Chapter 175 - Temporary Delay 

The next day he woke up, and he was alone in bed, it seems that he had slept too comfortably and did not notice Leia and Zero's movement when leaving his side. When he arrived close to the washroom, he heard the sound of giggling and cheerful talking from behind the door. Not knowing how long they will take, he used Fire, Air and water gathering ruin to freshen up. He was also surprised that they were awake so early, not at Zero as she woke up around the same time as him. But what surprised Aile was that Leia woke up this early and she was cheerful, it was rare for Leia to wake up before sunlight brightens the room. While in thought, he heard the door of the bathroom opened in front of him, Leia and Zero came out with only a towel around them, not expecting to see him awake.

Blushing, they stared at him a few seconds before Zero tried to hide herself and return to the bathroom, and surprisingly Leia followed. Aile had seen her in much more revealing clothes just last night. He thought, 'Why are you also hiding?'

"Leave for a few minutes and then come back," Aile heard Leia's soft voice unsurprisingly.

Aile agreed, left the room and closed the door loud enough for them to hear it. He walked outside the mansion and saw two mounts ready. This was when he remembered that he had forgotten two of his goals yesterday as he was enjoying his intimate time with Hazel. One was to request for a third mount for the bandit girl travelling with them. The other was the soul experiment on Hazel.

It was already too late to get a mount in such a short time. However, Aile could try to do the experiment on Hazel now. His solution was a noninvasive trick that he believed would succeed to a degree. Seeing everything was fine here, he left towards Hazel's room. Entering without knocking, knowing full well that she had woken up, Aile saw her pretending to sleep on her bed with a light curve to her lips, forming a distinct smile on her face. He went to her and placed his lips on hers. She smiled and woke up soon after opening her mouth for more intimacy, "How nice would it be to wake up to this every day? Did you come here to finished what we started yesterday before you leave?"

As tempted as Aile was, he shook his head, and his expression turned serious. Seeing this, Hazel asked him if something was wrong? Aile did not beat around the bush and said that he has a possible way that might help with her and Sara's predicament. She nodded, anything that could help her and Sara, she was willing. Yet she was too tensed and to calm her down Aile held her hand, and together they did some breathing exercises to get them relaxed.

"Close your eyes and allow my soul to enter your soul space."

Hazel having full faith in Aile, let go of all her defences.

Allowing someone entry and removing all defence were two completely different things. The former would create a sort of door, and you would be a guest in their soul space.

The latter would remove the door and defences and give the blueprint and control of the soul to the person that enters. Such action could result in losing control of one's body to the person and soul that enters your soul space, allowing the person full access to you. This includes all the memories, thoughts, and desires. This also makes one extremely vulnerable, as the person that enters the soul space could leave a small strand of energy or soul in there. This foreign soul could collapse the location and could be used to control a person's life and their action as a result of it. The unique thing about this state is that it actually takes effort to remove all the barriers that are naturally there in the soul.

"What are you doing? Never leave yourself so defenceless. Stop it now."

Humph, "I trust you, you can do whatever you want." Hazel had already given her everything to Aile, and she trusted him with her life. Using this method, she was showing her devotion. 'This way, he will know my feelings.'

"Please, stop." Aile had to request her to stop such a bold action immediately. There was a vital reason that no one dares to leave their soul defence open. This is because it leaves oneself vulnerable enough for another soul or entity to take over their vessel.

This was a similar case when he took over this body, the seal of Duke White had left this body's natural defence ineffective, temporarily allowing Aile to take root. The souls and entities can sense these circumstances and with ease, fulfiling their request.

It is a lucky encounter called the contribution of the dense. Because there would be no retaliation in this case and only an idiot would wear a collar and wait for someone to take them as a pet. It was said that finding such an opportunity was akin to inheriting your worst enemy's business empire and wealth because of his change of heart or as an apology. To show how unlikely for such a situation from occurring naturally.

Hearing Aile's somewhat pleading tone, she put up her defences back and noticed that her actions did not get the desired response and she did something wrong. For someone who was here in this place with little knowledge of souls and soul-cultivation, such an action possessed no harm to her, and she found nothing wrong with it. She felt a bit dispirited. Imagine opening your hands wide for a hug only to be told put your hand down.

"Oh, I am glad... you are fine," Aile said to her with affection as he hugged her.

She did not know about this, but Aile knew about body snatching. After all, he had done that to take this body. There were also some more extreme cases. It was something that he had seen from his inherited memories. An evil clan was known for such tactics in wars. They found a way to remove such defence of weak mortals. Every time a member of their force died in battle, their soul would take over the body of a prepared mortal, giving them to a degree a second life.

Usually, souls would not dissipate quickly and move around if they find such opportunity they would take it immediately.

As a soul, he also had a similar experience. He went and hugged her and said in a somewhat harsh tone, "Promise to never do something silly like that again."

"Why... I just wanted..."

"I trust you and love you without you needing to prove it to me. Even if you must at any point want to do such a thing, then just remove the seal on memories or your emotions. Do not remove the outer two domes. The outer shells are protecting you from things that can take over your body... I am glad you are fine, how lucky..." Aile was unaware that he was being overcautious, the likely hood of another soul like him being here was incredibly low. As most people's soul in here were weak and would no longer be able to do such a thing a few hours after their death. This was the first time his information and knowledge misled him. Nonetheless, leaving one's soul defenceless was not something that Hazel should be doing.

"I am sorry..."

"Promise to not do something like this again."

Hazel nodded and was sad that things did not go as planned. But she was happy seeing his concerned expression and hearing those words that made it somewhat worth it.

"I promise.." said Hazel resolutely, and she muttered afterwards, "I-I love you too."

....

After getting their bearings again, they tried once more, this time Aile arrived in her soul space and started to look around. After the gloomy-dark energy was absorbed by Aile, the place looked more alive. Her soul also has started healing, and unlike Aile's swirling light and dark soul, hers was translucent.

Aile, of course, would not try to change anything on her crystalline soul sitting in meditation, but the soul space. He would create something around her soul. In the worst case, the construct can be removed, and nothing permanent would happen to her.

Aile used his energy and started to weave a dome around her soul.

She was told to create a connection with Aile's construct so that she could supply it with energy. With her support, it would not dissipate quickly.

Halfway done Aile arrived in front of her soul who was focusing on linking her soul to Aile's construct. As the foreign energy that Aile used would dissipate in here, without a soul supporting it.

Hazel was trying to establish a link so that this cacoon of foreign-energy would be accepted and act as a dampener, reducing the efficiency of her soul's connection with Sara. This would delay the process of her absorbing Sara's soul. But this was not a permanent solution either, because once she succeeds, the dampener would slowly transform to her energy. After the transformation, it would no longer serve its function.

So Aile was hoping to buy some time with this temporary delay. Before Aile started to commence with the second part of his plan, finishing the construct, he noticed a somewhat foreign thing in her soul. After close observation, Aile was surprised to see a small thread-like connection in her soul, giving off a feeling that he recognized.