Dyne was knocked unconscious from the attack. Strafe didn’t even have a shred of compassion for him.
The process that Cultivators go through was harsh and challenging. People can train the body, but they cannot strengthen the organs easily.
There were various methods made to do that. But Strafe had never seen someone who was so advanced in their Soul Cultivation that it changed cultivators' previously established progression. Introducing the elements to the body's vulnerable organs was one way for cultivators to increase their durability. And Dyne used elements that come from the soul.
Strafe had the best his world has to offer. He had the most amazing teacher, and his path in Cultivating always used the best alternative to grow. Because of this, he thought he had the “right way” of cultivation.
He started so young, younger than the age most cultivators start cultivating, because when it was not physically ideal for Strafe to cultivate, he already began Soul Cultivation. So Strafe was already exposed to the ways of cultivating the soul and gone through many meditative practices. But like any cultivator, his progress in Soul Cultivation was the last to progress despite his genius status. That was how hard Soul Cultivation was.
But not for Dyne. The moment he became a Soul Cultivator, he introduced hot burning soul elements in his body. Strafe didn’t know that this was slowly increasing Dyne’s resistance to heat. He spent a week doing that cultivation technique and even becoming a bridge for Bertugo, Brod, and the Slimes, which increased his resistance.
Strafe thought that Dyne was able to do all that because of the huge secret behind Drake Water. And when Dyne was doing the same thing to Vahn and Tetsu near Hunter Springs, Strafe attributed it to the mixed nature of the water that sprang from Drake and would get mixed by the Slime King’s nest. But now, he realized that his resistance had increased to the point that he could do it without Hunter Spring and Drake Water.
Strafe thought that what Dyne was going through was to create the core of the seed. But Dyne went ahead and made the entire seed itself. And when Dyne went all the way, Strafe was checking on the limit and tolerance of Dyne. It was then he was shocked. Dyne could resist up to 700% of what the Standard level Elemental Spirit Seed could create.
“Just what kind of a monster did he send?”
Soon Dyne had woken up.
“Urgh…” Dyne groaned.
“Master Dyne! Thank goodness, you’re alright!” Tetsu was relieved. The group had been carefully moving and had to use Chicken King and Golden Compass to make their travels faster. They were now near River Reach.
“Lord Dyne! What happened?” Meta immediately asked.
“I don’t know… the last thing I remember… I was talking to Strafe.” Dyne shook his head.
“Let me ask him…” Dyne closed his eyes once again.
“What happened?” Dyne asked Strafe.
“You were relapsing in elemental powers, so I had to send a spiritual blast to contain the leaking energy.” Strafe gave his vague answers.
“Oh. So is it alright now?”
“Not sure.” Strafe replied as he couldn’t promise to send another blast in his irritation towards Dyne.
“But it should be alright for now. Your body is also stable.” Strafe added.
“Oh, ok…” Dyne nodded.
“It seems it was my body relapsing with the energy. But Strafe- Oh! Sorry, Meta. You’re uncomfortable every time I say Tieg’s real name… Tieg said that my bodies alright for now. Dyne explained.
“Let’s just get you back so you can properly rest,” Tetsu answered and continued moving.
Dyne closed his eyes once more and noticed that the energies swirling in his body had more vibrancy.
“Oh… So that’s why the heart is the best place to start.” Dyne noticed that his body was so different compared to Vahn.
Recalling their discussion, he noticed that Vahn’s arm had already merged with the Ra-Seru, and the properties of his hands were changing. But for Vahn, the changes only extended towards Vahn’s elbows. But the spread in Dyne’s body was larger. It had already covered his chest, making the effects at least three times greater.
“That is the power of having your heart change. The heart is a center for Life Energy. Even when you still have a mortal body, the heart naturally has the most Life Energy. And now, with a Brimstone Heart, this changes your growth progression.” Strafe explained.
“Cool. Pretty soon, I can now live longer and reach a hundred!” Dyne joked.
“You already can. Right now, your decay, entropy, and human decomposition have been slowed down. You could live up to a hundred and fifty years as if they were just sixty years if we use the standard of your world. So you could go to about three hundred if you remain healthy. You are also now more immune to other death-related entities such as sickness, diseases, and even poison.”
“What?!” Dyne was shocked that he exclaimed, surprising Tetsu and Meta.
“Master Dyne?” Vahn asked worriedly. Tetsu had been running and panting that he couldn’t find the breath to ask.
“No-Nothing. Sorry. I was just amazed by my awesomeness.” Dyne immediately closed his eyes, drawing curious eyes from Tetsu and Vahn.
“How did that happen? How did the change in my heart do that?” Dyne asked Strafe.
“Feeding your body Life energy can never really eliminate the Death energy that makes up your body. There are special ways to combine the Life Energy stored in you, and this world has a few. You did something that surpassed even my plans. You were never supposed to have that. It’s extremely advantageous, but it makes your body cultivation harder.”
“You’re referring to the Genesis Tree? So what about my level cap? Can I now reach higher levels because of the converted Death energy in my body?”
