55 The duty of the talented

A/N: As this is from the perspective of a type of being that does not use language but mainly soul waves as a means of communication, it is pretty impossible to translate the concepts of \"receiving a soul wave with a meaning attached\" to something short. And as such, it's better to translate it as if the means of communication used was the voice.

Tonight, I heard a voice. It felt so powerful, so strong. And the owner of that voice is looking for an apprentice. It told me I had a lot of talent. I expected as much, I've already long felt I was much stronger than my parents. I deserve to learn from the very best. It said it too, I need techniques that match my talent.

It sent me the techniques. I just need to integrate them. [1] From what it told me, you'd need a talent such as mine to even be able to integrate these techniques. Spending a cycle or two on it is worth it.

Every small cycle [2], before sleeping, I'll work on integrating the technique. [3] I'll be strong in no time.

[...]

So, let's see... I'll need complete concentration, so I'll sit on a bit of space. [4]

So first, I look into my own soul.

Next, I need to create the technique inside my soul.

So I need to learn to make soul bricks.

From the information it sent me, soul bricks are small blocks made from the basic fabric of the soul.

Souls are made using permanent energy, so I can't just make it, I need to cut a small part of my soul, break it down to make these blocks.

And to do that, I need to learn to cut my soul.

It's so complicated to get it, it's must indeed be a top tier technique.

I'll do it all patiently, and once I get it, I'll be much stronger!

[...]

I need so much concentration I'm sweating [5].

I concentrate soul energy into an extremely fine blade. With small branches of soul energy, I turn it onto myself.

I use soul energy to elongate a small part of my soul and cut it with the blade.

I sigh of relief. I succeeded. It might be basic multitasking, but the consequences in case of failure can be death.

By doing this, I'm reducing slightly my natural-born power, but it can't be helped. It's what I need to train the technique. In the worst-case scenario, I can still fuse with the cut part again.

I quickly get back to my task. It would be a waste to lose the cut part.

As expected, the cut soul part knows what will happen to it, it's fleeing [6].

I wrap it up in soul energy, and slowly, methodically cut it down to its most basic fabric using my soul energy as threads that become as many fine blades doing the job.

Once the soul is cut small enough, it becomes unable to keep its identity and laws.

I move these millions of small elementary soul bricks in my body and use them to start building the technique.

I know my soul will reject the process many times, so I prepared myself.

But as prepared as I was, I wasn't ready for such a strong reaction.

As soon as I put down the last brick of the technique, from the deepest part of my soul, I feel a strong shiver as my soul feels as if penetrated by an external force.

I am instantly shocked out of my intense state of concentration.

My soul waves weaken as all of my soul energy goes on the inside, attacking the construction in my soul akin to waves crashing onto a reef.

Each wave of soul energy erodes the structure a bit, accompanied by a similar wave of pain, a pain that traverses my soul, similar to a blade moving up inside a spine as if my whole soul is tearing up from the inside.

I feel my soul energy diminishing at a very fast pace as it all goes to attack the structure, out of my control.

I'll just have to wait until it finishes...

I let myself go for a while, feeling drowned in the pain.

I feel as if there is nothing else than pain in this world.

That is, until I suddenly remember.

I can't have my parents find out!

It's MY soul, I can't have them interfere with MY future!

With whatever soul energy I can access, I focus on strengthening my soul waves to match the normal.

[...]

It finished. My soul waves are going back to normal.

I stop strengthening my soul waves.

I only now notice I let go of my control over the space fold, it's back to its original state. I'm lying on the floor. [A/N: I'll call it floor for the sake of your imagination]

The floor is hard.

It's cold.

But this coldness feels reassuring.

It's appeasing the residual pain that is slowly, slowly diminishing in my soul.

When was the last time I felt something else than pain?

When was the last time I felt something with something else than my soul?

I don't know but...

-I'll have to go through this each time, will I?

The soul wave crosses my soul.

I only feel the slight pain the wave provokes in my aching soul.

I do not get any answer, but I know it already.

I won't give up on that future of mine.

I'll do whatever is in my power to get a technique worthy of my talent.

It is the duty of those born with superior talent to be strong.

[1] They got no notion of training or effort, remember? Training is a subpar method that cannot achieve anything, so instead of telling her to train the technique, he just tells her to integrate it, because it's so great that you need time and huge talent to even integrate it. Fusion is an easier image to understand for her.

[2] Don't expect them to sleep every day, they're not humans, they got their own sleep cycles, that match another reference. And what the fuck is a day in the central universe? Are there even stars, is there even light? Would stars even survive in the same universes as beings that emit such a powerful aura all day? Basically, because their references can't be called the same way as humans call them, they use cycles. A big cycle is 100 cycles, and each cycle is a billion soul vibration. Soul vibrations are natural vibrations emitted by souls, they emit one for around a thousandth of a millisecond. So a cycle is equal to around 277 hours, or around 11.5 Earth days. A big cycle is then 1157 Earth days or 3.16 Earth years. As for small cycles, they will be each a hundredth of a cycle, following the same logic. I'll explain it again when I'll use it again later. I don't make lore to not use it.

TL;DR:

Big cycle = 3 years, cycle = 11.5 days, small cycle = 28 hours.

[3] I know I insisted a lot on how they got no notion of work and training, at least not as we understand it, but that's the best I could do to write something understandable. They at least got some notion of working to achieve something.

[4] Of course such an advanced species would live in a spatial fold. It's just so convenient to use a specially created 5th dimension for space solidity, if they can't make it themselves they gotta have someone build it for them.

[5] Not really, I doubt they have this kind of glands, it's used as an expression here.

[6] A cut part of the soul has the same properties as its parent. A cut part of the soul is the same person as the soul. Both the big and small parts are actually cut off the other, so there is no real difference except the size and what was built inside. Only Moar is crazy enough to build things inside themselves, so most people have only their own laws inside their bodies. These laws include multiple auto-reparation circuits, so there is no real loss when cutting it, the law just regrows. Because both parts of the soul are the same, it has the same personality and knowledge as its parent had when it was cut. It's why while Moar is utilitarian enough to let himself be destroyed or used when he is cut off himself, the girl with natural strong feelings flees herself.