Chapter 70: Chosen Path

“Well, that was the only reason I wasn’t sure about that path,” Trint confessed, “If you think I could do it justice I want to see what that path holds for us. System, I choose the Soul King Pathway as my second Anchor and profession, Trint mentally commanded.

Profession Pathway Soul King (Mythic-Unique) accepted, please confirm Anchor placement:

Trint noticed the immediate changes. He was still near the Tree of Life, but it was now surrounded by a giant courtyard full of gardens and seating with room for thousands in its expanse on all sides. There was a wide fortified gate to the outside. Then he focused beyond the courtyard and was shocked at the intricate but sprawling palace. The outer reaches were fortified and surrounded by a river. The same one Pneuma created earlier had been adapted into the new kingly palace and his other additions had been pushed further away but not destroyed.

“Is this the Anchor?” Trint asked the System.

This is a small representation of your Seat of power.

The Kingdom of Life anchor as your Seat will protect your Tree of Life Lineage and all authority afforded you within your Soul and extend it into the physical world.

As a part of your Profession Pathway, it will also allow you to influence and assist those in your Soul’s influence both internally and externally.

The Lineage Anchor acts as a source of power and as a gateway for your power.

The Seat functions as a foundation for your Soul Lineage to support your power and extend its influence to others.

As your only Profession is tied to your Soul you need to develop it through use.

Assistance can be given in establishing and strengthening others’ Anchors, Souls, and many other options will be possible.

Like other Professions, this Pathway can evolve to follow branching Pathways and must be leveled up with effort and application of the Profession.

Please confirm Anchor placement to establish a link to your Seat.

Trint mentally confirmed the placement and felt a connection to the entire palace, its various rooms, defenses, garden, and throne room where a powerful resonance with the throne drew him. He teleported before the throne. Instinctively knowing he needed to sit to finalize and establish his Profession.

Trint considered all that it meant to be a king. He wrestled with the idea. He came from a world of democratic governments and typically dictators who abused power. But could see the reason to rule his Soul and hoped he could use it to help others.

This is my Soul. No one else should have sway over my Soul. If he invited others to this place someday, they would be subject to his authority. That was a given. How it played out he didn’t know but he needed to be sovereign over his Soul. With conviction and reassurance, he sat on the throne.

Seat established Anchor confirmed. Anchor line connection detected with ***ERROR***

The System is unable to retrieve data related to other connections.

“Well, that’s not surprising,” Trint shrugged. “There’s always something I have questions about.” Pneuma appeared in front of Trint and sank to one knee.

“I vow to serve and offer my fealty to you as my king and sovereign,” Pneuma said with complete seriousness.

“Stop that,” Trint rose from the throne. “Aren’t you already a king?”

“Yes, but the kingdom I ruled has long since passed. And my former vows to you still stand. I was partially joking now but the promise was genuine.”

“But we are equals, more than anything,” Trint hoped this didn’t change things.

“Yes, in many ways we are separate but tied tightly together. I go where you go. But I have already sworn to guide and protect you as best I can. Your journey so far in the System has been outside anyone’s expectation but I’m still here for the ride. Let’s finish up here. I’ll explain what I know about Lineage and Seat later. And as great as all this is, we need to figure out how your unique Soul will aid us in battle in the physical world. This is all great internally, but we need to determine if it will do any good outside. If not, then you will need to use your third anchor for that.”

“But we have Spirit unlocked again. Can’t we use that out there?” Trint hoped.

“That will help in many situations, but the magnitude of Soul is many factors greater than Spirit when harnessed well. Those with perfect mastery of Spirit don’t have any power over someone with even initial experience with Soul in combat. Let’s go get Phinry and bring him here, see if he can enter and maybe answer questions or continue in his analysis of your Soul. He might have some battle applications for what you already have here.”

“Sounds like a good plan. Let’s try to exit and reenter together without a time delay then let’s get going,” Trint agreed, and they both left the Soul space. Then they spend the next couple of minutes finding how to simultaneously enter the Soul space. It only took two tries to figure out how to coordinate. They simply asked the System to send them at the same time. And the command executed perfectly. After feeling what the System was doing, they were able to replicate it without System assistance. They then chose to both physically walk out of the caverns rather than with Pneuma inside his Spirit or Soul.

It didn’t take them long to get to the next section of violet crystals and Trint took the gem housing Phinry out and willed it to materialize in his Soul.

