It was a calm evening, almost too calm. No noise could be heard within the area and only the sounds of footsteps on concrete could be heard.
"Good evening!"
"!!!"
Alarmed by the presence—she swiftly kicked in the direction of the sound.
*Thud*
"Don't be alarmed, it's not like you can hurt me anyways." The figure said, parrying the kick with her staff.
"Who?" She glared
"I'm here to pick you up, Nishikawa Minami."
"hmph!" She launched another kick followed by a punch.
*Fwoosh*
"As I said, I'm not here to hurt you okay?" The figure dodged.
It was quite late in the evening and in one of the streets of a suburban area, a glasses-wearing beauty high schooler seems to have been approached by a child-sized scholar of some sort.
"What a pain—the prodigy, unparalleled in academics, and practitioner of martial arts high school student seems to be just a brute." The figure sighed.
"..." Minami proceeded to dash away.
"Wait-! Really, these people are such a handful! At least let me finish!"
"Argh! Fine, I'll just let Anize-sama handle her." She said, casting a spell towards the dashing Minami.
<<----------->>
"Hmm... great job."
"Great job!? My ass, I've been working the whole night!" Naoki shouted, losing it.
At the break of dawn, one man could be heard shouting around the central square. It seems that Naoki had been processing the materials he had collected along with some others.
"Calm down kid, at least you're nourishing your soul. Aren't you a quarter through your second node?"
"That doesn't justify working someone to the bone the whole night!"
Apparently, doing any activity can nourish the soul a little bit—and while Naoki had said that, he wasn't tired at all. It also seems that people can stay awake without needing sleep. Andrew explained that sleeping or taking a rest helps solidify and cleanses the soul—so that people may absorb more and reset their limits. Essentially, you can't nourish your soul continuously which is why people sleep so that they can continue absorbing soul fragments. In some cases, not sleeping for days will result in Soul Sickness and might lead to death.
"As I thought, your soul is already cleansed—even without resting. It seems this soul of yours is quite... unique. It grows quite fast, at least compared to males." Andrew said, hand to his beard.
"That's... now that you mentioned it. I feel like I can absorb more today."
"Mhm, here you go, 50 red coins."
"This... what I made is nowhere worth 5000 Zeals."
"Go buy yourself some equipment, specially soul armor. I know someone." Andrew said, handing the soulsphere of the shop he mentioned.
"Andrew-san..."
Naoki was wrong about this person, despite being a cunning and spartan person, he still provided Naoki with information and his basic needs. Needless to say, all of his frustrations of failing and working all night have vanished, or so he thought.
"You're going to need them, I'll need you to gather materials and herbs in a more dangerous place." Andrew grinned.
"Take your coins back!"
<<----------->>
"Hmm...? I see a new face."
"Andrew-san had recommended me to your shop."
"Hmm... interesting. Right over there is some standard soul armor and artifacts that you can use with your soul cultivation. You may choose whatever you like" The person said.
The one who spoke to Naoki was a man around his 50s. He was wearing a monocle and donned a suit. It seems that he could already tell what Naoki came here for.
"I see."
The selection was quite diverse and varied, it seems there were pieces of equipment that could shape-shift, enlarge, and even unleash offensive capabilities. Unfortunately, the soul armor he could use and afford had only simple soul protection and only a light shield barrier.
"Even still, these things are still exciting!" Naoki internally celebrated.
"I'll take this one," Naoki said, selecting an amulet that had a four-leaf clover as its design.
"Hmm... A soul armor? Quite the unique choice, It would be around 4500 Zeals—are you sure you want this?"
Soul armors weren't "armors" in a sense. They were more like accessories that could be stored inside the soul and offered protection that way—as opposed to Soul Artifacts which are visibly shown. It was done so this way since most women complained that regular armor and Soul Artifacts weren't fashionable.
"Aside from the fact that it's weaker and more expensive than the rest, I'll still take it."
"Hmm... thank you for your patronage."
This soul armor seemed to have the ability to boost luck, but as to what that translates to, Naoki did not know. Nonetheless, he chose it since he needs "luck" in order to have opportunities, or so he believed. Naoki then leaves and heads back.
"It's quite common in these kinds of settings that 'luck' is the most important," Naoki nodded to himself.
<<----------->>
Domains. It seems they were pocket dimensions around the world of Zenia that nestled monsters. Unlike outside, monsters inside a domain wither to mist after being defeated—leaving only its soul fragment and with it occasionally dropping an item. It has many layers which serve as training grounds for Soul Cultivators and exist even in the Town of Avery. The one Naoki was going to was a fairly new domain and is not that dangerous on the first layer. It was located just outside of town.
"Avery Domain... how lazy can they be at naming these things." Naoki sighed.
In front of Naoki was a dimensional gate that seemingly radiate white light—occasionally bursting sparks of different colors. The people around the area of the portal were fairly many, with some even having tents for resupplying.
"You, I know you are desperate to earn but you should head back now." An experienced female warrior warned.
"Hmm...?"
"Tonight will start the Crystallite Soul Reunion, I'll give you enough Zeals to buy flowers for someone you hold dear so it's not worth risking yourself in the domain."
