Rise of the Devourer

Book 2: Chapter 3 — Shackles

Noah looked at Aurelia in surprise, as he saw her legendary path in the status menu. “You have a legendary Path now?”

“Yes, I do,” Aurelia replied with a smile. “I just got it with my new evolution. It wasn’t even a Path fusion but instead an entirely new Path unlock. I had met the requirements for finally unlocking my third Path. I also got another option from just the wyrm encounter we had.”

“What Paths did that unlock?” Noah asked.

“It gave me the 'Draconian Rider' legendary Path. But given that I don’t have even a juvenile wyvern, much less something draconic, it didn’t make sense for me to pick it. It wasn't the Path that I wanted to progress on anyway, so I went with my current option,” Aurelia said before she eyed the system menu in front of her. "What about you? Given that you’re only at rank F, the Paths that you have are quite impressive. I had a single rare Path and one uncommon, while you have two epics and a rare. I wouldn’t be surprised if you manage to unlock one, if not two, legendaries at your own evolution when you reach level 100.”

“It's hard to do that when I can't even rank up at level 50, isn’t it?” Noah said, shrugging.

“You’re not going to be at level 50 forever, and whatever you do, your experience will be carried over when you rank up. So even if you do not rank up for a while, it won’t really stop you from progressing.”

"What do you mean? Experience will carry on? As in when I rank up, I'll get the experience from before my rank up too?" Noah asked.

"Essentially, yes. What this means is that you’ll be able to continue progressing, and whatever you do will add your total experience onto your Path when you do rank up," Aurelia explained.

"Will that not cause the oversouled problem again?" Noah asked.

"It will, if you keep progressing at the same rate. Honestly, there is no other way to solve your problem than to simply slow down. Take some time, train your body, and make sure that it can keep up with how fast you are growing. Being oversouled is no joke, and if your aura collapses, you may even become unable to progress for quite some time, if not completely crippled from the aftermath," Aurelia cautioned.

"Hmm," Noah hummed in thought. "So what you're telling me is that if I can find a way to have my body keep on growing as fast as my levels, I can progress however fast I want to."

"That is not what I—" Aurelia sighed in defeat. "I give up. I knew you would take it this way. Yes, if you can find a way to make your body progress as fast as you are, you can, in theory, prevent being oversouled. That said, if there was a way to do that so easily, we would not have this problem in the first place, don't you think?"

Noah glanced down at his arm and the ring on his finger. Tony flew around the room and Noah smiled. "I do have something that most people don’t, though," he said, as an idea began to bud in his mind.

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Aurelia understood his look, glancing at the little demon before turning back to Noah. "Are you seriously considering this?" she asked.

"Yes, I am," Noah replied. "If Tony can modify my body, which he already does with metamorphosis, I think I might be able to solve this issue without too much trouble. It would save us time as well, and it would allow me to not be tied down or slow down my progression."

"You do realize that power comes at a price, right? When we awaken our souls, we reach out and connect to the Astral script, inheriting the magic within it. But that magic also changes who we are, sometimes very physically. My eyes were not this color at birth. They are a result of the magic that is within my soul, a direct product of the Paths I have picked and who I have become. You yourself are far from who you were just a month ago. Your arm, your eyes, your body, everything about you has been changing so rapidly. Trust me, Noah, you need to slow down, or else you may even lose sight of who you are, and become intoxicated by these powers," Aurelia warned.

Noah looked at Aurelia seriously, thinking over her words. What she said had merit. Yet, at the same time, his enemies were so much larger than he was. Each encounter and battle made him realize that he was far from being strong enough to survive, let alone achieve the goals he had set out for under Hellion’s blessing.

He wasn't entirely sure if the void still considered the pact valid or not. He could feel the pact; it existed within his soul. However, it was tentative now; where before its grasp had been firm, now its shape wobbled, as if uncertain of its existence. "I'll take your words into consideration," Noah replied.

Aurelia looked like she wanted to say something, but before she could, there was a knock at the door. It then opened to reveal the massive Drailith standing outside. Raesar's sharp teeth glistened as he smiled, ducking down to avoid his head hitting the door frame as he walked into the chamber.

"I heard about your little problem, Noah," Raesar said, "and I think I have a solution."

Noah looked at the guild master, an eyebrow raised in surprise.

The giant Drailith moved closer to Noah before bending down, as he put two oddly-shaped bracelets around Noah's wrists. Magic runes glowed on them.

