The techniques provided by the Grimoire of the Ancient were a little bit special.
Soul Extraction was used to extract a Soul in its purest form. All data of the Soul would be saved and used for the Spirit Manifestation technique.
This allowed the creation of unique Spirits that looked like their past self. The former Vessel of the Soul would be replicated in a semi-transparent body. An interesting fact about these Spirits was that a living being had to be linked to them in order to maintain their form and supply them with soul particles whenever necessary.
Zayn was that living being, who had used the memories of his former self to manifest his first Spirit.
Unfortunately, he had been too weak to properly manifest the Spirit of the Skeleton. Even if Zayn had been in his best condition, the number of soul particles available was simply not enough. He would have failed to manifest his first Spirit one way or another with the few soul particles attached to the Soul Wisp and inside his body.
Zayn's only fortune was that his first attempt at Soul Extraction was successful and it was possible for him to manifest Human Spirits in a weakened state.
That was something he could consider his great fortune when he woke up, still alive and…bandaged…
"I'm glad that you're my first, buddy!" Zayn said the moment he opened his eyes that tiredly registered the bulky two-meter-tall adonis of a man.
The Human Spirit only gave one dismissive look to Zayn before lazily roaming its gaze to observe the surroundings instead of looking at its master.
'It has more soul particles than me? No…it only devoured the soul particles of the Soul Wisp…but it has created a small part of a Soulring and is rebelling already?'
Zayn had yet to figure out where he was because he was not in the Goblin cave anymore, but that could wait for a moment. He had to establish his superiority and make sure that the Human Spirit understood his position in the hierarchy well, otherwise, more trouble would await him soon enough.
"Help me up!" Zayn thus ordered, while inspecting himself. His clothes and cloaks were torn in some places but Zayn could already tell where the ripped cloth was. The Human Spirit had used it to bandage his back and the right thigh after removing the Goblin bone that had been stuck there.
He glanced at the Human Spirit carefully and noticed that it didn't listen to his command immediately. It didn't move for a second and continued to survey the surrounding area to make sure that no monster would suddenly spring up from the darkness and surprise attack Zayn. Only then did the Human Spirit move over to him.
It bent down, held him by the shoulder, and lifted him onto his feet with a swift motion. Zayn bit on his tongue as a fresh wave of pain coursed through him when he was whisked unceremoniously but he didn't want to come across as weak to his Spirit.
The muscular and tall Human Spirit looked down at the 1.5-meter human, who didn't avoid his gaze in the slightest.
"A white Spirit. Your talent is just average but that's still fine. I will feed you loads of soul particles as long as you follow my commands!" Zayn offered, ignoring the pain that spread through his entire body.
He might not be as exhausted as before and he had stopped bleeding but Zayn was still hurt.
The white semi-transparent Human Spirit continued to look at Zayn. There was no weakness or hesitation in Zayn's eyes, let alone fear. Zayn was prepared to fight if necessary, though that didn't mean he had the physical capabilities to deliver an epic blow.
Now that he really gave it some thought, Zayn was quite pleased with himself. He had managed to create a miracle because the Spirit manifestation of the Human had worked out. The Spirit had once been a Human, who had been killed and then forced to awaken as an Undead. It was killed once and had awoken as a different type of existence.
"If you want to live as my warrior, stay by my side. If you don't intend to fight and become stronger, I will release your soul. Consider that as a repayment for rescuing me from the Goblin Cave!" Zayn gave a one-time offer to the Human Spirit, who had saved his life, without the need of a command.
He was not in full control of the Human Spirit either because the amount of his soul particles was way less than the quantity of the tiny part of the Soulring that the Human Spirit possessed.
Nonetheless, the Spirit would die the moment the master died.
'I know that you want to live…I just don't know how desperate you are to ensure that!' Zayn thought. But he did not have to wait long enough. His doubt was dispelled the moment the Human Spirit kneeled down on one leg while holding out the silver iron Warhammer as a tribute for his new master.
"I don't know where you come from, or if you have lingering memories of your past but we will figure that out once you get stronger!"
The Human Spirit's Soul Data was whole and complete, meaning that it was only in need of more soul particles to regain the combat experience, memories of the combat training it had undergone, and every other memory.
Others might think that it was troublesome to allow their subordinates to regain their memories because they could have lingering feelings, or develop the desire to betray the master, but that was not something Zayn had to worry about.
The former allowed his Spirits to be stronger and the latter was impossible because his Spirits couldn't even think about hurting him for they knew the horrific torment that would await them.
Nonetheless, Spirits were considered Immortal. As long as they had remnants of soul particles in their body they would regenerate and the wounds they had sustained would be healed. They didn't have solid physical bodies made out of bones and flesh, but they could steal receive wounds meaning that they would have to heal just like mortals.
Once their soul particles would be used up, they would turn into wisps that would return to the host, where their strength would be replenished.
As he took a look at the kneeling Human Spirit, Zayn thought about the empty page inside the Grimoire of the Ancient, or the snippet of paper, to be precise.
'I wonder if that huge dude would fit on the snippet of the empty page…'
He shrugged and got more serious as he looked around, or he was trying to. There was not much he could see, to begin with.
"Get up and stay focused."
Zayn figured that their location was just next to the entrance of the Goblin Cave which was in the middle of nowhere, hours away from the town he came from. It would be stupid to attempt running to the town in his condition, furthermore, his current state would not allow him to walk back to the tome.
It was already dark and the only source of light came from the moonlight and the cavern entrance to their left.
'Less than five meters.'
That was how far Zayn could see to his right and to the front. If a bunch of wolves were to pounce out of the darkness all of a sudden, Zayn would be dead.
However, there was a good reason why the Human Spirit left the Goblin cave on instinct.
The Skeletons couldn't leave the cave after all!