SPIRIT SOUL

Getting up from the ground, Kyle couldn't help but sigh deeply as his body flinched once.

The last few minutes of his life were the worst since he had reincarnated on Shima.

Despite that, Kyle was glad that the question and answer session was now over.

Relieved that the Lich wasn't looming over his head anymore, he received the necessary time to calm down.

But, before looking around and trying to figure out where had he been thrown this time, Kyle wanted to get his act together.

He first wanted to figure out what exactly had just happened.

His will had almost broken owing to the trauma of his past life.

Though he had been trying hard to not let self-doubt get to him, there were times when the realization that he was still too weak to go up against stronger Cultivators would hit him.

Despite the shaky confidence that wavered every single time, a new hurdle popped up, Kyle couldn't help but feel odd.

Right now, his mind should be a mess, filled with doubts, and the thoughts of giving up everything. Being powerless should have been the last straw to completely shatter and crush him.

Yet, this hadn't happened, which was weird.

Rather than giving up, his ambition to become stronger than any of his opponents had only grown fiercer.

A distinct determination glimmered in his eyes.

Even Arashi, who had emerged in front of Kyle, looked at him in doubt and confusion.

The Spirit Soul's mindset was being conditioned in accordance with his thoughts, the change of his opinion, and so on.

Thus, it was obvious that Arashi would be a bit confused. The things that were happening right now were something neither of them had expected to happen.

At least, the speed at which Kyle had overcome his trauma was unbelievable.

Being separated from his companions and thrown into a completely random place that was overflowing the death, would break even the strongest mind.

But, somehow Kyle had both adapted to the changes and braved the dangers so far!

As such, the mental changes in both Kyle and Arashi were not happening at a slow and steady pace, but almost immediately, which was why it was so easily noticeable.

Picking up Arashi, he placed the Horned Tempest Fox on his shoulder.

The furious voice of the woman that had boomed through the Lich's entire abode was still ringing in his ears.

Ever since being dragged to the castle, he had heard something about a young Lady,, but he had never been able to find out more about her.

Yet, the moment his tear that was filled with all of his emotions dropped onto the bat ring there had been a radical transformation.

Kyle felt so, and in addition to the fact that the woman's voice, was extremely furious just after the crimson eyes on the bat emblem had begun to glow faintly, it was not difficult to put two and two together.

'So..the young lady is the crimson-eyed and silver-haired being I had seen before? And, if I'm not interpreting too much into it, this tear of mine caused her to be so enraged because it changed something about the spatial ring?'

With that in mind, Kyle tried to make multiple more assumptions but there was not much he could figure out.

As such, his final assumption was quite simple.

'Did my tear cause the spatial ring to create something that disrupted the Lich's perfect seal? Maybe the other Undeads were able to see me for a second, and the fact that the Lich was stalling instead of hurrying to leave for the next floor?'

This seemed the most likely cause, but at the same time, Kyle didn't think that it was the entire truth.

However, in the end, the more important fact was that he had finally escaped the Lich's grasps.

With Knirg and Lahan, he had felt much more comfortable than the Lich.

The two powerful undeads had acted more like instructors that were genuinely teaching him.

Unfortunately, it was not even nearly the same with Li, the Lich.

Kyle was not sure how exactly Li's life had been, but that was not his business.

Nevertheless, he couldn't understand the way the Lich acted or why it seemed like Li had a personal grudge against him.

He had never done anything bad to Li, and if someone could speak confidently, or even manipulatively, there was no need to use threats and force to procure information.

The questioned person might not even notice that he or she is being interrogated if the other party is tactful.

Instead, employing force and threats might make the answering party slip important information unintentionally.

Kyle may have a desire for lots of knowledge, but he had never believed that he was clever or anything like that.

He only knew that his hard work had never paid off, which was now different.

This was the biggest difference the past life had with his second chance, and also the reason why Kyle had been able to overcome his trauma.

Right now, he may be insignificant, extremely weak, and forced to obey others against his will or face death.

However, Kyle knew that he had infinite potential as long as he believed in himself.

And, those who were restricted would tremble under his grasp once he was strong enough.

This belief gave Kyle the necessary strength to overcome his trauma.

Nevertheless, there were also many other additional factors that further strengthened his resolve.

This included the fact that he had to become stronger to prevent Selene from having to face the same issues he had to overcome.

Taking a look at his ring, he noticed that the crimson eyes on the bat had stopped glowing.

And, while staring at them, he recalled the silver hairs and the glowing crimson eyes he had seen back in the tiny, ancient village.

He could only make a guess about what kind of existence she was, but there was no way for him to know if he was right because some things didn't add up.

There were only Undeads in the Razkadan castle. But the young Lady seemed to be an anomaly, or she was something he didn't know about.

Maybe, his memories of the old folklore were wrong. Or, the young Lady of the Castle belonged to some race he simply didn't know about.

That was also possible, but he doubted it when his eyes fell on the bat again.

'How did she even survive witho-...?' He wondered when he was pulled away from his train of thoughts.

