Chapter 14: Soul Injuries

Insig swings with all of his power and weight. He directed his center of gravity from his feet towards his hands and threw the spear towards the fast approaching enemy.

The enemy sensed the aura of the approaching spear filled with vitality. The Tulip was confused as to why its prey was attacking it with a healing ability.

'It's too suspicious!'

The Tulip dodged the attack mid-air by twisting its body. The Tulip then saw Insig dashed towards itself. It was branding its black claws towards him.

'Hah! So that was a bait, huh!?'

The Tulip spit 3 bullets of acid towards Insig to disrupt his momentum. It was shot in a way that would stop him from getting near.

'Heh! After you dodge this, there will be bundles of vines coming after you and trapping you. The moment you attack them will be the moment you show an opening. You'll be dead by then!'

The Tulip thinks with glee. The whole underground of the battlefield was already filled with vines. But they can only create opportunity. With the Tulip taking control, the moment it stops the enemy's momentum will be the moment the Tulip wins.

Seeing the approaching bullets of acid, Insig jumps up to dodge them.

*Sizzle*³

*Crack!*

Before he even landed, the ground cracked as bundles of thick vines laced with acids and thorns that surrounded him.

*Swoosh* *Swish*

Insig swiped his claws mid-air and cut the vines approaching him.

The Tulip saw this opportunity a long time ago and approached him with fast speed. It 'looked' at Insig with its aura sensing abilities. Oddly though, the Tulip saw that Insig was smirking at it.

"Hahaha, Gotcha!"

Insig laughed with glee as it saw the Tulip falling for its trap. Seeing its prey was confident, the Tulip felt a foreboding feeling. He then suddenly felt a delightful feeling crawling up its body. But the Tulip also felt the underlying danger behind it.

It looked back behind it and saw that the spear that Insig threw at the start was actually aimed at where its stem sprouted at.

The Tulip suddenly felt a death aura attacking its body. It was climbing up to the flower at a fast speed and everywhere it passed through would immediately wilt.

*High-pitched scream*

Seeing this, the Tulip screeched in pain and was about to attack Insig.

'If I'm gonna die, I'll bring me with you!!'

It looked forward and suddenly felt that Insig disappeared. No matter where it releases his energy waves, it can't sense Insig's aura.

'Where are you!! DAMN IT!'

Sensing that its enemy escaped, the Tulip made all of the underlying vines rise up and smash its surroundings.

*Rumble* *Thud*³ *Crack!* *Sizzle*

It went on a rampage and obliterated everything it saw. The ground cracked and the grasses corroded as it killed everything in its path. However, this was only the last struggle before its death.

*Screech!!*

The Tulip felt an unprecedented danger as it felt the death aura corrupt its mana heart. It rose up to the skies in pain and suddenly wilted. Its body was drained of life and its petals fell everywhere. The vines it controlled lost their source of vitality and wilted too.

*Thud*

The Tulip's wilted stem fell and the ground vibrated. The dust spread everywhere and a silhouette of a person appeared in the dust.

Oddly though, there was no aura emanating from him. He was like a dead person. No breath, no presence, and even sound or aura. There was a black fog surrounding him, killing all of his presence.

Suddenly, the silhouette jumped and screamed in a youthful voice.

"Yes!! I won!!"

Insig screamed his lungs out as he felt ecstatic from his victory. All of his emotions poured out at this moment. His nervousness, anger, happiness, he poured it all out at this scream. He painstakingly almost died but it was all worth it.

After 3 minutes of celebrating. Insig breathed in deeply and settled down. He lied on the ground as he reflected on his mistakes. But you can still see the smile on his face.

'My plan worked but I almost died at the Tulip's last struggle. I should hurry and strengthen my body.'

Insig looked at his left shoulder. When the Tulip went on a rampage, he was hiding behind it in-case it survived. Unfortunately, because of this, he earned a wound on the shoulder.

'Whatever, it's all worth it.'

Insig closed his eyes as he felt proud of his plan.

First was the spear. He thought that with how knowledgeable the Tulip was, it would dodge his attack. So he thought of a way that would make it hit no matter what, so he aimed for the place where the stem sprouted. There, no matter how the Tulip moved, it would still hit.

Second was the bait. He dashed in to distract the enemy and make it think that the spear was only a bait. It's also to prevent the Tulip from summoning a vine to receive the spear.

Third was the acting. He was actually nervous when he acted confident. He kept thinking inside 'What if it isn't that intelligent? What if he ignored my laugh?'. In the end though, it all worked and momentarily lowered the enemy's guard, making an opportunity for the fourth step to work.

Fourth was the invisibility. This was not actually invisibility but instead was 'killing the aura'. This was for making the Tulip nervous and also to create an opportunity for step 5. It also made Seiki safe for when the Tulip wanted to attack him.

This technique was the result of his test. He created a blanket of death aura and covered a person with it. When he first tried it on the mouse, he thought the mouse died as it lost all presence, when it suddenly moved. This led him to a great discovery.

And lastly was the finisher. He would hide behind the Tulip and kill it if it survived the spear. It was risky but also the best opportunity to attack.

After reminiscing about the battle, Insig suddenly felt a deep pang in his head!

"AARRGH!!"

'Don't tell me, it's still alive?'

Insig looked forward but all he saw was a dark room. There was a desk on the right side and a cabinet beside it. There was a door at the front and a door at the left side for the bathroom. It was a small room, containing only a bedroom and bathroom .

