Chapter 204 Thanksgiving
"We've made it back!" Dorian smiled as he looked around the familiar room, his eyes shining. His smile faded slightly as he looked at the various pillars that were holding up the roof.
All of them were crumbling and cracked, the pristine appearance they'd had before nowhere to be seen.
'I must've damaged them by breaking the last chains that I could break, even if this area is still a dead zone.' He realized, nodding his head slightly.
'Huh… is this ol' Karsos's throne room?' A voice echoed in Dorian's mind, feeling as if it was right behind him.
"Woah!" Dorian spun around, his eyes widening as he stared at the speaker.
"Kaladin? What exactly are you now?" He blinked.
Right in front of him was a glowing orb of yellow light. The orb was slightly translucent, letting him just barely see through it. As the orb floated, it bobbed up and down, refusing to remain in one place.
'He kind of looks like Mister Bubble.' Dorian noted wryly.
'This is my soul, manifested in reality. Angelic Class souls can last quite a bit, though the advanced age of my soul will cut that time down pretty harshly. I probably have less than an hour to live.' Kaladin said cheerfully.
WHOOSH
The ball of light shifted and stretched, gradually transforming into a floating image of Kaladin, down to the lightning bolt scar that cut across his face and his spiky blonde hair.
'Pretty cool, right? Bet you've never seen an Angelic Class soul out in the wild, eh?' He grinned at Dorian, apparently ignoring the fact that he was slowly dying.
Dorian's mind went back to when he was rescuing Will, all the way back on the world he'd first landed on, Hasnorth.
'That old Wizard guy that rewarded me for saving Will back then… wasn't he an Angelic Class Wizard? That must've been part of why he could last so long, despite being only a soul!' Dorian came to a certain realization.
"No, I have. I can see the similarities between you two a bit." Dorian nodded.
Kaladin eyed him briefly before sighing,
'You're not lying.'
"Nope!" Dorian replied, upbeat.
Kaladin sighed again, shaking his head ruefully,
'Mr. Demon Dorian, you seem to have led quite the wild life so far. How old are you, 50 years? 70? To have seen so man-'
"I think I'm… a couple months old? Maybe 2 and a half? 3?" His Jade Memory boosted his memory greatly, but it didn't make all of his old memories from before he had the Ability have perfect recall. The exact amount of time he had been in the 30,000 Worlds was a bit fuzzy to him.
Kaladin sighed deeply and held his hands out to the side in complete surrender, laughing.
'Never mind.'
Dorian waited for a moment and then spoke out loud, turning his attention to a different topic,
"Heyo, Fifteen. Looks like your trap didn't quite work perfectly, huh?" As he talked, he walked over to the doorway he'd arrived at. He grabbed one of the handles, tugging on it.
He frowned. The handle remained in place. Fifteen didn't respond, either because he couldn't or because he was choosing not to.
'I still can't sense any Laws, and I'm basically out of most Law Energy.' His mind raced ahead as he tried to figure out a plan.
"Hup!" In quick succession, Dorian punched forward several times, his clawed hands slamming into the doorway.
'Nothing.' His eyes flashed,
'The Councilmembers should be able to hold up for a couple of hours at most…' He thought, taking a step back,
'How do I get out of here?!'
As Dorian was contemplating his situation, Kaladin's figure floated over.
'I hate to bother you right now, but I will disperse and die pretty soon if you can't help me construct a body.' His voice maintained its unwavering optimism, his tone casual and without fear, as if he was talking about the weather.
"Right, right." Dorian nodded at him,
"Hold on…" Dorian stared at him, concentrating,
"I don't have any genetic information about you, or even your original body. Do you have anything I can use to help reform your physique?"
'I can help with a bit of that.' Kaladin nodded,
'As a former Angelic Class expert, I still contain a bit of my old strength. While I can't reform my old body, I can create a small piece of Soul Skin that is bound to my soul.'
Bright light flashed as Kaladin's body wavered. Just a moment later, a small piece of glowing light appeared in the air, separating itself from the Great Hero.
"Soul Skin?" Dorian muttered out loud as he looked at the floating object. When his eyes got used to the warm yellow light, he could faintly make out what looked like… skin, he guessed. It wasn't as if a piece of skin had a very unique look on its own.
'Yes. All Angelic Class beings can form a Soul Body, condensed from the energy of their Soul Spell Matrix and the Laws they study, gathered over time. Mine was almost completely destroyed by Emperor Karsos, but over time, I managed to condense a small piece of it.' Kaladin seemed to shrug,
'Without access to my Law of Heavenly Lightning, I was unable to make much progress beyond this.'
"Oh, I see." Dorian's eyes widened slightly when he heard the Law Kaladin had studied.
'The Law of Heavenly Lightning? Dude, that's badass!' He kept the thought to himself as he raised a finger, tapping on the Soul Skin. Gaining an ally out of one of the Great Heroes, especially a former Angelic Class warrior, was definitely worth the price of reviving him, if it was possible.
