22: Soul and undead Dragon.

"Sorcerers are crazy," Eis muttered as he stared dazedly into the flames of the Firelink Shrine's bonfire. 

Who uses their soul energy to cast spells? No wonder spellcasters often end up insane or deformed, since the soul is an essential part of what it means to be a conscious being. 

We all know the classic trio of concepts such as body, soul, and mind. A lack of one of these parts causes a very serious imbalance in the other two, so it can have serious repercussions in a creature's life. 

In general, magic users from other universes maintain a slight balance of these three elements, yes, some wizards are physically weaker than other extraordinary professions, but compared to an ordinary human, they are quite far away. 

But when you think of magic, you think of the mind, something that is very much related to the mental or psychic aspects, where emotions and even will are involved. 

That's why Eis' aura abilities are technically considered magical abilities, and even the final techniques that someone can do with their orbs are called "spellcasting. 

However in the Omniverse, the concept of "aura" applies not only to the mind but also to the body and soul, depending on the world. But why would what spellcasters do in the world of Dark Souls be considered insane in many universes?

Not only do they use the energy of their souls, but they manipulate their souls ruthlessly and without conscience, which is why spellcasters often go insane. 

Of course, experienced spellcasters have their ways to mitigate this, but if you are constantly consuming the energy of your soul, of who you are, things would naturally go wrong.

To replenish their energy, spellcasters must not only rest for a while to recover naturally, but they also absorb the "souls" of the creatures they vanquish, or rather, the remaining energies of those creatures. 

This will not only speed up the recovery of their energies, but it will also increase their abilities, but the lack of care most of them take will only cause them to gradually go crazy. 

When you have so much soul energy, but no body or mind to deal with it, things get ugly. This situation made Eis realize something: while miracles depended on faith, a concept associated not only with the spirit but also with the mind and will, pyromancy depended on the physical. 

This allowed Eis to realize something interesting: Demons were ordinary people who were alienated by the Flames of Chaos, changing their physique, which affected their minds and then their souls. 

And the gods of this world? Probably beings who used the power of the spirit to sublimate their existences, leaving nothing behind. Add to that the influence of the souls found in the first flame, and this change was only accentuated. 

This meant that in the long run, Lena could become a divine being or something, as could he. Eis knew a little about the history of the goddess of the Empire, Lunais. She was the daughter of the emperor in her time, a normal person. 

It was after an affair, of which not many records were kept because it was confidential, that Lunais was able to rise not only to the position of Empress but also to that of a goddess. 

Would he have a chance to reach such a state? He didn't know, and he didn't care. He wanted to be strong, to fight, to explore new universes, and to learn new things, but he didn't have the hunger to split the sky or tear the earth apart. 

So what drove Eis to seek guidance from such a strange power system? Simple, even if it was crude, soul manipulation has always been considered a high-quality discipline in any universe. 

Though Eis won't take anything Griggs tells him, it's not like he could, either, but he could learn a few things from it. Eis learned that he could use his soul energy as long as he didn't use the warlock's spells and that it recovered naturally. 

He didn't have a qualitative leap in power or anything like that, but it seems that the blessing of the wyvern flesh, which gave him better control, also applied to his soul energy. 

Technically, Eis could now better regulate his stamina, his aura, and his anima, as he called the energy that resided in his soul. When he had access to these three sources of power, he felt a slight click deep within his being. 

As he watched the sparks of fire dance in front of him, Eis noticed strange fragments in his soul, and he recognized them, they were the remnants of his former 'self', so to speak, the remains of his first life. 

Carefully, he brought these remnants closer to his soul, which had a strange appearance. Souls were not as simple as a blurred or transparent version of oneself, they were something more abstract.

Eis' soul looked like a blue mist with small transparent diamond-shaped crystals floating in it. His two paired orbs revolved around his soul, for this was where they were stored when he was not using them. 

As he brought the soul fragments closer to him, the blue mist covered them, melting the pieces and then integrating them into crystals like the ones mentioned above. 

There was no surge of power, no sudden enlightenment, no headache, but he felt that his body was much lighter, as if he had taken off heavy and uncomfortable clothes. 

