Chapter 026 (Proofread)

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“ “ for speech.

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Full Thanks to Mecani for proofreading this chapter.

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Jack had convinced the Elder Elven Druid, to let him aid in the fight against the seed of The Blight, but not out of the goodness of his heart to help the druids. He just wanted what the ‘???’ rewards would be. Also he figured, fighting The Blight would give him some favor with Irfit and he was definitely hoping for a few more powerful spells as he was still somewhat miffed about the restrictions of his Spirit Pact.

After convincing the Elder Druid, Guide started instructing him to prepare him for the forthcoming ‘journey’, as he referred to it. It started with a crash course on meditation, of all things. Basically as Guide explained to him, there were two main modes of meditation. One of them was to empty the conscious mind of all thoughts, with the goal being to become ‘the void’.

The second mode was to attune one’s spirit with the greater consciousness of the world, with the goal being to be in harmony with ‘the one’. As Guide explained it, meditating to become ‘the void’ and to harmonize with ‘the one’ had some qualitative difference in the experience itself, even if the end result was largely similar.

While becoming ‘the void’, one would focus on the inner self and master one’s subconscious. This granted the practitioner immense clarity of thought and focus, with the inner self being the basis of it. In comparison, to harmonize with ‘the one’ the practitioner would use his consciousness as a mirror for the unchanging reality of the cosmos. This usually generated a feeling of bliss and clarity in the practitioner.

While to many, the experiences may not seem different at all, the altered state of consciousness achieved followed divergent paths. With hours of practice, Jack slowly realized that his usual mode of meditation was to become ‘the void’. However in the sphere of influence of the druids, he was leaning towards harmonizing with ‘the one’.

With his realization, Guide then instructed him to root himself in one mode of meditation. He explained that to those with high Willpower, becoming ‘the void’ was more natural. In comparison, harmonizing with ‘the one’ was preferred by those with a high faith. However, a certain level of mental discipline was essential to master meditation, regardless of the approach used.

Jack decided to stick with his original style of becoming ‘the void’ to progress his meditation, although the tranquil influence of the druids made harmonizing with ‘the one’ very seductive. He rationalized that he wouldn’t always be in such a tranquil and harmonious environment to practice meditation. He lacked the Faith stat, so perhaps the game was hinting him to focus on a meditation style more conducive to his inner self.

Having decided on the path to master meditation, he was then instructed by Guide to maintain his method of meditation regardless of the environment. Guide had him drink a special concoction, which tasted like sweetened lime juice to Jack. This allowed Guide to judge which path of meditation Jack was practicing. Whenever Guide was engaged, or otherwise asleep, a few other druids would tutor him.

All of them insisted that Jack refer to them as ‘Guide’. In his mind, Jack differentiated them as ‘Guide1’, ‘Guide2’ and ‘Guide3’ depending on their build and voice, as all of them were covered and hooded. It was difficult for him to even estimate their race. During his consolidation of the foundations of meditation he had to log out twice, for lunch and dinner in RL. After a lonely dinner on Saturday night, Jacob logged into Asunder Online using FuDi mode.

Guide2 found him shortly after, then gave him another concoction to drink, and instructed him to continue refining his meditation mode. After several hours of meditating in different locations Guide1, the person who had drugged and kidnapped him initially, was satisfied with his progress and informed him that he would be ready to proceed further.

Jack: “This meditation tutoring has indeed been quite helpful. I had plateaued around halfway through Intermediate, and progress in the skill was extremely slow. While I appreciate the help with my skill growth, what exactly was the purpose of this exercise?”

Guide1: “This exercise is essential for your mental discipline to resist the corruption of The Blight. If your foundations are vague, The Blight will have an easy time invading your psyche with its insidious ways. Anyway, let us proceed.”

Jack: ‘These druids talk about The Blight as if it were a living organism. No point in worrying about it, I just have to eat the infected spirits/souls and get those juicy ‘???’ rewards.’

Guide1 lead him towards the elders, with the circle of treants and the half-elf Guardian combating the blight. He noticed that the dull brown-green lines had progressed a bit further along the guardian’s body. He was provided another concoction by Guide1. After drinking the bitter slurry liquid, he was instructed to sit cross-legged near the elders, getting ready to meditate.

