Ruins (Part 2) - The Soul's Embrace
I said that I'll try to upload chapters more frequently and then just disappeared for a week XD
Anyways, to redeem myself, here is a 4300 WORD CHAPTER WOOO.
I spent so long writing the Ryogaku scene pls tell me how it is :>
Also if you have any ideas for cool powers type them here, they'll probably be added.
Well, enjoy :D
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POV: Ryomen Sukuna
I am currently reading the book titled 'The Prison', which is quite useful actually.
It has a few chapters, the first one, which I skipped, basically told the life story of every skeleton present here. Yeah, hard pass.
The second one teaches about a mysterious power, the Soul.
Soul exists in every living being, no matter how miniscule it is.
It also plays a huge part in our lives, one of those being governing life and death.
When the soul disappears, the body dies, but when the body dies, the soul doesn't disappear, but instead, roams around looking for a suitable vessel, an 'empty' body.
The Soul also loses energy and becomes 'smaller' as time goes on. This process takes place faster if the soul is not contained in a body.
The size of the Soul can be increased by taking energy in from the environment, or the more intriguing one, devouring other souls.
All of the natural deaths happen due to the complete drain of energy from one's Soul, which means that the Soul completely disappears.
While, during any unnatural deaths, for example, accidents, the Soul either roams around, or stays in the dead body.
It is difficult for normal souls to take over another body, even though it is possible.
Stronger souls can do it easily, which I have to be wary of in the future.
An instance where a 'normal' soul can take over another body, is when the body is alive, but the soul is dead.
This does not happen too often, because the body dies very soon after the Soul Energy is drained.
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You might ask why the Soul is explored in this book, well that is because 'The Prison' is made out of souls.
It does not get affected by physical attacks because it is reinforced by souls of hundreds, maybe thousands of strong people.
Though this fact might make is more challenging to escape, it does mean that training the Soul will be much easier in this room, as there is an abundance of Soul Energy saturated in it.
The book says that there are only two ways to escape this prison, first, have a strong enough soul to overwhelm all the souls present in the walls, so that you can use a soul attack to cut through it.
Or second, which is more possible, is hope for the 'Prison' to choose you.
What that means is that only 2 people have managed to escape this Prison, and both escaped because suddenly, the souls reinforcing the walls near them diverged and 'ran away', leaving the walls susceptible to physical attacks, which allowed the persons to escape.
Even though the damage to the rocks was immediately undone afterwards.
It is a speculation that the 'Prison' chooses who is worthy of getting out of it.
There are more points about souls which I shall discuss later.
Well, I will deal with that later, firstly, I will have to train myself to 'see' souls, as the book calls it, which is basically the ability to perceive the presence and 'size' of souls.
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This task was quite easy for me, due to the great condition this room put me in, which is extremely saturated Soul Energy, which I found out only after I got the ability to do so.
As soon as I could start 'seeing' this energy, I knew that the first option for escape will definitely not work.
I could see the souls of the skeletons still in the frame, and their energy was depleting at a visible rate.
I decided to devour them, starting from the weakest, which was about 25% of mine's size, going to the strongest, which was about 50 times my size.
I realized that my soul was the same as a normal person, and the souls of the dead people, even after being drained for maybe hundreds of years, were still bigger than mine.
After about 10 minutes, I devoured all the souls.
I have to say though, eating souls is really comforting, it feels as if something new is being added into me, something warm and . . . good.
Souls became my second favorite after coffee, as I will never betray coffee.
As per my understanding from the book, my lifespan must have increased, but that will depend only on my 'activity'.
The soul also depletes with every attack one does, so for example, if a hunter does a small fire spell, then it will take a small amount of soul to perform it. The amount will be so small that it will basically be negligible, but over time, that adds up.
It is a wide known fact that active hunters die faster deaths than normal citizens, which have been speculated to be due to the stress on their body by constant activity, but now I know, that it is because they use a lot of their soul in attacks and as a result, drain their Soul Energy faster.
It has also been told that the bigger the soul, the faster its energy is drained.
