Spirit Soul

Several days had passed since the once peaceful and serene Sadorla forest had been turned into a bloody battlefield filled with death.

The three ginormous armies were fighting against each other, sometimes acting defensive while forcing the other parties to make the first move. Then they would sneakily launch a random surprise attack when nobody expected it.

First, it seemed like the war between three sides would turn into a massacre where nobody would know who was a friend or a foe.

Yet, from the news Yasmine was able to procure, the situation seemed to be slightly different.

In fact, the three sides had never fought at the same time against each other.

It looked like they changed their opponents once in a while, and launched an attack whenever one of the two opposing parties retreated in an attempt to trap one another.

Kyle was not sure what to think about it, but his earlier plan about using the devouring tree seedling seemed to have lost its value.

However, that was not something he was actually sad about.

Instead, the frustrating part was that Kyle isolated himself in the room to nurture Arashi, attempting to give him all the necessary energy in order to accelerate his Spirit Soul's growth.

It would take roughly two more weeks before Arashi would maturity.

After that, Kyle told himself to focus on cultivating and pay attention to his own progress and reach a higher cultivation base.

He couldn't allow Yasmine and Beatrice to be the only ones to advance their cultivation while comprehending the new functions of their special trait.

Thus, the two women went outside to procure things once in a while.

They acquired information about the ongoing war, materials they required for later, while trying to figure out how tense the situation within Briskandt was.

Unfortunately, attempting to acquire information didn't really make things better and further dampened their spirits because the news was always the same.

Everything was about death and destruction, and getting to know the rough death toll and other things was quite important if all the numbers of the armies, their average strength, and their strongest forces were to be known.

However, not having complete information was as bad as knowing nothing at all, because half-baked theories could lead to even worse decisions.

Thus, it made Beatrice and Yasmine feel demotivated.

They had expected to get to know information about the end of the large-scale battle in a matter of days.

Yet, in the end, not only were people dying like moths that would fly straight into a blazing flame, but all the three sides had sent reinforcement to the Sadorla forest.

It was quite an unnerving sight as it felt like all sides were treating their soldiers like cannon fodder which they could sacrifice in order to procure the Licara flower.

This made the group of three feel extremely uncomfortable as they spend their days advancing in their cultivation.

It was just another day when quite an important topic was addressed when everyone had showered and were ready to rest for the first time in a while.

"Once we find Selene, and everything goes well…do you want to stay in the Lahin kingdom, or have you planned something for later?

Or maybe you want to decide about what you want to do at that moment…but even then, it would be great to finally figure out what your current thoughts are."

It was Yasmine, who had asked him this question.

In the end, the young halfling had chosen to follow Kyle and Beatrice on a whim.

Thus, the current situation made her feel quite uncomfortable, even more so because Kyle wanted to enter the Lahin kingdom that seemed to act quite reckless right now.

The Anadra kingdom was also sending out reinforcements for their army, but they were regulating everything, and acting rather defensively.

Because of that, their death toll was the lowest, while the Lohar race seemed to have suffered the most casualties.

However, this was also the case because their numbers were lower, overall.

The Lohar race had the lowest population of all the surrounding kingdoms, but that was not a problem.

After all, the most important piece of information was that the Lahin kingdom seemed to have the highest combat experience, which allowed them to kill numerous opponents, even if their numbers were on the lower side.

In short, the Lahin kingdom was powerful, but it was at a numerical disadvantage compared to the other two kingdoms.

They didn't accept other races in their kingdom, except under the condition that they would be subjected to constant surveillance or even a slave contract.

Furthermore, they were said to discriminate against other races.

Yet, the Blazing Legion didn't have a prejudice against him, and they were, in fact, the nicest of all.

As such, Kyle was not sure what to believe as the truth and what to discard as a lie.

A few facts were certainly true, such as the point about other races being under constant observation, but the soldiers of the Blazing Legion had also said that this had a different reason.

In the end, even the soldiers didn't know the reason, but the Queen and nobility seemed to be adamant about the need to observe foreign races in their rows.

Thus, something must have happened in the past to make them be wary about foreign races.

Nonetheless, Kyle himself didn't even know what exactly he was supposed to do in the future.

Because of that, he could only look deep into Yasmine's eyes which were filled with worry and uncertainty about the future.

Kyle had to think about the best possible answer for quite some time because he was not sure about it.

However, after a while, he decided to stay honest to himself.

"Right now, I believe everyone is a little bit tense owing to the situation we're facing. However, I still believe that it might be best to stay within the Lahin kingdom for a short time even after we find Selene.

The Lahin kingdom is quite powerful in terms of combat experience, and techniques, which means that we might be able to use this in order to further improve ourselves.

Furthermore, after a long time, I feel like staying at a specific place where nothing can happen to us would be nice…

I really didn't have the luxury to solely focus on anything I wished to for the past year.

It might sound stupid to the two of you, considering that everything is going better than my plan, but I really feel like settling down in a place for a while and focusing on other things than roaming around.

