"The gods are masters of souls. Your actions in life are a mirror of your soul, which alters even as it reflects. In death you are drawn to whomever you are most closely aligned with. Heaven and hell are both the same, they are simply the people you spend eternity with. Be who you want to live with forever.”
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Ecer the Wise, Prophet of Otga
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I had been working on the entry cave for longer than I thought. Between my own mana and Exsan’s, we were close to the mana needed for the next level. Since it was just a short time away, now was a good time to meditate. The impact from seeing my soul was not as fresh anymore and I was ready to see it again. Hopefully I would learn more about it in the process. I was not sure what it meant to examine my soul, but I had a strong affinity for soul skills and I would be a fool not to use it.
I settled into myself. I decided to use something other than turning the flow of mana on and off. Exsan was working with it and he might object. For now I focused on the constant flowing of water. The noise of water ranged from the almost inaudible lapping at the edge of a subterranean lake, to the rushing roar of water cascading down in crashing waves before it vanished into the depths. I focused on all the loud noises first. I slowly tuned them out as I progressed to the softer and subtler sounds, tuning out each in turn. I found it easier than it had been before. With the vast area that the dungeon and aura covered I was subjected to far more information than I could process at once. It had unconsciously forced me to learn how to shut parts of my senses down. Now as I shut parts of my perception down intentionally that skill became obvious. Even as I realized this I acknowledged the thought and put it away with all the rest.
Eventually I lost track of the world completely and found myself next to my soul once again. It was not as I remembered it. My ability to perceive it had grown, and from a distance I could see the exterior of my soul as a sphere. I saw the exterior of it all at once. It reminded me of my aura perception.
My soul was as glorious as ever, almost. Its outer shell was constantly shifting, complex, but somehow I felt it had a unifying purpose. However it had scars, flaws. They were spread out in a few places, but they seemed to be healing. And the outer shell of my soul was not completely closed. Beneath, if that word had any meaning here, it was open and part of my essence was exposed. Beneath that was a machine.
That was my first impression. It was regular and moved in impossibly precise geometrical motions. It took me a moment to realize that this was also the shell of a soul. It was folded open to match my own and gleaming threads of its exposed interior were linked with mine. Its shell also bore scars, though they were deeper and more terrible than my own.
I knew examining it that it was Exsan. There was no logical analysis, I could simply feel it, know it. I could feel other things too.
I knew that even this perfect three dimensional view of my soul was a pale imitation of what my soul truly was. It moved in directions and dimensions I was either incapable or not yet ready to see. However, for the moment, seeing the matching scars, I knew that my soul had been wrapped around Exsan’s soul. My soul would eventually have smothered his. I could see what Tam had done. If I had stayed as I was originally, my soul would have strangled his and I would have become the uncontested master.
When I had no longer heard the voice of Exsan in the sewers, it was not Exsan dying. It was me detaching the still fragile connections to Exsan’s soul. I had been a hairsbreadth from death. In truth Exsan was the original owner of this core. However, I initiated the dungeon creation, not him. So the system healed us, and it had compromised.
As I saw and then touched the threads that connected Exsan and I, I could feel what had been done. From my core was drawn threads of memory, skill, all the necessary tools to think and know. This was what had been given to Exsan as recompense, and why he was progressing from mere instincts to thought so quickly. Exsan, by contrast, had threads from all the dungeon’s gifts, abilities, and power. A body had been given to me, and a mind to Exsan.
Our souls were stretching toward each other. Each gradually blossoming open to meet the other. The progress seemed tiny when perceived as a whole, but when I zoomed in it appeared to be moving with lightning speed.
Perception was strange here.
I lost myself for a time, dwelling simply in the pure joy of watching the two very different souls as they went through an ever changing panoply of shapes. It was hypnotic and relaxing. I almost felt like I was meditating inside my meditation. A piece of the universe falling inside itself to explore the universe deep within. Here, as I lost myself, I eventually noticed two tiny threads leading away from our souls. One from me, and one from Exsan.
I touched the thread that lead away from myself first. I felt the feeling of someone else, far away. A man, who seemed almost familiar. There was a sense of identity to the thread, much like how I knew the other soul was Exsan. I could not tell much about it, but when I pressed against the thread I could feel a single concept resonate through me. Debt, honor, obligation.
Confused, I released it. I had no idea what that was about. I could tell that the debt was owed to me, but nothing more than that. Was it some debt from my last life? Honestly there could be past lives even beyond that. Not like it would surprise me. What happened to a soul that wasn’t yanked unceremoniously to some other world and shoved inside a dungeon core? I had no way to be absolutely certain, but I was reasonably sure that was not a normal experience. I did lose myself wondering what it would mean if that was actually a normal experience. Eventually I came to the conclusion that it would mean that whatever god did exist was a colossal dick. Since I preferred to keep my, admittedly limited, sanity, I moved on.
I touched the other thread that linked to Exsan. It had no identity that I could feel. It was instead a more complex series of ideas. It was a series of images. Growth, a crystal growing and glowing. It changed shapes as it continued. Death, embodied by crystal pieces falling through the air. Rebirth, a shard of crystal striking the ground and bouncing back into the air to blossom with light and life once again. This were repeated, the images changing, but the core idea repeating endlessly. This then, represented Exsan’s nature as an immortal soul. I had tried to examine the skill, but it had not responded, since it was not mine. Dungeons could die, but they would always return. The phoenix imagery was more apt than I had realized.
I dwelt for a time in the soulscape and simply enjoyed the peace. I felt a faint pull and allowed myself to be drawn once more toward the world. I allowed myself to drift back to full awareness, even as I lost awareness of my soul. The details faded in my mind. For all the power in seeing my soul, the experience started to fade immediately. Gradually my mind blossomed back into the world and everything became clear and vibrant. Including the small insistent gleam of the notification light. Well that at least explained why I felt drawn back to awareness.
I opened the notification.
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Exsan is attempting to level up.
Total mana required: 120
Current mana totals:
Caden: 49
Exsan: 78
Would you like to level up?
Yes No
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I agreed.
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Your status has changed – Level Up
Status</u>
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
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Mana Diffusion II</u>
Dungeon Control Menu</u>
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Mana Specialist II</u>
Dungeon Progression I</u>
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Quest Reward</u>
Investment Specialist </u>
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