My negative emotions left me but I still didn't return to my clear-headed state.
The sense of oppression caused on my psyche by the realm amplified my suppressed emotions several-fold.
As anger flooded me, I was full of hot blood and impulsiveness.
I had become something I had dreaded the most, a human ever stuck at the lower state of consciousness and un-enlightenment.
As I aimlessly roamed the amusement park the scenery around me shifted once again.
A heavy and dense fog surrounded me and I couldn't see any further than 3 meters ahead of me.
I could hear the tired voice around me in the fog.
"I am so tired... I hate this job..."
A costumed mascot walked out from the fog towards me, he was dressed up like a bear, with an eternal smile on his face.
He walked in and out of the fog, circling around me as he gradually reduced the distance.
I guess one benefit of being hot-blooded was that I was more decisive than ever and didn't waste too much time thinking.
The next time he appeared I shot him with the taser, that slowed him down for a second, but that was enough for me to close the distance and stab him to oblivion.
--------------------
Soul energy: 3000
Level up?
"Yes"
Leveling up...
Level up successful
New skills available, solution for curse found, please check stats...
"Status"
STATUS
Artifact-
Artifact level: Lvl 2 (Use 5,000 soul energy to level up)
Artifact name: The Cursed ORB of Wailing Souls (Incomplete)
Forms: Combat Knife, Soul Orb, Alice's Mark
Soul Energy: 0/15,000
Souls Housed: 1 / 4
1) An incomplete soul shard. Identity Unknown. Was attached to the knife before fusion.
2) N.A.
3) N.A.
4) N.A.
Abilities:
Knife Form-
Ability 1: Spiritual blade attacks (knife ignores body and directly attacks soul) (NEW: can spend soul energy to increase attack power)
Ability 2: Telekinetic control of the knife
Orb Form-
Ability 1: Soul House (Can store souls, NEW: Can capture if the target is in a weakened state)
Ability 2: Energy Storage (Can absorb soul energy from slain souls. Can absorb various types of magical energy. Converts and stores them as Soul energy.)
Ability 3: Spirit Senses (Can sense various types of energy, unless the opponent is much stronger can see through most illusions)
Mark Form-
(Stays on palm)
Ability 1: Can be used to contact the entity named Alice
Ability 2: Alice will ALWAYS KNOW WHERE YOU ARE!
Ability 3: Level up to unlock
Host-
Name: Luke Patterson
Age: 17
Race: Human (Cursed)
Terror Alias: The Crow of Nightmares
Terror Ranking: 9th horror of Rowkein City (previously belonged to Dr. Chainsaw)
Skills:
God-tier skills: Sarcasm, Trash-talking, Death-Seeking, Intuition, Bluffing
Peak-tier skills: Resourcefulness, Stubbornness.
High-tier skills: Parkour, Sleuthing, Shadowing, Shooting (Taser)
Mid-tier skills: Knife Combat, Unarmed Combat, Self-defense gadgets
Inflicted Status: Lycanthrope Curse (Un-initiated). After 7 days, High risk of losing control and dying.
Solution:
- Get initiated by the werewolf clan which infected you.
- The orb can use a highly condensed source of soul energy to extract the curse from the body. (core of a soul realm, ancient artifacts)
- Spend 20,000 soul energy and the curse can be completely extracted.
Hint: Level up to get more skills and more effective solutions.
----------------
Hmm, this is pretty convenient...
I also calmed my hot-blood down a little, as my level increases another ghost was killed, I could feel the mental suppression decrease.
However, it looks like I will have to go back on my word and fight for the orb.
I activated my soul senses, and the fog seemed to clear around me. Even though I couldn't see through the realm of memories I was trapped in I could sense the locations of the other ghosts and the core.
The boy ghost I had spared was still hiding in the haunted house...
Smart kid... he knows how to survive, even though his means were extremely despicable.
The remaining two ghosts were engaged in a fight near the core.
I immediately rushed towards the core.
