Chapter 384 - Souls
Chapter 384 – Souls
Light emerged from the depths of the Northern Pole in Kumia, and the Peak of Afterlife in the Southern Pole of Vilmore.
Both planets felt the ground shaking around them as earthquakes went around the world a few times before stopping.
The death of 2 Spirit Transformation realm experts wasn't enough to do this. It was, however, enough to destabilize the space around them just enough so that the wormhole could start splintering on one end, and start to thoroughly unravel as time went on.
The lights and earthquakes persisted for a while before they finally stopped, and the portal between the two planets was now gone forever.
Ning who was at the center of it saw it all happening with his own eyes and felt it to his core. He didn't really know what he was inside right now, after all, Jha'Akim's body had been thoroughly destroyed.
The only thing he knew was that after the explosion, and the destruction of the wormhole, he was ejected out of the peak of Afterlife and was now floating high in the air above the planet.
It took a while for him to register what had happened, but after it did, he couldn't help but feel incredibly sad. He wanted to cry, but he had nobody right now. All he could do was live with the sadness that he was feeling at the loss of his oldest friend.
"Are you happy, System? You wanted his system to get destroyed right? I hope Hyesi's sacrifice helped you with that," Ning said.
<Yes, the system is now gone>
Ning didn't feel anything when he heard that. That wasn't why he had gotten Hyesi to do what he did, for himself to do what he did.
<Because you helped in destroying the Bloodline System, the System has prepared a little gift for you>
"A gift?" Ning asked. The system never gave any gifts, so it wouldn't be a lie to say that he was surprised despite feeling incredibly sad right now.
<You will have 5 minutes. Please make the most of it>
"What?" Ning asked just as he felt his consciousness shift to a different location. Only, he knew he hadn't left whatever he was inhabiting yet. The new place he seemed to have arrived was completely dark with no light whatsoever.
"What is this?" Ning asked as he looked down and saw his own two feet. He then moved his hands forward and saw the two.
"My body?" he was surprised and tried to touch his face, but just as he did, his hands went through his face. "I'm ethereal?" he thought and noticed that he was slightly transparent as well.
"I'm… a soul?" he wondered.
Suddenly, he felt something behind him, and even as he was turning around, a voice reached his ear.
"Inikaka?"
Ning turned around to see Hyesi standing in front of him, in the same soul-like ethereal form he was in.
Except, he didn't look at all like the Hyesi Ning knew. Hyesi looked different, he looked…
Ning's eyes widened when he realized that it did look like the Hyesi he knew. Only, it had been so long that he had lost almost all memories of those times.
"Hyesi?" Ning asked.
"Yes, it's me, Inikaka," Hyesi said. Even as he did, he saw his own arms and legs and saw how thin they were… and small. "What's goin—"
"You look exactly like you did when I met you for the first time," Ning said. "It's good to see you like this again, Hyesi."
Ning could feel himself getting both happy and sad right now. He was happy that he was with his oldest friend and sad that it would only last for less than 5 minutes.
"How… am I here? I thought I died," Hyesi said.
"It's my system. It… did something to capture your soul for just a little longer, I think," Ning said.
"Well, I'm glad it did. At least I get to talk to you before I pass away," Hyesi said with a smile.
Seeing the small child saying such a thing made Ning uncontrollably sob. "Inikaka?" Hyesi got worried.
"I'm so sorry, Hyesi. You shouldn't have to die. I should've been strong enough to protect you all," Ning said.
When Hyesi heard that, he smiled. "Don't be sad, Inikaka. I'm happy to have been of help to you. All my life, I've only received things from you, never giving anything back. I finally got to fulfill my one lifelong wish because of this."
"And hey, you aren't the only one that wants to protect others. They are my friends and family too. It is my job and my right to sacrifice myself to help them. I… I only hope that it was useful," Hyesi said.
Ning stopped his crying and started nodding. "It did. It helped them all in ways you could've never imagined," Ning said.
"Hm? The Beast-man died right? What else was there to expect?" Hyesi asked.
"Haha," Ning laughed. "You don't realize it. None of them do. If they knew, your name would go down in history as the one who helped them advance further now."
Hyesi looked incredibly confused right now. "What… are you talking about, Inikaka?" he asked.
