A Torturous Experience

"TEN YEARS?!" Kyro shouted in shock.

"Yep. More or less. Your soul age is still at sixteen. Your bone age remains on ten, though. Very interesting. But remember, on your previous life, you were thirty-seven years old but had a soul age of like sixty-three. Since you are sixteen now, it would mean that you got out of this place and began to grow when your soul age reached twenty-six. When the soul is unconscious, this strange contraption somehow halts the growth of your body. Hence the time difference between your ages.."

Kyros wanted to curse at Calaminus but tried to calm down. There was a reason why this Calaminus was not worried!

Kyros began to concentrate and think. But the pain was making it very hard for him to think. The current attacks were stronger than the pain in his soul back when they were time traveling.

He kept trying to think what was going on as Clamanius hinted that the answer was something he could figure out with his intellect.

He looked around at the various pillars that were keeping him immobile. How was it that his soul age grew, but his body didn't? He began to recall Calaminus's explanation.

"That energy... It can't be! It only attacks because it detects my soul? It's trying to make my soul sleep through the pain!" Kyros realized it.

"Bingo!"

"Bingo?"

"Yeah. It means correct. For some reason, it also means you win the cash prize and is probably a farmer's dog."

Kyros was beginning to understand why the Greater Gods wanted to kill Calaminus.

"Then you're not worried because all I have to do is resist this, and these devices will run out of energy? How long will it take?"

"Hard to say. I am a god's soul, but apart from sensing other souls and the fates of weak mortals, I can't help you understand the source of energy in this temple, especially since it's kept deep inside some contraption. I even sense a lot of darkness immediately outside this temple. But don't worry, this device should have zapped you with this painful soul attack for less than half a second to keep you unconscious. But now it's attacking you constantly. Let's wait for it to run out!"

"How long has it been since I reincarnated? Since De-Spacito is taking effect, I don't know how long it's been! It's gotta be at least an hour! I think slower than normal. Right? You told me during Time Reversal that De-Spacito wasn't functioning correctly, and I was experiencing true time as it actually flowed!"

"Oh right! You experienced two years' worth of time moving normally. When I talked, you were so mad because you were used to seeing things faster and thought I was talking slowly. It's kind of weird. That curse ended up making you stronger! You were used at having other people talk like they're in Fast-forward!"

"I don't know what fast-forward is! Just tell me how long it has been!"

"You wouldn't like the answer!" Calaminus laughed.

"What? Shouldn't time be moving faster with my slow perception?"

"Because the curse was making you think and see things slowly, you compensated and trained yourself to move and think faster! You were used to seeing the whole world moving faster, and you adapted to that speed!"

"Wait... You can't mean...?!"

"Yup. It is as you fear. Right now, you just exited the Time Reversal, and your previous habits back then are happening here. You have naturally been thinking faster. And now, it's even faster since De-Spacito has been weakened! So in your head, it looks like an hour has passed, but the truth is, it's only been ten minutes."

Kyros felt great pain in his heart as he realized what this meant.

"So you mean to say, it's been about ten minutes since I reincarnated?!"

"Look on the bright side! Because of your nasty habit, which De-Spacito trained you to have, you could study faster, learn things faster, and if your physical body manages to catch up, move faster!"

"ROAR!"

Kyros was so mad that he began to roar like a wild animal.

"Don't worry! It has great benefits! Besides, this means you can do that anime thing where the MC begins to recollect his past in the middle of a battle! If anything, that will make you stronger! If you face a moment where you are about to die, you just start thinking about the past and remember love, friendship, and hope! And then you win!"

"WHAT ARE YOU EVEN SAYING?!"

"I don't understand either. But it sounds awesome, right?"

Kyros closed his eyes and decided to ignore Calaminus and began to think.

"If this is constantly attacking me, trying to knock me out, it means it can sense my soul and attack it with the right amount of attack. But since I was so used to the painful soul attacks during time reversal, I can easily resist this. That means, if I can increase my soul, my soul would get stronger, and that would force this device to attack me with stronger attacks!"

"How can I increase my soul?" Kyros asked.

"Try to remember our talk." Calaminus laughed.

"Wait... That's it! Knowledge is converted to the soul! All those talks from two years ago! I should start concentrating on merging them all! That's why I can't think straight! This damned Soul shackle is trying to stop my soul from growing bigger than what it is!"

"Wow! Now you're thinking!" Calaminus laughed.

Kyros closed his eyes and began his journey in trying to remember everything they talked about.

But for some reason, it would suddenly disappear!

"Soul Shackle! It's preventing my soul from growing bigger or stronger!" Kyros gritted his teeth.

