Spirit Soul

Selene's condition improved within minutes, and her body stopped quivering.

Considering this as a good sign, Kyle lowered his hand once again before he forced himself to stand up.

After having been in a comatose state for a week, it was time for him to loosen his sore muscles.

Having slept on the branch for days had made his body go stiff as a board.

It was fortunate that they hadn't faced any major issues during the last few days if one were to exclude the massacre caused by Selene and the fact that he had been on the verge of dying.

In the end, they had survived and Kyle was feeling better with every passing second.

Now that he had woken up, he was thirsty and his stomach was rumbling.

Seeing his expressions, Selene handed him a few fruits she had picked up earlier in the day with a faint smile on her lips.

She had saved them for him and seeing him awake and alright had lifted a huge weight off her chest.

Evening was nearing and it would be a waste of time to climb down the tree, only to return before it would be too dark.

As such, Kyle ate a few fruits while inspecting his body, testing how much he could move without feeling a lot of pain.

At the same time, he processed the memories that had been transmitted by the Emerald Fox, recalling them one after the other.

"The lightning panther already left...that's good! Have you seen anyone else? Maybe the merchant...or Mell and Gard?"

His Spirit Soul hadn't seen or heard anything because it had been sound asleep within Kyle. As such, he had to figure out a few things on his own.

Thus, he started with finding out answers to the most important questions.

Selene was of little to no use in this aspect because she hadn't paid attention to her surroundings.

All her focus had been on saving Kyle's life, but that was not something she would ever tell him.

Selene felt that he would scold her for risking her life in the process.

Hence, she had decided to stay quiet.

Little did Selene know that the Emerald Fox had already informed Kyle.

Meanwhile, after gobbling the fruits hungrily, he felt satiated and his eyes began to droop.

He was feeling drowsy, and Selene couldn't help but feel the same.

She had spent the entire last week under a lot of stress and pain.

The stress of saving Kyle and killing beasts all on her own had taken its toll on her mind and body.

Thus, she was also in dire need of a break.

Never before had she killed to such an extent and on her own.

Thanks to Kyle, the pain coursing through her had decreased it by a large margin.

It was now up to a bearable level while the entire tension accumulated within her owing to his health had now dispersed.

Thus, they fell asleep on the wide branch without any worries as the sun replaced the moon in the sky.

It was only when Kyle sensed that his body was overflowing with soul force that he slowly opened his eyes.

As he had received a good night of sleep, he felt much better and wasn't feeling as weak as before.

His muscles were still stiff and sore but stretching and a short workout would solve this without too much of an issue.

Only when Kyle inspected his body before cultivating with the soul force provided by the Emerald Fox did he realize how much had changed when he was unconscious.

"My body has almost been completely nurtured by soul force? How is that even possible?"

Kyle was baffled. Being able to sense the inside of his body, many things seemed to have changed.

This made him wonder how exactly this was possible.

Without realizing it, he had advanced three quarters through the Origin phase!

It wouldn't take long before he would finally be considered a true cultivator!

However, the pace at which his Spirit Soul absorbed the surrounding energy was far more astonishing than his current cultivation base.

The Emerald Fox was quick in converting the absorbed energy into soul force and transferring it to him without any delay!

While observing the Emerald Fox that was lying on his lap seemingly, lazing around, Kyle noticed that it had almost reached its adulthood.

Before, he had been too occupied with other things that were tormenting his mind.

It was only now that he recalled the memory of the Emerald Fox tearing apart a hare at the Initial Spiral Fortification stage.

Kyle knew that an ordinary matured Emerald Fox was at the initial Maest Fortification stage, but his Spirit Soul was built differently!

Because it was growing by devouring souls, the Emerald Fox was nurtured in all three main cultivation paths.

This had proved to be an extremely beneficial asset during the hunting week for both Selene and the Spirit Soul.

Shaking his head, Kyle cleared his mind before he began to cultivate.

Simultaneously, his Spirit Soul supplied him with more soul force, allowing Kyle to cultivate longer.

Even after he stopped cultivating, Kyle noticed that Selene was still asleep.

Raising his head to look at the sky, he saw that the first sun rays had already pierced through the dense canopy of leaves.

This told him that it was time for them to leave.

They had almost wasted a week due to him being unconscious and couldn't waste any more. Time was a luxury he couldn't afford, after all.

Under normal circumstances, the blood on Selene's clothes should have already attracted masses of beasts, but they were fortunate that nothing had happened yet.

Gently nudging her, he woke her up within seconds.

Selene's mind was still conditioned to act and live as a slave, so even the gentle nudge startled her.

She was a light sleeper and usually woke up at a moment's notice.

Thus, she had already jumped up on her feet before Kyle could even say anything.

He simply smiled at this sight before he pulled the backpack near him.

Then, he took two clean sets of clothes out of the spatial pouch, one for himself and one for Selene.

Loosening the bandage around his wounds, he cleaned them and applied the antiseptic paste before putting on the clean set of clothes.

At the same time, Selene had distanced herself from him to change. Her clothes were smelly, soiled, and caked with dried blood.

After that, both fastened their scabbards around their waists before sheathing their weapons.

Kyle tried to ignore the pain spreading from his injuries to the rest of his body as he climbed down the large tree.

This took Kyle a while because he had to move slowly, preventing the old wounds from tearing open again.

His mind was rattling, trying to think of ways to move without limiting himself.

Owing to the distracting pain, his combat prowess and ability to think rationally took a hit.

Unfortunately, he couldn't come up with anything.

Only Selene, who had suffered her entire life and spent every waking moment in pain, was able to achieve a state similar to what he wanted.

Despite that, Kyle was everything but envious of her for this ability.

It meant that she was tormented her entire life, and had slowly adjusted to the sensation of pain.

Thus, pain had become her constant companion.

Once they reached the ground, he looked around cautiously before he shared his plan with her.

Turning in the presumed direction they had to go, he asked Selene.

"Are you ready?"

Kyle explained to Selene what they had to do, and despite feeling a bit uncomfortable and reluctant, she nodded her head.

There were countless things they required and there was one place where they could find them all. Luckily, their destination was only a two-week journey away from them!

Suddenly, just as Kyle was about to take his first step, he halted in his tracks as he recalled something.

"By the way, if we encounter the merchant, you can't attack, let alone kill him...at least not openly!"

Kyle wasn't sure why he felt the need to do so but Selene's nostrils had flared up when he had mentioned the merchant upon waking up.

Hence, Kyle felt that she might lunge at him the moment she set her eyes on that chubby merchant.

Their next destination was Vila town, and it was likely that the chubby merchant would be there too.

It was unclear whether he had survived or not, but that was not important.

What bothered him was Selene's rage towards the chubby merchant!

From the shy and innocent Lohar, she seemed to have transformed into a much stronger and feisty girl.

Now, she was ready to kill other beings for the sake of the ones she wanted to protect by all means!

However, in the end, she was still feeble and scarred by her past. She was unable to make her own decisions.

Somehow, he had become her will to live and reason to strive for more strength.

This was not what Kyle had planned for her because he didn't want to turn into her weakness.

Instead, he wanted Selene to become strong, independent and headstrong.

Then, she could decide if she wanted to carve her own path or stay by his side.

Together, they could strive for more strength and adventure. On their journey, they were bound to encounter other people that may become their friends, family, rivals, or even arch-enemies!