"Long ago, the planet of Kumia was a perfectly fine place where beasts could easily reach the Spirit Transformation realm and beyond," Ning explained.
"However, 19 Thousand years ago, a 'wound' appeared on the land that made it so that the level of Qi in the planet was never enough to go beyond the Nascent Soul realm. The Origin was never fast enough to create Qi such that it could replace what had 'leaked' away," Ning said.
Hyesi went from having a confused look to one of understanding with great surprise. "You mean…"
"Yes, today, you cured the world of the wound. From now on, the planet of Kumia will start to have more and more Qi, and soon your descendants and their descendants will grow up in a world where reaching the realm of the Immortals is a possibility."
"That is the gift you have given them with your sacrifice."
Hyesi's eyes stayed wide as he realized that the reason for the lack of Qi on the planet was because the wormhole in the Northern Pole was taking away most of it anyway.
"So… the wormhole is gone, and the world is saved?" Hyesi asked.
"Yes, it's more than saved. It couldn't have been better," Ning said.
Hyesi smiled and even started giggling. "Hahaha, if I had known that beforehand, I wouldn't have to stress so much about killing myself. I would've gone with a smile," Hyesi said.
"Look at you, you are going with a smile," Ning said.
Hyesi tried touching himself and realized he couldn't. Still, he could tell that he was smiling. "You're right. I am smili—"
"Where am I?" A voice appeared a little away from both Ning and Hyesi. They both turned around and saw a teenage boy looking at them.
"Who… are you?" Ning asked. He had never seen someone like this before.
The boy they were looking at was a scrawny man with puckered lips, sunken eyes, and bones that showed their shapes through the muscles. The boy looked around the black void in confusion until he saw Ning once again.
"What have you done, you bastard?" the little boy asked.
Ning recognized the tone and couldn't help but be surprised. "Jha'Akim?" he asked.
"Of course, it's me, who else would it be?" Jha'Akim asked angrily.
"You… look different," Ning said.
"Different? Why would I look—" he stopped when he saw his weak-looking arms and dirty nails. "Nnn-no, nn-not this," he said. "It can't be."
He tried to bring forth his hair, but he couldn't touch them at all. "What's going on? What color is my hair?" he asked.
"Red," Ning said.
"Red? This can't be. Am I going to have to live through the traumatic times once again? Am I going to die of hunger once more?" he asked as if he had lost all sense of self. He once again looked at his arms and legs, and slowly, he started sobbing.
"No, not this. I don't want this," he started crying.
"System, what's going on? Why did you bring him here?" Ning asked.
<The system wanted to show you something>
"What did you want to show me?" Ning asked. However, before the system could even answer, Jha'Akim went into a rage at what he looked like.
"I thought I left this behind when I reincarnated. Why do I still look like this?" he cried. "My past life and this life, both of these times I suffered. Then why do I have to suffer even in death? Did I not suffer enough? What more do you want from me, God?"
Ning could feel the sorrow in his voice. But his hatred kept him from feeling bad for him.
"Is this what you wanted to show me? A man who knew nothing but sadness his entire life?" Ning asked.
<No, the System is not that superfluous.>
<What will happen in a second is what the System wanted you to see>
Just as Jha'Akim was crying out loud, Ning noticed that his transparent body was now starting to flake at places. This grew more and more as all of his body started flaking and falling into pieces like dead skin.
"Wh-What's going on?" Jha'Akim started shouting as he too noticed this. Even as he shouted, the flakes appeared more and more until half his body was gone. Even then, it did not stop.
"System, what's happening?" Ning asked. "Is there something wrong with his soul?"
<This is the result of the system that he hosted>
<Since most systems are an attempt at copying the Energy System, the creators do everything they can to reach that point>
<They obviously fail to make one similar to the Energy System, but the things they do to reach whatever level of imitation they reach, they have a lot of negative impact on one's soul.>
"The system hurts the soul?" Ning asked.
<Yes. A system cannot attach itself to a physical body. It can only attach itself to a soul, as only souls are capable of hosting a system>
<that is the reason why despite attaching to you while you were alive, the Energy system only worked after you died>
<And… whenever a system attaches itself to the soul, the soul gets tainted.>
<That is the effect of the soul being far too tainted>
Ning watched as the remaining pieces of the Jha'Akim crumbled away with nothing else remaining.
