Spirit Soul

Kyle lost count of how often Selene had thanked him in the last few minutes.

Despite that, she didn't seem to show signs of wanting to stop at all.

As such, he could only avert his attention to Gaby to see how she was faring.

He noticed that she had already stored the Blood owl's corpse in one of the three spatial rings.

Standing up, he walked towards her while holding out his hand that gleamed in a faint milky hue.

He hadn't noticed this earlier, but Kyle was not concerned about the sudden change at all.

However, Gaby had noticed this yet she didn't flinch this time.

She stayed where she was, unmoving and like a statue when Kyle's hand approached her face.

Gaby knew what was about to happen and she was more than eager to let him work his miraculous ability.

Now, Kyle could easily use his Nurture ability to tend to Gaby's injury.

He had accumulated energy worth three times what she had received in each of the earlier fights.

Owing to that, he was able to continue keeping certain facts about his ability a secret, such as the exact efficiency of his ability.

Gaby only knew that a single beast at the Vitae stage was equal to a total of three large beast packs at the peak Fortification stage!

With the rest, Kyle nurtured his Spirit Soul's mutation path that progressed at a rapid speed.

All in all, it had been a fruitful day so far.

They had spent less than four hours in the forest, and Selene had already been completely healed.

Kyle's highest prioritized task had already been fulfilled and his Spirit Soul's nurturement was next!

It was still morning because they had headed out as early as possible.

Kyle had a wide grin on his face to see the accomplishments because they had yet to truly start hunting!

He might have an old soul owing to his first life, but nearly everything about the cultivation world was new.

It was the first time Kyle could cultivate, be it his old life or after his reincarnation.

As such, he simply ignored the fact about his soul's age!

To heal Gaby's injury in its entirety, a ginormous amount of energy was required.

Kyle was aware that even tens of Vitae stage souls might not be enough to attain such a feat.

The former guard captain was at the late Vitae stage.

Still, she had been unable to heal herself after all!

As such, the injury was severe and Kyle was merely at the initial rank of the Fortification stage too.

Gaby was well aware of this, so she didn't expect to be fully healed today.

She even assumed that it would take a few weeks if she were lucky.

Considering that, she expected Kyle to ask her for a few more favors.

'He got me hooked quite well…' Sighing, Gaby could only think that Kyle was far from the innocent-looking guy she assumed him to be. But, he seemed to be a little bit impatient. And, she had inferred this based on his research.

The initial information he had shared was well researched.

But his knowledge about the Blood owl had been shallow.

Hence, she believed that his knowledge about the beasts inside the Sadorla forest might not be up to the mark.

'Maybe he is not from here? But if that were to be the case, his weak cultivation base wouldn't make sense…'

Kyle was a mystery, but Gaby decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

After all, he had helped her in exchange for a single favor that was not even worth mentioning.

There was no need to think bad of the young man, and he seemed to be trustworthy.

Had he been corrupt or deceitful, the Lohar next to him wouldn't cling to him like that.

Not only was Selene free of enslavement, but Kyle treated her as an equal.

He seemed to treat her like a good friend, if not a member of his family.

Somehow, Gaby felt melancholic while looking at the two young adventurers because they made her recall her own family.

Sighing deeply, she clenched her fists as she reminded herself of her goal.

Her resolve to find out the truth of what had occurred three years ago became only firmer.

She decided to give her best during the entire day and kill as many beasts as possible.

After all, Gaby didn't want Kyle to request others to join them in hunting with them.

This would make her replaceable which she didn't want, not for now at least.

However, when Kyle turned around in order to walk in the direction of the closest beast group, Gaby had to intervene.

By clearing her throat loudly, she added before Kyle could go any further.

"You might not know about it, but we are not supposed to hunt too many beasts at the Vitae stage. At least not around the village.

Every Vitae stage beast has its small territory all around here, and they regulate the population of beasts at the Fortification stage to a certain degree.

Furthermore, every defeated beast at the Vitae stage opens the territory for the adjacent beasts.

Thus fights might break out among such beasts to claim the free territory.

I think you can imagine the chaos that might emerge if too many beasts at the Vitae stage fight against each other. I also don't need to tell you that the commotion might alert even worse opponents…"

Kyle listened to Gaby's words intently and they made sense to him.

