“Remember the arrangements I told you about. Avoid fighting the Gimards and think of a way to hide all the progress of the village. Meta told of a plan on how to kill the army of Gimard’s in Drake Castle. So to do that, we have to make the enemy see the village. And if he finds the village healthy and strong, it will be bad.” Dyne left his final warning before leaving the village.

“We have already discussed some plans. The Elder is trying to scout to the mountains and see if there is a place where we could hide.”

“Good. Just keep it low key. Stay safe and stay out of trouble, guys!”

“You too. Vahn, make sure he doesn’t do anything crazy.” Juno laughed.

Vahn nodded, and the group left.

“Strange… The last time Vahn left Rim Elm, I was so afraid and kept praying to Tieg to keep him safe. But now, I pity the monster that meets him!” Val laughed.

“We old folks have to catch up with them.” Juno smiled.

“Father. You promised that I would start training now!” Mei rushed over and demanded. She held in her hand a very peculiar bow and arrow.

“Of course! Let’s go! Hopefully, the Elder will acquire more Slimes for us to tame.” Juno laughed as he led Mei to the back.

It was early morning when Dyne and his group left. They journeyed deeper and deeper into the Mist.

Soon a troop of Gimards could be seen scattered nearby.

“Let’s do this!” Dyne laughed.

Dyne and his two Gomboos could all one-hit kill the Gimards.

“Tetsu, you handle one. Vahn, you’re with me. Let’s put your Ra-Seru to good use!” Dyne laughed.

The Gimards all traveled in a group. There were four to five Gimards in every pack. But using the Golden Compass, Dyne’s team ambushed them with abusive attacks. With this setup, the group could attack four Gimards at once. Calamity was carrying several jars of the remaining Drake Water and could not make reckless ambushes.

Tetsu and Vahn delivered several powerful rounds of Spirit Attacks.

While Vahn’s attack was weaker, the number caused the Gimard to stagger. This gave Dyne ample time to attack with Grim.

An expert slash struck the Gimard on the head and caused the Gimard to fall down as if faint.

When one of the Gimard’s was attacked, it called out to its companions, but they were also attacked.

Soon, four dying Gimards were captured.

The group retreated to a secluded spot, and Dyne commanded Bertugo and Brod to patrol the area and ensure no Gimards or enemies would come close.

With a perimeter of two Gomboos scouting, Dyne began his Soul Cultivating training for Tetsu and Vahn.

And so, Vahn and Tetsu experienced the torturous baptism using the soul of the Gimard. However, unlike the Goblins, the pair could resist the fire energy through their defensive Spirit energy. Meta, however, began to harness the excess energy that Vahn could not absorb.

It was then that Meta noticed that the soul of the Gimard was turning purer and purer.

“Master Dyne! You can convert Soul into Life Energy?” Meta was stunned.

“Hrm? Erm… Ri-Right. That’s what it is.” Dyne answered.

“Is it any helpful? Can it help you level up?”

“It can make me stronger. The bigger the soul of a Ra-Seru, the more uses it can make.”

“Oh? There is something like that?”

“But it takes a huge amount of Life Energy to make us ascend. By awakening a Genesis Tree, we gain access to Noaru Valley and are empowered by the Life Energy there.”

“Yeah… Strafe told me about that. Anyways… is this helpful? Would it help if we do this more often?”

“Always helpful. While we need a certain amount of Life Energy to reach the next level, the more Life energy we have can allow us to change our physical forms.”

“Oh, right. You guys can grow swords and horns as you grow stronger!” Dyne recalled.

“Yes. But how do you convert Souls into Life energy? It's as if the souls are resonating and are recalling their past lives.”

“Yeah. It's sort of my advantage. I was blessed to have this ability to make souls like me.” Dyne laughed.

“So I guess if I keep doing this, their forms will change differently to what I remember in-game…” Dyne thought to himself.

After absorbing the energy, they had to call it a night since the group was too tired to continue.

The next day, the group continued to move towards Hunter Springs.

With the fast speed granted by Spirit, the group was able to reach Hunter Springs at an unbelievable pace.

Unlike Dyne’s previous visit, the Mist was around.

