THE CRUET THAT NOURISHES THE SOUL
THE CRUET THAT NOURISHES THE SOUL
"Those are the souls that you just released from the Cruet in the altar", he told me before he showed me instructions on how to clear them in my mind, "Now do this, it will clear the clouds quicker".
Suddenly, I remembered how to clear and condense the souls in my soul realm. After a short while the clouds around my soul realm dissipated.
"I am condensing the absorbed souls into this realm", I said to myself.
"Yes, and congratulations you have reached the Mercury soul realm again after absorbing all the souls from the cruet", my other self told me to my surprise.
This wasn't the first time I reached a Mercury soul Tier, at least it was in my previous life. But after I was reborn, all my soul magic was gone.
"How did I get so many souls coming into my soul realm?" I asked myself.
"It came from the Cruet that you held in your hand. You released the trapped souls in there into your soul realm", the consciousness of my previous life replied to me.
I've replenished my soul magic enough thanks to the eerie cruet from the altar that I've re-enabled my Mercury Tier soul magic.
"Great, so I would suddenly master the Mercury tier of Soul magic?" I asked myself.
"Yes, and not only that, you have instantly recovered all your levels in the Mercury tier of your soul realm. They were there all along, you merely unlocked them for use", my consciousness told me.
Advancing to Mercury tier of Soul magic would have tremendous effects on my soul summoning and my Magical Missile ability.
"What's with this altar?" I asked myself.
"If I have to guess this is a sacrificial room where humans are sacrificed, and their souls captured into the Cruet. The bandits must be using those people they couldn't ransom as sacrifices to farm souls", I replied to myself after realizing my other self disappeared from my soul realm.
No matter how loudly I shouted and asked him to come out, he remained elusive.
"He's gone already, he's already a part of your mind", I answered myself suddenly, realizing that I have fully recovered the memories of my previous life.
My other self wasn't a separate entity from me but a unique creation of my mind which was meant to bridge the memories of my previous life to my reborn self. Once I recovered all my memories, the conjuration of myself no longer had a purpose and would disappear.
"Damnit, now I don't have anyone to talk to in this empty soul realm", I complained to myself.
But on the other hand, due to my advancement to the Mercury tier of my soul realm, I've recovered all the memories from my previous life, instead of bits and pieces here and there.
----
"Farming souls? What do you mean?" Raven asked me when I told him about the temple in the basement.
"The temple under the basement is a sacrificial altar, sacrificing the human soul to empower its owner", I told them my speculation.
"But if they are capable of doing that, how did the Bandit Boss lose to you so easily by just falling into your trap?" Bommurs asked me.
"You do have a point, the Boss isn't strong with magic", I replied to him.
"Perhaps someone else is benefitting from the sacrifices in the temple", Minna told me her opinion.
"Well, he could be farming the souls for someone else or to sell it that's why he didn't absorb the souls himself but trapped it inside the cruet", I told them.
"Are we done in this place? There is nothing else here", Ronnie told us.
"There is nothing else here, we should continue on our journey", I told them.
My friends weren't too keen to stay around the bandit camp after what happened earlier with the attack by the magic puppet statue, so we left the camp and returned to our planned journey.
----
The experience in the bandit camp gave Minna quite a fright because it was her first time experiencing dangerous combat.
"Do you do this kind of dangerous thing all the time?" Minna asked me as we drove the carriage.
"Well adventuring comes with risks", I told Minna who sulked at the idea before I continued, "but the rewards are enormous, we just need to become stronger to face the adventure".
"Adventuring is not a life for me", Minna told me.
"Yes, me too. I'm all for a simple and comfortable life. The risks you are taking is just not worth it", Bommurs added to our conversation and said to me.
I could feel Minna have a crush on me probably because I proved to be more capable than the other boys of my age. But I wasn't a boy of her age, I had the memories of someone with centuries of knowledge and experiences.
Minna would be better off being with Bommurs who would ensure she won't face trouble like I often do. And the question probably came up to her mind too when choosing between me and Bommurs.
After another day of journey, we were suddenly stopped by some caravans in front of us. To be precise, something stopped the caravans in front of us and we had nowhere to go because the road was narrow.
----
The ground rumbled violently, like it was shaken by a stampede of animals but there wasn't a herd of offensive creatures that appeared before the caravan of merchants who were stuck in the narrow road.
Instead, a Lion or what appeared to be such appeared striking fear into the hearts of those who laid eyes upon it. Standing at an imposing height of nearly eight feet, this majestic creature exuded strength, power and violence.
The lion's coat was a deep, rich crimson color, reminiscent of blood-soaked velvet. Its fur was incredibly dense and thick, which seemed to glow in the daylight, casting an eerie aura around the beast.
Its muscular body was well-built and robust, showcasing a combination of agility and raw strength. Each stride it took sent tremors through the ground, leaving no doubt about its imposing presence. Its large, muscular legs were equipped with razor-sharp claws that gleamed like polished obsidian, ready to tear through any unfortunate soul that crossed its path.