Chapter 524: Great Sylph to Spriggan
Gaia had many things to worry about. Currently, Sedna was watching over her domain so that she could focus on Zero's request.
Sylvia was just a simple Great Sylph and Gaia frowned. In order for her to become a spriggan, it would ordinarily be impossible. Spriggans have lived for many years and have great insights from the many reincarnation cycles as different types of species in the material plane. Sylvia's soul didn't meet the requirements and there was little the Great Goddess could do except to break the bad news to Zero.
Instead of getting upset about it, Zero was thoughtful. Gaia was surprised by his attitude and asked if he wasn't disappointed.
"Not really," he told her. "Setbacks are a part and parcel of any invention. Nobody ever attempted a soul operation so I would be more worried if there won't be any hiccups along the way. If Sylvia's soul doesn't meet that requirement, what about Baku? Baku is a wandering god. Surely they would meet that requirement?"
Gaia didn't know where this was going. However, Baku's soul had more than enough qualifications to become a spriggan if it wasn't so damaged.
"In that case, I might have a solution but I'll have to do further testing. Thanks, Gaia!"
The call ended as quickly as it came and the Great Goddess was left feeling rather confused. Yet, she had a feeling she was going to witness something crazily great. Gods may give blessings and create miracles but Zero took that concept to a whole new level. He is the inventor of miracles that even Gods find it hard to replicate.
The new world tree would be ready in a few more days and Mother Nature wondered how Zero was doing with his experiment. She received word from Lily that the first soul had been successfully fused with a seed from the mana lotus. The details sounded slightly complicated but from what she understood, Zero would be the only one capable of pulling such a complicated procedure off. The control of qi and mana while using soul binding spells would put a heavy toll on others and ruin the entire operation.
Unknown to Gaia, Zero had a more crazy idea. The success of his first attempt made Zero more confident for the next trial. Jynx was sleeping and the mindscape assistants were resting. Zero didn't bother sleeping or resting. He merely used magic to rejuvenate himself and ate to regain his strength. The doctor poured through books that he copied from Merlin's forbidden library. The topic of soul splitting was considered dark magic and a huge taboo but Zero wondered if there was a way to put it to good use.
As crazy as it sounded, Zero intended to use the chaos fragment to fill in the missing parts of Baku's soul after purification and nourishment. At the same time, he was going to cut Sylvia's soul open to recycle the corrupted parts of Baku's soul and reforge it into a spriggan's soul. Sylvia's soul was rather dark as it was and the little bit of corruption wouldn't cause her any harm unlike the nature of Baku's soul. The corrupted parts of Baku's soul would simply be evened out with the mass of Sylvia's soul upon reforge and she would be able to meet the bare minimum requirements to become a spriggan for the new world tree.
"But first, how do I reforge cut souls?" The question remained unanswered for a long time.
Even after pouring through every single related book in his mindscape library, Zero had no results. Reluctantly, he called Merlin up and explained his idea.
Merlin wasn't too happy to hear that Zero was starting to dabble in dark magic. However, he understood that soul magic was somewhat linked to death and dark magic was required. As a wizard who knew a little dark magic but didn't specialise in the art, the wizard could only advise Zero to seek the creator of this magic.
"I think Hades might be able to tell you more. Still, I find your plan very risky. Reforging a soul requires it to be completely broken down into the smallest particles and reconsolidated with a new structure. This process is only done by Great Gods, Tanya or King Yama. Not even I would know the details of the sacred process."
That was enough information for Zero to start his search. He figured that it would be the easiest to ask Hades about the nature of soul magic before he looked for Tanya and Enma. Tanya might not mind sharing such information but the King of Trials wouldn't let Zero go without a proper explanation or reason for his questions.
The God of Death didn't disappoint Zero when he picked up the call.
"Soul magic? You're not wrong with your concept. Indeed, soul magic wasn't invented by me. I'm just following what the Great One wanted. You've probably guessed it by now that souls are related to the chaos fragments."
Indeed, the broken souls were repaired by fusing chaos fragments with qi. However, Zero couldn't understand why mana would transform the fragments into something harmful.
"What's the difference between qi and mana? Why does one go well with chaos fragments and the other cause such disaster?"
Hades sighed. "That, I do not know. However, all life energy belonging in this world originated from the void as strange as this sounds. The chaos fragments have the ability to create life but nobody except the Tree of Life can get close to it without suffering side effects. Buddha is a different case because he specialises in cultivation which is exactly what keeps the chaos energy at bay. The Great One made every single soul using chaos fragments that were said to be part of his body although we don't know how true that is. Only the divine entities would know the truth."
Listening to the origin of souls, Zero found it even stranger now. Why would Solo create something that could be used for both good and evil? What was the purpose of doing something so risky? Also, if chaos fragments didn't come in contact with mana, they wouldn't transform into harmful chaos energy or miasma. Why was there so much of that in the void?
"I understand. Going by this logic, would you say it is possible to recreate existing souls by using chaos fragments and qi? How are souls reforged? What makes them a complete soul and not just fragments loitering in the Natural Plane?"
This, Hades could answer. "Thoughts. The power of prophecy that any God gives every soul allows the soul to take shape to complete its destined karma cycle. It doesn't matter what kind of qi or mana it becomes imbued with or how corrupted it becomes. A soul is still complete when it has been given a purpose to fulfil no matter how long the journey is."
"What happens if a soul fulfils its purpose?" Zero couldn't help but be curious.
Hades turned grim. "It will return to the void just like all the discarded prayers to Gods who no longer exist. The thoughts wait there to be collected and the souls that have completed their journey become a power for those collected thoughts for a new God to be born from circumstances. Just like how shattered and incomplete soul fragments remain in the Natural Plane waiting to be found and reforged into a new soul, a soul that has completed its journey will await for its next calling."
While Zero still didn't understand why Solo would introduce such a complicated and cruel system, his immediate question was answered. Thankfully for him, Hades had all the answers and he didn't have to bother Tanya or Enma.
"Thank you, Hades."
"Anytime," the God of Death smiled. Zeus would be so jealous to know that he received a call from Zero. It was time to bother God of Sky and brag.
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