Dyne spent the early morning draining his MP pool by using the Imaginarium Arts. Once more, Tetsu fell into a daze. Vahn began to train in the ways of Soul Cultivation. Many of the young hunters, including Ixis was staying around Vahn and was observing him meditate. Val and Juno spent the morning around the Genesis Tree, constantly praying and meditating.
The early mornings were loud near the Item shop. Farlay had begun making various weapons for the hunters. Many of the newer hunters had been wearing old and damaged outfits from their slain compatriots. But now, the hunters were being sponsored to make more armor and weapons.
Dyne had brought in several weapons such as spears and sabers from Drake Castle, which Farlay was now trying to imitate. They had an abundance of wood, and with the monster's lifeblood, weapons that could break through rocks were now possible.
As for Dyne, he was with Ginger, who was closely following him around town. Dyne discovered that as long as he was touching Ginger, he could communicate directly through the soul. Dyne’s noticed that Ginger’s responses were even lesser than Calamity and Catastrophe.
“Hey Strafe, how can I make this Gimard smarter?”
“The process of gaining sentience for Soul monsters is called Self-Kindling. When a monster achieves that, it usually takes time and experience to develop it. But the fastest way to make that particular Gimard smarter is by leveling it up. The higher its level, the bigger its soul becomes and the more emotions it can experience.”
“Alright. Sounds easy enough!” Dyne laughed.
“Attach to me!” Dyne ordered.
The Gimard slowly moved and tried to attach itself to Dyne, but suddenly, Dyne stopped it and ordered it to retreat.
“What was that?!” Dyne was stunned.
The moment Ginger was moving closer, he could feel a strange spiritual pull. His soul was vibrated, and Dyne made Ginger stop according to instinct.
“Strafe! What happened?”
“Serus are Soul creatures. Any creature that is neither a monster or a human but has sentience can become the perfect weapon in my world. The Ra-Seru's are designed after the strongest sentient artifacts. And while the Seru’s are vastly weaker, they are very miraculous. How else do you think a human can gain the powers of the Seru if its soul is not affected by the Seru?” Strafe asked.
Dyne was in deep thought.
“Why did you panic? I mean, it doesn’t really affect you now. You are a Soul Cultivator of the Soul Gathering rank! You can easily reform your soul.” Strafe explained.
“That’s it! That’s why no Hunters can easily learn Spirit! They have worn a Seru! So this is why it’s hard!” Dyne finally realized it.
When Ginger was about to commune with him, Dyne’s own soul was actually resonating with Gingers. It was a process of both Seru and Humans trying to accommodate each other.
“The changes don’t affect the person, but the soul is drastically changed! No wonder they have it hard! Biron arts are designed to awaken Spirit arts but they can’t do it to someone whose soul has already changed! And if a person has worn different Serus of different kinds, it makes it harder!” Dyne finally understood. Dyne ran towards Tetsu and shook him off his meditation.
“Master Tetsu! Master Tetsu! I get it! I get it now! I understand why Biron Monks should not wear Serus! I tried merging with Ginger!” Dyne happily explained.
“What?! You merged with Ginger?”
“I tried! But I didn’t complete it. But it’s ok! I get it now! Listen. When I tried to attach Ginger to me, I felt my soul resonating. It felt like Ginger and my own soul were changing their shapes to accommodate each other! That’s why no one else in this village could learn arts! Most of them had worn Serus! Only Vahn among the younger generations hasn’t worn a Seru!”
“That’s true. That’s why I focused on training Vahn.”
“But it isn’t final! Even if someone wears a Seru, he should be able to learn Spirit still! It’s like this... Biron Monks learned Spirit but not Soul cultivation. You've experienced it! You’ve seen how amazing it would be for Monks to learn soul arts! Lord Biron must have been someone who was enlightened and understood what Soul Cultivation is! But he couldn’t teach others and merely use power elixirs, shield elixirs, fury boost to help the monks understand how to imitate it! But it isn’t perfect!”
