Mama's smile calms me down, and as I look at her body once more, I'm unable to see any fresh blood. It seems any wounds she may have gotten have already closed.

I force my worries back in and smile awkwardly, "Hey Mama, what're you so happy about?"

She starts walking down the stairs, still smiling, "Do I seem any different to you?"

"Uh..."

I try examining her with my soul, but don't really find anything that could be considered 'different'. I then try sensing the qi fluctuations emanating from her, and do find something odd.

"You... seem weaker than before?"

Mama's smile disappears as she stares at me in shock, then she gives an 'ah' and nods her head, "It must be an effect of reaching mid Qi Expulsion."

I nod my head, then immediately realize what she just said.

"Mid... how?! Er, I mean, congratulations Mama, but how? Isn't it supposed to be really hard to progress once you get to Qi Expulsion? Like, you only just reached Qi Expulsion not too long ago."

Mama smiles proudly, "Not long ago, I had reached a bottleneck, one that left me a single step from mid Qi Expulsion. I have been able to progress very little since then. But among the items I received for completing the dungeon, there was a small... sphere? Yes, it was a sphere. And after consuming it, the-"

I interrupt her, "Wait, you just ate it? What if it had been poisonous?"

She shrugs her shoulders, "I felt it was safe to eat, and I trust my instincts."

Her words strike a funny bone, causing me to burst out laughing, "Man, we're going to wind up getting sick if we keep eating random things that we find! Um, anyway, what happened next?"

She laughs, "After that, the sphere started releasing a constant stream of very pure qi that helped me break through my bottleneck. I believe the sphere was one of the spirit medicines that the cultivation manuals spoke of."

"That's awesome. Did you, uh... did there happen to be two of them? Or several?! I think that I'm pretty close to late Qi Manipulation, and one of those would probably help me get there! I'll be one step closer to..."

I see Mama's brows furrow as she looks at the floor, indicating that there's most likely no more spirit medicine.

"You know what, never mind. I'll be fine without any of that stuff. I'm already a lot stronger than I used to be, I'll reach late Qi Manipulation in no time!"

Mama starts walking toward me, "I am sorry. I know how much you wish to be human."

I shake my head, "Come on, don't apologize for that. I could barely even beat the golden golem that was in this room, I doubt I'd be able to defeat anything up there. You totally deserve everything that you got! Um, besides, you..."

Mama keeps getting closer to the Eggshell, finally jumping up near where I am. She then takes a step toward me and bends down to pick me up.

I try backing up, "Seriously Mama, I'm alright!"

She grasps me and lifts up, transferring numerous specks of dried blood to my fur.

She looks me straight in the eyes, "I did not think of you when consuming that spirit medicine, I am sorry. I truly wish for you to be stronger, so that you might better defend yourself, yet I completely disregarded that."

Her sincere gaze and words catch me off guard, leaving me at a loss for words. She then brings me in for a hug, waking me from my daze.

I start struggling, "Ah! Mama, you're getting blood all over me! Hurry and put me down!"

Mama eventually relents and puts me back onto the side of the Eggshell, still looking slightly dejected. Seeing her state, something that might make her feel better pops into my mind.

'She'd probably be less upset if she knew about... should I tell her? I mean, I wasn't really trying to hide it or anything, but now that it's been this long, it's kinda hard to bring it up...'

I decide to put all of the uncertain feelings I have on hold and call out to her, to which Mama just lifts her head and looks at me wordlessly.

"Um, you've probably already noticed that I've been getting stronger really fast."

She nods her head.

'Tough crowd...'

I sigh, "Well, the reason is because I have some sort of ability. Whenever anything dies, I'm able to see stuff coming out of their corpses. I'm pretty sure that the stuff is qi, and every time it appears, the marble on my chest absorbs it. That's why you don't need to worry about the spirit medicine. I mean, we run into so many things that want to kill us, I'm sure I'll be as strong as you in no time!"

Mama smiles and sits down cross-legged, patting her lap. I walk over and climb on top of her, then lie down.

"So that is why you broke through at that time." I hear her mumble.

I nod my head, "Yeah, and now because of all of them," I gesture to the dead people scattered around, "I'm close to breaking through again."

Mama laughs and starts petting me, "You do not mind the blood now?"

I gasp, "Oh, right! What happened up there? Why are you so bloody?"

"The blood was caused largely by a single troublesome golem. There were three in the last room, each with unique weapons. One in particular had short, thin... wires? But they were stiff."

"Sounds like needles. It was attacking you with needles?"

"Yes. Not only were they hard to see, it was difficult to defend against them even if I did see them. They were similar to the weapons Ruth used, in that they could be moved in midair, but only enough to avoid my blocks. Any that wound up piercing me would cause my blood to flow nonstop, and by the time the battle was finished, I looked like this."

I nod my head, "So what weapons did the other two have?"

She thinks for a second, "Well, one had a metal stick with a long chain attached, at the end of which was a metal sphere. The other had a shield, much like the one belonging to the golem you took control of." she pauses, and as I look up to see what's wrong, I see her smirking at me.

As I lay my head back down and huff, she laughs, "But this shield was as tall as the golem wielding it, and the golem wielding it was as tall as the largest ones you have seen."

I look back up at her, "So how did you beat them? Was it hard?"

"It was." she replies seriously, "It was the hardest battle I have fought to this point. You see, to get to the other golems, I had to first destroy the one with the shield, as the others would always hide behind it. Yet its shield would block everything I could dish out, and every time I tried getting behind it, the other two would prevent me. So first, I..."

Mama's story goes on for hours, and she only gets more passionate as it progresses. But it's not boring, and I wind up listening intently the whole time. By the time she finishes though, I find that I'm pretty sick of the scent of blood. After looting the bodies of everyone in the dungeon, we decide to leave.

After exiting the dungeon, the first thing we do is look until we find a creek. After washing off, we gather some wood and pile it up, then Mama lights it, creating a fire that reaches several feet into the air. While sitting beside the fire, Mama suddenly releases an 'oh' sound and holds her hand out, on top of which appears a thin book.

She hands the book to me, "This was from the dungeon. I have not yet read it, but judging by its title, I believe it contains information about the soul."

I look at the cover of the book, where the words "Dual Soul Method" are written. I use my soul to flip open the cover of the book, and find that the first couple pages seem to outline the basic functions of the soul, pretty much all of which I already knew. It seems to be leading up to something bigger, though, so I start getting excited nonetheless.

I'm just about to get to the interesting stuff, when I remember that I haven't thanked Mama yet. I turn my head toward her, and just as I'm about to express my gratitude, I notice that she's staring at me while smiling.

"Haha, what is it, Mama?"

Mama releases an 'ah' and averts her eyes, "I am simply happy that you enjoy it."

I nod my head, "Yeah, it's awesome! I haven't even gotten to the interesting stuff yet, and I've already learned several things that I didn't know before! Thank you, Mama."

Mama smiles broadly, "You are welcome."