But that is not too important right now, the important task is to escape this prison, which will not be too hard because . . . well, the walls near me have literally no souls in them.
It seems like the prison has chosen me, but the souls in it seem to be running away to create a doorway shape on a certain wall.
This is unlike what is written in the book, as it says that the souls 'ran away' for not more than a few seconds, giving time to escape.
I went close to the wall and put my hand on it. Using cleave, I cut down the wall, revealing a passageway with a light shining on its end.
The escape was pretty quick honestly, but I still learned an important thing, the Soul, that is.
I will not reveal this information to anyone as it will give me the edge over all my competitors, with the exception of Eva if I feel like it.
Anyhow, I walked into the passageway as the rocks behind me 'fell back' into place, blocking the way back.
As I reached the end of the passage, there was a sign hanging which said . . .
"Welcome, Ryomen Sukuna"
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With the Students . . .
All the students were completely split up. As they were exploring the ruins, a sudden horde of monsters assaulted them, many of them could not escape, and died a gruesome death.
But these valiant sacrifices allowed the others to escape, although with minor injuries.
Yet, the chaos of battle led to further disarray, everyone was split up across the ruins and could not find others due to the confusing nature of the paths.
The gravity of their predicament dawned upon them with clarity. The provisions they had carried—meager supplies of food and water—were scattered among the group. Worse still, those who carried most of these essential supplies were either missing or feared dead, their rations likely devoured by the monsters chasing them.
This realization spread panic across the students, some of which, driven by fear and desperation, started to run wildly through the corridors, calling out for their companions, their voices echoing in the emptiness of the silent halls.
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Alexia and Johan were together along with a red haired girl who is very unimportant to the storyline, hence she will not be given a name.
They had ended up falling down a hole which led to a maze-like structure.
Firstly, they tried going up the hole, but the walls were polished enough to not let them do so. It was also pretty high so they gave up and started to explore the maze.
Ever since Anny died, Alexia, Johan, and Ryogaku had become distant from other people, mostly giving their time to training and practicing.
They did not even try to talk to their new teammate, who got annoyed with them pretty soon.
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The team of three encountered many dead ends, and arguments, before finally reaching an end of the maze, which said . . .
"Congratulations for solving the maze with pure luck and no skill whatsoever, solve this puzzle to get out safely back into the hideout"
Ignoring the subtle roast, it was quite easy to deduct for all three of them that 'the hideout' referred to the ruins. This might also mean that the maze was not a part of the ruins.
There was a little square hole through which one could go. Seeing a room on the other side, Johan confidently crawled through, followed by Alexia and finally red-hair.
This room was not too big, with each side assumed to be about 3 meters in length at most. It had a few inscriptions on the walls, along with 5 raised plates on the ground.
Red-hair tried touching one and it went down according to how much force she put.
There were five altars on the other side of the room, each having a cube of the same size as other placed on it.
Alexia tried to pick up the cubes, and noticed that the cubes were of different weights.
Johan was not useful in such scenarios, so he just sat in a corner of the room watching Alexia and red-hair do their work.
The two firstly tried to place the weights in ascending order.
After placing the last cube, a loud clicking sound was heard, but nothing happened.
They waited for a little time, trying to check for any changes in the room, but found none.
They then tried to place the weights in descending order, but again, a loud clicking sound was heard and nothing happened.
Now, the two were confused. They were pretty sure that it had something to do with the inscriptions on the walls, but they had neither the ability nor the time to deduce what was written.
So finally, they decided to try basically every combination of weights they could think of.
If the lightest is 1 and the heaviest is 5, they tried placing the cubes in the order 1...2...3...5...4.
Another clicking sound was heard, this one louder than the ones before.
But this time, it was different, the clicking sound didn't stop at one, it kept playing, each time with a higher pitch than the one before it.
"I have a bad feeling about this, I think we should leave", Red-hair put up her thoughts, but both Alexia and Johan ignored her, the former still trying to place cubes on the plates.
