Soul Venerable (Re-written)

 

Outside the rampart, Sumire gazed at the fenced area which was jam-packed with kobolds. There are several groups of tribal tents circling large fire pits with an iron pot sizzling with questionable contents. And of course, there are kobold feces and piss piled into a small hill on one corner of the field. 

Considering these kobolds are minor races with limited intelligence regarding public hygiene, having a high level of discipline by not defecating randomly near their own living space is a commendable feat.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen them. My lovely little pets...” For Sumire, these kobolds are her precious enslavement-path battle resources. 

Her connection through Nyx’s Command Seal allowed her to beckons Grem, the kobold clan leader, and few of his closest confidants.

“Shhllllliick….” When the ironscale mutant kobold arrived, he took a knee after saying a few words.

In the untrained ears of humans, the kobold tongue would be like the sound of what lizards would make. They are just hissing or squealing against each other randomly.

Fortunately, Sumire could understand what Grem said, albeit barely. Ever since the kobolds became her property, she has been studying kobold tongue by accessing Nyx’s memory. Although her kobold tongue is not excellent, she could understand a few daily conversations. 

As for speaking it… well, her vocal cord isn’t used to make lizard noises.   

That being the case, the method of communication that she uses isn’t dependent on Shion’s mastery of the kobold tongue. She could transfer telepathic will, which could somehow bypass the language barrier, to communicate. 

Telepathic will can be easily understood, they could not put into words. The true meaning of wills transcends written expression so it can be used to communicate with different species who did not share a common tongue.

Of course, there’s no kobold mage or kobolds who trained their spiritual force in Grem’s clan, so this method of communication is one-way. Fortunately, Nyx completely understands the kobold tongue. He could translate them perfectly, allowing her to achieve assertive communication with her kobold army.

< Master…! > Sumire receives Nyx’s telepathic thoughts transmission which acts like a translator. He even mimics Grem’s level of enthusiasm.

“How was the trip?” Sumire asked caringly. When a master separates from their precious pets, they couldn’t help but worry about the pets’ well-being.

Since bringing an army of kobolds from the Academy to this forward base would be a hassle, Sumire used a delivery service from the Association to get them here safely. 

Enslavement-path cultivators everywhere suffer from this severe weakness at the start of their cultivation journey. Until they reach a point where they own a secret plane or a method to store their pets safely, they will have to mobilize their small army in the material plane. This poses a high amount of risks since they can encounter random powerful beasts or other cultivators who think they are prey. 

Thus, it was understandable why Sumire wanted to refine a large number of soul-type slaves, because they are spectral and can hide themselves in soul gems or her soul directly. She can ignore the physical burden of moving her pets to new locations. To her, this was the best solution to the problem of lacking a secret plane. 

“Ksss sshhhtt tshshhhh…”

< We’ve lost thirteen kobolds due to the an ambush from a group of Smoke Hounds, but the humans with armors took care of them... >  Nyx explained the whole ordeal as Grem narrated the story.

Apparently, the group responsible for the transfer met with an ambush of a Smoke Hound beast group not too far away from the rampart. Smoke Hounds are quite spread in this area since there are several volcanoes in the Fuyuhiro mountain range which serve as their breeding grounds. Although the actual distance is so great, there will always be some beast groups who try to find new places to live.

Still, it was commendable since the hunters successfully protected the kobold with minimal casualty. It was still within Sumire’s bottom line. 

Sumire was lucky because the dead ones are the non-combatants. The elite kobolds who have received hunter training from Nyx are mostly still alive.  

“Please gather up the combatants.” She ordered Grem.

“Schhliiiiiikkkk- Shhhhhh kksssss”

< At once, master. >

Grem left the periphery to call the warriors. Soon, he returned with bone-armored kobolds with pale white bone spears on their hands. The grotesque bone armor was somewhat chipped or cracked due to the lack of maintenance. These are the traces when the kobolds fought against Sumire’s former team, Violet Sword Blaze. 

It can’t be helped, since they are enemies at that time. 

Sumire counted the combatants. Adding up to Grem’s 4 closest confidants, they numbered to exactly 30. 

“This won’t do. We need to have more combatants. At least 50!” Sumire muttered in a low voice. 

