The spirit flames dispersed leaving no trace of the spirit that Arthur had slain. all that remained was a floating golden white core. Its spirit core, floating at the center where the beast had died.
Arthur felt conflicted and troubled by his action. He had taken the life of another living organism without hesitation. What was worse is that he wasn't from this world. He had no claim here and he was the trespasser. perhaps the spirit beast was simply defending its territory. it's home. And he had ended it.
Was there any difference between him and the horrible demons that invaded Terros and slaughter mankind with abandon?
As though replying to his thoughts, Ra spoke within his mind.
'Remember what you told me when i asked you, why you wished to save the hero from his fate?'
Arthur did remember his answer very well.
'It wasn't for some noble cause or goodness! You simply wanted to save him for your sake! This is the path you have chosen and if you waver like this then ask your self, What would you be willing to do to save your precious hero? If you weigh the life of one creature against the hero's which life would you find wanting? And if you had to destroy an entire cosmos, just for a chance at defeating the demon king, would you let the hero and his world perish?'
Arthur did not answer. Ra had said he would help him become strong. But he has never mentioned the price of the path he might walk.
But Arthur's goal was not a whim of a dead soul seeking purpose in the afterlife. It was a choice born from the culmination of Arthur's existence. of the life he had lived and the one who shone brightest in that life.
'If it makes you feel any better, the creature's soul will incarnate. When the demons are done with Terros, there will be no soul to incarnate or any world left for it. You do not bring destruction, not here at least!'
"Thanks!" Arthur replied, his resolve firmed. He would walk his path. He wouldn't claim that it was good. He would own his actions because the hero meant that much to him.
The core of the Spirit beast floated to Arthur drawn by the pull of his core. He held it in his hand and felt the concentration of spirit essence within. He crushed it with his will and a burst of golden white essence escaped and flowed into Arthur's core.
There was no rush of power or noticeable change within him. Except in that moment, Arthur experienced a flash of images in his mind. There was one piece of information that dominated those images. The name Olan.
The identity of the beast he had slain!
According to Ra, spirit beasts grew in power by devouring the cores and essence of other spirits. Even though there was ambient spiritual essence, it was difficult to absorb it naturally into the body for any significant evolution among these creatures.
Unlike human like spirit beings who had developed essence cultivation techniques, spirit beasts had resorted to some sort of spirit cannibalism. And the weak were prey to the strong.
From Olan's memories, Arthur gleaned that the creature was a predator and had grown strong slaying and eating the cores of spirit creatures around the Planes of this pocket world. It's singular desire was the one treasure at the top of the Mountain. The divine soul seed which was guarded by the King of this realm!
Ra had told Arthur about the divine soul seed It was a naturally occuring spirit artifact born from a unique convergence of spiritual energies in this world. Instead of drawing and absorbing spirit energy, the divine core attracts and absorbs cosmic energy from the world itself, condensing it into spiritual essence that's on the level of divine essence!
If a spirit being devoured the seed and gained that mass of the purest spiritual energy, it could very well evolved into a spirit God. the highest level of spiritual evolution in this world! All living creatures were naturally drawn to the power it promised. And the weak would never have a chance as long as the strong guarded this treasure for themselves.
That Arthur didn't feel anything from Olan's core essence meant the creature was that much weaker than him. And Olan had failed to conquer the mountain, meaning he would find stronger creatures on his way up the mountain.
'Arthur, focus your awareness on your spirit core,' Ra suddenly told him.
Arthur focused inwards, drawing his awareness to the pulsing core sitting within his chest. He focused on the swirling mass of essence within. spirit energy was being absorbed by the core and assimilated into the sea of essence as threads of that essence were pushed out into the spirit channels that filled his body.
Suddenly he felt his awareness shift and a screen, blue and translucent appeared before his vision with writing in golden letters.
{ NAME: Arthur
WORLD : Arebos
RACE: Greater Spiritual Lifeform
SPIRIT RANK: Spirit Lord
SPIRIT ENERGY RANK: B
[ABILITIES] * Universal Astral Travel
[SKILLS] ° Soul Energy Manipulation ° Soul Energy Cultivation
° Spirit Energy Manipulation ° Spirit Body Manifestation }
A status window! No way! Sometimes when Arthur was awake, he would immerse himself in fantasies of what it would be like if he was an Awakened in Terros. Of fighting demons and monsters alongside the hero. And one of the things that caught his fancy was access to his own status window!
Every Awakened was granted a private status window by The Wisdom of Gaea, the cosmic power system responsible for awakening and growth in power among humans!
Apart from Ranking which could be gleaned by those with good sensory abilities or using artifacts, everything else on the status window was private, especially abilities and skills.
