Hearing Veylir’s request, Soru simply turned around and walked away.

     “Wait a minute, Master Soru!”

     “I’m not interested; better ask someone else,” Soru replied, continuing to walk away.

     “Please, Master Soru! I couldn’t ask anyone else but only you…”

     Seeing that Soru had no intention of hearing her request, Veylir tried to persuade him further.

     “B-Besides, it is for the sake of Master Reika!”

     Soru stopped and went back to the tree where Veylir was hiding. Realizing that she managed to convince Soru, Veylir celebrated secretly in her mind.

     “Why is it me and not someone else? ”Soru asked her.

     “The thing is... Only Master Reika and you, Master Soru, are the only humans here that I have a closer connection with. I could’ve asked her about this, but she’s currently busy at this moment,” Veylir replied.

     Soru pondered for a moment, wondering whether he should accept Veylir’s request or not.

     “Is that the real reason why you’re so desperate to seek my aid? "Soru asked her once again.

     “Urk…!”

     Veylir and Soru stared at each other for some time. Moments later, Veylir couldn’t take it anymore and finally gave up.

     “Alright, I give up! I’ll tell you the reason…”

     Veylir lowered her head.

     “After my physical death, I’m currently in a severely weakened state. I could only utilize Special-class abilities at best, considering the fact that my soul power was weak enough to absorb aeon from the atmosphere at a faster pace.” 

     “Since a healthy soul absorbs aeon faster than an injured one, the accumulation of aeon on my body is slower than that of a snail. Now that my aeon reserves were at their lowest, at this rate, it would take hundreds of years to accumulate aeon enough to return to my former state.”

     Veylir lowered her head, and her tone changed.

     “I… I don’t even know if I’m still qualified as a Calamity Dragon now that I am too weak to be considered one...”

     “That’s why I need your aid in retrieving an object that could help me replenish my soul power and possibly regain my strength back, the ‘Luminite’.”

     “Luminite is a mineral that could heal and replenish one’s soul power, and I remembered there is one in the cave that I currently reside in, right on the opposite side of the Fiur Mountain,” Veylir added.

     “And what does it have anything to do with Reika and others?” Soru asked her.

     “O-Of course, when I regain my strength back, I will be Master Reika’s strongest asset, which could help her in her future battles!”

     Veylir paused when she noticed that Soru’s expression didn’t change at all. He simply stared at her with a blank face.

     Gah! Am I talking to a rock or something!?

     “Ahem! I-I told you my reason for being in desperate need of your assistance, Master Soru. I hope it’s enough to convince… you…”

     Without replying to her, Soru simply turned around and walked away. Veylir noticed it and lowered her head.

     “It seems like my persuasion isn’t enough to convince him…”

     “When will we be heading out? ” 

     Veylir looked up and saw that Soru had stopped and was standing still. The dragon’s mood brightened up upon hearing the good news.

     “T-This afternoon! I will wait for your arrival in this exact spot,” Veylir exclaimed.

     With no reply, Soru simply continued on his way, heading towards the crowd to get his refreshments. Veylir went to the top of a branch and sat there, observing the scenery and the people in the distance.

     Up ahead, Reika noticed Soru’s arrival. She got some refreshment and walked in his direction to meet him.

     “Soru, where have you been? I’ve been looking for you,” Reika said while giving him the refreshment.

     Soru took the refreshment from Reika and took a sip.

     “I had a conversation with Veylir minutes ago,” Soru replied.

     Reika realized that ever since she woke up this morning, Veylir was nowhere to be seen.

     “Where is she? ”Reika asked him.

     “There,” Soru replied while pointing in the direction of a certain tree.

     Seeing that she couldn’t perceive Veylir’s soul body with her naked eyes, Reika activated her ability, and her purple eyes glowed. There, she saw Veylir sleeping on a branch.

     “Do dragons like to sleep all the time? Even though souls don’t require sleep...” Veylir murmured.

     Just then, Reika shrugged her shoulders and turned back.

     “Well, I’ll let her slack off this time. It’s not like there’s anything right now that requires her assistance…”

     Reika headed back to the crowd, while Soru followed her in silence.

     The morning air was filled with laughter and words, each sharing their own experience and knowledge that they got from Reika’s teachings. They were glad to learn something new that could help them survive in the new settlement where they currently live.

     The morning went by, and the afternoon finally arrived. Veylir could be seen sitting on a tree branch, eagerly waiting for the exact spot where they agreed to meet.

     In the distance, Veylir saw Soru approaching in her direction. Veylir revealed herself in order for Soru to see her presence.

     Upon his arrival, Veylir flapped its wings to go down and meet him, although it isn’t required to use them since she’s in a soul-body state.