“Judging by the Life energy that resides in your body, you should be able to reach level six. Of course, your current body allows you to breach more levels if you awaken a Genesis Tree. But the issue is, you already have a Brimstone Heart and an Elemental Spirit Seed. Those two will absorb energy.” Strafe explained.
“Isn’t that advantageous?”
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“Hugely. I guess it fits you. You see, the energy will only be in your body, and you can release it. But for Vahn and the rest of the Ra-Seru wearers, the life energy is divided towards their physical bodies, making them stronger and harder. Even bullets won’t kill them soon. But as for you, because you have those seeds and that heart, the Life Energy will be condensed there, but your body won’t receive as much life energy compared to Vahn and the rest.”
“Meaning… Am I a glass cannon? Well, in my world, a single properly-aimed bullet can kill me.”
“Yes. So that’s why this is profitable for you. You are already used to being a glass cannon. Cultivators emphasize on defense.”
“What’s the max level I can reach in this world if I awaken all Genesis Trees?”
“For Vahn and the rest, probably level twenty. You? About fifteen. It could be less depending on how greedy your seed is. I won’t be surprised that you won’t even reach level fifteen.”
“What? Wait… Isn’t this a little too unfair even for Vahn? They can only max at level twenty.
“It’s cultivation. It was never meant to be easy. But it’s possible to pass it. You were never meant to train the body here. That’s just a plus. Remember, you will go to my world soon and embark on the journey there. Legaia will always be by your side to be a training ground to be a Soul Cultivator. Which is slowly losing its purpose now that you awakened the Spirit Seed.”
“This thing in my heart is that amazing?”
“Yes. Let me tell you what I envisioned for this game. The Spirit Arts of the Monks would teach you how to wield your Spirit like a weapon. This will be the foundational means for you to use your soul to strengthen the body. But you easily did that. I thought you’d only be able to do that when you get your Ra-Seru.”
“What? But… Spirit Arts are easy to learn!”
Strafe wanted to slap Dyne again but contained his emotions.
“Moving on, by partnering with a Ra-Seru who will be linked to your life, you could see firsthand just how they use the soul to convert the energy into something else. The Spirit Arts of Monks uses the soul for pure physical strengthening. Serus and Ra-Serus are soul creatures that specialize in creation and energy. That’s why despite the Serus having rocky or metallic forms, they can still shoot fire.”
“Ok. I understand that. So even with my Seed, that ability is still far-off for me, right?”
Strafe REALLY wanted to slap Dyne and even controlled the urge to spirit blast Dyne.
“Um… no. It’s now possible for you to do that. You see that red orb in the middle of Meta?”
“Yeah?”
“That’s an Elemental Spirit Seed.”
“What?” Strafe opened his eyes and voiced his shock.
“That’s right. You have become a Ra-Seru-like creature in this world.”
“I’m like a Ra-Seru?!” Dyne shouted.
The group was startled at Dyne’s shout.
He had been piggybacking on Tetsu.
“Lord Dyne?” Meta was surprised.
“Sorry. We’ll talk later, Meta. Kind of busy with Tieg!” Dyne replied and immediately closed his eyes.
“Ra-Seru’s are Elemental Spirit Seed?”
“They aren’t solely Elemental Spirit Seeds. They have other parts and are made up of various things, and are actual lifeforms. And I won’t explain it now because it’s not important.” Truthfully, Strafe didn’t want to explain those things because Dyne might immediately seek these things out and acquire or enhance them independently.
“Then am I my own Ra-Seru? I can absorb Gimards?”
“No. At least, at your current level and with what you have, you still can’t. Let me explain what the Elemental Spirit Seeds are. They are physical manifestations of your soul. And it isn’t like Spirit or those attacks you release. Those are Soul energies. A Spirt Seed is something that your soul develops and implants on your body. In my world, there were many ways to create it and many places to put it. As for you, I added the extra chamber near your heart.”
“What do you mean a physical manifestation?”
“It means your soul, which didn’t have locality, presence, or from in the physical dimensions, finally have one! And that link between the soul and the physical allows you to maximize the ways of harnessing Soul energy! While you can’t absorb a Gimard, you can use elemental magic from your soul just like a Gimard can!”
“WHAT?" Dyne was stunned.
"So I can do magic? You said that if I enter Breath of Fire back then, I wouldn't be able to do magic and stuff.”
"And now, you have reached that level! Breath of Fire is a fairly advanced world. It has basic Soul Cultivation and a more advanced form of Mind Cultivation. That's how people in their world can do magic! Everyone in that world has mixed souls. I made them by combining humans and sprites. You should know which characters I'm talking about."
Dyne knew full well as he recalled all game characters. Each character in Breath of Fire could learn their own specific sets of magic as they level up.
"Nina. She knows Wind Magic. Ursula knows Fire, Scias knows Ice and Cray, Earth. And now, you know the magic that can only happen in Breath of Fire when attacks combine through combos! That’s what it means to be your own Ra-Seru!” Strafe explained.