That wasn't all, he could now remember his entire life, or at least the memories that were clearer and not just fantasies of his former self. Having these new memories didn't change him, he was technically a new individual, but now he could say that he had extra wisdom. 

But he also remembered those memories that his mind had deeply repressed, those traumatic events from his childhood. How he killed like a wild beast those men and women who tried to use his power against his will. 

Also the whole process of how he took the life of his first friend, Kalt. He realized that some of what he thought had happened was distorted by his youthful and affected mind. 

His friend sacrificed himself for him and had to end his life to stop him from suffering, but what he remembered was that Kalt suffered those damages to prevent him from becoming a savage beast, Kalt brought him back to reason with his death. 

He probably went into that frenzied state due to stress and the influence of the remnants of his first life; things with souls are complicated. From this information, Eis surmised that it was because of such things that the reincarnated protagonists in the stories he had read were mostly insane or with strange tendencies. 

But with the wisdom of his past life, the circumstances he lived through, and the environment of the Empire, Eis didn't feel guilty for ending the lives of those savage bastards, the only thing he regretted was the loss of his first friend.

To honor him, he decided to live his life to the fullest. Maybe isolating himself so much wasn't the answer to his problems, was it? That being the case, Eis finally faced those unfinished feelings. 

He came to a simple conclusion: Azula was attractive to him. Accepting that was one of the actions, as well as wanting to not only grow more as a person but to open up completely to these strangers he could call friends. 

Maybe it was early, but going from 0 to 1 was the hard part, now he just had to avoid screwing up big time and everything would be much better. Realizing this, Eis was finally able to relax and let out a sigh.

As Eis came out of his stupor, he noticed that his companions were sitting around him, surrounding him as if to protect him. Here, in this dreary world, the weather was in disarray and the sun was still above them, or so it seemed. 

"You finally woke up?" asked Schala, a bit worried. 

She had noticed the strange state Eis was in and felt it had something to do with his ability to control his anima, so she organized the group to protect him.

"Yes, thank you. Now... I remember a lot," Eis said before raising his arms and stretching. 

The young man then looked to his side, where Azula was sitting quite close to him. The girl looked into his eyes for a few seconds before standing. 

"If you're ready, we need to go down to Quelaag's domain," Azula said, turning her back to Eis so he wouldn't see that her cheeks were flushed. 

Azula was not only an excellent manipulator, but her experience in hiding her own emotions made her somewhat sensitive to the emotions of others. In addition to the change she was undergoing, which involved spiritual issues, she could vaguely read Eis' emotions when they looked into each other's eyes. 

The eyes were certainly the window to the soul, and Azula didn't know what things Eis had remembered, but his look was much more emotional than the previous block of ice he'd been. 

It was still cold, but she noticed that the boy had a much more fiery look about him, as if he could suddenly understand and accept his own emotions. Azula still didn't know what she felt for Eis, although Ty Lee told her it could be attraction and something more in the future, not that she could fully understand. 

But with the words of her friends, their advice, and her own experience, it seemed that whatever Eis saw in her memories had changed the way he thought about her a bit. 

If before Eis had just been carried away by the moment and his hormones, now he was looking at Azula much more seriously than before, his look had the frivolity of youth, but he noticed that his eyes were a bit like his Uncle Iroh's. 

Not old, but a bit wiser. It was this wisdom that perhaps made Eis realize the nature of his budding feelings and emotions, something Azula could sense. 

Not that he suddenly loved her and wanted to be with her forever, but when they looked at each other, they both knew that they were attracted to each other. Whether it was their personalities, their physiques, or their abilities, whatever it was, the spark of attraction had ignited within them, and at least Eis could understand the truth of the matter, while Azula was still struggling to comprehend it all. 

'I need to ask Ty Lee and Mai for more advice. Wait, Mai also has those eyes when she sees Zuzu... Maybe she can help me more,' Azula thought before she felt a hand on her shoulder. 

Eis had moved closer to her and leaned his body lightly against her, but he did it subtly as if it was more of a test and invitation. Azula then leaned back against him and neither spoke. 

"It seems that what you have seen has made you more complete," Jotaro said, noticing the subtle changes in his partner, and even he, with his new perception of people's breath, noticed that Eis' breathing was much more relaxed than before. 

