[Ashborn-B1] 55. Blessings (Patreon)

LV

Blessings

I kept myself from puking on the way to flying Aurille back to camp. It was easier to hold in now that I knew what was coming, but the forces acting on me during Ashwing’s flight did their very best to undo that advantage.

The Snow Moon for her part tried her best to console me. ‘Are you alright?’ Yes, I was, just ate something wrong, no worries. ‘Anything I can do to help?’ Not really, no, thanks.

Deep breaths and the cold wind in my face returned a semblance of control to my faculties. I straightened my back and stopped clinging to Ashwing like some chick scared she would fall to her death any moment.

My summon gave me a nasty side-eye. I’d almost puked on her back.

‘Yes, yes, sorry,’ I thought as I swallowed the last bits of bile going up my throat.

Flames puffed around her beak before she returned to gliding. Artificial light poured from the frozen sky and reflected off great outcroppings of ice. The reflections were like a thousand gleaming stars. With nothing else but the quiet skies up here, the daily worries of life seemed small, and the relief in pressure eased the rise and fall of my chest.

The screams were the loudest when I relaxed. That’s when the slender, bony fingers dug into my neck and sent a shiver down my spine as they did now. I didn’t glance over my shoulder. Didn’t need to. The stars on land shimmered. Hiding within their gleam was a soundless face stuck in a perpetual scream like in the painting of a great artist.

“You remind me of my mother.” Aurille’s voice was soft enough it didn’t disturb the quiet.

I searched my memory. “Lady Jiang?”

She nodded. “I don’t see her often, but there’s always a restless atmosphere around her; like the universe is quivering in her presence.”

‘She doesn’t see her mother often…?’ I looked down. “Quivering?”

“From the many lives she took in her juvenile years. Our frost powers leech the life from those we imprison. If not applied with care, the dead latch onto the soul and haunt the user.”

My forehead scrunched. I scanned her for any sign but found none.

“Mother made made me practise on prisoners,” she said knowingly. “Rivals from different branches she wanted disposed of.”

…

My gaze shifted towards the horizon. “Were you ever haunted?”

“For the first month. They were more nightmares than actual spirits.”

The mere mention of bad dreams was enough to weigh down my eyelids. “How’d you make them go away?”

“I didn’t. They vanished on their own.”

‘Must be nice.’ Waiting wouldn’t work for me. Whatever mistakes Aurille’s Mother had made, I’d repeated them already. I sighed. What was I going to do—

“There are ways to get rid of even the most pestering of spirits.”

My ears perked up. I turned around.

“That said, most involve rituals better left alone.”

I deadpanned. “So they’re not of much use…”

“Most” she repeated, then looked away as if to remember something. “Deep meditation. Hypnosis. Anything that lets you search your soul for their presence.”

“I need to find them?”

“Spirits latch onto the parts of ourselves we leave untouched. That’s where they’re safest.”

My lips pressed together. “The parts I leave untouched, huh. How would I discover what those are?”

“That I don’t know. The monks likely know more. Many of their arts deal with spirits.”

True. I’d sensed the lingering sensation around Korin’s staff.

‘I guess putting them in my debt was useful after all.’

The army was well on its way. A few more hours and they’d reach the northern mountains. They’d faced a few scorn companies, battles they’d come out of unscathed. The undead were more interested in slowing the army down than striking a decisive blow. Something that could be a good or bad sign.

“We should plan as if they’re able to enter the mountains,” Tsall said as we held a quick meeting.

Everyone agreed. So we slowed down our pace and gave our members enough rest so they could keep marching once we made it to the mountains.

I left the army after that, deciding to bring Ori back first. The monk was overjoyed at the news of her fellow disciples still being alive and needed no convincing to link her fate with the stranded monks.

On the way, I spent most of my time in meditation. Despite the scorn’s recent adaptations stopping me from farming them twice for experience, I had enough energy stored up to go up multiple levels and upgrade my summons.

‘What to do?’

