Vincent managed to sit down after that horrendous pain left his mind.
He definitely sensed that his soul became much stronger, but it wasn't without a cost.
Not only does he have a strange feeling that part of him was lost, the soul force cannot be summoned right now.
As if it was undergoing an important process and cannot be interrupted.
Vincent recalled similar feelings and information from The Threefold Origin.
'This has to be an advancement to the third stage.'
'Back then, when I reached the first and second stages, I felt a similar way, unable to use the soul force. But the cost now is surely heavier than before.'
Sitting in the dark chamber, Vincent contemplated his current situation.
Vincent…
His expression suddenly changed.
His name appeared in his mind, as if someone called him.
The tone was faint and distant, yet he could sense despair in it.
He immediately recognized the voice and his heart jumped, 'Alisia?'
Vincent hastily stood up, but then he fell down as the strength in his legs suddenly failed him.
Immediately he used his last reservation of inner essence to give his muscles energy to move again.
Feeling the strength in his legs coming back, he stood up and hastily went outside.
Emerging from the mine, a sunset, covered by trees, welcomed him.
Vincent looked around, but there was only peaceful silence.
Uneasy feelings began to creep into his heart.
He doesn't sense Alisia nearby.
If she's gone, then how should he find her?
Vincent clearly felt that her situation was very urgent. He can't choose a wrong direction or it'll be too late.
Follow…the…deer…
Vincent froze. Shivers run through his body.
He just heard someone's voice inside his head.
As tried to understand what was going on, he spotted a small deer in the distance that looked at him before jumping away.
After a brief hesitation, he immediately ran towards the direction the animal went.
…
Sometime later, as Vincent followed the deer in the distance, he finally heard something.
It was a woman's screams.
Vincent's eyes narrowed, 'This Alisia's voice.'
After passing through several trees, he spotted a small encampment of two tents.
The screaming was coming from there.
At this point, the deer has left in the other direction.
Vincent sped up towards the tent. His face was pale.
Coming closer to the tent, the screams became louder.
Arriving, he immediately moved away the curtain, not caring if he'll be noticed or not.
Inside, Vincent saw a horrible scene.
There were six women and one man.
Four of them had their faces smashed into an unrecognisable mess. Blood was dripping from what was once a face. Unmoving.
The fifth woman lay not far away from the rest, part of her brown hair was ripped from her scalp. Her jaw was dislocated.
And the last woman…
When Vincent saw her, something inside of him clicked, but it… wasn't anger or rage to his wonder.
Right now, a bulky man was on top of a blond haired girl, smashing her face, or what was left of it, in rage.
One of the man's eyes was closed and was bleeding. There was also a bleeding cut on his neck.
In his fury, he was about to land another hit to the bitch that almost killed him when suddenly he felt that the back of his neck was grabbed.
He was shocked and horrified. The man tried to free his neck from this grip, but couldn't bulge.
The next moment, darkness fell upon him.
With a bloody hand, Vincent threw away the ripped head with a part of a spine attached to it.
He kicked the headless body to the side and slowly crouched to the disfigured girl.
He was pale, weak, exhausted, but strangely calm.
Blankly gazing at what once was someone's face, he slowly touched it, "I was late…"
She was still alive, but barely. If left like that, death will be a matter of time.
He immediately tried to activate his essence, but found out that he wasn't able to summon any of it.
He had already used all reserves.
A dread began to cloud his mind.
If he can't use his nature element, then he'll have to helplessly witness how this girl's life will end in front of his eyes.
Though his expression didn't show it, inwardly, he truly started to panic.
He once again looked at her face and an idea appeared in his mind.
'This can work, but… whatever.'
Taking a deep breath, he placed his palm on her forehead.
He made a decision to forcefully draw out the essence from his seed and send it to her.
But since his essential reserves were already depleted, this will lead to irreversible consequences.
If he's lucky, his Essence Cultivation will drop significantly.
But if it's the other way around… his essence seed will be gone.
In that case, he can forever forget about even the possibility of immortal life.
Though this decision will greatly affect his future, there was no hesitation in his eyes.