Immediately, he felt his finger tingle. As soon as he touched it, he could sense that there was some type of genetic material he could replicate or absorb here.
'It's only because of my unquestionable talent, looks, charm, charisma, style, intelligence, body odo-' Dorian ignored Kaladin as the man went off on a tangent, staring at the Soul Skin.
'Well, absorbing it would kill him, so I can't do that.' He tossed the thought from his mind as he stared at it.
'Ausra, show me my Growth Points!' He commanded, thinking it over. He knew he had a large number of Points, but it had cost him millions of Points to revive Will, even when he used Veritas' body. Whether or not he could revive Kaladin would largely depend on that.
–
-Balance Demon – Growth Stage: (3/3) Elder Demon –
Growth Progress – 32,187,122/0 –
–
'Hmm, that's not that bad bu- HOLD ON! WHAT?!' He mentally yelled out loud as he saw the numbers in his mind.
'Is that 32 MILLION?!' He was shocked. Previously, holding so much energy would cause a large amount of pain to sweep through his soul. Now, however, it was a sum he hadn't even noticed.
'How did I get so many Growth Points?!' He stared at the number, at a complete loss.
'Is everything alright, Mr. Demon Dorian?' Kaladin's voice brought him back to the present.
"Y-yeah, everything is cool. Hold on, I might indeed be able to bring you back." Internally, he remained shocked.
'It must be from all the chains that were binding Moria that I shattered!' He realized after a moment's thought,
'I didn't think I was able to absorb the Sealing Tubes, so I didn't pay that much attention to them as I released them. The energy in the surrounding world was whiplashing constantly, while my entire focus was on drawing out the Sealing Tubes.' His mind raced ahead,
'I must have drawn the energy into my soul as I drew out the Sealing Tubes, without noticing due to my intense focus! It's more than possible… it's even probable that that is where the energy is from!' He realized, nodding.
'With this much energy… I should stand a very real chance at reforming his body, even if all I have is a scrap of this Soul Skin!' He smiled, looking over at the Soul Skin.
"Alright! Kaladin, float over here, would ya?" He waved at the floating soul. Kaladin waved back and then blinked, realizing what Dorian had asked after a moment. He obediently floated over.
"I'm going to try the method I have. It may feel kind of wei-"
'Hey, if you're gonna be swirling around my insides with weird chemicals or magic, I definitely do not consent.' Kaladin interjected, crossing his arms stubbornly,
'This body of mine is 100% natural grown!'
Dorian squinted at him,
"Are you really the Thunder Saint Kaladin?"
'Do you know anyone else claiming to be him?' He puffed up his chest.
He resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he clutched the Soul Skin in one hand and rested the other on Kaladin's shoulder. The floating soul felt ephemeral and cool to the touch, Dorian's hand slipping through him slightly. He felt an innate connection when he had his hand there, however, signifying that his soul was detecting it.
'Ausra… Here's what I got. Can you work with this, recreating a body for Kaladin?' After he'd gathered everything he could, he sent the fateful question over to Ausra.
'Scanning… calculating… running simulations…' Ausra's voice rang out cooly in his head.
A few moments passed, turning into a few minutes as they waited patiently. Dorian's Soul Spell Matrix was far stronger than it had been before, but he also had far less genetic material to work with, compared to now. Before, he eventually was working to morph an already formed body to match Will's soul, while now he had to recreate one out of basically thin air.
Finally, Ausra responded,
'Yes. It will cost roughly 17,827,289 Points. Success is rated at 87.26%. However, the current material will only allow for one attempt.' Her words came off mechanical.
'87% with some change? Roughly 18 million Growth Points? That's good enough!' His eyes flashed as he added out loud,
"It's possible, though I can't guarantee success! It's almost a 9 out of 10 chance I can make you a complete body! Do you wish to go through with the attempt?"
'9 out of 10?' Kaladin's response was ecstatic,
'Hahaha, Demon Boy, I used to go into battle with odds stacked against me 99 to 1! 9 to 1 in my favor, now that is something I can get behind!'
"Alright!" Dorian nodded. He didn't think Kaladin would've refused. After all, saying no would be essentially the same thing as dying.
"Then… I'll begin immediately!"
'Ausra, initiate the procedure! Let's go!' He ordered, determination filling him.
Immediately, the world around Dorian seemed to condense in. He felt as if he was growing small, his consciousness zeroing in on the patch of Soul Skin. He stared at it, feeling various bits of energy flood off from his soul as Ausra began to direct the operation.
The air quivered as dots of energy floated in the air, vibrating. Dorian's body felt hot, and then cold, and then somewhere in between, power fluctuating in his veins as the Growth Points from his soul began to pour out, soaring into the patch of Soul Skin.
'Focus, Dorian… feel the energy! Feel the Growth Energy!' Growth Energy was the manifestation of Growth Points in reality, though he used the two terms almost interchangeably.
