Beastforged Bond

A more thorough scan of the World showed that its condition was at about 50%. It could be better or worse, but that was too hard to tell without any of the devices Beaster Bert used. Either way, my World had recovered enough to free Aureus and the others.

“Do you want to come out?” I asked once my eyes were no longer misty.

If they agreed to leave the World, I’d have a much easier time refining it. After all, I wouldn’t have to worry about endangering my Soulkins anymore. In exchange, pulling Aureus and the others out of the World would strain and likely damage it once again. But that was a price I was willing to pay.

We stayed here for a long time already. We can stay a little longer.

Aureus responded uncaringly.

Refine World!

Nox urged, waves of impatience flooding the mind.

Sapsie was in agreement with the others as well, while the Horror Tessar didn’t even want to leave the World in the first place. Only Cosmo’s emotions showed displeasure. The Cosmic Chipmunk wanted freedom, yet it agreed to stay a little longer. That, however, felt more like a forced decision. The other Soulkins had ‘convinced’ Cosmo to stay longer, which, in return, resulted in Cosmo demanding that I fix my World as quickly as possible. Preferably yesterday.

“You really want me to use a refinement technique even if it puts you all in danger?”

We trust you. Just don’t start with the seventh volume of Blastor Refinery.

Aureus mused, sounding more mature the more we talked.

We hadn’t talked much about the months I’d been in a coma, or how it affected them, but it didn’t feel like my Soulkins were tortured. Only Cosmo had suffered, though it wasn’t all that different from the life of isolation he had been used to in the Beast Temple. Even then, he had Nox, Sapsie, and the others to talk to between the month-long naps most of them took.

“I didn’t plan to practice the seventh volume of Blastor Refinery with a broken World.” I snickered, my mind drifting back to the first few months I’d used Blastor Refinery’s first three volumes.

Blastor Refinery was the only refinement technique I’d ever used. It contained a total of ten volumes, each more complex and rewarding than the last. After years of constant effort, I’d barely reached the 7th Volume by liquefying the ether in my core. Some Gates had been drained of gaseous ether and partially converted into liquid ether as well, but many were still waiting to be upgraded.

That was yet another thing I would have to do in the near future.

Either way, Blastor Refinery’s first few volumes were made for young Blessed – children. People like Daniel, whose parents had been wealthy enough to prepare a perfectly suited Soulkin to awaken his core and grant him access to ether even before he could walk. Daniel and all those like him learned how to refine and nourish their World early on, and that was only one of the myriad benefits I’d never earned. I had other benefits though, some of which were much better than awakening as a toddler.

Complaints aside, Blastor Refinery’s first volume was simple enough to be safely used by children, for it barely put a strain on the World and the practitioner’s mind.

With my Soulkins’ permission, I tried the technique.

Pulling ether out of the core, it was supposed to collide with the World’s soul energy to merge. The clash of two energies would result in a rather drastic degradation of potency and quantity, yet that problem was none of mine. I could resolve that issue with my ether control and the Insignia. It glowed faintly even now, and it diminished the effort I had to put into the merging process.

Maintaining the soul energy’s potency and quantity throughout the procedure, I formed dozens of soul energy clumps. I didn’t like the masses, never had, so I gathered them and formed a soul energy strand. Children wouldn’t be able to do that because they lacked the control and mental power at first, but that was none of my concern.

Once I was done forming it, the lone strand was guided toward the core and infused into it, completing the refinement process, in theory. It was far more practical to form several energy strands, especially with a World as large as mine. It produced thousands of units of soul energy every day, and using it all on a single strand would take half a day if not longer.

Alas, time was not my concern at this moment. Even that single soul energy strand was infused into the core much more slowly than any normal Blessed would infuse it. Why? Because I was scared shitless. One mistake, a little bit too much pressure, and the World would sustain more damage rather than recover. Testing my World’s current limits was essential, so that was what I did for the next ten hours, slowly infusing the strand into the core the equivalent of one unit at a time.

I picked up the pace a little after two hours and pushed harder as the hours passed in a blur, yet I never used liquid ether to create a more potent strand. Even if it would be more rewarding, using liquid ether on Blastor’s first and second volumes was over the top. Useful? Definitely. But it strained the World too much.

After ten hours, a considerable amount of soul energy had already been replenished, but I was done for the day. My mental power drained, I could only think about two things: food and sleep.

Done? Okay, now… hungry! Meat!!

Nox screeched when he was certain I was done.

The hunger filling my mind and being was mine, yet it didn’t belong only to me. My Soulkins were hungry as well, and I couldn’t feed them with regular food. Not until I could safely remove them from the World.

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That said, I had to feed them ether and the replenished soul energy.

Noooo. Meat!!

Nox cried out, all while gobbling down every bit of energy I spared.

That was an issue. Not the meat part – the Ferronox Mantis could wait a few more weeks for that. Feeding my Soulkins enough soul energy was the issue. My World refinement sessions would become much shorter and less effective the more I had to feed my Soulkins. Unless I had more soul energy to use.

