Soulwielder Book Two: Corruption

The Soul

We ventured into the depths of the temple and came upon a stone door. Geolus pushed the door open and the five of us stepped into the center of the Soulwielder Temple.

It was a massive circular room with a high ceiling in the shape of a dome. Intricate carvings depicting images I couldn't understand lined the walls and the floors.

"This is incredible," Lily awed. She marveled at the ceiling carvings. "How did they even get up there?"

"Maybe they carved them before installing the roof?" Dustin proposed.

Kipp was focusing on one of the floor carvings. "Maybe they used magic to make these."

I looked at Geolus for some kind of confirmation but he said nothing on the subject. "Soulwielder, if you would kindly place your staff in the center we can help out your friend."

I noticed a small indentation in the ground as I approached the center of the room. "I can feel the Soulwielder Energy stored here." Unity said.

Now that she mentioned it, I could feel this power swirling in the ground beneath me. "I can feel it too. What is it?" I placed the bottom of my staff into the indentation.

"The ancient Soulwielders would store some of their energy in each of their temples. And it will be our key to accessing their knowledge." Unity explained. "Focus on that energy and call it to you. You don't need much but it won't be easy for someone untrained. Imagine it is like your own life attack, but pushing out from the ground."

Unity vanished and I closed my eyes with one hand tightly gripped around my staff. I focused on that feeling of power beneath me and called to it.

The energy had a familiar feeling but at the same time, I could tell it wasn't my own. Still, it would respond to my call. I urged it upward out of the ground.

The energy erupted from the earth and pooled into my staff. I began to feel overwhelmed by the sheer information and managed to order it back away.

I opened my eyes and felt noticeably fatigued. Sweat covered my arms and my forehead and my knuckles were white from my hold on the staff. "D-did it work?"

I turned around to see Unity had returned and my friends were now looking at me funny. "What's wrong guys?"

Lily pointed at Unity. "W-who is that?" Dustin reached for his blade and pushed Kipp behind him while I tried to process what was happening.

Unity put up a hand. "Please calm yourself, friends. I can explain everything. I am a manifestation of Avian's Soul Energy he created unknowingly."

I raised an eyebrow but she turned and put her finger to her lips. "The energy from the temples was able to narrowly reach me from afar but only once those guardians attacked us and brought more energy was I able to slowly regain my full understanding."

Dustin glanced at me. "Avian, you know about... this?"

I shrugged. "This is Unity. She appeared to me after I beat Lycitor and first unlocked my Elemental power. I can see her and she talks to me but only until just now nobody but Geolus could see her."

Unity nodded. "Precisely! And now I know why. Avian, your Elemental power isn't Elemental at all. It is the purest act of Soulwielding. It is your own Life Energy."

"And at last, the truth is unveiled," Geolus interjected. "But it's so much more than that. All powers and quirks are, in a way, Soulwielding."

At this point, I was completely lost. "What are you talking about?"

Magic energy pooled in Geolus's hands and he tossed it into the air. "Spell Casting uses the soul to alter reality around it, while Soulwielding allows one to alter their own Soul and Body. They can turn their Soul into a volition weapon or, with enough training, enhance their characteristics. Like, for example, being able to stun a Dragon." Geolus gestured to Dustin.

"Wait," Lily cut in. "You're saying that our quirks are chosen?"

Unity shook her head. "At one point, they were. But this art was lost long ago and now Soul augments humans randomly since it isn't being channeled."

"The art was thought lost." Geolus corrected. "But you see, I was not born a Spell Caster. I was given the quirk of an ingenious mind which I used to try and crack the secrets of Soulwielding."

"And you succeeded before getting corrupted?" I asked.

Geolus sighed. "My success is what caused my Corruption. Geolus is not the name you would likely recognize. But perhaps my first name, Icara, rings a bell."

We all stood there in silence for a bit. Doctor Icara had been the one to create the Corrupted Energy 100 years ago. "T-that's impossible!" Lily asserted.

"Wasn't that guy around like a billion years ago?" Kipp asked.

Geolus laughed and everyone unfroze. "The Corruption is good at preventing aging. But yes, I am the creator of the Corrupted Energy. In my quest to unlock the secrets of Soulwielding and manipulating Life Energy I created the plague that consumed half of this planet. I have many regrets but that one will forever be my greatest."

"So what's the secret?" Kipp asked, a grin quickly forming on his face. "How does somebody get powers?"

"Young boy, I know you are eager for a quirk to call your own, but it is not that simple. The augmented life energy I used to help channel my own is how I became Corrupted."

Kipp's smile faded away and he sighed dejectedly. "Darn it."

"So wait," Dustin said with a furrowed brow. "How does Avian have this special Soulwielding power no other Soulwielder has?"

I had been curious about that myself and was relieved Unity took the floor to answer. "Manipulating Soul Energy is like a muscle in the human mind, for almost every human this muscle is blocked. But for Avian, it is not. And he has the power to reshape his understanding of his Soulwielding and achieve unmatchable power in this modern world."

I had often been confused by how I used my energy but I had never thought of it as a muscle. I had also never thought of it as wielding my own Soul so I was quite wrong in my understanding. "So how do we do that?" I asked.

Unity floated around the room and looked at all the various carvings. "There's a temple far south from here that will give you the tools you need to learn what to do. But in the end, you must change your view of your power Avian. It is an extension of yourself and once you realize that, you can manipulate it into whatever you need."

"I believe I know the temple you're speaking of. I can teleport us all there now." Geolus offered. We nodded and the Corrupted man conjured a ball of purple energy that expanded outward and consumed us all.

The darkness was soon replaced by the familiar purple plant life. I looked around and we were surrounded by mountains and large fields. Right in front of us was a small temple.

"Alright, here goes nothing," I said.

"Good luck, Avian!" Lily called to me. I waved back at them and hurried up the stairs. As I got to the entrance I heard a loud crash behind me and looked back to see what it was.

A giant stone creature not unlike the ones that had attacked Lumen City had appeared between the Temple and my friends.

This beast had four arms and a sword in each arm unlike the last few and its purple glow seemed even more intense.

I was about to run down to help them as the monster raised its swords to begin attacking but Dustin shouted at me as he drew his blade. "Avian, don't bother! We'll hold it off! Learn what you need to learn!" He shouted.

Geolus blasted the creature with purple lightning. "Listen to him young Soulwielder! The only way we will bring a Guardian of this power down is with the full potential of your Soulwielding!"

I didn't want to leave them but Dustin parried a strike from the beast and I realized that no attack we had in our arsenal would come close to stopping it. I had to unlock my Soulwielding.

I turned back around and ran into the depths of the temple with Unity following closely behind.