Soul of the Warrior

Getting the soul beast back over to the space fissure wasn't a difficult task. Reivyn simply walked around it, keeping a safe distance, and headed back to where Kefira and the other Mages were surrounding the tear. There were more than enough Mages in the bottom of the hole that there was little the creature could do against the restraints.

There was no need to hurry, but there also wasn't a reason to dally, either. Reivyn walked at a normal pace to get to their destination. Once they got there, Reivyn approached at an angle that Kefira would be on the other side of the tear as compared to the soul beast. It would be counterproductive if the soul beast switched targets and lunged for Kefira when Reivyn was trying to steer it into the crack.

As Reivyn approached the final destination, more Mages approached and began wrapping the soul creature up in more and more threads of Mana. It was possible to use one's willpower to harden the Mana threads so that they could push instead of pull, but not only did it require more concentration, it required more physical coordination as well. It was much easier to simply leave the Mana threads like a rope and pull it.

The Mages surrounded the creature in a complete circle. Just in case, they wanted to be able to push or pull the beast in any direction if it went wild. The soul beast hadn't shown any indication that it would do anything other than an attempt to get straight to its target, but it also hadn't been threatened with anything yet. It was invulnerable to damage, as far as they could tell.

Kefira and the Mages assisting with closing the portal had created a funnel that they placed into the crack. It had a wide mouth that the Casters could easily guide it toward, and then it narrowed into a tunnel that would direct it back to the void. The funnel's width was precisely controlled so that there was no space between the blob and the edges, so any new sparks would automatically merge with it and not come into the Realm.

As the soul creature was brought to the space crack, the speed of the sparks infiltrating the Realm once more picked up the pace, but this time there were more than enough Mages and adventurers to keep it in check. They could probably let it strengthen continuously for a couple of hours before they lost control of the beast.

The soul beast was completely wrapped up in Mana threads and using his Mana Sight, Reivyn wasn't even able to see anything other than the cacoon as it was directed to the mouth of the funnel. Reivyn, Kefira, and the Mages carefully coordinated so that the creature was led straight into the funnel. The edges of the funnel were infused with the Space/Time Affinity to seamlessly meld with the space crack.

The first change occurred as soon as the beast crossed the threshold of the funnel. A soul-piercing shriek escaped from the Mana cocoon, causing a splitting headache in everyone at the bottom of the hole. Most of the Martial Classers collapsed to the ground, holding their heads in pain, and even several of the Mages were put out of commission.

Reivyn had joined in with the other Casters to lasso the soul creature, but as they were positioning it to shove it back to where it had come from, Reivyn watched as incredibly thin tendrils began to seep through the spaces between the Mana threads. It was no longer acting like a blob. It had grown countless tentacles, and they began to whip back and forth in a terrifying manner.

The tentacles lashed out and slammed into the Mages, bringing them to their knees in agony. It didn't recoil from their touch as it had for the one adventurer that had attacked it previously, though, and the tendril jabbed into their bodies and sucked the vitality out of them. Not all of the victims were so unlucky, though, as the soul beast still seemed to have some sort of criteria for who it considered draining.

A dozen Mages were stabbed with the ephemeral tendrils, and Reivyn watched in horror as they visibly aged. It only took a few heartbeats until they turned into dried-up, desiccated corpses. The dead bodies fell to the ground after being completely sucked dry, smashed into dust, and the dust billowed out into clouds, covering everyone around.

Several adventurers got a mouth full of the corpse dust, and they bent over, gagging and trying to throw up. Reivyn thought fast and blocked his face with a Mana Shield around himself. He saw Kefira do the same, and several other Mages did as well.

"Get the creature all the way into the funnel!" Reivyn yelled. "Wrap the edges of the funnel around it and completely seal it off. Instead of passing it through the funnel tube to the void, we'll just shove the whole funnel out!"

The initial plan had been to simply use the funnel as a bridge to get it into the space crack more easily, but no plan survived the first assault. Reivyn saw no reason they couldn't adapt on the fly, and if they sealed this thing off with Space/Time Mana, it should prevent it from being able to attack them.

Another soul-piercing wail shook the people, and more and more tendrils snaked their way out of the cacoon. Two turned to four, four turned to eight, and suddenly there were hundreds of tendrils flailing about. The Martial Classers attempted to get between the tendrils and the Mages, and it worked some of the time, though anyone struck by a tendril would immediately go down. Whether they had their vitality sucked out of them or not, getting hit by the soul beast meant they were down for the count.

