CH05. JOURNEY TO THE INNER-SOUL

The path to the inner depths of the soul was one no man had ever seen before.

It was not because it was filled with dangerous beasts or monsters, but rather because it was the equivalent of trying to jumping into the middle of a typhoon without an anchor to pull you back out.

Every man or woman who had ever attempted to delve too deep into their own soul has been known to become trapped there for eternity.

And if they weren't trapped there, they would become but a shell of their old self when they got out, a vegetable that couldn't talk or interact with the world in any way.

Zero opened his eyes to a dark void.

But unlike the other dark void which housed his soul, this one had no twinkling lights, nor did it give out a calming sensation washing over him.

This dark void contained only a vortex of particles which spiraled about a ball of light.

'I guess this is the outer layer of my soul, it doesn't seem any different from before. But where I really need to go, is deeper'

Zero looked toward the vortex. The particles which were spiralling around the ball looked like they were being pulled into it, but they never entered the ball, simply moved around it.

'I need to get closer, but there's no guessing what I'll see on the other side. I don't think it'll be something that would be safe for me - especially considering what happened to the previous mages who did this.'

He needed to find a way to enter the vortex and also a way to come out when he had finished with the sealing of his soul

That was the reason why he drank the Moonlight Orchid. It possessed a special property that allowed a person's soul to enter into a state of temporary stasis, allowing free movement through the inner and outer parts of it.

But the fact that the stasis allowed for the free movement of the mind through the soul didn't mean that it was without any dangers.

In fact, the dangers were the very reason why Bezel had sealed this technique away so long ago.

The moonlight flower was also known for opening up the doors to the bottom of the soul. And in there, was where all the monsters that haunted the mind dwelled in.

It was a dark and scary place where all the evil emotions and experiences you ever went through were stored. A place which the soul automatically locks up to prevent them from corrupting the soul-power of any person.

Entering your soul with all these monsters in there was simply like trying to challenge all of the evil you had gone through at once! It was difficult, it was near impossible, it was suicide!

"And I'm going to do it no matter what!!"

Zero kicked off and sailed towards the vortex of light while it began slowing down due to the effects of the moonlight orchid

As he got closer he saw that the particles floating around the ball of light were actually memories from both this life and his last.

The time he got his first spell right and how his father and mother smiled at him so radiantly...

The time he pranked his brothers into confessing to the same girl...

The time his mother caught him trying to steal sweets from the kitchen jar...

The time he was pushed by his brother, away from a monster that was about to run him through...

The time his father tackled a monster off a cliff, saving his mother and him in the process...

The time his mother sacrificed herself and gave him a chance to escape...

'Don't dwell on all this. Don't dwell on all this! Don't dwell on all this!!'

Zero passed by the particles, leaving them to continue playing out important parts of his life, and floated closer and closer to the ball of light

He got to the ball and stretched out his hand to touch it

"Come on, come on, come on... Almost there!"

Woosh!!!

There was a sudden gust of wind once his hand touched the ball along with a bright light that blinded him, and Zero suddenly found himself standing on solid ground again.

Once his sight came back, he looked around and took in his surrounding

"What the hell is this? Is this my soul? Why is my soul a desert!!? "

All around zero was sand for miles and miles in every direction. He placed his hand above his head to shield himself from the harsh rays of the sun while trying to get the sand in his shoes out.

"Of all the bullshit, why would my soul be a desert? Isn't this meant to be a representation of who I am? -- wait, why is my voice so deep? Why are my legs so long!!?"

He looked to himself and was shocked to find out that he had become just as he was before his transmigration. A man with a slim build and a height of 6ft.

Within the soul, you become the most ideal you that you have ever been, and if there are any flaws in your person, those are also brought forward and placed in you.

That was why zero had suddenly become a fully grown man inside here. This was the most ideal form he had ever possessed in both lives.

"I can't believe I became like this again. I wonder if I also have all the power from my past life. Well, that isn't important anyway. I have to head deeper to the core so I can carry out the final sealing. It is only a matter of time before they find me."

In the distance, Zero could just make out the howls of monsters making their way out of the bottom of his soul.

They were also going to converge in the core, so it was very necessary that he got there first

"Let's see if I still got this"

Zero bent his knees and jumped off the ground with a resounding BOOM.

He got to the peak of his jump, but rather than falling back to the ground, he stayed up there and suddenly began floating.

"Ha! It actually worked! I always wondered what it would be like to fly in here, and I finally get to feel it - it's absolutely amazing up here"

Zero looked forward to the horizon. In the distance, he could make out a clearing that had an oasis in the middle. There was also a cave beside the clearing.

"That must be where the core to my soul is. Let's just hope there aren't any monsters there already. I know I met my fair share of evil in my days, and I have no intention of facing off with them a second time"

Zero wobbled in the air for sometime before he found his balance and then rocketed off into the horizon

Woosh!!

The desert sand passed beneath him like golden grains while his shadow moved across the dunes and sands mountains.

The reason he could fly was simple.

He was in his own soul.

When a person is in their mind, they had the right to change and influence said mind in any way you see fit. But the same could not be said for the soul.

The feats a person could carry out in their soul were limited only to things that they were capable of in the real world.

And zero had been able to fly when he was at the peak of his cultivation. So he could fly now.

"I'm not that far away now, but I'd better go back down. There are a lot of monsters in here which could shoot me out of the sky, and I'd rather not give them the chance at all"

Zero landed some distance away from the clearing and continued on foot.

There hadn't been any monsters in sight for a while now, and this made zero nervous. He knew the sort of beings in here were not to be trifled with, so if they all decided to hang back for some reason, then it was obvious they had come up with some plan of attack.

'It's quiet around here... Too quiet."

Boom!

Zero was forced to jump back while covering his face when an object suddenly impacted where he stood before.

The sand in the spot was scattered around and a crater was formed when the object landed.

Zero opened his eyes but couldn't see through the dust in the air to the figure standing. But he immediately put up his guard, just in case.

'This must be one of the worse ones. I wonder what it is. The azure dragon? The beast of many faces? Maybe even the lady in waiting -- what!!!'

The dust cleared up to show a tall figure with fair skin and an oval face.

She had long blue hair which flowed in the wind with a white robe adorning her body, and she looked to Zero with complete impassivity.

"I never thought I would get to see you again, Zero"

Zero took a step back away from the figure. His face was white as chalk while his heartbeat could be heard through his chest.

"A-Akira?"

Zero whispered.