I met up with Fabienne in the Beastarium the following day, late in the morning. My head felt like a ticking time bomb from all the research material I’d studied, but I already felt much better—more knowledgeable in a way that wouldn’t let me look like a fool when it came to Soulfusion.
“Good morning,” she greeted me with a faint smile that barely escaped the depths of her hood. A moment later, a familiar phenomenon unraveled. A stream-like substance materialized in her hands, forming what appeared to be a transparent tome made of ether.
No questions were asked, but I smiled brightly at her. “Good morning to you, too, Fabienne. You don’t want to waste any time, do you?”
I was fairly sure I saw her blush beneath the hood as she cast Accelerated Regeneration on me.
“Alright, let’s get started then.”
Today’s task was fairly simple. Officially, I was to guide Blessed with their more problematic Soulkins. Unofficially? Nathaniel didn’t really care what I did, so long as I helped some people. I didn’t see the old man often, but he was always happy and eager to tell me about his progress with the officials of the Beast Pagoda. According to him, it was only a matter of days before he would be permitted to show me the heart of the Beast Pagoda. Whatever that was supposed to mean.
One way or another, playing with a bunch of Soulkin and helping some Blessed was my main responsibility now that it had been confirmed that everyone I had worked or played with showed improvements.
“Can you show me your progress with the little Goblin first?” I asked Fabienne, who summoned the Goblin Shaman obediently.
She went through the methods we’d been testing for a week, and I noted the improvements on my watch. Several flaws, if one could call them such, caught my attention, so we adjusted the methods, hoping to fix them.
All in all, we spent only an hour with the Goblin Shaman before diverting our focus to her other Soulkins until early in the afternoon. My stomach grumbled, and so did Fabienne’s, leading us to the cafeteria where we found Daniel and Scott in a heated discussion.
“We should reinvest our earnings to strengthen our Soulkins. Everyone bonded with a new Soulkin, a youngling that can grow rapidly—be it the bond or the beast. Why would we waste our fortune and spend our hard-earned coin like you suggest?” Daniel argued, pointing at a series of items on his projected screen.
Scott ruffled through his already disheveled hair and groaned aloud. “We need strength. Fabienne and Adam need the power to fight Evolved beasts sooner rather than later. That way we can accept higher-ranked missions and impress the instructor!”
“And that’s why you suggest we should buy them heavy weaponry?” Daniel looked genuinely angry now. “I know you mean well, but giving them weapons they cannot wield will not suddenly transform them into veterans. Adam is already very strong for his rank, but he needs combat experience. His mastery of the sword is fairly decent, and you want to cripple that by buying him a weapon that will never harm an Unblemished beast?”
Scott shook his head. “I don’t mean to turn this into a permanent solution. I know etherous guns are expensive and dangerous in some cases, but the weapon I have in mind won’t harm anyone. You have to trust me with this!”
Fabienne and I looked at each other and walked over to the unlikely pair as one. The cadets seated near them seemed particularly interested in their discussion, but they looked away when we walked past them.
“What’s going on here?” I asked, forcing them to stop their heated discussion for a moment. “You guys realize that you’ve been entertaining half of the cafeteria, right?”
Daniel had at least the decency to look embarrassed. Scott, on the other hand, clearly didn’t mind.
“We were paid,” Scott said as if the rest was self-explanatory.
“And?” I inquired, motioning one of them to continue.
“And we were discussing how to invest the money. I, for one, am all in on investing heavily in our Soulkins’ growth. It is literally the best way to leverage our strength and reach new heights.” Daniel half-shouted, his eyes shimmering fiercely.
I caught a glimpse of sadness in Scott’s eyes and sighed. “That would have been a good decision if all of us could make use of that.” I pointed at Scott first and Fabienne second. “Scott’s only bond is Destiny, who has to be nourished slowly if I remember correctly, and Fabienne’s Soulkins are a problem in their own way. Her first Soulkin has already reached its limit. Her second can still grow, but not by much. And the Goblin Shaman has to be nurtured slowly. Fabienne has to work with the Goblin Shaman and challenge it mentally to stimulate the development of new Spells. That, too, cannot be rushed.”
Daniel’s lips parted, and I was quite certain he’d shout at me for the first time since we became friends, but his anger deflated within seconds.
“I think you should invest your earnings in Filps. The young bull needs as many resources as you can afford to spare.” I nodded. “But I, for one, won’t invest more into my Soulkins’ growth until I know my World can handle it. Giving them Unblemished meat to stimulate their natural growth is already pushing me to my limits.”
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
I thought about it for a moment before adding, “If anything, I am already beyond what I can handle. If not for Fabienne’s Accelerated Regeneration, I would have never considered feeding Aureus and Nox the meat of an Unblemished beast.” I waved my hand dismissively. “But why are we talking about this in the first place? We are old enough to decide how we spend our coins.”
