189: A Soul Gem

A Soul Gem

"Thank you... I'm back." Said John with a smile 

As she saw Serena stared straight at John's eyes. Confused, John stared back. 

"You really are back to normal..." She muttered as she let out a sigh 

[Eh? That was her way of finding out?] 

"That's what I've been trying to say." 

"Well it could have been the dark spirit trying to fool us." Said Serena 

"Fair point." 

Seeing as how everyone was gathered, Azure got straight into the point 

"Now that you've cleared the dungeon, I recommend walking through the gate before anyone else tries to steal it." 

[Ah... That's right... We've just cleared the dungeon...] 

"Alright, Then we should probably get going." Said John 

"Yeah, I don't want to stay here any longer." Added Serena 

No one had any objections about leaving so without waiting any longer, they began heading towards the giant gate which had formed. On top of that, John had something he had to do. 

He suddenly stopped and then turned to Azure and his party who was behind him. 

"Thank you!" Said John as he bowed to Azure 

Even though it was hazy, John was slowly regaining memories of what had happened. After causing master all that pain, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he didn't apologise. 

Seeing this, Azure let out a small laugh before saying 

"It's fine, don't worry about it. Besides I was just repaying my debt." 

Hearing this, John looked confused as he asked 

"Debt?" 

"It's a long story." Said Azure with a nervous smile 

As curious as John was, they had just finished a dungeon. He didn't have any time to waste. 

"I see... Then, tell me all about it after." Said John with a smile 

"Alright, you can count on me." Azure replied as he smiled back 

As the two parties continued to head to the gate, John noticed that Serena was occasionally glancing at him. 

When he turned towards her to see what was wrong, she mentioned it 

"Hey... John... I've been wondering this for a while now... But when is steam going to stop coming out of your body? And..." 

Without saying the rest, she simply stared at his bare chest. 

John quickly realised what she meant by this and began to feel gratitude towards both himself and master for enduring all of that training. 

He no longer looked like the skin and bones you'd find in a chicken shop. He was now very wel built with toned muscles. 

"And?" John asked as he pretended not to know 

"N-Nothing, more importantly, The steam..." Said Serena as she quickly turned away 

"Ah... This, Sorry, I can't really get rid of it right now... If I do... I might faint" 

"Faint? Is it still trying to take over you?" Ariel asked as she walked closer to them 

"Not exactly, it's just, the pain I'm feeling all around my body is too intense." 

"Need healing magic?" Ayda asked from the back 

[Does everyone here have super hearing?] 

"No, it's fine." 

[This is good practice, and besides, all the wounds are already healed. Healing magic won't stop the pain.] 

Ayda nodded without saying anything else 

"Hm... Most people who have managed to suppress the dark-spirit transformation ended up unconscious for over a week." Muttered Kayla 

[Wow...] 

"I got lucky." Said John 

"Luck? I think it's a lot more than that." Said Ayda 

John's body wasn't hurt but it was experiencing the drawbacks and strains of forcefully cancelling the transformation after it had progressed to such an extent. 

So rather than healing himself, he was simply weakening the pain to a bearable extent by continuously circulating 'Sana' throughout his body. 

Before John could say anything, Azure intervened 

"Now, now. There have been cases like John, so let's not assume anything" 

The two girls nodded but Ayda motioned her hands to her eyes and then pointed it at John. As if she were trying to tell him that she's watching him. 

To this John just smiled back, and the girl seemed a little annoyed by it. Serena also listened in and seemed to have a few questions in mind, but kept them to herself. 

While Ariel seemed to be completely focused on something else. 

[Thanks Azure, also, did he say something about cases? They've been talking like they're familiar with this whole dark spirit thing... Should I ask? But what will Master- Wait a minute, where is Master?] 

As he looked around, he realised that Master Sylvia wasn't around. 

He stared at his hand which was currently emitting a bit of steam as he cast 'Deprehendre'. In that moment, Master Sylvia suddenly appeared in front of the group, with a weird crystal in her hand. 

The Crystal was a pure white colour, the amount of magic power being released from it was not something which he had ever seen from a magic stone. It was big and calm. John wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't had his heightened senses along with his magic perception. 

Without saying anything, everyone watched as Master Sylvia walked up to John before facing him and handing him the crystal. 

"What's this?" John asked as he held on to it 

"A soul gem, it came from the boss, it's yours." 

"What's a soul gem...?" 

Before Master Sylvia could say anything, Serena replied 

"A soul gem... Worth thousands of gold coins... Not many people know much about it aside from the fact that it's a crystallised soul... But I've heard that it's currently being researched, and can be used to boost a beings or weapon's magical power by bounds depending on the amount." 2

"So, this is a soul which has been solidified?" John asked 

"Yes... If we go by your words, we could say that. But I'm not sure myself." Said Serena 

[A soul gem... So, this contains the Soul of the boss...? Not many people know about it but there should be someone... Maybe I can help the boss or something? I don't know...] 

As john wondered what he should do, he heard a voice in his mind 

[Consume it.] 

It was quiet and sinister, and did not sound like Zestari. It was the dark spirit. 

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