Soul Venerable (Re-written)

 

< A Command Seal is a soul rune array in the shape of a crest. Although it looks physically simple, it is made out of hundreds of micro-soul runes engraved on a limited amount of surface area. Each ‘word’ of clause in the soul contract meant a soul rune. Thus, if Master want to refine a complex Command Seal, you have to be able to refine soul runes as small as possible. >  

< Master can choose a ‘clunky’ and ‘large’ soul runes instead of the modern micro ones, but the greater the surface area of the crest, the easier for the contracted to ‘decode’ the Command Seal. And so, there’s a sweet spot of balance between rune complexity and size, which is around 1 square millimeter per single soul rune. >

Nyx is currently tutoring Sumire. Her physical body is currently meditating, but her sea of consciousness is active.  

“I… can’t. The runes are too small for me to refine, it’s too hard.” She sighed. 

< This is one of the simplest runes, master. At Legendary level, a Runesmith must be capable of using Multi-fold Crystal Engraving Technique: which is engraving runes on a paper-thin foldable crystal medium to achieve a 3-dimensional rune array. Even if you don’t want to be a Runesmith, I believe a refinement-path secondary occupation is important. This millimeter-sized runes are the start of your refinement-path journey. >

“Can’t I just telepathically engrave and refine them into an array? I’m more capable of using my mind instead of my hands.”

< Telepathic Refinement is not recommended at your level, master. Your wisdom-path specialization is deduction through the usage of telepathic thoughts and telepathic will, correct? Telepathically engraving a rune array uses up a lot of telepathic resources. Even if you can endure the expenditure, you are extremely inefficient. If my mastery of wisdom-path does not fail me, telepathic resources specialized to interact with the material world are… Telepathic Martial Will or Telepathic Refinement Will. Both aren’t what you specialized in. >

Sumire frowned. 

Nyx was completely correct. After her cultivation base regressed, she was unable to replicate the level of productivity she once possessed. If not for relying on Nyx to maximize her telepathic resource expenditure, others would be able to find out that she has truly regressed.  

“Can’t I just absorb your memory so I can instantly become a master of it? I want your refinement-path attainment.”

< What you’re asking is my Refinement-path True Meaning, isn’t it master? >

True Meaning is a type of special telepathic will.

Telepathic will can be easily understood, they could not put into words. The true meaning of wills transcends written expression. Therefore, telepathic will can actually be used for a myriad of purposes. For example, it is famous for being used in the process of handing off True Inheritances. 

When a cultivator deepens their understanding upon a path, it was like how a person solves mathematical questions. 

At [Ordinary]-level attainment, cultivators began learning the basic formula of the ‘mathematical’ question of their path. Cultivators can only be considered as ordinary when they are capable of activating their methods with 100% chance of success. Or in mathematical terms, when they can fully utilize basic arithmetic operators.

At [Master]-level attainment, cultivators have gained sufficient experience in solving ‘mathematical’ questions, thus they can use shortcuts which allow them to bypass certain limitations.

At [Grandmaster]-level attainment, cultivators have accumulated a vast amount of experience in solving ‘mathematical’ questions. When they encounter new problems, they utilize their accumulated experience to solve them. This is what it means by ‘Grandmasters’ are capable of generating ‘intuition’. 

At [Legendary]-level attainment, cultivators have accumulated a great amount of experience in solving ‘mathematical’ questions. With the help of their ‘intuition’, they could use inductive reasoning to produce or mimic the effect of other paths up to a certain point.

According to Sumire's understanding of Nyx, his attainment levels are as follows: [Legendary] in necro-path and enslavement-path, [Grandmaster] in wisdom-path and refinement-path, and [Ordinary] in command-path.

Considering a person typically only chooses one or two paths to specialize in because of the limited amount of time and energy, Nyx is actually an extremely frightening enemy to fight against. 

That being said, True Meaning is a type of special will that could exist far longer than almost all types of wills because they are incapable of thinking or moving.

