Episode 44 The Unsealing of Power Through a Split Soul!

A stunning flash of blue suddenly cuts through the air, slashing through Kunai’s eyes and reaching far deeper into the very depths of his soul. As the sword is drawn out, Kunai feels a powerful, explosive surge rush through his body. He collapses onto both knees, and screams out loud, as his very soul is torn apart.

“Wh…what have you done?!” Kunai gasps from the floor.

“Lesson One,” Azuma begins, “soul fission.”

“What have you done to me?!” Kunai repeats.

“You felt it, didn’t you?” Azuma replies, his voice low.

A crashing wave of unbelievable power washes over Kunai, as he reaches his hands forward, almost grasping a tangible feeling of invincibility. The power surges, exploding in one frightful wave, and then dissipates into nothing, leaving Kunai to kneel on his knees feeling hollowed out.

“It feels as though a wave of unbelievable power is coursing through you, feeding you, empowering you. It feels as though suddenly you’ve become invincible,” Azuma answers for Kunai.

“Exactly…” Kunai murmurs slowly.

He gradually rises from the ground, looking at his empty palms. “That feeling’s gone now, though…” he mutters, staring at them. “And…what was that just now, exactly?”

“Oh?” Azuma mutters, a mild tone of surprise in his voice. “You did not notice?”

“Notice wh…” Kunai suddenly glances down, and realizes that all of his armor, save Myou, has disappeared, to be replaced by a pair of shabby blue shorts and a white T-Shirt. “My armor! What—”

“I have split your soul,” Azuma explains.

“Wait…that’s impossible,” Kunai replies, “I thought only Paradoxes could attack someone’s soul!”

“That is untrue,” Azuma answers. “The fact of the matter is, nearly anyone, even you, can attack another person’s soul directly, granted that you are in spirit form, anyway. Put simply, dead people, ghosts, demons, and the sort.”

Kunai clutches his right eye, his hand convulsing slightly. “And you…split my soul just now…” he mutters disbelievingly.

“Do not look so surprised,” Azuma retorts casually, “it is a standard constant in the world of souls.”

“Right,” Kunai mutters. He looks at his arms, apparently empty of their usual vigor. He flexes his fingers, grasping at a Steely. “Something doesn’t feel right about this. You mind telling me how I got popped right outta my armor?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised by that either,” Azuma begins, “considering I’ve just switched your soul process.”

“Stop using all these terms,” Kunai replies, “what is a soul process?”

“Recall that I’ve already taught you that each and every soul is its own functioning process. A split soul works exactly the same as well. Except that since there are multiple souls within one body, it is unavoidable that one would dominate over the other, or others.

“Right now, you’ve three soul processes inside your body, and each one is different: Hermit, Chief Bandit, and Beginner. When you’ve got multiple processes at the same time, usually only one is dominant all the time. The others remain in recession, and merely work behind the scenes.

“These recessive souls normally would not be able to interfere at all with the functions of the dominant soul, but they are linked by what you and I would call Hybrid Seals, enabling them to work cooperatively with the dominant soul.

“Usually when a Paradox attacks you, your soul process would not be switched. But I purposely aimed for that, switching your soul process from Hermit to this newly split portion of your soul when I hit you.”

“But…why am I a Beginner?” Kunai asks. “What happened to my powers as a Hermit?!”

“Your Beginner soul process is currently not connected to your other soul processes by a Hybrid Seal, meaning it can in no way contact them. Your Hermit skills are nonexistent when you are in this form. Remember, when you create a Hybrid Seal, you essentially take on the powers of the blood donator, but considering a Hybrid Seal has not been created yet, you are merely a Beginner, a classless lowlife.”

“This is…” Kunai mutters, picking up his Steely. He launches it, but it merely lands on the ground with a dull clink, lifeless. “I can’t even use Lucky Seven correctly…”

“However, while Hybrid Seals may be safe and useful, they rely too heavily on another’s power. You really only just inherit your blood donator’s strength. That method is not viable for one who seeks more power. From the moment that link is created, there is a set limit.

“So, another method of sealing together multiple soul processes was developed in order to make the Hybrid Seal unnecessary to maintain soul balance. These methods are called ‘soul fission,’ and ‘soul fusion.’”

“Soul fission and soul fusion?” Kunai mutters questioningly.

“Yes,” Azuma replies, “do you know how the atom operates on the atomic plane?”

“A…tom?” Kunai says slowly. “Uh…wait, what does that have to do with anything?”

“Just as the atom is the base of everything that exists, the soul is the base of every being that exists. When you split an atom, much energy is produced. That is nuclear fission. When you combine two atoms, much energy is produced. That is nuclear fusion.

“The soul operates in exactly the same way. When you split a soul, much energy is produced. That is soul fission. When you combine two or more souls, much energy is produced. That is soul fusion.”

Azuma stares silently at Kunai for some time, as Kunai stares right back. “When I split your soul, you felt a tremendous amount of power surge through you, correct?”

“Exactly,” Kunai replies, “I was wondering what that was.”

“That was the power produced through soul fission. The splitting of your soul created vast amounts of energy so great that it could’ve destroyed you and me together,” Azuma answers.

“Wait, if that’s true, then shouldn’t we all be blown to pieces by now?” Kunai asks.