That’s when Scott caught my attention. He pressed his lips into a thin line, looking a little too uncomfortable for my taste.
“That may be my fault,” Scott admitted, grimacing. “I may or may not have asked Daniel what he thinks about pooling our coins to buy you a gun.”
Daniel slapped the table, angry once again. “And the answer is no! I have no problem with pooling our earnings, but we will not risk Adam’s well-being and natural growth with one of those sick etherous guns.”
I found this part a little hard to understand. I knew the armies used guns and other ether devices in the fight against beasts. From what I could tell, they were fairly useful against weaker beasts.
“I don’t necessarily agree with pooling our earnings to buy me a gun, but what’s wrong with them?”
Daniel’s head flicked toward me. “First of all, they’re expensive as hell. The weapon itself is already really expensive, but the bullets are the real money drain. You cannot reuse them.” He raised a second finger and continued. “Etherous guns are also dangerous. You really don’t want to know how many reports I’ve read about them either failing in crucial moments or exploding mid-combat.” He glanced at Scott, who was about to intervene. “I know those guns only fail for a reason. Usually panicked soldiers charge the cartridge with too much ether or do something else wrong when they’re under stress and their adrenaline spikes. That doesn’t change the point. Adam hasn’t gone through the thousands of hours of training our soldiers need to complete before they’re given their first etherous gun, and even they make mistakes.”
He raised a third finger.
“The last point is mostly my bias, but that makes no difference. Even the strongest and most expensive etherous gun can barely hunt an Unblemished beast. That being said, while highly efficient for most people, I do not think you or anyone in the Grand Camp should waste their most precious year in here training with a gun when they won’t have any use for it once they reach the Expert Rank.” Daniel glared at Scott. “And they will — every single cadet, as long as they train hard enough.”
Spending thousands of hours practicing shooting and everything else involving etherous weaponry didn’t sound particularly appealing to me.
“I think I’d rather spend my time in the Grand Camp mastering the sword, the Earthen Aspect, and literally anything else that can be used against Unblemished beasts — once I’m strong enough to face one of them, though that won’t be anytime soon.”
Scott didn’t look pleased, but he nodded anyway.
“So, did you think about what I said yesterday?” he asked instead.
Was he talking about the night before?
“You mean the part where I — or we — have to impress Instructor Kalifer? What about it?”
“B-before that.” Fabienne raised her hand a little, her blush growing more intense as we turned to her. “I-I don’t want to sound rude o-or anything, but can I get my share? I… I want to buy a few things to ensure my safety if we’re planning on hunting more Evolved beasts on our next few missions…”
Since there was no longer a need to pool our earnings, Scott transferred our coins. I received a notification but was too invested in the items Fabienne planned on purchasing. Her ideas ranged from potions to fire-attuned ether crystals modified to explode seconds after being triggered. Those bombs, along with some of the more eccentric items she was willing to spend good coin on, were intense, to say the least. Still, I couldn’t hold her caution against her.
“Safety measures…” I muttered, accessing the watch.
[3865 coins have been transferred into your account.]
Damn! My heart skipped a beat and I couldn’t help but look at the information on my ID.
Name: Adam Savier
Blessed: Adept
Soulkins: 2
Affiliations: Grand Camp
– Ranking.
District – #503
Grand Camp – #6,091
Retinue – #297
– Rank Benefits: 571 Coins/month
Camp Coins: 4648
Completing the mission early had certainly been a good decision, but I wondered how much our earnings had affected the rankings. Putting that thought aside for a moment, I turned to listen to the things Daniel had prepared to survive in case we were to encounter an Unblemished beast.
“I have a massive lightning-attuned ether crystal, and I will make sure to detonate it in the beast’s face. If I’m lucky, I’ll survive.” He shrugged like it was nothing special, but I couldn’t help but shudder at the thought.
The Camp Shop’s catalogue was projected before me, more as a distraction than anything else. However, I quickly found myself drawn to one of the potions I’d used in the fight against the Lionaer Fiend. It was a little expensive for my taste, yet it was a great item to ensure I wouldn’t die from draining the ether out of my Ether Gates. If I was forced to discharge my Ether Gates again, at least I’d survive.
100 coins for an ether stone. My eyes locked onto the image of the very item that allowed me to feel normal when I was still unBlessed. It may not have been permanent, but those few weeks had been blissful.
Could I use them as my safety measure? 100 coins for a decent-sized ether stone sounded like a bargain.
I considered it for a moment and thought it was worthwhile.
What if…
Something was brewing in my mind, and I wasn’t quite sure if I liked it.
What if I could turn ether stones into more than a last line?
“I have to test something.” I leaped to my feet, feeling giddy all of a sudden.
Fabienne yelped in surprise and muttered something I couldn’t quite discern as I ordered a pair of ether stones.