Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Soul Poison Training

Dyne continued to float and struggled as his Soul battled against the Gimard.

Some of the Hunters had noticed Dyne’s state and rushed out towards the sea to save him.

Dyne ignored their sounds and focused on his soul battle.

“Soul Devouring. Does he know what he is doing?” Strafe frowned. He had seen Dyne’s memories and also had seen how Dyne acted in this world. He knew that Dyne wouldn’t do anything reckless and would have asked him. But the series of actions that Dyne was trying to do was abrupt that Strafe couldn’t see why he did that and continued to think.

The hunters reached Dyne, but as they were pulling Dyne, they could feel that Dyne’s body was burning hot.

“Don’t get me out of the water... Listen... You guys have to follow my instructions...” Dyne gritted his teeth as he spoke.

“On my signal... Knock me out!” Dyne ordered.

The Hunters who were pulling him couldn’t understand his request.

“Just do it! For now... Keep my mouth and nose up the water! But keep my body submerged! It's burning!" Dyne ordered again.

The Hunters were now trying to swim back and ignored Dyne’s orders. They wanted to save him and pull him out of the water.

It was then that Juno arrived.

“Do as he says!” Juno ordered.

The Hunters were surprised but then started to do as Dyne instructed.

In his Soul world, the black fire was dwindling and dwindling in its strength.

“In my signal, knock me out! After that... tie me up on the Genesis Tree! You have to tie me up properly so that I can escape! Leave me like that for at least a day! Don’t untie me even if I say so!” Dyne gave a series of orders.

“You have my word.” Juno agreed as he aided the two hunters in keeping Dyne’s body submerged.

After a few minutes, Dyne finally gave the signal!

“Now!” Juno began to choke Dyne into a sleeper hold.

Dyne’s consciousness slowly faded.

…

Dyne’s body was asleep, but his Soul was suffering.

The black Soul of the Gimard disappeared, but small black threads were running around Dyne’s Soul, causing him great spiritual pain.

“That was very reckless. I now know what you were trying to do.” Strafe sighed.

Dyne didn’t respond but continued to struggle.

“I underestimated you. I thought that you wouldn’t be this vicious.” Strafe laughed.

“This is quite a daring plan. You knew that the Mist was a Soul based energy. It transforms the souls it touches and corrupts them. To humans, it would bring them great emotional distress and might even drive them insane after prolonged exposure. You knew that the Gimard’s Soul would be a concentrated dose of the Mist, and yet you decided to absorb it.”

Dyne continued to squirm and squirm.

“Try to endure. They are bringing you near the Genesis Tree as we speak. Did you do this to make your Soul resistant to the Mist?”

Dyne weakly nodded his head.

“If I have enough strength to resist... I could wield a Seru... even when exposed to the Mist.”

“You’re very perceptive. Was this why you didn’t want a Ra-Seru to be destined for you? Were the Ra-Seru's just training mechanisms for you to use? It isn’t that I’m underestimating you, but while what you plan is possible, it will take decades to achieve that.” Strafe laughed.

“Did they... put me on the Genesis Tree?” Dyne asked weakly.

“That’s right. Juno did as you commanded. Right now, a lot of people are worried about what you did. Even that Bertugo is now by your side.”

Dyne smiled, but his expression remained pale. He could see a strange war going on his body.

“When did you plan this?” Strafe asked.

“When you explained about the Soul. If a Ra-Seru can do it... wouldn’t I be able to do it too?”

“Do you plan to be your own Ra-Seru? You wanted to have a Soul like them?”

“Not exactly. Although... I do know that’s possible... So I was right. That can be done. I can tame my own Seru without the Ra-Seru.” Dyne gave a weak smirk.

“Of course. How do you think Ra-Seru's absorb a Seru? They absorb the Soul of the Seru. They contain the Seru’s Soul within them and would summon them once commanded.” Strafe explained.

“But while it is possible to do that, it's impossible for you now. Ra-Seru's are god-tiered Soul Beings. The reason why they could control a Seru they absorb is that they are beings that are powered by the Genesis Tree. They can easily convert the Soul of a Seru and absorb it. If the Seru was a Seru not born in the Mist, it’s even easier. But as for you... let me make an analogy. You just learned to do one plus one, and you’re trying to attempt rocket science.” Strafe shook his head.