“Not true,” Azuma retorts. “Unless it is condensed, the power produced by soul fission will only dissipate into the atmosphere when left alone, and that immense power goes to waste.

“It is different with Paradoxes. You see, they do not meaninglessly attack souls. The power that is produced by soul fission is what draws them, and what urges them to attack souls. It is food to them, and nurtures them. When they split your soul, they eat that energy that is produced.”

Kunai glares at his empty hands, closing them tightly in a fist. He looks up once again as Azuma speaks. “Any questions, Kunai?”

“Yeah,” he replies, “just one. What was causing my headaches from before? I’ve noticed they’ve stopped for a while now.”

“Your headaches,” Azuma replies slowly, “were caused by a soul imbalance within you. Tell me, when did they start?”

“Huh?” Kunai murmurs, surprised by the returned question. “Uh…around the time we found Lily, I think. Right when we got to The End of the World.”

“I see,” Azuma mutters, “then I was correct. It is a soul imbalance caused by the strange circumstances regarding the way in which your soul was split the first time.”

“Huh? You know about that?” Kunai cries.

“Yes. Arai informed me of those details when I asked him to recount his journey with you,” Azuma replies. “As a result, I have done much research regarding the way in which your soul split was formed.”

“What do you mean? What’s so special about the way my soul was split that time?” Kunai asks.

“It is because it was not split by a Paradox. The Paradox merely destroyed the soul that you split yourself by summoning your other self with your Copycat technique. As a result, that portion of your soul was killed, while the rest of your soul lived. You were basically living with a partially dead soul, yet you were able to maintain function properly as if nothing had gone wrong.

“The circumstances regarding that case became even more interesting with the introduction of your claw, Myou. It was made by Lord Kimura posing as myself, correct? It is very strange that he would use a Paradox to make that claw…”

“Why?” Kunai asks.

“During my research of the Undead Soul Return files that the gods keep in their informational halls, I was able to track exactly which Paradox was brought back with an undead seal to the real world. It was a Paradox labeled under the code name ‘Regret.’”

“Regret…?” Kunai mutters slowly. “I’ve heard that name before…”

“It was the Paradox that Lord Fyx tried to kill us with when we were captured at Haven, remember, Kunai?” Arai says suddenly from Kunai’s left.

Kunai turns to Arai, a light gleaming in his eyes. “You’re right! I remember now! Regret the Paradox! We only just barely escaped from it.”

“Apparently sometime later Regret was brought back to the Maple World with an undead seal. It later then became the Undead Paradox you would slay in order to make your claw, Kunai,” Azuma continues.

Kunai’s eyes widen for a minute, as he raises Myou up to his eyes, staring at its smooth, blackened contours. “You mean to say that this…that Myou, right here, is Regret…?”

“Yes,” Azuma answers, “it is Regret indeed. It seems that once you put on that claw, it fused with your soul, and took up residence within the empty space that had been left where your soul should’ve been after the first split. It was true that you had gained Chief Bandit powers to fill up that void, but there was still a large, empty space where your soul formerly should have been.

“However, it seems that though the Paradox had bound with your soul, its corruption had not reached you at all. The Hybrid Seal connecting your two soul processes was weak, and you could only just barely tap into it. Perhaps that is why you never truly mastered Myou’s power except in times of high stress, where you would subconsciously draw large amounts of power from it.

“The circumstances became even stranger when you drew nearer to The End of the World, the gate to the Underworld in the Night World. Apparently then a soul imbalance occurred within your soul, as your dominant soul process grew weaker.

“Your dominant soul process had been progressively growing weaker all the time, due to the pressure Regret exerted on your soul. It also became coupled with the fact the dead portion of your soul was calling out to you as you drew closer to the Underworld.

“The headaches were a result of the imbalance with your two soul processes as they fought with each other to gain dominance over the other. If your recessive soul process had taken complete control at that time, Regret would have gained control over your body.”

“Gained control…over my body?” Kunai murmurs softly.

“Thankfully, that did not happen, however, so you have nothing to worry about,” Azuma replies reassuringly. “But now that I have taught you about the nature of your soul, we must move on to the details concerning your training.”

“What are you going to teach me?” Kunai asks for the second time.

“Five things,” Azuma replies, “that shall be completed over the course of five days. Firstly, soul fission. You have already gained the required knowledge regarding souls. Lesson One is completed.

“Second, sword training. Next, soul fusion. Fourth, releasing Myou. And lastly, I shall teach you the Forbidden Skill Book.”

Azuma slowly reaches for the sword sheathed by his side, grasping its protruding hilt thoughtfully for a moment. At last, he lets it go, and speaks to Kunai again. “Are you ready?”

“I’m sorry Azuma,” Kunai mutters, folding his arms. Azuma raises an eyebrow.

“I really don’t have the time to train these five days. My friends are going to need me in the Rift World. Isn’t there a faster way of getting this done?”

“Of course,” Azuma mutters quietly.

“Then,” Kunai replies, “let’s get this done in three days.”

Next Time: Episode 45 Glimmering Blade

Arai: Oh boy! Sword training! Next time, we unveil Kunai’s new identity…Master Swordsman! How will this change Kunai, as he drops his Steelys and picks up the metal blade? Get ready, as the warrior reveals himself!

Episode 45 Glimmering Blade coming soon!
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Enjoy the 100th chapter of the Phoneme Series (extras don’t count)!