Jenny
A warm feeling on her face woke Jenny up. She opened her eyes but shut them instantly as a blinding light pierced her eyes. She turned away and blinked in confusion. As her vision cleared, she noticed she was lying on some bedding made of grass and leaves by a campfire. She looked around groggily before the enormous form of a spider came into view. Her adrenaline shot up as she stumbled back, trying to find her sword. She found it by her side and immediately aimed it at her enemy. But it didn't move.
Instead Aenon's voice spoke up from behind her.
"Good instincts," Aenon said. He was sitting with his back resting on a wall. "Going for your sword. Its things like that which will keep you alive."
"What… what's going on?" Jenny asked as she lowered her sword and looked around.
Her memory was foggy, and she was having a hard time recollecting how she got here. She noticed the gaping holes in her armor, which thankfully didn't expose her modesty. She gathered that they were in a cave of some sort, and beside the corpse of a truly massive spider, much bigger than the one she took down.
As her memory gradually returned, it finally clicked.
"I… I won," she whispered, while looking at the sword in her hand. An exclamation was blinking in the corner of her vision.
"You sure did," Aenon replied succinctly with a smile. His mask was currently invisible, allowing her to view his expression.
Jenny felt elated at her accomplishment. The feeling was far superior to any of her previous academic achievements. She wanted to address the exclamation mark demanding her attention. But first…
"How did we get here," she asked in confusion. "And where exactly are we?"
"Well, you took a nasty beating, and I reckoned you might need a nap. While you were enjoying your beauty sleep, me and Bane finished my quest. Let me introduce you to the former owner of this place," he said as he pointed at the spider, an Umbral Spider Matriarch if Jenny was right. "Besides, the cave was spacious, so we hunkered down. I even made some spider soup, want some?" he asked while putting forth a metal bowl filled with some dark liquid in it.
Jenny held in the urge to barf as she turned away with a hand on her mouth.
"No thanks," she managed to say weakly before looking away from the sickly green broth.
"Suit yourself. It isn't chicken, but does ok in a pinch," Aenon responded nonchalantly as he gulped down the liquid. A tiny trickle escaped his lips and flowed down his chin, which made Jenny empty the contents of her stomach.
"How can you…," she started saying before dry heaving.
"It's an acquired taste. One you develop after starving in the wild long enough."
She stood up, wanting to get away from the atrocious smell, which she was just registering. But then she realized the odor wasn't just from the Matriarch's corpse. It was all around her.
Her blood ran cold as she took in the sight. There were hundreds of spider corpses all around them. None were bigger than the Matriarch, but they were enormous, nonetheless. She couldn't even imagine going up against an army of this size all by herself. She turned to look at Aenon, who was cleaning up the bowl and relaxing like he was in his own backyard.
"You…you did all this?"
"Of course not, I only took down the Matriarch," he replied. He rubbed his chin in thought before adding, "And maybe a quarter of the trash mobs. My wolves took care of the rest."
Jenny blinked as she tried to register what he had just said. She had almost died taking on one fricking spider, and he…
She started to feel despair. Even after all this, she was still…weak. At the mercy of others. Had it not been for Aenon, the Umbral Spider Queen's children would have surely devoured her by now, leaving only an empty husk. As if sensing her feelings—which he probably did—Aenon interjected.
"Hey. Snap out of it," he said crossly. Before she could reply, he went on, "What you did was something to be proud of."
"Heh," she scoffed. "Look around you Aenon. I took down one enemy, one lousy spider. While a kid younger than me takes on an army. I mean how is it fair. Why is this world so unfair?"
She held back tears as she felt all the doubts start to resurface. All the taunts, all the jeering…
"Come with me," Aenon interrupted her spiraling thoughts as he started to walk.
Seeing no reason not to, she followed in silence. She tried not to see the devastation around her as they exited the cave—earth spikes, torn and burnt limbs, and even frozen sections. Aenon continued walking for a good 15 minutes before reaching a clearing with nothing but grass in it.
The boy lay down with his arms and legs spread out. She didn't know what to do, so she too lay next to him. It was night, and the beauty of the vast open sky was on full display. They lay there in silence while gazing upon the familiar yet alien view.
"Check your notifications," he finally said after a long time.
