Bro, I'm not an Undead!-Chapter 1495: Beauty of the Soul Talisman

In a blink, it was done. Ferex successfully imbued the [Soul Talisman] into everyone within the courtyard. His mana capacity had to be astounding, evidenced by the fact that he'd assured everyone that the effect of the [Soul Talisman] would remain active as long as he had mana to spare, but what was also impressive was his efficiency.

Quite like the Stark Troops, Skullius' Apostles were also supposed to learn mana manipulation. It was a standard that everyone in the Stark-Soul Order was supposed to meet, and with good mana manipulation skill came efficiency.

All the edits the experts in the Kudobtu courtyard would make to their souls would not cause Ferex's mana to deplete to zero. Heck, they wouldn't even drain him of half of his reserves. That was assured.

Vali had her eyes closed to feel the [Soul Talisman] beaming within her. It was just as Ferex had said: she would know once it appeared her soul. It certainly looked like a talisman. It was like a golden ribbon floating in place within her soul, dark, incomprehensible writing over it. As soon as it appeared within her and everyone else, she found that her awareness of all souls, especially her own became freakishly expansive.

She sensed every minute detail within her soul with more depth than she could with her physical body, which was saying something, because Vali's powers were geared towards manipulating everything to do with a physical body.

'This is... thrilling!' she thought. She was swimming through the unique depths of her soul.

Unlike the physical body, the soul didn't have specific marks where skills and other abilities were branded, and connected through channels to a power source like a mana core.

No. The soul stored all potential details for any kind of power the body would possess as a hard-to-comprehend mass of information - like a throbbing, ugly sun. This mass was very hard to break down and interpret, which was why soul manipulation was a very difficult skill to master. Without precision and experience, it was easy to destroy this information instead of dissecting and reading it fluidly.

When the Arch-Liches of Deadmanland took control of souls up to the Divine level, they had to sort out greater and more complex amalgamations of information than those of everyone here.

Such skill was atrocious indeed.

But the [Soul Talisman], for as long as it was deep within her soul, allowed Vali to exercise such kind of power - though leagues weaker. She could interpret her soul and all the potential it stowed perfectly.

She willed to touch the mass of information she was discerning from her soul, and information flooded her mind. It was like listening to whispers that didn't acknowledge your ears, but made themselves known to your mind directly instead.

It felt the same as how all experts without a guidance field discerned what their next Trial or Task would be.

From the mass of energy – latent potential – Vali managed to read the unique genetics of her Kinn Family heritage. She had already manifested those when she was born, but her soul kept a replica of that information. She also registered her physical qualities. Again, she'd already inherited those.

But then, joy brimmed through her.

She sensed her technique, Cellular Supremacy. It was a powerful technique that allowed her to manipulate the cells within any body as she pleased. It was a high-end Special skill at base, but when she pushed the technique to its limit, it could be considered a Super skill.

Now that she managed to discern it amidst all the other latent potential and information of hers, Vali could alter it with the [Soul Talisman].

'I have only three chances - charges, really - to make alterations,' she thought. Just like the talisman empowered her senses, allowing her to distinguish information packed into her soul, it made known to her just how many alterations she could make and to what degree. 'I can choose to alter one aspect of myself three times, with each successive alteration losing the magnitude of change it can cause, or I can alter three separate aspects with the same magnitude of change each.'

For Vali, it was all but clear what she needed. She chose the third option.

Digging deeper into the well of information in her soul, she searched for something else.

She wasn't confident she'd find it, however. After all, unlike her Cellular Supremacy, she hadn't possessed it for very long. But since she had abused it quite a bit in the time she'd had it, she hoped that it made some impact on her soul. Surely…

'Yes!' Vali throbbed with relief.

It was fainter – much fainter – than her Cellular Supremacy, but it was there!

The Imagining Technique was there!

Using Cellular Supremacy, she had absorbed a limb from Rias EverSword during the Premium Age Royale, and had acquired a very discounted form of his Imagining Technique.

The full EverSword Imagining Technique was considered to be at the level of a Super skill at base, but when pushed to the limit, it could produce Supreme tier effects.

But Vali's version wasn't that. It wasn't flexible, and it couldn't produce anything too extraordinary.

For the average expert, this might have been enough, and to be fair, even Vali had been quite proud to have this half-assed technique, but not anymore. Not after seeing what Pherdanta could do.

Now, she could alter her Imagining Technique, which would cause its augmentation in her physical body. She was going to use two charges of the [Soul Talisman] on it, and then one on Cellular Supremacy. Regardless of the limit of each charge, Ferex had said every alteration made would cause a significant difference.

'I'll make sure to remember these augments with my soul, even after the talisman is gone. Even if I'm not an Incandescent Stager, I can do it!' Her resolve was fierce.

But so was Maxim's.

The pink-haired woman had resolved to use two charges of her [Soul Talisman] on Planate High, and one for a dramatic change to her body – a very dramatic one.

'I'll break that old, stupid curse, and get stronger in one move!' she thought. 'It probably won't make me as strong as Pherdanta, but I'll definitely be a bit more impressionable!'

The Six House Heads were also glowing with excitement. Agnees Kudobtu and Guissepo had come back just in time to share the bubbling air of inspiration and hope.

Even the old Priest found the development fascinating. He'd chosen to rest for a bit when Pherdanta and Maxim were creating the plates with the slashes. He'd refused Vali's help, claiming she couldn't fix his kind of exhaustion. The soul talisman had jerked him up with inspiration and vigour.

But there was one individual who didn't quite feel inspired.

Silrat hadn't even taken the chance to augment his soul despite the [Soul Talisman] glowing within him. He felt out of place, standing amidst experts closing their eyes, their minds elsewhere, spinning with wonderful ideas and prospects.

'I played the little role that Festos… Skullius gave me. But now what? I was never really a fighter. Should I really be going to the Under?' he thought. He didn't need to look into his soul to know that his potential for battle was incredibly dismal.

He sighed. How ironic. He had been the one to spot Skullius potential as a combatant back then, but he had held none himself.

'Maybe I should ask Pherdanta to send me back to that place I was before. I'd feel better being around Theurien and—'

But his thoughts were cut short. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

Ferex was suddenly standing before him in the next instant. Silrat was taken aback. He nearly staggered to a fall, making him feel even more pathetic.

Before he could say anything to the Apostle, Ferex spoke first:

"I can see through the souls of those I have placed a [Soul Talisman] within, you know?"

"Then you must know there's no point in wasting your powers on me. Even if – by some miracle – they make something of mine blossom, it will not be enough to help in a battle against anything related to a Deity," said Silrat as he folded his arms. "And that's fine. I fulfilled my role already. Now everything is up to all of you."

It wasn't a complete lie. Silrat did feel that he'd done his part well and was proud of that. He was even grateful to Skullius for making him feel a little useful.

Ferex considered him silently.

"Master thinks highly of you," he said. "I envy that. You might not possess strength enough to cut down a world, but you helped master reach it without having powers like that yourself. It would be cruel for you not to taste that kind of power at least once."

Silrat looked up, frowning. The first two-thirds of Ferex's speech touched him, but the last…

"Didn't I just tell you that I don't have that kind of power?" he said.

"Indeed. You don't. But I do."

"Huh?!"

Silrat was still confused. But soon, he wouldn't be.

Pherdanta, watching from a distance, smiled. Only Ferex could sympathise with Silrat's plight. She knew what the Apostle was planning. It was going to be interesting, to say the least.

But perhaps most interesting of all was what she intended to do with her [Soul Talisman].