The orange horizon stretched across Pryxs like a large, skillful canvas. Eos shot down its glory in all majesty, standing extolled above the skies, mighty and unmoving as always.
Amidst a field of sand and cacti, in a silent, desolate wasteland, were Huweyn and Kairi, quite some distance away from the stable.
Huweyn, cracking his neck and his fingers one after the next, smirked. "There's no time to waste. I still have a lot to teach you—I'll jump straight into a quick demonstration."
Kairi, with cracked lips and a parched throat, feeling punished by the torturous heat, grabbed a pouch of water from his waist. He brought the small metal bottle to his lips. As he drank, he felt his entire body begin to cool down. The effect of the water hit immediately; he felt instantly nourished.
Wiping his mouth, he questioned, "So what will you show me exactly? Is it Soul Manifestation or something else?"
Huweyn scoffed. "Not going to tell you. Better you see it yourself first. I find everything a lot better when there's plenty of anticipation behind it."
"Alright… do your thing, you gentle giant," Kairi sighed.
Huweyn then closed his eyes. He slowly and calmly took a deep breath, feeling the air fill his lungs, and exhaled through his mouth, feeling the heat leave his body. He then extended his arm, and as he opened his eyes, he flexed his veins. Kairi watched as visible veins appeared and spread through his massive arms, one after the next.
"Behold, this is Spirit Manifestation."
Then, out of nowhere, as if all of his energy had left his face, Huweyn became quite pale. Suddenly, a bright, blinding deep-blue light radiated at the base of his palm, obscuring Kairi's vision. Then after a brief moment, the light dispersed.
Kairi watched in awe. Did he just spawn something out of thin air?
Now in Huweyn's palm was a small, curved dagger, bright and luminant, deep-blue in color, much like his Soulweaving threads. He then looked at Kairi. "Do you perceive it, Kairi? For this is here is a part of my soul."
"Your soul?" Kairi questioned, still in awe.
With a stern look, Huweyn replied, "Right. This is Spirit Manifestation. Much like Soulweaving threads, this is a part of my soul in a materialized, physical vessel, existing inbetween both the Spiritual and Physical Realms. No ordinary weapon can do much damage to this; in fact, it shouldn't do any. Only another Soul Manifestation can damage a Soul Manifestation."
"That's pretty sick," Kairi remarked in awe. The joy printed on his face immediately turned to suspicion and doubt. He squinted his eyes, glaring at Huweyn. "Something tells me there's a lot more juice behind all this—there has to be a lot of risks and drawbacks to something so seemingly conventional."
Huweyn sighed. "Always gotta kill the fun, eh, Kairi? You're right, there are drawbacks. The first one being the very creation of the weapon."
"How so?"
"Well, I formed this weapon by manipulating a decently large fragment of my soul and changing its structure. The creation, strength, and durability of Manifestations rely heavily on just how much of your soul is put into them," Huweyn explained.
"Like how the strength and structure of a forged weapon rely heavily on the materials and minerals that they're made from."
"Right. If I want this weapon to be strong and durable, or if I want to form something much larger and conventional, that would all rely on how much of my soul is poured into it," he sighed. "But that leaves me at a disadvantage."
"Why?"
"Because if too much of my soul is focused on Manifestation, it would be impossible for me to switch to any other Soul abilities. Think of something like a Soul Meter. Imagine I use the majority of that meter on Manifestation, and I want to use Soulweaving. I wouldn't really be able to do so properly. At best, I could muster one or a tiny, weak thread before my soul becomes fragmented—unless I undo my Manifestation," he then smiled, facing Kairi. "That leaves me with a question for you: where do you think another drawback comes in?"
Kairi stood in silence, lost in thought. A Soul Meter… reliance on how much is poured in… can be damaged by another Manifestation. A thought then clicked. With a smile on his face, he confidently asked,"Let's just say conjured something and I pumped more of my soul into my Manifestation than you did into yours, wouldn't mine be stronger?"
Huweyn clapped. "It sure would. Brilliant as always. Let's say you did, hypothetically, and our Spirit Manifestations clashed. You should be able to break mine with yours, which would render part of my soul damaged or lost."
Kairi sighed. "There are a lot more drawbacks to Soul abilities than benefits, aren't there?"
"You're right, there are. That's why I was so insistent on my point when I said they should only be used in potentially life-threatening danger," Huweyn retorted.
Kairi, staring at his Manifestation, asked, "Manifestations can take any shape you want, right?"
"Yup. It can be a lance, a spear, a shield—anything you will. I only conjured such a small, unimpressive dagger because my soul is already fragmented as it is," Huweyn replied.
"Nothing's wrong with daggers. You say unimpressive, I say quite beautiful," Kairi retorted.
Huweyn extended his arm once more, closed his eyes, and as he did, the bright glow of the Manifestation became a faint light. Then, the Manifestation itself withered away as if it had never existed. As it did, Huweyn took a deep breath, sighing in relief as energy coursed back into his vessel and his natural color returned to his complexion.
"That took quite a lot out of me." After a few breaths, he continued, "Well, it's time you learned what Soul Echoes are. They're taken quite seriously by Transcenders, though they're not special abilities—more like remnants of the soul."
"Soul Echoes? If they're not really anything I can use, why bother teaching me about them? Besides, what is it even?" Kairi sulked in disappointment and reluctance.
"They're quite important for information gathering and can even save your life sometimes, you know."
"Fine, go ahead. Tell me what it is."
"I refuse. Why would I need to, when you can go see it for yourself and discern what it is by yourself?"
Squinting his eyes, Kairi asked, "Seriously? Besides, how am I supposed to do that?"
"By entering a state of Soul Focus. Just enter Soul Lapsing—you should be able to do that, right?"
Soul Lapsing? He was drawn back to his time in the Sworning Caverns. That's right, I haven't used that since that one time.
"Well, here goes nothing," Kairi muttered, sighing under his breath.