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As I continued the Soul Training with Benladann, I continued to touch her soul with my own.

The moment I did, we felt a strange, mental connection between the two.

It was as if she was now able to talk to me telepathically, the same way I do with my Telepathy Skill.

I expanded my Phantom Body through her soul, as we felt a mystical connection.

"T-This is… strange, Drake…" said Benladann.

"Sorry if it is awkward, let me stop for now," I said.

"No… It is fine, if it is you who is inside me, it's fine," said Benladann.

Eh?! Why did this sound so weird?

This is just souls, why does this girl have to make it sound so strange…

No, stop thinking about this, let's just continue with the soul training.

Cold mind, cold head.

"I see… Anyways, I believe your soul is rather… strange," I said.

"Strange?" asked Benladann curiously.

"Ah… Don't mind it, relax…" I said.

"Okay…" said Benladann obediently.

Indeed, it is strange.

When I touched Benladann's soul, it felt… rather different.

In fact, it felt completely different than mine. It was as if her soul was strangely larger, but wrapped up in itself…

The strangest part is that unlike my soul, which felt icy and tranquil, her soul felt… like slime, it was constantly moving around as I moved my Phantom Body inside of it, and it sometimes entangled itself around my soul and then let me go…

As I put all of my senses into it, I decided to see the entire soul.

I closed my eyes until I felt it, her soul.

Ah…!

What… is this?!

I glanced at Benladann's soul, but instead of what one would think a soul would look like… this… soul was…

Completely pitch black, like an abyss.

It resembled a constant mass of darkness expanding and contracting itself, as several tentacles came out of it only to enter again.

It was slimy and oozy, like… the mold.

As the mold completely assimilated her soul? Or has her soul been like this ever since before this?

How did… this came to be?

Her soul is like the mold itself? But how?

Was her soul different before being given the mold in her past life?

Ah, of course, she wouldn't know but… It only makes it stranger.

There are many mysteries, more than I had expected to find.

Benladann's soul seems to be a completely new enigma altogether.

But if it so big, why did it felt so weak?

Hm…

Wait… I get it.

Benladann doesn't have two souls, no, I was completely wrong.

It was obvious.

The Mold… and her soul, both have different consciousness, but they are the same soul.

The "Evil" thing, that entity that named itself Miranda like her past life is not a separate soul, it is her own soul.

This could explain why Benladann's soul is so big and monstrous, it is the same appearance as the beast that showed up in the mindscape of Benladann…

So, she possesses the same powers and capabilities as the entity trying to suppress her.

This means that… she simply needs to learn how to use this, and how to manage to use her own power against this split consciousness of her own soul to defeat it!

If it were a different soul altogether, it would have been way harder, but if it is her very soul the one containing this two consciousness, then it could be more than possible to destroy it if Benladann becomes dominant enough alongside gaining full control over her own soul!

…But would Benladann want to kill this consciousness?

No, I would need to first ask her that. She had been fine with me suppressing it… But I don't even know if it is a good thing to destroy it somehow.

Wait for a second, wouldn't it damage her soul if she destroys something that belongs to it?

…

Maybe this is way more complicated than I had initially considered.

If she has to destroy her own piece of soul to defeat this split consciousness that represents the Mold's will, then she would be ending up damaging her own soul.

This means…

That her own life is connected with this consciousness, and both cannot separate and destroy each other, only suppress each other to gain control over the body.

How troublesome…

This reminds me of Naruto with the Nine-tailed Fox to an extent… But the Nine-tailed Fox was an actual nice dude at the end, this Mold thing is a complete sicko.

Could it be possible for Benladann to somehow befriend this entity?

If we apply Naruto logic here, perhaps the Mold… just want acceptance and companionship? To feel… I don't know, loved?

Wait, that's way too clumsy, I doubt it would be the truth.

Or is it?

If according to what Benladann said, the Mold itself was made replicating her own mind.

This means that it might carry similar traumas, which ended in twisting its perception and personality into complete insanity…

And now that it seems how Benladann tries to reject her after she realized the things she had done… Perhaps it is trying desperately to receive her attention and love like it once was used to be given in her previous life.

But I believe it was an abusive relationship even since her first life…

Well, it seems that however, I attacked it, it has been suppressed for the time being.

It seems like her soul is okay, it is serene, even though it looks… like this.

Nonetheless, Benladann is a good girl… Even if her soul looks like this, I know she is not like this.

When I attacked this thing with my soul ice, it was destroyed and turned into ashes, but her soul doesn't seem particularly damaged, nor she said anything about feeling any pain.

There could be two options regarding this.

Her soul can easily heal itself and feels no pain when damaged, or that I didn't hurt her at all.

If this thing shows up again, and it gets all aggressive again, I will have to hop inside of Benladann's soul again, so as long as I can keep suppressing it like this, it should be… fine.

But even then, we have to work out some other solution.

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