Unaware of the events taking place in Redstone Town and how they would come to effect him, Casmir stood on top of the Ellaris Council Building having just watched Redfire shuttle Escape from Bluefire's wrath.
His attention was still focused on Master Bluefire standing before him, her dainty hand stretching towards his face and stroking his cheek softly. Yet although her pale and feminine looking hands appeared soft, they were actually rough and hard like stone, owing to her cultivation and body tempering.
It was a strange aspect to Elemental physiology how their bodies could change form yet their favoured appearance, the one which they displayed almost all the time, could be imprinted with characteristics that should only develop in the unmalleable bodies of other races like humans.
This abnormality was thought to be a psychological reaction that Elementals developed over time as they tried to replicate the true sensation of a natural body.
For Bluefire this abnormality manifested as a coarse feeling on to her skin. This had likely originated from her years as a Qi Refining which exposed her body to harsh conditions, causing her skin to naturally form a callous like surface.
Nevertheless, although it was an intriguing quality, Casmir wasn't concerned with it right now.
"Are you alright?" Master Bluefire asked him gently.
Casmir wasn't used to such treatment by her, but he calmly nodded to alleviate her obvious concern.
"I'm ok, just a few bumps.. a few days rest and I'll be fine."
Bluefire smiled slightly, nodding back at him.
"Good.. good.." She slowly said as she continued to look at Casmir like an overprotective mother.
A few moments later Bluefire seemed to realise how unusual she was acting, she retrieved her hand as she stepped back and the warmth in her eyes slowly faded away, reverting to her usual cold self.
Bluefire then turned around as she called out for Casmir to follow her.
"Follow me, this is the Ellaris Council Building. We'll likely be here for a few hours so you need to have something to eat or you'll feel terrible later." Bluefire said in a calm voice.
She led Casmir to an entrance on the roof, they passed by a few on duty guards on the way who all saluted Bluefire respectfully. From their positions it was clear that they would have seen her angry display of her power on the shuttle just moments ago, but they didn't deem it wise to caution her on her behaviour.
Casmir was slowly led through many plain grey stone corridors in the building, the interior of which was undecorated and designed in a very orderly and minimalistic style. Obviously these area's were for personnel to move around the building and its design was strictly functionary.
However Bluefire and Casmir soon reached a large dining hall where everything changed.
The large hall had high ceilings and various colourful decorations of a predominantly scarlet red colour, making the room stately and high class. At the moment the hall was empty and Bluefire simply led Casmir through it to reach another area where the food was prepared. This area was again, orderly and minimalistic, clearly the dining hall was designed for councillors and important guest while the other areas were not.
It was in this kitchen area that Bluefire found a staff member to cook some food for Casmir which they took to a small private eating room nearby.
The private room held half a dozen small table's, each large enough for four people to sit around and eat. Casmir and Master Bluefire sat at the closest table to the entrance rather casually, Master Bluefire crossed her legs as she watched Casmir enjoy his meal.
Casmir only needed a single bite to understand that this food must have been expensive, it was easily one of the most flavourful meals he had ever eaten. It even emitted light traces of Qi energy, clearly indicating the use of Qi energy rich herbs or meats.
But while Casmir ate, Master Bluefire watched him carefully as she placed a small book in font of him. The book was old, frayed and it even had dark stains on it that resembled blood.
"Once you're finished, open this book and read the first few pages." Bluefire said calmly.
Casmir stopped eating for a moment, asking "What is it?"
"It's a manual for Soul Energy, I want you to see if you can train your Soul Energy." Bluefire replied calmly, as if this wasn't a serious matter.
Casmir was just about to take another bite of his food when he heard Bluefire's reply.
Immediately he pushed the food aside, wiping his hands and mouth on his clothes unceremoniously as he grabbed the book and quickly opened it.
Casmir not just wanted, but needed to know everything he could about Soul Energy, after all this concerned whether the Life Giver Orb could influence his very Soul through his Soul Flame. Casmir didn't care how good the food was, he quickly started reading the book, to Master Bluefire's slight surprise.
She curiously watched Casmir read the book as she spoke.
"I understand that Guardian Ellaris gave you some words of advice, take them to heart because he is an expert regarding Soul Energy. This book was made using his and other experts advice after all."
The Book, titled Azanaca, was a general guide to Soul Energy and its many uses but even though it was only an introductory guide, it was very useful to Casmir. He was a complete novice to Soul energy so the first 2 pages that simply held a general overview of Soul Energy were very useful for Casmir's understanding.