It seems that the female warrior had assumed Naoki was going to the domain to earn money for the Festival. Apparently, Crystallite Soul Reunion signifies the union of two lovers at war which led to the foundation of Avery. It is common for men or women to show their feelings through flowers and gifts at this time of the year.
"I'm fine, there is no need." Naoki proceeded, nodding to the woman.
"They just don't listen huh...?"
Andrew had already briefed Naoki on what happens in a domain. Once you enter, you will be teleported to a random area on the domain and the only way you can go back is by going back to the beacon inside the domain which is in the center. One can go to a lower layer, by defeating a "Drifter" which drops a gate crystal of the next layer—although Naoki did not know what they were. Naoki was tasked to bring back as many herbs or materials of value as he can find.
Andrew had reprimanded Naoki for spending so much on one Soul Armor when he could have used that money for pills. Apparently, pills had many purposes in this world, and one of them was healing. In the end, Andrew just gave Naoki the spare pills that he had.
"It's good to know that there are still a few men who go in—I wouldn't be able to bear all the stares at me all at once," Naoki said, noticing gazes of concern and pity from the surrounding people.
As he stepped inside the dimensional gate, he was greeted with a similar experience as when he was first transported into this world. He was not falling nor was he moving but he could feel that he was in a different place. As the white light dissipated, he was standing in the middle of rich flora.
"If I remember correctly..."
Avery Domain. It was a foresty area that is popular for its abundance of herbs and materials for pills. It had three monster types in the first layer which were white wolves, black snakes, and giant bees. It isn't particularly dangerous at the first layer as people who had unlocked their first soul node would be able to survive even if there was a group of any of those monsters.
"...and that should be the beacon. That's quite far." Naoki said, already questioning his luck.
In the distance, white cylindrical light could be seen. The people who entered the domain would need to go there if they want to return. Unfortunately, Naoki was transported to the very far edge of the domain.
"Ha... well at least the scenery here is nice and I can see the artificial sunset of this domain clearly."
"I should get going though—else Andrew-san is gonna work me to the bone again."
At the edge of every domain, a void could be seen. This void is different for each domain but if one falls outside the domain, there's no telling what fate awaits below. One thing is for sure, no one has come back from it.
<<----------->>
"How is this an easy domain...?" Naoki gulped, looking at the monster in front of him
*Hiss*
In front was one of the monster types, the black snake. Contrary to his expectations, it was bigger than he thought.
"I originally thought it would be the size of normal snakes but..."
*Shaa*
The snake lunged at Naoki.
"Isn't this too big!?" Naoki shouted, dodging to the side.
To say that it was bigger than normal was an understatement, It was almost as tall and thick as a tree. Luckily for Naoki, the snake wasn't too smart and could be easily dodged. Although that was the case, Naoki had only dodged to the side by instinct. He was now stiff and was unable to move due to intimidation.
"As I thought, a fantasy world is too much for a high schooler." Naoki grimaced.
Deep down, Naoki was still afraid of battles. He grits his teeth and forces himself to move. Whenever he dodged, he would retaliate with an attack of his own. Using [Blitz] on the arrows that he brought while constantly watching the snake was still a difficult task, which led him to miss a few shots. After several arduous minutes, he finally managed to defeat it.
"This creature... to think that this is one of the weaker monsters. It's more scary and dangerous as the stories make it seem to be"
Naoki has almost used up all of his arrows, even if he had brought 3 quivers. Most of his arrows were unrecoverable—with most of them being damaged or nowhere to be found. He was already exhausted after just one fight, it was significantly harder than killing Furballs after all.
"Hmm?"
"So the soul fragment crystallizes at the eye," Naoki said, witnessing the monster turn into mist and form a crystal.
After removing the crystal from its eyes, he began absorbing it. He was a little excited since this was the second monster type he had defeated. In the end, he still couldn't jump out of celebration since the battle had affected most of his psyche.
"This is..."
He began seeing the snake's memories. It seems this snake was almost 3 months old and was significantly larger and more powerful than the rest of the snakes.
"How did I end up with a boss monster right off the bat!? Luck my ass!" Naoki exclaimed.
After he absorbed the crystal, which took him several minutes, most of his wounds from dodging had healed. Although the thing that awaken his psyche was not the soul fragment, it was mostly due to frustration.
"Ha... I hope it at least increased my soul cultivation."
Naoki checked his soul...
"This..."
It seems that Naoki had almost reached the halfway mark of his second node. Although not much, Naoki remembered that it was still faster compared to the other males. That and another thing...
"As I thought, it seems every time I kill a strong monster, I get its dedicated soul node."
He was referring to the full shine of another node in his soul—It seems that it had the ability to apply poison and such, he had named it the "Poison Node".
While deliberating and questioning his own naming sense, he heard a sound...
"Hmm...?"
And quite a lot of them.
*Bzzz* *Bzzz*
"Damn!" Naoki exclaimed, using his [Blitz] to run the opposite way.
Naoki knew what those sounds were. In fact, he had dreaded it even back in his own world. That's right, it was the giant bees—and quite a lot of them.
"No one told me they attack in swarms!"
