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Name|: Courage
LVL|: 5 (100/1,600)
Class|: (Class selection available!)
Skills|: [Duet of Body & Soul](new!)
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[Duet of Body & Soul](active)
Harmonise your body and soul with the help of music!
Effect|: Allows the body and soul to enter a state of cohesion, increasing the effective use of the body!
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[You have crossed your first major boundary!]
[Class selections are now available!]
[Analysing…]
[…]
[Currently available class selections:]
1. Thief
2. Monk
3. Bard
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"Huh?! Why do I only have the 3 choices?!"
Jinx had shared a lot of her world through her stories. So basic information like UI and the average number of class selections were also known to him.
"Well, I guess power levelling wasn't the best idea…"
Class selections are based on your actions and knowledge. Since Cage had practically no knowledge of magic, Mage wasn't displayed.
This is why academies specialised in training noble youths always emphasised experience and knowledge over levels.
*sigh*
Cage already knew what he wanted in life: retirement. There was no way he was going to be fighting for a living. And to top it all off, becoming a musician has always been a dream of his. He hadn't been able to achieve back home due to his family forbidding him from entering the limelight.
'I choose the Bard.'
[Are you sure of your current selection: Bard?]
'Yes.'
[You have chosen the class: Bard!]
[One class skill is drawn at random…]
[…]
[Congratulations! You learned a new class skill!]
[Healing Harmonies](active)
Your music is now infused with healing properties!
Effect|: The more pleasant the music to the targets the better your music helps in healing them!
"Ooh, not bad. Luckily I love the sound of my voice and my music so there's no problem."
"Wait…I didn't use my [Force Field] at all during my first fight! Damn it…I knew I was forgetting something…oh well."
Swaying his head to the beat of the music that was playing in his head, Cage continued his journey through the totally-not-cursed/haunted-woods.
***
"For the rise and fall, demons; thou art our saviours! Tonight I slumber, for in the morrow I awaken!"
"Tonight we sleep, in the morrow we awaken!"
"Tonight we sleep, in the morrow we awaken!"
"Tonight we sleep, in the morrow we awaken!"
…
Around the centre of the Howling woods, there lay a small clearing that was never supposed to be there.
A pitch-black altar with scarlet-red engravings of a peculiar set of runes sat in the centre of the clearing.
But what remained the most peculiar would be the pattern formed by the blood-red leaves that the Maligna trees had shed. The leaves nearby, as though it had a mind of its own, flew and settled into the ominous looking magic circle.
The circle in question looked a lot like a very cliche devil summoning circle. Though if anyone from Earth were to see it, they would confidently state that the circle if compared to those found in horror movies would be the equivalent of comparing the drawing of a 2-year old's to "The Starry Night" by Vincent van Gogh.
On the outer edges of the circle, a group of 7 people could be seen chanting weird cryptic words in an unknown language as well as an occasional phrase in the human language.
In front of the 7 demon-worshippers, were another 7 people laying on the ground within a small specialized circle of the ominous circle for each of them.
Near the Alter stood another figure. He, like the rest of the worshippers, was wearing a black hooded robe. But unlike the rest, his seemed to be a more extravagant one, like those seen worn by nobles minus the demon language embroidery…
He continued to lead the chant, occasionally slipping back to Human tongue but mostly chanting in Demon tongue.
'Soon the gate will reopen itself. Dearest Elisa! I will show you what true power looks like…'
The man smiled to himself while he and his compatriots continued to chant. He looked down at his final offering that he had painstakingly prepared with a melancholic smile. His expression remained dull as he continued to chant, but his eyes peered into another with sorrow and guilt.
'Soon.'
***
A man could be seen vibing to himself as he calmly meditated on one of the Maligna trees. The music in his head was the only thing keeping him from feeling lonely and bored.
Thrown into a different world/dimension, almost losing a loved one, being labelled as an outsider etc when isolated seem like mere minor problems but all together, they weighed heavily on Cage's mind.
He already knew about the levels and whatnot his status had displayed. There were three ways for one to get stronger.
1. Body tempering
2. Mana cultivation
3. Soul cultivation
Most focused on just one, while some tread the dangerous and expensive path of levelling two paths. The problem that most faced was that the resources needed just for one path were shocking.
Cage only knows how to cultivate his soul for now unlike most. Most species didn't cultivate their soul because they just couldn't. Very few species like elves and some very very rare humans too.
To cultivate the soul, one must rely on their understanding to temper the soul and devouring soul wisps from the recently deceased beings. To this day, it is still regarded as the most difficult path to tread but still the most rewarding.
To temper the body, consumption of many rare resources like the meat of magic beasts are necessary along with harsh training akin to torture.
It is the most common strengthening method as it is the most straightforward.
Mana cultivation on the other hand requires many resources such as precious crystals like mana crystals and the purified mana cores of certain magic beasts. But even with all that, talent plays a major role in how high you can advance, unlike body tempering. The formation of magic circles within the body requires a high level of luck and talent.
If ranked based on talent:
Soul >> Mana >>>> Body (it's to show the rarity)
If ranked based on the number of users:
Body >>>> Mana >>>> Soul
If ranked on hard work required:
Body ≈ Mana ≈ Soul
At the start, the power differences are obvious with soul > mana > body. But at higher levels, the paths all equalize more or less. So there's never a better path, only a more suited one.
Cage could feel his soul and manipulate it freely mainly dude to Jinx being his |Familiar| and the [Crystallized Soul Dew] that was assimilated into his soul.
The [Crystallized Soul Dew] hadn't completely integrated with his soul yet. A portion of it did while the remainder continued to float about within his soul…waiting.
"Aaah…my soul has gotten a bit bigger it seems."
Cage had just finished meditating. He had been inspecting the small changes that had occurred within his soul.
Usually to absorb soul wisps properly, one would need to meditate and slowly assimilate it into their soul like one would when kneading more flour into a ball of dough.
But if the size of your soul dwarfed the soul of the dead being, then the wisps would obediently assimilate with no complications and difficulties one would face otherwise. But to properly cultivate one's soul, one must also slowly temper the soul so that that soul would actually decrease in size as one progresses. Only the concentration should increase.
This is where one's understanding and knowledge regarding one's own soul and souls in general come into play.
Otherwise, the quality of one's soul would actually regress.
***
Along the way, Cage didn't meet any other living beings. The same trees, the same carpet of leaves…
It was as though he was stuck in a loop, but he knew otherwise. Each tree was different. Not just in body, but in soul!
But not just any soul, like those found in old or rare trees that can develop a conscious.
No!
Human souls!
Cage could see the souls within every tree he could see, staring at him, crying to him, pleading for him to turn back and leave. But he could also see some crying for vengeance, for justice…for rest.
He didn't want to play the hero. He was no hero. He was a coward. Courage may be his name, but all it really was, was a cage. He does not, will not be shackled to ideals and beliefs that are not his own.
But he could feel his own soul urging him. No words. Only feelings. But he knew, some part of him had already begun to awaken and was urging him to march forward.
He had always been the coward. But for some reason, Courage von Heart could feel something familiar but also foreign surging throughout his being.
Courage.
He was no hero. But now with his own soul's urging, he had more than enough reason to uncover the cruelties of these woods.