Chapter 172: Chapter 52. Spirits (5)
I frowned. It happened all so sudden. Lyhee had never mentioned about it.
Perhaps she had been keeping it from me. But if she took a hit in her soul, there was no way I couldn’t have noticed it. She wasn’t good at pretending. Could it be that even Lyhee had not noticed what was happening to her?
“Her soul is in danger…”
The soul is a fully unexplored field. Magicians, alchemists, conjurers—anyone I could think of—had tried, but without success. They were only able to establish theories, but nothing conclusive.
For someone who had entered the realm of transcendence, I was surprised that I wasn’t able to notice it.
[The soul depletion is becoming severe: 28.2% -> 28.1%]
“I should do something. I don’t have much time.”
I shook my head and walked as fast as I could. I knew exactly where to find Lyhee: in her garden. Lyhee had secretly made this place.
Her garden was located on the outskirts of the 32nd floor. I had never been there. It was my way of taking care of her, not putting pressure on her. This was because I had entered the garden only to destroy it in my previous life. I felt guilty and did not visit this time.
However, now was different. I had to go.
As I got closer to the 32nd floor, I could see a small forest about 100 meters wide. There were rare trees, grasses, flowers, and items from Earth. Various bugs and several deer caught my eye.
If it was not an emergency, I would stop and explore. However, something caught my eye in the middle of the forest.
At first, I found the Flower of Eternity. I got it from the auction and had given it to Lyhee as a gift. I was pleased that Lyhee had planted it in the center of the forest. As I proceeded, I found Lyhee lying right next to the flower, unconscious.
Three fireballs were flying around her. They were the Spirits of Fire that Lyhee had taken.
“I wasn’t too late.”
Lyhee was blurry. It seemed like a glitch in the monitor. It meant she was losing her presence…fading.
I might have arrived in the nick of time, but I had no idea how to fix this. I urgently approached Lyhee and started injecting my mana in her.
I was the owner of the dungeon, and Lyhee was the fairy here. If she was just feeling weak, I thought my mana could help her regain her strength. Sadly, there was no improvement. She seemed to be responding for a moment, but she turned blurry again.
“Why? What should I do?”
I had no idea what to do. I held Lyhee in one hand then headed to the top floor. She belonged to the Dungeon Core, so it might help her.
“No…”
I placed her on the Dungeon Core, but her condition didn’t improve. The light from the core was weak, too. Once the light disappeared, I had a strong feeling that Lyhee would be gone as well.
“Krithli, Julium, Oswen… All the Liches and magicians… Come to the top floor now,” I summoned them as I inject my mana to the Dungeon Core.
Almost 500 monsters gathered. Some of them had never been to the top floor. Some monsters were hostile towards the others.
There were Kobold priests, Orc shamans, Liches, Goblin wizards, Banshees, and so on. They might have differences in physical attributes and skills, but all of them had studied magic or sorcery. They could make something out of nothing. The soul was a field that was not entirely new to them.
It was difficult to be a ‘soul’ expert. Even though people had utilized and studied similar resources, results still varied. Thus, I had to gather all of them. It was something that the master of the dungeon could do.
“Anyone recognize this symptom?” I lifted Lyhee and asked them.
Lyhee was breathing, but she was still unconscious. If not for the blurriness, Lyhee looked as though she was just sleeping.
Honestly, I was unfamiliar about researches involving the soul. I had never studied it or even got interested about it. It was because there was no need for it—I did not need it. I humbly admitted it to the creatures gathered in front of me.
I was not foolish to hold on to something I could not achieve. I was about to lose my dungeon and fairy. I was not ashamed of asking others for help. I was sure that someone had studied or was at least knowledgeable about this area.
I would consider it as a good start if someone could identify Lyhee’s condition or point out her symptoms. Apparently, no one dared to open their mouths to say anything.
“Is there really no one?” I asked again. “It’s fine even if it’s an out-of-this-world theory.”
