"Woah!"
Plak—!
"Wahh!"
Thud—!
"Ohhh!"
Encountering a diverse collection of portfolios, manuscripts, and books gathered in one space fills me with a sense of exhilaration akin to a child discovering new things for the first time.
And for me, learning something new is the best thing.
The mysterious figure unfurled a swath of fabric, deftly affixing it to the wall with a wooden implement. With a practiced hand, he inscribed a word in the familiar script of human language, easily recognizable to my eyes.
/Soul/
"Basing on what you said to me yesterday about the soul, I can say your knowledge didn't even reach ten percent of the entirety of it. You're lacking in every part but you have prior knowledge about it, so we can work something on it."
Ugh, you don't need to point that out.
"Say, you humans happen to know soul because of a Horror, right? That is different from Horror. Gaining a soul is akin to gaining consciousness. Mindless Horror is a prime example. Even so! Just because a Horror didn't have a soul didn't mean they are fodder you can hurt very well!."
I've read these articles from yesterday which were given by him too.
A Mindless Horror is like a shell in the body that doesn't have a brain. That's why off-springs on their term are being injected with condensed soul crystals containing the 'essence'
The longer the time a Horror gains a soul, the better the power it was bestowed.
Yet that didn't mean they started small or were born through eggs. Some are just born with strong physiques yet still haven't acquired a soul or some are already gigantic while still didn't have a soul.
The point is it varies.
So how do these Mindless Horror move?
Obviously, though instinct or their innate sense.
But does a Mindless Horror need these ' essences' to gain a soul?
No!
To my surprise, some, not all of them, naturally get souls, especially if they are Horrors since they are adept and have prior knowledge about it. Their offspring, or so they like to call it, will still be injecting 'essence' to move up to the next step.
'But, wouldn't that mean the phrase 'the longer the one gets a soul, the better it's gain' will become invalid and contradict the previous claim?
Well, because there are two categories!
Horrors who are born with a soul and Horrors who aren't.
Horrors who gained a soul right after birth are regarded as geniuses but that doesn't mean Horrors who aren't born with it are disregarded. They are being taken good care and kept injecting these 'essences' like giving milk to babies.
Unbelievable similarity. Even I was shocked at first—
Pak—!
Being hit right in the hit by a small stone, I rubbed my head and straightened my back.
"Do you want this to continue or not?"
"My apologies! I was thinking about myself for a moment!"
Letting out a sigh, the figure nodded.
"That's just the small difference between Horrors and humans about soul so now let's talk about you, humans!" he remarked, "You guys are aware of the term 'soul' because of the Horror. It gave you ideas about how abilities are worked but that's all there is.
"You see, you guys are different from us. You people are born with soul."
Ehhh? Does that mean we're geniuses on our own?
"You must be thinking 'we're genius then' basing it from yesterday? It's clearly written on your face," the figure stated, "Honestly, what you guys have is an undeveloped soul. Happy? Well, if you are a Horror, it isn't. It means you are a defect, disgraced upon."
Attentive and focused, I listened intently, eagerly anticipating what would unfold next.
"It also means that your soul core, subconsciousness, inner soul renewal, soul energy input and output, and anything related to the soul is subpar."
"That's bad news right?"
"Of course, but only to Horrors."
The figure began to scribble something on the paper.
"You humans are different. Your undeveloped soul can transform into a complete soul or just a soul in the short term. Your input and output will be greater, your subconsciousness will form and become whole, and you can build soul cores, or in other words, build two or more souls."
Raising my hand, I asked, "Is there any reason for that?"
"Of course, and that will move us to the next topic,"
/Essence/
After scribbling the word down, the figure faced my direction.
"Gin, I will ask. What do you think souls are made of? Don't bother, you don't know it anyway."
"Isn't it essence?"
"…"
The cloaked figure, as if embarrassed, let out a dry cough.
"R-right. Kuhum, anyways, essence. After repairing your undeveloped soul and opening up your subconsciousness, essence is an important factor for the soul to work. Hmm, if put into your language, you can say this is fuel for the machine to work and the machine is your soul."
H-huh!? Woah, this is the most surprising thing to discover today.
If I can follow this guy's words, it meant that essence is more important than soul since if there's no essence, your soul won't work, hence your output of your abilities will be null as well.
As if to make things clear, the figure continued.
