Hearts

Magnus returned to the scene of the explosion in a dreary mood. He noticed Restiel's lifeless corpse within a pile of rubble and dug him out.

He then gave the body a proper burial.

"I will revive you," Magnus said as he felt the memories of the sub-personality that Magnus had created for him lingering in the Hivemind.

Magnus then turned his attention to a pair of rock-like objects that somehow survived the explosion.

Magnus took it into his hands. He recognized one, and almost did not recognize the other.

The Undead Heart and an actual zombie heart. Magnus did not know how these two objects survived, but they did and Magnus would take them.

The first thing he did was consume the Undead Heart.

He felt his body heal and his Spirit Energy get refilled. Though the healing wasn't complete, it was good enough for Magnus to switch off his ethereality. The sun was rising, and he was going to get burned if he did not do such a thing.

When Magnus returned to his physical body, he instantly coughed out the blood that had agglomerated in his throat and insides.

"Ugh," He groaned as he took the zombie heart with him.

Although a zombie's brain was the main characteristic of a zombie, Magnus was still going to take the heart with him. There was obviously something special about it that he didn't feel the need to eat it at all.

Like this, Magnus returned to Hummolus. He drifted towards his inn room after selling all his loot save for the zombie's heart.

Once he was there, he summoned Klaris, who also seemed to be in a dreary mood.

Magnus nodded.

And Klaris began.

"I am the thief of mirrored creation,

The cloned child,

The descendant of greens,

And the walker of reflections."

After a few quick moments, Restiel once again appeared before them. Another mirrored version, but this one was a Restiel who was just moments away from going into battle with a zombie that would mark his death.

It was Magnus' turn.

"I am the master and maker of the Hivemind,

The mind behind minds,

The one who stands above humanity,

And the one civilizations despise."

Instantly, Spirit Energy erupted from his wrist and encircled Restiel.

A familiar consciousness returned to the Hivemind at that moment, allowing Magnus and Klaris to sigh in relief. It was only when Restiel returned to them that their dreary moods disappeared.

"So reviving people really works," Klaris muttered as he slumped in a chair. "What now?"

"Well," Magnus shrugged as he quickly unsummoned Restiel as he was already burning up, "We need to find you a Spirit Technique."

Magnus beckoned to Klaris and they moved out of the inn.

"Right," Klaris' eyes glowed. "What do you think will suit me?"

"Hey, don't ask me. I got mine by accident. If the Ring of Undead Fate has a chance to speak, it would surely lead you down the same path I'm taking."

Magnus shrugged again, he turned a few corners and headed towards the morning marketplace.

"You need to think about what kind of path you want."

"Then, could we get one that focuses on increasing our energy reserves?" Klaris asked, "We already have a huge amount of regeneration from you, Magnus. Your 5-line Curse and Soul Devourer Art supply so much that I am amazed every time you summon me."

"That can be arranged,"

Magnus nodded as he stopped in front of a shop that Klaris found vaguely familiar.

"We should have enough gold coins with our recent hunts. Let's look around."

Klaris tried his best to suppress his excitement. Gaining a Spirit Technique was a dream he had never been able to achieve all throughout his life. It was only now that he was in the Hivemind that he could have a taste of power.

He was grateful for such an opportunity.

"What do you think of this?" Magnus instantly spoke up, "Giant's Force. It increases your physical attributes as well, on top of your natural reserves."

"That's pretty nice,"

Klaris nodded, but just as he was about to read the introduction to the Giant's Force Art, Magnus spoke again.

"Existence Halo Art, a Spirit Technique that focuses on storing an immense amount of energy inside a halo that sits above your head... This would've been great on Restiel."

Klaris was interested in that too. He swiftly accepted the parchment where the introduction was written down from Magnus.

Just then,

"Here's another good one. Draconic Art. Simple name, but you can probably guess how that is going to turn up."

One would have Spirit Energy that was akin to that of a Dragon's magic power with such an art.

Magnus was amazed by the standards put on display. They were higher than he initially thought.

The only problem is that...

"They only train you up until a certain level," Magnus muttered.

The Giant's Force Art would only bring a human up to 4-stars at best.

The Existence Halo Art had no true limit, but building enough energy to match a 5-star threat was extremely difficult.

As for the Draconic Art, it was incomplete. Going up to only 3-stars.

This made Magnus ask himself,

'How far does the Soul Devourer Art go?'

