It turned out that Soul Burn was a pretty big deal. It was a death sentence and the reason everyone took Stamina so seriously. Apparently, if you fell asleep with Soul Burn, it meant the outcome of your death was already set in stone and you should have never been able to wake up again.
After saying this, the old man went on another shocked overload rollercoaster. He had only thrown water on Grey as a last ditch method, he didn't expect that Grey had actually been suffering from Soul Burn all this time.
Even those that didn't fall asleep from milder cases of Soul Burn, though, were forever handicapped. Their Stamina drained much faster than others, using their bodily strength was a nightmare, and even when they managed to activate their Frames, the result was short lasting and far weaker than normal.
It would have been quite the big deal if Grey wasn't pretty sure he could fix it with some time. Unfortunately, that would require burning up some of his wealth.