"When you use too much soul, weren't you guys sometimes say, 'my soul's exhausted'? It's because you are out of essence. Adding the fact that you guys have undeveloped souls, the output of your given could've been more lethal but in the end, it was flawed,"
"Oh!"
These possibilities…!
If I can get this done, I could get stronger with this. He hadn't even begun to instruct me in matters of combat or alchemy, yet his guidance could take me leaps and bounds to my current condition.
Oh, right. I have a few questions.
"Sir! I have two questions."
"Yes?"
"How come your undeveloped or whole soul is a deciding factor to you guys and how's that different to humans?"
The figure contemplated as he answered resolutely, "Because the soul is life. Your soul defines who you are and means that undeveloped souls mean undeveloped life. Another reason is that your essence will be decided upon it. The power given to you by nature, I guess?"
Huh?
"And how's that different to you? Well, because you aren't shackled by anything. For example, if the Horror's essence is related to fire, the power output of the ability would also be fire. You humans have the highest possibility but are also unable to do anything because of us."
Does that mean everyone has different kinds of souls, and Horrors are no exception to it?
The difference is that humans are capable of harnessing many more abilities such as fire and water whilst Horrors can only choose either fire and water.
Yet because this information isn't spread and the danger of Horrors is too great, we're unable to improve.
"As your other reason… there is right?"
"Um, yes! How come I will not start learning the essence first before the soul? If the soul is life as you said. Does that mean essence created life, thereby generating the soul?"
The figure tilted his head before letting out a groan. Even though his face is invisible, he was excluding an aura 'Is this guy even listening at all'?
"D-did I say something wrong?"
"No, there isn't. I'm an understanding being so yeah, this is natural. You are only a poor human after all."
Somehow, that irked me to the inside.
"Just say it right away!"
Scratching his robe, the figure answered, "The answer is obvious right? Why would you learn the essence first if you didn't have any soul? It's like using oil to fuel nothing since there's no engine. To add this example, it's like pouring water when there's no bottle."
Somehow, I'm starting to get it. But then, in the end, I just don't get it.
As if infuriated, the figure thumped his foot and displayed his explanation.
First, he grasped a pot of water and flung it into the air. Instead of plummeting to the ground, the water defied gravity, hovering mid-air as the figure extended his hand.
"Imagine this is your essence."
In the end, he brought his hand down and the water spilled to the ground. Yet again, he picked another pot and repeated the process, only this time, the pot also levitated.
His eyes gazed at the pot.
"Imagine this is your soul."
The pot was placed below the blob of water before it was thrown below, only for it to land on the ground.
I aimlessly watch it with confused eyes.
"That really didn't generate life."
"You idiot!"
The figure threw the pot in so fast that it even scared me for a moment but I dodged it, only to disregard the second pot which came flying into my face.
"A shell idiot!"
At the mention of the word, I finally realized while touching my cheek, and he continued.
"The essence would only leak in the process! That's why I kept saying that a soul is a tank, a bottle inside water, etc. Do you want me to give you more examples? Imagine your body without any parts at all, just your skin and tissue!"
I see!
"Without the shell or tank, one can't be created. Do you think a heart and a brain will work without your body?"
"No…"
"Seriously, now you get it!"
The figure shook his head as he scribbled words on the paper and announced.
Soul > Subconsciousness > Soul Enlightenment > Essence > Soul Energy > Soul Core > Soul Input and Output > Mediation > Essence > Soul
"Now, your training is decided. You will divide your day into two parts for now. Training your body and making your undeveloped soul whole." He paused, "Now, the former training is easy to understand but the problem is your undeveloped soul."
He mused, "The problem is not the method but time."
Hearing it, I immediately interjected.
"What? I have a lot of time on my side!"
"Really? What if I tell you that this might not be the hardest but the most taxing task to be done? You can stay here for a year or a decade just by repairing your undeveloped soul."
"Shit! It is a problem!"
The figure faced the board once again.
"Well anyway, we'll see what you got. But as for the method, we'll go with this."
/Soul > Subconsciousness > Soul Enlightenment > Essence > Soul Core > Soul Energy > Soul Input and Output > Mediation > Essence > Soul/
Amongst the ones written on the board, the cloaked individual circled something.
/Subconsciousness/
"To make your undeveloped soul as a whole, we're going to open up your subconsciousness."