Chapter 226 – A New Experience

“Hmm… so, the golden bird is a type of an avatar. That’s why I’m able to manipulate its shape while in my human form as it’s not really a physical entity.”

Calron frowned, turning to the next page. The more he read about the shape-shifting ability, the more confused he became.

After a day had passed since he asked the Patriarch for a book on their clan’s shape-shifting, a clansman had arrived before Calron and handed him a surprisingly thin book. Calron expected multiple books or at least one reasonably thick one, but was instead given a book with barely fifty pages.

As for the city’s construction, everything was progressing smoothly with hundreds of homes already built for the ex-slaves. If not for the Raizel clan’s experts helping in, it would have taken a lot longer. Furthermore, the Elders had teleported the old Raizel mansion from Selior city to their current location. Seeing a massive estate suddenly appear out of thin air certainly freaked out the ex-slaves. Soon, the rest of the buildings, villas, courtyard, etc. were all moved one after another.

Calron moved into his old hut once the mansion appeared, along with Roran, Ellie, and Rebran having their own rooms inside the mansion. Calron preferred the tranquility the small hut provided, so he simply chose to remain there.

“… when you will it, the beast’s exoskeleton will merge with your body, allowing you to shape-shift into the golden bird.”

He read aloud, stopping in the middle.

Is that why when I morphed into my beast form, my wings and claws were not affected by my crippled hand?

Calron mused, stunned at the new piece of information he found.

If my body doesn’t influence the beast form, is it my mind then?

He felt like he’d stumbled upon something vital.

Calron continued to flip the pages until he landed on the subject he wanted. The topic of partial shape-shifting.

From what he read, partial shape-shifting was a technique developed by the first original members of the Raizel clan who later established the clan itself. The book stated that one the Elders preferred fighting on the ground in lieu of air, and so he experimented with the shape-shifting ability to see if he could morph only a part of his arm. After merely a couple tries, the Elder was successful in transforming his arm into a golden-scaled claw.

It didn’t take long for the rest of the members to emulate him; however, some found out that they were unable to partially shape-shift. It was not a matter of their cultivation level as some weaker members of the clan were able to partially transform their limbs while a few of the strongest Elders were unable to do so.

“It wasn’t about their cultivation or how much essence they had. They were able to partially shape-shift because of their mental aptitude.”

Calron’s conjecture about shape-shifting relying on the person’s mind solidified even more.

“There’s nothing else after this page. This book was sort of useless.”

Calron muttered, closing the book and throwing it on his bed. He did learn a bit more background information about the shape-shifting ability, but it seemed very lacking compared to what Calron expected. He had a strange feeling that the Patriarch purposefully didn’t give him a relevant book. As to why, he couldn’t fathom.

“I don’t know how else to train my mind besides using the Divine Perception or maybe the soul power.”

Calron sighed and settled himself on the mat. With all the construction going on outside, it was the best time to cultivate peacefully in his hut.

However, something was bugging Calron at the back of his mind. Thinking about the Divine Perception, Calron remembered that once he broke through into the Saint stage, that ability had gotten a lot easier to use and put much less strain on his mind than before. The only significant change from the Vajra to the Saint stage was soul power.

Could training the soul power be the same as training my mind?

If his theory was correct, by training his soul power, Calron would be able to utilize the new ability of the Divine Perception he’d been practicing, while also train his partial shape-shifting until he could create a new left arm.

Shutting his eyelids, Calron focused on his soul and sent his consciousness into it. Just like the first time he used the soul power, Calron willed it outside his physical body and floated above the hut. He didn’t have a form, so no one could detect or see him unless they were Saint experts themselves.

Flying over the Raizel mansion, Calron arrived at the location where countless ex-slaves were busy with construction work. Daren had found several ex-slaves who had previous experience with architecture and assigned them to lead the rest of the people.

“Ah, it’s you, Calron. I sensed a new soul presence within the area and thought it was an enemy spy.”

A familiar voice echoed around Calron. He couldn’t see the figure, but he knew the voice belonged to Drien. Eva and Vala’s group leader.

“Hey, Drien. I’m just training my soul power and figuring out how it works.”

Calron voiced his thoughts, hoping it was the correct method to communicate while in soul form.

“No problem, go on ahead. I would give some advice, but I have I’m on guard duty and can’t compromise my vigilance. Just make sure you don’t go too far away from your physical body, especially if you’re still new to controlling soul power. Good luck!”

With a chuckle, Drien’s presence vanished near Calron.

Flying down to the ex-slaves on the ground, Calron observed what they were doing. He didn’t know precisely how to train his soul power, so Calron figured he'd just get used to being in soul form until he asked the Patriarch or Uncle Kail about soul power.

Spreading his consciousness as far as he could, Calron tried to feel everything around him. The sounds of hammers, footsteps on the dirt, the shouting and chattering, and even the sensation of the wind. Delving even further, Calron focused on the people’s heartbeats, felt the soreness of their muscles after working all day, and the sweat rolling down their backs.

It was a feeling unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. He was one of them, but also all of them at the same time.

Moving away from the humans, Calron shifted his attention to the small creatures, the insects buzzing around and the birds chirping in the sky. Flying further ahead, Calron located a lone ant in the process of carrying a large chunk of breadcrumb on its head. Well, large compared to its relatively tiny size.

Something was intriguing about this ant that piqued Calron’s interest.

Scurrying in a zig-zag path, the ant busily moved ahead, its minuscule legs speedily pattering on the dirt. Before with the humans, Calron had been too nervous to get close to them, fearing what would happen if his soul got close to their own, but he wanted to try something with this ant.

Floating above the moving ant, Calron tried to envelop his soul around the ant. Immediately, Calron felt his own identity slipping away, and a series of foreign thoughts infiltrating his mind.

He needed to hurry up before any predators found him. He was separated from the rest of his kin, but it was alright as he knew where the queen was. Move faster. Don’t drop the food. Food is for the queen. Quick, turn right.

The ant had no complexity to its mind and was filled with plain and primal thoughts. Calron felt the urge to hurry up, so he forced his set of legs to move even faster. He could sense a predator nearby. Calron knew he would die if the predator managed to catch him.

In the next moment, he felt a slight tremor in the ground, which steadily grew stronger and stronger. The predator was almost upon him. Forcing his legs to sprint, Calron continued to carry the food while in a state of panic. He could see the shadow of the larger bug in front of him.

He was too slow.

And then the bug leapt over him and caught him in its mouth.

*crunch*

A wave of pain and agony swept over Calron’s mind, and a cloud of darkness began to take over his vision.

“That’s enough, child. You’ve gone too far.”

An aged voice broke Calron out of his trance, as he felt someone almost physically clamp down on his soul and force it out of the ant.

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