-----3rd Pov------
As Ray activated the contract formation, the natural energy started supplying Sophia, pushing her back to her prime. After that, both of them were sealed inside a dome of soul power, causing Sophia's body to turn into golden liquid and enter Ray's body.
Afterward, Ray began absorbing her, forming a link between them. Once he succeeded in that part, he started to build his Fate Ring and integrate Sophia into his mental space.
But here began his problem — his mental capacity couldn't keep up, causing his spiritual sea to start cracking. In this disastrous position, all Ray could do was hold on and hope that Sophia would help somehow. But help came from an unexpected guest.
As time passed and he reached his limit, negative thoughts began to invade his mind.
"Am I going to die again? I didn't even leave the forest, let alone explore the world…"
As his thoughts grew hazy, his spiritual sea became littered with cracks. In heart-stabbing pain, his awareness began to fade, his feelings bottling up until he almost gave up. Then, he remembered the little kid left behind in Plana — and, in a fraction of a second, the picture of his past life and how he began his life in this world came together.
Then it hit him — how he was about to cause that child to live a motherless life.
At that moment, his past life's mother's picture came to his mind. Then all the feelings and memories he thought he'd forgotten came rushing back to the front of his mind — how he lived a hard life in the orphanage, how he fought to graduate, how he worked until he was kicked out, how he found peace in a slow-paced life beside the beach and forest.
And finally, how much he loved playing with the orphanage kids next door — something he always made time for.
Why? Well, as he liked to say: "It's really sad to see a kid growing up without parents; that only leads them to lose their innocence. So, I make sure they enjoy at least a few minutes of the childhood I never had."
At that moment, his train of thought changed.
"If I die, I die alone. There's no place for me in the seven heavens if I cause someone to become an orphan. No death for me today."
With newfound determination, his spiritual power surged, stopping the cracks as he neared completion of the spirit ring formation.
At that moment, he heard a voice he never thought he'd hear again so soon:
"Well, as expected, you pulled through. The reason is surprising, though. I'll help you integrate with the little deer — take a rest for now."
Ray was about to speak but felt sleepy. "Ancestor…"
On the side, the mysterious lady who had sent him to this world stood there smiling, raising her left hand as white misty particles drifted from it, healing every crack in the spiritual sea while it expanded visibly, leading the Ring Internalization as his body and bloodline easily withstood the change.
She came closer to Ray and said, "That should teach you a lesson for the future. Still, you're in for some scolding later. Hmph." Then she disappeared.
That's right — although the process was possible, he left two big holes in his theory. The entire process, though seemingly different, was based on the same principle as absorbing a soul ring — and heavily concentrated on the first stage.
(Ring Dissolution: Needs enough spiritual power to withstand it, or the Soul Master will die.
Ring Internalization: Needs enough physical power to withstand it, or the Soul Master will die.)
That sums it up.
The first step involves destroying the ring. In a normal contract, the spirit beast sacrifices a tiny spark of its essence, used in the formation to create a perfect soul ring for the human.
The formation uses external energy to absorb surrounding power and compress it until the ring reaches its suitable age (depending on the host's potential). The remaining energy is sent to the soul beast to strengthen its bloodline and body, accelerating its maturity (aging faster).
After that, the same process as a normal ring applies, though it passes easily since the ring is custom-made with a skill originating from the beast.
As for what Ray was trying to pull — instead of breaking the sacrificed essence, he was breaking and reforming the beast itself (literally) into a purely spiritual entity linked to him, using his soul as an anchor to exist.
That not only broke every link she had before but also all her attachments to the world itself.
All that could be said was that Ray was lucky to do it inside Plana. If he pulled that stunt outside, he would definitely have been welcomed by one hell of a lightning storm. But here, instead, Sophia received a boost in energy due to the friendly environment.
Moving to the second problem — his soul and spiritual capacity. In simpler terms, how old a ring one could withstand at each rank. Usually, a soul master could hold up to a 400-year-old ring maximum for their first ring.
As for Ray, he could handle up to a 30,000-year-old ring, thanks to his strong and unique body, martial spirit, and bloodline — which strengthened his physique ten times more than anyone in the same rank, giving him a crazy start.