Jenny didn't know how to respond, so she complied.
Title Achieved: Defiant | +40 all stats | ???
Title Achieved: First Blood (S) | +20% Title stats | Assessment of first kill difficulty found to be extreme. Granting S rank
Title Achieved: Underdog | +20 all stats | Defeat a foe more than 20 levels above you
Level Up | Shield Maiden | Level 0 → Level 4 | +16 STR | +24 CON
Level Up | Arcane Scout | Level 0 → Level 3 | +15 WIL | +15 PER
Her eyes widened in shock as she felt a rush of energy course through her body. She had heard of this feeling from other adventurers, but never had she imagined she would be feeling it herself. She looked at Aenon with her mouth agape, but he was merely smiling and looking at the sky.
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"I… you…," she stammered. In response the strange kid just smiled wider.
"I want to show you something. If you will allow me."
Jenny stared with a lost expression before nodding weakly. Aenon reached out and touched her shoulder. She felt a strong tug before appearing in a foreign landscape. It had dizzying hues of blue spread all over the area.
"This is your outer soul space."
Jenny heard his voice, but all she saw was an ethereal orb floating before her. In fact, she too was nothing but a consciousness drifting along formlessly. She had experienced this once before. During the integration process. But she had been in denial at the time and refused to listen to any explanation or observe her surroundings.
This time though, she studied the area closely. Something about it felt different than last time: The shell from last time was missing.
"What do you mean outer soul space?" she asked, confused.
In response, the boy transformed into his real body and looked around as though searching for something.
"Ah, there it is. Follow me."
She drifted along, silently following him. Despite the alien landscape, she felt oddly at peace here. Like she belonged to the place. Or it belonged to her.
Eventually they stopped before a ten-foot-wide sphere that was hard to distinguish from the surrounding areas. Jenny approached it with caution and touched it. She somehow knew what it was.
"This is…", she mumbled.
"The boundary to your inner soul space," Aenon confirmed her suspicion. "I am still trying to piece together the specifics, but from what I have gathered so far, most people never manage to leave their inner soul space. And it must be something significant based on how that crown prince reacted to mine. Although no one has stated this explicitly to me, I am assuming your Aura is unlocked when you manage to break out. And if you do it before level 200, you are considered an Awakened."
Jenny closed her eyes and shook her head. "Hold on a minute. Nothing you are saying makes any sense to me. What is an outer soul space, and what exactly is an Aura? I thought it was some weird spell or ability you had from your Class."
Aenon shook his head.
"It's not a Class ability, nor is it a Skill. From what I was told: an Aura is a physical manifestation of your soul in the real world," he seemed to be recollecting someone else's words as he said that. "It's how you add weight to your words. But it seemed to be a rare occurrence at lower levels. Based on what the former village leaders told me; it is a requirement to set up something called a Domain. Not sure what that is, but I have a quest for it. I am assuming it's like a claimed territory of sorts."
Each explanation of his raised further questions in her mind. But for now, only one mattered.
"You mean, I have this…Aura thing?"
"A nascent one, yeah," he replied with an appreciative smile. "It's unlike mine though. My outer soul is an empty abyss. While Nocthrya's is a world of green. Yours feels…cold. Even now, I can feel my soul freezing over just by being here."
Aenon looked around while studying her soul space closely—her outer soul space, Jenny corrected herself. He raised his hand and tried to feel something in the bluish expanse. Jenny too looked around, trying to understand what all this meant.
"Anyway," he finally said. "Now you know what you are capable of and have faced overwhelming odds yourself. And the Titles will give you a leg up in facing this new world on your own, with your own strength. I will let you figure out your powers on your own."
Jenny looked at the smiling face of the unassuming boy floating in front of her.
"Was this your plan?" She asked hesitantly.
"More or less. I didn't plan for you to unlock your outer soul space, or your Aura. But they are good bonuses to have," Aenon responded with a shrug. "The Underdog Title is a massive boost no doubt. But I was keener on you getting the S grade for your First Blood Title. I got mine from a Hobgoblin by the way."
The casualness with which Aenon talked about seemingly impossible tasks made Jenny shake her head in defeat. The boy lived in his own fantasy world at times, remorseless to the plight of the less daring.
