Soul of Searing Steel

Starfall Year 833, the 15th of April, midnight.

North, the main city of Moldavia, the liege’s residence

Nights in the spring remained chilly. Mist shrouded the empty streets and the alleys. The entire city was quiet and peaceful. Other than the footsteps of the patrols marching around the city, there was no other sound to be heard.

The second half of the liege’s mansion that had been destroyed when the demon dragons tried to kill Joshua, has been fully reconstructed. In order to cover the cratered ground, the craftsmen had deliberately transplanted a light feathered tree with silver leaves to the backyard of the liege’s mansion as well.

According to legends, such a delicate plant grew because of the descent of the angels on the earth. Its leaves have the natural ability to absorb magic energy and elemental energy, turning these energy into positive energy to be unleashed into the surroundings. During dark times, silver leaves would shine with holy light that looks just like the feathers on the wings of the angels.

Because all leaves, roots and tree cores could be used as Divine Materials for the production of objects and items to reach out to the gods and for carrying out rituals, it was extremely rare. One might not have the luxury to obtain it even if the person was very rich. Some things still cannot be bought with money. Having one of these trees in the backyard of this house proves the identity and status of its owner.

The silver leaves fell from the branches of the tree outside the window. Faint white light shone into the quiet house through the window frame.

In the bright light of the evening, a silver-haired young girl sat on the edge of the bed, holding a knife in her hand, her eyebrows furrowed as she peeled an apple.

Although the girl’s technique in the peeling of the apple was somewhat awkward, the result was considerably good. Though some of the flesh of the apple was cut away, the shape of the apple remained recognizable. The girl turned around and looked at the man sleeping in his bed as she laid pieces of the apple on a plate.

On the face filled with firm and tough threads of steel, the warrior’s eyes remained shut. He seemed like a resting beast. Despite being asleep, his face was filled with strength. Simply by glancing at that face would send a chill down one’s spine.

At that moment, a gentle knock came from the door, and the silver-haired girl turned over to look at the door. The door was pushed opened and she saw her younger brother walk into the room, holding a pot of incense with rising vapor. The black-haired boy walked a few steps into the room. Then he saw the plate of fruits that was put on next to the bed of the warrior. He could not help but laugh at the shape of the apple slices. “My sister, we have yet to know when Master would wake up from his slumber. Why have you peeled the apple so soon?”

“I just like to do it now! Can’t I have my practice first before master truly wakes from his coma?!”

Feeling a little irritated, she scolded her little brother. Then, Ying noticed the incense that her brother was holding. She asked, “Wait a minute, Ling, did the Pope send this over here?”

“Yeah, I have heard rumors saying that this incense can calm a person’s spirit and soul, allowing people to meditate better, and even allows people to communicate with the gods.”

Ling placed the incense right by the bed. The smoke diffused and turned into a fresh and light fragrance. Upon catching the scent of the incense, the black-haired boy muttered to himself softly, “Of course, it can also revive the soul that has entered a deep sleep… Although I’m not sure if this would work, I do hope that master could wake up as soon as possible.”

Ying nodded her head and remained in silence. The two of them looked at their sleeping master, waiting quietly for him to wake up.

It was already the third day and Joshua was still in a coma.

Three days ago, when everyone returned to the Mycroft Continent through the dimensional passage, they swiftly noticed that they were standing in the middle of the southern forest in the region of Mount Great Ajax. The bluish dimensional rift shut itself right after they came out from the Dimensional Passage. A buzz came from the direction of the Mount Great Ajax. The furnace, which had been dormant for over 400 years, produced a black smoke column that covered the sky. The air was filled with the scent of sulfur.

It was the aftermath of closing a dimensional passage from inside the volcano. Before Father Nature went back to hibernating, he had sealed all of the dimensional passages connected to the Illgner Continent. The aftershock of the gods’ power had gone from one world to the other, causing the volcano to erupt.

Even though Father Nature had healed the body of the warrior, his soul remained in a coma. After Roland confirmed that the warrior was no longer in a life-threatening situation, he instantly sent Black back to the main city of Moldavia. Upon arriving at the city, the holy knight instantly summoned Artanis from the great church to take a look at the warrior.