I had enough to upgrade both Skul and Saber to peak. Especially since they were both gorging on a few bodies, too. However, I wanted to get myself to at least lvl. 20. Moreover, while getting Skul to peak would make him stronger, I’d be locked out of summoning him with anything besides a harpy or a chick. Saber was in the same boat, but he at least had a skill that would allow him to call a flametalon into battle for some time.

‘If I keep Skul at late, I can use him with a flametalon, too.’

That would make the two late stage summons one of my strongest combinations for a fight.

I wasn’t quite sure on what to do yet but made progress on levelling, as I wanted to do that either way.

After dropping Ori off, I returned to the army for Rin. The wavecaller was more than happy to enter a desperate gambit, and the two flights gave me enough time to finish my levelling.

Ashenkeeper - lvl. 17 -> Ashenkeeper - lvl. 21.

12 free stat points gained.

Vitality: 16 (19)

Strength: 13 (31)

Dexterity: 20 (20)

Fortitude: 18 (21)

Perception: 16 (19)

Arcane: 30 (33)

Free Points: 0

Three into vitality, dexterity, perception, two into arcane and one into strength. That got my stats shored up for the most part and relied on my titles to keep my prominent stats high.

“Congratulations,” Rin said.

With my recent level up, I’d surpassed her sitting at level twenty.

“Thanks.”

I steered Ashwing down. We landed near the entrance to the monk hideout. Despite repeated efforts, the two other monks still hadn’t woken up.

“…there’s no other choice,” Korin got out through gritted teeth.

He and the others stood in a circle on the centre of the island. The rays beaming from the ice showered them as if it was trying to embrace them. Had I been artistically inclined, I would’ve likely found in this solemn picture inspiration worth a thousand years of meditation.

My gaze remained on the unconscious monks and the thought I had before entered my head again. Ashwing’s upgrade from late to peak had allowed her to carry two people where she hadn’t been able to carry one before…there was a chance Saber’s evolution would achieve the same.

‘We can drape them over his back.’ They’d getting a ragdoll experience, but I doubted they’d complain once they woke up.

I settled back into meditation and split the remainder of my experience between the ashenblood and balekin tree.

Ashenblood Tree upgraded!

Ashenblood Tree - Late - > Ashenblood Tree - Peak

Ashenblood skill slot unlocked.

Ashenblood learns [Flame Horizon (Uncommon)]!

Flame Horizon (Uncommon): The ashenblood creates an orb of fire in the sky that intensifies any fire-based moves. All fire-based garden entities have their stats increased. Effect lasts until Flame Horizon is dispelled or the ashenblood runs out of essence.

“Saber,” I called.

The gate almost opened by itself, the willingness of the summon taking the burden out of my hand. Rin was seated beside me when the cat stepped out. She jerked out of her meditation, and sweat immediately dripped from her forehead.

Even with me standing, Saber’s head reached past my belly button. Should he rear on his back legs, he would shadow me completely. At the zenith of his evolution in this stage, the fire running from his crown extended all the way to his tail. Flames rippled around his paws, their presence a permanent addition to his physique. But more than anything, there was a weight to him. A pressure bound to his mien. My summon, whom I had no business fearing, caused my heart to stutter. I was reminded, for a long moment, of my own human nature. Of how predators had hunted us during the dark ages of mankind for sport.

He pulled to my side and licked my hand, his tongue scalding my skin.

I chuckled and scratched the side of his head. “Saber, think you can do something for me?”

He turned to the gathering of monks, who all stared at him with wide, open mouths.

We darted through the frozen forest.

“I fear I may need to sign away my life to make it up to you,” Korin mumbled. He stared at the big cat carrying the unconscious pair strapped to his back. All while sprinting.

“Me too,” Ori said.

“You can keep your life.” I vaulted over a rock. It was almost strange to tread the earth like a mortal after the amount of flying I’d done. “However, I do have some questions for you.”

“Anything,” they said.

I paused and considered how to broach the subject. After a long moment, I said: “Your clan makes use of spirits, does it not?”