His explanation complete, Aenon waved his hand. And they were back in the real world.
Jenny wanted to ask about the Title with no description, but Jenny felt someone looking at her. She didn't know how, but she knew that one of the wolves was in the shadow nearby.
The biggest wolf from Aenon's pack, Bane, emerged and sat next to her.
"I owe you an apology," the Abyssal Wolf stated plainly.
"For what?"
"For thinking that you are weak."
Jenny was angered at the implication. But she couldn't fault the creature for something even she believed to be true.
"Not going to argue to that?" Aenon asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Hard to argue against plain facts. Even now I am having a tough time accepting that I am not weak." Jenny felt defeated.
"No one helped you in taking down that eight-legged predator," Bane countered to raise her spirits.
"Thanks Bane," Jenny said with a weak smile. "I see you are trying to help. But if not for a few lucky strikes, I wouldn't be alive right now."
Bane tilted his head in confusion.
"Every skirmish involves luck. A Horned Rabbit could take me down with a stray blow to my jugular," Bane explained. "But unless the rabbit actively tries to fight back, it can never land that lucky strike. Using luck to your advantage also requires strength and conviction. Not to mention you are still new to your powers. It will take time and effort to hone them."
Jenny wanted to respond but didn't know what to say. So, Bane continued.
"Don't get me wrong. There were multiple reasons for your victory. Your adversary's foolishness was one of them. It was an ambush predator, not suited for a direct conflict. Which allowed you to land a few critical strikes, despite your lack of training or skill. But no one can take the achievement from you due to one simple fact. You took a stand against unwinnable odds. You chose to defy your fate."
That word jarred her away from her dark thoughts. She sat up and turned to Aenon with narrow eyes.
"You used some soul manipulation BS on me, didn't you?"
"What do you mean?" Aenon looked genuinely confused.
"Before we faced the spider, you infused your Aura into one word: Defiance," Jenny explained. "And now I have a Title with that exact name. You… did something to change my soul."
Aenon didn't respond, observing her in silence instead. His expression shifted to a blank one as he got up and left without a word. Jenny wasn't sure what to think. All this talk about soul spaces, and Auras went way over her head. And if her soul had changed the way Aenon described then that meant…
That is when Venge joined the conversation as she emerged from another shadow.
"The Alpha doesn't have such a skill. It is counter to his very nature."
"But I feel it," Jenny murmured, her voice wavering. "Something inside me… its changed. The outer soul space he showed me, I can feel it even now."
"You think someone who doesn't have powers cannot affect your soul?" Venge asked.
"What are you talking about?" Jenny asked with a frown.
"Your knowledge about souls is severely lacking. A soul is the net sum of who you are. And as one grows and interacts with those around, the soul shapes accordingly. Being spurned by a lover, hearing praise from others, even severe trauma. Everything you experience affects your soul. With or without powers."
"But he said…"
"Our Alpha is new to his powers too," Venge cut her off. "He is trying to figure this out just like everyone else. But one thing I can say with certainty. He will never manipulate a soul. Inspire, yes. But he will never force his will on anyone. Even if he could. All he has been trying is to unleash your soul's potential. The vastness you have seen within your outer soul, those are the limits of your power. If you had stayed within the confines of your inner soul, you would never have managed to become something greater."
Bane nodded from the side, agreeing with his mate.
"In fact, it is the Alpha who has a huge disadvantage in that he refuses to learn these things from others," Bane added. "You haven't seen how many times he has almost gotten killed while experimenting on silly spells. Spells that can be taught by the simplest of teachers."
Jenny started to regret her words the more she heard their explanation. Aenon had helped her on so many occasions, and yet she had vented her own frustrations on him without knowing his reasoning.
"Why doesn't he do it then? Why doesn't he find a proper teacher who can guide him," she asked Bane.
Both him and his mate turned towards the same place. And somehow Jenny knew Aenon was in that direction.
"That is something only he can answer," Venge said morosely. "We have been in his soul once."
When she didn't elaborate, Jenny asked, "And what did you see?"
It was Bane who responded sullenly.
"Darkness and Pain. The kind that comes from betrayal. From helplessness. From watching others suffer while you couldn't do anything."
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