The rabbit girl was summoning carrots... and sending them towards the other ghost, the rebellious teen who was teleporting along, walking around on the roof and the walls, trying to find an opening.
I also hid in a nearby position waiting for a position to interfere.
As soon as the teen girl leaped into the air to deliver a strike, I immediately threw my knife at her.
Feeling the danger she leaped aside, but the distraction was all I needed to get to the orb.
However, just when I touched the orb, I could feel myself slow down and move backward.
It was as if someone reversed the flow of time, while I could only helplessly see myself moving backward. The reverse didn't last long but it was enough time for the rabbit girl to position herself between me and the core.
She did have time powers after all...
She fumed and pointed at me, "Liar! I thought you weren't interested in the territory! Liars deserve to be BITTEN!"
"I did not lie! I really don't want the territory... I do need the core..."
"The core is mine hands off!"
"Well, I guess we have no choice but to fight for it" I replied grinning evilly.
"Very well!"
"Can you two stop ignoring me! The core will be mine!"
Meanwhile, the other ghost had recovered and launched herself towards me.
I sneered at her foolish actions.
She was right between where my knife had lodged itself and me.
I used my new telekinetic control over the knife to pull it towards me, stabbing her in the process and earning me an extra 1000 soul energy in the process.
Once the knife landed in my hands I turned to face the rabbit girl.
"You have seen my power, you don't stand a chance. Lil' Missy"
"My name is Ariane, not Lil' Missy, and I can literally reverse time for a few seconds, you cannot beat me."
"If you were so strong why did you get captured into the Puppet Mistress' Soul Orb?"
"I didn't know how to control my powers back then... why do you care? No ghost that has regained their capability of rational thought is weak."
"Hmm, Is that so..."
I launched the knife at her and whipped out another taser gun to dual wield.
These guns were special models and had a comparatively high amount of ammunition.
I cranked up the voltage to the max and prepared myself to fight.
I looked up to see her effortlessly dodge the knife while sending carrots my way. I rolled out of the way and shot tasers at hers, simultaneously controlling the knife to boomerang back at her. She managed to dodge the knife but was hit by one of the taser shots.
Her form grew fainter but it's not like there was a visible health bar for me to compare.
Another thing I noticed is that she couldn't use her time-reversal to undo hits.
Meanwhile, another set of carrots were sent my way.
I repeated the same strategy but she had predicted my movement this time and I ended up getting shot by one of the carrots.
They tore through my left arm and I lost all sensation in the arm.
Luckily the damage wasn't physical.
With only one taser left I Rudhed towards her blindly shooting all over the place.
By the time I reached her both of us were on our last breath, I was dragging myself on one foot and she looked as if she would disappear any second.'
Still I was in better shape than her as I didn't need any limbs to control the knife.
I pointed it at her neck and asked her again-
"So, do you surrender?"
She sighed in annoyance,
"Just kill me or whatever don't be a baby and waste my time..."
This little girl...
As thrilled as I was about getting more soul energy here powers over time were too interesting to ignore...
"Alright..."
I turned my knife into the orb form and threw it at her,
Her eyes widened in horror as he realized that she was going to be captured into the orb again but she couldn't struggle and was sucked in.
I then limped towards the orb and placed my hand on it.
- Soul Realm Core detected. Absorb? -
"Yes"
- Absorbing 10% -
- Absorbing 50% -
The realm around me slowly started to destabilize and dissolve into mist.
It seems that I will soon escape this realm, and get rid of that curse.
So what will be my next move...
Which of these organizations will know what really happened 2 years ago.
Too many questions... I need to do some recon work... I need more information
-Absorbing 70%-
As the realm started to weaken I could feel the mental suppression slowly lift from above me, and as that happened my mental state returned back to its original state.
However, that also caused me to look at my actions over the past few hours in extreme embarrassment.
That's right, I had been so stupid.
I had let my emotions take over and forgotten to think rationally.
Even when I was crazed and thrill-seeking, I would always be aware of what I was doing. Not like now when I had lost sight of who I was and started moping like an idiot.
