– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 219, Season of the Setting Sun, Day 40 –

"Okay, then try this one," said Samuel, and he handed over a monster core.

Terry nodded. Under the dumbstruck gazes of his friends, family, and allies, his mana combined with the core to summon a creature he had never seen.

The mana-corrupted tiger roared. Its fur was covered in steely spikes and it was about to lash out before it was disintegrated by a rainbow-colored spell from Samuel.

"Interesting," muttered Samuel pensively. "This confirms that you don't have to know the beast for it to work."

"Interesting? Crazy, I'd say," muttered Jorg. He had been half-asleep when he had heard the ruckus and joined his uncle's investigation into Terry's strange ability. Fortunately, their own deployment would start later than Terry's and Matteo's. They still had plenty of time to rest before they had to join the raids around the battlefield of the Elemental and the Martial Tower.

"Absolutely batshit bonkers," agreed Miguel. He patted the hand of Lori, who was sitting next to him while biting her lips from worry.

"Worrying is what it is," growled Isille. She stood up and demanded: "What does this mean, Whaka Samuel?!"

Samuel moved his fingers, and with a flare of mana, the tough skin and fur of the new corpse parted to expose a core. "Another confirmation."

Terry knew it would be there, because he had felt it. The creature had manifested with a core instead of without one, which confirmed another part of the pattern.

"I've never heard of anything like this before," said Samuel with an apologetic shrug. "But we've clearly established a pattern." He looked at Terry.

"It doesn't work on dungeon construct cores," said Terry. All his attempts to reconstitute an earthen warrior had failed, no matter how many of his cores he had tried.

"It doesn't work on unlife," clarified Samuel. "All the monster cores worked, with one key difference."

"This is freaky," mumbled Siling. "Why would there even be a difference between the cores in soulsight? I mean, I knew that dungeon-assimilated and dungeon-native beasts have souls, but I didn't know that they could linger in the monster core."

Terry furrowed his brow. Whenever he forced his mana in a specific pattern into a core that stood out in his soulsight, a creature would emerge and would do so with a monster core. After the creature's death, the core remained in the corpse, but the soul dissipated and no purple glow remained.

Terry could reconstitute a creature from a core without a soul, but then the core was used up in the process. The summoned creature was then core-less.

"It doesn't linger exactly," refuted Samuel while his fingers were tracing the locations where his burn scars used to be. "At least not according to current theories. I've never researched this aspect myself, but from what I've come across at the edges, I understand that cores in perfect condition can sometimes display a layer of soul."

"How is this different?" asked Terry in a detached tone. He was still unable to wrap his head around everything, which was why he tried to let his inner Academy Student take over. This was neither the time for him to freak out nor to ponder extensively on what this could all mean. In less than two hours, he and Ying were supposed to infiltrate the Lich Kingdoms.

"'Lingering' would imply that it is the original soul of the deceased beast," said Samuel. "And you would expect the purple layer to be present from the moment the core is dropped. Without delay."

Samuel shook his head. "But there have been observations with delay, and also experiments with soul catching." He glanced at Siling, and then at Ying, who was standing silently in a corner. "Leaving no soul to linger in a perfect core, and yet, a layer of soul appeared with delay according to a few records."

"Crazy," repeated Jorg.

"How can he do that?" asked Bjorln. He had been quiet throughout most of the summoning, but now that the investigation was reaching an end, he couldn't help but voice his worries for his son. "How is this possible? Is it dangerous? Could it damage Whaka Terry?"

"I don't know," admitted Samuel. "But I think it's reasonably safe to say he couldn't do that in the past, which makes the timing probably parallel to the change in his soul."

"Soul eater." Siyu's solemn voice reverberated in the room. "I can feel it."

"Feel what exactly?" growled Lori. She didn't like her brother being addressed as some kind of monster, especially not from a former duchess that had led an invasion.

Elena placed a palm on Lori's shoulder and whispered. "Easy there."

"His soul feels like a predator," explained Siyu. "Like a threat that could extinguish my existence."

"And do we feel different?" asked Tiana.

"Good question," said Miguel. "Plenty of things can extinguish an existence. Plenty of people here can do that. In fact, I've seen them do so."

"Perhaps not like this," muttered Terry.

"What do you mean?" asked Tiana.

Terry remembered the first time that Rafael had told him he was soulless. The felan had stressed that missing a soul is no big deal – a lesser worry than missing a tail – and he had listed some advantages and disadvantages of having a soul.

Terry had already seen both advantages and disadvantages playing out in practice. In the Proving Grounds, he saw people being enthralled by a soul-based illusion technique. An attack that hadn't affected him because of his lack of a soul.

