"I mean it might just be the fact that you've been exposed to so many (souls) users recently but it's still impressive nonetheless."
Jeremy says
"Almost like you've used it before today."
He says curiously
"Uncle Jerry."
Xavier says giddy
"Anyway."
Jeremy says pulling a lighter and cigar out his pocket
"With this we can--"
("THUD!!!!!!!!!")
("...")
"uncle jerry?"
Xavier calls out turning his head
"UNCLE JERRY!?!?!"
Xavier shouts, tossing the serpent to the ground and rushing to Jeremy who collapses to his side!!!
"Uncle Jerry?!?!"
"UNCLE JERRY!!!!!"
-That Night-
"…"
"hmmm…."
Jeremy groans opening his eyes to the tent's roof
"…"
"Hm."
He exclaims trying to get up.
"AH…"
"argh--AH--AH!!"
He exclaims pausing to clutch his side in pain
"UNCLE JERRY!!!"
Xavier shouts coming into the tent
"You shouldn't move when you're hurt…"
He says helping Jeremy back down
"I'm fine…"
Jeremy says rejecting the help
"…"
-silence-
"…"
"sorry…"
Xavier mumbles sitting by him
"What did you say?"
Jeremy asks unable to hear him
"…"
"I said am sorry…"
Xavier repeats
"for…"
"…"
"for my attitude these last two days."
"I-it was improper…"
Xavier says bowing his head
"…"
-silence-
"…"
(deep breath) "Its fine Xavi."
Jeremy says reclining uncomfortably back down
"…"
-silence-
"…"
"today i…"
Xavier begins
"I did something that I otherwise thought was impossible."
He says both excited and in awe of himself
"I…"
He pauses
"…"
"I finally have something…"
He says clenching his fists
"The power to protect."
He says
"To survive on my own."
He thinks
"…"
-silence-
"…"
"But this power is nothing to me if I'm all alone."
Xavier says he's tone shifting sorrowfully as he faces the ground with a face full of grimace
"So that's why--"
"Xavi."
Jeremy calls cutting him off
"…"
"Y-yes--"
"Am dying."
Jeremy says bluntly before the words can even leave Xavier's mouth…
"AH…"
"…"
-silence-
"…"
"I see…"
Xavier responds softly…
The words hit Xavier hard.
But perhaps not as hard as he had hoped.
Is it because he's lost so much already?
That even the impending death of his savior means nothing to him.
The thought angers Xavier
But he can't help it…
He's used to losing people now.
He's learned to expect the pain
So despite how he'd rather this went…
He can't help but be more occupied with what this means for him and Mylo.
"…"
-silence
"…"
"is it the wound from earlier."
Xavier asks humbly
"Yes."
Jeremy responds
"The dagger he stabbed me with."
He says
"I didn't realize it at the time but it's a piece made by my family."
Jeremy says
"It's laced with a deadly poison at the tip that slows the heart with each passing day."
"I'll be done in 2 months if I don't find an antidote."
He says softly
"Antidote??"
Xavier thinks
"Well that shouldn't be a problem at all."
Xavier says thoughtlessly
"Why don't we just go get one back at your home it shouldn't be--"
"We can't."
Jeremy says bluntly
"Why no--"
"That's a place am no longer welcome."
He says softly cutting Xavier off once more.
"…"
"And even if I was we wouldn't make it in time..."
Jeremy says
"…"
-silence-
"…"
"I see…"
Xavier says calmly…
"…"
-silence-
"…."
"What if we looked for the ingredients and made our own antidote…"
He asks…
"You said the dagger was made in your home so surely you must--"
"The ingredients would take even longer to find than going home."
Jeremy says in response to Xavier
"…"
-silence-
"…"
"Pay it no mind I'll still make sure you make it to Pandora."
Jeremy says pulling his coat from the side and lighting a cigar
"That's with…"
(smokes)
"Or without me."
He says
"…"
"right."
Xavier responds watching him
"…"
-silence-
"…"
"I should get some rest."
Jeremy says
"…"
Xavier stays silent getting up
"I'll see you tomorrow."
Jeremy says turning to his side
"…."
"right…"
Xavier says leaving the tent
That night, Xavier pondered many things.
About Mylo.
About his family.
And about his life.
And how it seemed like the worst scenes always lingered at every corner…
It frustrated him.
But at the end of the day what frustrated him most was how he couldn't spare a thought for Jeremy
Someone he had grown up knowing.
Someone who had provided light when all he saw was darkness.
He hated the fact he couldn't care more…
But he hated the world more.
For if he had only remained in his little room.
On their little farm…
Then none of this would have happened.
He wouldn't have changed…
And everything would be fine.
He hated this tainted world…
He hated that it had tainted him as well.
("Why are they all so eager to die.")
He grimaced before lights dimmed on the day
-The Next Morning-
"xavi…"
"Xavi.."
"XAVI!!!"
