Chapter 15) Soul Cultivation.

[Stats on Enemy Mystic.]

[Name: Selena Monte-Carlos.]

[Nature: Wizard Level Mystic]

[Elemental Affinity: Fire of the Dragon Lotus.]

[Rank: 5/100]

[Soul Creature: Fury Dragon.]

[Soul Weapon: Lasso of Infinite Blaze.> A destructively powerful weapon made of pure gold burnt in the tortured flames of Abyssal.]

[Information about HP, MP, Strength, Agility, Stamina and other personal attributes are unavailable to third party Mystics.]

[Special Skill: Rage of Hell's Glory> Wizard Level control of the fire element. Mystic can create fireballs and cause Fiery storms. Mystic can also harness the energy and attributes of pure flames.]

[Special Skill: Austere Spellcrafter> Mystic can cast spells with the use of mana cores of the Dragon lotus. Skill is only limited to the Mystics knowledge of runes and symbols related to spells, and strength of Mana points.]

[Special Skill: Viper's Kiss> Mystic has the ability to cause mental paralysis with venom released from her tongue. When caught in this web, the victim looses their ability to form normal thoughts and actions. Victim will be under complete control of the Mystic.]

[Information about other Special skills and abilities are not available to third party Mystics.]

"Thanks a lot, System." Xavier thought, hoping it worked as well as speaking. He couldn't even move his lips. "How does this information help me now? I can't even move. How do I save my mother from this?"

[New Quest has been logged into the system. Mystic will now be redirected into the quest menu.]

The holographic screen shifted inside his mind. The Quest icon popped open.

[Main Quest: Save Mother from Doom.]

[Sub Quest: Defeat Wizard Mystic, Selena Monte-Carlos.]

[Reward for Success of Sub Quest: +2 advancement in Novice level, +100 attribute points, A passive skill shall be unlocked, Hidden reward.]

[Reward for Success of Main Quest: Mother's Salvation.]

[Reward for Failure: Total Doom.]

Xavier Xerxes sighed in frustration and fear. If he didn't save his mother...he hated to think what would happen to her. Master Kim Sao must've seen something horrible before rushing them to the research lab. Now they were here. Or rather, Xavier, the helpless Mystic, was here to do nothing. He was powerless, an unregistered Novice Mystic without a rank. He was the boy who had been bullied and mocked his entire life. Now the one person who had loved him unconditionally was in trouble and he was helpless.

A smug, smiling face appeared in front of him.

"Hey, you in there?" Justin waved a palm before Xavier's face. "Does the spell affect your eye sight too?"

Xavier felt the strange urge to punch the smile out of the the man's face. Punch out a few teeth as well. But he could do nothing. Even if his bodily functions had been active, would he have been able to actually punch someone else? Xavier had never hurt anyone or anything in his life. Not even bugs or ants. He preferred to keep still and silent whenever provoked. That was why the bullies got attracted to him, why people took advantage of him, right?

Justin was still smiling. "She is amazing. Selena. The first moment I saw her, I was mesmerized beyond words. I fell in love at first sight with her power, her confidence, her poise. Everything about her is beyond normal." He nodded at himself. "What she is doing here is beyond you. Don't try to fight it or you will fail like the many we had to contend with to get here."

Xavier could only look at him. He was useless. Why was he even a Mystic? Surely there were more than a hundred brave and beautiful souls on Lazuli. Xavier felt he was none of those things. The universe had made a terrible mistake in choosing him to be one of the hundred Celestial Kissed souls. He had nothing to offer the planet, or world. If he couldn't save his mother now, how was he expected to save the world from Dungeons and beasts?

Justin frowned. "This is no fun." He turned around. "Selena dear?"

"Yes, My love?" She answered from somewhere around the room.

"Can you loosen his lips? It's no fun talking to him without getting a reply. Also, can you move him closer to the ritual?" He stared at Xavier as he added. "I want him to see what true power and control is like."

Xavier felt a cooling sensation over his lips immediately. He tried to move them and they actually complied.

"Please, don't harm my mother. She has been through a lot already."