“Yes,” Korin answered. “But before you ask, we cannot share with you any secret techniques. W’re bound by oath not to.”

I nodded. “Of course.” I’d made a promise myself with Sir. Decim to aid the Dawnflame clan in conquering the Shrine of the Dove. If I willfully ignored that promise, there’d be hell waiting for me. And that was just a karmic contract. Oaths were many times stronger.

“I’m not asking for any secret techniques.”

“But?” Korin said.

I tasted my lips. “Have you noticed anything off about me?”

“…Are you talking about your spirit?”

“Tell me what you think of it.”

“Well, it’s strong…”

“And?”

“Sinister,” Ori finished. “It feels like there’s a thousand evil spirits clinging onto you.”

I huffed. “Not a thousand.” Not yet. But that future wasn’t too far removed based on my current trajectory. “My powers have me consuming the bodies of those I slay. I’m looking for a way to deal with the negative effects.”

The two monks glanced at each other before turning back to me.

“We could give you a method,” Ori said. “The knowledge on how to cleanse the body of spirits isn’t a secret. However…”

“Dealing with spirits is no easy task,” Korin finally said. “I had to practise for many years before getting right, and I still sometimes mess up.”

“It’ll be better than nothing,” I said.

On that, the monks agreed. So they begun their explanation.

To cleanse the body, for all intents and purposes, was simple: You need to force your will onto them. Most likely through violence. Yet it was also more complicated.

“The first thing you need to do is find a way to enter your soul sea,” Ori said.

“My soul sea?” I asked.

“It’s a place inside yourself that represent your soul,” Korin said. “How it appears is different for everybody. Mine is a temple.”

“I still think you’re lying,” Ori snorted. “No way a roughneck like you envisions his soul as a temple.”

Korin shrugged, deciding not to defend himself for the hundredth time.

“By the way,” Ori said, “mine is a solemn cabin in a forest.”

I cupped my chin. “I can already enter my soul sea.”

“You can?” Korin frowned.

I nodded. “It’s a garden that’s on fire. All my summons reside there.”

He asked me to explain some sensation I experienced while being there.

“That’s strange,” he said. “If what you’re describing is truly your soul sea, then any and all spirits haunting you would immediately make themselves known.”

“They’d assault you on sight,” Ori added.

Which was not at all the experience I’d had. There were times I could hear the spirits wailing, but that was all.

“Could they be hiding from me?” I asked.

“Unlikely,” Korin said. “Lower realm spirits lack intelligence. Their primary instinct is to assault their host, and the prime time to do that is when you’re in your soul sea.”

So one of two things was happening: One, for some reason, the spirits in my garden were acting abnormal—and I could think of a thousand reasons why, the least of which were Skul and the cindertree. Two, the garden wasn’t actually my soul sea.

“It’s possible,” Korin said. “There’s a difference between an inner world and a soul sea. From your explanation, your garden is more similar to an inner world, though it should be impossible to have one at our stage…”

Ori’s forehead scrunched. “Your soul sea will grow with your cultivation, but it’s not an active process. You shouldn’t be able to grow things in there. They will simply become larger and more prominent in between visits to your soul sea.”

Which placed my garden further into the camp of: ‘inner world.’

I turned away. The frozen world within the ice rushed past. Saber was ahead of us despite the extra weight on his back, his singular stride comparable to four of ours.

‘It made sense.’

My garden was an active place. A bubbling hub, where my summons roamed free and interacted with each other (though not always favourably).

That was a world. Not a sea.

The sea would be a separate layer. A separate dimension for me to tap into, where the souls I’d consumed would be waiting for me. How many would there be? One for every animal, or one for every humans? Depending on which, I’d have dozens waiting for me.

My gaze turned back to the duo. “Let’s say I were to enter my soul sea right now, how would I face the spirits? Can I…strike them?”

“One step at a time,” Korin said. “Teaching you methods of attack is no use until you know for certain that you can enter your soul.”

He was right, so I listened carefully as he explained the intricacies.