Overwhelming Whisper
Meditate. Train. Sleep. Repeat.
Meditate. Train. Sleep. Repeat.
Meditate. Train. Teach Baku about poker. Sleep. Repeat.
Meditate. Train. …
Day in and day out I repeated that list like clockwork. At first, manipulating my Spirit was damn near impossible. In my Spirit Sea existed too many variables for my mind to comfortably handle: from locating it to moving it, then I had to figure out how to actually extract it from the Sea and pull it into reality.
The process was grueling and it really got me thinking about growing up. Do babies' lungs get sore when they're first born? If a baby was born fully self aware and intelligent, and of course for some reason was able to communicate, would its brain hurt from learning?
I only ask because Baku mentioned the principle of Universal Nobility – some system in which certain species are "favored" by the Creators and thus are granted biological privileges in order to better interact with. . . well the universe itself.
Dragons, for example, are said to be born capable of manipulating their Spirit at the highest level. They are simply born powerful – their existence, their biological matter, interacts with the universe differently than that of lower species, take humans for instance.
This notion is therefore considered a Universal Principle because it is near impossible to break the chains of your species' potential. Put simply, humans can never contend with dragons. Of course, this principle isn't absolute. Humans are crafty. They build tools and weapons, contract foreign species and use their knowledge and their resources until eventually a human slays a dragon and a Dragon Slayer is born, but that story only repeats every billion years.
Hence, the title Universal Principle or in other words, more often than not, like overwhelmingly so.
"Mr. Cain! Mr. Cain! Why are you giving us a Universal Basics 101 course?"
Why, my dear sub-conscious?
Because my boredom is moments away from killing me! Baku won't let me take a break! My mind is fried, I can't think straight, I definitely can't walk straight – not that I would even bother trying at the moment.
As it turns out, Corrupted species don't need to eat, but last time I checked the word "Human" still clearly followed the word "Corrupted" in my Status! So at the moment, my stomach is wailing, incessant sharp pains constantly strike at it, and my lower back feels ablaze after sitting like this forever!
This is what I can only describe as a form of torture. And you know what? I said that to Baku and all he said was, "You cannot make steel without a bit of tempering."
Tempering?!
I haven't opened my eye-lids in days! Weeks? Maybe! I'm not the guy to ask right now!
"I can tell you're not concentrating." Baku's deep voice resonated within my eardrums, sounding ridiculously louder than normal due to the sheer fact I haven't heard noise in probably days.
Rolling my eyes underneath my eyelids, I refocused my attention and found my Spirit Sea after only a few heartbeats. The water was calm, serene actually, looking almost identical to a mirror at this point.
I narrowed my focus and got closer to the water. There, I studied the flow beneath the surface and felt the weight of that power underneath. With my Spirit Sense, a term Baku uses to describe any technique used to manipulate Spirit – for some it can be a pair of hands for others it can be the idea of wind pushing Spirit or gravity pulling it – I plucked a drop of Spirit from the surface and miniscule ripples fluttered about; shattering the mirror-like illusion.
That single drop of Spirit hovered above the Sea for a few moments before launching into the sky, erupting like an explosion and instantly breaking through the Spirit Wall and entering my body.
The familiar warm sensation glowed within my heart before I effortlessly moved that drop of spirit up to my right eye. Then, I awkwardly struggled to open my eyes and immediately I noticed a stark difference between the vision of my left and right eyes.
The left remained the same, although a little sensitive to the light, but through my right eye I saw a deep purple fog flow through my Domain. Following the purple mist, I traced it back to Baku's miniature body, but looking at him now with a mountain of purple and black energy exuding from his presence – he didn't look so small anymore.
"Congratulations, my Lord, you have learned |Spirit Sight|." Baku smiled revealing his absolute terror of a mouth, his gums so stuffed with sharp teeth that he must also be part shark.
And then, as if on cue, the Status recognized my achievement.
[New Ability |Spirit Sight| Learned]
[Spirit Stat Increase E+ → D]
I raised my brow in surprise. Not only did my Spirit stat increase, it increased by two ranks! I completely skipped D-!
"Finally!" I released the tension in my back and folded backwards onto the stone ground like origami.
"You see, my Lord, now that you've successfully completed the technique once – the pathways and the muscle memory that you used to complete it can be considered open – so from this point on, the technique should be incredibly simple to use, as if it were natural."
While laying on my back I repeated the process: find the Spirit, pluck the Spirit, launch the Spirit, move the Spirit, apply the Spirit.
And like Baku said, I opened my eyes again and found the Void energy that circulated from Baku, but this time it was through both eyes and it only took me as long as blinking. Blinking again, I deactivated my new Ability and continued to relax on the floor. It felt so nice to do absolutely nothing.
Then, while laying on the floor, a strange sensation began to scratch at my being.
