Capítulo 23: Chapter 23: Luck's Soul
In an infinite void, Luck floated — his consciousness suspended in a realm of absolute darkness.
In this place, all of his senses became null. It was as if Luck's soul was in a dormant state, forever sleeping and unchanging.
Without warning, a ripple disturbed the tranquil abyss — it was Luck's soul. A soul that escaped the cycle of life and death, one that held a deep mystery.
The ripple was like a gentle touch of a loved one, coaxing him to awaken.
...
Outside of the abyssal world, a youth's eyes slowly fluttered open. He stared absentmindedly, still in a somewhat dazed state.
As his cognitive functions slowly returned to him, he couldn't help but groan. Every time he took a breath of air, he felt a torturous pain throughout his entire body. His back felt wet, but he couldn't move any of his body parts, making him stuck in his supine position.
Luck instinctively channelled his life essence to stimulate his Alpha Cells. As he felt his energy slowly returning to him, the pain throughout his entire body intensified.
Luck felt like a piece of paper getting shredded constantly. Luck realised the terrible state of his body — his entire body was bleeding from the countless injuries he received from the explosion, causing the wet sensation on his back as he was lying on a puddle of his own blood!
His entire body was nearly completely broken and countless holes in his body were still being healed by his Alpha Cells. Due to the severity of the damage to his body, he couldn't completely heal his body or he will damage his soul. His left leg was crippled and a few of his ribs were broken. He didn't know how long he had been unconscious for, but judging from the explosion, realistically he should have been blown to bits!
His body was like a skeleton at the moment, so he guessed he had been unconscious for around a week or two.
After contemplating for a while, Luck suddenly recalled something before he lost consciousness. As the blinding light enveloped him and was quickly breaking apart his entire body, he suddenly felt the ground disappear right under his feet as he fell. After that, he didn't remember what had happened as his world went black.
After healing his body enough to move, Luck weakly lifted himself up as he surveyed his surroundings.
What came into his sight was a crystal cavern that dimly illuminated the place. He then noticed the vast, white pillars etched in runes around him, forming a circle.
Within this circle, Luck noticed a tiny object at the centre of it, emitting dark and malevolent energy. The object looked like a black teardrop, with red streaks constantly pulsating inside it.
'What is that?' Luck muttered in his heart. 'Did I perhaps stumble into one of Lord Thel's secret rooms?'
After standing up, Luck took a good look at his surroundings. He soon noticed the hole above him, completely blocked by boulders and rubble, likely from the explosion.
'Did I fall from that hole?' Luck guessed. Seeing how that red-eyed man could unravel secret entrances from the runes created by Lord Thel, Luck guessed that there had been runes hidden on the floor at the aptitude ceremony. Luck felt that the explosion had somehow destroyed the runes, causing him to fall down.
Luck sucked in a breath of cold air. Had he been in that blinding light for half a second longer, he felt that he would've been disintegrated!
Once Luck gathered himself, he placed his attention back on the black teardrop. He was extremely cautious towards it, suspecting it may be something dangerous created by Lord Thel. However, seeing as there weren't any paths or exits, Luck couldn't help but walk towards it.
As he slowly approached the towering pillars that were at least 10 metres tall, he could hear strange whispers of a language he'd never heard of.
Each word sent chills down Luck's spine. As he got closer, the whispers became audible. Despite never hearing the language before, he felt somewhat nostalgic as if his very soul had experienced it.
Once he was just at an arm's length from the teardrop, he noticed how inside the teardrop was a black wisp constantly deforming as if trying to break out of it. It kept crashing into the walls of the teardrop, yet it was futile as it didn't even shake it in the slightest.
As if detecting his presence, the wisp became calm as it stopped deforming itself and crashing into the teardrop.
'What is this thing inside it?' Luck contemplated. Luck felt as if it was sentient or it was at least agitated since it was trapped inside the teardrop, wanting to escape as it kept crashing onto the walls.
Wanting to test something out, Luck spoke,
"Can you hear me? If you can, change shape."
With his words, the flame-like wisp deformed itself into a star-like shape, probably as an affirmation.
'This thing can understand me... How peculiar. This thing was trapped here, probably by Lord Thel so it is likely very dangerous...'
It was then, that a voice suddenly appeared in his head.
'Human... Free this great one and I shall grant you immense power...' The voice that resonated in his head was deep and filled with authority. With this voice, Luck felt like he was in the presence of an emperor.
"What?! Who are you?" Luck felt stunned as he searched for the voice. Not seeing anything near him, Luck placed his attention back on the wisp.
"This voice... You are talking in my head?" Luck came to a realisation. This wisp was likely some kind of soul then.
'Yes, this great one is talking through your mind using my magic. My true language would crumble your mind into a million pieces.' The entity spoke as if proving how merciful and unfathomable he was.
Luck drew a breath of cold air once more. From his tone, Luck could tell he wasn't joking. This soul inside the teardrop belonged to a being with unfathomable power — likely much greater than Lord Thel's.
The ancient being spoke once more, 'Human, I am trapped inside this relic. The magic formation is constantly weakening my strength. Take the relic and carry me somewhere far away. Once I am free, I will grant you immense power! You will become a being of authority that will make all your enemies kneel in fear of your strength!'