“That is the end goal... But that’s not why I did it. Why would I do all this when I could do this training in an easier way when I have a Ra-Seru who can help me do this? And besides, I don't need to make it something that I can fully control as the Ra-Seru can. If I can resist the Mist, and this Seru eats my soul energy that can resist the Mist, then won’t the exposure to my resistant soul make a Seru that won't be easily driven mad by the Mist?”

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Strafe scoffed at Dyne.

"You underestimate Soul Cultivation. What you are wishing is something far beyond your current capacity. You'd need to be Soul Master to be able to change the state of the Seru! Even the Ra-Seru can only summon a Seru to initiate one magic attack!"

"Even if that's still a long way out... I would still do what I did." Dyne laughed.

“Why? What benefit is there to absorb that corrupted Soul? That was basically poison!”

“Exactly... Small doses of poison taken and will help me make my Soul stronger. The Genesis Tree has grown more powerful than before. Although it still needs a Ra-Seru to awaken it, it's current form releases a cleansing aura. It should help me deal with the poison. I have an unlimited supply of poison and an inexhaustible antidote nearby. ”

“Why are you doing this?”

“To save Juno... To increase the overall strength of Rim Elm. This is part of the game...” Dyne laughed.

“What do you mean?”

“I need to reach a stage where I can move within the Mist even without a Ra-Seru! And where I plan to go, I need to have a strong resistance to the Mist!”

“Why? Do you plan to travel where the Mist Generator is? Why?”

“You’ll see...  I better rest. I can feel a sense of anger and madness in me...” Dyne then continued to battle against the madness of his Soul.

“Fine. I’m quite curious about this plan of yours.” Strafe waved his hands and caused Dyne’s Soul to fall into slumber.

When Dyne had woken up, it was past noon. He glanced around him and still could feel a strange heaviness in his body. It was as if he was irritable.

“This damned feeling again!” Dyne angrily gnashed his teeth. He then took in deep breathes.

The Hunters nearby and even Bertugo notice him. 

“Leave me alone! And go get Tetsu!” Dyne shouted angrily.

The hunters were stunned and retreated after nodding.

Vahn had slowly approached Dyne. But he didn’t say anything.

Dyne kept muttering to himself.

“Remember that feeling! Remember that feeling!” He forced himself to remember the euphoria that he experienced the first time he meditated on the Tree. 

He knew that the negative effects of the Mist are still affecting his thinking. It was so powerful that when Dyne reached this world, he didn’t even feel any excitement. And that was when the Mist had a very thin layer. Now he directly took in a dark soul made of Mist and absorbed it.

“You’re awake.” Tetsu’s voice echoed.

“You have an odd habit of falling into unconscious states. What were you trying to do?”

“Saving my Seru...” Dyne gritted his teeth and tried his best to stop himself from shouting at Tetsu.

“Ginger?”

Dyne wanted to curse upon hearing that name but managed to contain it.

“Yes. When I received enlightenment, I noticed the strange power of my Soul... How was your progress?”

“A bit worse than you. I’ve been meditating on Biron’s teaching, but I only managed to feel my Soul earlier today!” Tetsu laughed.

“Sorry. For being disrespectful, Master. It’s because I have a small portion of erm- Ginger’s Soul in me.”

“What?”

“I was trying to save him. I told you before that he tried to kill himself even before he possessed me? I was able to prove it.” Dyne then told a lie he prepared.

“Ginger’s Soul nearly died. But the Mist tried to revive it. As such... Ginger’s Soul was something that was mostly corrupted by the Mist. But when Bertugo got him out of the Mist, Ginger lost its source and went back to its near-death state. I was trying to heal it by feeding him with soul energy.”

“That’s possible?!” Tetsu was shocked at Dyne’s explanation.

“Yes. I managed to do it. It’s just like that Buddhist Palm- I mean Biron Palm technique that I showed you. You just push your soul energy in him.”

“I see! So you saved him!”

“No. I met a problem.” Dyne sighed.

“What problem?”

“I think when he hurt himself before possessing me, he almost died. You know that Serus is a soul creature. If their Soul is damaged, they die. The Mist revived Ginger, but most of Ginger’s Soul is now made up of the Mist's corrupted Soul.” Dyne explained as he displayed an angry expression. Because he was in a foul mood, Dyne was quickly able to show it.

“What did you do?!” Tetsu realized that what Dyne must have attempted was reckless and crazy.

“What I had to do to save Ginger...” Dyne sighed.