SPIRIT SOUL

Piercing his katana deep into the abdomen of the closest Kians Wolf, Kyle killed it off in an instant.

However, as he didn't have any time to spare, it was impossible to make proper use of the Soul draining effect.

Only fractions of the deceased beast's soul energy were transferred, before Kyle pulled the blade that was now slick with blood, out.

It was a mere fraction of a second in which Starbreaker's blade had rested in the body of the opponent it had deprived of its life, yet Kyle had to use it immediately once again.

After all, he had to protect himself from the remaining pack that was attacking him and Beatrice fiercely.

As such, Kyle was barely able to make sense of the fact that his sword's Soul draining ability had a major flaw!

The blade had to rest, at least, for a second in the body of the deceased beast in order to drain its soul's entire energy.

This was quite a disadvantage and could be overcome by actively accelerating the effect to hasten the process.

Yet, this would require Kyle to use his Soul force, which would result in being unable to exert the highest combat prowess.

After all, some of the Soul force he would require to possibly enhance himself in a battle would be redirected towards the katana.

Had Kyle not been in a battle and facing deadly opponents, his emotions wouldn't be overwhelming him with only excitement, but also a trace of confusion about how he could solve this issue.

However, it was fortunate enough that he didn't have the time to think about the newly found issue as it would only distract him!

Once the first Kians Wolf was killed, there were only slightly more than a dozen left.

This allowed him to share the burden with Beatrice, giving each of them an equal number of beasts to defeat.

Yet, no sooner had he communicated her about the same, she had left his side.

In a moment, the woman, whom he had admired for her exceptional combat experience and flawless fighting style, was barging through the pack of Kians Wolves as if they were no different than the training dummies they used to practice their movements on.

The blood armor of hers was mostly held intact by the blood she took control over after injuring other beasts.

However, when Kyle perceived small cuts on her pale skin, he saw droplets of her own blood slowly fusing with the blood armor.

Additionally, it looked like she was subconsciously supplying it with her spirit force and mana.

He had never seen her using the blood armor at such an intense level before.

As such, it was only obvious for him to be astonished by the sudden change in her combat style that was far more aggressive than usual.

But, oddly enough, he felt a little bit uncomfortable with what he perceived.

'Is she using the blood I supplied her to maintain the blood armor?'

It was just a hunch, but from what he knew, Beatrice's body didn't create much blood on its own.

She could only use his blood and duplicate it…or something like that based on what he understood.

Because of that, Kyle couldn't help but worry seeing how she drained herself of the blood she required to stay alive.

In the end, using the means she needed to live in order to become stronger could be considered as a reckless and suicidal technique.

It enhanced her strength, but in the end, it could also cost her the most precious asset she owned; her life.

This was certainly not something Kyle looked forward to, and he would have stopped her from doing so. But, he could only stay calm owing to the fact that she was able to overwhelm the Kains Wolves.

With that in mind, he was able to fully focus on defending against the attacks of the Kians Wolves he was supposed to finish off.

Trying to make use of subtle movements, Kyle attempted to predict the attacks of his opponents.

Simultaneously, he exerted the wind affinity in order to change the trajectory of certain attacks and deflect them before they would hit him.

He was not great at this because it required a high level of control over the winds he was able to summon.

As such, Kyle was fully aware that his experiment was very dangerous and risky.

Nevertheless, he couldn't change his tactic midway, not while being surrounded by seven Kians Wolves.

Instead, he made full use of the fact that the Kians Wolves didn't want to attack each other.

Even though they were a pack, it was still uncommon to see this much affection between wild beasts that were conditioned to put their own survival over that of others.

They didn't want to injure each other in the slightest, which was something Kyle would usually praise.

However, in the current situation, it was quite disadvantageous for the Kians Wolves to attack him as they were about to bump into each other with every gust of wind Kyle sent their way.

Thus, he was gaining the upper hand, while silently lamenting about the wolves' stupidity as his previous respect for them slowly disappeared.

After all, they were about to die from exhaustion, owing to the fact that Kyle was slowly wearing them out.

It was not only that, but he was also inflicting injuries with every single gust of wind he created.

Lunging forward the moment he perceived an opening, whether it was created by him or fate, Kyle thrust Starbreaker forward, piercing deep into the flesh of his opponents.

This caused injuries that were either light or lethal as the sharp blade hacked and slashed at whatever came in its way.

,m As such, Kyle was clearly at an advantage, just because the Kians Wolves didn't want to injure each other.

Despite him severely injuring them, the wolves were still mindful of not harming each other which irked Kyle.

He believed that it was stupid to die just for the sake of their pack's code or some sort of rule they followed, but it was not as if it was his business, to begin with.

In the end, Kyle should feel glad to defeat the Kians Wolves in front of him without too many difficulties.

It would be stupid to complain about this, which was something Kyle would never do.

Nevertheless, his mind was still struggling to come to terms with the fact that the Kians Wolf pack was rather extreme in sticking to their code of conduct, if that was what it could be even called, to begin with.