Certain beasts were overpopulating the surrounding areas. But thankfully, it was not really to an alarming extent.

Now that he heard her, he realized that he hadn't really given this fact a thought.

Her words made him second-guess his decision of hunting a few beasts at the Vitae stage.

He truly hadn't expected that to be the case!

'Will hunting a few beasts at the Vitae stage already be enough to endanger the peace around the town? Will I be the reason to throw everything off balance?'

The subject of territories was important for all of this.

It was something that he hadn't really bothered about in his past life, at least not for beasts at the Vitae stage.

For a non-cultivator like him, even beasts at the Fortification stage were extremely strong in his first life.

On the other hand, the first two cultivation stages were nothing to be afraid of for strong cultivators.

Thus, beasts at the Vitae stage didn't randomly choose a habitat!

'To think that even beasts at the Vitae stage can claim territory now… the Sadorla forest is truly a place for beginners!'

Kyle smiled lightly, glad about the destination he had chosen for his reincarnation. With a faint smile, he nodded his head to Gaby.

"If you know a place with many beasts at the Vitae stage, let me know. If we can hunt them without endangering the village, we should go there instead."

Even though Kyl had done his research, it mostly involved areas around Vila town.

As such, he didn't really know where more sole Vitae stage beasts could be found.

Neither he had any idea of the area where they could hunt groups with a beast at the Vitae stage as their leader.

"I know a few areas, I'm a receptionist at the Guild after all. By the way, for your ability to activate...is it important to kill a stronger beast first in order to determine the charging degree? Or is there a different requirement?"

When Kyle heard this, he didn't answer her immediately.

He simply looked at Gaby for a moment, only to realize that she was trying to orient herself.

Only a few moments later, she started to walk in a specific direction, while saying,

"If you don't answer, that's fine too, but I don't really want to waste too much of our time.

If I know which beast I have to kill first, last, or know that it doesn't even matter, I can optimize my strategy to attack groups of beasts.

Both of us want to reap as many benefits as possible, right?"

Her doubt was logical, but the last sentence gave him the chills, even if he was not sure why.

Nevertheless, Kyle remained calm, only to grasp Selene's arm before pulling her up on her feet.

She had been crying for quite some time, but it was time for them to leave now.

As such he dragged her behind him while following Gaby.

"If possible, kill the strongest beast as late as you can...well, without endangering anyone…"

Explaining the basics was fine and there was no use for Gaby if she were to figure out more either.

Despite this, he simply summarized how Gaby must have perceived everything.

'It's quite obvious that she was able to comprehend the reason I wanted to hunt with her.

She saw me healing Selene before I focused on her after all!'

In the end, he decided to ignore this and use the remaining time they had to maximize their benefits.

As such for the next two hours, Gaby paved a way through the Sadorla forest before she halted her steps.

They were right in front of a small part of the forest that was much denser than the rest.

Lush and green bushes along with various kinds of small and large trees could be seen all around them.

The mana currents were also slightly thicker in this area.

This made Kyle even more interested in the region they were just about to enter.

However, seeing that Gaby halted in her tracks, meant that it was a slightly more dangerous area.

Owing to her hesitation, Kyle assumed that there might be beasts at the peak Vitae stage.

Maybe there was even a beast at the Krysal stage that reigned over a larger territory, but that was just his speculation.

If Gaby planned to enter the region in front of them with him and Selene, she must be confident of herself.

She might be fairly certain that she could defeat the beasts inside that area while protecting them both.

Otherwise, she wouldn't dare to even think about entering the narrow forest, much less while being partially blind!

The former guard captain wouldn't be that reckless!

However, only a moment later, Kyle's belief was shattered as Gaby informed them.

"We will enter the territory of a hibernating beast at the Krysal stage, so be careful. There are many lone beasts at the Vitae stage because of the dense mana in the surrounding area!"

Kyle's jaw dropped to the ground, not believing his ears as he looked at Gaby dumbfoundedly.

'Did I misjudge her?'

Gaby noticed his expression and just shrugged her shoulders while smiling confidently,

"It's hibernating, and we will only stay in the outskirts. Don't worry, I'll protect you two!"

Despite her words, Kyle could only close his mouth before he lamented inwardly.

'Protected by an almost blind person at the late Vitae stage...while being in the territory of a Krysal stage beast...how reassuring..'

**

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