Red-hair had finally had enough of these two, and she decided to leave from the tunnel they came in from.
As she was crawling through the tunnel, the clicking sound stopped, and an eerie silence ensued, it was too silent.
A sound of rocks grinding against each other was heard, Alexia and Johan, too tried to get to the tunnel, but before they could, the floor below them started falling.
They tried grabbing the wall, the speed at which they were going caused even their fingers to start bleeding from their tips, but they were unsuccessful in saving themselves.
Red-hair might be the most terrified out of them all, as she heard the screams of them both get more distant, her anxiety increased a hundredfold.
She, now horrified more than ever before, ran away from that place into the maze. After a few seconds, she stopped, falling on her butt with sweat running down her face.
She was unintentionally shaking and tried to calm herself down. She had to do anything to save herself from the fate that those two experienced.
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With Ryogaku . . .
Ryogaku was stuck with a green haired guy named Rozo, who was one of the stronger second-years in the Academy.
Rozo used the three-sword style, which made him quite famous in the Academy for practicing an abnormal style.
They both were being chased by a spider-like monster.
It was a monstrous spider with frightening proportions. Its obsidian-black body spanning about 2 meters in diameter, its eight legs covered in black, chitinous armor that glowed in the dim light of the ruins. Its legs end in sharp claws that produce an eerie clicking sound every time it moves, echoing in the stone corridors as if doom itself were moving.
The spider's eyes, a cluster of 8 shining crimson-red orbs, burning with an unsettling bloodthirst are capable of seeing in the dark, allowing the creature to stalk its prey with unparalleled precision, leaving no place to escape. It had two mouths, each containing razor-sharp teeth that looked as if they could dig through any substance. Each teeth dripped with a venomous liquid that could paralyze any man within moments, leaving him to the mercy of the creature.
From its mouths, it created silken threads, stronger than steel yet thin as a hair, which it uses to trap anyone and everyone that it decides his prey.
Its abdomen is marked with an intricate pattern, resembling an ancient, cursed rune, which glows brightly every time it attacks. The rune is a remnant of the dark magic that birthed it, imbuing the creature with a sinister aura that chills the hearts of even the bravest ones who dare to stand in its presence.
The two running away from this monster, Ryogaku and Rozo, were ignorant enough to disturb the sleep of this frightening existence, who had now vowed to kill them no matter what.
Ryogaku had scraped its teeth once, which was enough to make him lose feeling in his own arm. He decided to cut off his whole arm to stop the poison from spreading.
Even though Rozo admired Ryogaku for this act, this caused him to become a liability, as fighting with just one hand was much less effective.
They had been running for 10 minutes, still seeing no route for escape, Rozo steeled his resolve to perform a great sin.
He grabbed Ryogaku's shoulder and pulled him back, making him fall and roll on the floor, as he, himself, kept running.
The spider looked at this and immediately fired a web towards Ryogaku intending to kill him with this single strike.
Ryogaku felt something he hadn't felt in a while . . . Hate, such overwhelming hate towards the person who he helped for so long, Anger, overwhelming anger for what he did to him.
"I HAVEN'T LOST YET"
He screamed, pushing himself off the ground and landing on his two feet.
His right arm still intact, holding a sword that shone in the dim light of the hallways, he stood against the spider, whose scrutinizing gaze made him feel as a prey in front of a predator.
With a sudden, swift movement, the spider lunged, its legs clattering on the stone floor. Ryogaku rolled to the side, barely avoiding the lethal attack.
As he rose, his sword coated itself in a bright, red glow. He swung the flaming sword, slicing through one of the monster's legs. The spider shrieked, a sharp and eerie sound that echoed in the silent hallways.
Thick, black liquid oozed from the wound, flowing on the stone floor of the hallways. It retreated, though its fury did not. It screeched, sending a volley of fine threads towards Ryogaku, who cut them with his flaming sword before they could entrap him.
He jumped towards the spider, now aiming for its eyes, as he swung his flaming sword which went straight through one of the crimson orbs straight into the creature's head.