First of all, I never choose who gets to live and die.
My past is irrelevant, and the future is yet to come, only the present matters.
I am me, and that's it.
I may not be swayed by human codes, but I have my own motto.
I will not seek to kill innocents when I have a better choice.
However, if anyone threatens my life I would not hesitate to kill them.
I will be ruthless to enemies and kind to allies.
The rest will be faced with indifference.
One thing I did learn is that unresolved mental issues are just time-bombs waiting to explode.
I will need to resolve them to prevent such an emotional breakdown in the future.
And lastly, I will NEVER EVER HUNT THOSE WEAKER THAN ME AGAIN.
Not only does hunting weaklings provide no thrill, its a waste of my genius, also that way I won't feel guilty about killing them.
They were the stronger party anyways, It's their fault for falling to my schemes.
- absorbing 90% -
I laughed to myself as I felt relieved and calm again.
I WAS BACK BABY!
THE CROW OF NIGHTMARES IS BACK!
-absorbing 95%-
What's taking this so long, do I need to capture the other ghost too, I hope not, that guy was too slimy, begging for forgiveness and using my weaknesses against me... he just gives me a nasty vibe.
Where was he anyway?
I activated my spirit senses and looked towards where the haunted house was.
He wasn't there anymore
I had a bad feeling
- absorbing 99% -
I suddenly felt a sharp pain from my chest and I saw a hand sticking out of from there, within it clasped was my still-beating heart.
- absorbing 99.5% -
The hand crushed my heart into pieces spilling my blood all over the place.
It then pulled itself out from my chest.
I collapsed to the ground on my knees.
I looked up to see the face of my assaulter.
It was the boy I had decided to let go.
I had been betrayed...
.
.
.
The realm was almost completely broken down except for the small area around what was left of the core.
"Why?" I asked him a pointless question.
In part to satisfy my curiosity, in part to keep him occupied as I transformed the orb back into knife form and levitated it behind him.
He sneered at me
"Huhu, I never planned on giving up"
"I jUsT CaMe hErE By aCCiDenT"
"You actually believed that! How stupid and naive could you be. HAHAHAHA!"
See this is why I hated weaker opponents they were always despicable, sinister and hid in the dark.
That was supposed to be my modus operandi to fight those stronger than me, I hated it when they did the same thing to me...
"but Big Brother I really must thank you... If not for your help I would have no hope of winning this territory."
I was still conscious somehow, perhaps because I was still in the realm and my body was only half dead yet.
I smiled back at him, " I am afraid it is too late for that... you should have escaped while you still could."
I controlled my knife to stab through him using the spiritual blade attack with all the mental force I could muster.
The blade glowed and released an attack consuming all 1000 points of soul energy.
His eyes widened in shock and regret for a moment before his body crumbled to dust particles and faded away.
I placed my hand back on the orb.
-absorbing 100%-
My surroundings shifted and I found myself standing where I first felt the ripple pass through the entire park.
I lifted my arm to look at my wrist, the time was 2 hours past midnight.
About the same time, I was inside the realm.
That means...
I looked down towards my chest.
My body suddenly flickered as if suffering some kind of lag, and I could see the gaping hole in my chest pretty clearly.
Suddenly a bunch of notifications bombarded me.
WARNING! WARNING!
Host in critical danger!
Attempting to speed healing by spending soul energy!
Attempt failed! The host body has suffered irreversible damage!
Searching for solutions!
No solutions found!
Deconstruct core to release soul energy?
YES? NO?
"Yes! It's not like I have a choice at this point..."
Deconstructing core to release soul energy!
Forcibly leveling up!
Level up successful!
Searching for solutions!
Solution found!
The host can activate regenerative properties of the lycanthrope curse to speed up regeneration powers and save himself, however, it will be impossible to remove the curse then.
Proceed?
Of course, proceed! I don't want to die here...
Permission granted! Initiating process!
