Comiak
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Chapter 178: Soul Life
🕑 Added 2022-05-24 08:22:40 +0000 UTC“Alysara!”
Before I can leave the Dungeon, I hear Kadona call my name. I had seen them approaching but was too focused to go over to them and say hi.
“It’s been a while; how have you two been doing?” I say politely, welcoming the distraction.
Kadona and Uloru glance at each other before Kadona responds. “We’ve been well, leveling has slowed down a lot after level four hundred, but we’ve improved in other ways. In fact, we were just about to go back to the nexus to celebrate Uloru getting a new breakthrough.”
We walk through the Dungeon entrance, Kadona and Uloru taking off their thick winter-like Dungeon clothes.
“I thought the Dungeon was dry until we went to that desert,” Kadona says, complaining about the Dungeon climate. “I can’t believe how any place can be so dry.”
Uloru stays silent but keeps glancing at me, love essence emanating from her mana core.
The mana core only makes emotion essence if one feels it strongly, but when that does happen, it tends to have a feedback loop, the essence making the emotions more intense.
I cast wings on them, and we go to my village while Kadona tells me about the time they spent in the dungeon. However, they are acting a little strangely; if it was just Uloru, I’d think it a product of her emotions, but Kadona is also acting a little weird, like there’s something on their mind.
I don’t question it. If it pertains to me, they’ll mention it; otherwise, it’s a problem they will have to sort out. However, when we land, Kadona catches me off guard.
“I… don’t quite know how to say this, Alysara, but… you might be dying.”
I’m not sure how to react to that, but fortunately, I don’t have to.
“What I mean is your Anima is frighteningly low, but I’m not sure if that’s normal for you” Kadona then goes on to explain her new breakthroughs in [Sense Life] about what Anima and ‘soul life’ is.
Apparently, I have a “terrifying amount of soul-life” that she can’t explain.
“But you know, don’t you? Why your soul life is so abundant?” Kadona asks, more in an accusatory way.
“From how you explained it, yes, I think I know why I have so much soul life, but I’m not quite sure why my Anima is low though I do have my suspicions.”
The only way to intentionally make a magic item is through sacrifice.
The curses are side effects, some may be benign, and you'll never know what they truly are. Some may result in a slow and gradual death. It is impossible to tell until the effects are felt.
Kayafe and Safyr’s words echo in my mind. Nothing tells me what my curse side effects are, so it’s impossible to tell how my Anima got so low. Is it from [Astral Projection]? I never found out what its curse was. Is it from making magic items? That will explain why some items became magical when they didn’t seemingly meet the requirements for it. Is it from Inscriptions? Do they somehow draw in life as well? There are too many possibilities and too many variables to figure out what the cause is.
“I will need your help figuring out what the cause is, but I suspect it’s one of my cursed skills. Also, if soul life is part of the soul, then it’s probably a breakthrough [Sense Soul] can get, if you’re willing to me,” I explain.
Just like how both [Sense Mana] and [Sense Life] can see vitality [Sense Soul] should be able to see soul life too.
“After we eat, we can practice; this is to celebrate Uloru’s breakthrough,” Kadona says, patting Uloru’s head with a proud smile. Uloru looks bashful and embarrassed, which is unusual for her normal behavior.
Kadona whispers something in Uloru’s ear, to which I see her Mana core start producing nervousness essence.
I can see what’s coming a mile away, so I quickly nip it in the bud.
“You been talking A lot about what you’ve been doing, but I’ve yet you tell you about what I’ve been doing,” I tell them about my daily life and common troubles, weaving in the part about being annoyed with potential suitors always asking to court me. “It’s not that I’m against it; I’m just too focused on my studies and trying to cure my cursed skills that I don’t have any time for anything like that.”
To be honest, I’ve never really given it much thought. What I said is entirely true; I’ve been so focused on study, training, and curing my skills that I don’t have time to think about starting a family.
Do I even want children? Maybe? I don’t know. No matter what, I need to solve my problems first. The cursed skills, the greedy gods, maybe finding the Faewild, Midgard, or Pantheon, and so much more. No doubt my goals will take me out of the Nexus; eventually, I can’t always operate clones from here, right?
Thankfully Kadona and Uloru take the hint, and we finish the food without incident before we go to the beach to practice.
13th Breakthrough: You have sensed soul life; this will help you study this aspect of souls.
Along with the notifications, new color comes into focus, revealing the soul life of all the souls around me, from tiny Domrs in the water to the plant life and people.
