『Soul Absorber』

"A Soul is like energy..."

Those words resounded on a dreary swamp—damp though the environment may be, this didn't stop the young man from forming a grin on his face.

"I must say... I'll have to thank the domain master!" Naoki exclaimed, using [Blitz] on an attacking monster.

[Soul Absorber]

It was the Soul Skill that was given to Naoki by the mysterious domain master, Iso. As to what the skill entailed...

"It really can wither any monster into mist..."

That's right, it had the ability to directly absorb souls from anything even before it was defeated—allowing him to further his cultivation even before he had killed a monster.

He has been doing this for an hour now, on the second layer of the Quiant Domain—and it seems that he has reached his next milestone, his 2nd star node.

"It's quite underwhelming, only a sprout has appeared in my Soul World. And here I was expecting it to expand."

Although he had not yet unlocked his Soul World Projection, since his Soul World opened prematurely—he had still expected some change.

*Screech*

With red eyes poking out, a giant mantis creature charged at Naoki—about to end his life.

[Wait... before that...]

"Iso!?"

Flinching at the sound of the goddess that he had recently spoken with, his stance broke—which the mantis immediately noticed.

[Your Soul World... try to use it... against the monster's soul...]

"Eh..!?"

[Let me... do it for you...]

Hearing the last word, Naoki's mind went blank, as if he was soulless. Before he knew it, he was just watching—watching as the monster stopped and disappeared into the mist. Apparently, Iso had taken control of Naoki's soul, and soon after a small piercing light entered the mantis.

[Your Soul World... you cannot project it yet... but it's unique...]

"You mean...?"

Iso had explained, his soul was special—a type of Soul that inherently understood the primordial language, an [Ancient Soul]. Iso stated that she had just broken the saint rule by telling Naoki this—which Naoki found odd.

"Why...?"

[Your soul is... very dangerous to our existence... it can kill gods if developed...]

Though her statement sounded grim, the way she had stated it appeared that she didn't mind if Naoki did such things. At first, Naoki was suspicious, suspicious at the fact that Leariz had kept entertaining his visits and that some of his thoughts could not be read by her—so this was why, he thought.

"Judging by what you are saying, aren't you in deep trouble by telling me this?"

[It's alright... they don't pay attention anyways... to Iso...]

She continued, just like how understanding souls can help restore it—it can also produce the opposite effect. It was highly taboo to practice this art as most, however, as most of the art's information was erased.

"You're... rebelling? Why?"

[Alone... Iso is bored...]

"And only because of that, you're willing to risk yourself?"

Naoki was unsure if this was the same calm goddess that he had spoke of earlier. This had not answered his questions; on the contrary, it had just become worse.

[Watch out... another... try it again...]

"Ah..!"

<<----------->>

[Good job... you have grown...]

"Well... I certainly was feeling a bit left out recently." Naoki could only sigh, the timing was flawless.

Astria and Dorothy were growing every day—the gaps in their cultivation were getting wider and wider. Though as if his prayers were answered, the current situation had pushed him already to halfway unlocking his 9th Soul node.

[You can now... try to increase... your soul rank...]

"And if I fail...?"

[You can't...]

There were instances where increasing your Soul Rank prematurely resulted in one damaging their own soul—ultimately leading to them being a cripple or worse, death. This is why most cultivators attempt to increase their Soul Rank I to II at the 10th soul node or higher.

"What do you mean?"

Iso added that aside from his soul being special—it has limitless growth potential. This also meant that whenever he attempted to increase his Soul Rank, he would not fail—provided his soul could handle it.

[Iso wants... human food...]

"Eh?"

[Will give you... fragments... in exchange...]

"You mean..."

That's right, while it was a world law that Soul Saints could not arbitrarily help cultivators—an "exchange" was not disallowed, or so she explained.

"...!"

[Interesting... good luck...]

"This feeling again—"

As if understanding the situation, Iso went silent. Naoki was quite unsure of it, however, though he knew he had felt this way before. And so, not minding Iso's disappearance, he proceeded to the direction of the sunset—dusk was settling in, it seems.

<<----------->>

"Hmph. They are clearly underestimating me..."

Though the person had said it defiantly, they fell to the ground—their back against the wall. Everything was a mess, blood spilling everywhere—with no other person in sight.

"I thought I could handle them... who knew they were crazy suicide freaks." She laughed it off, though she was clearly in pain.

And so, minutes pass—not a sound has been made. She closed her eyes as if reflecting on the situation, she remembered why she was doing this in the first place—the fire that was burning that night.

"..!"

"Another one...!?"

She stood up immediately, her violet aura emanating from her body—psionic arts.

"..."

"..."

the moment both have seen each other's faces—silence befalls them. As if no one had expected the other. Even the person approaching had to stop, not again—he thought.

"You're... Violet lady?"

"Nadia."

As if concluding that he was not a threat, she dropped her guard—sitting on the floor once again. She was not expecting this encounter.

"So, what do you need?"

"I've detected a fractured soul—so it was from you. How did you end up damaging it again..." Naoki sighed.

"I don't see how that's any of your concern."

Naoki ignored the bloodshed that was in front of him—speaking of it would get him killed, or so he thought.

"I'll be going ahead—if you'll excuse me." Standing up, she walked past Naoki.

"...!"

"My apologies, while my subordinates are more lenient, I see you as a threat... you have only yourself to blame for poking into someone else's business."

Hearing those last words, Naoki couldn't help but feel a strange sensation creep over him—a dullness that seemed to obscure his vision. That was weird, he thought—his body felt weightless, and he realized with a jolt that the ground was rising to meet him. It was then that he understood...

It was not the ground that was rising—It was he who had fallen to his death.