The remaining orbs glowed brighter in rage as a leg kicked him at lightning speed.
Intense pain struck Ryogaku, who grit his teeth before rolling away quickly. The creature's teeth snapped shut where his head was a few moments ago.
With a loud grunt, he stood up, blood coming out of his mouth and his arm trembling.
The spider walked towards him, its abdomen glowing with a bright rune. Ryogaku knew that he had only seconds to retaliate. He leaped towards the spider, screaming as the flames on his sword blazed hotter than ever.
The spider seeing this, screeched, its eyes glowing with a brighter glow as it readied itself for a devastating attack.
With his remaining strength, Ryogaku plunged the sword into the rune, the flames spreading inside the creature's body, burning it from the inside. The spider convulsed on the floor, the flames eating each part of its body.
Ryogaku retreated, standing a little distance away, breathing heavily.
After a few seconds, the spider's movements halted, indicating that it had died.
A smile crept up on to Ryogaku face. As the adrenaline finally receded, his legs gave way as he fell onto the floor, blood collecting under his body.
He was not worried though, he believed that Alexia would heal him like she always has.
He slowly lost consciousness and went into a deep sleep.
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Outside the Dungeon
Blaze was suffering with the fury of hundreds of family members of students who got sucked into the dungeon.
They all started a revolt, standing outside the Academy grounds, screaming to have their children returned to them. Some crying in despair, hoping for their kids to be safe and sound.
This Academy attracted students from the most prestigious and influential families. Many of these families were World Nobles, individuals with power and resources that could shake the foundations of countries. As the days passed, the murmurs of discontent grew louder among them. Several nobles had already begun to take action, working to have the Academy shut down permanently. They were pulling strings and using their influence to build a case against Blaze, aiming to see him thrown into prison for the disaster.
Blaze could not do anything for the situation except trying to comfort the parents of his students. He knew that his days of fame and glory had passed, and he would soon be falling into ruin, but still, he was hoping for only one thing, the safety of his students.
Every night, as the angry shouts echoed in his ears, Blaze prayed that somewhere in the depths of the dungeon, his students were fighting to survive. He hoped that they would find their way back. It was this hope that kept him going, that allowed him to face the wrath of the world nobles and the despair of the parents with a measure of calm and resolve.
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Meanwhile, Aiden was also in a pinch.
"Y'know, Zekuth," Aiden began, his voice laced with amusement, "I've received thousands of letters demanding we shut down the Academy. But doing that would mean losing control of all the students."
Zekuth, standing nearby with a concerned expression, replied, "Sir, I don't think the students matter anymore, not now that we've discovered another anomaly."
Aiden nodded thoughtfully. "You might be right, Zekuth, but there's one thing I want to do before anything else . . ."
Zekuth stayed silent, watching Aiden closely, waiting for him to finish his thought.
". . . and that is to fight him," Aiden said, his expression unchanging, but his eyes glinting with excitement.
Zekuth's eyes widened in shock, his mind racing as he imagined the chaos that such a battle could unleash. He could hardly believe what he was hearing. "But sir!" he exclaimed, his voice tinged with panic, "You are—"
"An anomaly too," Aiden interjected with a small, knowing smile, finishing Zekuth's sentence for him.
Zekuth felt a chill run down his spine. The idea of two anomalies clashing was almost too much to comprehend. "Aren't you curious to see what happens when two anomalies fight to the death?" Aiden asked, his voice steady and calm, yet carrying a little excitement.
Zekuth hesitated, as if reading his mind, Aiden said with a little smile, "I know," his gaze unwavering. "If we need to understand what we're dealing with, and there's no better way than facing it head-on."
Zekuth sighed, realizing there was no changing Aiden's mind. "Very well, sir. But please, be cautious. The fate of 'us' rests on this decision."
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With SUKUNA
How do they even know my name? Do Souls have an inbuilt name or something? What is this, Death Note?
And what do they mean by calling me the Harbinger of Chaos? I haven't even done anything . . . yet.