[Olive Flinn Offers Sacrifice]
[Sacrifice of 1 Lost Soul]
[1 Lost Soul Transferred]
[Would You Like To Respond?]
I shot up off the ground and looked at Baku.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"That human is finally fulfilling her purpose!" Baku snorted.
"Okay, yes, thank you! Real explanation now!"
"My lord is a Demon Lord after all. Isn't it natural for the Lessers to offer their worship to you?" He looked at me inquisitively.
"Like sacrifices to Gods?"
"It is like that, yes."
"Can anyone offer me a sacrifice?"
"They would need your Circle, but yes."
"My Circle?" I asked.
"It is like a fingerprint for demons – a symbol that is tied to your Soul, a mark left by our Progenitor – it is our imprint of Nobility."
"The demons are Nobles in the universe? Like the dragons?" I questioned.
"Demons, dragons, angels, elves, fairies. . . there are tons of Noble species out there, but they are not all equal. Demons and angels exist on the same tier of Nobility, for example – Third Rank Nobles."
"Who are the First Rank Nobles?"
"Dragons. Seraphims. Titans. Celestials to name a few."
"It says I can respond?" I asked, moving on.
"A Sacrifice is an exchange of two powers. To summon my lord, for example, that human must have sacrificed something great, but with minor sacrifices your response can only be so influential. As you grow stronger, your ability to manipulate the values and exchanges will increase, but as my lord is now, a single Lost Soul is merely enough to deliver a simple message."
Interested in the new system, I mentally accepted the option to respond to Olive's sacrifice and immediately a new screen appeared within my vision.
—————————||—————————
Insert Text Here
Select Voice: Cain
|Reaper|
————————————————
I studied the new screen that appeared before me and read the only two options that existed within it. I mentally clicked on the text and saw a blinking cursor replace the words that once floated there. From that point forward, all of my thoughts, at least anything that I thought about with words, was rapidly entered into the box.
Almost instantly, the text box was filled with rubbish and my inner monologue. I deleted the whole thing.
Now focusing on the second option, I clicked the 'Select Voice' tab and was able to scroll down to a highlighted option, |Reaper|.
I looked at Baku, "Why is Reaper a voice option?"
"My lord, the cloak blocks every aspect of your identity. Naturally this includes your voice."
"Even online? Or I guess, via Status?" I stuttered.
"In all aspects. All realms. All means."
I selected the |Reaper| option without a second thought. I figure I can ask Olive about it when she summons me again. I am curious what this completely untraceable voice sounds like afterall.
So after selecting my voice, I mentally recorded my message to Olive.
***
On her knees in a barren tipi, Olive sat hunched over with her forehead neatly pressed against the cold ground. Upon taking a closer look, an array of shapes and symbols littered the floor around her. Her forehead was pushed into the center of the array while her palms were delicately placed upon two noticeable circles within the greater array.
After discovering the phantom in the dining hall, Olive quickly put two and two together and recognized it as a Lost Soul. Although unsure of what Lost Souls actually are, once she detected it she was given the option to Transfer it to her summon, Cain. But when she wished for the Transfer to go through, the Status informed her that she needed to draw a Transfer Circle, similar to when she drew the Summoning Circle for Cain when she first summoned him.
The left circle possessed foreign runes, crude edged characters that appeared viscous just from seeing them and slowly glowed blue. Meanwhile, the right circle depicted a lone figure with laughing phantoms around. The right circle didn't glow at all.
Until it did. The left circle ignited with light, the blue rising in brightness and flashing the walls of the tipi. If Olive had opened her eyes, she would see the blue energy from the left circle slowly migrate across the array, passing directly underneath – perhaps through – her own head.
As this was occurring, the right circle began to react and ignited with a similar sheen. The right circle glowed blue, but it possessed far darker undertones, almost as if black explosions of paint were coloring the energy.
"More. . . ." A voice erupted within Olive's mind and immediately her entire body constricted and her muscles tensed. Her legs began to cramp and her eyes grew bloodshot. Her heart started to pound rapidly as her body temperature dropped dangerously low. And, to add gasoline to a fire, the sick and twisted feeling of falling assaulted her senses.
The blue light disappeared and Olive collapsed to the ground. The dirt she flattened earlier now turned to mud from the buckets of sweat that just pooled out of her body. Olive's vision was hazy. Her ears were ringing and she had to cover her mouth, preventing her from throwing up right in her new home.
She tried to remember the voice, but every time she did shivers would run down her spine. It wasn't deep, nor was it high. In fact, Olive wasn't entirely sure it was English at all.
It was a whisper, but it was also incessantly loud and overwhelmed each and every one of her senses. Struggling to keep her mind in order for any longer, Olive's head rolled back and she immediately fell unconscious.