“My power?” Lexar is taken by surprise when Makoto mentions him in the conversation about their souls.

Makoto nods at his word “You may not know it, but your power is greater than you imagine. I had theorized that your power may be connected to awakening the people’s inner self or desire. However, I was proven wrong, your power not only can modify a person’s soul, but also connect that soul to an entire different universe. That’s where the source of our power is.

And more importantly, it’s not some random universe, but one belonging to another person that has some kind of bond with us. That’s why our other selves can both be us, yet different from us in many ways.”

“So what you mean is …?” Yuuko is confused.

“There is one scenario I can think of that fits our situation. Our souls are connected to a differentself in a different world, which explains how they are us yet also not us.” Makoto answers.

“But how is that possible? How can there be two of me in two different worlds not related to each other?”

“To be honest, I am also not sure what I am saying is correct. What I am doing is like connecting the separate puzzle pieces into a picture. Whether the picture is correct or not is unknown, but at least we can learn something from it.

Back to the topic, let us propose for example, the butterfly effect is real and creates multiple worlds parallel with ours, all branching from a single event in history. What do you think what would have happened if Lexar had not been there at that school?

For simplicity, I shall assume two cases: one where we survive without any power and one where we survive with a different power. So starting from this event, we have two Makotos and they are definitely the same person. However, because of undergoing different circumstances, their lives will be completely different as well their personalities and power.”

Yuuko nods, showing her understanding the topic “I see. So the me in this sword is actually from a different world, and she had definitely been here before. That’s why I have this language skill and this nostalgic feeling when we first came here, and it’s also probably the reason why we were moved here when my sword shone during the explosion.

But I still don’t understand. What is the universe that connects with our soul? There is basically nothing there.” Yuuko asks.

“About that, I don’t know much but there is something there. It’s just that we can’t figure it out at the moment.” Makoto assures “It is what my hunch told me.”

“Sorry, even though it is my power, I do not know anything about it at all. I cannot even go to my own soul world to get a look at it.” The cat ears hang down.

“It’s ok, Lexar. You have already done a lot for us with your support skill. By the way, we have strayed a lot from the original topic. Let’s resume on the level 0.5 subject.” Makoto claps her hands after she pats the cat.

“Let us start from how a life is born in this world. I will skip the biological aspect and go straight to the main point.As you know already, a life is composed of two parts: the soul and the body. In this RPG world, both components have the program inside them, however the content of the program in each component is different.

During the initial stage of life, the body, or the embryo, is created from the flesh of the mother and a portion of the bit from her as well. At this stage, it is still not considered as a complete life yet, because in that embryo, there is no consciousness inside, no thinking, no soul. Tt is basically an empty shell, created by the mother. So where does the soul come from? The answer is from the system.” Makoto channels the positive power in the “soul” in her hand.

The white string starts coming off and disappearing little by little. When all the tangled strings are gone, the remaining is a tiny black seed as small as a watermelon seed.

Seed of soul

The core of soul of all living being. Implanted in the living creature, it will grow into soul for that creature.

“This is …” Lexar is stunned at the sudden table.

“When the shell is more than 50% completed, the system sends this thing inside and lets it develop into the soul of that life. Depending on the structure of that body, it will develop into the soul with the suitable structure of that race. This is the identity of all the creatures in this world.” Makoto says.

“So this is why you keep saying how we and the human of this world are not the same species. Because the core of their soul is the same as every creature in this world.” Lexar says with amazement “But I have a problem. A soul is a complicated structure, and it must be vital in this world’s structure. How can you know so much about it so early?” Lexar asks.

The knowledge about soul in this world must be only known recently, after Makoto killed that goblin rider pack’s leader. It is impossible for Makoto to get strong to the point of getting access to the information about the soul with that amount of exp.

“You may not believe it, but the information of the soul in this world is quite low, low to the point that it is just slightly more protected than the exp.” Makoto also says in disbelief.

“I guess there is no point in me saying, but I must say it. You girls absolutely have to be careful in this world, especially with anything related to undead, soul, or cultivators. If the information about the soul is only low level, perhaps the power of this world may be quite developed in soul manipulation. I don’t know how soul related stuffs work like , but anything related with them is a very dangerous topic.