The first thing they did was go for the water and drank it to refresh themselves.

And then, the group began their Gimard hunt.

The first priority was to gather enough Gimards to make Meta absorb it. With their team, they were easily able to attack and weaken several Gimards.

Vahn and Dyne had the Golden Compass, while Tetsu used the Chicken King to escape from one encounter and immediately use the speed to deliver a powerful attack at an another Gimard in the area.

Bertugo and Brod didn’t need it. Even if the Gimards would expend all their fireball attacks, the newly armored shields they carried, which was akin to a kite shield, could easily withstand the attack.

Soon, there were over eight Gimards that were being contained by Calamity who divided into three parts.

“Isn’t this a little too... err... visible?” Tetsu asked.

“Bertugo and Brod will be patrolling the area. With the Golden Compass, they can one-hit kill any monsters in this area or add more to our pool of Gimards.” Dyne laughed.

“Alright. So now… We will have Meta try to absorb the Gimards. Ra-Seru’s are strong that they can assimilate with the powers of Serus.”

“Is it true?!” Tetsu was surprised.

Vahn nodded.

“Meta told me that he could absorb the soul of Serus and use it at the cost of my MP. He can cause the Seru to inflict one powerful attack.” Vahn explained.

“Right. But if you keep on training in Soul Cultivation, you can share the load with Meta. Who knows? Maybe you can capture a Seru and turn to make it like Grim.” Dyne laughed as Grim’s steel body peeked out as if to show himself.

“The arts of Soul Cultivation was discovered by Biron. He was so strong that even when his body was destroyed, he was able to be reborn as a Ra-Seru. And someone greater than Biron is here. Dyne can teach you, and that is indeed possible.” Meta affirmed.

“I will train hard!” Vahn proclaimed.

“Good! So for now… I think that the clause is, we have to kill a Gimard that was born prior to the Mist…” Dyne frowned.

“Let’s hope some of these are. If they’re not, then I will use their souls to burn yours. Use it as a means to strengthen the body as well as to strengthen your Soul.” Dyne instructed.

Despite the torturous wounds, Tetsu and Vahn did not complain.

“Earlier, I was taking most of the burnt from the Gimard’s soul. I was absorbing most of it and giving you two the tamed soul energy.”

“Tamed?” Tetsu was apprehensive.

“Yep. But now... I’ll be redirecting it all to you. Vahn... Since Meta is here, Vahn's affinity for fire is stronger. So I'll be a bit more generous in the souls I give you.” Dyne smirked.

Vahn gulped but gave a courageous nod.

“I’ll use my Imaginarium Realm here. Since Hunter Springs can restore my mana, I can retain it longer. Follow the direction of the Soul Energies circulation that I will show you. This will strengthen your body further.”

The pair nodded again.

“Alright. To ease your pain, you better do it over the Hunter Springs. A bit of the Drake Water still resides in it and should give you more resistance to it. When I did this the first time, I wasn’t yet a Soul Cultivator. But now, you guys are. Concentrate on controlling the energy. And don’t worry if you guys scream. Bertugo and Brod will guard us.” Dyne instructed.

Tetsu and Vahn nodded, but their expressions changed with Dyne’s passing comment about screaming.

“Vahn! Attack!” Dyne ordered as Calamity spat out one Gimard.

Vahn immediately dealt a killing blow with his right hand.

The Gimard died, and his soul was dissipating. Dyne knew that this was not a Seru that Meta could absorb and went to work.

He began his circulation, but this time, Dyne barely tried to make the soul recall Alos Vasilous. It was as if Dyne was only trying to confuse it.

And then... He sent the soul over to Tetsu and Vahn.

Tetsu and Vahn’s expression contorted as the ravaging heat entered their bodies.

Dyne continued to watch over the two and would occasionally use his Imaginarium Arts to help the group sense where the energy should go.

Strafe watched carefully and noticed that Dyne was no longer greatly affected by the heat.

“I see... Brimstone. What an interesting Elemental affinity.” Strafe laughed.

“Erm? What?” Dyne’s attention was called out.

“You’re Elemental affinity. It’s Brimstone.”

“Brimstone?”