No wonder Kadona and Uloru knew something was off; my soul life is impossibly vast! If soul life – I’m not sure if that’s a good name for it – is the identity of me, then that may explain why I have so much. Everything someone experiences help shapes who they are, so the older someone is, the more soul-life they have. Unfortunately, this should be destroyed during the reincarnation process, but my soul never went through that and has had all this time to accrue soul life.
This leads to a new question. Does my soul being primordial apply to my soul Life? Kayafe said it grants perpetuity; it regenerates the identity of my soul. Does that mean it affects my soul-life but not my memories?
“I got it!” I announce after several minutes of effort.
“That was fast!” Kadona remarks, looking shocked.
“Well, I have lived with sensing skills all my life; of course, it’s going to be easy for me, plus my [Sense Soul] is of a decent enough level.”
“I suppose you’ll be teaching us about this breakthrough soon enough then!” Kadona jokes lightly before realizing that may very well come true. She then shifts the conversation to a more serious subject. “How do you plan to figure out the source of your diminishing Anima?”
“I’m not sure…” I reply, “For starters, any drain on it might be too small to notice at our levels, but I suspect it has something to do with making magic items; however, it may be something else instead. It may not even be something related to my cursed skills and may have been a natural consequence of healing everyone’s soul.”
I have to know, one, for peace of mind, and two, I don’t think I can craft and never make another magic item again. I need to rule that possibility out since it will greatly limit my capabilities; I can’t just not craft for fear of it possibly being the problem.
And if it is because of making magic items, is it a curse doing that? My inscriptions? Something else? I can’t remain ignorant; there may be ways to work around this problem.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“We can start figuring it out tomorrow,” Kadona says.
They part ways from Alysara to take a bath. It’s a little early for the after-work bath, but no one will complain.
Uloruu stays mostly silent, lost in her disappointment.
“Cheer up, Uloru. Alysara didn’t say that she isn’t interested in you, just that she is too focused on other things right now” Kadona tries to encourage her.
“What’s the point of it all?” Uloru asks, almost venting her frustrations as she soaks in the bath waters. “Why fight monsters, why get stronger if I can’t share it with someone I love?”
“One, because you like fighting,” Kadona answers. “Two, it is a good source of income. And three, mastering yourself is a goal in and of itself. Life doesn’t revolve around other people, Uloru. Do what makes you happy and keep a balance of what you want to do for yourself and what you want to do for others” Kadona pats Uloru on the head reassuringly.
“Control your emotions, Uloru. Do you like Alysara because she’s very beautiful? Or because she is who she is? I don’t think you know her enough to consider the latter. You’re at that stage in life where love is easy to find, but a true connection is hard to make. Don’t get me wrong, One can and often does lead to the other but don’t mistake the two.”
“She’s smart, powerful, dedicated, kind, generous, creative, and loyal. What’s not to love about that?” Uloru retorts in an effort to prove to her master that she knows Alysara more than she thinks.
“She’s also selfless to a fault, more introverted than the green moon, Kygloo, and doesn’t know how to stop overworking herself.” Kadona rebuts Uloru’s argument “Everyone can see that, Uloru, but what does she like? What’s her favorite style of music and dancing? What does she do in her leisure time?”
Uloru sinks a little further into the water, unable to answer; she instead throws her master’s words back at her. “I can find that out by spending more time with her. As you said, one can lead to the other.”
“That’s my point; you don’t have that special connection, not yet, at least. Don’t think she’s the only one for you; only misery is at the end of that road; look at Tana if you want an example. Maybe try courting others; it sounds like Alysara won’t be interested in that until she has cured her skills, at least. If that doesn’t work, then there’s no harm, but if it does, then why wait for Alysara?”
Uloru can’t answer; she doesn’t want anyone else. She wants the most beautiful girl, with her long fluffy tails tipped with gold like the sun over a royal blue sea. She loves the way her voluptuous body moves with all the elegance and grace in the world, her radiant smile framed perfectly by her hair. Her heart pangs for her every time she thinks of her.
Kadona sighs and splashes water into Uloru’s face to break her out of her mind.
“You back?” Kadona asks teasingly.
“Yes…” Uloru grumbles.
“Learn the difference between love and lust; that’s the last advice I can give you. Tomorrow we’ll help Alysara figure out what’s going on, and it will likely take longer, so the faster you control your emotions, the better it will be on you.”
Comments
Dragonkinn
willing to me,>>willing to teach me?