In the folded space, Terry had seen the upside of having a soul as long as it was properly utilized. "I mean that I know a person that survived the death of their body and they did so by relying on their soul. Threats to the soul differ from those to the body. Siyu's body is an incarnate soul, so she's probably sensing a threat to souls."

Terry shook his head in thought. "So what do I make of this? Am I turning into a mobile dungeon now?"

"Hardly." Samuel scratched his head. "Otherwise, the creatures wouldn't attack you like everyone else."

Great. So if I'm ever bored and running out of beasts trying to kill me, I can summon a few more.

"Hey, look on the bright side," interjected Jorg. "If we ever get through all this madness, you can be the most profitable dungeon diver ever."

Terry tilted his head.

"I mean, who else could retrieve a full corpse from a dungeon?" Jorg grinned. "Granted, I guess that doesn't work out profitable when the monster cores disappear, but for the glowing ones, that should work. Get the core. Summon the creature outside the dungeon. Soulless core and a corpse. Profit."

"Wasting a good soul in the process." Siling pointed out.

"Only the ones you don't want, of course," assured Jorg.

"Pity you can't unsummon them into a core," said Tiana. "That would be really handy for a tamer."

"Bloody unfair is what it would be," said Siling in an insincere grumble. "Imagine throwing balls to summon tamed beasts. You could run around with entire armies of monsters in your dimensional pocket."

"Probably going to put soul spiritualists out of business," teased Jorg. "With their limited soul spots and all. Poor Siling."

"Hey!"

"Spiritualists can use the mana abilities of their caught souls," interjected Miguel. "Don't forget that."

"Who's to say Terry won't be doing that in the future?" quipped Tiana.

"Ridiculous shit keeps happening to him, so who knows?" Elena shrugged. "Wouldn't rule it out. Poor Siling."

"It's okay, Siling," assured Tiana. "We can always make room for you in the frontline when Terry steals your summoner job…"

Terry took a deep breath and ignored their banter. He knew they were trying to… Cheer him up? Keep him grounded? Preserve his sanity by adding some levity? Something like that.

Now that Terry was calmer, he could see a few uses, and the more he thought about it, the more he came to the conclusion that even the ability to summon hostile creatures could be useful with the right timing.

'One enemy is a challenge. Two enemies is an opportunity.'

But then I'd have to learn how to classify cores first. That strategy doesn't work if I don't know what I'm unleashing upon the world… Unless I just need chaos, I guess.

Terry subconsciously glanced at Siyu and then at Ying.

Chaos could be useful.

"We still have one pair of tests left," said Samuel, and retrieved a batch of cores from his personal collection.

We do? We already covered constructs and beasts. Souled and unsouled.

What are these then?

Stolen novel; please report.

Terry creased his brows. He chose two fire-aspected cores with his soulsight active. He tried, and failed, to reconstitute the unsouled core. "Is this a construct?"

"I take this to mean that you can't reconstitute this one?" Samuel's eyebrows rose. "Interesting."

"Is he always like this when he's researching?" Isille whispered to Brynn. "That word is getting grating to my ears. Does he realize that I'm worried to the Wastes?"

Brynn smiled. "We all are, Whaka Isille. Please don't forget that. That's just how he deals with worries. He works through them."

Isille sighed.

"Try the other, and perhaps you will see," said Samuel, who had retrieved a notebook from his storage to record their findings.

Terry placed the unsouled core back with the others and then circulated his mana into the souled fire core. He felt the suction force and allowed it to consume his mana.

Right in front of Terry, a fist-sized blob of orange goo materialized. The fire-aspected slime moved and Terry was already preparing to crush the core, but the creature didn't do anything.

At least not anything that appeared hostile.

"Interesting…" Samuel's muttering broke the stunned silence.

The fire slime moved along the floor and stopped in front of Miguel.

"Shoo!" Miguel tried to wave it off.

The slime wiggled excitedly and moved towards Miguel's leg.

"Oy!"

"I think it likes your mana," said Lori. "Aww. It's kind of cute."

"Cute until it roasts my leg!" protested Miguel, but quickly stopped. "Which it isn't for some reason? It's not attacking? That's… okay."

Confusing is what it is. Terry mentally retorted. I just can't deal with this right now.

And yet…

While Terry was still sorting through his thoughts, the movement of mana outside their room caught his attention. "I think we're getting a report. Appears urgent."

"This is crazy," muttered Jorg.

"This is concerning and I don't like it," stressed Isille. She looked at Terry. "Perhaps you shouldn't go to—"

"I'll go," said Terry.

"Terry, I appreciate it." Ying spoke up. "But I would understand it if you—"

"I'm going," said Terry more firmly than before.

