Seeds of Discordia

Liam smirked at their reaction. The smirk wasn’t because he knew it would scare them, but because he had forgotten they had never really seen him use the ability to devour a Soul Orb before. Since he had forgotten that he didn’t realize they would jump so high or scream at the sight of his shadow tendril with teeth.

He was also thankful for all those times he had used Devour to replenish his Spirit Pool. It had reached level fifteen thanks to that, and the ability had developed an additional effect or rather it adapted its way of being used.

The new addition to the ability allowed him to have a third Devour available only for devouring Soul Orbs to replenish his Spirit Pool if his other two Devours had been used on living creatures. He wasn’t entirely sure why or what brought this change on, but if he had to make a guess it would probably be because of the he had been using this ability mainly to replenish his Spirit Pool. He also wasn’t sure how it was able to determine the difference between the two. Another mystery he needed to figure out when it came to the ability.

He chuckled a bit after seeing their reactions. The others either had a hand on their chest and stared at him wide eyed or were openly glaring at him. He raised a hand up and apologized, “I’m sorry. I had completely forgotten you had never seen that before.”

“What was that?” Avery asked, still glaring daggers at him.

“That was my devour ability,” Liam replied. “I used it to devour a Soul Orb so I can replenish some of my missing Spirit Pool.

“Do you need to do that every time in order to replenish it?” Ariyana questioned eyeing Liam warily.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Liam responded. “At least until I figure something out.”

Ariyana shivered as she rubbed her arms and said, “That sucks. That thing was creepy.”

“I thought the same thing at first, but…,” Liam started to say as a teasing grin started to form. “I don’t know. I think it’s kind of cute.”

Ariyana grimaced before looking away.

“So you took ten Soul Orbs of a creature and fused them together with one to make this?” Mercer questioned as he rediverted their attention back to the object Liam had just made.

“Kinda like that,” Liam replied. “From watching the process and crafting it myself it’s more like I melt down what’s inside the Soul Orbs and bring it to the main component to strengthen it’s potential before fashioning it into a useable object?”

Mercer looked back at Liam with a raised brow. “You don’t sound too sure of yourself.”

“That’s because I’m not entirely sure if that’s the best way to describe it. This is all new to me,” Liam stated.

“What’s the purpose of making this?” Blair asked as she went to assess the Soul Core. “It says you can bind this into a piece of equipment or item, but why would you?”

“Is that all you can see?” Liam asked.

With a confused expression, Blair assessed it once more before nodding her head and saying, “Yes. It only gives the name of the object and a small description of it.”

“Hm,” Liam muttered. He then looked at Mercer and asked, “What about you?”

Mercer assessed it himself. He then tried to determine the value with one of his other abilities before his eyes widened. “Yeah and I can’t use True Value on it. I only get question marks.”

Liam brought a hand to his chin and tried to think about why that was. His thoughts didn’t get far as Mercer asked, “Why? Is there more to the item that we can’t see?”

Liam nodded his head before he explained, “Yes. Depending on the Soul Orbs I use to make the Soul Core, I can add sub-stats and increase effects. For example, This Soul Core, Orb of an Orb Weaver Trapper Toxo, when I bind it to a piece of equipment or object I can add ten percent to attack, ten percent to poisons and fifteen percent to Trapping Abilities.”

Mercer’s eyes widened upon hearing that. “So, you’re saying this is like an enhancement item to equipment or objects? Have you tried binding the first Soul Core you made yet?”

Liam shook his head. “No, apparently I haven’t reached the required level to receive that type of skill or abilities yet.”

Mercer nodded as he started thinking. “I see. Then my advice is to practice this whenever you can. While you’re here you should try to do it. Do you have enough materials?”

“I should have enough to do a couple more, but I will need to gather more materials in the future if I wish to raise this craft up high enough to try and get what we are seeking,” Liam informed.

 “Alright, when we’re in dungeons your main priority is to collect more Soul Orbs and when we reach the end of a dungeon, if we have time, you should forge out a Soul Core to help level your Soul Craft,” Mercer said before looking at everyone else. “Is that alright with everyone else?”

A few shrugs and nods were given in response with a few, “That sounds fine.” Or “I don’t mind.” Although their responses weren’t loud and were nonchalant-like, he knew they wanted to see what he could do with this new crafting option. The possibilities were as mysterious as they were intriguing.