They described Soul Energy as a companion to Qi energy but also a separate entity that could influence the world to a much greater and more mysterious degree.
The part that helped Casmir most was the explanation of how Soul Energy moves in the body and how one can control it smoothly in a similar manner to Qi Energy. After he read this, Casmir quietly tried it out inside of his body and the flow of Soul Energy felt much easier to control and manipulate than when he had used it before.
Eventually Casmir reached the third and forth page which was a diagram of the flow of Soul Energy through his body, the diagram detailed how one could train their Soul Energy.
Casmir was less interested in this part and was about to turn to the next page when Bluefire quickly stopped him.
"Don't go any further, Soul Energy is dangerous. You don't need to read past this point or it might lead you own the wrong path. Focus on these two pages first, I want to see you train your Soul Energy." Bluefire explained with a stern look.
Hearing her Casmir recalled how the Guardian had described Casmir's current state of Soul Energy, he was too inexperience and it would be dangerous for him to pursue it recklessly.
Casmir nodded back to Master Bluefire reluctantly and focused on the two pages with the diagram.
Following the instructions beside the diagram, Casmir let his Soul Energy flow around his body. Starting from his brain it flowed into his heart and then to his navel before it looped round and climbed back up his spine.
Oddly the path it followed ran counter to the path that Qi energy followed when it was cultivated.
Soon enough Casmir's Soul energy reached his brain again but instead of forming a cycle like was described in the instructions of the Azanaca, it was blocked by some unknown obstacle and the partial cycle formed by the Soul Energy dispersed into his body harmlessly.
"Huh..?" Casmir said before he tried again.
Bluefire's ears perked up when she heard Casmir's exclamation.
She watched him try once again to circulate his Soul Energy, but it was blocked once more.
"Master Bluefire, I don't understand this part of the diagram. It says the energy is supposed to flow freely back into my brain but.."
"..It's blocked from forming a cycle by some unknown obstacle." Master Bluefire said, finishing Casmir's sentence.
"Yeah..? " Casmir said in confusion, intrigued by how Master Bluefire knew what he was going to say.
Bluefire however, wasn't worried about explaining anything to Casmir. She was inwardly cursing and carefully planning what steps to take next.
'He's exactly the same.. This doesn't make any sense.. Soul Energy mutations have never been seen to pass from one generation to the next like this before..' She thought.
It took Master Bluefire a moment to collect herself after her discovery, but she quickly took the Azanaca back from Casmir and put it away.
"I'm sorry Casmir, you can't train in Soul Energy. This is.. a problem, but for now it's not important." Bluefire said calmly.
"All it means for you is that you're stuck with your level of Soul Energy for now. It's like being stuck at a certain cultivation level, unable to cultivate any more. You can still use the Soul Energy you have to execute various techniques and train with.. but you can't reach grow your core strength." She explained.
Casmir was naturally confused by Bluefire's explanation, he asked her dozens of questions about why this had happened but she was always vague and hesitant to talk about it.
The only consolation Casmir found was that Bluefire would still teach him how to properly control the Soul Energy he already had, explaining that it had many uses that Casmir could take advantage of.
"Don't feel down about your Soul Energy, most cultivators never manage to form it in the first place. You should consider yourself lucky." Was how Bluefire chose to end their conversation on Soul Energy.
Naturally Casmir was disappointed by this development, from how people had reacted to his development of Soul Energy he believed it would be an incredible benefit for him to train in.
But perhaps he had hoped for too much.
It was at this point that Bluefire suddenly stood up and left the room, telling Casmir to wait here for her while she enquired about the council meeting that Casmir would take part in later on.
This gave Casmir ample time to come to terms with this new development.
'This must have something to do with the Life Giver Orb..' he thought.
'My Soul Flame is the core of my Soul, it's where my Soul Energy comes from and therefore it must be part of the cycle that trains my Soul Energy. But it's sealed inside the Life Giver Orb..'
'The Orb lets Soul Energy out.. but does it let it back in..?' Casmir suddenly thought.
Casmir quickly closed his eyes, letting his consciousness enter the realm of the Life Giver Orb where his Soul Flame was captured. He had learned from questioning Master Bluefire that normally such a realm is not accessible, even with Soul Energy. Casmir assumed it must be some special skill associated with the Life Giver Orb that allows him to enter this part of his mind consciously.
Floating over to the Life Giver Orb, Casmir drew some Soul Energy out of the Soul Flame and then the Life Giver Orb before he tried to push it back inside the Life Giver Orb.
