Chương 31: Chapter 30 - New Powers...

Mr. Jester and Alice stared each other down for a couple long moments.

"Are you going to take Alice's new family away again, clown?" she asked in a monotone voice, finally breaking the silence and shifting her stance to point her blade at Mr. Jester. Mr. Jester sighed and answered tiredly, "If I do, will you come and bother us again?"

"Yes," she said matter-of-factly.

"Well, that's gonna be a problem," he responded with a shrug.

"You see, I've got things to do and he's got places to be." He gestured vaguely, like he was trying to shoo away an inconvenience that had wandered into his day uninvited, because she was exactly that.

"So the both of us don't really have any time to play with you."

"Ha!" Alice laughed dryly, completely void of any emotion.

"You won't have to 'play' with Alice, because Alice is going to kill you… then take him." Her sword swung back to point at Ren for a single heartbeat to punctuate her point before moving it to level once more at the jester. Still sitting down at his desk, Mr. Jester rubbed his temples.

"Look," he said, voice strained.

"Miss, I've had quite a lot of interruptions while trying to write my epic for Miss Lady, so I'm not going to waste any more time. Is there no other way to solve this?"' The only interruption you've had was the two of us just now...' Ren thought, taking a couple of small steps back. Though he figured it was probably best not to voice any of that out loud.

"Not unless you hand him," the doll-like girl answered coldly, pointing her shadow sword at Ren again, "over to Alice."

"Right…" Mr. Jester murmured, hand still rubbing his temples. Ren didn't even blink but he still missed Mr. Jester's movements. In an instant he was upon her. One moment Mr. Jester had been sitting idly at his desk, and the very next he was already mid-kick, his leg lashing out toward Alice's neck. He hadn't even used that strange confetti teleportation of his to close the distance. That had simply been how fast he'd moved on his own. Alice didn't even have time to react.

A sickening snap echoed throughout the room as she was sent hurtling past the canopy bed, her body flung about like a ragdoll before it slammed violently into the far wall. Ren could only stare, frozen. Whether it was it fear or awe, he did not know. Mr. Jester brushed off his hands then calmly walked back to his desk and sat down.

"You go finish her off, little protégé," he said with a casual smile.

"Cause I've got things to do, and you've gotta practice executing people~" Ren swallowed hard and glanced around the large bed, spotting the crumpled shape of Alice lying motionless on the floor.

"S-she's not dead after all that?"

"I held back for you, little protégé!" Mr. Jester said with a pleased nod.

"I thought this could be a good learning experience."' That was holding back? How could anyone survive that?' he was starting to believe the colourful jester had what it took to defeat that Medici he was hunting. Ren complied and stepped around the canopy bed, slowly edging his way closer to Alice. She lay slumped against the wall, her legs twisted at unnatural angles while her arms hung limp at her sides. Tears streamed freely down her cheeks now, and that pure black sword of hers was nowhere to be seen.

"Is Alice going to die?" she whispered weakly as Ren stopped a step in front of her.

"Alice doesn't want to die…" In that moment, she didn't look as though she could ever have posed a threat to anyone at all, just a frightened girl with tear-streaked cheeks and trembling shoulders. And as Ren stared down at her, something stirred at the back of his mind, words he'd read before, words describing a method he'd had no way of using until now. [Soul Shepherd] [You may offer sanctuary to a defeated individual who is at your mercy. If accepted, their soul will be entrusted to your care and reside within your Soul Plane, where you are at your most vulnerable. The sheltered soul retains its personality, memories, and abilities, but its continued existence is bound to yours. Only one soul may be shepherded at any given time. You may summon a sheltered soul into the physical world by calling upon its name, or guide it back using the same method. While under your protection, sheltered souls may heal their wounds by drawing upon your Soul Essence when they are within your Soul Plane.] Ren's breathing slowed a little. She was defeated and clearly at his mercy, the description also never mentioned whether he had to be the one who defeated her or not. The only thing was he would be risking inviting her into his Soul Plane... which he had no idea what entailed since he hadn't Varrin or Elowen about it. But Ren decided it was worth the risk.

"Do you still want to live?" he asked quietly as he knelt down beside her. Her wet, purple eyes widened slightly as they flicked up to him.

"I can save you," Ren continued, taking one of her limp hands into his.

"But you will have to give me your soul." Off of instinct alone, he offered to shepherd her soul, but Alice only sniffled and stared at her hand in his for a long moment, saying nothing.

"You will continue living," Ren reiterated, voice firm despite the way his heart pounded.

"If you would only give me your soul." Alice closed her eyes, and a soft white light began to bloom around her, her entire body dissolving into countless glowing motes that surged forward all at once and slammed square into Ren's chest. A crushing weight followed close behind, one far heavier than that of either Soul Core he'd consumed before. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Ren gasped and the world tilted as darkness swallowed him whole.

And he fell into unconsciousness. Ren's eyes snapped open in the silence. Frantically looking around, Ren discovered he was standing in a seeminly infinite white expanse that stretche don for as far as he could see, save for the island he was standing on now. It was made out of a polished material that sort of resembled marble, but Ren knew it was now. Above him was a fractured sky, shattered like a mirror who pieces had been frozen.

Frantically looking around, Ren discovered he was standing in what appeared to be an infinite white expanse, one that stretched on for as far as his eyes could see, save for the small island he now found himself standing on. It seemed to be made from some polished material that faintly resembled marble, though Ren somehow knew that wasn't quite what it was. And high above him hung a fractured sky, shattered like a mirror whose pieces had been frozen in place mid-shatter.

"…What," Ren breathed.

