The Soulmancer’s Ascension

Sherine brushed off the leaves from her hair. She nearly shrieked when a caterpillar crawled on her leg. Her hand moved to smash the caterpillar into a pulp. Bright flames flickered around her gauntlet and burnt all the mess the caterpillar made.

At last, she focused on the magic beast standing before them. A hunched humanoid creature draped in vines, its figure vaguely resembling an old woman. The witch’s hollow white pupils stared into nothingness, yet Sherine felt like she was being observed. Two twisted reindeer-like antlers grew from the witch’s head, and six twisted arms protruded from her shriveled figure.

The Veil Witch looked like something out of a children’s folklore story. In fact, they used to be a major part of horror stories before their decline. Now only the Great Forest had the Veil Witches, and only the Gallowind Town sang their once glorious conquests of their cattle.

Zephyr shivered, not in fear, but excitement. “Finally, a worthy opponent!”

He brandished his scythe as he cautiously walked towards the terrifying creature. The Veil Witch growled, and her hands shivered, a magical hazel glow around them. Vines erupted from the forest soil and the giant trees shivered. The forest unleashed its wrath at the witch’s call.

Zephyr sliced the approaching vines and pushed his mana into his scythe, triggering the Poisonous Edge skill. A dark green glow enveloped the scythe’s blade. As the vines made contact with his blade, they corroded and lost all color.

“Ugh, you bitch. I mean witch.”

Zephyr not only had to deal with the wild vines, but also with the fruits raining down at him. The trees showed their fury by tossing fresh fruits at him. The tremendous height lent them a deadly force, enough to threaten him.

Veil Witches evolved from a treant and received a unique skill to manipulate plants. In a lush green forest, a Veil Witch hunted prey beyond their rank. Even a C-Rank Magic Beast could crush if it didn’t have the skill to manipulate the vines.

The unceasing assault of vines and the trees pushed Zephyr on the defense. Athena tried to help but he shouted at her to stay in her place. If he couldn’t figure out a way to beat this magic beast, how would he qualify to be a part of a tournament hosted by gods? The Veil Witch’s overwhelming ranged attacks were his bane. He had to find a way to counter her.

The Veil Witch stared wonderingly. No one survived a minute under the combined power of her skill. This human outlasted even the greatest magic beast she ever faced. A dragon so terrifying it forced her to retreat. She might have died without her ability to assimilate with trees!

“Should I… run again?” she thought aloud in a croaky voice. “No, I want to eat…”

She couldn’t hold in the urge to devour the strong foe and channeled her desires into her skill. Even more vines sprouted from the soil and joined with the others, becoming a thicker variant of nature chains.

“Goodness,” Zephyr groaned, feeling his arms numb from mindless swinging. “What can I do to stop you?”

The gears in his mind creaked, nearly reaching an epiphany of sorts. The counter to the witch was in his Emblem, his new identity as Riven’s Son-in-Law. He was a soulmancer. Having his way with souls was his right. If the plants and trees listened to the Veil Witch, they had to possess a sentience, a soul.

He circulated his mana and gripped the thick vine. The thorns dug into his palm and the fruits fell on him with the impact of a stone, but he held on. He felt the tiny wisp of soul inside the vines and traced it back to its roots.

‘Stop before I harvest your soul.’

He wasn’t above sending death threats to the miniscule souls possessed by the plants. And the vines obeyed his thought, taking a neutral stance in the fight.

A ripple passed through him. The divine shard roared inside his chest, beseeching him to gear up for the evolution.

‘Shut the hell up!’

Zephyr roared back. The Emblem chose the worst timing to declare its presence.

“No…” The witch shivered, pure disbelief in her eyes. “How?”

The shock overrode her base instincts for a moment. Her offense stopped, leaving her open for attacks. The moment became Zephyr’s opening to whip out and throw a dagger. The silver dagger streaked through the witch’s forehead and impaled the tree behind her. The witch fell dead.

Her experience points couldn’t scale to the battle’s difficulty. It was an unfair battle.

He ignored his third level up of the day and thumped his chest. The Emblem’s thoughts reached him as it was a part of him. The seed of Nether Soul Empyrean’s Lesser Authority, Soulmancy Emblem, hoped to achieve its full potential as soon as possible. And it was possible with him, who comprehended skills of the Soulmancy without any guidance.

“Wasn’t it five thousand before? Besides, I’m still not Level 30 yet. A forced evolution?”

The Emblem fluttered inside him, agreeing to his words. The ‘Dragon Touch’ made a forced evolution possible. Sherine’s blessing raised his constitution and magic to an unfair degree and the abundance of Soul Essence would work to alleviate any gap in his soul.

“Wait!” Sherine took a deep sigh and took his hand. The holes in his palm bled, but he was more focused on the Soulmancy Emblem. “Let me heal you first.”

She hurriedly channeled her mana into her gauntlet and let the yin energy flow into him. The glowing blue energy waved through his wounds, stitching and healing them at a visible speed.

Athena, in the background, plopped on the witch’s body and crinkled her eyes. She retreated from the witch as if she couldn’t bear to consume its flesh.

Zephyr chuckled at Athena’s defeat. “My healer fiancée is always looking out for me.”

“There, all shiny.” Sherine kissed his palm and smiled like an angel. “A forced evolution seems a little risky. Let’s talk about the Emblem with father first.”

The forced evolution was an unknown territory to her. A wrong step would be detrimental to his health, and she wasn’t ready to take that risk. She had to break her promise to not abuse Riven’s powers and knowledge.

Zephyr’s safety meant everything to her.

“Ugh.” He scratched his head. The Emblem egged him about the absolute safety of the process. Every step of the evolution was under its control. The comforting thoughts made it hard to doubt the Emblem. “Fine, let’s meet Riven.”

In the end, he went against the Emblem for Sherine’s satisfaction. Her worried look didn’t sit well with him.

“Father.”

“What…? I was sleeping,” Riven said in a drowsy voice.

"How did you wake up so fast?"

“Father and Riven are the trigger words to break my sleep.”

“Thanks for listening to me.” Sherine heaved a sigh of relief, kissing his hand again. “We want to meet you, Father.”

A wooden door rose from the earth and flipped its doors, shrouded in a mysterious fog. The mysterious door invited them inside.