The Mages pushed and pulled, struggling to move the soul beast into the funnel. The tentacles continued to multiply and lengthen, and more sparks began pouring out of the space fissure. The Mana cacoon prevented them from merging with the soul beast directly, but the tendrils would snatch them up and lengthen themselves.

It had only been about ten seconds, and the soul beast had become incredibly hard to manage. It was relatively easy to stop it in place from getting at a target it was lunging for, but if it didn't want to move, Reivyn and the Mages found that it was incredibly hard to get it to budge.

Kefira and her assistants noticed the issue almost right away, and they began expanding the mouth of the funnel, bringing the creature fully into the magical contraption. The tendrils were still a problem, though, and Reivyn was worried that it might either hinder sealing it up completely, or that it would get severed and leave some soul sparks in the Realm where they clearly weren't meant to be.

"I'm going to use my Mana to make a giant sphere to compress all the tendrils back down to the main body!" Reivyn yelled out. "Get ready to seal the beast behind me on my mark!"

Reivyn abandoned his Mana lasso. He hadn't really been making much of a difference considering the number of Mages that were participating, even though every passing second, anywhere from three to a dozen Casters would be put out of commission. Most of them were just knocked down, foaming at the mouth, but the soul beast continued to drain the lives of some as well. The death count after only fifteen seconds of the fight had reached almost thirty people, most of them Casters.

Reivyn worked as fast as he could, gathering the full amount of Mana that the System would help him Cast a Spell with. He dropped a thousand Mana into a giant dome that he placed overtop the beast. He quickly lowered it into a good position. Kefira and her assistants altered the shape of their funnel to allow the dome to come down without interfering with each other.

"Stand by!" Reivyn called out. "Three. Two. One. GO!"

With a flex of his will, the Mana slammed down as it contracted in an instant. The hundreds of tendrils were smushed together, and because the dome was seamless with zero cracks or space between threads like the cacoon was, the soul beast had no way to snake its way out of it.

Kefira and the other Mages helping her immediately surrounded the entire apparatus, and they fused the edges together to create a complete bubble of Space/Time Mana around the beast. All of the other Mages simultaneously cut off their Mana threads, and the soul beast came into full view.

In the center, where it had once been a shining blob, was a terrifying death's-head. The tendrils were the individual hair strands, and the eyes of the beast were giant sunken holes. The mouth was a gaping maw, and the soul-piercing wails that emitted from it caused a visible vibration in the air. The death's-head had a rictus snarl on its face, and the hair continued to whip about in a frenzy, looking for a way to pierce through the Space/Time bubble.

The death's-head slowly turned until it was facing Reivyn, and he felt a cold chill run down his spine. All of the hair on his body stood on end as he became the focus of the deathly stare.

"Quick! Shove it through the space fissure!"

All of the Mages once more threw out Mana threads, connecting themselves to the Space/Time prison that had been sealed around the soul beast. Because it was open on the end of the void, the sparks that continued to try and flood into the Realm were able to finally merge with the soul beast. It no longer shined with a golden brilliance, and instead, a dark halo surrounded the floating head.

The Mages put all of their willpower into shoving the prison through the space crack. It slid through the tunnel easily, no longer giving any resistance as the death's-head had previously done. It took only a second for the Space/Time bubble to reach the void, and Kefira anchored it to the edges of the tear. She and her assistants worked quickly to merge the seal into the fabric separating the Realm from the void, and the hole was finally patched.

Turning the funnel into the patch at the end of the space fissure had been part of the plan from the beginning, though the way they got there was a little different than imagined.

All the Mages, Reivyn and Kefira included, slumped to the ground in relief. They maintained their contact with the seal with their Mana, but because of the nature of how the Realm worked, it seemed as if the soul sparks and the soul beast on the other side could no longer sense them. There was no external pressure exerted on the seal, and everyone heaved a sigh of relief.

After a brief moment to recover, Kefira once more got up and continued her job of sealing the space crack. Reivyn and the other Mages with tangential Space talents joined her. Most of the heavy lifting had already been taken care of in preparation for this operation, so it only took another ten minutes until the space crack was finally completely removed from existence. There wasn't even a hint of where it had previously existed.

"Officers! Let's get a head count going," Kayzor immediately took charge. "I don't know who we lost, and their corpses have been completely destroyed, so we need the units to identify them. Let's get some medical personnel down here, too, and have them look at the injured. We have no idea what the lasting effects will be of coming into contact with that monstrosity."

