The Soul Keeper

When I opened my eyes once more, I was looking at the worried faces of Asher and Lucius. I felt cold, a coldness the phoenix' soul couldn't warm. 

"Kai?"

"Are you ok?"

They spoke at the same time as soon as I opened my eyes. I nodded as I blinked a few times to restore my blurry sight. I hadn't noticed the tears that apparently flowed.

"Do you know who you are?" Asher asked with a wary voice. I chuckled. "Yes, Asher, I know who I am. Don't worry." 

As soon as these words left my mouth, they both breathed a sigh of relief. Lucius couldn't help but laugh. "We did it!" He said, his eyes glowing with pride and excitement. "We actually did it! You pulled it off, Kai! Despite the demons!"

Asher nodded while I also laughed. "Yes, we did, but I couldn't have done it without you guys." I glanced at Asher. "I would have died for sure if you hadn't teleported me out of there. Thanks, Asher."

He chuckled. "Don't mention it. Besides, you were able to hold off two demons – you injured one enough to make him retreat and nearly killed the other." He looked at the entrance with a darker expression. "I think that's quite a success, considering how all of your previous encounters with them went."

He was right, and it was only now dawning on me that I had actually held my own in that battle and not only that, but I was also a real threat to them.

"I need more mana." I said after a moment of silence. "But first, let's see what changed." I couldn't hide my anticipation; what had the primal core of wind given me? 

I opened my interface as the other two quickly leaned forward. They were as curious as I was.

'Kai Friseal – Level 80 Soul Keeper | Exp: 1800/70000 - - Souls 100/100 + 864- - Mana: 1940

Fallen Grace Lv. 5 | Death's Scythe Lv. 5 | Dark Bolt Lv. 5 | Soul's Respite Lv. 5 | Keeper's Haven Lv.1 | Explorer | Crystal Sage

STR: 10 – CON: 10 – DEX: 100 – INT: 100 – WIS: 91'

"I haven't levelled up at all." I mumbled as I looked at the interface, then sighed. I checked the other panels, only to find that nothing new was added to my interface. 

"What the hell? That's stupid." Lucius protested. "All that effort and all you got was… what?" 

"Well," I said, trying to hide my disappointment. "At least I'm not going to lose myself, that's quite enough."

"Indeed." Asher said, then furrowed his brows. "But remember, nothing the phoenix and primal core of fire have given you are listed anywhere in your interface either." He glanced at my back, as if he were trying to spot my wings. 

"Actually," I mumbled as I quickly switched through different tabs until I found one that read 'Path Chosen.'

Beneath that pale text were three lines of smaller text. 

'Sacrifices taken: Terror of Stonepatch Village, The Serpent of the Lake, The Soul Eating Arachnid'

'Core: Ember

Secondary Core: Storm'

"Here, look;" I said as I pointed at that last line of text. "This is all it says though."

We pondered a short moment before Asher broke the silence. "We should try to figure out what that means later, when we're in a safer place." He was right – we were still awfully close to the mountain and thus, the castle. This place wasn't exactly safe.

I raised my eyebrows as he stood up. "What time is it?" I asked, noticing I had no idea how long I had remained trapped in the wyvern's memories. 

"It's noon. Of the next day." Lucius said with a grin. "You just sat there the whole night, like a monk from the old movies and cartoons." He laughed, then helped me up. 

I chuckled, then glanced at Asher. "Where to?" 

He shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know." He sighed and leaned his back on the damp cave walls. "We could attempt to go deeper into demon territory – we're practically at the border of it anyways."

I shook my head. "No, we'd stand no chance if we came across that demon." Everyone knew who I meant. "Let's return to Baile Chailce, I want to check up on what Erik and the others are doing and I'm also worried about Rina and Alex."

Lucius nodded. "I want to check on the people helping me as well. Victoria is supposed to be in contact with them, but I don't know how much I trust her." He glanced at me. "No offense." 

"None taken. We should regroup and plan – I don't want to be caught off guard ever again." I said, slowly approaching the entrance. "Besides, maybe Victoria did figure something out."

Asher's eyes narrowed. "I doubt she could, given the short time that has passed."