Bjorln and Isille looked extremely worried. "But this is…"

"This is just a new tool," insisted Terry. He himself was surprised by the resoluteness in his tone.

"Yes, but a tool you don't understand can be dangerous," stressed Isille.

"I know," said Terry. Unearned rewards deserve suspicion. Borrowed power was not his own. He knew that. He also knew that his soulsight had been incredibly useful, and he believed this new strange power to come from the same source.

Where else would it have come from if not from dungeon shenanigans? Dungeons are the only beings known to create monsters from monster cores.

Perhaps most importantly, Terry knew he needed options if he wanted to follow the path of a mage. He had gone so far as to cut off his own fingers to find a body inscription ink compatible with his mana type without knowing if there would be a matching tattoo at all.

Abandoning an available ability was just not in Terry's nature. "It is a tool. Perhaps a dangerous tool, but a tool nonetheless." He looked at Samuel. "I think we should go hear what is going on now, but could I borrow a few cores later?"

If anyone has high-quality cores, then it would be my uncle.

***

Terry had been right about there being urgent news. Not long after their interrupted core summoning investigation, Mina had called the other tower masters and the commanders into a meeting.

Matteo rubbed his eyes with frustration. "So we've lost track of the Tainted Duchess, but we've located the Twisted Duchess, and she's already positioning where we are supposed to move our troops."

"So there's a spy," exclaimed Brynn. "How lovely."

"Hardly a surprise," said Mina. "Unfortunately."

"What does this bullshit matter?" growled Apex. "Means we don't have to wait for them. Sounds better if you ask me."

"Uh-huh," uttered Matteo while holding his tongue.

"I think it matters," stressed Terry, which caused Apex to roll her eyes. "Mind-magic appears like a very effective counter to the summoning and ranged ritual schools of the Elemental Tower and, well, the minds of the demon squad are in a delicate balance to begin with." He looked at his cousin with concern.

"I agree," said Matteo. "The Twisted Duchess appears to be a dangerous opponent. I've trained my whole life to shield and protect my mind, but the same can't be said for the others."

From an unexpected corner, a resolved voice spoke up. "I will fight." Siyu stepped forth with a fierce glint in her purple eyes.

"No," growled Ying. "You can't get close to—"

"I'm not going back," stressed Siyu. "If you don't find the lynchpin, then I'll choose a fighting death over submitting back to the Kingdoms. Freedom or death. I will fight." Her tone left no room for discussion. "I know the Twisted Duchess's powers and we're negating each other's crowd control. I can block her. With me there, it will be a much easier fight."

"Pardon my concerns, but I'd rather not deploy next to the Spirited Duchess in Kingdom territory," said Mina. The Spirit Tower Master had agreed to the alliance, but that didn't mean she had forgotten her earlier objections.

"You mean Siyu," hissed Siling. "Siyu is on our side."

"I hope so, but my point stands," insisted Mina. "We're already betting on the Elemental Tower Master…" She gestured at Matteo. "To maintain his mind and keep the leash over his elemental army. It would be foolish to allow multiple such points of possible failure that could sabotage our forces in such a significant manner. If Siyu deploys with Matteo, then our Spirit Tower will support the main battle location. With us there, and with only the Risen Duchess to face, we should be able to gain ground quickly."

The Spirit Tower could wrestle the souls and spirits from the death aura curse, like Ying had done in the battle over Syn City. Together with the death whisperers from the Union and Thanatos…

Terry nodded.

"Won't that leave Matteo's position weakened?" Emaldine was frowning. She had reluctantly agreed to leave the side of her accepted brother. She knew that her skill-set fit better with the team led by Isille. That didn't mean she was happy about it. Now at the last minute, they even wanted to pull trustworthy forces away to make room for a former enemy?

"Good," said Apex. "More fun for us."

Terry could not help but imagine the Twisted Duchess attempting to read the minds of Apex and her Martial Tower, only to be driven beyond insane by the maddening abyss of martialist minds.

"I think we can reallocate more constructs against the Twisted Duchess," said Brynn. "They don't have minds to worry about."

"If Siyu is going, I'll be fighting there," declared Daiyu.

The Spirit Tower Master had a point though…

Dargones is with Matteo, which is a safeguard against Siyu turning hostile, but…

Terry didn't want to suspect Siyu, but a corner of his mind still reminded him to at least consider all possibilities. If he had to nominate someone whom he would trust with countering mind and soul magic…

His eyes wandered subconsciously.

"I'll join Matteo's side as well," declared Samuel, who had felt the gaze of his nephew.

Terry heaved a sigh of relief, but he still added. "Is the Shadowed Forest Sect already part of the raid teams close to the Elemental Tower's deployment? How about the Blazing Sun Sect?"

