The night passed, and early morning came.

As the hunters were preparing to leave early morning, many of them would say their goodbyes to their family members. But now, the once fearful and heart-wrenching moment for the kids was not as bad is it once were.

The Hunters now had Val. With the Slime that carried him, they could move faster and could once more relieve the days of a zero-death toll. Everyone respected Val, but no one knew just how it was that he could navigate through the Mist.

Apart from that, some of the hunters have shown progress in resisting the effects of the Mist. The once maddening and fearful developments have lessened, and because of the Genesis Tree, everyone was more calm and composed.

Vahn was excited about the hunt. Because of his resistance and his ability to perform a Spirit attack, it gave him the right to stand among the hunters. Father and Son bade farewell to Nene, the young girl who promised to cook them a delicious meal.

Dyne smiled as he watched over the scene. He even glanced at Ixis and Ipkus, who was saying their farewell. 

Ixis’s mother was also there. Dyne recalled that this unnamed character in the game was a grumble who always complained about everything. Looking at her expression, Dyne could see her affronted expression.

Dyne shook his head.

“So it wasn’t the Mist that was making her that? Sad.” Dyne could only sigh.

“What are your plans?” Tetsu finally asked.

Dyne glanced at Tetsu with a curious look.

“I may not have had time to spend with you, but I know your cunning. You were able to figure out a lot and make many eccentric but beautiful plans to help this village. I’m sure that this won’t be any different.” Tetsu sighed.

“Master Tetsu, when the hunters return tomorrow, tell them that I might not be home in two or three weeks. I plan to head to Drake Castle.” Dyne revealed his scary plan.

If it were anyone else, they would have stopped Dyne, but Tetsu remained quiet and had an intrigued expression.

“What exactly do you plan?”

“You must know that the Gobu Gobu and the Gomboo has a way to steal items.”

“Yes. They are quite the thief. I know that this ability is very difficult to block. It uses an ability that can draw out certain items that a person may be carrying.”

Dyne simply smiled.

“I want to go to Drake Castle because I will have Bertugo steal an item that can increase the Hunters' speed in learning Spirit attacks!” Dyne declared.

Tetsu’s eyes widened.

“You mean... Power Elixirs?”

“Yes. I’m sure it’s there.” Dyne smiled.

Back when Dyne was replaying Legend of Legaia on the obsolete mobile phones that he managed to acquire, he wanted to improve his replay by adding cheats that weren’t exactly cheating. One of which was granting his characters access to the item, Evil God Icon.

In the game, Evil God Icon would allow characters to have a probability of stealing items from the monsters they defeat. This would be different from the items that the players could get through drops. And because of this, Dyne knew the potential items that he could steal.

Even the boss Caruban had the possibility of dropping a Wonder Elixir. But it was impossible for normal players to acquire the Evil God Icon that earlier in the game.

Truth be told, if Dyne wasn’t limited by the cheapskate console that is Strafe, this would have been one of the items that Dyne wanted to acquire. But know, he was thankful that he didn’t ask for it as he has a tamed monster who could do that same thing.

And Dyne knew, that one monster in Drake Castle holds a Power Elixir that Dyne could steal.

Tetsu was silent.

“How are you in your Spirit Defense and Offense? Now I understand why you didn’t put so much effort into that. You pursued your resistance because you wanted to go to Drake Castle.” Tetsu asked.

“Eh? It’s not that I didn’t focus on it. But I think I’ve gotten enough. I can make three consecutive Spirit attacks. And I can cover my body with Spirit Defense for about three seconds. But if it’s just certain places, then I can hold it for about twenty seconds.”

“Certain places?” Tetsu was curious.

“Yeah. Here. Punch my arm.” Dyne extended his palm.

Tetsu didn’t hesitate and sent a punch to Dyne.

BANG!

Upon contact, Tetsu's Spirt offense and the Spirt defense that Dyne released to fight back created an explosive sound like a gunshot.

Tetus did not withdraw his fist and continued to press as he channeled the Spirit energy to push towards Dyne continually.

Dyne smiled and held it as he maintained the Spirit defense. After sixteen seconds, Tetsu finally gave way.

