Chapter 271: Soulful Insight

Chapter 271: Soulful Insight

The Grand Magus sat in silent contemplation after examining Kefira. He tapped his lips with his finger as he was lost in thought. Gennet couldn’t wait any longer after only a few moments and spoke up.

“So?” He asked. “What’s going on?”

The Grand Magus seemed surprised that anyone else was in the room after being addressed. He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

“Everything is as expected, for the most part,” he answered. “We just miscalculated on the timing.”

“What does that mean?” Reivyn asked.

Gennet, Silfa, and the other members of Kefira’s family seemed to understand what the Grand Magus was talking about. The Grand Magus turned his attention toward Reivyn.

“We always knew that the seal wasn’t a permanent solution,” he explained. “This isn’t the first time we’ve had to change the seals out. As you know, Kefira’s soul is too strong for her body, putting increased stress on her physical being. We need to seal a portion of her soul to alleviate the problem.

“If we make the seal too strong, she won’t have access to her abilities and Skill and might not even be able to Level her Skills at all. If it’s too weak, like it apparently has been, the power will leak through and exhaust her body.

“What I mean by our timing was off is that her Skills have advanced at a much more rapid rate than anticipated. The soul has capacity, power, and intensity. The capacity of the soul generally refers to the combination of number of Skills and their Level. Higher Level Skills fill the capacity quicker than additional lower Level Skills.

“One’s soul capacity naturally increases over time with age and Class Level. It’s a gradual thing, though. It’s so gradual that normally one would never even realize it if they didn’t have a benchmark from much earlier in life to compare to.

“Power refers to how well one is able to martial one’s Skill Level. I’m sure you’ve noticed that no two people are alike even with similar Skill Levels. That’s not just based on a difference of understanding in one’s Skill. It’s also a reflection of one’s soul power.

“There are many theories explaining the nuances of soul power, but a popular one is that it directly affects one’s ability to interact with the System. Someone with more soul power will receive more System assistance in a Skill at a similar Level than someone with a lower soul power. That is an objective fact, but the underlying reason is the theory.

“Finally there’s intensity. The best way to conceptualize soul intensity is the passive aura it exudes on the world around it. One’s body usually contains the aura as most people’s souls are nowhere near strong enough to reach the natural limit of a mortal body. Those with Bloodlines are naturally able to house even more powerful souls.

“Kefira is lucky and unlucky at the same time. She’s lucky that she has such a powerful natural soul and was born in a family with a decent Bloodline, but she’s unlucky that her soul is just powerful enough to overwhelm her body’s ability to contain the aura.

“As the aura leeks out of her body, it acts like wind or water on the land. It slowly erodes it. If nothing is done, eventually, her body would waste away completely.”

Reivyn’s eyes widened in alarm at the statement. The Grand Magus saw his look and chuckled.

“No need for concern, just yet,” he said. “It would take decades in Kefira’s current state for the issue to be fatal. As it is, even without another seal fashioned to curtail her soul strength, she would be able to function to a lesser extent with frequent, proper rest.”

“She’s been getting plenty of rest, though,” Reivyn frowned.

“No, no. She would need proper rest. She’s resting her body, but her body’s not the underlying issue. Her soul is. She would need to go for an extended period of time without using any Skills or Magic to rest her soul. Her body falling into a coma is simply her soul forcing the issue. If she’s unconscious, she won’t be able to use any Skills or Magic.”

“It’s as simple as that?” Reivyn quirked an eyebrow.

The Grand Magus snorted.

“I doubt I would ever describe the interactions of the soul between the host body as simple, but relatively, yes I would say so.”

“This leads me to a question I’ve had for a long time, now,” Reivyn said. “I’m almost 100% certain that my soul strength is more powerful than Kefira’s but I’ve never had any problems. Not even before I awakened my Bloodline.”

“Truly?” The Grand Magus was surprised and looked around the room at the other occupants for confirmation. The others nodded their heads. He turned back to Reivyn. “Do you mind if I take a look?”

“Sure,” Reivyn shrugged.

He extended his hand and the Grand Magus placed two fingers on his wrist. It seemed like he was simply taking his pulse, but Reivyn could feel a Skill activate in the older man and felt a presence from his gaze.

Reivyn had tried to follow along while the Grand Magus inspected Kefira with his Divine Sense, but he was missing some sort of insight or ability associated with the Skill to do so. He had long contemplated that Divine Sense incorporated all lesser perception Skills under its umbrella, but that didn’t mean he had access to all of those abilities.

The Grand Magus’ Skill somehow penetrated deeper into the metaphysical whereas Reivyn’s own perception still only glimpsed the surface, so to say.

“I see,” the Grand Magus nodded to himself, releasing his hold on Reivyn’s wrist. “You’re natural body is simply far more powerful. It’s the most powerful soul container I’ve ever seen. It edges close to what’s theoretically possible, in fact.

“Tell me, how many thresholds did you have to break to reach Level 1 of your Bloodline?”

“One hundred,” Reivyn answered.

The room descended into silence for a few moments before Gennet cleared his throat.

