Awakening the Gimard

Dyne immediately went straight to business after delivering his pleasantries.

The Gimard that was kept at the back was still caged and weak. It had been moved a few times into the Mist to allow it to recover slightly, and Dyne immediately asked to bring it near the Genesis Tree.

Although most of the Hunters did not understand this logic as it would have killed the Gimard, Dyne still gave this order.

"Let's do this!" Dyne laughed with confidence.

The Gimard was struggling as it was brought closer to the Genesis Tree, but Dyne immediately began to pour energy. But this was no longer just Spirit Energy. A part of Dyne's soul was moving inside the Gimard.

Strafe had expected that Dyne was able to do this, and all he could do was hope that Dyne would succeed.

Dyne's Soul energy began to commune with the Gimard.

The angry and evil energy fought Dyne, and Dyne's expression began to pale.

"Remember! Remember!" Dyne kept urging.

His soul started to glow and became blue.

Strafe smiled.

"Soul Gathering. He reached it! Amazing!" Strafe was no longer in a state of amazement as he would usually be, but now he was simply excited. The more miracles Dyne could make, the higher the possibility for Dyne to fight back and succeed against the monsters of Strafe's world.

Soul Gathering Stage. It was a stage where a Soul Cultivator could manipulate his soul to perform extraordinary things. Dyne could now gather and attract Souls. He could now become a Soul-Mental dual cultivator. Summoners were rare in Strafe's world. And now, Dyne would be among them.

"It looks like he'll have an easy time in Brigandine. It's a good thing that I did not initiate the creation of that world." Strafe smiled.

"I hope the planet that he'll be going to will have great monster sources. If I could make Brigandine harder, it would finally be a challenge for Dyne. The way things are going and the rate of his growth, Legaia will soon be easy. Unless I intentionally make this game harder..." Strafe was in deep thought.

As for Dyne, the miracle happened. It wouldn't have been possible if it was anyone else. Even the Ra-Seru's of this world couldn't do it. But Dyne was beloved by this world and every soul in it. This was the one thing Dyne had been practicing in Drake Castle. The constant fighting of Gimards made Dyne gain experience to fight against antagonistic souls.

But now, Dyne was not aiming to kill the Gimard. He wanted to turn a Mist-Borne Seru into remembering its past.

The battle continued for a few seconds, and the Gimard would constantly fall into a state of nearing its death. But Dyne would then pour out a large amount of Soul energy to feed it. He began to drink the Drake Water as well as used an entire Power Elixir.

Everyone gathered around and watched at Dyne's powers. Dyne was always reflecting the memories of Alos Vasilous with his soul.

"A resonance!" Tetsu marveled.

"What's happening?" Val was the first to ask.

"I do not know. But gather everyone! They have to experience this! It's a weaker version of what happened that night! Perhaps we can draw more from the mystery of enlightenment here!"

Everyone began to gather around Dyne, but it was then that many noticed only a few meters around Dyne had this. The Elder ordered to give priority to the ones who have shown the most impressive talents in the area of Soul cultivation.

Tetsu, Vahn, Val, Esto, and Juno were immediately nominated.

Surprisingly, Farlay, the village weaponsmith, was also brought to sit down. Ixis was also granted a spot, as well as Ipkus.

Dyne's constant reflection of Alos Vasilous was soon sparking changes in the Gimard.

"He's beginning to remember..." Strafe smiled.

"It looks like Dyne was right. He can be his own Ra-Seru. But I guess it's time that I give him a few rewards..." Strafe laughed.

It was here that Strafe poured out some memories. The memories of Strafe's Master and how she cared and brought love to the world of Alos Vasilous rushed to the image that Dyne was trying to force on the Gimard.

The resonance of the Gimard's soul became stronger and stronger as it was affected by Strafe's added memories.