Sure enough, it was blocked by the Orb's crystal structure.
'Damned Orb! There must be something wrong with it, there's no way it wouldn't let me train my Soul Energy if it wants me to grow stronger!'
At this point Casmir was convinced the Life Giver Orb had another purpose, he carefully watched the Orb as he tried to understand exactly what it wanted to do to him.
'Why would that old man give me something like this.. it gives me power but then tries to make me into some kind of pu-... puppet?' Casmir thought, a sudden flash of inspiration appearing as he did so.
With this inspiration in mind, Casmir slowly pieced together the Life Giver Orb's function.
'First it expedites the process of me uncovering my Soul Flame with the Life Body Cycle, then it captures it while I'm young, inexperienced and would have little knowledge of Soul Energy. Even if I discovered its goal afterwards, it's too late, my Soul Flame is already sealed and I can't strengthen it to resist whatever it wants to do next!' Casmir angrily thought.
'That old man wants a puppet... but why..'
His hands clenched tightly as he tried to figure some way out, but nothing came to him no matter how hard he thought.
The only solace he found, was that the Life Giver Orb clearly hadn't done anything to his Soul since its capture. Meaning it likely needs something else to happen before it can take control.
As Casmir was deep in thought the door to the room opened, welcoming Bluefire back in. She was just about to call for Casmir to follow her when Casmir called out rather aggressively and frantically to her.
"Master! What exactly is Soul Energy for? Does it change your body in anyway or are their any changes it goes through over time?"
Bluefire was slightly caught of guard by Casmir's attitude but she answered nevertheless because Casmir was clearly worried about something.
"Soul Energy is another path of cultivation like Qi cultivation, some would argue a higher form of cultivation. It can be used for a variety of things but the most obvious is in the breakthrough between Qi Grade 5 and Qi Grade 6." Bluefire explained.
She was just about to ask Casmir if he was alright when Casmir fired back with another question.
"What do you mean? What happens during that breakthrough?"
At this point Bluefire frowned, furrowing her brows as she disapproved in the tone Casmir was taking with her.
"During that breakthrough, a cultivator needs to merge their Soul Core, in your case your Soul Flame, with the rest of their Soul which is hidden throughout their body. Their complete Soul is then combined with their cultivation to raise it to another level. It's an essential step and also why Soul cultivation is so important in higher level cultivation."
"If you're worried about not being able to reach that step, you should be able to even if you can't train your Soul energy." She explained to him.
Hearing Bluefire's explanation, Casmir was enlightened, if his understanding was correct then it was at this breakthrough to Qi Grade 6 that the Life Giver Orb would strike. It couldn't take control of Casmir's body with the part of Casmir's Soul that it had captured already or Casmir's remnant Soul would reject the Orb and fully resist it, likely resulting in his death.
"Casmir." A calm but slightly irritated voice said.
'I need to prepare for this breakthrough thoroughly, there must be someway that I can defend the rest of my Soul from the Life Giver Orb. Or perhaps I don't need to cultivate passed Grade 5.. I mean.. I can already do a lot with that level of cultivation...' Casmir thought to himself.
"Casmir!" A slightly angry voice called out to him.
'The Guardian mentioned that there were treasures related to the Soul, I should try to find them and I need to fully understand Soul Energy to have a chanc-'
"*THWACK* Casmir!" Bluefire called out as she smacked the back of Casmir's head sharply, rousing him from is thoughts.
"Ouch.. Hey!" Casmir cried instinctively as he held the back of his head.
It was only when he saw Bluefire looking at him fiercely, the corner of her lips twitching in anger, that Casmir recoiled into his seat like a frightened rabbit.
"Would you mind explaining to me exactly what you're playing at!" Bluefire cried out harshly, demanding an explanation.
Casmir could only apologise and lie to Bluefire with a fake explanation to his behaviour.
He wasn't ready to tell Bluefire about the Life Giver Orb, he had thought about it, but now that he knew he had until he reached Qi Grade 5 to find a solution on his own. He decided to at least wait until then to ask for her help.
Cultivating to Qi Grade 5 would take a long time yet. Although it only took him a few months to reach the peak of Qi Grade 1, it took exponentially longer to cultivate every higher grade. A fairly talented cultivator would need decades to reach Qi Grade 6, plenty of time for Casmir to scour the world of cultivation for a solution.
However as he was berated by Master Bluefire a chilling thought passed through his mind.
'Wasn't this scheme to turn me into a puppet a little too obvious..? What if..'