Jachin Nelson
I mean, her pain tolerance (Iron will) is now well over 100. So it's technically possible for her to open her eyes. I bet it would still hurt a lot, but she might be able to resist for short periods of time
Shadeymankey
Lol she’s aiming for immortality after spending eternity alone. She’s either got nothing but time to eventually mate, or she’s going to get killed and doesn’t want to drag somebody else through mourning her. Not that Alyssa herself seems to have seriously thought about WHY she’s in no rush
Mugsy
I mean yeah but it's Truesight, so she'd have to be in constant pain (the cursed part of it) to do so, and then there's the compatibility of the legendary point with the skill.
epoeck
Just wondering whether wouldn't it be feasible for her to try and develop her other cursed skill? The one responsible for her blindness? I like the appeal of a blind MC a lot. But there's no way that skill specifically wouldn't be extremely useful in figuring out why her Anima is so low
Mugsy
The more I see of this the more it seems like Aly is potentially some combination of Aro/Ace unintentionally or otherwise. As far as her considerations to kids by the end of this I wouldn't be surprised if she could literally make them using her raw skills and parts of her soul.
Comiak
That was the plan but as I was writing this chapter I couldn't think of a reason why Kadona and Uloru wouldn't speak up about it.
Colm Ryan
Thanks for the chapter Love this series Have a nice break
Collateral_ink
Hmmm. For some reason, I did not consider the problem to be her cursed skill. Should have, though. That unknown curse has been hanging over her head since she was a few days old. Maybe it's a combination of that and the Inscription issue. Of course, in either case, the next question becomes how much of a problem is this really? Is the extent of her Anima fixed, like an unchanging measurement of the allotted amount of time each person will live, impossible to add to but constantly wearing away? Is this something she will naturally overcome due to her nature as a Primordial soul? I'm guessing not on the second because Anima seems to be an intrinsic part of living, like filling a tank full of gas; her soul is the tank and probably impossible to permanently damage, but that means nothing for the amount of fuel.
Xtriver
You might be right and I simply don’t remember, it is one of the downsides of this format.
DisasterPrism
“more introverted than the green moon” That’s a pretty neat line
Paladin
I think the issue is with astral projection all of the other cursed skills have a noted side effect from pain to a internal collection of damaging mana. While astral projection has no stated side effect I am aware of.
David Brims
I'm with @Robert Mullins. There was some foreshadowing that I also noticed during magic item creation. It was maybe a little overly subtle but it was there. I was also kinda expecting a problem to crop up in relation to it, though I was expecting it to be revealed when she collapsed after making a magic item.
Ex Caseus Fortis
I imagine this is an important point because finishing the airship will probably make it a magic item, and that could kill her.
Robert Mullins
This has been foreshadowed and I've been waiting for it or something like it. You remember the reactions she got when making her staff and later her book? Where she felt cold and like something was taken from her, nearly making her pass out. This is the natural continuation of that.
Maury
I mean, ignoring the fact that it takes a very uncommon skill to observe that phenomenon. Also, doesn't a person need to feel the emotion first to produce the essence? Yes, the essence does magnify the emotion being felt but it is not the impetus. In other words, it's a damn after effect. Keyword, "effect" not "cause".
Xtriver
This felt artificial and arbitrary. Things were looking up for a while now introducing plot point doom and gloom. I don’t know if this has been in the works for a while but I think it could have been done more dynamically, this just seems forced.
MadGod
Beacuse the dragon doesn't know about these things, only surpassing Aly in bond knowledge
Monika Djomi
Thank you for the chapter and enjoy your break.
Gleadge
Thanks for the chapter ! Enjoy your well deserved rest
Monika Djomi
I don't mean to sound mean or anything but I don't really see the point of this chapter. Every thing said in this chapter we already know. Also I couldn't help but be disappointed by the mention of nervousness essence. It just takes away from the impact of magic and essence for me. If the mana core produces an essence for every emotion then what is the point of the physical person. It feels very cheap to me, instead of having to describe the emotional state or the persons reaction you just say the person is producing nervousness essence, love essence and so on. Instead of having meaningful and complex play of emotions in conversation you just state what essence is being produced. It doesn't make for a great story. I was really looking forward to this chapter, cause I thought 'finally something to actually elicit an emotion from Alysara'. Guess I was wrong.
Guthan
Is there something I’m missing? Why doesn’t MC just hit up the dragon? Soul issues? Ask dragon. Space issues? Ask dragon.
Diddyz7
I wonder what people would start to think if Alysara told them she could read their emotions 🤔