“I agree. The moment you used that strange art to reflect your soul, I realized that there is more on what this spirit thing is.”
“Yeah! It’s like learning how to play a single song using the Koto!” Dyne had noticed the musical instruments that many of the villagers played during the previous festivals.
“You know just how to play a single song, but you don’t understand the concepts behind it at all! That’s what happened with Spirit. Lord Biron had no way to teach you, so he used that as a means to open the door for Biron Monks!”
“Then why did he band using Seru?”
“It’s like this... Imagine that when a person wears a Seru, it’s like the strings of the Koto are bent out of tune! And because he doesn’t know the concepts behind the music, even if he tries to play that one song, it sounds awful!”
“I see. That seems like a plausible explanation... A soul is changed when it communes with a Seru. So its tune is different. So they can’t follow the same meditation, the breathing techniques that we use, the circulation of energy...”
“Exactly! And the proof of it is that when we gave them Power Elixirs, they were slowly able to train in it! The Power Elixirs show them how to move the Spirit energy in their body! So it's either we can retune them or change the technique they train in!”
“If that’s the case, we can finally train the villagers faster! You can do that technique you did with us! You will show them how to move the spirit energy!”
“Right! We can use the Power Elixirs to give them foreign spirit energy that they can sense and move around. Hopefully, if after that experience they try to imitate that, some may awaken that ability and finally be a Spirit user!”
“That is possible. But of course, it would still be beneficial that they won’t wear a Seru.”
“Yes. But not all that impossible now. I can retune them. I did so with Bertugo and Brod. Humans are naturally more intelligent than monsters. So if those two goblins can, I’m sure that the hunters can soon learn this.” Dyne laughed.
"It seems Rim Elm is bound to get stronger." Tetsu smiled.
“Yes! But for now... this gives me some inspiration. What if I don’t fully attach myself to the Seru? What if we merge halfway?” Dyne wondered.
“What?” Tetsu was confused.
“For this... I will need help. There is only one being in this world that could make a half-connection with a human. It bestows the human with its powers but is also independent of its own.” Dyne began to walk closer and closer to the Genesis Tree.
“What are you talking about?”
“Call Vahn!” Dyne ordered a nearby youngster.
The youngster was one of the village kids. But they all looked at Dyne as a savior. He was only a few years older and yet so capable.
The boy nodded and took this as an important mission and immediately ran off.
“It looks like I’ll need to talk to him for some advice.”
“Him?”
“The Ra-Seru sleeping inside this Genesis Tree. Meta.” Dyne smiled. Ginger drew close as well.
“Ginger is a fire Seru. So Meta should be able to help us out.” Dyne held the Tree and began to meditate.
A few moments later, Vahn arrived.
“Master Dyne?” Vahn asked.
“Vahn... I originally wanted to do this earlier. But I want you to call out the Ra-Seru hiding in this tree. I tried calling it out, but it doesn’t seem to heed my call. It’s as if it's suspicious of me! Although, I sort of understand. That damned cheapskate Tieg didn’t even tell the Ra-Serus about me!” Dyne cursed.
Vahn and Tetsu wondered at his words.
“Call out the Ra-Seru? But why me? If you can’t do it... I can’t.”
“It likes you. Of everyone in this village, I know that this Ra-Seru has already chosen you to be its wielder. You have the greatest potential of everyone here in Rim Elm. You are also the most prayerful. Why do you think you were able to withstand the Mist longer? It wasn’t just because you were praying but because the Ra-Seru dwelling inside this Tree has been blessing you!” Dyne explained.
Vahn was stunned.
“Sometimes... I hear voices when I pray...” Vahn finally admitted.
Dyne smiled.
“That was the Ra-Seru inside this tree. I need to talk to him. And since we are going on a trip, I guess it's about time to take him with us! You can grow stronger with him! Right now, you are a Soul Awakening cultivator! And I’m sure he was hesitant at first... but now... he should listen to your call!”
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