Odyssey of the Renegade Sovereign-Chapter 39: Soul Space (2)

"Looks like we have another mage in the county..." the Count remarked, a faint smile curling on his lips as he watched Astrael ascend.

A high-grade soul space meant that the boy was almost guaranteed to reach the level of a Low-Stage Intermediate Mage with relative ease. That much was a given. However, progressing beyond that point was where the real challenge began.

While a high-grade soul space was superior to a middle-grade one, it still had its limitations. The size of the soul space directly determined how much mana it could store. And even for those with a high-grade soul space, the amount of mana available was often not enough to push through future bottlenecks—especially the breakthrough to higher tiers.

Unless one had access to an abundance of rare and expensive resources to supplement the shortfall, progress would stall.

And in a small county like theirs?

That was easier said than done.

There had never been a record of a high-tier Novice Mage with only a middle-grade soul space in their entire region. The reason was simple: no one had the means to overcome that wall.

As Astrael reached the eighty-ninth step, his pace slowed.

Then he stopped.

His silver eyes narrowed as something subtle caught his attention. Amid the swirling white mist that clouded the void around the staircase, a faint glimmer flickered, almost invisible to the untrained eye. It wasn’t large. A single, floating crystal, suspended in the air just beyond the step, pulsing with a soft, ethereal light. Its shimmer was gentle, like a heartbeat.

It was easy to miss, veiled perfectly in the fog. But Astrael, with a formed mana core in addition to high perception, saw it.

His hand instinctively twitched toward the sword at his waist

"This..." he murmured.

Elyndra’s voice echoed in his mind, calm but tinged with surprise.

"That is a condensed fragment of world mana. A coagulation of pure elemental essence, an extremely rare occurrence," she explained, her tone hushed, as if speaking too loudly would disturb it.

"To think such a thing would appear here... inside a soul space trial of all places."

Astrael took a cautious step closer.

What happens if I touch it?" he asked silently.

"Hard to say," Elyndra replied thoughtfully. "But if it’s truly what I think it is, then absorbing it could alter your soul space, expand it, perhaps... or evolve it."

Astrael’s gaze didn’t waver. He reached forward, fingers brushing the shimmering surface. It was warm, like touching sunlight.

Then, the crystal pulsed once and shattered into brilliant threads of light, and flowed towards him.

As if drawn by some unseen force, it flowed gently toward Astrael, curling around his body in translucent waves before sinking into his skin. The sensation was cool at first, tingling, like morning dew, but quickly warmed, spreading through his limbs, then reached deeper into his body.

The moment the mist touched his core, a sudden reaction pulsed from within. His mana core, already formed through years of disciplined training, began to hum softly. A low, resonant thrum echoed through his soul, almost like a heartbeat responding to an ancient call.

Astrael’s eyes were closed. A blissful expression rose on his face as his body welcomed the foreign energy. Each thread of mist that entered him tempered his mind, refined his soul, and subtly reinforced his physical body. Muscles he had already honed began to feel sharper. His breathing deepened, thoughts more clearer, and a fog he hadn’t even known existed was being lifted from his consciousness.

Astrael felt a strange sensation radiating from his head before he finally opened his eyes, only to find himself enveloped in utter darkness. He stood suspended in total darkness, an endless void stretching in every direction.

"Huh? Where am I?" Astrael muttered under his breath, his voice echoing faintly in the dark void. He looked around, his silver eyes scanning the space, but there was nothing.

Tentatively, he began to walk

"Elyndra?" he called out again, louder this time.

No response.

As he walked ten steps, A low tremor ran through the space, like a ripple across a still lake. Far ahead, a single speck of silver light blinked into existence, delicate and distant, like a lone star in a dead sky.

It expanded slowly, tendrils of radiant silver reaching outward like the first rays of dawn. Before he could react, the light surged forward and engulfed him, wrapping his entire body in a cocoon of luminous energy.

Astrael’s eyes narrowed against the brilliance, squinting as he instinctively raised a hand to shield his face.

Then, like the sudden switch of a scene, everything changed.

Astrael lowered his hand and blinked rapidly.

He was no longer standing in a void.

Instead, he found himself in a vast, ancient space beneath a black sky. Below him stretched a sea of black water, its surface rippling with slow, steady waves that moved with an eerie rhythm. The water shimmered faintly, as if reflecting starlight that didn’t exist.

And in the middle of that sea stood nine towering pillars, carved from a stone as dark as night, each suspended within the void like monoliths defying gravity.

"So... this is my Soul Space," Astrael muttered, his gaze drifting across the boundless expanse around him.

According to what he had learnt, a soul space for someone with a middle-grade capacity was roughly the size of a house. For those with a high-grade soul space, it could span as far as a small village.

But, this... was on another level.

Despite all the theoretical knowledge he had accumulated over the years, experiencing it firsthand was something else entirely

"But... why is my Soul Space so big?" Astrael frowned a little, starting to feel confused as many questions filled his mind.

The sea beneath him rippled again, more violently this time. Suddenly, from the centre of the nine pillars, the black water began to churn. Waves rose unnaturally, spiralling upward into the air like a reversed waterfall, forming a massive column of dark liquid.