Matter of the Soul

Lord Colm nodded. "Then we will continue to provide you with the resources you require."

"Thank you, Lord Commander. Is that all you wanted to discuss?"

"No," He said and sat in his chair. "The Perennial Band is a powerful artifact. Do not misuse it, or you will suffer dire consequences."

"What does this do, exactly?" Goleil asked, opening the small black box.

Inside was a slightly rusting metal disk the size of his palm. It had a fingernail-sized hole in the center, through which a chain passed.

"You wear it around your neck," Lord Colm unnecessarily pointed out.

Goleil nodded and put it on.

Instantly, he could feel that there was something different about his body.

Lord Colm stood and watched with envy. "The Perennial Band is an artifact that harkens back to the Golden Era when all nine Great Kingdoms still stood."

Goleil quickly began inspecting his body, mana frost appearing on his body.

'Incredible, he's already so powerful...' Lord Colm thought and began to believe that this was perhaps not the worst possible idea.

"We were not the ones to recover this artifact. It belonged to a larger city to the east, called Grimrock. Unfortunately, mercenaries destroyed them during the Upheaval, and the artifact fell into our hands a few months later."

"Was that common during the Upheaval?"

"Of course. Such mercenary groups have mostly been disbanded or destroyed, but a few of the most infamous still exist."

Lord Colm glanced at the red energy coming off of Goleil's body. "The purpose of the Perennial Band is to increase your mana supply. The name is a bit of an exaggeration, but it can supposedly double your reserves. It is a powerful tool that I should've awarded to a powerful mage, but you'll do."

Goleil could see it. Energy usually flowed slowly through the soul, then to his heart, but the Perennial Band had quickened the process, and the band could also store mana.

Goleil felt giddy looking at the artifact. It effectively tripled his supply since his mana stores weren't as large as others suspected.

Goleil bowed deeply to Lord Colm. "You have my deepest thanks, my Lord. This is a gift I can never truly repay."

Lord Colm shook his head. "I have contracted you to save my city not once but twice. I don't know if my daughter made the right choice in giving this to you, but we shall certainly see. You are dismissed, Guardsman."

Goleil brought his fist to his chest and departed.

As the door closed, Lord Colm looked forlornly at the empty place the box once inhabited. He shook his head. If he could defeat Y'Trix, it would be worth it.

...

A half-hour later, Goleil sat in his room staring at the bottle of blood.

Mord hadn't understood why he wanted to go back to the Guardhouse to drink it, but he relented when Goleil said he wanted to be able to enjoy the drink.

Ty'Bral materialized next to him. "With the Perennial Band and this bottle, you will become dangerous to yourself if you do not learn to control your power. Your mission in five days is a blessing."

Goleil nodded, still staring at the bottle. "I suppose it is," He said and took a deep breath. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's get this done."

"Are you insane? I haven't run you through this at all."

"Oh yeah. Well, how am I going to do this? You still haven't explained it to me fully."

Ty'Bral tapped his tentacle mask. "That's because I want to take over and do it for you."

Goleil was shaking his head before he'd finished his sentence. "Absolutely not. I don't trust you nearly enough for that."

The voice in his mind whispered, "I trust him."

Goleil shook his head. "No, I don't. Ty'Bral, run me through it. There is no way I'm letting you take over."

Ty'Bral sighed. "Very well. Don't wait for the soul to form as soon as you pour the pulverized eldritch somewhere on your body. As soon as you find any soul jelly, bring it to your soul, and spread it over the soul as evenly as possible."

Goleil narrowed his eyes. "How does one do that? What do you mean, bring it to my soul?"

Ty'Bral made a clicking sound. Goleil wasn't sure how. "Well, the soul is immaterial, and it wouldn't make sense for the soul jelly to act any differently. I suspect it will be absorbed by your body where you pour it and form from there."

"Then that means I can't miss a drop, or I'd lose out on strength."

Ty'Bral nodded. "That usually isn't a problem since normal people can drink. Why must you be so difficult?"

"I noticed you dropped the 'my Lord.' I'd like that back."

"You have lost those privileges."

"Damn you. Let's just get this done."

Goleil took the cork out of the glass vial and took a deep breath. One misstep and he could very well damage his soul irreparably. It was already a miracle he was alive after what Ty'Bral did to him.

After mentally preparing himself, he poured the liquid onto his hand.

The blood and magic mixture didn't even get the chance to drip before his body entirely absorbed it.

Now that he had mana, he could sense the magic entering his body and bloodstream.

'I wonder what else my body can absorb...' Goleil thought as he watched the magic being absorbed.

"Focus, you idiot! A soul is forming!"

Goleil shook his head and stopped pouring, seeing half the vial was gone. He focused his magical perception on the infection site, combing for soul jelly.

He caught several instances of the squishy yet unstable substance. It was strange like a berserker had slashed a soul a thousand times, and he saw the product.

He quickly surrounded the jelly in tendrils of magic and navigated them toward his soul. Unlike a physical object, the soul jelly could pass right through the physical barriers of his body.

As he brought them closer to his soul, he massaged the jelly from minced pieces into flatter shapes to make it easier for him to attach to his soul.

It went off without a hitch.

Relief washed through him as the soul jelly integrated seamlessly with his own soul.

Then a realization hit him. If soul jelly could pass through all physical barriers, what was stopping the soul jelly from staying at his hand?

A shiver went down his back as he scanned his entire body and the area around him. He sighed, there were only two chunks of soul jelly. Larger than the ones he'd seen, but nowhere close to a fully formed soul.

He quickly integrated those chunks into his soul as well.

Goleil then began pouring the rest of the locraf onto his hand, integrating soul jelly as they formed. As he finished with the last chunk, he sighed in relief once more.

He would continue scanning for a bit longer just in case soul jelly decided to show up out of nowhere, but he was confident he was finished.

"Well done, I didn't expect that to go as well as it did. You're far smarter than I give you credit for, Godling." Ty'Bral said, a light of approval in his red eyes.

Goleil scoffed. "Of course, it went well. I'm not an idiot, you damn eldritch."

The sun knight inspected his gains. His soul hadn't grown as much as it had when it was integrated with Ty'Bral's soul, so he supposed this eldritch had been weaker. It had been about half as strong if that were the case.

Goleil breathed in deeply, he felt refreshed, as if he had just taken a dip in a cold river.

He then set himself to the task of watching diligently for more soul jelly to form for the next hour.