Chapter 408 Two Bodies, One Soul 2

Keng walked with the mysterious woman for a while. She kept quiet and gave enough distance for him to feel comfortable. He couldn't figure out why she was here but she didn't say much else other than her intention. They walked the beach for quite some time until she finally turned and looked at him.

"It looks like it's time for me to go, child. I've enjoyed your company along this beach. Have you tried to go to the pier over there?" The woman pointed and the fog seemed to clear enough for Keng to see the pier. It went far out into the black murky waters.

Keng shook his head. He hadn't even seen such a thing. He just walked the beach.

"Go to the waters. Sit and enjoy your rest, child. We shall meet again." The woman smiled. Before Keng could say his goodbyes, the woman turned and walked deeper into the fog. Just as quickly she had come, she had left.

Keng turned his attention towards the pier. He definitely hadn't seen anything like this before. The woman was the first new thing he saw on the beach and now the pier shows up? Was it a coincidence?

Keng shrugged his questions off. He felt like he was supposed to do something but couldn't remember so he decided he would go sit and think about it for a bit. He liked water. Or was that someone else's personal opinion? He didn't know.

The Shaman materialized back in seconds. She was sitting on the chair, her beads jangled as she heard the quiet whoosh of wind. Gorrum and Jyu'so entered the room and the Shaman turned to greet them.

"Hello Elder, sir. Have you procured the requested items?" The Shaman asked.

"Yes, I got what you need." Gorrum pulled the items out and handed it over to the Shaman. Green wisps appeared and grabbed the items from him and held them for the Shaman.

"It took me quite a bit of negotiating but I have the song of the sea. The Merfolk weren't willing at first but when it comes to their personal matters and this one, they couldn't refuse." Elder Jyu'so stuck his hand into the Void Storage and plucked a icy flower. It dropped with water and hummed with energy. The Shaman plucked it from the Elder's finger and nodded, satisfied.

"All is here. Let's begin the ritual." The Shaman turned to face Keng. She began to chant in his tongue. The crystal horns turned to dust as the Jurdi Plums began to turn to liquid. The song of the sea flower turned to nothing and the materials began to swirl together.

"May the Nature goddess use me as a vessel to heal thy ailments plaguing the child's body. Nature's Boon: Helix Restore." The Shaman called out. The smells of the sea, desert and mountain permeated the area. The whole building lit up in green as the Shaman pushed the energy into Keng.

The quiet sounds of water lapping against the pier felt calming to Keng. The fog sat above the water. What looked like an actual scene out of some horror movie was actually calming. Keng's mind quickly forgot about the mysterious woman and questions of why he was here. He didn't question how much time had passed. He had the feeling of forgetting something important but the scenery always seemed to pull him out of that whenever he tried to think about it.

The waters shook. It was the third strange thing to happen in this calming place. Keng looked around and noticed the waters were beginning to shake. He could feel the pier rocking as he moved himself away from the edge of the pier.

'What's happening?' Keng thought. A green light erupted from the middle of the large body of water. It rippled and pushed away the fog. Keng quickly got up onto his feet, trying to balance himself as the pier rocked.

Foreign smells pushed out of the green light. The light tethered outwards like tentacles, quickly growing as the waters shook harder. Keng listened as the pier started to crack. Black tendrils erupted out of the water, shattering the pier and sending Keng into the water as it fought against the green light.

The green light plunged it's way into the water, snaking its way straight for Keng.

'What's happening?!?' Keng screamed in his head. Something grabbed him and pulled him in lower. 'What's happening?' The green light wrapped itself around Keng, pulling.

The black and murky tendrils tugged as the green tendrils seemed to bloom life around it. Vines and plants wrapped themselves around Keng, pushing the black tendrils away. The earth grasp pulled Keng upwards as black tendrils flew for him.

Everything shook as Keng let out a gasp as he shot out of the water. The dark film over the beach and water suddenly turned to color. The night sky glowed bright with the large moon hanging over him as Keng was pulled straight towards the green light.

"What's going on?!?" Keng shouted. A loud crash drew his attention towards the beach. The beach was exploding with sand as a black mist flew out of it. "What the hell is that?!?" Keng flew straight through the green light and found himself shooting up out of bed.

The Shaman's eyes glowed a bright green as she held her hands above Keng. She seemed to be sporadically twitched. She mumbled something about the "darkness." Gorrum and Elder Jyu'so rushed to Keng's side as he felt his heart wanting to leap out of his chest.

"Keng, are you alright?" Gorrum asked.

"Y-yeah. I-I'm fine… W-what happened?" Keng asked.

"The Shaman had to get you out of your coma."

"My coma?"

,m "You were asleep for four days!"

"Four days?!?" Keng looked between Gorrum and Jyu'so. They both nodded at him as Lily poked her head into the room. She and Keng made eye contact and she quickly pulled herself out of the room and out of Keng's view.

"What happened to you? The Shaman said something happened to you and the Golden one." Jyu'so asked.

"Well…" Keng looked at the Shaman. Her eyes were closing and the green energy was slowly disappearing. "I was looking at my soul orb when it brought up an augmentation skill."

"An augmentation skill?" Gorrum repeated. Lee Seng nodded. "What's that?"

"I think it has to do with the mutation ability Lee Seng got from Eshra. It must've found its way into the Soul orb and created some sort of secret augmentation ability within the Soul orb." Keng theorized.

"And what did it give you?" Gorrum asked.

"[Two Bodies, One Soul]. It gives a bunch of skills but changes the Spirit and the Vessel immensely… I'm not sure what they do. I didn't have time to figure it out… Well, before he accepted it." Keng quietly spoke.

"He? Who?" Gorrum asked.

"I believe it's his Vessel, sir." The Shaman lifted her head and slowly opened her eyes. "Am I right, child?" Keng nodded as he turned his attention to her.

"Oh!" Keng pointed at her in surprise. "It's you! You're the one who came into my dream!"

"I temporarily came to see the state you were in. Luckily, nothing happened." The Shaman nodded. "You may address me as Shaman. I am under the guidance of the gods, specifically the Earth goddess. Elder Jyu'so reached out to me for help since you were in a slumber for a couple days. Your energy levels have been restored, but I would take it easy for the next couple days."

"More rest?!? What am I supposed to do then?" Keng asked.

"Y'see, child, I think the skill your Vessel chose triggered something within you. It trapped you on that dark beach. I think it even made you temporarily forget what you were doing and why you were there. I'm not sure what your new profound skills are, but do be careful. I weakened it by attacking, but it is you who must destroy it." The Shaman explained.

"I-I have to destroy it?" Keng repeated.

"Yes." Elder Jyu'so nodded. He sighed and closed his eyes. "I saw it when I was looking through your memories, child. It seems that wisp I saw is causing more problems than it let on. It claimed it was an unkillable observer but it has triggered something within you and caused you to sleep for days."

"What else did it do?" Keng asked.

"A memory hides in your head." Jyu'so tapped his head. "It seems like it has hidden this memory from you. I wonder what else it has done."

"What memory?"

"The memory of you being injected with something by the evil human, himself. Don't you remember?"

"N-no. I don't remember that." Keng answered confused. "How could he do that? It's not…"

The cold metal pressed against him. He laid, half-conscious as two people worked around him. Was it two? Or was it three?

'What is this?' Keng asked himself. 'What happened?'