Chapter 25: Chapter 25: The Village’s Direction

The villagers were surprised to learn this.

“I thank you for Master Dyne's praise. But I am an invalid.” Val smiled. He no longer dared call Dyne’s name directly but called him Master.

“That’s right! If we want to train people, you have to focus on people who deserve it!” Ipkus argued.

Dyne shook his head. Unlike before, his emotions were now more stable and so he managed to stop himself from yelling at the arrogant father.

“You guys are underestimating the worth of a Soul Cultivator.” Dyne countered.

Dyne then sent Strafe a mental question.

“If we reach a higher level in soul cultivation, can we do that Doctor Strange magic thing that allows him to move his hands?”

“Yes. But he needs to be at a higher level. The level you are right now... should be considered at the Soul Awareness stage in terms of the content of your Soul. For Val, he would need to reach two stage higher. At least the Soul Gathering level.”

“Alright. Good to know.” Dyne smiled glanced at Val.

“If you get stronger in Soul Cultivation, you can use your soul power to guide your body. Meaning, you could easily walk, run, and even fight. Besides, fighting is not the only thing that’s necessary. Uncle Val, you left the village alone and went back only when you found Vahn, correct?” Dyne asked.

“Yes.” Val nodded.

“Then you must have a better understanding of how the Mist moves, correct? Was that how you were able to run to and back?” Dyne guessed. He knew that Juno would die at the very start of the game. The reason was that, on one of their hunting trips, the Mist appeared earlier than expected. But as for Val, he reached Drake Castle, saved Vahn, and ran back. Presumably, the only time Val got injured was on the return trip.

Dyne had guessed that Vahn could walk in the Mist because of his stronger fortitude and how he can resist the maddening effects of the Mist. Vahn had always prayed on the Genesis Tree. But Dyne was constantly making guesses on how Val could do it. And so, Dyne came to a certain conclusion.

“Then correct me if I'm wrong... You can roughly sense if the Mist is near or far...” Dyne asked with a smile.

Everyone had a strange expression and turned to Val.

Juno smiled and laughed.

“I wasn’t mistaken. I knew that there was something special with Val!” Juno laughed.

“So what if he can sense it? He’s currently an invalid! Even if we can train him to have miraculous powers, how long will it take?”

“You’re wrong. We don’t need to make him have the ability to walk. If we can create a cart and take Val with us, he can detect the movements of the Mist and tell us where to go! I’m surprised you didn’t think of that earlier!” Dyne laughed.

The expressions of the hunters changed as they realized this.

“But I think Master Dyne is exaggerating my worth. Sure, I can sense it, but if I cannot lead the way and make quick decisions, we would still fall into the Mist.”

“True. But what if, you are able to double, no triple the distance of how you sense these Mists?” Dyne grinned.

Val was silent. But in his heart, he knew that it would be very useful.

The Elder nodded.

“It seems, that your return to the hunt is not far off, Val!” The Elder laughed.

“That's great! With Val back on the field, we can essentially double or even triple the time of our hunts!” Juno laughed with excitement.

“Right! But remember, we are here to save the world! My first proposal is to train everyone in the ways of Biron’s teaching. Although we can't train in the physical arts that Lord Biron left behind, we still have to study the spiritual and soul empowerment of his teachings. We also will use this Genesis tree who has shown as the hints of his awakening to grow more in the ways of the Soul.”

“How will we use the Genesis Tree?” Tetsu asked.

“There are two ways... The first is, we have to go get Mist from the outside. For those who meditate inside here, they can then take in a deep breath of the Mist and feel its madness and meditate right here on the Tree. The problem with training in our soul is that we can’t see, feel touch, or sense it. But with the Mist and the Genesis Tree we can use both extremes for you to awaken your ability to sense and see the Soul!”

“I see... That seems like a very smart way to improve on Spirit as well.”

Dyne was stunned as he heard the term. Spirit was a Legend of Legaia ability that all the Ra-Seru heroes could do.

“But Dyne, after last night, I wasn’t able to sense it even when I meditated on it the entire day.” Tetsu sighed.

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“Yes. It's very hard to do. That is why Lord Biron must be honored for having found that secret of his soul power! And we too must walk in his footsteps! If we are able to train that to a certain degree, you guys can then do what I did. I ate a portion of the Grimard's soul. And it’s soul attacked me.”

Everyone was stunned at the explanation that Dyne gave. It sounded impossible, but for the Hunters who took care of Dyne after, it seemed plausible.