"Soul Awareness is the road that officially makes one a Soul Cultivator. By being capable of sensing the soul, it allows them to draw power from it finally. In short, in Soul Awareness, a Cultivator learns how to draw energy from his soul. But Soul Gathering is different. It is the start of when a Soul Cultivator can manipulate his or her soul and change it. It allows the change of Soul Energy to Magic or Mental energy."

Dyne heard Strafe's voice echoing in his mind. The voice had a strange, alluring, and almost hypnotizing effect.

"And just as your soul can change the nature of Magic, your Magic can also change the nature of your soul. I bestow on you this meditation technique. The Imaginarium Arts. Stage One. Realm Reflection."

Dyne could feel the energy-draining. Dyne drew took out two portions of a Magic leaf from his pocket. From scavenging Drake Castle, Dyne had found several small pieces of Magic Leaves. They also had acquired two more as Bertugo and Brod would one-hit the Skeletons as they left Drake Castle.

Dyne used the Magic from the leaves and began to follow the Imaginarium Arts that Strafe taught him.

Within ten meters, everyone could feel a strange sensation whirling around them. Yet, these sensations were not real. But it was what Dyne was feeling. It was then that everyone felt the movement of the soul.

Tetsu and Vahn felt it and suddenly fell into a trance as they could finally sense it. The once impossible force of their soul was there. It wasn't Spirit, a manifestation of their soul, but it was their soul itself.

Through the many items that Strafe created in this world, the Biron Monks have found ways to force their soul to create Spirit. But only on that aspect. They were barely even at the stage of Soul Awakening. Yet through Dyne's Imaginarium Art, the reflection of Dyne's sensations was imputed on them.

"A marvelous choice. Even my Master did the same thing." Strafe laughed as he found Dyne's choice on what to reflect. This was the best way to train Soul Cultivators.

Of everyone around, the most who benefited was Vahn. He was destined to have aptitude in Soul Cultivation and had officially reached the Soul Awakening stage.

Dyne continued to harness his soul energy and began to reflect memories on the Soul Energy he was feeding to the Gimard.

The strange memories began to affect the Gimard, and the Mist's corruption began to change slowly. He was slowly being transformed into a pure Gimard.

"Self-Kindling." Strafe knew this was a possibility, but upon seeing it actually happen on Dyne's first attempts, he couldn't help but praise the luck of Dyne.

Dyne soon exhausted all the Magic he had. With the three portions of Magic leaves, he could only maintain it for sixteen seconds. But despite this short period, it brought great benefits to everyone nearby.

Even those who initially could not sense it was able to when Dyne's Realm Reflection occurred.

Dyne did not want to waste his Magic leaves and began to use the Drake water, but as Dyne was out of MP, the energy no longer contained his memories. But Dyne had sensed a change in the Gimard and that it was somewhat self-conscious.

Soon, the Gimard's body was slowly showing more and more vibrance. The chain-like body became darker and darker, and the metal blades that acted as its legs and beak slowly became whiter and whiter.

The Gimard was no longer lying flat on the ground but began to stand up. And it soon began to levitate itself off the ground.

"The Gimard!" One of the Hunters cried.

"Relax. Look. It's not a mad Gimard. Don't forget that the Genesis Tree can push the Mist away. It seems like it has revived.

Dyne's finally stopped what he was doing.

But as he opened his eyes, the cheers of everyone soon came to a halt as Dyne's eyes were transfixed into the Gimard.

"What's going on? Why can't I purge out all the Mist?" Dyne finally voiced out.

Dyne was putting his soul energy in and was trying to eliminate the remaining corruption of the Mist.

But Dyne could sense that a little bit of corruption remained in the Gimard and couldn't remove it no matter how hard he tried. It was as if this corruption wasn't corrupt at all.

"Congratulations. You have your first sentient Gimard. He is more than a Seru, but not a Ra-Seru." Strafe explained.

"Why does he have a hint of the Mist's corruption?"

"That is not the corruption of the Mist. It is just who he is." Strafe explained.