     “Master Soru. Thank you for coming here and giving your assistance,” Veylir said to him.

     “Lead me the way,” Soru replied.

     Without saying a word, Veylir flew slowly, guiding Soru towards the location of her den.

     ...

     Plink!

     The echoing sound of the water droplets can be heard across the entire space as they fall on the puddle over and over again. A single ray of afternoon light peeked below as it illuminated the dark space.

     Several stalagmites and stalactites stick out from the floor and the roof of the cave. The water droplets coming from above the ceiling dripped through the stalactites and dropped to the other end of the stalagmites. It was a strange yet spectacular sight, combined with the soft ambience that made the cave more pleasant.

     At the center of the cave lies a strange crystal with a size similar to half a human’s arm. It doesn't emanate any light at all; the light coming from the rays of the sun would permeate or sometimes reflect on the crystal. However, the crystal began to behave strangely.

     There's a faint source of light that suddenly glows within the crystal. It was pulsating, but it was so weak that it only shone centimeters away from the source. 

     It’s been two days since I came back here...

     That strange orb of light is a sentient one that has been resting on the crystal for several hours. As the orb was still inside of it, it was thinking about the situation that it had encountered a day ago.

     But still, I can't even begin to comprehend how I got mysteriously expelled by that human’s subconscious space, even though she doesn’t possess even a single ability…

     The orb remembered one of its memories from the past. It made the orb enraged just by thinking about it.

     Several eras have passed since that "war." I've spent many years hiding from one entity to another while being hunted by those scums at the same time, even on my death…!

     The orb pulsated a little bit brightly out of frustration. The entire space shone and then dimmed slowly after a while.

     If only I hadn't fall to their cunningness, I wouldn't even be in this terrible and pathetic state. With my soul body being destroyed by them over the years, I have nothing left but my memories and my unusable ability…

     I thought that dragon was suitable for my possession, so I intentionally weakened its soul power so that I could exploit it without its detection. But to my surprise, its soul power was resilient enough that it took me thousands of years since I went into hiding on its body, yet it only lost 60% of its soul power!

     Then the dragon's death arrived, and all I’ve been working hard for these past years has gone to waste! 

     It was then that I met that human girl. I was overjoyed that her soul was weak compared to an average human’s soul and tried to possess her. But not only did I fail in my attempt to possess her, I even left my ability on someone else's body... Just right after I separated it from mine!

     The orb began to move slowly, permeating the crystal.

     I tried to search for their whereabouts, but it’s dangerous to reveal my severely weakened state to the outside world, now that I'm being hunted by those people.

     Luckily, I remembered that there's a Luminite here. Formed from the thick concentration of spiritual power in the area, I somehow managed to replenish the soul power that I'd lost during the separation of my ability,  even just a bit.

     It's a shame that it would take me several days to absorb it all, but now's not the time…

     The orb floated above the crystal and pulsated once more.

     I need to find that girl as soon as possible. I will retrieve my ability along with her body, and then I’ll come back here to absorb this crystal and strengthen my soul.

     The orb looked around the cave, looking for the exit.

     Now, where's the exit?

     The orb looked above and saw a ray of light that peeked inside the cave. 

     Here it is.

     The orb flew above and headed straight to the cavern's entrance. Right when it was about to reach the opening, it heard a loud roar coming from the outside. The roar echoed throughout the cave.

     What was that? 

     The orb got curious and slowly approached the entrance of the cave.

     That loud roar—doesn't that belong to a Giant Bear who roamed the middle section of this mountain? Did it encounter some territorial fight or something?

     When the orb finally reached the entrance of the cave, it could see the entirety of the Great Forest of Drys. The luscious green that was scattered in every direction could be seen, but the orb ignored it and focused on the noise.

     Suddenly, a loud roar rang across the entire mountain once again, followed by a deafening shriek and several squeals. The orb couldn't understand what was happening.

     What the hell is happening? 

     The orb noticed that a Rabid Wolf came out from the depths of the forest. It rushed out as if it were running from its life, running away from a mysterious threat behind it, hidden within the forest. 

     The orb quietly hid and observed the entire situation, listening to the howls and roars of the monsters being slaughtered by an unknown entity. Several minutes later, it heard a loud roar that echoed throughout the forest, and silence followed afterwards.

     That took longer than I expected… The orb murmured.

     A strange figure emerged within the bushes, heading in the direction that the orb assumed was the entrance of the cave.

     Is that a human...? And that familiar accompanying him... What are they doing here?

     “Master Soru. I could handle these small fries by myself since you eliminated the stronger ones along the way.”

     The orb saw a strange familiar following the mysterious human from behind.

     “I already gave you the description of the Luminite’s appearance, so get it and leave the rest to me!"