Jack: “So I am ready, what should I do now?”

Guide1: “Gently take hold one hand of each of the un-petrified elders, forming a closed loop. After that, you should start meditating as you practiced. Soon your spirit will be guided and the elders will explain to you how to proceed.”

Jack: ‘That kind of sounds vague. Like the time when the kobold shamans instructed me to meet their father spirit. Oh well, might as get on with it.’

He then followed the instructions, and started meditation. It was somehow, a lot easier to focus and enter his meditative state of mind. After almost an hour of meditation, he heard an ethereal voice.

Ethereal Voice: “Open your eyes Bhikku. We will now instruct you on how to proceed.”

He opened his eyes and it was as if he was transported to another plane. His surroundings were similar, but there were prominent differences. He was in the clearing with the elders, but the guardian in the center of the treants was no longer petrified. He seemed to have his eyes closed and was facing skyward. The dull brown-green lines of the seed of blight seemed to move and shimmer like tentacles on his body.

The treants surrounding the guardian seemed to supply him with green streams of energy. Jack focused his gaze nearby, and he saw two of the druid elders standing. The druid elder in the center seemed to be meditating, but she was no longer a statue. The owner of the ethereal voice was the elven druid elder who had previously addressed him. Jack could see green streams of energy moving from them towards the druid elder meditating in the center.

Jack: “So where exactly am I? And how should I proceed?”

Elven Druid: “That is a not a very easy thing to answer.” *waves her arm around* “This here is a pocket plane, if you will. It is the outer container for the seed of The Blight, being sustained by many of our coven. That is the reason we couldn’t spare any to contact your order.”

Jack: “Outer container? You mean there is another pocket plane, inside this pocket plane?”

Elven Druid: “Yes. How else are we supposed to contain the blight? The Guardian in the inner pocket plane fights The Blight. He slowly erodes the strength of the blight by burning his very soul. When he is close to falling, another Guardian enters this outer pocket plane, ready to take his place.”

Elven Druid: *pauses, a look of sorrow on her face* “In case he fails unexpectedly, One of us will sacrifice our souls to contain the corruption from spreading onto the material plane, while another of our coven takes our place.”

Jack: “You are burning your souls to contain and fight The Blight? Does that mean you are denied reincarnation? How many souls have been burned to contain this seed?”

Elven Druid: “Yes Bhikku, our essence ceases to exist and we exit the cycle of life. It is the price we gladly pay to ease Gaia’s pain. The Gods aren’t happy at this intrusion of ours, but are too cowardly to take any action themselves. Enough of your questions, we will answer them if you are successful in cleansing it. Prepare yourself.”

Jack: “All right. So what should I do?”

Elven Druid: “Get comfortable and hold the hands of our Eldest. Then meditate. We will guide you to the inner pocket plane, where our Eldest will further instruct you.”

Jack took a deep breath, adjusted his posture a bit and held the hands of the ‘Eldest’ Druid. He then attempted to enter a meditative state of mind. Usually it took him around five to ten minutes to enter the peak of the meditative state. However in this outer pocket plane, it took almost two hours to achieve the same level of focus and clarity! After several hours of meditation, he heard a gentle ancient voice.

Ancient Voice: “Welcome Spirit Eater. I commend you to reach this second, no third level of consciousness so soon. It is a praiseworthy act for your first attempt.”

Jack opens his eyes and stands up. Before him is the eldest druid standing in front of a milky barely translucent door. The walls attached to door weren’t stationary. It looked as if the door was carved out of a volatile pulsing screen of energy. Everything had a greenish tint to it.

Near him, he noticed that there was a small monochromatic field, leaching all color. It wasn’t unlike the time he had been confronted by the fire spirits. He seemed to be in a small room with the Eldest Druid, with the pulsing screens of energy trapping them.

Jack: ‘Looks like my Spirit Eating is obvious in the spirit planes. So the outer pocket plane must be more material in nature, since my monochromatic aura didn’t manifest.’

Jack: *frowns* ‘But what is this. I should be feeling ecstatic by passively absorbing the ambient Spirit Energy. But somehow I feel nauseous… as if I am about to vomit.’

Jack: “What is this sickness in the spirit energy? Instead of the being titillated I feel nauseous absorbing it.”