He recalled the information he received from the Half-Night Tome and recalled it going up to 8-stars.

It was an excellent Spirit Technique for sure. At 8-stars, one can slay a regular 1-star human adult from across the continent. Some can even butcher an entire continent's population of 1-star humans.

Of course, that was if there was no interference.

"But what about after that?" Magnus worried, but he quickly shook his head, "I'm not even at 2-stars yet... I'll worry about that when I get there."

Magnus then began waiting as Klaris sifted through the many Spirit Techniques put on display here. Hummolus was truly a special place. It was impossible to see a similar sight like this in other cities.

People usually kept Spirit Techniques to themselves. They did not want strangers practising the same techniques as they do, thus the natural formation of cliques and factions.

Here in Hummolus, however, it was a race for survival. The loyal citizens of the city were all one faction. As long as you used their currency, you could buy anything.

Using their currency meant that you had earned your part against the undead. It was a telltale sign.

And that was all that mattered to them.

That was why Magnus was very swift in becoming a part of their society. He was very diligent when it came to killing the undead, and the marketplace keepers had already met up with him once.

They asked a few questions and answered some as well. It was a pleasant meeting at the end of it, and Magnus wasn't bothered by their attention.

He was allowed to keep killing undead and that was all that mattered to him.

"I have to go deeper into the mountain if I want to find more undead..." Magnus thought to himself. He still had to kill 5 more monsters and collect their characteristics.

He was going to kill another 4-line Zombie later as he goes beyond the city. He still needed to collect its brain.

As for the undead that Magnus was expecting to see,

"Spectres, wraiths, banshees, and fallen angels..." Magnus looked through the scroll that Vieth had given Restiel.

Ethereal types.

Magnus was also an ethereal type of undead. Perhaps he could learn something on top of completing his Trial.

[ Hey Magnus, ] A voice sounded in his mind at that moment. It was Klaris, contacting him through the Hivemind.

[ You still have that zombie heart with you, right? ]

[ I do. ]

[ Then I found a Spirit Technique I can use. ]

Klaris then walked up in front of Magnus and handed him a parchment.

Magnus gave it a read,

"Hydra Hearts Art... multiplies one's Spirit Energy reserves... requires the hearts of different monsters to function."

Magnus raised a brow.

It seemed like a rather creepy Spirit Technique, but Magnus wasn't judging.

It was just that, the first heart that Magnus was going to give Klaris was one from an undead... That Ring of Undead Fate was giving him chills.

"I'm pretty sure this art and the heart probably appeared here because of that ring as well, so we might as well use its convenience," Klaris spoke.

Klaris then switched to mental comms,

[ I've also caught wind of the Hydra Hearts Art in modern-day Thare. Do you remember? 3rd of December. When I was 24. ]

[ Right! ] Magnus exclaimed. [ I see, I see... for a Spirit Technique to last until modern-day Thare, it must be good. We can later cross-reference the modern version with the ancient version. ]

Magnus nodded,

"Very well, let us take this one then."

They swiftly paid the price for a copy of the Spirit Technique, draining their savings in an instant. Magnus sighed at the sight of his empty coin purse while Klaris put on an awkward smile.

"I'll begin practising now then."

Klaris retreated into seclusion with the zombie heart in hand. He headed over to the inn they stayed at and locked the door

Magnus smiled wryly as he unsummoned himself. He was going to sleep in the Hivemind while Klaris trains.

.

.

.

When Magnus woke up, he was surprised to see Klaris already at 1.8-stars.

"That was fast," Magnus said, his surprise laced in his tone.

"It's all thanks to the zombie's heart. It came from a zombie that had breached 3-stars, so of course, it would have quite an effect on me." Klaris paused for a moment, "Now though, I have an extra heart squeezed into my body."

"At least you won't die right away if you were stabbed in one heart. You still have the other."

"Right," Klaris massaged his chest, "This zombie heart also gives me an undead-like ability. I can heal whenever I eat meat."

"..." Magnus.

"..." Klaris.

"Ring of Undead Fate." They said at the same time.

Escaping such a fate was seemingly impossible. Perhaps Magnus would have to figure out a way to grab hearts of a different nature to give Klaris. If he accidentally turns the man into another undead, Magnus would have to get a second Klaris.

"...Now that I think about it, I should really get a second Klaris. One for backup purposes..." Magnus thought.

"That might be a good idea. I can just transfer bodies if I turn into an undead," Klaris even agreed.