If you are going to meet the native citizens of this world, you must absolutely keep this a secret too, either they know about it or not. You girls definitely don’t want to be noticed or assassinated with high priority. Especially you, Makoto, do not perform any of those soul cracking techniques anymore, you do not know whether there are people watching you in the dark.” Lexar severely warns.

“Un, I will take that to heart.” Makoto strongly nods.

“I can see how different between us and the humans in this world. However so, I still don’t get what makes you feel so differentiated from them.” Yuuko says.

“I don’t know how to describe this feeling, but it feels like to me, they are lacking certain things that make them a living being. You know, like the characters in games or stories, even if they have their own lives and characters, even if they are human, your mind always tells you that they are not real. It’s the same feeling with me here.” Makoto honestly says.

“You have changed. You have changed a lot, Makoto. I almost could not believe that you are the Makoto Tachibana that I have ever known.” Yuuko says with agitated expression.

“And so as you, Yuuko. You have become more talkative, more open to everyone, and willing to speak out what your belief is. I prefer the current you to the old one.” Makoto says “We have changed, Yuuko. The impact of the different us has changed our personality. Even if we can accept it naturally, it is still undeniable that we change quite abruptly. Even in our attitude toward things and life.”

Yuuko stays silent at her friend’s words. Makoto is right, even she herself has changed a lot too. However, she thinks it is a good change, as it helps her think many more things more clearly, clearing the doubts that she once had in the past, and be more open. She thinks that it will be a good change to Makoto, too. And it is really so, the change makes Makoto a smarter person.

However, it also makes Makoto kind of a cold person. To be precise, she is more calculating before. Every of her action has a meaning or purpose behind it. To the other people, the discussion about the soul of this world seems like an exchange of important information between friends. However, Yuuko can feel a hidden intention from Makoto. She is planning something big with that knowledge.

She does not want to believe it, but Makoto probably also hides some information away, information that may be useless to share with everyone. Such information may be the reason why Makoto feels a differentiation from the people in this world.

Seeing how awkward the mood is, Lexar changes the conversation “That’s enough for complicated stuff. What should we do the next day?”

“Judging from the memory, the nearest village was already devastated by the goblin army three days ago. There may be survivors there or people from other places coming for investigation and rescue. We shall head there for information gathering. Yuuko, I am counting on you.”

“Un, no problem, I will try my best.” Yuuko nods.

“Then we will join with the goblin subjugation army from the human to attack the goblin nest.” Makoto continues.

Yuuko widens her eyes at Makoto’s word. “The continuous raids on the human villages definitely will attract the attention from the human kingdom. Information about goblin king is probably known to them already too. With the existence of a new goblin king, the kingdom definitely will send an army to deal with it. This is our chance to join the rescue and gather information at the same time.” Makoto explains her plan.

“I see. Thank you Makoto, for thinking about my selfish request.” Yuuko bows.

“Don’t worry about it. I was probably scared of the goblin army from the view point of that goblin. Now that I think about it, the human army must not be so weak against the goblin. Otherwise, the goblin would be a major force in this world already. With the support from the army, we can rescue the captured women.” Makoto says.

“But it is probably too late by that time already.” Yuuko mutters.

“Un, it can’t be helped. Even right now, it is already late enough.” Makoto sadly admits.

“Don’t take it too personal, you girls. Sometimes there are things that can’t be helped. We should be glad that we even have chance to rescue them, instead of leaving them with that cruel fate until they die.” Lexar consoles them “Anyway, let’s take a rest today, especially you, Makoto. Stop thinking anymore and go to sleep. You have been overworking your brain non-stop, even though you are supposed to rest.”

“Sorry about that. It’s just there are so many things for me to think.” Makoto rubs Lexar’s head while saying so.

“I told you before. You don’t have to burden everything by yourself. You should share your trouble with everyone, we are in the same boat together.”

“Ok, ok, I get it. I will sleep right now, okay? Good night.” Makoto immediately lies down on a leaf blanket near the camp.

“Un, good night.” Yuuko also goes to sleep.

“Good night, girls. Whoa!” Lexar is suddenly pulled over as he walks away.

“I cannot sleep well without a hugging pillow. It’s time to fulfill your duty as a pet.” Makoto hugs him tightly.

“Wait a minute. What are you doing? …. Huh?” The cat struggles but then stops.

“zzzzz…” Makoto snores quietly.

“She must have been quite tired. Guess I have to play my role well.” Lexar cuddles and offers his body for his master to use as pillow.