For the next three hours they each worked on the magics they wanted to focus on leveling. Mercer switched between his lower leveled Ice and Water Magic spells with occasionally practicing his Senses and Bard Magic. Ariyana worked on her illusion Magic and her new Plant spell. Roman worked on his new elemental spells leveling them up here and there. Blair worked on casting her Berserking spells while using Gravity Magic. Liam worked on his Shadow Manipulation while replenishing his Spirit Pool after each successful Soul Core Orb.

Avery and Artem worked on their respected Magics, Avery with Blood, Fire, and Air and Artem with his Barrier, Water, and Healing, also worked tried out their new Force Magic. They had explained to everyone that the Field of Force had three Focus Points, but you were only allowed to pick one of three.

While this field was considered as part of the basic Fields of Studies to pick from, it was also deemed a dangerous one if you didn’t know what you were doing. If someone had picked it before they had any other fields or any training they would be stopped and advised to wait.

What made this field dangerous to pick right at the start was because it was meant to help strengthen both your abilities or skills as well as your body or mind.

The three Focus Points to choose from were: Energy, Chi, and Aura. When explained further they had found each Focus Point had another name. Energy was also known as Life Force, which affected a person’s health pool. Chi was also known as Physical Force which affected a person’s Stamina Bar. The last, Aura, was also known as the Spiritual Force and affected their Mana Pool.

They weren’t entirely sure how each affected what they said they did, but it did mention that mixing these forces in anyway was dangerous and could have negative effects on a person’s body, mind, or even their growth. While this warning was stated several times it never really explained more than that.

Artem had chosen the Aura Focus Point of the Field of the Forces. Like he had explained to Uncle Naro, he had chosen it to help his understanding and strengthen the Aura abilities he already had. Avery, on the other hand, had chosen the Energy Focus Point. Her reasoning on choosing that Focus Point was due to her Field of Blood. Her Blood Magic required blood in order to use it. While she was away from everyone she had a hard time leveling the abilities due to not having any on hand.

She had come up with the thought of using her own if the situation called for it, however, that would cause some issues. She didn’t like the idea of cutting herself in order to use the magic she had. That’s where the Energy Focus Point of the Field of Force came into play. After looking into it and reading it had to do with Life Force and was tied to a person’s Health Pool she had believed it revolved around a person’s blood.

Blood was essentially the Life Energy of a person and could be related to a Health Pool. If that was the case then she could possibly find a way to strengthen her blood and her body in a way that if she needed to use her own blood then she could possibly not bleed out from using her own body as a source.

Everyone was slightly worried that she had misinterpreted the whole thing and that maybe it didn’t have anything to do with blood at all. However, their worries were alleviated when she started to practice with it and found that her Blood Magic resonated with it.

At first it was just a feeling, but after making a small cut to allow a small amount of blood to swim out, she was able to feel her control over her blood strengthen and her Health pool stopped dropping. After that she worked with the small amount she had with the cut still fresh. During her time working with it she had a surprising discovery. Her health had grown a bit with the levels she had received with the two Fields.

It had seemed that as she worked on her Energy Force and Blood Magic it was also leveling her Vitality sub-stat along with it. That kind of discovery held implications she wasn’t entirely sure about, but she believed there was potential there.

Every now and then, Liam felt his eyes wander towards her and watched what she was doing in between crafting and replenishing. He was surprised to see her thin a line of the blood she had control over and try to spin it around or swirl it. After some time she pulled out her sword and tried to wrap a thin line around the blade. It looked like a red swirl effect. Albeit, each attempt she made to do so, the blood she was manipulating smeared across the blade making her lose control over it.

After watching a few attempts, Liam’s curiosity got the better of him. He stopped what he was doing and made his way over to her. After reaching her, he asked, “What are you trying to do?”

Avery turned her gaze from the blood she was focusing on towards him. “Hm?”

Liam pointed to the line of blood she had pulled away from the blade. The liquid looked to be wanning from a perfect line to little orbs separating from the line. Avery quickly looked back at the blood and focused harder to make sure she didn’t lose control.

