Chapter 121: Lullaby of the Soul
Chapter 121: Lullaby of the Soul
Two spears clashed and produced a metallic sound that reverberated in the training room. Rakna took a step back from the force and whirled the weapon in his hand with a relaxed stance while Evelyn grunted and was forced several meters back. She flapped her wings and pounced at him with her spear ready to be thrust in the way he had taught her.
Rakna calmly waited for her and with a spin, his spear, forged by himself and then made with Star Make, directly hit the succubus’ polearm at the shaft. The impetus carried by his move deflected the incoming attack.
“Eh?!” Evelyn instantly lost her cool as she dangerously got close to collide with Rakna after being unable to rebalance herself. Then, as their faces were nearly touching, she could have sworn she saw the ghost of a smile on his face before he kicked her away. She roughly landed on a distanced spot of the room with both a pained and disappointed groan.
“{A bit harsh on the lady,}” Higure commented as she sat next to Rakna in her ghost form, her tail wagging from side to side.
“I held back,” he responded. “And the art of the spear is never truly complete without a good dose of kicking blows.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better,” Evelyn grumbled from her position on the floor.
“Well, the best way to learn will always be to gather experience upfront and build a foundation to grasp the rest,” Rakna stated as the spear in his hand crumbled down into small tendrils of energy.
He looked at where he had left Flavia to practice and saw the dozens of split logs that she had been using as practice dummies. It had been around three hours since they had started and both of the girls had reached a level of proficiency close to level 3 or 4 in their sought mastery.
“That should be enough for today. From now on, you just need to practice regularly and you will steadily improve with time,” he said as he walked closer to Flavia with Evelyn wobbling behind in exhaustion.
The two women ultimately sat down against the wall of the room, drenched in sweat and their skin flushed. Had it been anyone other than Rakna, they probably would have spent more time admiring the sight but he casually pulled out two water bottles from his storage and tossed them.
“Thank you,” Flavia said with a smile and Evelyn unceremoniously chugged down everything. She technically didn’t require food but she could still eat and drink.
Though, her sweat, for example, was the same and at the same time different from living beings. Its purpose was to mend strained portions of her soul a bit like how living beings would need it to regulate their body temperature.
Regardless, as a Phantom, her entire body was made of soul power given consistency and she had internal organs, flesh, and blood. The only difference to an actual living being was that she didn’t actually need them. She could rip her organs out and the injuries would simply disappear for as long as she held either enough mana, demonic energy, or soul power within her.
She had told Rakna that she possessed what one would call third-degree immortality. In other words, she couldn’t be killed as long as she had the energy to heal herself, whether it was by damage through magic or physical means. However, she was highly susceptible to soul attacks performed by someone with a stronger soul than hers. Something that was showcased by Rakna himself when he incapacitated her.
Speaking of him, after giving the bottles, he started walking back to the center of the room and the two girls looked at him in curiosity.
“What are you doing?” Evelyn inquired as they watched him perform a few breathing cycles.
“Until now, all my spells have been adaptable ones. And my strongest attack is a sub-spell. I want to fix that,” Rakna responded.
“So, you want to create a spell specifically made to be your strongest attack?” Flavia concluded.
“Something along those lines,” he said and with one last intake of air, his aura flared and his slit pupils glowed before welcoming the faint depiction of a cold star around it. He channeled his mana through his circuits and his hair, tails, and ears began to blanch even without Reinforcement.
Evelyn and Flavia looked rapt at the sudden wave of coldness they were feeling as well as how strong his aura looked compared to when they had their spar two days prior. It was twice; no, at least thrice as big as it was then.
“If you two want to stay and watch, I don’t mind but just in case; Tyran, protect them,” he said and the small T. Rex nodded from his place next to the girls. He jumped in front of them and let out a growl. His bones made snapping noises and his scales screeched as he grew bigger and bigger in front of them. When he was at full height, he let out a small roar, standing protectively.
“Wow, now I get it why that muscle-head was so freaked out,” Evelyn commented.
“Indeed…” Flavia nodded and Pronos hissed proudly, as if Tyran’s prowess was his own, from his place on her lap.
Rakna nodded at the Dreorin and transformed as well, switching to his werewolf form. He closed his eyes, concentrating on the flow of his internal energies. What he wanted was something other than his constructs or his constellations. A single spell purely meant to attack.
Once again, if he kept the mindset of energy, the best way to provoke the most damage possible will always be the same; compression. He roused the 500+ units of mana he possessed while in his werewolf form and made them manifest outside of his body as pure coldness. Some parts of it gathered in several spots all around him and formed cold energy spheres.
These spheres then began to shrink very slowly, seemingly dropping the temperature even more inside the room. Evelyn and Flavia shivered at the cold and Tyran used his aura imbued with fire element to counteract it.
Along the way, Rakna started frowning and the spheres stopped moving and the flow of mana in his circuits was halted. ‘I’m lacking something… but what?’