Your aura is being suppressed.

Noah stared at the bracelets in confusion, feeling them gnawing at his mana, then he looked up at Raesar. "What are these?" he asked.

Raesar grinned as if amused by himself before he replied, "Aura suppression shackles," he said, glancing at Aurelia. "They eat at your mana and suppress your soul and aura to keep them in check. They prevent you from using your abilities as freely and will make you consume twice as much mana for them. Normally, these are used for prisoners, especially spirit animals, so that their abilities can still be used, but not to the fullest extent. But in this case, I believe this is the perfect solution for you."

Noah glanced down at his wrist, shaking them, feeling the weight of his new shackles. He tried to use Blink, but found the ability shaky. The shackles vibrated, suppressing his abilities, and he found himself having to push before the magic kicked in, and he was across the room. "These are… unpleasant. Very unpleasant."

Raesar laughed. A booming chuckle that shook the room. "Yes, they are," he said, sounding far more amused than Noah felt about the whole ordeal. “Our souls are tied to our wills, which is how we use mana. It’s like a muscle that you can train. With these shackles, you’ll train your willpower and mana control so that you have greater control over how your soul interacts with your body. Of course, that only goes so far, at some point your body needs to be trained to match too.”

"What if I want to take them off? Like, say, what if I get attacked and need to fight with my full abilities?"

"I’ll give you a key," Raesar said, glancing at Aurelia, "I'll also give her one. You'll be able to open the shackles with them, but as your guild master, I forbid you from doing so until you have managed to solve your problem and reach an acceptable level with your sub-attributes. I don’t tolerate half-baked individuals in my guild. Your attributes mean nothing if your body is not capable of using them. Do you know what happens if, say, you excessively strengthen a single attribute?"

"You get a high feeling, as if your body is tensing, clenching, and being wrung dry like a dirty rag," Noah said.

"That is merely the beginning. If you keep going, your body will tear itself apart and your soul will burst. You won’t die, but you'll wish you had. The magic in your soul will escape your body, leaving it ravaged, and you’ll slowly be torn apart. It is a gruesome fate, one of the worst. Strong adventurers must be aware of this. This is why I insist on sparring with all my guild members. It is their abilities that we must hone first and foremost. Strength will naturally follow."

Noah heard footsteps outside the room, as he saw Nae walking in. She paused at the door before she looked at Raesar. “Why do you always run so fast?” she sighed.

Her eyes drifted to Noah’s hands, and she sighed again. “I see, I was too late to stop this idiot.”

Raesar chuckled once more. "You're too soft. And from what I have seen of Noah, I'm certain he'll be fine. He even managed to use his teleportation ability with the shackles on. So he's clearly got some kind of soul resistance or other."

Nae turned to Noah. “You do?”

“Is that bad?" Noah asked.

"No, if anything, soul resistance is a highly useful skill. But at the same time, it makes you harder to capture or suppress in case you go rogue. It’s not a skill any governing body would want their citizens to have. It can get you put on observation lists. Be thankful the governor’s soldiers did not notice or go through everything."

Raesar snorted. “They're fools to fear the ability. Soul suppression is not the only way to capture someone. It is merely the safest. It’s their fear that makes them so reliant on it." Turning to look at Noah, the Drailith's slit eyes focused on him. "You should go to Heartillia. I don't care much for the Lord there, but the city itself is the capital of Melior. And it will allow you to find far more ability tomes than you can in a city like Windrest."

"Erwest is going as well," Nae added. "I’m not quite sure why. It could be because his church asked him to, or because he himself wishes to accept the invitation. Truthfully, we could use some more people there. The guilds and the lords are working against the cults, but it's difficult to ascertain who is on our side and who isn't, especially now when we need the church’s help to even determine who can be trusted."

Noah turned to look at Aurelia questioningly. Aurelia responded with a shrug. "I’ve never seen adventurers take this long before deciding on setting off on an adventure."

"I guess you’re right," Noah conceded. "It would be a shame to not see the city, and I’m curious about what this lord might have to say as well."

"Very well. I will arrange the transportation and notify Erwest that you two are joining him. There will be some quests that will need your attention while you’re there, if you don’t mind. They'll be under-the-table jobs, so we will not announce them, nor will they be in any public or guild records. But they will reward you handsomely."

"What’s the quest?" Noah asked, raising an eyebrow.

Nae donned an impish smile at his words.

"We want you three to infiltrate the Abyssal cult in Heartillia."