Trust me, that doesn't mean I will simply stop traveling around in the future as well, but from what I've witnessed in the last months, my strength is not even close to reach the threshold that allows me to travel around in peace.

As such, if the situation in the Lahin Kingdom, or to be precise, the Glory Knight academy is under control, staying there until Selene graduates would probably be the best.

Of course, I cannot be sure of that, and everything might go differently than I planned, but it's not like I can foretell the future, and I'm just stating my opinion.

If everyone else wants to leave once we find Selene, I will join all of you as well!"

Kyle was not sure if he had conveyed his emotions properly, or if Yasmine misunderstood him.

However, when both Beatrice and Yasmine saw how hard he was trying to answer without hurting their feelings, they began to smile lightly.

It was reassuring to know that Kyle was not only following his own selfish plans but that he thought of the two of them too.

His plan might not be refined or the best, but that was not necessary because it was certainly true that the entire situation around the Shalivra valley could unexpectedly change for the worse.

After all, the mutation of the Licara flower as a prime example had already caused lots of trouble to Kyle and many others.

Without the flower's mutation, the unexpected Tenux storm had never occurred and he wouldn't have separated from Selene.

Kyle wouldn't have encountered the Razkadan castle, Beatrice would still be imprisoned in it, and Yasmine would have been most probably hunting in her hometown.

However, whether it was a coincidence or fate that brought all of them together, nobody knew, and the two women were just happy about the things that had happened.

They hadn't even thought about the fact that many bad things must have happened to Kyle before he finally met them, let alone the fact that a former slave girl had been separated from her only pillar of support.

In the end, this realization had also been the reason why both Beatrice and Yasmine had become more eager to enter the Lahin kingdom since the day Kyle had revealed everything about him.

Kyle believed that clear communication was the most important to have between comrades, who wanted to go on a very long journey.

As such, he had been giving his best since the beginning.

It was not easy to expose his secrets, but the fact that both had gotten to know about his biggest secret, which was the fact that he was an Old Soul, made it much easier for Kyle.

Still, life was never easy and communicating was just a means to ease the pressure on oneself, share one's doubts, and to think of a proper solution.

Because of that, the group of three had decided to spend at least a few minutes with each other to speak about one's concerns every single day.

Kyle felt that it was similar to a consultation period, but given the fact that he traveled with two women that felt more mysterious than he was, it was a must.

Everyone had their own flaws, and struggled with things they felt hard to tell others, and problems.

Yet, the consultation period was what helped all of them a lot.

It strengthened the bond between them, and allowed everyone to trust each other.

Thus, while speaking for a little bit more about the topic of the Lahin kingdom, and discussing their future plans, they momentarily forgot about the fact that they were currently inside the Sadorla forest.

Forgetting about the war that happened near the center of the forest was something that eased their minds a bit.

The feeling of being at ease was great and it made them addicted to spending a few years without war or trouble around them.

Completing missions occasionally was not considered troublesome, but a war waging between not one but three parties, being actively attacked by others, escaping from somewhere, and the living under the constant threat of death could certainly be considered troublesome.

With that in mind, all three of them were hoping for the best outcome of the war, and that they would soon enter the Lahin kingdom that would accept them readily.

Owing to the high number of Soldiers that had been sent to the Sadorla forest, the Lahin kingdom was not even protected all that well.

Thus, there should be quite a few issues in ensuring the safety of citizens residing inside the kingdom.

This made the adventurers hope that the guildhall would soon release more missions where one was allowed to enter the Lahin kingdom in exchange for completing various types of tasks.

Sometimes it was cheaper to use adventurers for fulfilling certain tasks instead of making use of their own Soldiers, after all.

Not even a single minute had passed while Kyle thought of this when his hopes were shattered.

As if on cue, Kyle was able to sense tremendously strong waves of mixed energy spreading through the air and reaching the garrison.

The temperature in their room was increasing and Kyle lifted his head subconsciously, utilizing a trace of his Nurture ability, only to see numerous hues enveloping a ginormous being.

It was high in the sky, and circling the center of the Sadorla forest, causing him to gulp nervously.

All of a sudden, a thunderous roar reverberated through the entire Sadorla forest, making the walls of the seeming unbreakable garrison shake violently.

It made everybody stop dead in their tracks and place their hands on their ears to block the booming voice as they looked around haplessly, clueless about what was going on.

Yet, at this exact moment Kyle's heart began to beat at a rapid pace as he got up from the bed he had been sitting on, his gaze directed towards the center of the Sadorla forest.

Despite knowing that it would be impossible to see something from such a great distance, Kyle walked towards the window feeling himself incapable of resisting the urge to approach the window.

'Someone is really coming for the Licara flower?'

Initially, he couldn't be sure about what was going to happen.

Yet, the moment Kyle looked out of the window, his eyes widened as he, and the two women who followed him, were able to see an inferno of flames at the exact same spot where he was able to perceive the hues of the being that materialized the flames.

Taking on a shape, the inferno of flames attached themselves to the body of the being that had emerged from high up the sky as Kyle was able to see perceive the hues that tightly enveloped the beast, outlining it.

"A…flying serpent?"