     Soru nodded his head.

     “Got it.”

     Seeing that the human was going in its direction, the orb hid within the crevices of the cave, observing the strange man carefully. 

     The familiar called this man “Master Soru…” So this man was that familiar’s master…

     The orb quietly followed Soru as he headed deeper into the cave. Luckily for the orb, it followed the human without detecting its presence.

     The orb noticed the strange actions of the human in front of it, as if it were looking for something.

     What are his intentions for coming to this dark cavern? Is he looking for something valuable?

     The orb assumed that the mysterious man's intention was to explore the dragon's den. The orb followed the strange man as it slowly descended on the cave.

     When they managed to reach the bottom, Soru immediately noticed the crystal ahead.

     "That must be the crystal..." Soru muttered.

     At that moment, the orb realized that the human’s intention in coming to this cave was to retrieve the Luminite.

     So his intention was to retrieve the Luminite!

     The orb paused for a moment after it noticed something unusual about him.

     Now that I've noticed, how come his spiritual power is too weak compared to others? It's even weaker than the girl I met before!

     I should take a closer look, but I must be careful not to be detected.

     The orb took a closer look, only to find out that its assumption was right: the mysterious man's spiritual power was too weak, similar to an elementary spirit's level.

     How can this be? His spiritual power is far too weak to even be considered human! And there’s no traces of aeon on his body either!

     Realizing the truth about the human in front of it, an idea struck the orb’s mind.

     This… This is the ideal body that I’ve been searching for! Although possessing a man's body wasn't to my liking, I couldn't care less, as long as my possession would go smoothly and there were no mishaps. Besides, I could just search for a new body, which I personally preferred once I gained my strength back.

     Just then, the orb realized that after their arrival, only his familiar remained outside and went alone in the cave. The orb assumed that the strong one was left outside to guard the weaker one.

     Fufufu~ No wonder he came here alone, because only the familiar could protect him from the outside simply because he’s too weak to fight with those monsters without realizing the dangers of being ambushed inside!

     The orb slowly approached Soru. When the orb drew closer, it quickly rushed towards him.

     Once I've taken over his body, I will find that girl and take back what's mine...

     Hmm... Perhaps I should seize him instead? 

     Suddenly, the orb found itself in front of Soru.

     "Hwuh!?"

     Shocked, the orb flew a few inches further, confused by what was happening.

     I was about to enter his body... What happened?

     "Who are you?" Soru asked while staring at the orb intently.

     The orb jolted when it saw Soru, who was staring while wearing an expressionless face.

     I'm sure that I hid my presence from the naked eye... How could he notice me?

     The orb looked around the area of the cave.

     Given the fact that he could see and even interact with my soul fragment, I am no match for him. I need to escape!

     The orb flew away from Soru as fast as it could, immediately. But to its surprise, the orb came back in the same spot as before, right when it was about to reach the upper part of the cave.

     "What are you doing?" Soru asked the orb.

     The orb couldn't speak in response. It couldn't grasp what was happening around it and was trying to process the situation.

     W-What ability did he use? Is it some sort of spatial-type ability? But there are no signs of aeon’s flow at all!

     Confused about what was happening, the orb slowly looked up and faced him. Soru, with his usual expressionless face, stood still on his feet without moving a single inch.

     What kind of nonsense is this!?

     “Who are you—no, what are you!?" The orb asked him.

     The orb recognized Soru’s face from before. At that moment, it realized that it had made a terrible mistake.

     “Y-You’re that individual whom I saw defeat the dragon with ease, along with that girl that I was about to possess. Don’t tell me…!”

     “So you’re the one who harmed Reika…” Soru said calmly.

     The orb noticed Soru’s cold gaze, as if it were carving deep into its soul fragment. His expressionless face was etched in its mind, thinking that it would be killed any second from now.

     It was then that the orb felt intense fear that coursed throughout its entire soul fragment. Fearing for its life, the orb decided to flee by trying to brute-force its way out.

     Nggghh!

     The orb tried several attempts to escape from Soru’s grasps, flying as fast as it could. But all its efforts were in vain as it kept coming back to its spot.

     Why… Why… Why… Why.. Why! Why can't I get away from his grasps!?

      With no other options left, the orb attacked Soru with a pulse of soul attack, trying to shrug him off as a last-ditch effort.

     “Ghk!?”

     The orb noticed a crack appear on its surface.

     Was he using a soul attack to inflict a damage on my soul fragment? But that’s impossible…!

     The orb unleashed another soul attack on him, only to find out that after its attack reached Soru, the orb received damage to its soul fragment.

    H-How could this be… Instead of him taking damage, I was the one who got inflicted!

