Soren and Claude headed out into the town as Claude took him to a nearby place for breakfast.

They soon reached the café and entered. Claude explained about the dishes to Soren as they sat on the window side table and waited for the food.

Soren checked out the menu and read it once finding many unknown dishes. He couldn’t recognize any of them so he just put the menu back on the table and let Claude make the order.

Soon breakfast came and they ate together. While eating, Claude explained to Soren about shops and the Hunter’s Association.

Claude swallowed the food in his mouth and said, “We have different shops opened around the area. There are some specified ones for weapons, items, etc. but some of the big name shops are all-purpose; you can get almost anything there.”

He took another bite using his fork and continued, “And then there’s the Hunter’s Association; it is a place for freelancers basically. It provides you with jobs and acts as a medium between employer and employee. There are certain rules but it’s quite flexible all in all. Those freelancers are called Hunters and that’s why the name: Hunter’s association. Many Non-initiators also work there as it pays good crystals.”

Soren ate while listening to Claude. He wasn’t really paying attention to the taste as he was fully concentrating on what Claude was saying. He soon remembered something and asked Claude, “Claude, can you tell me about that ‘Soul Form’ thing. Yesterday Captain mentioned it but I want to know the details.”

Claude looked at Soren and sighed. He then took a sip of his drink and said, “Soren, I know you want to become an Initiator and materialize your Soul Form but your age is already past the limit. It is better for you if you find a job and live a stable life. You can learn how to fight even as a Non-Initiator…but if you still want to know, I will tell you.”

Soren looked at Claude intently and nodded.

Claude put down the fork and said, “Ok then. I will start with the basics; Soul Form is basically a system to manage and utilize mana.”

“This much captain must have told you. After materializing your Soul Form, you can decide how to use it. Many people use it for combat purpose. Many use it as a utility tool for their profession: It depends on the Soul Form if you can use it to combat efficiently or not. There is no specific classification though because regardless of what kind of Soul Form you have, you can choose to use it for anything.”

“Further on: People are divided by which type of combat style they choose. They are basically Spell Casters and Warriors. Warriors are people who fight barehanded or with weapons. Spell Casters are the ones who fight using spells. Although I am saying that they are divided but let me tell you that Spell Casters can also fight physically and Warriors can also cast spells if they want. When the system was developed, it was very hard for people to specify their development according to the path they chose, so a digitized system was developed. You will know all of this only if you are able to become an Initiator.”

He looked at Soren with pity as he knew how it would feel to hear about something you know you are never going to experience yourself.

He then continued, “People also have different affinities; you can check it by using a common mana crystal. Ah! Those white crystals that the captain gave you are called mana crystals; they are low-grade mana crystals. It has many purposes as it stores mana but the main one is its use as a currency.”

Soren listened intently to all the information and slowly analyzed them. They had already finished their food so Claude paid the bill and went out of the café with Soren. He then took Soren on a tour, showing him most of the important shops and places.

After they were finished, it was already evening.

Claude said, “Soren, my job is finished here but if you need any help in the future you can come and look for me. We live in the city guard barracks generally. You can also come to me if you decide to do any job and need help.”

Soren thanked Claude and then asked, “Claude. Am I allowed to go out of town?”

Claude got surprised by the sudden question and replied, “Of course. You are not our prisoner Soren. If you want to go out, no one will stop you. But I advise you not to go out alone. It’s not safe out there.”

Soren smiled and said, “Don’t worry. I just want to go out to have a look around. I won’t go far.”

Claude nodded and then shook Soren’s hands.

“Ok then Soren, See you again.”

Soren also nodded and replied, “See you, Claude. Thank you again for your help.”

Claude walked away while Soren stood there seemingly in deep thought. He then turned around and walked towards the main town gate.

……..

It didn’t take him long to reach it and soon he could see the wooden gate that he had seen yesterday. The guards had already been notified about him so they just looked at him and nodded.

Soren reciprocated the greeting and went out of the gate. He walked slowly like taking a stroll while keeping an eye out for anyone following him. He walked for a while and soon reached the place.

He stopped and stood there for a while; he looked like someone who was enjoying the scenery.