The structure of True Meaning is like a cloud made out of motes of lights. These motes of lights are the content of the True Meaning. When a cultivator collides their telepathic thoughts with these ‘motes of lights’, they will gain the experience of solving ‘mathematical’ questions. 

This process of consuming True Meaning would be referred to as enlightenment. 

Since Sumire asked for Nyx’s True Meaning, it not only meant she wanted to obtain Nyx’s memory, but also his ‘experience’. 

Even if she can access all of Nyx's memory, it doesn't mean it was hers. It’s like she was given free access to a 3000 page PDF file but not memorizing all of its content. At most, she can look things up with a search engine, but ultimately, those memories can only serve as a reference point.

If Sumire had Nyx’s True Meaning and gained enlightenment, it would be as if she experienced the moment where she solved ‘mathematical’ questions herself. It can serve as a shortcut to propel her attainment level.

Of course, attainment levels gained from True Meaning have a weakness, which is their shaky foundation. However, one can actually fill the gap of theoretical knowledge with experience. As long as the inheritor properly digests the True Meaning and cross checked them with real experience, there wouldn’t be a flaw in their foundation in the long run.  

“Yes. I want your True Meaning.” Sumire simply answered, knowing full well what it means. She did not conceal the greed within her tone.

Who wouldn’t want to receive a True Inheritance from a former-Legendary, especially if Nyx’s cultivation paths are literally her planned paths? It would save her a significant amount of time, giving her the chance to go further than Nyx when he was alive. 

Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple.

As stated previously, True Meaning is a special type of telepathic will. Producing True Meaning has severe disadvantages for the one who made them, but even if he is willing to pay them because he’s literally Sumire’s slave, Nyx simply couldn’t. Without a biological body, or in this case, a brain to support Nyx’s telepathic resource generation, he couldn’t produce True Meaning.

At least on a large scale.    

It’s like having a jet plane but does not possess the method to get avtur.  

< Then, master will have to sacrifice a large amount of souls to feed me. > Nyx did not complain. He gave Sumire a choice. 

< Before the official establishment of wisdom-path by the Great Archmage, the production of True Meaning costs one’s attainment level. The extreme rarity of True Meaning even in True Inheritances are caused by this. Now that wisdom-path has been developed for around 200 years, the method of producing True Meaning has been improved a lot. I don’t have to lose my original attainment level, but in exchange, I require an obscene amount of telepathic resources >.

“You have attainments in five paths, but with my limited resources, I have to choose wisely. Refinement-path True Meaning might allow me to be good at refining undead or other consumables, but it’s not what I need at this moment. It is the same with necro-path, enslavement-path or wisdom-path. Then, the only choice that fits my situation correctly is command-path because I wanted to refine command seals on kobolds. If I want to reach [Ordinary] in command-path, how many souls do you need?” 

< 254 souls. All of them are going to be used for activating [Death by Malicious Thoughts], a necro-path method which replicates the effect of wisdom-path to generate malicious thoughts. The telepathic resources would be purified and refined to produce True Meaning of the highest purity, sufficient for Master to have [Ordinary] attainment level in command-path, it contains all of my mastery regarding command-path methods. >

Nyx was being extremely transparent with Sumire. Not that he can hide any thoughts, anyway.

“It’s too high. If I have 200-man worth of souls, I can use them to advance my soul foundation to reach 100-man soul strength, one of the bottlenecks for becoming a rank 1 enslavement-path cultivator… Find me an alternative.”

Sumire was confident in Nyx; she was able to rely on him due to his wisdom-path intuition, allowing him to take a better path during deduction. 

There was a brief silence before Nyx answered. < My wisdom-path specialty is offense and defense against deduction which limits my methods, while master’s is true deduction, scheming and hypnotism. If master is willing to help me deduce new wisdom-path methods, I might be able to reduce the amount of soul consumption by at least 50%. >

“Alright. Let’s synchronize our minds.” Sumire ordered, and Nyx obliged. His telepathic thoughts served as a prompt for Sumire to begin the deduction process. 