Suddenly the plain room he had been teleported to began to shake.

Trying to hold onto something, he looked around.

But, Kyle noticed that there was nothing, and he instinctively grasped Arashi.

Holding him in a tight embrace, he curled up with his head bent down and legs pulled close to the chest.

Because he acted instinctively, Kyle didn't even realize that he could have sent Arashi inside his body.

Instead, he shielded his Spirit Soul with his body while the room was spinning around as if it was a dice that had been thrown.

This continued for a total of five minutes, and even after it had stopped Kyle felt extremely dizzy.

He tried to get back on his feet but his legs gave in as he felt disoriented.

Arashi didn't feel any better but the Spirit Soul had taken the chance and disappeared within Kyle the moment the nauseous sensation had grown too strong.

Thus, Kyle had to endure being thrown around all by himself.

After his failed attempt to get up, he chose to lie on the ground for some time.

Unfortunately, his brain was still struggling to overcome nausea and in an attempt to feel better, his body took control of the situation.

Gall formed in his throat and the lump grew before he retched and finally threw up.

Afterward, he coughed violently and turned around to sit on the ground.

He felt much better now and could manage to circulate some Soul force through his body.

This allowed him to recuperate a little bit faster.

Feeling a bit more confident, he tried getting up from the ground again.

Only then did he succeed and on the second try, Kyle finally stood on his legs, without falling a second time.

Ignoring the contents of his stomach on the ground next to him, he took a look around.

He wished to know what had happened in the last few minutes, and why had the ground suddenly shook violently.

Unfortunately, the room looked the same as before, or so he thought.

Just at that moment, he saw a small wooden door manifesting out of nowhere. And it was this event that made Kyle instinctively activate his Nurture ability, and empower it with a small trace of his Soul force.

Because of that, he was able to prove his assumption to be correct as he sighed deeply.

Initially, Kyle was happy to be alone, freed from being under the constant surveillance of the Undead powerhouses.

That was also why he was unbothered by the room shaking and turning as if it was a dice being thrown around.

However, with his Nurture ability activated, he was able to find out why the room had been shaking.

He could also understand how the door had suddenly manifested out of nowhere.

'Why are you guys always bothering me...Can I not just pass the trials?!?' Kyle wanted to shout out, but he bit back his tongue.

His eyes were focused on the being that was standing further away from him.

He couldn't see her through his plain eyes, but through the Nurture ability, he was able to see the hues around her.

Remembering the hues of the Banshee Kyle knew for sure that it was her.

It was because of that, and the fact that she acted rather flustered in the second trial that he decided to ask a question.

"I know that you are here, Banshee. If possible, I would like to know the answer to one question. I hope this is not too much to ask for."

Kyle didn't directly ask a question because he hoped that the Banshee would show herself by removing the cloak of invisibility around her, or whatever it was.

Unfortunately, this was not the case, but he didn't give up. Kyle continued to stare at her, following her movement as he continued,

"I know that I'm not following the normal path of the Razkadan castle's trials anymore. Whether this is because of my fierce will to stay alive, or because of something else, doesn't matter. I don't need the Main inheritance of the Castle if I have to do it, to begin with.

However, what I want to know is if you guys plan to train me to sacrifice, possess me, or to torture me in order to attain your goals?

All of you seem to have different goals, and I doubt that I can be of any help.

And, if I were to be honest, my abilities are not exactly suitable for Undeads.

I can invigorate all of you, but what kind of use would that have?"

At that moment, Kyle noticed that he had rambled for quite a long period.

In his frustration, he had even asked two questions instead of one, which was not what he wanted.

However, it didn't really matter because both questions could be merged into one question or an answer.

[What are you guys planning to do with me, after finding out even the smallest secret of my existence?]

p Yet, even after he had finished the long monologue, nobody answered.

The Banshee did not reveal herself and only finished manifesting the gate before she seemed to distance herself once again.

This caused Kyle to sigh deeply before he approached the door.

While being deep in thought, he had planned to wait for a moment.

He had wanted to give himself some time to recuperate from the incident that had happened when he was in the Lich's abode.

However, rather than tormenting himself with questions, he couldn't answer even if he were to think about the answer for countless days, Kyle decided to distract himself.

The answers to his questions could be procured later. Right now, he had to become much stronger.

And, he had to reluctantly acknowledge that the trials were the best means to achieve this.

Yet, what Kyle was also aware of was the fact that his trials were completely different than those other existences would be going through.

That was, if there had ever been other living beings that had entered the Razkadan castle.

Unfortunately, this hadn't been the case according to what Kyle had heard.

And, it was not exactly a reassuring thought.

Instead, it was rather demotivating because it seemed that living, intelligent races were unable to enter the region around the Razkadan castle.

Thus, the mysterious women who had teleported him must have brought him to a place that was hardly accessible.

This was the only thing that made sense, and Kyle didn't like this conclusion because it generated only more problems than he was already facing.

With that in mind, Kyle opened the door and willed himself to not grow nervous.

Sighing deeply, he was ready to distract himself and grow beyond his limits!