The Black Viper slowly pulled its head back preparing to strike out at Casmir and Zaya, its wide open maw spewing a putrid mixture of blood and flesh when suddenly..
..the world suddenly changed in Casmir's eyes.
The world slowed, shifting from a vibrant colourful world full of life, to a colourless black and white picture with no movement, no life, no future.
Slowly Casmir's senses faded away and the world turned dark and soundless. All that was left to him was the feeling of his own body and the jumbled and confused thoughts inside of his mind.
It was like a timeless void and as Casmir adjusted his mind to this strange occurrence, a cold sensation slowly spread over him like Death's curse coming to claim his soul.
Casmir instinctively knew that if this cold sensation spread over him completely he would die, but he was unwilling, he wasn't ready to die yet.
Suddenly, a gentle "whoosh" sound was heard as a tiny blue flame appeared inside Casmir's body fighting off this cold sensation. It appeared from no where like a beacon of hope but it was very weak, too weak to win against this cold sensation that strangled any sense of warmth.
Casmir didn't understand what was happening but he didn't want to die, nor did he want Zaya to die either so he focused all his attention on this flame.
Suddenly, as Casmir thought of Zaya and his unwillingness to let her die, another tiny blue flame appeared inside of his body.
Casmir was confused for a moment until he examined this new tiny blue flame.
In its flickering existence was Zaya's face, wearing a ferocious and unwilling expression as it fought back against this strange curse.
For some unknown reason Casmir knew as soon as he examined it that this blue flame represented his Will to save Zaya and it was fighting against the strange curse.
Seeing this Casmir was struck with a idea, he quickly thought about how he wanted to see Elena again and with a flash another small blue flame appeared bearing Elena's face. It fought wildly against the cold sensation of Death's curse by thrusting itself into the cold like a maniac.
Casmir was utterly befuddled by this strange phenomenon but he realised that each tiny flame represented a different pursuits of his, his Will's perhaps. Casmir then spent a moment trying to understand what was happening when suddenly the second tiny blue flame, representing his Will to see Zaya again, was extinguished under the cold draining effect of Death's curse.
Casmir felt as if a hole was ripped out from inside of him, he panicked for a moment but quickly recollected himself as he analysed his situation.
This strange world was a battleground for his Will, only his Will could fight of this strange cold curse he was facing. Meaning Casmir needed to summon everything that fuelled his Will if he wanted to survive.
He thought of those he loved.
In response tiny blue flames snapped into existence representing Elena, Gloria, Rose, everyone he knew, some larger and stronger than others. In response, Death's curse retreated from the parts of Casmir's body these flames appeared in but the curse was still stronger than the collective might of these flames.
Fortunately, Casmir was only just beginning, after summoning his Will to see his friends and family again, he thought about what he desired.
"WHOOSH!"
A large flame that represented his desire for strength appeared, bolstering this fiery army of Casmir's Will before a group of smaller flames appeared. They represented his lust for those around him, his greed for wealth and power, his pursuit of knowledge and many other things.
Casmir was summoning every thought, feeling and idea that drove him to live, no matter how small or mundane they were. After all, they were still part of him.
"WHOOSH....WHOOSH.. whoosh..."
Casmir frantically summoned his Will from all corners of his mind as hundreds of differently sized blue flames appeared.
The largest and most powerful flames represented his feelings for Elena and Gloria, his pursuit of cultivation and his goal of curing the Lifeless Plague. However there was one large flame that stuck out, it was a large flame shaped like a serpent that represented Casmir's desire to kill the Black Viper.
Casmir's Will to kill the Black Viper might be young comparatively but it was fuelled by a strong hatred for it and a Will to protect both his own life and Zaya's.
As Casmir continued to summon his various Will's, he grew curious about some of their origins. Sadly he didn't have any time to spare, he could only focus on his survival for now and explore his own feelings and idea's in the future.
Meanwhile the summoned blue flames that represented Casmir's Will's charged through his body like burning soldiers as they overwhelmed any trace of the curse, they acted like ferocious animals as they seemed to almost devour the curse on sight.
Eventually the army of blue flames that Casmir created became unstoppably on this strange battlefield. Slowly but surely this army of fire spread its warmth across Casmir's body, the creeping chill of Death's curse was pushed back until only a fierce warmth remained inside his body.
Casmir heaved a long sigh of relief when the last remnant of Deaths curse was purged from his body, it was as if he was given a second chance at life and that feeling almost sent him into euphoria.
However after purging his body of Death's curse, something strange happened.
The blue flames started to wave about and almost dance together, they slowly waved back and forth until they collided together, merging into larger flames, growing exponentially stronger as they did.