As it was already getting dark, there were not many people moving on the road. Soren did stand out a little bit but the people didn’t really pay any attention to him.

Slowly, Soren started moving towards the area with the sparse trees; he moved slowly but was on full alert.

He had never trusted the captain or any of his men.

After making sure he was not followed, he made a beeline for the place where he had buried his stuff. He soon reached there and after making sure no one’s looking, started digging under the tree he had already marked before.

He started to dig with his fingers but soon switched to a broken branch by the side.

It didn’t take him long as his stuff was not buried too deep. He took out his stuff and cleaned the dust and soil off of them. He also dusted the soil off his fingers.

He took out the Initiation Stone, two pouches, and the gray token and stored them in his pocket.

He threw other stuff in the hole again and filled it up; those things would have been extremely hard to hide from the guard’s eyes.

He patted himself, clearing the dust off.

He then made his way towards the town while keeping an eye out for anyone following him. He soon reached it and then slowly moved towards the gate.

He maintained a calm expression while moving through the gate but his heart was beating hard in his chest.

He somehow crossed the gate while keeping himself together and started moving in the direction of his hotel.

He moved fast through the crowded street but still maintained a cautious attitude.

Eventually, he reached the hotel.

He told the reception guy to not disturb him unless it’s an emergency and then went to his room. He had already eaten lunch with Claude before so he was not that hungry.

After entering the room, he quickly locked it: He finally relaxed and loosened his tensed up body.

He then sat on the bed and spread all of his stuff in front of him.

He had one blue finger sized crystal, a grey colored heptagon token that looked like it was made of stone, three pouches.

He flipped the pouches on the bed, taking out the mana crystals. In total he had 32 low-grade mana crystals; 10 from the captain, 15 in the bag from the red-haired man and 7 from the bag of the bandit.

After counting them, he put back all the crystals in one bag and placed it aside for now. He also put that heptagon shaped token aside with just the Initiation Stone left in front of him.

He had decided that he was going to use the Initiation Stone today; he had already asked Claude about it subtly without raising any suspicion.

He opened the bandage on his right arm and used a simple fruit knife to cut the stitches. The man that had treated him didn’t use any healing spell so the wound was still very fresh.

Blood flowed out as soon as he opened the wound. He winced in pain but his hands remained stable. He picked up the blue crystal and stared at it, slightly hesitating.

What he was going to do was deemed very risky by the captain and Claude both. He would be lying if he said he was not scared. He was, of course, afraid of dying, but thinking about the dream he had in the forest and remembering the promise he made to his family,…. he killed his hesitation.

He released a quick breath and inserted the crystal inside his wound in one quick movement; it made him shout out in pain. He completely inserted the Initiation Stone in his wound.

As the crystal came into contact with Soren’s blood, it started melting. It slowly melted and mixed the blood; blood containing the melted crystal soon started flowing into his body.

Suddenly his temperature started plummeting down. He felt like he was frozen in a piece of ice; he could not even move his body and just lay there on the bed.

His face was completely pale. Even his breath became visible when he exhaled. After a while, he could not hold on and fell unconscious.

……….

When he opened his eyes, he only saw darkness. He looked around but couldn’t see anything; only darkness filled his vision. He then tried to move but found himself unable to.

Soon he gave in and just stayed there, completely immobile. Staring into the darkness, he thought about all the things. He knew panicking here won’t help him so he just remained idle.

Soon his thoughts started going out of his control. He didn’t have to think about anything, in particular, it automatically came into his mind.

He felt like he was watching a movie; the movie of his own life. After going through countless images, his mind turned blank. Soon he saw a white light ball, the size of a tennis ball.

As he stared at it, the size increased and slowly it turned to the size of a human head. The ball kept growing in size and soon it became as large as him. He couldn’t move so he just kept staring at it.

He felt like he had a very deep connection to that ball of light; like it was a part of him. The ball of light was him and he was the ball of light.

Slowly the white light ball started changing color; turning into black. It also slowly started transforming.

Soren kept staring at the dark ball intently.

The dark ball slowly morphed and began to materialize; Soren witnessed everything excitedly.