"Yes for both," replied Tiana. "Together with most of your martialist fan clubs."

"The disappearance of the Tainted Duchess has me worried for another reason." Brynn changed the topic with a frown. "We were tracking her, and she still disappeared."

"Dimensional mage," concluded Isille gravely. "That's bad news."

"Thanatos is fielding dimensional mages, but none at the level of Ying or Yorgos," said Mina. "None that can create anchored gates."

"I'll contact Mia again," declared Brynn. "I heard she and Yorgos are related. Perhaps she would be willing to lend a hand without emptying our war chest."

"That would be a welcome insurance against hostile dimensional mages," agreed Mina.

There were more discussions and adjustments to their plans, but Terry left eventually. He already knew the role he had to play, and he still had a few cores to select.

Probably should stock up on mana potions and regeneration stimulants…

Terry ignored the resurfacing memory of Cadence chiding him after his over-reliance on consumables after the battle at the Libra Outpost.

And, technically, I was supposed to get some sleep…

***

Far above the town below, two hooded figures appeared out of thin air. Their cloaks automatically changed color and pattern to blend into the surrounding sky.

Neat.

Terry liked the enchanted camouflage cloaks that the Crafting Tower had prepared for their current mission.

Pity that this one can't be retracted or reshaped like the shadow fabric from my brooch.

Terry spread his mana touch bubble to scout the area. Opposite him, Ying had his eyes closed and was using his own spells and vampiric senses to do the same.

Terry retrieved a card-shaped item and channeled his mana into it. When he was certain that no sound would leak from his lips to anyone's ears but Ying's, he spoke. "Clear around here. Vampire soldiers and skeletal warriors below."

Ying nodded. He glanced at his own equipment. "We're beyond my range for sensing life signatures, but if they have someone with a better life sense than mine…" He looked at Terry. "Your cloaking still appears perfect. At least to me."

Good thing we have Aunt Brynn to properly equip us.

Terry wasn't wearing his dungeon-provided cloaking necklace, because he wanted to conserve mana. He and Ying were both relying on cloaking and concealment items specifically created by the Crafting Tower for their mission. Items that wouldn't last a long time but didn't require providing mana. A worthwhile trade-off for scouting behind enemy lines since they were on a timer, anyway.

Switching out the cloaking necklace freed up a spot for Terry to use the crystal pendant his aunt Sigille had given him in the past. The protective pendant was filled to the brim with mana to react to incoming magic attacks.

Terry stretched his mana bubble to its limit while filtering through the many impressions and mana signatures. He was looking for anything unusual, but specifically for anything large with cloaked mana.

Eventually, Terry shook his head. "Nothing above the surface. It's possible that it's underground. We'll have to get further down to rule that out." Moving his mana through solid earth required more effort than scouting above.

Ying looked around. "As discussed, I'll cast an empowered Muffle while we're here, but we shouldn't risk unnecessary spell activations while we're below."

"As discussed," acknowledged Terry. He returned the card-shaped magic item to his storage. It wouldn't be wise to run around with a sound-erasing bubble around them when there were others in the area that might accidentally wander into the bubble and notice the magic effect.

[Test.] Terry tried the communication talisman that Rafael had provided them. The paper was now safely cloaked inside a metal disk prepared by the Crafting Tower that blocked almost all mana.

Almost, because the talisman's very function of transmitting thoughts as voices via mana required that some mana could leave. Otherwise, Terry wouldn't have been cut off from Rafael while being imprisoned in the mana containment cell in Thanatos.

[All in working order,] acknowledged Ying.

After confirming that the communication talismans were working as they should, the two slipped on rings of concealment. These rings weren't completely self-sustaining, since they had chosen to incorporate effects beyond mere invisibility.

Terry had encountered enough invisibility variants to know a few pitfalls they should avoid.

Their rings would prevent them from showing shadows. They could even preserve an illusion of the environment in case they accidentally interacted with it. With these rings on, they could step into snow or sand and the footsteps would only become apparent after they had already moved on.

The cost of these more advanced combined effects was their mana being actively used in the process, which was why they were limiting themselves to using them whenever they had to get close.

Properly prepared, they began their descent.

Terry had asked Ying and Daiyu before about what to expect from the Lich Kingdoms. The liberation raids had taken him and his companions to occupied settlements, but these differed from the towns and cities in this area.

This area had been under Lich Kingdom rule for decades. Some of the territory they had to cover with their search had belonged to the Lich Kingdoms ever since their first expansion during the Era of Upheaval.

They had told him many stories, but most of them shared common themes.

Cruelty and ecstasy.

Diversion in excess.

***

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