Luck felt truly perplexed. He also felt quite interested in the great being's promises, however, he merely scoffed inwardly. Such promises can be made at any time! Why should he free this powerful entity that was likely trapped for a reason? Once he really freed him, who was to say this being won't instantly kill him? After all, he was aware that beings like them treat mortals as nothing but ants!
However, Luck wouldn't outwardly show his contempt. Offending this powerful entity was a foolish decision, even if he was trapped and in a weakened state.
Luck devilishly grinned to give the being the idea that he was pleased by his words.
"... Power? Will I finally be able to get revenge on all those wretched people?" Luck mumbled, showing an expression of yearning and blood-thirst.
'Yes, with the power I'll give you, the power of destruction and chaos will be at your fingertips. Those that wronged you will be turned to ash!' The powerful entity spoke.
With the being's words, Luck smiled even more.
Now he was sure.
This powerful entity was truly a vicious snake!
With his child body, the being was simply feeding him flowery words. A child like himself who experienced so many misfortunes and had not experienced the outside world was simply too easy to manipulate!
Luck knew that it was simply trying to use him to escape the relic. The personalities of these magic users have always been selfish and ruthless. Why would this being be any different?
To be a powerful mage, Luck guessed that a core trait would be cunningness and a bottomless thirst for power.
With a ruthless expression, Luck spoke,
"Great one, I will help free you. In return, I seek your guidance to help me murder all those filth!"
Luck could hear the being chuckle in his head as it spoke,
'In the name of Vitra, all things that stand in your way shall perish!'
...
Luck spent the next two months in complete isolation. After the 'exchange' between the two, it seems the entity had gone to sleep as the soul hadn't deformed since. It only speaks rarely in his mind every week or two.
Of course, Luck was fine with this as interacting with the being has always made him inwardly on guard. However, outwardly he would show an expression of complete trust to it.
In this time, after he had fully recovered which took around 4 weeks, he had been digging a straight path to the surface with his bare hands. This was the only solution. With the explosion and the fight between those mages, Luck guessed the entire Sanctuary had collapsed, thus there was no point trying to find the actual exit.
Fortunately, since he was at the diamond stage with exceptionally strong hands, breaking through the rock was extremely easy. It was like tearing through snow for him.
As for food and water, he had been surviving off his own flesh and blood, something that repulsed him greatly. However, this was for his survival.
Fortunately, he only needed to eat around once every 5 days due to the spider breathing rotation.
As Luck stabbed his hands into the rock, he suddenly felt a softer sensation behind it. 'This is dirt! I must nearly be at the surface!' Luck inwardly exclaimed. He felt a joyous emotion emerging inside him. Being trapped in darkness and solitude for a year was quite taxing on his mind.
After a few more minutes of digging as he stabbed and stabbed, his hands suddenly felt something that wasn't tangible — a cool breeze!
It was faint but unmistakable! He felt it brush against his fingertips. The sensation was so startlingly real, so unexpected, that he froze for a second. As he retracted his hands, he cautiously peered outside and breathed a sigh of relief.
It was currently nighttime.
Since his eyes had adapted to the dark for so long, if they were exposed to intense light like the sun, he would likely become blind, at least, it would be extremely painful.
As Luck broke through the last bits of dirt, Luck climbed out of the hole. He was immediately surrounded by greenery. Plants, flowers, trees and wildlife — these colours he hadn't seen for such a long time felt surreal to him.
'I'm finally out!' He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, savouring the nostalgic scent of the wind and the damp soil caused by rain a few hours ago.
Reopening his eyes, Luck looked back to the hole.
"Sorry, great one. But your promises... I can achieve them by myself!"
As for things like revenge, of course, Luck didn't have something like that. Lord Thel was already being taken care of. Even if he was still alive, he wouldn't go out of his way to hunt him down. Truth be told, he felt quite grateful. With the herbs and the body training methods he provided, Luck had already taken his first step towards the supernatural.
As Luck was about to take another step into the forest, he suddenly halted. He tried moving, but he couldn't even control a muscle!
"What?! I can't control my body..." Luck mumbled.
'Sh*t! It must be that entity's doing!'
As Luck was contemplating, his body moved without his will. It retraced back to the hole, before diving backwards!
He was falling back down at a ridiculous speed!
Due to how narrow the hole was, Luck was constantly scraping his flesh against the walls. Fortunately, as he was at the diamond stage, he wasn't taking significant damage. Instead, each time he crashed onto the walls as he was falling down, a little bit of his momentum would be removed.
It wasn't long before he plummeted back to the ground.
Boom!
A crater formed with Luck's body in the middle. In two months, all his wounds had healed so he wasn't too hurt from the fall.
'You tried tricking me, human?' The voice seemed to have a cold edge to it.
Luck felt a bead of sweat roll down his forehead.
'It is fortunate I'm such a cautious individual. You think a mortal such as yourself can resist my words?' It sneered as it continued,
'Even in my weakened state, I still hold enough power to deal with the likes of you! Brat, I had already sent a small amount of my soul power into your body. Using this, I can control you for a small duration, however, this is all I need, Kekeke.' It laughed sinisterly.
