Kenan only had Doco and Dion in the room. Which was Jorun's, but Noctis had asked for the space for a few hours. He sat with the black blade unsheathed on the floor with both Dion and Doco patiently sitting on the bed. Noctis wore nothing more than trousers. Water, medicine, and a pile of food was nearby. Also, he had a stick to bite down on.

Taking souls was one thing, using them was another. From what Nattura taught him, unless you were adding one or two souls to your power, you would always feel pain and be out for the count in the process. As you get stronger, the threshold in which you can add without feeling temporary negative effects becomes greater.

Dion would always be with his master. Doco was there to make sure of a couple of things. Firstly, that no one entered the room, and to make sure Kenan didn’t hurt himself in the process. “I’m doing it.” Kenan announced. He plunged into his mind.

He imagined around his head were thirteen little blue balls revolving around him. The first part was the easiest in terms of pain but the hardest in decision. He had to determine in which direction he wanted to go. Where he needed the most growth. He had four areas to improve with soul power.

The first, The body. Words from the great white dragon played in his head. [“To put someone else's strength into your own is to essentially do every physical exercise they have ever done in mere seconds. You will also gain in fortitude and constitution. In time, your own skin will be hard as scales. Not only that, but your body will be able to take more damage and still be able to function.”]

In his fight with Roshu, it was something Kenan definitely lacked. Without the support of mana he wouldn’t have been able to put a dent into the orcs skin. Not only that, but he wasn’t able to parry without getting injured. Just dodge and deflect.

The second area. The dantian. [“A soul mixed in with your mana will make your spells more powerful. For a short time that is. To fully utilize that power is to push on the sides of your dantian. Make it grow larger. No normal being can do this. We can. The dantian, and the amount of life-force within your body are directly related. The more life-force, the bigger dantian. With each soul you devour, you get more.”]

If it wasn’t for the two time mana infusion he got, he wouldn’t be able to fight. More mana was something he desperately needed. Yet, he felt his dantian had already gotten bigger with the infusion of Rufus’s soul. That in itself begged further questions for the Nattura.

The third place. The mind. [“As you grow more powerful, you will be faster. The battles you take part in will take only seconds. Yet, to the mind, it should be hours of battling. Many times I had seen great warriors lag behind in conscience power. When push comes to shove, they can't make decisions fast enough to save their lives. Not only this, but you will be able to come to better conclusions, have ideas come to you faster and make connections you wouldn’t have before.”]

This area wasn’t lagging behind at all during the fight. Yet he didn’t want it to be blown in the dust. The fact he could probably make spells in the middle of battle quickly, only made adding to his brain more lucrative.

The last. The sword. [“This is somewhat new territory. I didn’t have a bound object when I was alive. What I do know is this. Our connection will become stronger and closer. The sword itself will become denser and sharper. You will be able to use much more mana through it and it will gain new attributes and abilities. As for what they are, I do not know.”]

This category was tempting. For no other reason because of the mystery behind it. Also, he could buff his attack prowess with both his physical power and a stronger weapon.

He swirled the information. It wasn’t long until he came to a conclusion. In his mind, he sent five souls into separate parts of his body. Sent four into the dantian and pushed on the walls. Two traveled through his connection with the sword, and the last was broken around his skull and soaked into his brain.

He awoke from his meditation. Pain erupted in every inch of his being. His skin suddenly had hundreds of cuts before they healed. The muscles he worked so hard for became unbelievably weak as every piece of fiber broke and became shredded. Then they too healed at an unbelievable rate. Bones broke, and were placed into their correct position automatically. Everything kept tearing and healing. Blood spattered everywhere. A yell came out of him as he fell forward. Doco jumped up in preparation. Dion clawed at him. It was the process. As he bled, the blood started to turn into this black muck. Organs had a pressure around them, as they continued to be pressed, they expelled impurities.

Mana churned in his dantian. As it moved it gained more and more force. The power surged and forced itself outwards. The pain was indescribable. It felt like Kenan was going to burst and be torn in half. The dull headache he got from his brain forcefully working faster was nothing compared to the rest.

Eventually he simply lost consciousness. When he woke hours later, he was in a thick, damp cocoon of blood and muck. Everything about his body was raw. “That didn’t look fun.” Doco commented.

Kenan simply groaned in response.