Greenskins are made up of various races with relatively the same body type. One of the lowest tier of greenskins are goblins. 

Compared to the physique of untrained goblins, kobolds are roughly at the same level with them. The biggest difference between the two are that goblins have greater endurance so that they can endure more damage, while kobolds are more agile so that they can move faster. 

Since the reward of greenskin culling missions in Azaria Forest has been increased significantly, it means there wouldn’t only be goblins. There should also be Hobgoblin, Orks, or the most dangerous variants, Trolls, being overly active in the forest. 

Just the hobgoblin alone have the same quality as humans of the same level, which means a hobgoblin army can decimate Sumire’s kobold troops. Needless to say, if there’s Orks and Trolls added to the mix, the danger level would be increased significantly. The greenskins racial traits, [Greenskin Mental Network], would have an increased effect the more greenskins gathered in the field. 

“During our trip, we gathered around 54-man worth of souls. After giving Shion roughly 40% of them, we have around 33-man worth of souls. How many command seals can we refine from that, Nyx?” Sumire asked Nyx telepathically.

< Depends on our target. Since Kobolds have weaker souls, it might be enough to refine at least 30 command seals strong enough to restrict kobolds whose soul foundation is lower than 1-man soul if we absolutely make no mistake at all. If we include environmental factor and master’s success rate in refining command seals, I’d predict we can have about 10-15 command seals. > 

Command Seals are in essence, a method of command-path which utilize Soul Contract. The strength of the Command Seal has to be stronger than the soul foundation of the target, otherwise, it’s like using brittle ice to confine a beast.

However, it doesn't mean it's impossible for a weaker person to restrict those that are stronger than the seal. Ultimately, it depends on how strong, how complex, how restrictive, and the skills who refine the Seals are.

If a command seal is a lock, then the ‘strength’ of the contract would determine whether the lock is made out of adamantium or iron. A lockpicker wouldn’ be able to break the lock through brute force if it is sufficiently durable.

The complexity of the contract would determine how complex the locking mechanisms are. The lockbreaker wouldn't be capable of lockpicking the lock without sufficient skill.

The level of restriction of the contract would be like imposing the lockpicker if they wanted to lockpick it. It’s imposing on the lockpier that they can’t use metal pins or mechanical drills, et cetera, to break the lock.

And the skill of the refiner who refined the seals would determine whether it would be efficient or not. It’s like the difference between a master smith and a legendary smith. Even though the materials to create a dagger are the same, the techniques used are different, resulting in different daggers. This ‘difference’ could mean the seals are stronger, more durable, harder to decode, et cetera.

Presently, Sumire possessed 33-man worth of souls harvested from beasts during the trip. They are a mix of crocodile beast souls, dog beast souls, and some other beasts with no human souls at all. 

This wasn’t the best material to work with so she has to compensate for it through other means. For example, she can make the command seals more complex and restrictive like how Nyx made them.

In Nyx’s case, he added a clause of ‘if Nyx dies, those connected through the command seals would die’, which makes the kobolds afraid and at the same time motivated to do his bidding. However, Sumire couldn’t add that level of ‘restriction’ because she isn’t that skilled enough in refining soul contracts.  

If she adds that restriction without the skills to refine them, it’s like how a child would threaten an adult. 

‘I will kill you hurr durr…’ but the adult would dodge the knife that the child used to attack him and he would use the knife to kill that little shit instead. Although this is an oversimplification, it can at least represent the concept.

< Command Seals is a soul contract method in the form of a crest, or in this case, a soul rune array. The rune array must be engraved on the target’s body so that it can take roots on their soul. For you, Master, I think it’s best if you try to refine a 1-man soul strong Command Seal first. It can suppress most kobolds because they are weak. I will help in the process of refinement, there are a lot of soul runes that you need to learn. >

“Tsk, it’s all returned to refinement-path attainment. Can I not be free from the burden of lacking refinement-path attainment...” Sumire lamented her weakness.

< This is why you have to get the Great Archmage Mordred’s minor inheritance, master. I believe it will help in erasing that flaw. >

“Fine then. I’ll take my time learning the Command Seal refinement method from you first before adding more kobold combatants. Oh, you will also have to teach me to refine Lust Crest. If what you said is true, I believe Shion wouldn’t be easily enslaved with lust.”

