Eureka rubbed her temples as she lamented, "Are you trying to piss me off, Sebastian? We had an agreement. I'll stop working if you and your older sister are responsible enough to care for us financially. Don't you realize how important it is for you to represent yourself well in this society? What if...*cough* what if *cough*...sigh..."
Bas felt acute pain in his soul, seeing his mother fail to speak clearly.
"Somehow, you have greatly recovered your spirit, and I'm very happy about that. But sometimes...*cough* mother can't help but worry. Are you really okay, baby?"
Bas held his head down, feeling rather ashamed. He wasn't accustomed to having a mother who doted on him and held such high expectations for his success. Had he realized how she would react, he definitely would have held back his temper.
However, Bas was no longer the Sebastian King who could do nothing but suffer in silence. He was completely able to formulate his hunter powers to new levels. He wouldn't stay in the mortal world much longer or let his mother and siblings suffer, much less himself.
"Mom, that's enough," Mirocca, Eureka's eldest child, suddenly interjected as the former started to cough heavily.
The disdain apparent in her voice was visible to all but the two younger children.
Three inches taller than Bas, Mirocca King was a tall and curvy beauty currently dressed in sporty attire. The fabric of her white tank top stretched tight across her large chest while her snug running shorts left little to the imagination. Her round ass looked even bigger in them.
She turned to Bas and spoke softly but sternly, "Your mother is worried SICK about you, Sebastian. Literally! You need to tighten up. Don't just stand there. Say something for yourself!"
"Mom, I'm sorry. I got a bit carried away, and now I must stay home from school. But, can I show you something?" asked Bas cautiously.
Much of her anger dissipated when Eureka saw how sincere her son's eyes were.
"What do you wish to show me?" asked Eureka, exasperated.
"It's this!" Bas dropped back two meters from his frail mother and released his sixth-level Hunt Foundation, Fifth Class atmosphere.
Eureka's eyes widened in shock when she felt her son's current strength. Due to her illness, she wasn't using any ryms consciously throughout the day. So when she felt the billowing waves of rym releasing from her son's body, she was thoroughly shocked.
"Si...The level 10...soul power? But when did you?" Eureka King was so excited that her words wouldn't come out.
Bas scratched his head bashfully, as he had not realized his soul power had increased by a level while he was working. He had reached the tenth level and could learn a soul skill.
"I awakened another hunter soul last night, Mom! When it awakened, I received some nascent memories from our ancestors. Then, my formulation speed shot through the roof, and my hunt ryms evolved from pure soul power!" Bas mixed truth with lies as he explained his experiences to his mother.
After he was done, she nodded her head in understanding. But then her eyes nearly popped from their sockets.
Did her son say he had ANOTHER hunter soul?
AS IN TWO?!
"Dual Souls...he has dual..." Eureka felt like her brain wasn't functioning properly.
"Little Bas, that's amazing!" Mirocca smiled brilliantly at this revelation and hugged her little brother to pieces.
She was looking down on this brat, but who knew he wasn't such a waste after all?
After being released by his sister, Bas felt rather dizzy. But he was mobbed by two high and one low brats before he could recover.
"Congratulations, big brother!"
"Good job, bro!"
"Mn, that explains why you've been so strange lately," Eureka looked a lot more relaxed after hearing her son's explanation.
A hunter soul could indeed change a child's innate nature to reflect their awakened powers. Matters on the level of the soul would always have extreme results.
She tied her curly black hair into a ponytail, motioning for Bas to sit before her. Bas did as he was commanded, and his mother grabbed and tugged at his hair as she started to twist and lock it.
Bas was stunned, but then he remembered that tonight was the night he became a Rym Producer. Sebastian King had only promised to grow his hair until his potential return. Getting his hair cut today would actually be quite appropriate, but his mother's method wasn't bad either.
Besides, Bas was originally unreconciled with cutting it off. Before it began, his mother's actions had settled that restlessness from Sebastian's latent soul.