As she focused on this, she replied, “I’m trying to see if I can  coat my blood on my blade. I thought if I could do that, then I could use my Blood Magic easier and in a way no one could tell. However, every time my blood touches my blade it mixes with the metal, and I lose control over it. I have to concentrate harder just to pull it off the weapon.”

“Hm,” Liam muttered as he thought about what she was trying to do.

Avery noticed the look in his eyes and asked, “Do you have any ideas that could help me work on that?”

Liam stared at the blood and her blade. He thought about the time he watched her circle the blood around it right before the crimson liquid bled when touching it. Every thought and idea he had was not at a level she was at with her control and manipulation. She would need to work on leveling that in order for her to get where she wanted to be with it. However, there had to be a way she could practice with the intention of it leading to that.

Liam let out a sigh as one idea appeared. It was a tedious one that would require her entire focus on it. However, if she was able to do it and finally reach a level that could led her to what she wanted to do, then she would be able to pull off more than she thought.

“I don’t have an answer that could lead you to what you what right away, but…,” Liam started as Avery turned her gaze on him. While she was trying to fully focus on what she wanted to do, she was eager to hear any ideas or advice. Liam continued, “Instead of trying to bring the blood to the metal, why not try to get it as close as you can and practice moving both the blood and the blade. I think it will help with both your manipulation and control over the blood as well as help you get an idea on how to move both together as one.”

Avery thought about it. She looked back at her rapier and the blood. After thinking about it she nodded. She liked the idea, and she also understood the possibilities it could bring. She asked, “How close should I try to bring it?”

Liam thought about it and then replied, “Try a couple of inches away and slowly bring it closer as you practice moving it and the blade around. After you start to get comfortable bring it closer and closer until its barely touching it. that way it’s not close enough that you fail from a twitch or a random spasm.”

“Alright. Thanks,” Avery grinned.

Liam waved before turning around and walking back to his forge. Thoughts of his Shadow Manipulation started to swirl in his mind. Just that one interaction and hearing what Avery wanted to do with her Blood Magic brought on ideas he didn’t think were possible. At least for the moment they weren’t. Not until he grew his own control and manipulation over the subject.

A grin formed on his face. He was excited to try something new. Something he could use to increase his creativity with shadows. If he tried what Avery was doing then maybe he could also do more with other weapons as well. There was only one way to find out, however, he needed to raise the level higher first.

After spending time working on their abilities, Liam and the others made their way back to Uncle Naro and Gimmel. He was in a good mood since he was able to level his Soul Core in Soul Crafting, Anima Forge, Mobile Crafter, and Shadow Manipulation up a few times. He still wasn’t at a high enough level that he was able to learn anything new from his Soul Crafting, but he was still happy with leveling it as much as he did.

The others were happy with their progress as well. Avery was a bit frustrated with her progress with moving her blade and line of blood in sync, but she was able to move it around slowly enough to not get them to mix. Artem’s progress with the Aura Force in Field of Force wasn’t a lot, but like Avery he was able to understand a small bit of it that it helps raise his Mana Pool some.

Ariyana, Mercer, and Blair didn’t get any breakthroughs that helped them get something new, but they both were able to get more familiarized with the Focus Points and Fields they worked on. Roman on the other hand was getting great progress with his training. After leveling the Focus Points he had gotten from Field of the Elements he switched back over to working with his Lightning Hand. He practice with it while doing punches. As he did so he not only raised his Manipulation and Control over it, but he was able to move the Lightning Hand faster than he was able to the last time he practiced with it. He was slowly integrating it with his fighting style that it looked like he had grown a third hand that wasn’t magical.

After getting back to Uncle Naro they each informed him of the success they had. Except for Liam and Avery, who hid the parts they weren’t going to share, they told him everything they did work on. Happy with their progress he told them to get some rest after eating the meal he had prepared for them. Except for Liam who he had some equipment for him to repair before bed.

Liam smiled at the pile. It wasn’t as small as earlier and majority of the items looked to have more problems than the ones he was given before. He dove right into the pile without complaint. It had taken him a few hours and while he worked hard on the pile he had got to enjoy a drink Uncle Naro helped Artem make as well as listened to the tunes Mercer practiced. All in all it was a pleasant night for them. One they would wish to still have after experiencing what was to come.