"Don't worry about her. Like I said before, we are doing her a favor. This will put an end to her suffering. You won't have to worry about her anymore. In fact, you won't have to worry about anything anymore. The whole Mystic business, leveling up and Vanquishing beasts would be a thing of the past after tonight." Justin finished with a flourish. "Now come along. The Domination Ritual is about to start."

He started moving and Xavier's body floated forward beside him. Droid and the other goon, Hector, as said his name tag, were positioned beside the hospital beds. The three patients were peacefully asleep on the beds, their chests rising and falling only because of the breathing tubes attached to their mouths. Two men and a woman. As Xavier was drawn closer, he recognized the woman immediately. Tears filled his eyes. It was his mother, alright.

Selena stood far right, arms raised in the air. She was muttering something that Xavier couldn't hear. Golden sparks blossomed around her body, flowing out of her chest in spiralling flows to form rune symbols above her head. The air around her sizzled with sparks, igniting electricity throughout the room.

"What is she doing?" Xavier asked curiously. In that moment, the Wizard Mystic looked formidable. Power and glory oozed from her like water flowing from a stream. Even if Master Kim Sao Chen were here, would be have been able to defeat her?

"Preparing herself for the ritual." Justin explained, fondly. "She actually endured forty days and forty nights on a mountain peak at the centre of the planet, gathering mana into her body for this. She is as powerful as she would ever be as a Wizard Mystic right now."

Selena's eyes flew open, glowing. "The Soul Cultivation will begin now."

Droid and Hector marched towards the beds that held the two men, and disconnected their oxygen tubes. They wheeled the beds towards where Selena stood but didn't reach her before stopping. They backed away from the beds, regaining their position on either side if the third bed, ready to act on their next instruction.

The sparks around Selena intensified in strength and glow, forming holographic images of Dragon lotuses around her in triangular patterns. The sparks streaked towards the beds to envelope the two men. They began to gasp for air immediately, their bodies trembling in pain. The two of them had been in coma for more than two years. But now, under Selena's spell, they were moaning and thrashing about as if a nightmare was haunting their sleep.

[Soul Cultivation: A very complex spell that can only be achieved by Wizard and Phantom mystics with extremely enormous mana cores. The spell takes years of practice and conditioning to perfect. It is a Mythic A class Forbidden spell among Mystics, and only rogue Mystics with dark intentions have been known to use it.]

[The Soul Cultivation is a spell that removes the Crystal core from Mystics, Soul Creatures, Dungeon Beasts and Mythical Artifacts, to harvest them for greater spells that require the cores. Such Crystal Cores contain both the Life Essence and Universal Mana pool of the host. It is popularly known as the Soul. It exists in varying strengths and capacities, depending on the power of the host. Humans have relatively tiny Crystal Cores compared to mystics, which is why Humans can't access the Celestial System.]

"Why does she need my mother's Crystal Core? She's just human." Xavier wondered in his mind.

[Your mother is neither Human nor Mystic. System has no information about her true nature. Her uniqueness is as a result of her strange Crystal Core. Her Crystal Core mat not be as powerful as that of a Mystic, but it contains a third element apart from Life Essence and Universal Mana Pool. System has no information about the third element.]

"That must be the reason why she and everyone like her in the world went into a coma." Xavier thought, recalling what Justin had explained about their bodies being incompatible with the power in their Crystal cores.

But why then? His mother had been totally fine until three years ago. That was when the news about the strange blood condition had started. Hospitals around the world had started admitting patients who had gone into coma without any reasonable explanation. Surely there must be a connection somewhere. Xavier didn't understand any of it. But he would make sure to find out everything he could after saving his mother.

The Soul Cultivation process was still going on. Xavier watched two green crystals the size of soccer balls float out of the two men's chest, causing them to go silent and still. The Crystal cores floated into Selena's waiting palms. The sparks around her filled with so much energy that they became pure flames.

"Soul Cultivation complete. The Domination Ritual will now begin." Selena announced, her voice echoing from everywhere. "Bring me the Novice Mystic and his mother. They will be the most vital part of the Domination ritual."