Xavier springs to his feet at the shout of his name.
"wh-what??"
He responds groggy still half dead
"C'mon time for your next lesson."
Jeremy shouts leaving the tent cigar in mouth
"Haaah…yes…right…."
Xavier responds tripping over his own feet
-Training field-
"…"
-silence-
"…"
(yawns) "So…"
"What are we learning today."
Xavier asks dozing
"Today's lesson…"
(smokes)
"Is on how to use (souls)"
Jeremy says
"Huh?"
Xavier exclaims confused
"Pretty sure I already learned how to do that from yesterday's lesson."
Xavier says
"I mean look."
… ("BZZZT!!!") …
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The air around Xavier erupts!!!!
As the marks on his body begin burn bright!!!!!
Xavier tapped into the familiar feeling of yesterday!!!!!!
"See…"
Xavier says with a smile on his face
"Yes I do see…."
Jeremy responds
"To think he can call upon (souls) just from how it felt…"
Jeremy thinks
"Hey now Vic your kid might just be really talented."
He thinks smirking
"I see…"
(smokes)
"A half-wit using an ability he doesn't fully comprehend yet."
He says
"Ack!"
Xavier exclaims caught off-guard
"And in the process wasting away his life force."
Jeremy says puff into the air
"…"
"I'd power down if I were you."
Jeremy says cheekily smirking
"ri-right!!"
Xavier responds a little embarrassed and powering downs
"Good."
Jeremy says smiling
"Though it is somewhat impressive that you can summon the power based on how it felt the first time."
He says smirking
"…"
"Well then."
"Now that I have my student back why don't we begin."
He says
And so Jeremy went on to explain the fundamentals of (souls).
From everything that Lucy had once explained…
To the deeper more intricate parts of it.
(souls)…
Has three fundamental forms.
Of which…
If one was to ever claim that they mastered (souls) they'd probably mean understanding
The first form.
The simplest of the three that is.
Is where the soul energy or spiritual energy is concentrated in a singular body part.
Whether it be the legs or arms.
This form is heralded as the simplest because it is the one form people have found the most success manifesting their full (souls) projection potential. (SPP)
This…
Owes to the fact that the projection was only required in smaller or more isolated parts of the body
Which brings us to the second form.
This form is essentially just an extension of ones (souls) from one part of the body to the other
Simply put,
It's having your (souls) projected from say maybe just your arm to both your arms and legs.
As you can imagine less people have been known to be able to use this form to their full projection potential. (SPP)
It obviously being significantly harder and all that.
For reference sake,
If equated to physical energy, it's the equivalent of running a 100 metre sprint while writing a hand written 4-page essay.
Significantly more difficult I'd imagine.
Third and finally is ofcourse
The third form.
Projecting (souls) throughout every part of one's body
And yes I mean every. (._.)?
An example of this?
Well…
Just imagine doing something different with every part of your body.
In the history of the world only a handful of people have ever mastered this form.
And in cases where they did.
Most often used focus words to channel the energy in one spot before forcing it to flow all throughout their body like blood. (ahem, ahem, "One!!!"", ahem) ref. CH.8 (._.)/
This.
Is power capable of blowing up buildings and making you look like a natural disaster all on your own.
So hardly expect anyone who has this form mastered this form to be projecting their full SPP.
In earnest.
We could probably only name six people who have been known to use this form in direct correlation with their peak SPP. (._.)?
Oh and there was.
Or is a Fourth form of (souls) manipulation too
But we don't talk about that one since it makes people go BOOM….
Anyway...
Beyond this were a couple tips for the beginner if you will.
For instance,
(souls) users are constantly on a timer unless projecting below 20% where they can freely project all the time.
Just like the forms they also exist in three categories as well.
Starters- can project from 0 to 20%
Not that powerful and can be taken down by non-users if they are the superior fighter or have more battle experience.
Though it does get significantly more difficult upwards of 15%.
Experts- can project from 20 to 39%
Highly skilled individuals where the projection itself can make up for a difference in skill or battle experience.
Much rarer to find than starters but still quite a handful of them floating about.
Become highly dangerous and rarer when moving north of 30%
And finally are the Pures.
Pures- can project from 40 to 49%
Tip of advice about these?
Run.
They are walking natural disasters and the number of people who can project this high are countable…
Beyond that.
(souls) users generally hide the tattoos on their body because they give away what form someone is using.
i.e The fore arm has a huge single filled line leading to the circular mark ending at the palm of the hand for the first form, two lines for the second and you guessed it. Three for the third.
So if you meet someone nonchalantly flexing their naked muscles chances are they're strong and you should probably get the hell out of there.
And so Xavier's training began.
Properly and with the fundamentals.
In most case training these can be highly dangerous and would take years
Buuuuttttt he has a natural disaster training him so am pretty sure he'll do just fine
-Two Months Later-
"…"
"…"
-To Be Continued-