The Soul Keeper

I woke up with the first rays of sunlight. Lucius was asleep and Asher was reading one of his leather-bound notebooks. 

"Good morning, Asher." 

"Sleep well?" He asked. I shrugged. Nightmares and memories that didn't belong to me had kept me on edge the whole night. Asher, however, didn't need to know that. 

"I'll go train some," I said and left the campsite. I didn't go too far – my first stop was a nearby stream of water, where I washed hands and face. Then, I headed for the opening we'd gone to yesterday evening.

My mind was a mess, and I didn't know how to fix it. The only thing I did know was that we had to find a cure, a solution to whatever was going on with me. 

That's when I realised. I remembered yesterday's conversation! 

It struck me suddenly. It had been one of my biggest fears as I fell asleep – that I wouldn't remember anything once I woke up. 

Feeling just a tiny bit more relieved, I raised my hand, my palm facing straight ahead. Swordplay was all good and well, but that alone wasn't going to be enough. As the sunlight burnt my eyes, I focused on the faint, almost non-existent morning breeze.

How did this work again? The phoenix' soul helped me a great deal when using my flames, but I didn't have that kind of help when it came to using the primal core of wind. 

I faintly remembered unconsciously creating wind some time ago. When was that? I couldn't quite remember. Well, the time didn't really matter, did it? I closed my eyes and focused my mind; I felt the movement of magic through my body, the subtle touch of the faint morning breeze as it gently blew my hair and tugged my clothes. 

What if, I thought to myself, that same wind passed through my extended fingers and gathered in my palm? I felt the cool breeze touch my skin, was it working? 

I didn't dare open my eyes, instead, I took a shallow breath and let the wind slowly but surely gather in my open palm. It was more difficult to control than the flames, perhaps because I was more used to the flames, or maybe because the wind was, intrinsically wilder and freer.

"Kai?" I heard Lucius' voice some time later. I wasn't sure of how much time had passed. My concentration shattered and the small wind vortex in my palm scattered and disappeared. Despite that, I felt satisfied. For once, I had actually done something without outside help.

"Good morning, Lucius." I said with a faint smile. He smiled back, though I could see it was fake. He was wary of me, and rightfully so. "Do you happen to remember what we talked about yesterday?" He asked, almost sheepishly. 

I chuckled. "Yeah, I was surprised too. I remember everything we talked about, or at least I think so." I hesitated. "Why don't we go over it, just in case?" What if I had forgotten some portions of it? The thought hadn't occurred to me until now.

I recounted yesterday's discussion to Lucius as we made out way back to the campsite. Thankfully, my memories did seem intact. Sighing a breath of relief, we dug into our breakfast. It didn't take us long to finish eating. Once we were done, we packed up our belongings, covered up the firepit with some dirt and finally set off.

Both Asher and Lucius seemed as relieved as I was – the simple fact that I could still remember yesterday's conversation meant that not all of my memory was being manipulated.

We flew the entire day and only landed on a nice hill to set up camp for the night. We were mostly silent and lost in thought. Asher was trying to figure out who or what could have enough power to manipulate my senses and memory like this.

"It might be that hooded woman." I said as we finished our dinner. Asher hesitated. "Why do you suspect her?"

I made a vague gesture. "I don't think it's Aelith and I honestly can't think of anyone else." If only we knew more, then we could come to some more reliable conclusions.

Lucius shook his head. "If she has such power over you, she would have never allowed you to stop her armies like she did on that peak." 

I flinched as I remembered that fight and the tragedy that happened at the end of it. "You have a point." I mumbled. I shook my head and sighed. "Alright, time to go practice a bit." Sitting here doing nothing was only going to cause me to become more depressed.

"I'll join you." Lucius said with a little bit of excitement in his voice. Asher chuckled. "Let me watch then."

It didn't take us long to find a suitable spot not too far away from the camp. After getting rid of our cloaks for ease of movement, Lucius and I took our place across the grassy field.

"Ready?" I asked, my heart beating faster with excitement and anticipation. Lucius grinned and nodded as both of swords materialised in our hands. 