"Our boy has matured!" Gojo shouted, ruining the solemn moment as usual. 

Lena looked at Eis, too, and noticed that the boy seemed to have overcome a knot in his psyche, she could notice it better than anyone else because she had her problems, but she wouldn't ask the young man about it. 

"Now, let's go to the Spider Waifu's domain!" Gojo shouted before running towards the stairs that would lead them to the elevator, but first, he bumped into Lautrec of Carim, who was sitting in front of the caged Fire Guardian, not hiding his greedy look behind his helmet.

Gojo, who didn't want to see this guy, just kicked him hard in the chest, causing a black flash that sent Lautrec flying into the void. Then the white-haired man turned to the guardian with a smile on his face.

"You're safe now, pretty lady! You're welcome!" he shouted, waving at the woman before continuing to run toward the stairs. 

"Did he just kick that guy?" asked Jotaro, looking at the spot where Lautrec had been sitting.

"It looks like he did," Eis replied, turning his attention to the Fire Guardian, who was speechless.

Not because she was surprised, but because her tongue had been cut out. The poor thing is behind bars to protect herself while her mere presence keeps the flame of the sanctuary alive, but her condition is truly pitiful.

But there was no time to pity, so the group quickened their pace to catch up with Gojo, who was waiting for the elevator to go up. This kind of working mechanism, even in the dilapidated state of this world, spoke volumes about the effort behind the construction of this place. 

When the elevator arrived, they all boarded it before Eis pressed the tile in the center, causing the mechanism to restart and take the six of them down. 

They could have jumped, but they all found it more appropriate to relax a bit because what was to come was quite boring for them. Both Eis, Azula, Lena, and Jotaro had to fight against angry undead that attacked anything that had sense. 

Not only that, but they also encountered young blue wyverns, which were much smaller and were able to spit an electric breath, unlike the previous one, which was huge and spewed a large amount of flame. 

After saving large portions of their flesh for later, they encountered their first major threat. An ancient dragon, or at least its rotting corpse that could move. 

"I hate zombie dragons," Eis complained as he brought out the two ice orbs. 

His companions got down to business as well, Jotaro pulling out Star Platinum, Lena's mace covered in golden lightning, and Azula, well, she was much more direct as she started the fight with a stream of concentrated blue fire.

But unexpectedly, the flames seemed to have found a catalyst, covering the zombified creature's body in a great mountain of fire. The deep blue of the flames turned to light blue, giving off a cold sensation that caused terror. 

"I think you helped it evolve, Azula," Eis said as she took advantage of the fact that the dragon hadn't attacked to create ice spikes to bombard the dragon with. 

Lena weighed the situation a bit before launching herself at the beast, talisman in hand. A white ball erupted from its body, rapidly expanding outward, followed by a burst.

The impact shook the creature's body, which seemed to suffer from the fire inside, but if you looked closely, you could see that its once hollow eyes were now filled with blue flames, and its skin had gradually disintegrated, leaving a pile of charred bones that seemed to be covered only by soot. 

Although the creature recoiled, as if uncomfortable with the ice attacks, it didn't seem to be injured. Star Platinum, on the other hand, with its absurd ability, managed to hit some of the creature's bones, causing it to scream even though it had no organs. 

Eis and Lena recognized the way the voice spread, using the skeleton dragon's soul. The blue flames all focused on its two eyes, giving it an eerie look, and with a jolt, its black bones seemed to emit a visible green miasma.

This caused Jotaro and Lena, who both wanted to attack Melee, to retreat, but the creature was covered by a golden ray created by Azula, causing it to scream louder. 

"The Hamon seems to work wonders against it," Azula said to Jotaro, who took her advice and crouched down on the ground, picking up a huge stone with his hand.

The Jojo then inhaled, producing golden sparks that covered the stone, and then picked it up and threw it at the skeleton dragon, who attacked the projectile with a paw, unaware that the sparks produced by the Hamon had been transferred to his body. 

"It doesn't seem very intelligent, does it?" asked Eis, who created huge spikes from the ground that hit the dragon, causing it to attack like a cat being patted on the belly, but it served to destroy the icy weapons the boy had created. 