An ability was essentially a super power or super trait one had, either at awakening or because of evolution where as a skill was a developed technique or capabilities one acquired as a result of innate talents, training or by virtue of one's ability or trait.
While every Awakened had skills abilities belonged to a rare group of them.
it had never occurred to Arthur that his power to travel freely in his astral form was an ability!
He was indeed like an Awakened from the world of Terros. A sense of excitement overcame him at what he had become.
'Heh. look at you, getting excited over nothing! I tinkered with your consciousness so that it would quantify information gleaned from your perception. ' Ra said.
The implication that a being like Ra could 'tinker' with his consciousness did not seat well with him. He had never really considered what it would mean for him to carry a remnant of a God in his soul and had agreed to the deal without asking if it would affect him in anyway.
Perhaps he should have an in depth discussion with Ra about it, sometime.
Right now he was focused on what Ra had said. His status window was simply a product of information received by his consciousness from his perception.
'Ofcourse I added records of my own, quantifying your power and abilities and giving a proper name to what you have become. This information will appear different depending on the world you are in.' Ra went on to clarify.
Ra went on to explain the information Arthur was seeing on his status window.
Arthur's race was now greater spiritual lifeform. Not human anymore as he was a being of only will and soul energy. His will was awakened with his soul and his memories and emotions were experienced and stored within his soul core.
His spirit Rank was Spirit Lord, the 5th Rank in evolution among spirit beings in this world. There were 4 ranks below him and 5 above him. The reason he was a spirit lord was because of the quality of his spirit body and the concentration of essence(density) within his core. Because Arthur could condense spiritual essence from his soul energy, it was very potent and of a very high quality.
The spirit energy ranking was the quantity of energy and essence he possessed, his rate of essence absorption and recovery. It was ranked B which would make him an elite back in Terros. According to Ra his ranking could greatly reduce since spirit energy(mana) concentration here was far higher than it was in Terros. The ranking was based on Ra's personal ranking system which he claimed would be standard in any world!
The record also had the skills he had acquired, from training with Ra and was capable of using now.
The status window was mostly Ra's records. Arthur's perception would only be able to sense the level a spirit beast had reached through their core and the spirit energy rank by observing their aura.
Either way this would be really useful as he faced his targets. No need to expend will and energy on weaker targets. And the biggest plus of all was him getting his own status window.
Arthur decided to stop dilly dallying about and get on with his mission. From Olan's memories he had learnt that the beast had conquered these planes, So Arthur would find no challenges traversing them.
He wasn't needlessly cruel as to hunt weak creatures. He would make fast for the mountain and begin his rise to the top.
commanding the cocoon of essence about him, Arthur created a comet of wind around him and had it lift him off the a few feet off the ground. He wasn't going to risk flight as to attract spirit beasts in the sky. But he would drift above the ground, carried by the winds of essence he had shaped.
The wind comet shot off with Arthur whisking him away in the direction of the great mountain where the Divine soul seed awaited him.
**********************
Balgorna the magnificent rose out of her nest, within the wide crater that sat at the mountain top. She floated upon the mountain winds woven of essence. Higher and higher she went until she was swimming in the great whirlwind of essence that roiled above the mountain top.
She danced with thrill and expectancy, her imperial jade scales glinting from the light of the white sky. She danced around the source of her pleasure with eagerness. The Divine fruit! Golden and radiant. Beautiful and perfect.
She could feel the vast mass of holy essence concentrated within. So much that it spilled out forming the vortex of energy that she now danced within
Oh how she had waited upon it.! Waited like a starving man anticipating a feast! It was getting ripe. Perfectly ripe for her to feast upon. Soon now.
She was merely king over the mountain. But once she ate the fruit she would ascend as a God! A being on per with the true titans that ruled the divine sea!
Her first act would be to destroy those nasty spirit men who kept her in a cage for their amusement back when she was a little o wisp! Then she would make herself a beautiful cradle and graceful rule as the God she will be. Oh she will be Beautiful and Terrible to behold!
'Soon, oh precious. soon i will eat you. raw!'
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Ra's records of the world of Arebos.
Spirit beings. The name given to living Organisms of the world of Arebos. Ranks of spirit beings in Arebos are as follows.
[ Wisp, Master, Elder, Alpha, Lord, Titan, King Monarch, God. ]
[Greater spiritual lifeform] : A high level organism made of only energy and will. Can exist without a vessel, physical or spirit in nature. Consciousness uses soul energy as a medium for thoughts and memory. Possess a strong will, capable of actively cultivating soul energy, energy manipulation and imposing their will externally beyond the bounds of their soul. Evolved from spiritual lifeform.