With his words, Luck's body was moving by itself as it walked towards the teardrop.
Once he was in front of it, Luck's right hand reached out and grabbed the teardrop.
'Kekeke! Brat, I wasn't lying when I said I would grant you immense power! When I take over your body, all things that stand in my way will die!' The being spoke in a sinister tone.
Luck frowned. He felt that his situation was turning extremely grim. His guess was true that this being held evil intentions, however, he underestimated its capabilities.
The being trapped in the teardrop was the demon that had been summoned by Alexander. When he was summoned, his soul had been sent here instead of with his body. With the pillars acting as a formidable magic formation, he was constantly weakened. His body had actually been sent to a different part of this place. Despite his soul being separated from his body, he still had a weak connection towards it, allowing him to control his body, however, his battle strength had been reduced immensely!
Even those weak mages had managed to destroy his body!
It had humiliated him deeply.
Although he couldn't even use 5 percent of his strength, to get beaten by literal bugs was a terrible humiliation for him.
Truth be told, his summoning had been a special one. A weaker demon should have been summoned instead of him, however, he had used this gateway as a means to escape from his annoying circumstances.
'Be grateful, brat! A great being such as myself will be making full use of your body! Then, I will repay those winged bastards and bring chaos to this world!'
With the teardrop in hand, Luck's body moved to the hole he created as he climbed.
After half an hour, Luck's body had arrived back to the surface.
'Yes! Yes! I feel the seal placed on me weakening!' The demon said.
As Luck's body was walking further and further from the hole, the entity was becoming more ecstatic.
After they had travelled another 400 metres, the entity said,
'I will finally escape!'
With his words, the teardrop began violently shaking in Luck's hands. After a few breaths of time, the crystal teardrop suddenly exploded as fragments shot out.
The wisp that was previously inside it floated before suddenly charging into Luck's head.
'Kekeke, your body is mine once I destroy your soul!'
If one were to look at Luck's body, they would feel chills. All signs of life had been drained out of his eyes, looking like a corpse.
Luck sighed in his heart. 'Is... this the end for me?'
Luck felt a little bitter. His journey had ended so soon, but he hadn't even explored a fraction of the new world he was in.
'Well, so be it... I've done all I could. If this is the end, I held no regrets...'
...
In a dark world — Luck's sea of consciousness.
In this place, a black wisp was floating around.
'Where is the brat's soul?' The demon muttered, slightly perplexed.
He wasn't new to taking over a new body. In fact, the previous body he came with to this place wasn't his original one.
Normally, when taking over a body, one would need a stronger soul to suppress the host's original soul. Taking over the body completely would be a matter of time. Once the original soul was destroyed, you'd gain complete control over the body.
The demon knew this brat was just a mortal, so he estimated it would only take a breath of time to destroy his soul. After all, he was a being who had lived for over 10,000 years! A being that has reached an unfathomable rank. Only the Archdemons and their generals were superior to him.
As the demon was floating around searching for Luck's soul, he mumbled,
'I wonder why this brat's sea of consciousness is so strange. Usually, a human's sea of consciousness was in a world of pure white. But his is as black as the first realm of the Nethervoid...'
A demon's soul was black, a human's soul was white, a beast's soul was red and an angel's was gold. All entities sea of consciousness were white or black. However, only demons had a black sea of consciousness.
So why would a human have a black sea of consciousness?
The demon knew the boy was definitely not a demon which was why he was so confused.
As the demon was pondering over the strangeness of Luck's sea of consciousness, he felt his soul tremble as a terrifying pressure suddenly enveloped him.
'What... is... this... pressure...' The demon uttered weakly. This pressure made him feel an indescribable feeling of fear!
If he had a face, he would be horribly frightened! If he had legs, he would instantly kneel! If he had hands, he would instantly pray for forgiveness!
Such a pressure could not be resisted!
It was then that a god-like aura was suddenly felt by the demon.
As if a flame suddenly appeared in the black world, a white wisp had appeared in front of the demon's soul. The white wisp had strands of purple flickering around it, causing the demon's soul to tremble.
With fear, worship and shock, the demon exclaimed in a shaky voice, 'I-Impossible! W-Why would this soul have the aura of the third Archdemon!'
The demon felt powerless in front of this soul. However, his 10,000 years of experience had allowed him to keep his bearings as he inwardly exclaimed,
'I need to leave immediately!'
The demon's soul immediately made a run for it. Despite the speed at which it tried to escape, the white wisp with purple strands intertwining with it had already reacted. It grew in size, growing into the size of a vast mountain as it immediately swallowed the demon's soul whole.
There was absolutely no resistance!
The demon's soul was like a flower in front of a tidal wave, easily washed away!
The demon's black soul that had been swallowed by the white soul was quickly being digested. With the white soul's power, the black soul immediately bursted, turning into mirror-like fragments as the fragments were kept inside the white soul.
These fragments were slowly being absorbed by the white soul.
Outside of this abyssal world, Luck was unconscious.
He was dreaming.
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