< Great. I will serve you to the best of my abilities. If I may, master. I believe your servant Alanis might be an excellent method to practice engraving a Lust Crest. >      

Sumire pondered for a moment. “True. We’ll see about it soon.” She dismissed the Kobolds after making some arrangements and returned to the inn.

…

 

After separating with Sumire, Shion’s faction went into the local market. Shion sold most of her harvest from the trip which was worth several hundred mana crystal coins. It was enough for her to buy a few hundred kilograms of uncommon metal and some other materials to refine cheaper bullets for Ayame. 

After all, her combat method is through throwing literal gold in alloy form at her foes.

At n-mach speed.

Considering their enemies would be an endless tide of green with low battle power, most of those materials are going to be refined into explosive or other AoE consumables. 

At the backyard of the inn where their lodging should be. 

“In my previous team, Radiant Desolation, the refinement-path student Klauss Ludwig loved to refine explosives and contraptions like these for me. He reduced my resource expenditure by almost 50%.” Ayame muttered as she watched Shion’s hand move in practiced dexterity that can only be achieved after endless hours of training.   

The mobile furnace might be as small as a coffin, but it was like a swiss army knife which has a lot of components and useful parts. It can be used to refine not only potions, but also explosives and other consumables. It is perfect for combat engineers or combat chemists if they wanted to replenish their consumables in a large-scale battle.

“He used to mutter ‘Kaiserreich engineering is best engineering’ and showed off his artifacts, but after I entered the team and showed him my railgun [Ayame-no-Kaminari Mk.I], he never repeated that sentence.” Ayame keeps muttering what’s on her mind due to the lack of response from Shion.

“Kaiserreich? Is that a country in the Land of Sand and Fire?” Even Kenji, an ‘idiot’ who has muscles for his brain, noticed that Shion was too focused on refining. He took pity on Ayame and tried to be friendly by talking with her. 

Ayame’s eyes seem to gleam in a sense of superiority. “Tsk tsk. You are truly an idiot.” She tried to fake a glare of universal disappointment but her acting is extremely horrible! Kenji is extremely familiar with that type of glare because he was born with it and molded by it. He never saw the glare of approval from his parents even after they were dead. 

“I might as well tell you then. Just as there are the Hartina Kingdom and the Qin Empire in the Land of Autumn Rain, there’s several countries in the Land of Sand and Fire. One of them is the former homeland of Galatreon’s Richthofen Clan, we simply call it the Kasierreich because it’s simpler.” 

‘Ah, I see. Turns out Ayame is an idiot in the things other than what she’s good at. She looks so pretty and cool from a distance, but whenever she opens her mouth, one can see through her idiocy instantly. No wonder the boss is overprotective of her, never allowing other people to speak with anyone.’ Kenji thought to himself as his poker face revealed an expression of enlightenment.

 “Whoa, so cool! I can’t believe Ayame is so smart!” Kenji said, fawning over Ayame.

“Hmm.” Ayame looked at Kenji’s face. “It seems like you are not bad after all. I might be able to tolerate your ugly face.” she said as she had a look of superiority in her face.

Kenji could feel a migraine in his brain and all over his body because his computation cores are pondering whether this girl is acting like an idiot or she truly has brain damage or whether she’s born with a shitty personality to begin with.

“Hehe. Thank you for your acknowledgement. I am happy.” Kenji reveals a fawning smile.

It seems like Kenji has fulfilled her vanity as Ayame slowly becomes fond of him. “Maybe you’re not an idiot after all. Alright, I give you a token of my friendship. Crush this token if you’re in danger. I can support you with a single-attack that could penetrate the defense of a rank 1 [Mage Armor] from afar.” 

Ayame materializes a coin-like token from her [Cloud Storage] and hands it over to Kenji. He accepted with a blank expression as if he didn’t understand what’s happening.

< She wanted to use this moment to give you protection. She’s too prideful to give you through normal means. Be understanding of her personality, she has no friends because of her background.  She’s as old as you, but her heart has been closed off from young. It’s hard for her to make friend for the sake of being friends. > Kenji received a telepathic thought transmission from Shion who should be busy with refining explosives.

Kenji already knew that Shion secretly cultivated spiritual force because she told him in one of their training sessions during their travels, so he wasn’t surprised.