“{How about a lexis?}” Higure suggested from behind the reassuring cover of the T. Rex. Even as a soul, she could still be hurt by powerful magical blows and she didn’t want to test her luck.
Rakna opened one of his black-hole-like eyes and glanced at the lioness. ‘A lexis?’
“{Official appellation for a mantra,}” she clarified.
‘A mantra? You want me to make an incantation on the fly? Right now? Would that even work?’
“{Yes. Lexis are also called Words of Power. In magical theory, they are meant to be catalysts to bend the world and its rules to the caster’s wishes. They are not just for show. Some magics are considerably weaker without a lexis compared to with. I know that you have already noticed that naming skills before using them makes them more responsive. It’s the same principle.}”
‘That… sounds awkward,’ he retorted and closed his eyes.
“{It’s embarrassing only if you allow it.}”
‘…I never said embarrassing.’
“{Yes. But we both know you thought it.}”
Rakna didn’t respond and spent a minute thinking. He was still pouring mana into those spheres and he wouldn’t be able to maintain it forever. Ultimately, he reluctantly opened his mouth.
⠀
“[Crystals of Frost… Abide the Star’s Wrath.]”
⠀
Evelyn and Flavia were surprised as he suddenly spoke those words. But their effects were rapidly displayed. The stagnant spheres of cold energy became active again and changed shape to a four-pointed star.
⠀
“[Ought Rime… Rip Bones and Flesh.]”
⠀
The exactly twelve stars slowly moved collectively while pulsating from a size slightly bigger than a fist to one smaller than a nail.
⠀
“[In a Fireless Firmament, Shall the Star Blister and Flicker.]”
⠀
The stars overlapped and then fused before abruptly expanding into something almost as big as Tyran himself. It shone brightly and at the same time, the atmosphere in direct contact with Rakna darkened as if light itself had been vacuumed out of it. Inside of it, only the gradually whitening fur of the werewolf and sparkling cyan dots of light could be seen.
The onlookers almost felt like rubbing their eyes at the incongruous sight. It was as if a starry sky was wrapping itself around Rakna. At this point, the latter seemed to be chanting unconsciously as if he was possessed by something.
⠀
“[In a Lifeless Perdition, the Wolf Growls and Howls.]”
⠀
With a booming sound, the star shrunk again until it was the size of a palm. It started spinning and releasing a swirling mist.
⠀
“[In Between The Heights and Depths.]”
⠀
Several azure rings appeared around the star, each one bigger than the previous, encircling the compressed energy. Rakna pointed his palm at it before rearing his arm. The star followed his movement and the rings did the same in a hierarchical order, making it look like a spring had been formed to launch the star.
⠀
“[Lies the Slumbering Mayhem of the Devourer.]”
⠀
|| Energy signatures beyond the current setting detected, || Trii announced. || An increase to the training room’s tier has been approved. The dimension has been reinforced. ||
⠀
“[Bathing in Blood and Rattling Death.]”
⠀
‘This isn’t any typical lexis…’ Higure was growing more and more stunned as Rakna continued to intone his lines. She could tell with a glance that he wasn’t even thinking about them anymore. ‘It’s not even a product of his mind. This is no chant for a meager spell…’
⠀
“[Mocking Fairness and Gorging Hearts.]”
⠀
‘He’s speaking them from his soul. They respond to him as much as he responds to them. Cōl Lāli; the lullaby of the soul.’
⠀
“[The One, They Offer Harvest!]”
⠀
Rakna practically shouted the last line of his lexis and thrust his palm forward. The ‘spring’ was released and the star was launched. It made a low-pitched noise at first but then turned into a high-pitched one right before all the energy was unconfined into an all-consuming chaotic dome of energy.
Tyran’s eyes narrowed and he summoned a wall of flames around the group. Evelyn also reacted and reinforced the boundary with her barriers while Flavia used her meager proficiency with space magic to assist them.
But even with their conjoined efforts, they were unable to completely negate the blinding light as well as the reverse shockwave that threatened to pull them toward the epicenter of the explosion.
The detonation that couldn’t be put into words died down after a full minute. When they dispelled their defenses, the first thing they saw was Rakna groggily standing behind two hexagonal shields that were already falling apart. The second thing was something that made their jaw drop in shock.
Half of the training room had been hit by the spell. There was a round hollow area that dug meters into the ceiling, floor, and walls. There were cracks everywhere and the air was packed with cold mist that didn’t seem to be dispersing anytime soon considering that everything that the explosion had touched was now even colder than ice.
Rakna panted heavily and collapsed on his knees. For some reason, even though his mana and stamina were not depleted, he felt even worse than after his fight with Verias. From the corner of his eye, he saw Higure approaching him.
“{Congratulations, Rakna. You have spoken words branded on your soul…}” That’s the last thing he heard before passing out.