In the center of the room, there was a box. When I opened it, I found a perfectly spherical blue stone with a thread attached to it. A note was inside the box. I opened it and read:
"Property of Ryomen Sukuna, the Amulet - Null."
Again, why me?
The name of this item told me absolutely nothing.
Since it was supposed to be an amulet, I wore it around my neck, hiding the stone under my shirt.
I looked around the room and saw nothing but walls, so I headed for the door. When I opened it, I found myself in a huge room with multiple pathways leading to more doors.
As I walked through, I tried to close the door behind me but grabbed nothing but air. The door had vanished. Weird, but okay.
In the middle of the room stood a ginormous statue, so I decided to check it out. The statue had my name on it.
Seriously, why am I already famous in another world?
The gems in the statue's eyes looked expensive, so naturally, I took them.
I wandered around for about two more hours before I came across an injured man lying unconscious on the floor with a giant spider next to him. The man had only one arm. Sad.
He was drenched in black goo oozing from the spider, which was really, REALLY gross. I turned him around and recognized him as Ryogaku. Seeing that he was an important person, I used my Reverse Cursed Technique. It wasn't super effective because of some mana interference, but I managed to heal most of his wounds, though I couldn't fully restore his arm.
I got him out of the goo and propped him up against the wall.
I walked to the spider and absorbed its soul, which was still lingering in its dead body, then I just walked away.
After about five more hours of wandering, I was very thirsty. I had slowed down to conserve energy.
There was a lot of water here and there, but yeah, I am NOT going to drink random water I find in a thousand year old ruin.
Finally, I spotted a tent-like structure with a bunch of people inside, so I headed over and peeped in.
Seeing they were all Academy students, I walked in leisurely. What followed was an awkward silence as we all stared at each other.
"Sukuna?" Silvas finally broke the silence, looking shocked.
I shrugged and walked over to a table with some water bottles, chugging one down in a single go. Then I sat down in a corner, just chilling.
Soon after, Eva came and sat next to me. Silvas filled me in on their situation. They had found the place where the master of the ruins lived and planned to attack soon because they were running out of provisions quickly.
I forgot to tell them about Ryogaku. Oops.
Eva asked about my well-being and seemed satisfied after checking me for injuries. Lucas also came to make sure I was okay. I chatted with him for a few minutes before he rejoined his friends.
Soon, we would go to fight the 'boss' of this dungeon. Great, just what I needed. in my life.
About an hour later, Ryogaku popped up from the entrance, looking tired and, well . . . armless.
He was immediately healed by one of the left healers in the tent, who restored his arm, but it turned out to be weaker than before, and would have to be trained to get into better condition.
Or he could do it my way, cut it again and ask someone to regrow it.
Anyhow, seeing that Alexia and Johan had not arrived, his expression turned into a mixture of frustration and worry.
He glanced at me before walking to a corner and sitting there alone.
It was planned that the expedition would start after all the students rest for a few hours.
I volunteered for securing the tent because I didn't need sleep right now, and because I get weird, slightly hostile looks when I sit together with Eva, which I do not want to deal with.
I can't kill the annoying ones because, one, the non-annoying ones will start hating me, and two, Lucas is probably recording all this and would possibly upload it all online, and I would be bashed by everyone on the planet, which I would love to avoid.
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The time for the expedition has arrived, Ryogaku was arguing against Silvas because Alexia and Johan had not arrived yet, but Silvas knew that risking the lives of all his students for just two was not worth it, so he just shut him down aggressively.
Now, you could see visible anger on Ryogaku's face, he would probably love to murder someone right now.
I just hope it isn't me, because he misplaces his anger a lot, I don't want him to die just yet.
Also, I got a message I have been told to convey you all, the Red-Haired girl died by starvation in the maze :D
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Nobody reads the Author Comments so I'm writing them here
I've also gotten better at naming chapters, haven't I?
Firstly, of course GIMME POWER STOOOONES
School projects are difficult, I have 10 remaining right now, and I hope I live.
Anyways, cya next chapter :D