Reivyn walked over to Kefira, and the two of them sat down next to each other as there was a flurry of activity all around. Kayzor's officers and soldiers were well-disciplined, and the headcounts were done very quickly. The medical personnel checked out the injured people.

Those that had only been injured only had a shock to their vitality and a drop in Health points. Such an injury was harder to recover from, but it only required a bit more time than a physical injury. Reivyn himself had suffered the same kind of damage multiple times before, and he knew that it wasn't anything serious in the long run.

Just a glancing blow from the soul creature had caused hundreds of points of vitality damage. It was easy to see how those that had sustained continuous draining had died so quickly. Reivyn was surprised that Kayzor had been hardly fazed when he had had the entire blob pass through him.

This soul beast seems to have done considerably more damage than the entity that chased me in the void, Reivyn thought. Maybe it has something to do with the laws of the Realm? I don't know, and it doesn't really matter, all things considered.

The soul entity that had chased him in the void had been made up of thousands of more soul sparks than this creature had been, but it seemed as if the rules worked differently outside of the Realm. It made sense to Reivyn. Each Realm had its own System governing them, so it wasn't much of a stretch to believe that there was some other form of System or rule set in place for the void between Realms.

"You ok?" Reivyn asked Kefira after a while.

"Yeah," Kefira said, leaning her head on Reivyn's arm. "It was kind of scary, but think about the Life Experience this encounter will give us."

Reivyn gave her a sideways look.

"You sound even crazier about advancing than I am," Reivyn chuckled.

"Crazy isn't the word I would use," Kefira shook her head. "I would say 'enthusiastic.' My enthusiasm for advancing is higher than yours."

"Sure, sure."

"Hey! Are you implying that I'm crazy?!" Kefira sat up straight and glared at Reivyn.

"And what's wrong with that?" Reivyn smiled at her. "Crazy attracts crazy, I would say."

Kefira considered the statement for a second before shrugging.

"There's some truth to that."

A set of armored boots stepped in front of the pair. They followed the legs up to the person they belonged to to see Kayzor looking down on them. Kefira sunk into herself a little, a look of embarrassment on her face. Reivyn threw his arm over her shoulder and smiled up at her brother. Kefira let herself be pulled to Reivyn's side, not offering any resistance.

"Fraternizing with a captain?" Kayzor quirked an eyebrow.

Kefira leaped to her feet, pointing her finger in her brother's face.

"Don't give me that! I'm not officially in the chain of command, and he's my Liaison!" Kefira fumed.

Kayzor stared at Kefira with a deadpan look for several seconds. Kefira slowly lowered her hand as she realized what she had just said.

"He's your Liaison." It was a statement.

"Yes?" Kefira whispered, looking away.

"You do realize that the one-time appointment of an Imperial Liaison is something that is carefully considered and orchestrated by our parents, right? What are you going to tell them? You wasted all of their planning and effort on a captain of a Tier 3 Region."

Kefira put her hands on her hips, regaining her confidence as she struck a pose filled with attitude.

"Hah! I dare them to say that they've found me someone better!" Kefira arrogantly declared. "There are things involved here that I'm not at liberty to disclose at this time, but once you learn all the things involved, you'll think back to what you just said and slap yourself in the face!"

"Really?"

"I guarantee it."

"Well, in that case, I believe you," Kayzor stated matter of factly.

"You do?" Kefira asked in surprise, losing some of her haughty fire.

"Of course," Kayzor nodded. "Who else has always had your back, always standing up for your decisions?"

"Sophia," Kefira immediately replied.

"Besides Sophia!" Kayzor huffed.

"You asked..."

"Anyway, I've seen how this boy..."

"Man," Kefira interrupted.

"... I've seen how this man reacts under pressure, and I felt the power he had in that compression Spell he made up on the spot. He might not be as talented as you, but he's got promise."

Kefira stared at her brother for a few seconds before throwing her head back and laughing. Serilla had been standing to the side, in the background like she typically was, but Kayzor glanced at her as even she snickered.

"What's so funny?" Kayzor directed back to Kefira.

"You'll understand one day, when you're older," Kefira patted Kayzor on the shoulder.

"Hey, now! I haven't said that to you in a long time."

"I bet you'll slap yourself twice," Kefira giggled behind her hand.

Reivyn simply remained sitting, watching the affectionate faux argument between siblings. He suddenly had a pang of homesickness, missing the similar interactions between himself and his sisters.