Gradually, Dorian could vaguely sense Ausra forming some type of network of energy in the air, all centered around the patch of Soul Skin. She was even more controlled and precise than she had been before when trying to resurrect Will, probably a result of his more powerful Soul Spell Matrix.
Minutes passed as she kept working. Gradually, more and more light began to emanate from the small patch of Soul Skin. This light began to become blinding, blocking Dorian's vision, though Ausra seemed unobstructed. If not for his passive Demonic Eyes Ability, he would've long since gone blind from staring at it so intently.
"Grrr…" A growl escaped his lips as he concentrated on controlling a now-vast torrent of Growth Energy that was flowing out of his soul. This energy was powerful and vigorous, full of life.
WHOOSH
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the world around Dorian seemed to quiver as a small explosion shook the air. One last flash of light blinded him and set him to stumbling back as the patch of Soul Skin vanished from his hand.
'Success.'
"Hup!" Dorian caught himself, managing to retain his balance as he cleared his vision, looking up.
Standing in front of him was a picture-perfect, clothed replica of the Thunder Saint Kaladin, giving him a cheeky smile, no longer translucent or floating.
"Well, that worked out well." Kaladin's voice sounded exactly how it did in Dorian's mind, nodding at Dorian,
"Seems like I'm back among the living. Thank you!" The man's response was rather muted for having just come back to life.
"Yes! It worked!" Dorian fist pumped the air, jumping with excitement. He had a huge grin on his face as he looked at the Thunder Saint, beyond pleased.
He had managed to bring one of this universe's Great Heroes back to life! And it had been surprisingly easy!
'It must be because of how powerful my Soul Spell Matrix is now.' He realized, still smiling.
"This is… you made me a full Soul Body! Hahaha interesting!" As Kaladin spoke, he poked himself a few times. Each time he poked, faint blue light gleamed off his body.
"Oh right, what exactly is a Soul Body?" Dorian kept grinning as he looked at Kaladin, asking a question.
"It's a type of unique physical form that is half spiritual, half physical. With a body like this, I should be able to safely traverse the 30,000 Worlds and make it over to my Free School of Thunder without issue, though my power will be rather limited." Kaladin shrugged as he finished,
"But I'm fine with that. Far better than dying, right?" He grinned cheekily back.
Dorian nodded, feeling a sensation of tiredness sweep into him. Creating Kaladin's Soul Body had taken a lot out of him, energy that he couldn't easily replace. It was tiring to his soul, something that would take time to recover.
"That is, though, only if we can get out of here in the first place…" Kaladin gestured with his hand,
"Without access to the Laws, I'm pretty useless in this Soul Body. Well, I have my devilish good looks to raise morale, but that's about it." He sighed dramatically.
Dorian frowned, ignoring Kaladin's unusual personality as he glanced around. He focused back on the present situation.
"You're not wrong…"
"I know, I was voted Most Handsome in my Academy Class when I was gro-" Kaladin began.
"No, not about that!" Dorian glared at the Thunder Saint,
"About here. I'm not sure how we will escape."
'Guiding Light!'
WHOOSH
A brilliant sword of molten light appeared, burning in the air. Dorian wielded the sword in his hand, staring at the door in front of him as he walked up to it.
"Hah!"
FZZZZZ
The sword slammed into the door and instantly fizzled out, unable to affect it in the slightest.
"It's no use. Now that I have a Soul Body, I can sense a bit more about us. This place is sealed off from space itself, regular attacks, even powerful ones like that flaming sword, are useless." He shook his head as he continued,
"Unless you can figure out a way to teleport without using Magic and being cut off from the Laws of the Universe, it doesn't look good for us."
Dorian blinked.
Abruptly, a memory filled him. His eyes widened as he called upon Ausra.
'Ausra… do I still have the Warping Turkey Bloodline?' It was a Bloodline he had picked up but never found the time to use, mainly due to its annoying side effect.
It was a powerful beast that could teleport naturally using an Ability.
However, it also contained another Ability that could not be removed, vastly lowering its intelligence to below that of even a child. An idiot turkey, as some on Shaptle called it.
'Yes.'
'Show me that Bloodline plus any new Lord Class Bloodlines I have that I can Evolve!' He ordered.
'Acknowledged.' Ausra's voice rang out in his head as a screen popped up.
–
Stored Bloodlines
–
Lord Class
–
Igloo Demon – – – Gazelle Hoofed Fire Demon
Iron Wasp Demon – – – White Demon Worm
Blue Armed Demon – – – Yellow Beak Demon
Gorringer Tiger Demon
–
Grandmaster class
–
Warping Turkey – – – Tayzon Rhino
Midnight Bladetiger – – – Giant Bore Snake
Ester Ground Dragon… (etc)
–
He blinked a second time, slowly turning to eye Kaladin.
"Err… I might have a way out of this mess for us… but, uh… there might be a few… complications…"
"What kind of complications?" Kaladin shot back, his voice laced with suspicion.
Dorian hesitated for a split second before asking, "How good are you at handling turkeys?"
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Sunday.
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