Tetsu was quietly gasping for breath. But he was shocked. Dyne’s ability to maintain Spirit defense was far longer than he could! He could only activate it for every sixteen seconds max!

“Erm? Master Tetsu. Why did you cover your entire body with Spirit? If you placed the Spirit on your fist alone, you could have gone for two minutes or maybe more!” Dyne asked.

It was then that Tetsu finally understood what Dyne meant by “certain places.”

Tetsu and Vahn could use Spirit, but because of their limited understanding and perception of the Spirit, they would gather their Spirit and create an explosive burst when attacking and a constant blaze when defending. This style, however, would continuously cause the Spirit energy to burn out.

But in Dyne’s case, he simply wielded it.

While Tetsu was amazed and fell into enlightenment. Strafe was eating his figurative shoe. He wanted someone to share in his agony and jealousy towards Dyne.

“DAMN! THIS MONSTER!” He cursed out.

If Tetsu knew the advanced level of Soul Cultivation that Dyne has achieved, he would have hailed Dyne as the reincarnation of Lord Biron.

Dyne had just broken any common sense in terms of Soul Cultivation. Soul Awareness and Soul Gathering was a harsh stage to cross.

Soul Awareness was the process of being able to sense one’s, own Soul. That act itself breached the three dimensions. It was like being able to sense that there was water enveloping a person all along. The problem was that sensing the water was not achieved through the skin as it isn’t felt in any of the three-dimensional senses.

The moment one learns of how to move the soul to do basic movements like spinning, slashing, or pressing, it would be considered that the person has reached an advanced level of Soul Awareness. 

Strafe intentionally set the stones and foundations for Legaia to teach Dyne how to get to Soul Awareness. With the Ra-Seru and Biron teaching, Strafe believed that Dyne would have made it to Soul Awareness in five years. 

Throughout the week, Dyne had only kept practicing and meditating to move his soul and create a hardening, which the Monks know as Spirit. 

But the problem was that the hardening process was a forced method that Strafe revealed to Legaia through the use of items such as Fury Boost, Power Elixirs, and others. This was also one way to expose Dyne and get him to reach the Peak of Soul Awareness. Strafe’s own experiences to reach the peak of Soul Awareness was also through the exposure of such items.

But Dyne could soften and harden his Spirit and even create a hardened movement already! And with his ability, he has officially entered the realms of Soul Gathering.

When Dyne had shown it to Tetsu, Strafe was so shocked because this was also the first time Dyne revealed it! Throughout the week, Dyne was meditating on moving his soul around his body in strange motions. Clockwise, counter-clockwise, crisscross, and so on.

When he created a hardening as his soul moved to his hand and caused it to stay there, Strafe was so surprised that he kept muttering, ‘My uncle is a fish!’

Being ignorant of it all, Tetsu was in deep thought and was thinking how to move and compress his Spirit.

“Master Tetsu. I will tell you now that Lord Biron has given me a mission. I saw Rem... And I think... I saw Tieg.” Dyne’s voice softened.

Tetsu was calm as he heard this.

“I have expected that. The miracles you brought are too amazing. It is as if Tieg sent you here.”

“I can’t explain it now. But that is the truth. For now, please keep this a secret. What I can tell you that I have to walk along the lines of life and death if I want to save this beautiful village.” Dyne explained as he gazed towards the wall as the hunters slowly signaled and called at Dyne. 

“And so my mission begins. I will set out and try to get more Power Elixirs. Hopefully, this will help the village for the coming calamities.” Dyne said as he walked towards the exit.

Tetsu gazed at Dyne’s back and resolved to achieve a greater level in his cultivation.

As Dyne left, he could not help but smile.

The changes in the soul were clear to Dyne. 

Tetsu now had hope for the future. He now had a pathway and direction in his training. The changes in the soul were getting clearer and clearer.

“My current mission... Make more Soul Cultivators!” Dyne almost gave an evil laugh as he saw his seeds bearing fruits.

Strafe was shocked and understood Dyne’s intentions.

“This man really is the best of Earth!” Strafe concluded.