During this time many new small and large flames also started appearing without Casmir's prompting. They represented different parts of Casmir's Will that he wasn't consciously aware of, like his hunger for a certain food, his desire to see certain beautiful woman and many other strange thoughts.
One by one they joined like small blue birds flocking together.
Soon enough they had combined into a fiery whirlpool that eventually condensed into a single greater flame that was the culmination of Casmir's Will, his entire existence or perhaps a better description would be.. his soul.
'This is a culmination of all my Will.. the only way to describe that would be a soul.. a Soul Flame?" Casmir mumbled to himself as he watched this striking scene take place.
During this time Casmir also noticed one small purple flame appear, its unique colour drew his attention but when he focused on it his mind turned fuzzy causing him to look away. By the time he looked back, the purple flame had disappeared but Casmir paid this event little notice considering the strangeness of this place.
If an expert cultivator were here, they would be shocked and enraged at seeing this purple flame. This purple flame actually represented a different individuals Will, as for how it appeared here even the true pinnacle experts in this world could only guess.
An expert would surely have warned Casmir to find and destroy this purple flame as soon as possible, unfortunately there was no such expert to warn him of the possible dangers.
If another individuals Will manages to infiltrate into your Soul Flame it could slowly influence your soul and potentially take control over your body turning you into a mindless husk of a man.
Regardless, for now Casmir did not know of this danger he faced, he simply watched as his newly merged 'Soul flame' slowly moved towards Casmir's brain before breaking through some strange invisible barrier.
Casmir felt an all too familiar sensation as his consciousness was sucked into the realm that the Life Giver Orb resided, the large white empty space appearing before him.
There he found his Soul flame and the Life Giver Orb, the Life Giver Orb was simply floating there in silence like normal but the Soul Flame was shaking and flying about as if had its own consciousness.
However just as his Soul flame was starting to settle down, it started circling around the Life Giver Orb in a manner akin to a curious child.
Then suddenly, like a hunter pouncing on its prey the Life Giver Orb bulged becoming twice as large before it shifted towards the unassuming Soul Flame.
As it closed in the crystal structure of the Life Giver Orb split apart, creating a large hole in its shell that resembled a giant maw filled with shimmering crystal teeth. And with one quick bite the Life Giver Orb swallowed Casmir's Soul Flame whole.
Casmir was shocked by this scene, he felt his heart tighten from fear as if something worse than death was coming for him, but then....
Nothing...
His Soul flame was not harmed, it simply found itself trapped inside of the Life Giver Orb. It drifted about inside the Orb like an impetuous child occasionally ramming into the Orb's shell out of frustration, but it still looked oddly cautious and curious of the world around it.
It followed the various crystals around, cautiously extended tendrils of fire at them to poke them quickly before rushing away and watching the crystal's reactions. Unfortunately for the Soul Flame, although some of the crystals looked alive like fish swimming in a pool of water, they only appeared so and did not react to its childish teasing.
Casmir was both confused and embarrassed by his Soul Flame's actions, it was a strange feeling akin to watching your child fool around at a party.
But more important to Casmir was how the Life Giver Orb had just acted, he couldn't help but worry about why it had captured his Soul Flame, the culmination of his Will and what he believed to be some form of his Soul.
'What did that Old man give me.." Casmir thought as he recalled his meeting with the Old man and his fairy maiden.
Casmir was deep in thought for a moment before he quickly recalled his current circumstances, he was still in a life or death situation in the real world but Casmir felt that this strange event had concluded as he had regained a sense of control over his consciousness.
He looked at the Life Giver Orb deeply for a moment before he readied himself to return to his body. Casmir remembered how at the beginning of this event, time had slowed down, he believed that although a few minutes had passed to him, only a few moments may have gone by in the real world.
At least that was what he hoped or he may already be dead...
With a quiet 'Whoosh.." Casmir's consciousness disappeared from this space.
After Casmir left this space the Life Giver Orb returned to its eerie silent state, it silently held Casmir's Soul Flame inside of it like an iron prison for a young child.
However something strange happened as Casmir's Soul Flame swam around the Orb exploring it, it found a slight crack in the Life Giver Orb's shell that appeared to have been there for some time. It was unknown how this crack appeared but it seemed to represent a rupture in the fundamental structure of the Life Giver Orb.
The Soul Flame carefully prodded and watched this small crack happily as if it had found a way to escape. Occasionally a purple glint would suddenly appeared in the blue Soul Flame for just a moment, a murky clouded face appearing on the Soul Flame along side it.
This face was murky but somehow it resembled Casmir's face, its expression however was completely at odds with Casmir's usual friendly and smiling demeanour.
It wore a cold smile with bright shining eyes that gave one the impression of someone who wanted to seize the world as its plaything.