But he had never considered Sophia's intelligence and her Crystal element. As with most spirit beasts (with few exceptions), the more intelligent a beast is, the stronger its spiritual power becomes — and vice versa. The higher the spiritual realm, the wiser they are.
And Sophia, a Crystal Deer, could be counted among top-level semi-spiritual beasts. Her Crystal element was a high-end dual attribute of spirituality and light. (In this fanfic, the crystal element is a mutated form of spiritual power.)
So, during the 'Dissolutioning' — in this case, the marking of the link acting as a holder for the Fate skill — Ray exceeded the capacity his soul could withstand. Basically, he accepted Sophia into his spiritual sea when there was no room left.
But by forcing himself to hold together until the end, his sea expanded. And with the Lady's help, there would be no side effects — only some bonuses later down the line.
-----Ray 1 Pov------
I opened my eyes again in the field of Plana.
Looking around to close them again, remembering what had happened. After a quick review of my actions, I sighed. "Yup, that was a stupid move."
As I was about to stand, I heard a voice in my mind: "Good that you know."
Right after that, crystal particles escaped my body and began forming beside me — taking the shape of a deer with crystal antlers.
"You're lucky your ancestor meddled with you, but I guess it's half my fault. I thought since you knew my species, you also knew about this special property of the crystal element." Sophia looked at me with a half-reproachful, half-apologetic face.
"Did anything change?" I asked. Though her form didn't change much, her size had shrunk to that of a normal deer. At my question, she looked at me.
"Except for changing into a soul entity, I've raised my age to 40,000. Also, the stronger I become, the older your ring will get — and I gained the ability to control my size." Sophia nodded before giving me a mischievous look. "But that's not important now. How do I know your memories — that you're from another universe?"
She had seen my memories. Not surprising, since I saw hers just before I woke up.
"So, what do you think?" she asked.
"In what?" I replied.
She chuckled and said, "About you being from another world — and this one being fiction there."
I sighed. "Yeah… that."
"Nothing really," she said. "I know for sure we exist. And I think I made the right decision being your partner. Other than that, just take your time to get used to it."
Sophia stepped closer and rested her head on my shoulder.
Honestly, that caught me by surprise. I might not show it, but I still had the feeling that one day I'd wake up again in that old beach house, hearing the sound of waves. The more time passed here, the more that feeling turned into fear.
"Remember — this is real. And now you've got me in your head to remind you."
That made me really happy.
I felt bad that I had almost caused her death, yet she was chill about it. So, I just smiled. "Sorry for before — and I'll leave my back to you, my Fate Partner."
Sophia nodded. "Don't worry about it. Fate Partner?"
"Oh, right, I never told you about that," I said, realizing. "Fate Partner is the name I gave our relationship. Our fates are linked — so, Fate Partners. And…"
I activated my martial soul, and two black rings with golden designs rose from my feet, hovering behind me. "This ring is a symbol of our link. I'll call them Fate Rings."
Sophia nodded in understanding. "I see. A fitting name. Now let's look for my child — he might cause trouble here." She started walking toward the forest.
"Oh, come on, it's his home now — let him be," I said, walking beside her, drawing a surprised look before she smiled again.
In the middle of our way to the forest, Sophia stopped and looked at me as if she wanted to say something.
"Hey, I need a favor!" Sophia said shyly. "I have a couple of friends in the forest — mind if they take shelter here?"
'Oh, from her memory — there's that group of beasts that cut ties with the outside world…' remembering that part, I nodded.
"Sure, let's go," I said, turning and opening a gate.
"Eh?" Sophia froze for a second before noticing the smirk on my face. "I know, I know — sorry."
Leaving those words behind, she jumped after me. She already knew I wouldn't mind or question it, since I'd seen her memories just as she had seen mine.
In fact, she knew that even if she hadn't asked and just brought them, I wouldn't have minded.
Hell, she even know I would have done so sooner or later — partly for her, and partly because of the ability of one of her friends' beast clans, which would definitely help me here.
After exiting the gate, we found ourself in the forest again, I give Sophia a node and were about to sprint out in a certain direction known for us.
___________________________________________
New arc starts next chapter!!!! (little one)
Do you guys feel like the pace was a bit too fast?