'This... I'm back?'

He looked at the window on his right side and saw the dark moon hanging up above. It was surrounded by ominous dark clouds that covered the stars like a blanket.

"GRRRRR!!!!"

Insig grinded his teeth from pain as he took deep breaths and squeezed his throat to prevent his voice from coming out.

He felt a deep pain on his left shoulder, wrists, and mostly on his lower body. He administered life magic on it but to no avail. It only slightly made him comfortable but the pain didn't disappear, it was like a wound that came from the soul.

'Don't tell me.... It's the aftermath of the fight? But how am I gonna heal it?'

Insig stands up wobbly as he tries to get used to the pain, but to no avail. You can get used to a physical wound as your nerves and body would adapt, but the soul has always been mysterious.

The soul has no nerves, but feels pain. It has no substance, but can influence its surroundings. It has

He looked at his wrist and saw a red mark surrounding it. He was suddenly reminded of how the vines bind his arms as he was delivered to the Tulip's mouth.

Insig took a deep breath and tried to make himself feel a little bit better with life magic, when he felt that his energy reserves were emptied out.

'I need to refill my energy and search for ways to heal my soul. I should go to the [Library] later.'

Insig wobbly went to the cafeteria. His food was served relatively fast as there were less soldiers at night time.

While eating, Insig thought about the Tulip's will.

'I thought it was only an ordinary flower! Why was it a carnivorous plant? Did the shopkeeper fool me?'

Insig inserted his hands into his pocket and reached out for the steel box. This box came with the mana crystal, so there ought to be some clues in it.

Insig opened the box and there was a circular dent inside, in which was the place where the crystal stayed. Underneath it was a compressed note.

[The Mana Crystal of a Bewitching Carnivorous Tulip

Bewitching rules of the Life element

Level 5 Core state

Harvested at the boundary of the Mountain of the Wandering Souls]

'Why didn't I see this?'

Insig was speechless as he saw this. If he had known that it was the bewitching rules. He would have prepared a potion that would keep his soul sober. He thought the mana crystal was only a healing rule of the life element.

Insig was depressed so he ate an additional salad as revenge for all the plants.

Insig had his fill and wobbly went to the [Library].

'I'm sure that the [Library] would have info about the soul. I'll just ask the Librarian where they are located.'

"Hello, good evening."

Insig greets the librarian. The librarian hears it and puts the book he was reading away.

"Hmm? Your brain waves are rather weak... This is the sign of a mental attack...."

The Librarian observes him for a while and sees the red marks on his wrist. He smirks and tries to hold back his laughter.

"Did you get bewitched? Looks like they totally dominated you. I didn't know you were an M"

'Huh? What does he mean?'

Insig looks at where the Librarian's eyes were pointed at. He looked at his cuff and saw the red marks.

'Don't tell me.... Did he think that....'

Insig was speechless at how the Librarian got his speculation so far.

*Cough*

"Ehem! Do you know where I could find books pertaining to the study of souls? Particularly the mending of souls."

Hearing Insig cough made the Librarian get rid of childish thought. After hearing his question, he looked rather shocked and observed his cuff again.

'This is a side-effect of a soul injury! Looks like I was thinking too much.'

The Librarian was embarrassed of his speculation. He coughed slightly to alleviate the awkwardness.

"There are books about them but they are only allowed to soldiers reaching level 5 in Core state or above."

'Looks like there is, but are more valuable than ordinary knowledge.'

"How can I prove that I've reached level 5?"

"Oh, that's easy. Look over there. That is a machine invented to test the condensation of rules in your energy."

Insig looked over at where the Librarian pointed at. He saw a crystal ball connected to a bar of glass by a pipe of magic metal. It slightly looked like an Xylophone.

"Just touch the crystal and release your aura. The number of glasses you light up corresponds to your level."

The librarian orders.

"Wait, isn't this the aura sensor? Why is it… A bit different?"

Insig asks. He had once seen this machine from the green academy of life when he was about to enter it. It's purpose is to sense and evaluate aura.

"Oh, that's just a slight modification. You see, this machine was already made before it was delivered here, so the previous owner decorates it. See those small tubes lined up? They're made at the town nearby, [Tugu Town], which is rather famous for music. They produce sound when applied with aura."

The Librarian patiently explains.

"Oh. It was quite weird for the military to add unnecessary decorations to things. Looks like it wasn't them who made it."

Insig says and laughs. He then stores this information at the back of his head and proceeds towards the machine. He grasped the crystal and released his aura .

When the crystal sensed his aura, it sucked it in and was passed through the pipe. And as if some mechanism was activated, a calming sound akin to a flute radiated from the pipe.

The calming sound grew more pronounced and beautiful while more and more glasses lit up with a calming green light. The light slowly climbed up and occupied the glass more and more, and as more and more glasses lit up, the more refreshing and calming the sound was.

Level 1... The sound was akin to a calming and simple music of a flute.

Level 2... The calming sound of the breeze was added.

Level 3... The soft rustling of the trees was slowly echoing in the background.

Level 4… A soft and lovely tune was added.

Level 5... The sound was just like the refreshing breeze of the trees with the beautiful tweet of a bird.

The light was stuck in Level 5 and immediately stopped climbing, but the music was still lingering.

"You can now enter the 2nd floor. Remember that they cost 20 contribution per hour."