"Alright! I accept your crazy challenge, Soul Shackling Seal! Let's see if you can catch up!" Kyros roared and began to think hard.

"Oh? He's thinking as fast as he can that even Soul Shackle can't keep up with the increasing knowledge! Normally, a lifetime's worth of knowledge can only increase the soul by a very small amount. But because we were talking and even debating as we were traveling. So his knowledge is something that could compare with five lifetimes of a genius! This kid is really smart. I wonder what he'll be when he's out of this place? Without De-Joker, he should be more funny, right?" Calaminus wondered.

Kyros began to think of many things. As he forcibly tried to remember things, more and more bits of their talks were being solidified. Kyros was talking with the great and multi-talented god, Calaminus, and learned of many things. The special state of time was distorted. Kyros was able to remember things said a year ago as if it was just ten seconds ago.

And now, Kyros was slowly forcing it all back.

His knowledge was slowly increasing and was enlarging his soul permanently. The Soul Shackle fought back but couldn't negate or eliminate the knowledge that Kyros was swiftly solidifying.

The attack of the pillars was also getting stronger and stronger.

Hours passed, and the pillars' pain was making it extremely difficult for Kyros to think. But Kyros kept resisting the pain and tried to focus harder than he ever could.

Calaminus watched the scene and couldn't help but smile.

"His concentration is increasing. Amazing. He could be anything in this world! With all that knowledge and that focus and the speed of his thoughts, he can cultivate to be a god in no time! It's a good thing I followed Ancient Fate's plan. It worked out well. They killed her, not knowing her power, and thought that I was the real threat." Calaminus smiled.

Days passed, and Kyros managed to increase his soul again, but Kyros felt like he was about to faint!

"Hold! Hold!" Kyros told himself.

"If you can find Mechiel earlier, you might change her fate and make her live a happy life. The same goes for your family, your team, and even your kingdom. Remember your resolve." Calaminus smiled.

Kyros howled, and his body finally managed to twitch. His physical body was lifelessly standing, being held by several chains. But suddenly, he managed to move the body.

The pillars started to gather strange red energy. Once it charges after five seconds, it sent out a red bolt to attack Kyros.

"AHHH!" Kyros finally fell unconscious.

"WHY ME?!" Calaminus also shouted. The attack was so strong that the attack struck everything inside and caused Calaminus great pain. Calaminus fainted and was floating around.

Thankfully, the attack was designed to create pain and not harm the soul.

In Kyros's dreams, Calaminus appeared.

"That was bad! I need to go back in your soul when I wake up!" Calaminus cursed.

Kyros saw Calaminus.

"How are you here?"

"Our souls are bound together. You are in a state called Soul Sleep. This was the goal of that device. Rest for a while. I can feel your soul growing stronger. You have such monstrous talent! It's like it's doing it with you controlling it! It could be that the pressure and stress that you felt in the Time Reversal and the attacks here are taking a toll on you and are forcing your soul to overcompensate! But it's weird. Your soul is condensing faster now that you are asleep!"

Kyros was too weak to answer or explain how he did it. He just shook his head and closed his eyes.

"Really? Dreaming in the dream world? Oh well. You should increase you soul strength by a bit after this. Too bad the Soul Shackle is hindering your soul! Otherwise, you'd consolidate all of your memories when you wake up. But now, I'm guessing only a small percentage will be consolidated."

Calaminus immediately left Kyros's dreams and allowed him to sleep peacefully.

A day passed, and Calaminus's soul finally woke up. He sighed in relief as the contraption didn't attack him. As he deduced, it would only attack Kyros.

"Might as well help Kyros and merge with his soul and help him with mine. That way, it will cause the device to attack more, and I can share the weight of the attack.

He then moved inside the body of Kyros.

"Kyros... Wake up!" Calaminus called out in the dream world.

"...Alright..." Immediately, Kyros's soul woke up again.

The attacks happened once more.

Kyros was shouting in pain again. Calaminus was hiding deep within Kyros's soul and was generally received only a bit of pain. But because Calaminus merged with Kyros, the pain was still shared between them.

"Get stronger, Kyros! I'll slowly be decreasing my support as time pass!"

After three minutes, the same red charge appeared and shot Kyros.

Kyros and Calaminus fell unconscious again.

A day passed, and Calaminus woke up earlier.

"Ugh. That hurt..." He then observed Kyros's state.

"At least, Kyros's soul is getting stronger. Now how can I make Kyros release more of his God or Devil source? Hrm? His soul... is actively thinking? How? It's like it has a mind of its own!" Calaminus exclaimed.