(A/N: titillated means experiencing mild pleasure. The best example I can think of is the mild tingling you feel after a truly satisfying and delicious meal.)

Eldest Druid: “That is just a whiff of the blight you taste. Also you are marked by Irfit… that is interesting and so unlike him.”

Jack: “Why exactly so? Wouldn’t it be in his best interest to keep a Spirit Eater shackled under him?”

Eldest Druid: “He is very passionate. His first instinct would have been to burn that part of your soul; instead he used his power to chain it. You must have offered him something very valuable in trade, because he is a being who seldom ignores his instincts.”

Jack: “He? I thought spirits were genderless entities?”

Eldest Druid: “So you aren’t comfortable discussing the price and are deflecting on semantics? No matter. While it is correct that most true spirits transcend the concept of gender, I prefer to refer to him as a ‘he’ due to his personality.”

Jack: ‘This lady is very scary. She is reading me like an open book. It is best not bullshit with her too much.’

Jack: “Glad we have that out of the way. Now I might have been confident in front of the other elders, but I have no idea how to actually deal with this foul corruption using my Spirit Eating. I mean just passively absorbing a bit of this tainted energy makes me want to vomit.”

The Eldest Druid paused, and started observing him intently. She maintained an ice-cool unreadable mask on her face. But Jack was sure that she was struggling internally with best how to answer his query. After a few minutes of contemplation and silence, she stirred and spoke.

Eldest Druid: “There might be a way, but the chances of success aren’t guaranteed. Even if you succeed, there will be a price you might be unwilling to pay. However, since Irfit has chained your spirit eating, chances are that it will dull the aftereffects significantly. Do you wish to know more?”

Jack: ‘That sounds ominous. Will I regret it? Probably yes. Will I try it out? Definitely. My quest depends on it.’

Jack: “I have come all the way here. I might as well hear your option before deciding.”

Eldest Druid: “Have you ever tried augmenting your Spirit Eating abilities with mana?”

Jack: “No. You can do that?”

Eldest Druid: “Usually, it would be courting insanity and you would go on a frenzied rampage for quite a while, devouring all consciousness you encounter. The feedback from it would usually be too great of a strain to endure unaffected. But Irfit’s aid will help you see through the worst of it. You can use soulfire affinity correct?”

Jack: “Yes. I can also use soul and fire affinities individually.”

Eldest Druid: “How exactly do you shape soulfire spells?”

Jack: “Other than spell granted to me by Irfit, I usually use it like fire in my own spells.”

Eldest Druid: “I see. In certain special circumstances, you can channel soulfire like you would channel soul affinity.”

Jack: “You mean like guide my mana with emotions?”

Eldest Druid: “A crude way to put it, but yes. Now what I am about to suggest is a very perilous exercise, so listen carefully. Whether you go through with it or no, is your decision.”

Eldest Druid: *pauses and observes Jack carefully* “In spirit planes like this, your Spirit Eating abilities are greatly enhanced. You will be able to use them more frequently and with more potency. In fact, you can manifest the abomination your soul is harboring.”

Jack: “Wait a minute. Isn’t that dangerous? I have devoured only a couple of souls, but each time I was very close to losing control. It was a struggle to simply remain conscious during the process.”

Eldest Druid: “That is true. What I am suggesting is to imbue soulfire mana with the most primal of needs, hunger. Then use it to manifest your spirit eater.”

Jack: “Hmm, I get the essence of what you are suggesting. But why do you suggest soulfire and not soul mana? Wouldn’t it be easier to shape soul mana with hunger?”

Eldest Druid: “You infer correctly. But if you go on a rampage with your soul manifested abomination, Irfit will have to spend a lot more power to re-chain you. This will cause a greater backlash for you, and thus the price will be higher. It will also displease him more.”

Jack: ‘Oh great, so by trying this out, I am pissing off Irfit either way? That is definitely not going to end in sunshine and roses. But he has already shackled my Spirit Eater, and I am curious how this ‘manifested abomination’ will turn out. This also looks like the fastest way to complete this trippy quest.’

Jack: ‘I wished, these tree-huggers would burn more souls ASAP and correct their mistake. But nooo… I have to try out crazy shit to complete this quest. The AI surely has a hard-on for me. Bah.’