Abstruse ideas are provided by Nyx and the derivation and possibility birthed from that idea is being produced as Sumire deduced. Telepathic thoughts collided incessantly, expending her telepathic resources at a steady rate. Whenever Sumire met a dead end, Nyx would expend his telepathic thoughts to determine the next step or to find another way. Through cooperating like this, the two finally deduced a method to maximize their efficiency. 

Two hours later.

< There are several overlapping aspects of master’s Death Command True Inheritance with my command-path inheritance which can serve as foundation. If we use it as a reference in addition to Master's own attainment in enslavement-path, the amount of True Meaning I need to produce to propel Master’s attainment in command-path to [Ordinary] can be reduced significantly. The resources I needed are… 64 souls! >   

< If Master allows me to access all of your memories, I can determine which parts are lacking, granting me the chance to produce the least amount of True Meaning that would sufficiently push Master to reach [Ordinary] attainment in command path. It is possible to further reduce the amount of souls required. >

< The content of the True Meaning is limited to the refinement experience of [Command Seal] and [Lust Crest]. If this True Meaning is taken by others, it will barely push them to reach 10% marks of being Ordinary. In other words, the True Meaning is customized to the point of being effective only to master. . >

Sumire was given another choice. If she allows Nyx to access all of her memories, she might be able to have Ordinary attainment in command-path shortly.

Of course, she did not take long to decide.

“You can access all of my memories regarding cultivation. Other than that, I won’t let you.”

< Completely understandable. I only need your cultivation memories and insight to determine how far you have progressed, master. You do not have to worry about anything. >

Sumire nodded, but she did not lower her guard. As a wisdom-path cultivator, she had the method to allow someone else to access her memory or block a part of it. It took Nyx over six hours to access the related memories.

Each fragment of memories are telepathic resources provided by Sumire. In other words, during these six hours, it was equivalent to her thinking non-stop. 

When Sumire opened her eyes, it was already night. Her eyes were bloodshot, several veins in her brain were almost ruptured due to the constant stress. Seeing that she isn’t disturbed by anyone, she continued her cultivation under the guise of meditation.

“So, how many souls do you need right now?” She asked.

< 21-man worth of souls. >

“That’s an acceptable level. Do it quickly. I want to use the remaining souls to make Command Seals.”

< Yes, master. > Nyx quickly obliged as Sumire supplied him with souls.

….

 

The morning sunlight licked Sumire’s face, yet she is still busy meditating. 

‘Master Sumire never stopped cultivating even though she has me to serve her…’ A cute wolf beastman with fluffy ears and waist-long black hair saw Sumire’s non-stop meditation after she returned from gathering intelligence regarding the rampart. 

‘I left immediately after setting up an information-path anti-surveillance barrier, but it seems like she has strengthened it after I left.’ She gazed at the invisible bubbles of magical barriers within the room. Since she cultivates primarily on information-path, she was able to determine its function almost immediately. Thanks to Sumire’s double effort, there were multiple layers of protections stacking with each other. 

Alanis put down the breakfast she carried for her master. She did not forget to take a glimpse at her beautiful master’s lips while tracing her own. 

‘Master… Although I am just your servant… you haven’t properly given me attention lately.’ Alanis quickly scanned the room. She was relieved that her master’s room was absent from Sumire’s First Favored Princess, Kubikiri Shirogane. 

‘Miss Shirogane’s relationship with the master is being pressured by her family after their visit before we depart from the academy. She won’t be showing excessive skinship with master Sumire unless she desires Miss Shirogane's body. This might be a chance for me!’ Alanis thought to herself.  

Just the thought of having a good time with Sumire made her lower region moist. “Ah~ I can’t wait… Master...” Her fingers automatically moved down, rubbing her precious part. Her other hand was busy playing with one of the hardened peaks of her twin mounds.

The sound of Alanis’ moans inadvertently woke Sumire up. 

“Ah! Master, this is…” Alanis was caught off guard, she was unprepared. She immediately kowtows at Sumire, expecting mercy. “I’m sorry I have bothered your cultivation session, Master. It won’t happen again.”  

