The descent into the basent felt different this ti. The air, always thick with residual energy, felt heavier. Then Kai realised it. It wasn’t the air, the temperature, or anything to do with the environnt. Orlin caused the mana in the air to quiver around him.
He led Kai to the basent, his usual eccentric swagger muted, his steps harsher.
Kai watched him carefully. Sothing was off. Orlin wasn’t speaking in riddles or taunts, wasn’t throwing in unnecessary flourishes to his words. He was quieter, more restrained.
"What’s wrong? You’re holding back," Kai said bluntly.
Orlin barely spared him a glance. "Am I?"
"You never act like this. You’re always dramatic, making a show of everything. But now you’re being careful."
"Rather observant..."
They reached the centre of the chamber, the stone floor lined with darkened veins of old magic. Orlin turned, finally eting Kai’s gaze, his expression unreadable.
"This task is unlike anything you’ve done before," Orlin said, his voice more serious than Kai had ever heard it. "It is difficult. Dangerous. And most importantly, permanent. I’m trusting you with sothing most would never dare teach."
Kai furrowed his brows. "Permanent?"
Orlin nodded. "There are many things you can do to a soul. You can bind it, suppress it, and even shatter it. But true destruction? That is rare. That is final. When a soul is rely slain, it lingers. It returns to the cycle of life and death, reshaped by the forces that govern existence. Souls are recycled every day. Into plants, animals, and humans. What we are about to do is not that. This is annihilation. A complete erasure from existence. A destroyed soul will never beco anything else."
Kai felt a weight settle in his chest. "And you’re sure I’m ready for this?"
"You will never know unless you try." Orlin’s eyes glead in the dim light. "And if you fail, well..." He gave a half-smile, but it lacked his usual mirth. "Let’s just say, you don’t want to fail."
Kai swallowed. He wasn’t sure if that was ant to be reassuring or a warning.
Taking a step closer, he squared his shoulders. "Alright. What soul will I be destroying?"
Orlin pulled a vase out of his interdinsional space, and it floated in his palm. Sure enough, Kai could feel a soul inside.
"Who is it?"
"Does it matter? They’re already dead." Orlin sighed.
"It does to ."
Orlin’s gaze lingered on him for a mont before he exhaled again. "You will have to leave that kindness behind one day in order to survive, my disciple. This soul belongs to a murderer. A traitor. He killed children, families, and anyone he could get close to. Does it change anything?"
Kai paused.
"Not really. I didn’t know anyone who was killed by him. But at least I know I’ll be destroying a bad person."
"Good enough. Begin."
Kai grabbed the vase, and he instantly felt it resist him, trying to pull free from his grip.
He squeezed tighter, the faint beat of the captured soul a strange and unsettling sensation against his skin. It wasn’t just lingering; it was struggling, thrashing against him like a wild animal in a cage. He gritted his teeth as the resistance sent shudders up his arm.
"It’s fighting ."
Orlin nodded, watching with keen eyes. "Of course it is. Even in death, the soul clings to itself, desperate to exist."
Kai took a steadying breath and closed his eyes. He could feel it, sothing raw and vile, laced with old sins and long-forgotten screams. The soul pulsed in his grasp, desperate to break free, but he didn’t let go. Instead, he reached out with his mana, searching for its core.
Orlin’s voice cut through his focus. "Be careful. If you fail to unravel it properly, it could rupture violently."
Kai’s hands tensed, but he nodded.
He could do this.
He had to do this.
Failure was not an option.
Kai reached deeper, threading his mana into the soul’s essence. The struggle grew worse. It twisted, lashed out, coiling tendrils of sothing dark and hateful around his grip, trying to burrow into him.
For a mont, he almost faltered.
Then sothing inside him clicked.
The soul had a structure within it. A fragile, intricate weave at its centre, knotted tightly to hold itself together. Kai saw it, felt it, and suddenly, he understood.
He pulled at the threads.
The core of the soul wrenched apart like torn fabric, unraveling at its seams.
There was nothing delicate about it. It was rough. It felt like smashing the block into the wrong-shaped hole with brute force.
Strong feelings emitted from the soul. Resistance, panic, horror, then... Nothing.
A shudder ran through his body as the soul ceased to be. It wasn’t just dead or gone. Kai erased it, stripping it of any possibility to return.
The system chid in his mind:
[Spell Learned: Soul Destruction - Destroy a soul so completely that it may never be revived, brought back, or even travel to another state of existence.]
Kai exhaled sharply, setting the now-empty vase down. His hands trembled slightly. Kai had killed before without feeling anything, but this felt heavier. Sadder.
Orlin let out a slow, approving hum. "Not bad for your first ti."
Kai swallowed, looking up at him. "That... felt different."
"It should. True destruction is not rely death. It is an end without return." Orlin stepped forward, his gaze unreadable. "Tell , how did it feel?"
Kai hesitated. The soul had been wretched. Evil, by all accounts. He didn’t regret erasing it, but...
He clenched his fists. "Like I took sothing that could never be given back."
Orlin’s grin sharpened. "Good. That ans you understand the gravity of what you’ve done. Now-" He reached into his interdinsional space again and withdrew a small, jet-black box. Unlike the vase, this object didn’t just contain a soul. It radiated a pressure that made Kai’s stomach turn.
Orlin held it out.
"Let’s see how you handle sothing stronger."
Kai took the box. The mont his fingers touched it, he felt the difference. This soul wasn’t just resisting Kai’s magic, it was eagerly waiting. Anticipating.
A slow, cold dread settled over him.
’This one won’t be like the last one. No... This one wants to fight back.’
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