Jack: “In case I do manifest my ‘abomination’ and proceed to devour The Blight, any things I should keep in mind?”

Eldest Druid: “Even while being devoured, the insidious Blight will attempt to corrupt your soul. While using soulfire should mitigate a lot of it, I suggest you try to keep your soul and mind untouched by its corruption or the price will be greater than you wish to afford.”

Jack: ‘There is hidden significance to her statement. She said to keep my soul and mind untouched or the price will be too great. So I can afford to pay the price and corrupt my body?’

Jack: *frowns, staring at the Eldest Druid* ‘I have been warned by the other elder, that the blight offers power to all it corrupts. If keep my mind/soul untouched and allow it to corrupt my body, what power will I gain, and what will be the price?’

Jack: “Before I make my decision, I want some straight answers to my questions.”

Eldest Druid: *sigh* “Very well. Speak.”

Jack: “If I refuse to devour this corruption, how long will it take to cleanse this Blight? How many souls will be burnt total for this?”

Eldest Druid: “That is a difficult question to answer. My best estimate would be around six to eight months? As for the souls lost, we have already lost six souls to this seed. I reckon a dozen more at least.”

Jack: ‘So the loss these druids face is heavy. No wonder she told me the way to manifest my “abomination”. These druids are truly desperate. Well, the higher their potential losses, the greater should be the rewards offered to me, no?’

Jack: “But the elder outside said, you lost only three guardians?”

Eldest Druid: “And two treants, and another elder.”

Jack: ‘So they count the trees as losses? What else did I expect from tree-hugging nature worshipers?’

Jack: “During the start of this conversation, you mentioned me reaching the second, no third level of consciousness. What did you mean by that correction exactly?”

Eldest Druid: “You are a traveler, are you not? You already delved into an altered state to act on Terra. On top of that you delved two successive times to reach this inner pocket plane. That is what I meant by the third level of consciousness.”

Jack: *scowling* ‘Wait a minute. How aware is this NPC, are all NPCs in general, of the exact situation of the players? I will deal with this question later. For now I must prepare to consume this sickly Blight.’

Jack: “How exactly do you know so much about Spirit Eating? The way you speak about it, it is almost as if you have memories of other Spirit Eaters.”

Eldest Druid: “Indeed. You are not the first Spirit Eater to walk on Terra. As for your questions, I have humored your curiosity far more than courtesy dictates. Now make your decision.”

Jack: “Fine. I agree to manifest my ‘abomination’. The cost of being a bystander while this mess is sorted by your coven is too high. Give me a few minutes to prepare.”

The Eldest Druid gave him a sad knowing smile and nodded. Jack took a deep breath, and meditated. He intended to be prepared before he attempted to manifest his spirit eater abilities. Both Irfit and the Eldest Druid, referred to his spirit eating abilities as an abomination. When he imagined an abomination, the first thing that popped into his mind was a Beholder.

A Beholder was a magical monster common in many RPGs. It was essentially a giant floating eyeball, with multiple tentacles. The Eldest Druid had advised him to manifest his Spirit Eating Skill with soulfire mana associated with hunger. He decided to pay heed to the advice, and imagined his manifested Spirit Eating skill as a beholder, but with a giant soul sucking mouth instead of an eye.

The Abomination had multiple tentacles, each ending in miniature mouths. It would be completely black and white, lacking all color. It would hunger for all nearby spirit energy, no matter how corrupted and drain all color from its surroundings in spirit planes. Five of the large tentacles of the abomination would chain it to his body. One tentacle to each of his limbs, and the last tentacle would be attached to his back.

Jack: ‘Now that is what I would call an abhorrent abomination. Any seeing it should hate and fear it. But all it cares about is satiating its hunger for spirits.’

Jack: *opens his eyes and stands up* “I am ready, Eldest. Open the door.”

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A/N: And another Chapter this weekend. Hope you penguins enjoyed reading it.

However, I will be quite busy this month, so expect one more (perhaps two more in the best case scenario) chapters this month.

I will blend the action filled battles and these descriptive conversations in the fan fiction, along with time skips, as and when required. This provides nice contrast between segments, and gives me additional control over the pacing.

But just for curiosity, I have added a poll. Please do vote in it.

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