Chapter 435: Pawns on the Chessboard

The sharp penetrating feel that sent the surge of electrical jolts throughout Ranulf's body was quickly replaced by the searing, burning after effect. Coming along with it, the subtle stinging pain combined with the dim pulsing sensation, sort of the same as what you would get when you would hit your toe, knee, or hand or perhaps your head to a blunt, solid object. 

Having spent a considerable amount of time in his profession, Ranulf was keenly aware of the source of all these unsettling events, or the cold, dripping liquid that he could feel slowly but steadily escaping from the holds of his own body.

Despite being fully aware, his eyes still went so wide that with a bit of effort his eyes could have escaped from their sockets. As he slowly, shakily lowered his gaze, what he witnessed caused him to be shocked. He was unable to process what had just happened, and sadly, his efforts of trying to process and most importantly, understand what had just transpired was a run against the time itself.

As the seconds went by, even keeping his consciousness was slowly becoming a chore. Still, as he stared at his own chest, where the seemingly harmless youngster's arm was plunged almost elbow-deep in his own body he couldn't understand. 

His eyes, showing an expression of disbelief after some effort, shifted back to the boy who, like before, looked at him with a now eerie, calm, nonchalant smile on his face. It was as if he himself didn't register that his dominant limb was dipped deep into the crevices of his body.

"W-w-w.." As he tried to open up his mouth and tried his best effort to speak, he couldn't. As his lips parted, all of his efforts in vocalizing ended with more and more of his blood being coughed up and spilled. His pale white row of teeth was new crimson with all the excess bodily juice he forcibly slopped.

It was at this moment that his mind registered the high-pitched clinking noise, his hands losing their grip over the hidden weapon, his blade hit the ground. The blurry, chaotic haze now completely lifted away from his mind, his eyes were turned wide with utter confusion and bewilderment… He couldn't understand until the very last second of his swiftly fading life why he had done something so rash, so utterly idiotic.

As Ranulf heaved his last and his eyes finally dimmed, Aiden sighed as a deep frown settled on his youthful face. As he focused his attention on the human, Ranulf, he could see on the map as his hostile red color returned to the orange at the very last moment of his life, before his dot forever vanished from the system's screen.

If before it was just a mere theory, now it has gained solid ground. Someone, or most likely: something was altering the lives, minds, and most importantly, the emotions of people of this land.

However, this conclusion, this answer, only birthed several new questions that desperately needed a resolution of their own. Who was behind all this, pulling the strings? The events that transpired back at the orcs camp… could the two be related? Could that thin shadowy figure be the one behind it all, or perhaps there is someone even more powerful?

Then, as he remembered the visions that the guardian soul, his father had shared, another much heavier thought came to his mind: Could those gods that his father has talked about be the ones behind this all? If so, what is their goal? What benefit could they gain with sewing such chaos, and hopelessness?

This veil of despair that they cast across the creatures living these lands… What 'good' could come out of it?

And more importantly, what is his role in all of this?

There were many questions, with almost no answers, but as this seemed to be the standard recently, Aiden was slowly getting accustomed to it. 

Knowing that his only choice is to do his best to quickly settle his debt and remaining duties that tied him to this city and finally set out to search and explore this world for the legacies that were waiting just for him. The nearest seemed to be somewhere deep inside the labyrinthian tunnels of the Saronite Mountains.

His hand, still inside the now limp body of the now-dead Ranulf, his fingers latched onto the vaning, now silent organ, and with a single tug, he tore it away from its socket and pulled Ranulf's heart out from his lifeless body.

Aiden calmly looked at the blood-covered fleshly heap sitting in his right hand, spending a few brief moments to admire this marvel of creation. An expectant glint flashed across his golden eyes as he was already looking forward to that exciting, empowering reaction that was oh so addicting.

The moment when the contained vitality, the life essence was released from those flesh walls and exploded inside his body… As they merged into his own stream, his flow of energy and reserves increased even further… It was unlike anything he experienced in this world, overshadowing everything by a fair margin.

Even more, the small glimpses into another life, absolving the memories of another sentient entity… Aiden still couldn't fully understand how it all worked, yet he was already looking forward to it.

Taking one last glimpse at the slowly decaying organ, Lucien stretched his mouth wide, swallowing the bloodied piece in one go. A few quick chews were all that it took to grind it down to an acceptable size before, with a large gulp, swallowing it down as a whole.

He ignored the muffled thump as the lifeless body fell down to the dust, his eyes were already closed as the euphoria almost instantly set in. Like a ticking bomb, Aiden could almost follow along to the very instant, as his body transformed the material into an intangible, nonphysical form and the newly gained life force literally exploded inside him. A surge of newfound power, not yet his own, filled up his limbs, overflowing the pathways his [Soul Power] flowed calmly along in.

Aiden fell on his knees as he was submerged by the sensations of his own body, doing his best to contain everything inside, and not let it escape like every other time.

His body was trembling, violently spasming as he desperately tried to shackle and control this overflowing energy. Aiden could only grit his teeth and do his absolute best, not to fail in this incredibly difficult endeavor. 

Still, he vastly underestimated the difficulty of the task. Ranulf, although just a 'human', was still on a higher level than almost all of the local adventurers. It's just that most of his skill came from his agility and dexterousness.

As his eyes were closed, Aiden completely shut off the outside world, as all of his attention was focused on the inner turmoil, the heavy pressure coming from deep within his body.

Because of that, he didn't notice when suddenly the wind blew behind a gentle gust and a dark-clothed presence of a feminine silhouette emerged just a couple of steps behind him. 

As his body continued to shake and spasm under the brutal pressure, Aiden's kneeling figure was slowly engulfed in a glowing golden cocoon made out of pure energy…