"Not that it has a brain, but yes, it acts on pure instinct. Dragons were beings of immense intelligence and wisdom, this one is just a remnant of what it once was," Lena replied, holding a yellow lightning spear in her left hand, which she threw at the dragon. 

As the battle unfolded, Jotaro and Azula were the ones doing the most damage to the skeleton dragon, followed by Lena and then Eis, who was responsible for holding the creature back or making it retreat. 

When the monster lunged at them, it was Eis who used a considerable amount of his energy to create dense spikes of ice that not only attacked the skeleton dragon but also blocked its path. 

Though the damage was minor, it was there, and added to the other attacks, the dragon lost more and more of its strength. The green miasma that covered it seemed to be quite corrosive, not only to the vegetation or the ground but also to Eis' ice, which was one of the reasons why he could not deliver good blows.

But when the creature's exhaustion was such that it was no longer covered by the miasma, the dragon faced a brutal retaliation from the group. 

Not only was it brutally beaten by Lena's mace or Star Platinum's Hamon-covered blows, but Eis left a large iceberg on it, shattering several ribs. 

Azula, on the other hand, was using the dragon as a target to practice rapid lightning generation; she had managed to minimize the somewhat tedious motions of separating her energy into opposite poles of negative and positive. 

In addition, she had to add a layer of golden sparks to increase the effect against this undead creature, which made the process even longer. Still, she had fun making small adjustments when she realized she could improve in some areas. 

You did get better during the execution. Inspired by the holy lightning spears Lena kept throwing at the dragon, Azula had a little idea. 

What if I changed the shape of the lightning? She couldn't do anything nearly as complex as the cleric, but there was something she could try, so she got to work, literally. 

She clasped her hands together as if holding something between them, and the blue sparks of electricity gathered in the space there, jumping wildly as the screeching of electricity could be heard. 

So she concentrated those rays and formed an irregular sphere that kept flickering as if it was about to deform or explode, but she used all her concentration to hold that sphere together.

She read in the books she got about sparkles, which, though strange and often poorly documented, were usually imagined by the collective as an amorphous ball of electricity, similar to what she held in her hands. 

Seeing that the dragon was on its last legs, she added the final ingredient. Golden sparks covered the electrical ball, making it glow like a small sun. 

Then she threw her attack at the skeleton dragon as it weakly tried to make one last wild charge, which was stopped by Eis once again by creating many, many ice spikes in front of it.

The sound of the electricity flowing and the intense glow were all they could perceive for a few seconds before everything calmed down. Then they came upon the skeleton of the creature, now lying on the ground as if it had lost all its energy. 

Its flaming eyes finally extinguished, and its bones crunched before turning to dust, but one bone remained as if it were the only thing that had survived the last struggle of what had once been a magnificent creature. 

"Oh, you can make a good weapon out of this," said Lena, holding the huge bone in her hand. 

From the force she applied, the blackened layer of the bone fell away, revealing a whitish bone covered with strange golden streaks, similar to how human skin looks when struck by lightning. 

She then threw the huge bone at Azula, who stood and watched as the object fell in front of her, causing a small tremor. She had never used a weapon she could call her own, and with this, she could create one.

"After we defeat Quelaag, we can see some good blacksmiths, especially the one from Anor Londo, I hope he's as nice as in the game, though the way he looks, it might be hard to convince him," Eis said, walking towards Azula when she saw a purple potion. 

It was Ether, something that would help him restore his spent Aura. He had used a lot of his power, had it been earlier, he would be on the ground with a headache. 

But even when he was able to perform large ice attacks, his improved control allowed him to ration his energy well, leaving just enough to keep him from getting a migraine. 

"Yes, remember Spekkio-sensei said that you needed to learn how to use a weapon, he said that it would help you channel your... emotions," Jotaro said, slightly exhausted, but his stamina was really very high and he was already recovering. 

"Yes, I'd also like to see what weapon might suit me better," Azula said before touching the giant bone and placing it in the group chat's [Storage]. 

Now all that remained was to reach the shortcut to Blighttown and descend into the poisonous swamps in front of the domain of the demon woman, Quelaag. 

She waited for the undead to try to ring the bell she guarded, unaware that she would have not one, but several enemies.