“Well, quite the ending to the evening, I would say,” he chuckled. “It’s good to hear that the issue isn’t something new, just a miscalculation in timing.”

“I’m pretty sure we’re responsible for that,” Refix coughed into his hand and spoke up. “Reivyn and I can be a bit... zealous, when it comes to training. We’ve been pushing her pretty hard and in new directions, too.”

“Bah, don’t worry about it,” Gennet waved his hand away. “Like the Grand Magus said, it’s not an immediate problem, and raising one’s Skills faster than anticipated is actually something to be celebrated.”

“There’s really only one solution to this,” Reivyn spoke up once more. Everyone focused their attention on him, waiting for his answer. “We have to go to the upper Regions. It seems obvious to me. It was the plan from the beginning, right?” Gennet slowly nodded his head. “The Grand Magus just said the timing was off, so that expedition needs to come forward as well.”

“I’m just worried this could cripple Kefira’s potential, though,” Gennet voiced his concern.

“I’m not,” Reivyn shook his head. “She’s already further ahead than she expected to be, for one. Two, her Life Experience and Skill Levels are definitely ahead of schedule as well, or this wouldn’t be an issue. Finally, there’s nothing saying we can’t explore Dungeons and experience new things in the upper Region. Just going there to explore ahead of time should give her a boost in her Class options.

“Her potential isn’t the issue here. It’s safety. We can all punch above our weight class, and considerably at that. I would suggest sending word to the Elders to have them provide us a mentor for exploring the Regions, and we can study up on the knowledge we’ll need to be safe.”

“I’ll be going with them, too,” Refix pointed out. “With me and at least one mentor from the Region, there shouldn’t be too much in a Tier 5 Region that can catch us off guard if we don’t get complacent.”

“You’re going to have to live your own life again one of these days, dad,” Reivyn said to his father with a slight smile on his lips. “You’ve sunk so much of your time into us already.”

“I’m your father. It’s what I’m supposed to do. Besides, if not you, then I would be doing something similar with some other kid. It’s what I do. It’s what I like to do.”

“I’m sure mom’s super happy about it,” Reivyn needled his father.

“I’m going, too, this time,” Ameliyn spoke up. Everyone turned their attention to her. “The girls are independent enough now, and they have their own schedules to keep them busy. Plus, I used to be an Adventurer, too. I’ve been catching up with Delves alongside Refix for a while, now. We might as well make it a whole thing, and we can all seek to improve our Bloodlines and possibly soul power while we’re there.”

Reivyn was only mildly surprised at the exclamation from his mother. After thinking about it, though, it made a lot of sense. He still remembered the awe-inspiring pose of her actions from when she had seemingly unleashed the Heavens themselves against the Dungeon Break army and its instigators all those years ago.

“I’ll look after your two girls and make sure they’re not spending all of their time on mischief,” Silfa patted Ameliyn’s hand.

“I’ll have copies of the documents on what we know about the Tier 5 Regions and Wilderness sent to your house,” Gennet said.

“Thank you,” Reivyn expressed his gratitude to Kefira’s parents.

“Of course,” Gennet chuckled. “The more I help you all prepare, the more safe my baby girl will be in your care.”

Gennet motioned to one of the staff standing unobtrusively along the wall. They all had ears, so the staff member understood what was required of her and she immediately rushed off.

Kefira’s older siblings excused themselves for the evening. Reivyn had no desire to leave Kefira’s side, so he stayed seated on the couch. His parents remained to keep him company, and Gennet and Silfa sat down as well.

They made small-talk amongst themselves much like they would have done if the dinner had continued in the normal way. It wasn’t long before the Grand Magus returned with the two girls in tow. He stepped forward and presented another, identical necklace to Reivyn. Reivyn wasted no time in securing it around Kefira’s neck.

He could feel a subtle shift in the ambient pressure being exuded from Kefira. He tried to observe it with his Divine Sense Skill in order to further his ability to peer deeper into the metaphysical, but he would need more opportunities before he could fully grasp such an ability with his Skill. It quickly abated and he simply waited for Kefira to come to.

After waiting for several minutes, Kefira finally stirred and slowly sat up. Her hair hung down in front of her face, and she blew it away with a quick puff of air before swiping it away with her hand. She looked up in surprise to see everyone looking at her.

“What happened?” She asked, glancing around at the sitting room. “How did we get here?”

Kefira’s parents smiled at their daughter regaining consciousness. Reivyn hugged her to his side with one arm.

“You collapsed at dinner,” Reivyn explained. “I told you there was something going on.” He smirked and bopped her on the nose with his finger.

Kefira rolled her eyes.

“I’m sure, but do you care to explain what it was? I’ve got no idea what’s going on right now.”

Reivyn smiled and hugged her tighter again. The two groups of parents looked at each other and with unspoken agreement got up to leave the sitting room. Reivyn was left alone with Kefira with the ever-present Serilla standing behind the couch.

“Sure,” Reivyn said. “It seems that your accelerated rate of Skill advancement didn’t come without its disadvantages...”