    The orb repeated the process again and again, trying to escape while attacking Soru with its soul attacks. Despite receiving damage without knowing the reason behind it, the orb continued this painful method, trying to push beyond its absolute limits. The orb attacked him out of desperation, thinking about all the growing hatred and revenge that had been harbored in its mind over the years.

      “GHHHHHHHHH!!!”

     After seemingly endless attempts to free itself from Soru’s restraints, the orb couldn’t maintain its soul fragment anymore due to the cracks that accumulated over time. It was at that moment that its soul fragment went to its breaking point, where the damage was beyond repair. The orb noticed the changes and stopped.

     My soul fragment…!

     The orb couldn’t take it anymore and gave up bitterly. 

     Seeing that the strange orb in front of him didn’t try to resist anymore, Soru walked toward the orb and confronted it. 

     "My revenge... I couldn't fulfill my promise anymore! Damn it!"

     “Revenge… What do you mean by that?” Soru asked the orb.

     The orb simply laughed at him.

     “HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I ACCEPT MY DEFEAT!"

     Confused, Soru didn’t ask further and listened to the orb’s dying words.

     “You… Tell me your name. I must know the name of the one who defeated me…”  The orb muttered.

     “My name’s Shin… Soru Shin,” Soru replied.

     Suddenly, Soru noticed that the orb had begun to disintegrate. Its surface was slowly being chipped away, vanishing into thin air.

     “Soru… Shin…” The orb uttered as its voice began to fade.

    As the orb lost half of its size, it tried to gather all its strength in order to say its final words in front of him.

     “I can’t avenge them all by myself anymore. But your existence… This continent will be shaken once again…”

     A vision from the orb’s memory appeared in front of it. There, it saw its former companions calling it while smiling gracefully. 

     “Hey! What are you standing over there for? Come here with us!” One of them called the orb.

     “Why are you always left behind? Can’t you just walk faster?" The other one exclaimed.

     Seeing its companions once again, it smiled back and walked towards them. Its appearance changed to its former state, revealing the identity of a woman with horns on her head.

     “Long live… The Ogre Race…”

     The orb, who once harmed Reika and weakened the Wildfire Dragon, completely vanished from existence.

     Soru stood up and stared blankly at the ground.

     “I was about to ask about its real intentions, but it vanished before I even started…” Soru muttered.

     At that moment, Veylir arrived at the scene. She found Soru heading towards the Luminite.

     “Master Soru, what took you so long? Luckily, there are no signs of monsters there, so I went here to check on you instead,” Veylir said.

     Soru noticed Veylir and looked in her direction.

     “Well… Nevermind. We’ll take that Luminite and get out of here. It’s already evening out there…” Veylir added.

     Veylir flew towards him and observed the Luminite in front of her.

     “With this Luminite, I could gain my strength back…”

     Veylir looked in Soru’s direction.

     “Please carry it for me, Master Soru. I’ll use an aerial-type ability which makes it light as a wind for you to carry it with ease.”

     “Do as you please,” Soru replied.

     Facing the Luminite, Veylir closed her eyes and activated the ability.

     《Light Wind》

     Suddenly, green particles formed around the Luminite. Then it moved around, accelerating while it revolved around it.

     “It is ready, Master Soru.”

     Hearing that the preparations were over, Soru approached the Luminite and tried to budge the crystal from the rock it was embedded in. To his surprise, the Luminite managed to separate from the rock easily.

     “Pretty convenient, right? ” Veylir said to him.

     Soru held the arm-sized Luminite with one hand. Despite it weighing half a ton, Soru carried it with ease thanks to Veylir’s aerial-type ability.

     "It’s so light…" Soru murmured while holding the Luminite.

     “Let’s go, Master Soru! "

     Soru walked along with Veylir, who guided the way back to the entrance of the cave. Soru didn’t say anything about his encounter with the strange orb to Veylir. To him, it is just a regular occurrence and not worth discussing with others.

     When both of them resurfaced from the cave, the moonlight welcomed them along with a gentle, cold breeze of the night. The Luminite suddenly shone upon contact with light, exuding its clear and pristine appearance.

     “How beautiful…” Veylir murmured.

     While he was walking on a path with Veylir’s guidance, Soru noticed several monsters hiding in the bushes. They were wary of him, and the familiar that leads the way.

     GRRRRR....

     Although they seemed hostile, they didn't dare attack them at all. Several growling sounds could be heard, while others whimpered in fear. Some monsters could be seen lowering their heads as they stepped back and faded into the darkness. Small monsters ran away, fearing that confronting these dangerous individuals would lead to their deaths.

    Despite what was happening around them, Soru ignored them and simply followed Veylir as they headed back to the settlement.