Although they were both Gold-tiers, the holy knight did not fare very well in the art of healing wounds and souls. After all, a holy knight was not a Priest. Upon detailed investigation, Artanis shook his head in regret and told everyone that the body of the warrior was fine and well. Even though there were strange things happening deep in the body of the warrior, it was definitely a change for the better. The only one reason that the warrior remained unconscious was because his soul was currently lost in the darkness.

This was something that happened quite common. It often happened to the warriors who were treated right after obtaining fatal wounds and injuries that pushed them to the brink of death. Their bodies would always be healed to perfection with healing spells. However, they would remain unconscious because their souls remained not knowing that they haven’t died. They would be stuck between life and death, having no way to return.

“Although I have not a single clue about what you all have been through on the other side of the Dimensional Passage, Joshua’s recovery will remain unaffected by anyone. You will have to wait, and the only thing you can do is wait.”

That was what the old bishop said. Perhaps it would take a week, or maybe a month, or maybe even years. The longest time one took to regain consciousness was seven years. It was the captain of the Knight for a kingdom. He had been at war for over seven years, stuck between life and death before he finally woke up from that nightmare.

Perhaps it was because he had seen the terror of being stuck between life and death that the Knight seemed to have understood the truth between the other side and the real world. The Knight had even crossed into a new Tier after he woke up. And five years later, he attained the Legendary-tier, serving his kingdom for over two hundred years.

Joshua would undoubtedly recover faster than the Knight. However, it remained unknown as of when he would regain his consciousness.

Hence, the boy and the girl could only wait.

However, that moment had come faster than they could ever imagine.

After being laughed at by Ling who said that the apples would spoil if the apples were left like that, Ying wondered if she should remove the apples from the plate. She looked at the irregularly-cut apples then turned around to look at the black-haired boy whose eyes were shut as he imagined funny things about his sister.

—Although she really wanted to put a plate of fruits right in front of Master when he wakes, it remained a little too early for that. Since that’s the case, she could only eat the apples herself to not waste food!

Soon, Ying finally accepted the fact that Ling was right. So she took a good bite on the apple.

Hmm… It’s quite sweet!

She was initially doubtful but all thoughts faded away after she took a bite of the sweet and juicy apple. She continued to take a few more bites of the sweet fruit and could not help but to wonder how the apple was produced. She told herself that she would buy more of it when she comes across such apples again.

The warrior was someone who eats everything. So it was no easy task to know what he loved to eat. Despite it all, no one would hate a sweet and juicy fruit!

The black-haired boy who was sitting on the side opened his eyes slightly and looked at his sister’s expression. He could not help but chuckle.

But just when the girl was enjoying the delicious fruit, something unexpected happened on the bed. Ying felt a movement on the bed. So she instantly lifted her head up to look at the bed. In the dark corner of the bed, a pair of red eyes gleamed brightly, and a familiar chuckle was heard.

“—Eh?!”

Holding a half-eaten apple in her hand, the silver-haired young girl immediately sat up on her bed. Then she spoke with an anxious tone, “Master! You… You’re awake?!”

Suddenly, Ying was confused. She immediately offered the half-eaten apple to the warrior as she started speaking quickly, “That, Master, apple eat you… apple you eat?”

“It’s alright, I’ll pass. I will enjoy seeing how happy you are while you’re eating the apple. That’s more than enough for me.”

The warrior, who had just woke up from the dream realm of the Steel Python, sat up on the bed. He refused to take the apple that Ying offered to him. As he was getting up from the bed, he reached out and gently touched the face of the silver-haired girl, who was blushing. Then, he turned around and looked at Ling who was also shocked to see the warrior waking up from his coma. Ling seemed to be overwhelmed by shock as his jaw remained wide open. After that, the warrior spoke to both of his weapons with a gentle tone, “I’m sorry that I kept both of you waiting. I’m awake now.”

In his other hand.

A cube of steel that was as cold as ice, radiated with silver-white light. It appeared as if it carried some sort of power.