“Was that why we felt like you were burning when we touched you?” One of the hunters who carried

“Right. It was a painful experience but because of the pain, you could say I could now sense the soul better. The damages in my soul also damaged my physical body. My arms were originally burnt but now that my soul recovered, my hands seemed to also have recovered. I think that by going through the pain, we can all learn the ways of sensing the soul.” Dyne explained.

“Sounds like a harsh path to follow.”

“We are saving the world. The next part of our tasks is to look for monsters. Since Bertugo is now a Gomboo, and the slime has also grown stronger, we can look for scattered Slimes and even Gobu Gobus to recruit. Monsters have this ability called Monsters Contract. I’m not sure of the details, but what I do know is that they can tame others. However, if we grow strong enough in our soul, we should be able to tame other monsters as well.”

“Tame monsters?”

“Yes. The way we did it in Sol was different. But now, with our Soul, we can even tame more monsters! If we close the river and capture a few ostriches on the area near Biron Monastery, we would have the ability to travel faster with mounted ostriches!” Dyne explained.

In Dyne’s eyes he recalled the great Chocobo riders in the Final Fantasy Tactics game he played back then. He could only imagine a team of Hunters riding off towards the Mist or to the sunset.

“Master Dyne?” Val asked as he noticed the strange expression of Dyne.

“Erm. Never mind. Our next priority would be to seek out the Gobu Gobu villages nearby. Do any of you know where they are?”

“The Gobu Gobus have a settlement on top of the mountain west of the Hunters Spring. Hunter Springs is a place where we usually make a pitstop if ever we would hunt near the mountains.”

“Then that’s perfect! Our goal is to go over that village and tame all the Gobu Gobu’s in this area.” Dyne smiled.

“This will make our travels towards Drake Castle faster and easier!” Dyne explained.

“Is that even possible? Those Gobu Gobus have killed many of our men! Why not just kill them?” Ipkus laughed.

“Because they are like us.” Dyne countered.

“Like us?”

“The Mist is also their calamity. The madness of the Mist has caused the tribes to go into chaos. The only difference that they have compared to us, is that they are physically stronger than us. And so, they can survive in the Mist as the Serus would not dare risk casualty in facing them. And you guys have lived a life fighting and killing monsters? So what? That’s because you were too weak!” Dyne directly looked at Ipkus.

“But in my kingdom, in Sol, we had pets and even made Gobu Gobu fight for entertainment! In all honesty, I hated that way of treating monsters! That’s why when I saw Bertugo, I took him in as a companion! He was the weakest amongst the monsters there! And as my companion, he and Ginger risked their lives to save me and allowed me to show you the miracle of the Genesis Tree!”

Dyne’s argument didn’t allow Ipkus to answer back as he took a step back. Dyne was getting very irritated at Ipkus and finally asked Strafe. He recalled the details of the game and realized that this Ipkus was so different from his frail appearance in the game.

“What is up with that guy? If I remember in-game, he was already someone who was like Val. He was injured even before Juno died. He seemed quite a humble guy in the game and would warn us of the Mist saying that he nearly lost his life and became a useless man!” Dyne asked Strafe.

“Er... Right. His son, Ixis, was quite of a snob in the game. And while Ipkus’s wife is also a complaining, gossipy woman, Ixis wouldn’t be as arrogant as he is if he didn’t have quite a pathetic father. So I simply allowed fate to work. Since it was Ixis fate to be arrogant and annoying, his father would be just like that until that event where he would get crippled right before the game begins three years from now.” Strafe answered with an embarrassed expression.

Dyne was in deep thought but he glanced at Ipkus and realized that his fate was to be invalid.

Dyne sighed and decided to treat Ipkus differently and give him a chance.

“I approve of Dyne’s plans. Being someone in Sol, it's only natural that he will bring changes in our little village that many may consider unnatural.” Elder Mura spoke up.

“I agree as well. With Val back in the hunting scene, I’m sure many hunters will be relieved at his mapping skills! Er... No offense Ipkus. But none in this village can compare to Val’s skill in pathfinding and avoiding the Mist.” Juno laughed as he gave an apologetic bow to Ipkus.

Ipkus didn’t answer back but as the Hunters were cheering, he said nothing.

“It looks like we now have a path and purpose, Hunters.” Elder Mura addressed.

“Far too long, we’ve only sought survival. But now, we have a responsibility. Of course, this responsibility is not something that we can ignore for it will also be our means of survival! We follow the plans that Master Dyne has set.”

“Er... Can we just like... stop the Master thing?” Dyne asked with an embarrassed expression.