As Naoki ran for his life, he quickly reached the edge of the domain, surrounded by giant bees.
"This plot development is rigged!" Naoki exclaimed, cursing his luck.
As the bees lunged forward, he had only one choice left.
"...I hope this works."
He jumped.
The monsters, unable to think for themselves, had also followed suit and chased Naoki as he fell.
"..."
"I hope this reaches!" Naoki shouted, activating his [Blitz] node.
He had zoomed past the giant bees and approached the cliff that he had jumped from. It was a great idea indeed—however, he had activated it far too late.
"Well... I guess it was fun while it lasted." Naoki wryly laughed.
His [Blitz] soul node was still at its first node and as such, it wasn't fast and the cooldown was long enough to be useless in situations like these. If only he had killed more furballs—he thought as he fell into the abyss with the abyss. The orange tinge of the domain had quickly darkened and Naoki could hear the squealing of the giant bees.
*Splat* *Splat*
"That's...!" Naoki shouted while looking down, witnessing the bees get shredded.
One by one, the bees below were assassinated by a blue mist figure—with some having managed to get past, while some were shredded to bits.
*Scree*
A giant bee that was just by Naoki's side had lunged at him, its tail pointed.
*Pierce*
"Huh..?"
*Shaa*
The blue mist appeared to be a reaper of some kind, it had just killed the giant bee. After shredding it to bits, it had aimed for Naoki's neck.
"!!!" Naoki instinctively used his [Blitz] downwards.
As they continued falling, the reaper was halfway from Naoki until...
"It stopped?"
The reaper disappeared.
Suddenly, he fell into bright white light. That's right, Naoki had already experienced this—he was being teleported.
*Thud*
"Damn, that hur-"
*Puke*
After landing, nausea and what he had witnessed just a moment ago had caught up to Naoki. As he puked on all fours—he began realizing where he was at. It was a labyrinth dome of some sort. It was dark—though the walls and floor had emanated a weak light enough for him to see his whole surroundings.
"...Bah! This world is really not as easy as they make it in stories." Naoki cursed, wiping his mouth.
*Scree*
"Give me a break..."
It seems he was not the only one who survived the ordeal, some giant bees were able to get past the reaper. Naoki used the arrows he had left—while on the move.
One had grazed his hand, another had knocked him back but...
"I can't die here... not yet!" He shouted as he used his poison node.
Naoki had used it on his hand and fought the bees bare-handed—since he had run out of arrows. The poison did not work immediately but it was still weakening the monsters a fair bit. By the time Naoki had hit all of them, he had begun running using his [Blitz] node.
"I wonder what mother would think if she saw me right now..." Naoki wryly laughed, remembering his mother whom he cared for deeply.
<<----------->>
"I... can't move... anymore." Naoki panted while lying on the floor, his body full of injuries.
Luckily for Naoki, all the attacks on his vitals were blocked by his soul armor. Although, he wouldn't be this beaten up if he had picked a better soul armor.
"I think... this is the best time to use the pills," Naoki said, eating the pebble-sized medicine.
His injuries were starting to heal, but it was not enough. He ended up using all the pills he had just to completely heal himself. He could have used the soul fragments from the bees he had just defeated—but he needed to increase his soul cultivation after experiencing something like that.
"I do not know if this is considered luck or a curse..." Naoki grimaced while absorbing the fragments.
It seems that each one of the bees was at least a month old. Naoki had absorbed only five per set time—taking a break right after. He couldn't handle too many of the memories after all.
"It seems that these bees usually work alone... but the monsters get stronger and group together the farther you are from the beacon..."
As Naoki processed a lot of information, he had come to a conclusion. If he had stayed on the domain, he would have probably died. That in itself is a form of luck—but Naoki was not sure if being teleported on the edge was also luck...
"This is!"
After absorbing around 30 giant bee fragments, he had finally unlocked his 2nd Soul Node. Naoki was greeted with a comforting feeling once more as if all the impurities in his body have been cleansed.
"And the dedicated soul node is...?"
Honey Node—due to Naoki's absorption of multiple strong Giant Bees, it was on its 2nd node already. It seems this node can only be activated and deactivated and does not need to be used. Its effects are...
"A pheromone...?"
That's right, it disturbs the soul and attracts them to the user. It can be used to lure and attract monsters or... people.
"I think I should deactivate this for now..." Naoki said, having mixed feelings about it.
"Now... where are we?"
It was a huge dome—with the only way forward being the huge stairs quite a distance from him. It lead to a large concaved door. With no other option, Naoki proceeded to move forward.
"It's quite eerily quiet now that the battle is done."
*Creak*
The door opened by itself, and a bright light shined through the dome. Naoki had to cover his eyes for a second.
"I somehow have a fear for bright doors now..." he hesitated but eventually moved forward.
At the top, he was greeted by...
"Eh...?"
"Hmm? I haven't had visitors in a while. Welcome to my humble abode." A woman greeted, sipping her tea.
Naoki had reached to what looked like a vast meadow with a clear blue sky. In the midst of it lies a small pavilion—enough for two people. Naoki was awe-struck by the woman, it seems he couldn't resist this person's boundless charm. Naoki kept wondering—if this was also luck.