They spent about an hour speaking with Phinry inside and as predicted Phinry had some initial thoughts but as a scientist, he was adamant that he be given some time to analyze and test his findings before recommending any plan of action. They couldn’t argue with that but told Phinry about the time dilation. They ran a couple of tests where Trint waiting in the real world to see if Phinry was spending an infinite amount of time inside. While Trint was outside the time flowed at a dilated speed of about 10 to 1. But when he entered some processes were running at 1000 to 1. Pneuma stayed out and set a timer, came in, and got Trint after 1 second in the physical world. And it had been nearly 17 minutes for Trint and Phinry.

“I have no issue with having the dilation give me additional time,” Phinry smiled. “Would you mind giving me someplace to work?” They spent enough time inside with Pneuma outlining parts of a laboratory to Phinry’s specifications while Trint spent time meditating in his new Tree of Life courtyard. Then when the drafting for the lab was done, Trint popped over and finalized the plans into reality.

“Good luck Phinry,” Trint encouraged the Soul scientist.

“What a silly thing to say to a person of science,” Phinry scowled with a lecturing squint behind his glasses. “Does your world not know of science?”

“Yeah, sorry. It is a saying where I come from that means I hope you are successful. I don’t believe in luck either. At least I didn’t. Is luck a stat here for people?”

“That is a great question and often debated but no System confirmation has ever been given,” Phinry informed them and seemed to want to explain more but Pneuma and Trint were ready to go.

“We will have to hear more about that next time we see you,” Pneuma interrupted the incoming lecture. “We will check back in after we get back to the Cease. Who knows what they are thinking after our disappearance a few days ago.”

Saying farewell, they left the Soul Space and started the walk through the caverns. They were planning to play nice with their hosts if they were reasonable. If things went bad, they were ready to do everything they could to escape. Not that they knew if they could but at this point, they were more confident it might be an option.

Walking reverently out of respect for their recent successes in the cavern, they arrived at the transition point from violet to blue crystals. Trint and Pneuma with the return of their Spirit and its sense, already knew that the cavern master, as she called herself when they arrived, was hidden off to the side. Ay’Lin was seemingly in meditation but jumped as they passed the threshold to blue crystals and appeared before them.

“So, you survived?” Ay’Lin smiled. “Many hoped you perished in there. I for one was hopeful. If only so your rotting corpse did begin to stink up my caves. So, tell me what is down there?”

“Not much, just some more crystals,” Trint smirked.

“Don’t patronize me,” Ay’Lin glared with cutting intensity. “I can see you have at least one Anchor. You clearly found something down there. We will debrief your time there later. For now, follow me.”

They followed the trail, passing more and more meditating of the Cease elite disciples. Many of them stopped and followed Ay’Lin toward the Cavern entrance. By the time they arrived at the fortification and the widest part of the entrance, there was a moderate crowd surrounding them. More and more went from whispers to outright demands of what happened to the outsiders. Ay’Lin quieted the growing mob and sent for Ele’Azar. He was one of the few who was not currently in the cavern. He soon arrived.

Ele’Azar’s shock was replaced with relief at seeing his two disciples alive. Trint and Pneuma shared a thought.

He seems genuinely relieved we are back.

“Thank the Cease, you are back!” Ele’Azar exclaimed but did so only when he got close to them. He grabbed them both by the forearm and drug them out from the midst of the surrounding onlookers.

“I don’t think it had anything to do with the Cease, mentor Ele’Azar,” Pneuma challenged.

“Well, it doesn’t matter,” Ele’Azar snipped. “I am just glad to see you. I not only won a bet with Ay’Lin, ever the pessimist she owes me now. I knew you’d return but each day I worried a little more. But back you are and with an Anchor for both of you.”

“What?” Pneuma said. “I don’t have an Anchor yet.”

“Ha!” Ele’Azar burst into a laugh. “Still some things I can teach you. Follow me, this changes things, and you probably want some rest. You look tired Trint. Pneuma, you look the same.”

“Thanks a lot,” Trint mockingly complained. “Everyone likes hearing they look tired. Might as well say I look old.”

“Stop complaining,” Ele’Azar chastised.

They walked back to the training compound in relative silence. Trint trying to sense with his Soul like he was able with his Spirit. No fruit came from his effort during the walk. Pneuma spent time trying to discover how he had an Anchor. He was able to jump into his and Trint’s Soul directly from his own separate body, but he arrived in the stratosphere as they had decided to call it, or in his own Soul space. He could still enter Trint’s part of the Soul, but time wasn’t as slowed when he crossed over the invisible barrier between them. Only when he was in his own Soul Space of darkness, was the time nearly stopped. When he crossed over the dilation seemed to be 1000 to 1. Something to figure out later but at least now he could jump back and forth in between each step as they walked. He started to consider the control they both had in their respective Souls and what might be possible with their unique connection.