I suddenly felt a huge itch in my chest, I could see blood vessels and other tissues stretch and attach to each other as they formed a brand new heart, muscle fibers spread out from above blocking the rest of my view.
New skin then flowed over the muscles scabbing over and healing completely.
Not even a scar was left...
Unlike I expected.. the process wasn't painful... perhaps because I was still in shock, or my sensory receptors had been blocked during the process.
Either way... I had survived.
I was alive.
This sucks...
"STATUS!"
STATUS-
Artifact-
Artifact level: Lvl 4 (Use 10,000 soul energy to level up)
Artifact name: The Cursed ORB of Wailing Souls (Incomplete)
Forms: Combat Knife, Soul Orb, Alice's Mark
Soul Energy: 20,000/20,000 (All surplus energy from the core was lost and couldn't be stored...)
Souls Housed: 2/5
1) An incomplete soul shard. Identity Unknown. Was attached to the knife before fusion.
2) Ariane the Devil Rabbit
3) N.A.
4) N.A.
Abilities:
Knife Form-
Ability 1: Spiritual blade attacks (knife ignores body and directly attacks soul) (NEW: can spend soul energy to increase attack power)
Ability 2: Telekinetic control of knife.
Ability 3: Spiritual Shield
Orb Form-
Ability 1: Soul House (Can store souls, Can capture if the target is in a weakened state)
Ability 2: Energy Storage (Can absorb soul energy from slain souls. Can absorb various types of magical energy. Converts and stores them as Soul energy.)
Ability 3: Spirit Senses (Can sense various types of energy, unless the opponent is much stronger can see through most illusions)
Ability 4 (NEW): Soul Energy Manipulation (You can manipulate soul energy at will and use it to create attacks, defenses, and other uses.)
Mark Form-
(Stays on palm)
Ability 1: Can be used to contact the entity named Alice
Ability 2: Alice will ALWAYS KNOW WHERE YOU ARE!
Ability 3: Alice can Teleport to your location at will using the march as an anchor.
Host-
Name: Luke Patterson
Age: 17
Race: Human (Cursed)
Terror Alias: The Crow of Nightmares
Terror Ranking: 9th horror of Rowkein City (previously belonged to Dr. Chainsaw)
Inflicted Status: Lycanthrope Curse (Un-initiated). After 7 days, High risk of losing control and dying.
- CANNOT REMOVE CURSE AS IT HAS COMPLETELY FUSED WITH HOST-
Solution:
- Eliminate the hidden danger of death by any of the following methods:
1) Resolve the curse: Get initiated by the werewolf clan
(Suggestions- Find and Beg the clan for help)
2) Replace the curse: Get a stronger curse attached to you, i.e fight curses with curses.
(Summon a high ranking demon or get caught by a top-ranked horror)
3) Transform the curse: Replace the DNA the curse is attached to with that of a stronger mythical beast. This will change the beast you have to transform into and also change the conditions and side effects of triggering it.
(Find and drink the blood of a mythical beast)
(HINT: Try Raiding the Treasuries of high-level organizations)
----------------------------
Looking at the solutions I almost felt as if they were mocking me...
Go and beg the werewolf clan for help, stupid!
I didn't even know where they were, moreover if Jimmy's words are to be trusted he was exiled from the clan.
Summoning a demon was possible but god knows how much soul energy I will have to spend to summon a strong one, and even if I could ever hope to stop the demon from killing me right away.
So the only solution was to look for the blood of a mythical beast.
Preferably that of a crow...
I sighed to myself as I walked home, luckily advancing the fusion with the curse didn't reduce the time I have left.
I should have known I couldn't be lucky enough to find the solution to my problem the very next day.
I would probably end up solving it at the last minute like one of those pitiful procrastinators.
Not that the current situation had anything to do with my procrastinating...
As I entered the house I immediately collapsed onto my bed.
I needed to collect more information about my targets...
But first I need to sleep,
I am too physically and emotionally exhausted after tonight.
I will do the recon work...
...
...
Tomorrow