"What was that look?" Kayzor questioned, bringing Reivyn out of his musings. He didn't expect that Kayzor had been keeping a watchful eye on himself. He stood up so as not to be rude when talking to Kefira's brother.

"I was just thinking about my sisters," Reivyn explained. "It feels like it's only been a couple of months since the last time I saw them, but it's been over three years, now."

"Oh? Do your duties as a military captain in Drallo keep you so busy that you can't meet with your family? Or are they in a different city from where you accepted your commission?" Kayzor asked. He seemed genuinely curious.

"Nah, this battalion is made up of volunteer adventurers," Reivyn explained. "I've only been in the army for a couple of months."

"And you're already a captain?" Kayzor had a hint of respect in his voice.

"I'm exceptional," Reivyn shrugged.

"Pft, quit bragging," Kayzor rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, the entire reason we were down here investigating the space crack in the first place is because I was familiar with this place..."

Reivyn spent a couple of minutes explaining the situation. There was no reason to hide it. He had already revealed everything about his circumstances to the battalion officers, anyway, and this was one of Kefira's family members. One of the ones she was apparently on really good terms with. He didn't know how the sibling rivalry worked in Kefira's family, but he was glad to see it wasn't the stereotypical all-vs-all of an imperial family vying for succession.

Kayzor nodded along as Reivyn told his tale, not revealing what he thought of the situation with his facial expressions.

"So you're actually from a Tier 1 Region," Kayzor stated.

"His mother is a displaced Tier 4 Imperial Princess," Kefira defended him.

"And you believe that?" Kayzor asked, raising an eyebrow at his sister.

"Of course," Kefira nodded.

"Ok. I believe you, and if you believe him, I'll take his word for it until we learn differently."

"I don't know how you're going to verify it," Reivyn said. "My family is tens of millions of miles away, and who knows how many teleports are between here and there. Kefira told me it would probably take years before I hear back from the commissions I've placed to try and figure out the path."

"Sure, it would take years just waiting on the goodwill of people from the Adventurer's Guild, but if you had a large force and enough money to travel from point to point yourself, it would be much quicker," Kayzor pointed out. "You wouldn't even have to have the scouts make it all the way to the final destination. They would just need to travel far enough that the name of your empire is common knowledge or easily discoverable."

"And how much would that cost?" Reivyn asked rhetorically. "More than I have. And where would the manpower come from? I don't suppose I could enlist some of your imperial soldiers to take the task on?"

"Of course not," Kayzor easily shot it down. "But what if you had your own subordinates? The Adventurer's Guild, whether passively waiting for news or actively sending scouting Parties of your own, is unreliable; however, if you had your own trusted subordinates do it... Well, that's a different thing entirely."

Hmm, he has a good point, Reivyn stroked his chin in contemplation. My parents had their own subordinates to handle all kinds of tasks for them, but they also had a legacy and a lot of wealth behind them. They also had access to a Tier 4 Dungeon Gate Key where they could replenish their wealth once a month.

My resources are considerably less than theirs. I would need to form another Adventurer Party in Wispan and tackle the local Dungeons over and over. I might even need to go on an expedition with a Party into a Tier 5 Region. I have the time...

"That's definitely something to consider," Reivyn said. "Thanks for the advice."

"No problem," Kayzor nodded. "Every prince should have their own loyal subordinates."

"What about you, Kefira?" Reivyn turned to her. "You got more loyal followers in Wispan other than Serilla, here?"

"Of course," Kefira shrugged like it was no big deal. Reivyn actually wasn't surprised by the answer. "Serilla is just my most trusted follower. Her entire family is pledged to my service."

"How does that work, what with the succession and all?" Reivyn asked.

"We can get into that another time," Kefira dismissed the question for now. "Just know that it doesn't interfere with succession or their loyalty to my family as a whole."

"Well, if there's nothing left to do down here, I figure it's time to get topside for the debriefing," Kayzor said. "Kefira, round up your officers' staff, and meet me up top in an hour."

"Yes, brother," Kefira gave him a cheeky grin. Kayzor paused from turning away for a second, glancing at Kefira, but then he rolled his eyes and strolled away.

"I wonder what his reaction would be if I addressed him the same way?" Reivyn mused as he watched Kayzor walk away.

"Oh, I would love to see that," Kefira giggled. "But right now probably isn't the best time. Maybe in a more private setting."

"Heh, you know I was just joking, right?" Reivyn eyed her sideways.

"Yeah, but I wasn't," Kefira stuck her tongue out.