He was very excited to know what his Soul Form will be and soon he got his answer.

It was a black book.

There was a black book floating in front of him. As soon as the book formed, Soren felt like he was the book itself. He felt like the book was a part of his soul, which was literally true.

After the book formed, Soren regained his ability to move. He moved his hand, wanting to touch the black book.

As soon as his fingers touched the book, he blanked out.

………

Soren slowly opened his eyes and found out he was still in his bed in the hotel. He woke up with a severe headache. He held his head and started groaning in pain.

The pain only subsided after a few minutes passed.

Soren slowly sat up on his bed. He checked his body for any change but didn’t find any, though he knew he had changed somehow.

Suddenly his eyes blurred out but it came into focus again soon. This time though he saw some changes; his vision was filled with a bunch of words displayed like a system message.

“Process complete: Initiation Successful.”

“System will now start.”

“Process complete: Soul Form has been materialized.”

“Soul Form Type: Auxiliary.”

“Soul Form Manifestation: Stygian Grimoire.”

“Stygian Grimoire: Soul Form manifested in the form of a book. Highly increases host’s ability as a Spell Caster, giving a significant boost in all aspects of spell casting. Combined together with the host’s dormant bloodline providing the host with a secondary bloodline talent.”

“Primary Bloodline found.”

“Primary Bloodline Talent has already been activated partially; completing the activation process.”

“Process Complete”

“Primary Bloodline Talent: Second Intelligence.”

“Second Intelligence: Replica of Host’s Brain is created. Can store, analyze and process data. It will grow and evolve in sync with the host’s brain.”

“Secondary Bloodline found”

“Secondary Bloodline Talent Activating: Starting Process.”

“……”

“Process Complete”

“Secondary Bloodline Talent: Devour.”

“Devour: Host can absorb mana directly from the atmosphere using the Stygian Grimoire. It will also purify the mana and modify it according to the host’s attribute.”

“Unique Primary Bloodline Talent detected: Starting the synchronization process.”

“……….”

“Synchronization process complete; the system will work in sync with host’s Primary Bloodline Talent: Second Intelligence.”

“……..”

“Analyzing Master’s body”

“…….”

“Analysis complete; presenting Master’s data in a digitized form.”

Status: Moderately Wounded

Rank 0: Layer 1 [0%]

Name: Soren Farrow

Species: Human

Attribute: Unknown

Health: 70%

Stamina: 83%

Mana: 2%

Strength: 0.81

Agility: 1.10

Vitality: 1.41

Intelligence: 2.60

Spirit: 2.10

Resistance: 1.01

Even though Soren had expected it, he was completely stunned when he saw it for himself.

Soren read the messages slowly and comprehended it one by one. There was too much information there for Soren to process in a short time.

He murmured in a low voice, “Primary Bloodline….Secondary…Stygian Grimoire.”

First, he decided to explore his Soul Form; he closed his eyes and focused slightly.

Soon dark mist emerged around him which slowly started condensing into a black colored book.

The black book fully materialized in no time and floated in front of Soren silently. Soren opened his eyes and looked at the grimoire excitedly. With this, he was finally standing at the starting line.

Now, all he had to do was follow his path.

He moved his palm forward and touched the black book. The book looked extremely grand in appearance and had a black cloth cover which looked like small black fur and was really soft to touch; it gave off an archaic vibe.

The book also had some weird looking characters engraved on its top.

Soren couldn’t wait to explore it so he quickly opened the first page and looked at it—it was completely blank. The page was pale black in color and was completely empty.

After flipping the pages, he soon reached a point where he could not flip over anymore; he had flipped over a total of 5 pages.

After thinking for a while, he came to a conclusion that each page signified one spell. It might change in the future but right now 5 was the total limit. He then explored the book for a while more before making it disperse.

Then he opened the messages about the bloodline.

Primary Bloodline: Second Intelligence. So it’s like an Artificial Intelligence just that it’s not artificial but a replica of my own brain.

He thought of trying it out and soon gave an order in his mind.

“Say something.” He said in his mind.

“What would you like me to say, Master?” And soon Soren heard a reply in his mind.