"What exactly happened to him?" Ning asked.
<A soul reaches a varying level of taintedness depending on how much the system defies the law of the world>
<His system kept his soul hostage and even made bodies for him after he died>
<That tainted his soul to a level that it was no longer accepted by the world and could no longer reincarnate. So, his soul was destroyed just like that.>
<This is why the System dislikes the other systems. Most of the creators only want to make systems for the sake of making a system. They have no care for the life it may help or destroy>
<That is what the System wanted to show you>
Ning stayed quiet for a bit. He took in the information he was just handed and thought it through.
"Does… does that mean that my soul is tainted as well?" Ning asked.
<No>
<You don't have a soul. During reincarnation, your soul was changed to a pure form of energy. That is all you are.>
<It is the reason why you can never die. At least, you can never die in this realm where Energy itself can never die>
"Inikaka!" Hyesi called him. "Is… is that going to happen to me too?"
"No, no," Ning said. "That happened to him because of what he did. You are fine."
"I see. I'm glad," Hyesi said. "Still, I feel quite bad for him. It looked like he never had any good life, whether it be this one or his last one."
"Yes," Ning said.
'And the system creators prey on such innocent people to further their own ego?' Ning started to get angry just thinking that. He felt like he could start to see the reason why the System hated the other systems.
<You have 20 seconds remaining>
"What? No, that is too low. I haven't even had time to say goodbye," Ning cried out.
"Inikaka?" Hyesi called ."What's happening?"
"The system says you are going away now," Ning said frantically. "No, I just need a little longer. I want to talk to you a little longer."
"I see," Hyesi said calmly. "I'm going away huh? I guess it's time for me to leave then."
"No, just a little longer," Ning started begging. "System, please."
<I'm afraid that's not possible. The system is using your mental strength to keep him around. If he stays any longer, you will be in danger of your mental state reaching a critical level wherein you will go into hibernation once more>
"I don't care," Ning said. "I just want him to stay a little longer."
<…>
<Very well. The system will leave the control to this whole thing in your hands>
"Good," Ning said. As the seconds reached closer to 0, he started noticing his headaches appeared.
"Inikaka, are you alright?" Hyesi noticed his frowning face too.
"I-I'm fine. It's just a little headache," Ning said.
"Why are you hurting here? Aren't you just a soul?" Hyesi asked.
"It hurts because I'm… you don't need to know," Ning said even as the pain got close to being unbearable. The 5 minutes had passed by now, and whatever region he was in was not something that System had accounted for.
"Inikaka… are you hurting because of me?" Hyesi asked.
"I—" Ning didn't know what to say. "I just want to keep you around for a little longer. I don't want to see you go."
"Inikaka… you can't do that. You know that right?" Hyesi asked.
"It doesn't matter. All that matters is that you remain here, just a little longer," Ning said.
"INIKAKA!" Hyesi shouted. "Stop being stubborn. You have to let me go."
"But… But I," Ning couldn't speak through his tears.
"Let me go, Inikaka," Hyesi said. "And just promise me that when I reincarnate, you will find me."
Ning sniffled as he spoke, "I promise. Whether it is a day, a month, a year, a decade, a century, millennia, or even eons later. Whenever you reincarnate, wherever you reincarnate, I will find you."
Hyesi smiled after hearing that. "That's all I needed, Inikaka. If wishes can come true, I wish that when I meet you, I am just a weak little boy again."
"What?" Ning was confused.
"Haha, that way you can help me become stronger once more like you did the first time," Hyesi said as he gave a meek little smile. "Goodbye, Inikaka."
"Goodbye, Hyesi," Ning said through his splitting headache.
"I guess… I will see you later, then," Hyesi said and waved. His figure turned translucent and soon turned fully transparent.
Even as he disappeared, he spoke one last time as he disappeared.
"Thank you, Inikaka."
The black void disappeared, and Ning saw the planet Vilmore, the Sun, and the Sky in full glory. The headache he was suffering from got a lot worse now and soon, he could hear the system start speaking once more.
<Host has overextended his mental capacity and crossed the critical state>
<Putting host on coma to preserve his mental state>
<System is going dormant>