A long silence fell over the dusty area as the two sides stood at a cautious halt.

 

The stranger still had a big smile on his face and the black cat on his shoulder seemed to be yawning out of boredom.

 

"Welp!", the so-called spirit warrior entered into some kind of fighting stance as he pulled his fists back. "Here I come!"

 

His fists immediately ignited into raging flames and his breath made the air around his mouth shimmer.

 

"Hup!", he thrusted his right fist forward.

 

Flames erupted from the motion of his hands and blasted towards Zanetor.

 

Without wasting a second, Zanetor began to move the spirit energy within him right before the attack could make any impact.

 

His body blurred as he moved at a blinding speed out of harm's way.

 

However, a large shadow suddenly loomed over him. The stranger smirked as he readied his flaming fist to make contact with his surprised opponent.

 

Just then, a golden circle appeared around the attacker's wrist and brought its progress to a complete stop.

 

"You seem really confident", Edem coldly muttered as his body towered over the stranger.

 

The cloaked man made a series of simple hand gestures and soon, the circle around the attacker's wrist disappeared and was immediately followed by a bigger circle that revealed itself above the spirit warrior's body.

 

An invisible force then slammed Edem's opponent into the ground as the gravity around the attacker's body heightened.

 

Zanetor gulped as he leapt back. That spirit warrior, Kekeli, was fast.

 

If it weren't for Edem, his body would've ended up in flames.

 

"You, spirit warrior", the air around Zanetor turned cold. "You're a part of the spirit realm's forces, am I correct?"

 

Kekeli struggled with the increased gravity on his body for a little bit until he was able to give a sharp thumbs up.

 

Zanetor kept silent after his hunch was confirmed.

 

'What is he thinking about?', Edem stole a glance at the shadow soul.

 

"Edem", he said in a low tone. "Let me be the one to take him on."

 

"Hmm?", the cloaked man raised an eyebrow. "You haven't developed any offensive capabilities yet. So how do you plan to fight?"

 

Zanetor's eyes glistened with seriousness, "I'll simply apply everything I've learnt so far. Plus, you said it yourself. That I had to be in situations of constant danger if I ever needed to learn something. Nothing ever changes if you take over since my very existence puts me in a situation of constant danger in the first place."

 

Edem hesitated for a bit.

 

He then closed his eyes and sighed, "I'll intervene once things get too one-sided."

 

With that, he gently levitated into the air and the gravity-amplifying circle that hovered above Kekeli's body disappeared.

 

"Now then, I should be able to use the same concept I used for Serene Swift", Zanetor muttered as he got into a cautious stance. "All I have to do now is desire for offence."

 

Flames erupted all over Kekeli's body as he jolted to his feet. A crazed expression appeared on his face as the intensity of the fire kept rising.

 

"Here I come again!~"

 

The spirit warrior lunged at the shadow soul at top speed, immediately punching a crater in the ground and inducing a heat wave as he moved.

 

Spirit energy began to disperse from Zanetor's soul core as he directed the water droplets to his feet. The droplets glowed an eerie blue, activating his movement spell.

 

Zanetor effortlessly sprang high up into the air, narrowly missing the flaming projectile.

 

"Gotcha! You can't move now, can you!?~", Kekeli made a 180 degree spin and shot a burst of flame in Zanetor's direction.

 

"Tch! Damn it!", Zanetor clicked his tongue. "Wait, I'm not really at a disadvantage here."

 

A familiar flow of spirit energy emerged from within Zanetor and the water droplets in the air slowly revealed themselves.

 

No second went wasted as he bounced off the water droplets and out of harm's way. The shadow soul landed safely on the ground, but Kekeli didn't look like he was going to give him time to relax.

 

"WOAH!", the spirit warrior clapped in excitement. "I may have underestimated you a teeny tiny bit! Right Jackie?"

 

Zanetor suddenly felt a tiny weight press down on his left shoulder. He turned to look and to his surprise, a black cat stared back at him with its mouth wide open.

 

An amount of spirit energy began to accumulate in its mouth as flames slowly rose up from its throat.

 

"The heck!?", Zanetor frantically tried to get the pest off. "Get the hell off!!"

 

The cat then closed its mouth and jumped off for some reason, leaving Zanetor relieved.

 

That relief didn't last however, as the air around him suddenly heated up.

 

"Tch!", Zanetor shifted to make a move, but then-

 

*Slam!*

A flaming fist met his stomach at an insane speed and force. Blood spilled from the shadow soul's mouth as he flew several metres back.

 

His body crashed into the dusty ground and bounced off twice, causing dents to appear.