This was something that made him think a lot, even after he finished the last wolf with a clean cut through its chest.

Devouring the souls of the deprived with the help of the Starbreaker katana, Kyle was slowly filling the Soul Storage medallion.

However, he was not done after he had absorbed the souls of the beings he killed.

Instead, he turned around to look at Yasmine and Beatrice's battlefield.

They seemed to be done already, which was clearly visible based on the height the souls had already ascended to.

Quickly rushing forward, he ignored Beatrice's blood armor, and Yasmine's appearance as he pierced through the air with Starbreaker.

His weapon did its job and devoured various souls which made Kyle smile.

His thoughts returned to the realization he had had when he had killed the first of the seven Kians Wolves.

'I have to think of a plan to accelerate the speed at which the souls' energy gets absorbed by Starbreaker!'

For a moment, he was worried about what he should do next, but in the end, there didn't seem to be much of a problem.

'Can't I just use an external energy storage to supply the Soul draining effect?'

This should be a great solution, but before he could test out a few things, he was distracted by Beatrice, who was stumbling towards him, while Yasmine had already collapsed on the ground.

Beatrice's blood armor had vanished, and it was evident how much she had been drained of, both blood and strength.

Nevertheless, she was still smiling vividly at him.

Yet, Kyle was not sure what to think about this kind of reaction after she had almost killed herself, only to finish off merely seven Kians Wolves.

"I did it!!" She said with a proud smile, but Kyle couldn't help but shake his head as he retorted,

"Yes, and the blood armor of yours almost drained you of all the blood I provided, isn't that the case?!"

Right now, he was feeling like a nanny, and somehow, it made him recall the time he was traveling around with Selene.

'I didn't have to take care of Selene as much as I have to look after Beatrice now, right? No..Selene was more traumatized, and certainly not as much of a pain to take care of as this 50,000 years old woman…Is Beatrice really that old?'

There had often been times when he had wondered if Beatrice was really as old as everyone said, but right now was the time, he was truly starting to get suspicious about the truth.

"I'm feeling oddly exhausted after killing just a bunch of wolves, that's it. What are you talking about…blood armor?"

Seeing the doubtful expression of Kyle, Beatrice had felt like defending herself.

Instead of appreciating her, he was patronizing her.

However, she couldn't help but feel surprised about what Kyle had been talking about.

'Blood armor?' This was something she had never heard about.

Yet, instead of answering her right away, Kyle's eyes flicked to Yasmine.

He felt a bit odd leaving Yasmine lying on the ground, surrounded by a burned field.

He was astonished that she hadn't burned down the entire forest in a fit of rage.

That was fortunate because from what he had heard, the Forest Guardian Spirit might have had a heated discussion and lectured Yasmine if she would have reduced the lush green forest into cinders and ash.

And a lecture of a beast that destroyed an entire city while fighting would certainly hurt and its words would definitely sting.

It was definitely not something Kyle wanted to happen.

Thus, he quickly moved towards Yasmine, feeling her pulse before picking her up.

Moving her closer to the pond of water, he splashed some of it onto her face, and gently slapped her cheeks to wake her up.

In the end, Kyle had also used some of his Nurture ability which he supplied with the soul energy he deprived of the souls of the deceased to energize her.

His efforts worked and this invigorated her to the extent that she was able to regain her consciousness.

"Did you just release your Phoenix bloodline?"

While asking this perfectly normal question, Kyle got up and moved towards Beatrice before dragging the girl along who was heavily leaning on his shoulder and walking like a sloth.

At the same time, he used his Nurture ability once again.

This was necessary because he would be unable to speak with her afterward, and he wanted to avoid that at all costs.

To add to it, there was always the possibility that they would attract the attention of other beasts.

Just when he thought about that, Yasmine started to blurt out incorrigible words.

However, Kyle quickly interrupted her.

"Wait a moment, I'm gonna store away the corpses of the beasts we killed. We don't want some guests visiting us for dinner, right?"

Yasmine felt incapable of thinking right now. As such, she simply nodded her head, agreeing to what he said before making up her mind to form an answer to his question.

Unfortunately, when he returned five minutes later, Yasmine's mind crumbled as she forgot half of the things she wanted to say.

Thus, she blurted out whatever was left in her mind before it would slip away from her as well.

"I did what? No…don't play with me! I cannot do that before I reach the Ascerta stage!!"

'Is she playing dumb, or is she ignorant to what she had been doing in the fight?!'

SIghing deeply, Kyle was not even sure what was he doing with her here in the first place.

He felt as if he was at the wrong place, and most importantly, hunting with the wrong people.

The two girls didn't even know what they had been doing in a perfectly normal fight, which was definitely not normal.

As such, he could only take a deep breath and try to ease the awkward tension.

"How about we talk to each other? Let's reveal our trumps, alright? That way I can at least help you figure out what you two have been doing subconsciously, without noticing it!

We should help each other from now on, after all, we are a team now, right?"