“Why are you not here, Fabienne?” I grimaced, missing my friend. Her spells had been wondrous, accelerating my World’s natural recovery of soul energy. If I had something similar at my disposal, I’d have no problem fixing the World and stuffing my Soulkins until they begged me to stop.

Since Fabienne was still in the Bastions, or so I hoped, I’d have to rely on Essence and Elixirs again. A few decent-quality Elixirs, or a large batch of low-quality goods, and I’d finally be able to push further. Fix the World, expand it again, and live a proper life.

Grow strong enough to get Volix back.

Aureus added with a smile.

My eyes widened, but before I could say or think anything, Sapsie and Nox jumped in as well.

We want that old fogey back~

Sapsie exclaimed excitedly.

Fight Volca! Family back!

Nox hissed eagerly.

Even Tessa and Cosmo agreed, their bonds flaring with intent.

They missed Volix, and they were willing to go through hell to make sure we guided the lost phoenix back to his family. That wouldn’t be easy, and it was good that neither I nor my Soulkins thought it would be. We’d have to haggle or fight with a Spirit after all, depending on the situation.

Fight!

Nox hollered, while my other Soulkins shook their heads in disappointment.

“We talk to Volca first. If he doesn’t want to return Volix to us, we’ll figure out something else.”

Fight. I kill!

Nox said a bit too excitedly.

We were not going to kill a Spirit if we could avoid it, and I certainly hoped it would never reach that point.

Aureus and the others agreed with me, which resulted in a small discussion that eventually fizzled out. We talked a little about future plans, though my Soulkins agreed with almost everything I proposed. That wasn’t the plan, but I was too happy to talk with them to care.

It was already deep into the night when our conversation ended, and I went right to sleep, happily awaiting the rise of the sun.

The next morning, I woke up early and started the day with a quick workout using liquefied ether. Muscles sore, I checked on my World and fed Aureus and the others with half of the soul energy I’d recovered overnight. Trying the second volume of Blastor Refinery consumed the remaining energy, but it was more than worth it, for it worked just as well as I’d hoped.

Sure, the World was a bit shaky from Blastor’s second volume; however, it was still within an acceptable range. Maybe, if I treated the process with even more care, I’d be able to use the techniques of the third or fourth volume soon. But that was something for the future. Now, it was time to leave.

Taking a deep breath–

After a quick shower. I grimaced.

Warm water rained down on me in the shower, soothing the pain and soreness lingering in my muscles. It was blissful and filled me with regret when I stepped back out.

Next up, I finished washing up, put on a neat set of clothes, and went to the kitchen to raid it. Ten minutes later, half the fridge was empty, its contents safely secured in my stomach, exactly where they belonged.

“Where’s everyone else?” I asked no one in particular, releasing traces of ether in all directions to find that no one was home.

Alone but with my Soulkins’ voices lingering in my head, it was time to leave the house. But not before I checked my finances.

Good boy.

Aureus teased as I retrieved the auction house membership card and filled it with ether.

Pulling ether from the core was still a little painful, but I no longer felt as helpless as I had during the last two weeks. I…never wanted to feel like that again. The fear of helplessness pulled my thoughts sideways, making me think about the weave and Gates.

I could use the weave and Gates even when I did not have access to the core and World. So…why should I be forced to rely on either? There had to be ways to use both the weave and Gates more efficiently if I ever lost access to the World again. Not that I planned to damage my World again, but it was necessary to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

“No, wait a second.” I shook my head.

One thing at a time. Finances first, doubts later.

Infusing ether into the membership card stirred something. I felt my ether flow through a wide variety of miniature runes, enchantments, and ether circuits somehow embedded inside the card rather than etched onto the surface. As for the surface, it rippled and letters written in Common formed.

Name – Adam Savier (VIP)

Race – Human

Finances

Contacts

That was curious. The cursive letters looked glamorous, yet the content was something I was very familiar with.

Looks like the system used in the Bastion.

Aureus commented.

“Like the Nexus, yeah. It’s very similar.”

I tapped on [Finances] and wasn’t particularly surprised to see the letters shift around, forming a new section.

[Death Scythe(Intent Imbued) – Ranker – Sold for 51 platinum coins]

[Soul-binding Lamp – Ranker – Sold for 191 platinum coins]

[Wraith’s Terror(Nunchaku) – Ranker – Sold for 131 platinum coins]

[Top-grade World Refinement Technique – Sold for 83,615 gold]

[Body Tempering Technique – Leviathan’s Wrath – Ranker – Sold for 205 platinum coins]

…

…

I could even scroll down on the small card, which I did until I found what I was looking for.

[Finances – 725 platinum 32 gold]

That…was certainly not what I expected. I expected a few hundred platinum coins, but to earn this much? I was certainly filthy rich right now, though it was also all I had. Except for a few more books and techniques that might earn a few hundred gold coins, maybe even a handful of platinum if I got lucky.

Regardless, the techniques auctioned during the bi-annual auction were likely the most valuable things in my possession. And now I had nothing else I was willing to sell, leaving me with around seven hundred platinum in total.

A fortune, yes, but even the cheapest Elixirs drove most Blessed into ruin. I could only hope that I wouldn’t become one of them.