I shrugged. We knew very little about Victoria – in fact, I didn't even know how she came to own such an important shop in the city. "I'll have a chat with her when we're back anyways." I left the cave and stepped onto the forest floor. The cool breeze blew through my hair. "Let's go."

They followed me to an opening – it would be impossible for me to fly through such a thick forest roof. "Oh, Kai." Asher said as we walked. "The phoenix gave you flames and wings, right?" 

I nodded. "Why?"

"I'm trying to figure out what the wyvern might give you." He glanced at my back. "You don't have a tail, so that's not it."

I flinched. "Seriously?" I… Honestly, the thought of having a tail was so weird and the idea of having to lug a tail around seemed so inconvenient that I could help but feel relieved. "That's what you thought it'd give me? A tail?" 

"I can already imagine you tripping over it every time you try to fight someone." Lucius grinned. "Your fighting style would be ruined if you had one." 

I rolled my eyes, not because he was wrong – he wasn't – but because I really didn't want to imagine that. "Tails are good for people like Alex. I'm perfectly fine the way I am." Without waiting for a response, I summoned my wings, causing Lucius to step back to avoid getting hit. 

Along with the embers at the ends of my feathers, a cool breeze blew my hair back. It clearly originated from me. "Huh," Asher carefully stepped closer, then plucked a feather with a quick motion. 

"Hey!" I flinched, quickly pulling my wings away from him. "You do know that hurts, right?" I wasn't expecting that.

He rolled his eyes. "You didn't notice your hands getting almost charred, but you can't handle a feather being plucked?" He grinned, shooting a mischievous glance at me.

As I was about to tell him off, I heard a muffled laugh from the side. Lucius had his back turned on me, his shoulders were trembling as he tried to hide his laughter. "Oi." I said with a flat voice, stretching my wings as much as I could. "Lucius."

He flinched and turned towards me. As soon as he did, I beat my wings, sending a cloud of fallen leaves and dead grass towards him. 

"Aw come on!" He protested. 

"Kai," Asher chimed in. I glanced at him with a grin. "Before we go, let's head west a little."

My smile faded as I tilted my head. "Why? Did you find something?"

He shook his head. "A quest to clear a giant eagle nest – I took it before leaving Baile Chailce. If I returned without having finished the quest, it could bring unwanted attention."

Lucius nodded. "We actually took the quest together. I was going to suggest splitting up, but you could probably use the experience and souls too."

"Yeah, I could use that." I said once again stretching my wings. "How far away it is?" Asher summoned his interface and checked his map. "About an hour by flight."

That was all I needed to know as I leapt into the air. I heard Lucius' protests as Asher's spell enveloped them and lifted him in the air. I couldn't help but chuckle a little – Lucius was always the brave one in the group, even back at home when we were kids. Seeing him like this now was quite funny.

Soon, we were on our way. Seeing the forest go by beneath us was oddly beautiful as always. Though I couldn't help but constantly glance at the distant mountain – I was still worried. I didn't doubt I could take on Vixia and Delthur again. With Lucius and Asher, I was even confidant we'd win. 

But if that other man came with them… I couldn't imagine what we'd do. The sheer power he commanded was so far beyond what I'd imagined… His will alone seemed enough to bring us to our knees – even Asher wouldn't be able to do much, I suspected.

"Look – there!" Asher shouted. I glanced at him to see him pointing at our right a little. I followed his finger with my gaze to see a rather tall, thin peak. In the past, it would have been nearly impossible for me to reach that nest. It reminded me of the time I scaled that huge mountain with Alex and Rina.

"It's up there." Lucius said. His golden eyes narrowed, he pointed at the top of the peak. "Do you see it? It's just like a normal eagle's nest. But there is something shiny there."

"Shiny?" I asked with a grin. "Do these birds like to gather valuables or what?" I knew that most crows and ravens in the real world liked doing that – they even traded their loot for food in some places in the world, so I wouldn't be surprised if these eagles did something similar.

"Probably." Asher replied. He glanced at Lucius. "How can you even see that though? We're still so far away." The young man grinned. "I can see everything!" He said with a spooky voice.

"Right." I chuckled, before turning my attention towards our goal. "Everything except the incoming enemy." As the birds noticed our presence and took to the sky, I grinned.

My sword materialised in my hand. "Here they come!"