"Hunter Souls are related to our souls and the inheritance of our ancestors. The Kings are descended from a god king that died in the tragedy. The god king's body stayed pure until his death. To honor him, his DNA was preserved and passed on."
Bas was startled by this sudden flood of history. Pure body until death? DNA preserved? What exactly happened back then? But his mother kept talking so he had to pay attention.
"Perhaps our ancestor has already touched your soul, so you will experience more changes. However, you must be cautious, Sebastian. Do not let a sneaky ancestor try to return to life through you. There was once a legend in our family that the ancestor would not acknowledge us as his progeny. He may not care for you. Even though the truth isn't so ridiculous, a lesson must be learned. You must remember yourself always."
Bas felt his back full of cold sweat when his mother spoke to here.
What 'don't let your sneaky ancestor return to life'? It was already too late for that!
The Sneaky Ancestor: (┛ಠ_ಠ)┛彡┻━┻
How ungrateful was this generation, anyway? However, when he considered the strange variations to what should by all rights be his everflame, Bas decided that remaining vigilant was indeed sound advice. Who knew if another sneaky ancestor was hiding somewhere?
Wait...why did he say another?!
"Yes, mom," replied Bas solemnly.
"I expect you will still work during this time out from school," Eureka glared at her son as she spoke. "Rym formula aside, I will not raise a lazy son."
"Yes, mom."
"And clean up your room! It's a complete mess in there."
"Yes, mom."
"Oh, and another thing, since that was the..."
Two hours later, Bas finally escaped from his mother and retreated to his room. His dreadlocks hung down to his shoulder blades as he sat cross-legged on the rym formation in his room.
He spoke seriously while clapping once, "All right. Let's see what formulating with a hunter soul is like!"
Bas operated his wood class Death Sovereign Record as he galvanized that little crystal flame in his rym pool.
The entire Death Sovereign Record was eclipsed in a violet-golden light as soon as the violet crystal flame shone. The ryms in the surroundings were rapidly absorbed into Bas' body. His skin seethed and squirmed like he was being burned by his own flaming atmosphere.
Bas knew his flame spirit was cooking and refining his body to carry its power better. The power bar he needed to fill with soul power was filling up more and more, and six hours quickly passed.
Vrrrrmmmmmm...
BINK!
Seventh step of Hunt Foundation!
Soul power level 12!
"Haah," Bas released a breath of turbid air. "Peak Earth Foundation! Next is the Sky Foundation, where I can train my amethyst flame hunter soul. With this speed of progress, I can reach level 15 in two more days! Maybe I could push for level 20 and unlock two skills at once? Unfortunately, I have to work, or I could push straight to level 20 and surpass the fifth class naturally. Well, it would really take four days since I'll be picking up shifts...
"Unless I have to use a large amount of hunt ryms before I get a chance to formulate again, then I'll lose all of my momentum, tch."
Four days seemed like such a long time to the current Bas. For a millennium-old soul, it felt a bit ironic. If anyone else could hear him right now, they would definitely want to fight him. It took most hunters years to advance one level of soul power, let alone several in one week. The speed of Bas' current progression could only be called insane.
Too bad Bas didn't even have anyone to draw comparisons with.
"Okay. Now that I've reached the cusp of Hunt Expert rank, it's time to upgrade this Death Sovereign Record. The record is already a bi-fold arcane circle made up of 10,000 runes, with four additional runic imprints, each containing 10,000 runes. This means it's a Bronze Record when maximized. Mine has 6,000 runes in the arcane circle and 1,000 in each imprint. So it's only a Wood Record.
"I'll take a different route, upgrade it to a triple-layered arcane circle made up of 9,000 star runes, with five runic imprints containing 250 sky-breaking runes each. It will remain a wood record, but it will also evolve into a brand new soul record. As I evolve it, it will become more and more fearsome!