"Is it supposed to be broken?" Hearing his voice in the absolute serenity of the place seemed wrong. Directly in front of him, situated in the very dead centre of the island, hovered a radiant orb, suspended around a metre and a half above the floor. Slowly orbiting the larger orb was a second, far smaller one, this one radiant and black as pitch. They both felt extraordinarily familiar somehow, and as Ren drew closer toward them, he noticed a cloudy white liquid flowing steadily all around the island's edges.'

Is that all Soul Essence?' he wondered just before reaching out toward the larger orb. Its light dimmed at his touch, and etched across the orb's surface was his status, and he realised something.' Is this... my soul? When I summon my status, am I just projecting this outward?' The smaller orb reacted to his presence as well, drifting slowly toward him and growing steadily larger as it did, until at last it settled at a size a little bigger than the orb representing his own soul.

Ren saw that a status had been etched across its surface too, but this time it was accompanied by thin markings that traced out the lines of a dress. Those line spanned nearly a quarter of the orb.

"So it worked…" Ren breathed, finally realising that this was his Soul Plane. And just as he would with his own status, Ren willed the text to project itself into the air between them and began to read. [Blessed Alice] [Rank: Awakened] [Dominion: The Shade-born Shadow] [Soul Power: Gloomcrafter] [Soul Saturation Level: 763/1000] [Soul Attributes: Shadow Veiled, Shepherded] [Soul Attunements: Marionette's Attire] Ren stared.

"… Over three quarters" A slow grin tugged at the corner of his mouth before he could stop it. She was the same rank as him, yet far closer to fully saturating her soul than he was, and judging by the fact that she could actually hold her own in a fight, this was incredibly, absurdly good for him. He exhaled, trying to calm his excitement as he focused on her Soul Power, the white letters shifting to expand its description.

[Gloomcrafter] [You can gather and condense ambient shadows, shaping them into tangible objects through focused intent. Manifested constructs possess physical form and can be wielded as tools, weapons, or structures so long as sufficient Soul Essence is present.]"So that's what that was…" Ren's mused, his eyes widening slightly as he remembered how Alice made her pure black sword. He shifted his attention to the first Soul Attribute.

[Shadow Veiled] [You naturally blend into shadows, obscuring your movements and reducing your presence.]' A stealth attribute…

'he thought to himself,' that ought to come in useful for assassinations.' He moved on to the second attribute, the white words unfurling at his mental command. [Oscillation] [Your soul instinctively recognizes those connected to the Aether, fostering an innate sense of familiarity and belonging. As genuine bonds are forged with one such individual, this attribute will resonate with the connection, eventually evolving into a greater form.] …What?' She could sense that I was an Aethersoul?

'Ren mused, cupping his chin in thought as he read.' Granted, I still don't really know what that even means, or what the Aether is, for that matter...'' I guess that's why she called me her 'new family'. And the Attribute can evolve? Outside of a Soul Trial? This whole being a Blessed really is an entirely new world. There's so much I still don't understand, and so much I'll need to if I ever want to get stronger.' Ren decided he'd save any clarifying questions for Mr.

Jester once he was out of here, moving on instead to the third attribute, already having some idea of what he might find there. [Shepherded] [Your soul has been placed under the care of the Shepherd. They intervened at the moment of your inevitable death, preserving your existence through a permanent bond. While sheltered within the Shepherd's soul, you may recover from injuries by drawing upon their Soul Essence. Your continued existence depends entirely on your Shepherd. Separation from, or the loss of, your Shepherd will result in your permanent dissolution.]' Just as I thought,' Ren let out a slow breath, his gaze drifting to the final line that interested him. [Marionette's Attire] [Rank: Awakened] [Attunement Type: Armour] [Attunement Enchants: Perfect Posture, Cleanliness] [Attunement Description: A black-and-white doll's dress, meticulously stitched and unnervingly pristine. The fabric is smooth to the touch and its seams are all aligned with unnatural precision. When worn, the wearer will exude a sense of profound elegance.] Ren read the words with genuine interest, he had never had a Soul Attunement before so this was all new to him. Based on what he'd learnt from Varrin, even just an Awakened Soul Attunement was leagues above standard armour, and something like this dress would offer as much protection as a set of unawakened plate armour. Against weapons that where Soul Attunements it would behave like normal cloth though.

He glanced back at the smaller soul orb, looking at the dress-shaped marking that covered a significant portion of its surface, and he realised another thing. Summoning a Soul Attunement wasn't pulling an object from your soul, exactly—it was more projecting part of one's soul outward, just like you did when you summoned your status. And if that marking took up space…

He glanced back at the smaller soul orb, looking at the dress-shaped marking that covered such a significant portion of its surface, and Ren realised something else. Summoning a Soul Attunement wasn't quite the same as pulling some object out from your soul, it was more than likely exactly like projecting a status outward. But if a marking like that took up actual space... Ren's brow furrowed.' That means there's a limit.'

Only so many Soul Attunements could be held at once before the soul itself became overloaded, and something bad would presumably happen.' I wonder if as you complete Soul Trials, your soul is able to hold more Attunements…' he mused inwardly. He'd ask Mr. Jester to confirm later, but even the theory alone was enough to make his pulse quicken in excitement. Ren focused on the enchantments listed beneath Marionette's Attire.

[Perfect Posture] [Enchantment Type: Passive] [Your body will instinctively correct inefficiencies in your stance, balance, and movement. You will also suffer fewer self-inflicted errors under pressure.]' Seems helpful enough,' he thought, moving onto the last one. [Cleanliness] [Enchantment Type: Passive] [This armour will passively clean itself even outside your Soul Plane, resulting it it never getting dirty for long.] Ren particularly liked this one.'

I hope when I finally get an armour-type Soul Attunement it has something like this.' He dismissed Alice's soul, letting it float back to circle his own once more before turning his attention to his own status.