the ground, he was surprised and without struggle allowed her to lick his face, even if he didn't want it. Some pleasant warmth arose inside him. Perhaps it was because he had been alone for several months, or even a year or two. There was no concept of day and night here, and he had no clock. But maybe all this time he was alone... He was lonely? That's why he felt few pleasant, warm feelings. He was always afraid, and even now not of death, but of simple pain. Even if he didn't feel it. It was strange to say, but he was afraid for no reason. He had no reason to be afraid, but looking at this face, he understood that he had become attached. Although he would still love cats, snakes... and dragons.

"But I can add dogs too. Has this demonic creature, who should inspire terror, become a true friend to me? I can't understand."

Thinking about his feelings, as soon as Annino embraced him, he twisted on the floor several times, from the feeling of a new dose of pain. Letting go of the wolf, he began to groan slightly, holding back the desire to scream. He could endure it.

Annino, who was recently happy, now looked at his owner with concern. He didn't know what was causing him pain, and how he could help. This demoralized him, and he began to call himself an idiot, stupid, and useless. He could only hunt and play, and when help was needed, he couldn't do anything unless he had more knowledge.

After a few minutes, the pain left him, and he was able to stand up from the dirty floor. Although he himself was dirty and must have smelled like shit, he knew he had to find a way to stop the influx of emotional pain at least for a while. And right now he needed to do something with the wolf.

Looking at Anni, who lay on the floor, sad and hiding his eyes with his paws, he felt sorry for his friend. He was sad and ashamed that he couldn't do anything. He was afraid that his owner would consider him useless.

Feeling the cold and rough hands on his fur, which stroked him, soft and beautiful, Anni opened his eyes and looked at his owner. He stroked his fur, and found no worms or parasites.

"Hmm, you have a loyal assistant. You made a foolish move that could make you disappear, and your soul will be torn apart. The destruction process is accelerating, and you will exist for only 100 hours. But you're lucky to have such a servant," he said with a hint of mockery.

"Are you talking about the room where the monsters are swarming?" he asked in surprise. But then he added fearfully, "Do I understand that I am really dying?"

"I don't know what you mean by dying. But you will completely disappear, and there will be no chance of reincarnation or resurrection," she said with pity in her voice.

"What should I do? I don't want to die," he asked desperately.

"I told you that you're lucky. Take the souls of those unfortunate ones and restore your own soul while you can," she replied.

"But how? I can't go inside. They will tear me apart!" he objected.

"Who said you have to touch them to take their souls? Use your energy and take their souls," she suggested.