 

Zanetor coughed as he struggled to stand, "Why isn't it working? I can feel the energy surging and yet, yet nothing's happening. Is my desire too weak? Do I need to use a different emotion or something??"

 

The shadow soul clutched his head as he found himself in a bind.

 

That was when certain words came to his mind.

 

An awakened soul had the ability to bring its heart into physical manifestation and it could be in the form of a weapon or something completely mundane.

 

It all boiled down to the kind of heart a soul possessed.

 

"Seems like you've noticed something", Kekeli stared deep into Zanetor's eyes, his face only inches to his.

 

"Wha- When did-", Zanetor froze.

 

Kekeli smiled, "You know one thing I like about having to fight as a Spirit warrior? Well, it's the fact that I never feel remorse when I decimate any other person!"

 

"H- Huh??", the shadow soul's eyes widened as he thought. 'This person is crazy.'

 

"Yup!", the spirit warrior stepped back. "They say conflicts are best resolved through peaceful talk and negotiation, but we fight with our hearts in physical forms. Do you understand where I'm trying to go with this??"

 

Zanetor kept silent.

 

"Well! Since our weapons are our hearts, two things happen when two souls fight!", Kekeli raised a finger. "The first is the thirst for blood through warfare and the other is that both warriors understand each other's deepest desires and emotions since their hearts basically touch during battle!"

 

"Their hearts… touch?", Zanetor muttered and his eyebrows furrowed.

 

Edem simply kept watching with an unchanging smirk on his face.

 

"Mhm! My heart's Jackie here", Kekeli grinned as the black cat leapt onto his shoulder. "If you want to call forth your heart, you must have the ability to fight relentlessly as well as open your inner self to your opponent."

 

…

….

…..

 

"What a load of crap", Zanetor coldly muttered. "There's no way in hell I'm doing that! What lies within my heart belongs to me and to me only."

 

Kekeli chuckled, "Perfect!! Makes things easier!! At this point…"

 

The spirit warrior grabbed Zanetor by the neck and lifted him into the air.

 

"You're basically a MINDLESS BEAST!!", the spirit warrior brought his opponent down with an insane amount of force.

 

*BOOM!*

The ground exploded into a million pieces as his fist made contact with the ground.

 

"Serene Swift again?", Kekeli smirked.

 

A slight wind then graced the area, blowing the dust away and revealing an injured Zanetor a few metres away.

 

"AHAHAHAHAHA!! HOW NICE!!"

 

The battle-frenzy warrior powerfully blasted towards the shadow soul, delivering a countless barrage of flame jabs.

 

"For a Shadow soul like you, it would basically be impossible to stay the same after calling forth your heart in the first place!!!", the spirit warrior laughed as he mercilessly beat up his opponent. "A heart messed up from the start is bound to leave you as nothing but a FILTHY OPAQUE!!"

 

*BOOM!!*

Kekeli finalised his series of attacks with a final jab that sent the shadow soul falling several feet away.

 

"Now then", he stretched his body. "Your head may not be neat, but at least it'll be fresh! Ha!"

 

Zanetor slowly but painfully stood on his feet. Several bruises scarred his body and blood flowed down from his nose and mouth.

 

"Heh", he scoffed while muttering. "Nothing, not even an entire army… will be enough to keep me down. As long as my mother is out there, I'll push forward until I find myself in her arms again."

 

"Hmph", a frown appeared on Kekeli's face. "You're a momma's boy? How annoying."

 

.

.

.

Deep within the forest, on a certain hill and at around the same time, a little girl fidgeted with her skirt as she struggled to reach a conclusion.

 

"Do you wish to help him?", the forest guardian noticed the girl's concern.

 

"Hmph, t- that idiot keeps getting back up!", she bit her lower lip. "Why!? People like him really annoy me!"

 

"Hmm?", Zozo seemed quite perplexed.

 

"Also, the person who's beating him up…", her voice suddenly grew sullen.

 

Zozo narrowed his eyes, "Once you appear before him, you do understand what that would mean, do you?".

 

Leticia kept silent for a while and then later changed to a display of determination.

 

"I've kept myself away for too long, Papa", she clenched her fists. "I can't leave things the way they are for any longer."

 

The forest guardian quietly took a good look at the girl who once appeared in his forest 500 years ago. She had no confidence in her, no life or no bravery.

 

However, looking at her now… Zozo couldn't help but feel satisfied.

 

All she needed now was experience outside comfort.

 

And though he pushed it further down his heart, he couldn't help but feel like that boy would help her find it.