For a moment, neither of us moved. Then, we dashed at each other at the same time. Mirroring each other's movements, we feinted our overhead strikes, instead opting to strike from the left. I was the one who backed down and feinted that strike too, instead choosing to defend.

Lucius' sword hit mine with a loud clang and with that, our dance began. I blocked his relentless assault with nothing more than basic movements. I furrowed my brows as he leapt back, somewhat out of breath.

"Damn, Kai. Why the hell are you using magic?" The young swordsman said, glaring at me with some annoyance.

"I'm not!" I said, glancing at Asher for confirmation. The blonde sorcerer nodded. "Kai hasn't used any spells yet."

"Then how come are you so damn fast?" Lucius asked. 

"I don't feel any different than before." I said as I opened my status panel. "Well," I mumbled as I glanced at my level.

'Kai Friseal – Level 95 Soul Keeper | Exp: 56980/120000 - - Souls 100/100 + 2000 - - Mana: 2090

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

STR: 20 – CON: 11 – DEX: 100 – INT: 100 – WIS: 100'

"I did level up," I added. "But none of my stats are higher or anything."

Asher and Lucius both approached me and checked my stats. "That is weird." Asher mumbled. "What about the development path?" He asked after a short while. I hesitated, then opened that panel.

'Sacrifices taken' Was written in pale blue text, just like before. Underneath, a long list was written in fine text. I scoured the list for anything that seemed familiar, but they were mostly names I faintly remembered from the memories of the souls I'd taken in.

"That is odd." Asher mumbled. "But it doesn't say anything about a path being chosen or development being in progress."

"Well, whatever happened, Kai is way faster than he was before." Lucius sighed. "Anyways, let's continue." He took his place again, sword in hand. 

"Are you sure, Lucius?" I asked, still somewhat confused. Wasn't he pushing himself a bit too much?

"Yeah!" He grinned. I shrugged and took my sword in hand. As I was about to dash forward, a low rustle sounded from the treeline. Lucius said nothing, but I could see his posture change. 

"Get out of the bushes, Astrid." Asher said with a sigh.

"Again?" The young woman shouted as she stepped into the opening. 

"Oh, it's you." I said, lowering my guard just a little. I remembered her, both from that time she and Asher were spying on us and from when I'd faced off against her team in the tournament. 

She glanced at me, Lucius and Asher, then shook her head. "Before I ask what the hell you two are doing here, Asher, how the hell did you know I was there?" She stared at the blonde sorcerer, wide eyed.

"Have ever thought that maybe sneaking around isn't your forte?" Asher asked with a skewed smile. "You couldn't be more obvious if you tried, Astrid." 

I could see her clench her fists with anger. Asher was, as always, great at annoying people. "So," I chimed in before she had a chance to blow up on him. "What brings you here?" 

She sighed. "A dumb quest wanted me to check up on a certain cavern that was important some centuries ago." Her shoulders dropped. "But when I got there, the entrance had collapsed and there was no way inside." She opened her interface and quickly navigated to the quests panel. "And the stupid quest didn't even acknowledge that! Now I have to go all the way back to the village, talk to the guild, have the Ereth there manually complete the quest and hope I get some decent rewards." She stopped momentarily to take a deep breath, then continued with her rant. 

"Um," I chimed in again, hoping she'd calm down a little. "I'd suggest you be careful around here." I glanced at the sky. "Demons were sighted in the vicinity and I don't think you could take them on just yet."

She flinched. "Demons? Oh no, don't worry." Her annoyed expression left its place to worry. "I have no intentions of messing with demons." She sighed and glanced at the sky. "Anyways, do you mind if I spend the night at your camp?"

Asher chuckled. "Sure, come along." He glanced at us as we nodded. Leaving her to fend for herself at night felt just wrong and if something happened to her while we could have prevented it, I'd never forgive myself.

"Great!" She chuckled. "In that case, there is something I need to talk to you about." She said that, looking straight at me. "But dinner first!" She grinned.