‘I see…’ Kenji thought to himself. He is emotionally more mature than others of the same age because of his broken home, but Ayame experienced a type of ‘bullying’ because of her origin. ‘Maybe, it’s not bad to be friends with her.’

“Thank you missy. I will protect you to the best of my abilities.” 

Ayame revealed a smile, but it was shaky. Inwardly, she was anxious because she didn't know what to do. ‘Aozora, how is his reaction?’ She telepathically asked her AI companion, codenamed Aozora, to determine whether Kenji has an ulterior motive or not.

< Kenji have a strong core body heat, therefore passive observation results could not be relied upon. After we compared his usual vocal tone and body language, he had hidden his true reaction for a few seconds in utter shock as if he did not know what to do. However, the data suggest that he is in fact, did not utter a lie. As for whether he has ulterior motives, we could not determine in a short period of time. We require more foundational data to for analysis. >

‘So is my action correct? Will he accept my token of friendship just like what big sis told me?’

< Operator Murasaki Ayame should do what you please. We have Assistant-Operator Yukikaze Shion as a shield. If you make a mistake, she will fix it for you. >

‘F-fine.’ She stuttered in her own mind, but she was filled with pure childlike joy. “Hmph. It’s not like we’re friends or anything.”

“We can start being friends, if you want. I want to know about Galatreon, if you’re willing to tell me.” Kenji asked. He was truly curious about the Holy Land of refinement-path. 

“W- what do you want to know? I won’t tell you military secrets!” 

Kenji quickly denied. “No no no. I don’t want to know that. Just tell me how’s life in the Extreme South. I am curious about the culture of Galatreon.”

“Oh, okay.” Ayame quickly used a friendly tone. “We don’t use carriages or beasts in my homeland, but maglev cars! They are so easy to use, and thanks to the magnetic rails, they can levitate freely!” She used her omni-gear to show a holographic picture of Galatreon.

“Whoa, amazing!” Kenji’s eyes were shining like a child finding a new toy to play with. “These metal things fly freely?”

“Yes! Because flight is forbidden in galatreon, even for Rank 4 Paragons, you must have a licence to drive a maglev car that allow you to travel quickly.” 

“What’s this metal structure? It’s so tall, how many floors does this have? Also, isn’t the extreme south supposed to be cold? Why can’t I see snow and frost?” 

Ayame reveals a smug expression as she’s proud of what her ancestor had accomplished. Thanks to the nationalistic education that Galatreon’s inhabitant’s received, they all shared this sense of pride.   

“Hehe. These buildings are, believe it or not, can reach up to 100 floors and they are not the tallest! As for why it’s not cold, it’s because of the Dark Radiant Shield System protecting us from the cold! Otherwise, even rank 3 legendaries can be frozen solid if galatreon encounter a Minor Elemental Wave!” She had a look of pride on her face that’s hard to forget.

“OH, I almost forgot the best thing about my vaterland.” Ayame was so energetic as if she was injected with chicken blood. “Because of the boring frozen landscape of the Extreme South, our information-path experts produced the necessary entertainment for us! Look at this, it’s called animation!”

She navigated her omni-gear once more, this time, it produced a holographic screen that showed a continuous animated picture. It looks unreal, but it has a form of art that sufficiently represents reality. “This animation is called… ‘Code Geass’, you have to watch it!” 

In her excitement, she materializes a tablet like the one issued by Hunter Association but it was more advanced than that as it is a digitized artifact. 

“Hmm?” Kenji was overwhelmed by Ayame’s overentusiasm, but he received the tablet.

“I’ve sent you the first and second season. And also, you have to watch ‘Code Geass: Resurrection’ and its spin-offs…” Before Ayame finished her words, her forehead got flicked by Shion’s fingers. 

“Ayame, you are too overbearing. Be nice.” Shion said as she moved some finished bullets into a military crate and stored them into the mobile furnace’s dimensional storage.

“Cough. I’m sorry.” She rubbed the spot where her big sister hit her as she suppressed her enthusiasm. 

“Please, I am interested in animation. Can you tell me more about it…” Kenji didn’t want to make Ayame feel sad.

However, he unknowingly turned Ayame’s chatterbox mode on.