Alanis did not get an answer immediately, but she did not dare to raise her head up. It was common sense that a mage cultivation session should not be disturbed unless it was extremely important. Not only did Alanis manage to shake Sumire’s concentration, the cause of it was her lust. 

As a servant, it was unacceptable!  

Alanis heard the sound of Sumire standing up, but she did not dare to raise her head to look. Until she was allowed, Alanis didn’t take any unnecessary action.

Thud. Alanis felt her head had been stepped on by Sumire’s foot. “A lowly slave like you dares to disturb me?” Sumire said coldly as her violet eyes shone in faint purple light. Sumire was activating a wisdom-path to affect Alanis’ mind.

“I’m sorry master, I was…” 

Before Alanis could complete her sentence, Sumire applied a certain amount of pressure on her feet, pressing Alanis’ forehead onto the floor. “It seems like you need to be...punished.”

Alanis’ moist lower region immediately got wet.

“Ahn~ Pl-please punish me, master…”

 

…

 

Sumire patted her new robe as she could smell the lewd scent in her room. “Clean this before anyone notices. In an hour or so, take this letter to Shion and then rendezvous with me in the kobold encampment.” She gazed at the naked beastman whose body is twitching incessantly from the consecutive hard climaxes. 

She left the room after making sure her words were heard by Alanis. It was already midday when she exited the inn. She felt a bit lightheaded after the short but intense session she had with Alanis.

< Master, you should’ve held back a bit with your wisdom-path methods. It is easy for you to alter the perception of pain into pleasure, but there was no need to go that far with Alanis. Anyone else would’ve died from cardiac arrest from climaxing that hard. > Nyx expressed his concern. 

“You don’t understand. Alanis’ family is extremely rich and powerful. She is the source of my wealth and our sessions are the foundation of my relationship with her. I couldn’t hold back at all with her because she’s unnaturally sturdy, even more so than Shirogane. Of course, she also has some screw loose in her head, but she is my greatest trump card.”     

Sumire didn’t explain her relationship further. She immediately went towards the kobold encampment. 

She summoned Grem and told him to gather up the strongest non-branded kobolds. Grem did what he was asked as he assembled almost a hundred kobolds. These are the group of potential warriors which were prepared by Nyx back when he was still ‘alive’. 

Sumire quickly chose the 5 strongest kobolds with Nyx’s assistance and branded them with Command Seals.

The process of branding wasn’t that complicated because the command seals are simple ones. It was like activating a normal enslavement-path magic spell and then a [Command Seal] will be branded on their body, more specifically, on their chest near the heart. 

The design of the Command Seal is also simple, it was shaped like the silhouette of Sumire’s faceless head, highlighted only by her hairstyle and pair of dark purple eyes. In contrast with Nyx’s design, hers loses in terms of aesthetic but it has more or less the same function. 

Those five were the best result that she can produce. It took her three failed attempts before she managed to refine a single Command Seal when she ‘meditated’ the night before. 

“With this, I have 30 units of kobolds, enough to wage a small battle with a 100-man goblin army.”  

 

….

 

At the same time, under the shadow of a tree a few kilometers away from the kobold encampment. 

“Sumire is in this area at this point in time, the informant did not lie.” A person donned in a lavish white hooded robe adorned with golden linings muttered to herself. The hood hid her pure golden hair, but some parts of it were visible. Click! She closed her pocket watch-shaped artifact as she confirmed her target’s presence.

“According to the previous iteration’s ‘history’, at this point in time, she is preparing to fight against the greenskin army that will block her path towards Combat Exosuit Minor Inheritance.”

“This is the best moment to assassinate Yukikaze Shion because in the Combat Exosuit Minor Inheritance micro plane, she’ll receive the resources and method to refine that bullshit self-replicating combat puppets and it’ll be harder to eliminate her.” The woman produced a mask and hid her face behind it.

“Since Shion is immune to detection and is hard to find, I just need to follow Sumire. She’ll eventually lead me to her co-captain.” With a flash of dim golden light, the robed figure disappeared from sight.