“Her soul…chwiik! Weak,” one of the 10 Orc shamans said.
I had not mentioned that it was a matter of her soul, but he recognized it. Out of 500, he was the only monster to actually say something. So, I thought he was worth listening to.
“Her soul is weak? Is that all?”
“Chwiik! I don’t know anymore.”
But the Orc shaman could not give me more information. I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. I frowned.
For a while, there was silence. Nobody said anything. They all knew that I was not in a good mood.
I decided to talk about the details just in case.
“The fairy of the dungeon is in a critical condition. Her soul is weak, and she is fading. Is anyone of you familiar with a method to restore the soul?”
At this point, I didn’t care if they could or could not recognize Lyhee’s symptoms. What mattered to me was if they knew how to treat her condition. Lyhee was in this state due to the depletion of her soul. The sooner I solved this, the faster Lyhee would recover, then return to normal.
Still, no one uttered a word. Perhaps no magicians or shamans had a comprehensive study involving souls.
I had never studied or took interest in magic. I thought it would be better to improve my military strength than deal with sorcery. However, I wasn’t expecting this… Only one Orc shaman tried, while the rest was silent.
“How terrible,” I bitterly muttered.
I thought I could solve this, but I was stuck here.
The Korean dungeon was very important. Everything I owned and had acquired were here. With my strength, it would not be difficult to take over other demons’ dungeons, but they would not be the same.
The Korean dungeon was of a higher grade than the others. Also, I had the Tree of Origin here. All of the benefits from the tree would vanish.
The heavy atmosphere weighed down on the monsters. They lowered their heads as my eyes met theirs. No one was brave enough to meet my gaze. As I was about to turn away, Oswen came forward.
“Your Majesty, the soul is the final goal of the creator of a homunculus. Maybe Gaparam would have an idea.”
Yes, Oswen was right. Homunculus was an artificial creature. It was an alchemist’s job to create a fake soul. Gaparam even became a Lich to create a homunculus. He would know more than anyone else here.
But why didn’t he come forward yet? I looked at him intently. Gaparam had an unsure expression on his face. He glared at Oswen.
“Gaparam,” I called him.
“The lack of soul is something that is untreatable.”
“Is there really no way?”
“The soul is something that has been accumulated for a long time. It is unique and can’t be replaced or filled. If you forcibly fill it with something, the soul itself will fade away. Also, if you recreate it, the outcome will be different, not the same fairy.”
“I am connected with the soul of the fairy,” I revealed.
What I did was irresponsible. The fact that a fairy was connected to the Dungeon Master’s soul was classified information. It meant that the Dungeon Master could be hurt through the fairy.
But there was no other way… Lyhee was about to disappear anyway. I thought it would be better to reveal it now as it might help find other ways to save her. However, Gaparam shook his head.
“I’m sorry, but switching souls are impossible. You can’t share a soul. It is a matter way different from science, math, or alchemy. Only gods would be able to do it.”
This was why he didn’t want to come forward. He didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news. I could see how sorry he was. I wasn’t mad at him.
[The soul depletion is becoming severe: 27% -> 26.9%]
“Nothing is impossible. We just haven’t discovered it yet. One of the 500 minds here might come up with a solution.”
“…”
“It isn’t a request. It’s an order.”
Gaparam and all the monsters couldn’t believe what they had just heard. They were all looking at me.
“I will give you three days. Find out as much as you can. Tell me immediately if you need anything.”
I turned around and left the square.
― Father looks so sad.
― I hope he laughs.
― He never laughs, though.
― But he sometimes looks happy. I like that.
The spirits, especially the Spirits of Fire, were sullen.
― Is there anything we can do?
― Let’s make Father happy.
The spirits hurriedly flew to their father. They rubbed their bodies on him, sang songs, and displayed their charms to cheer him up. However, their father’s mood did not change at all.
They could feel something close to grief. The spirits could not stand this. They became depressed as well.
― I guess the fairy, Lyhee, is very important to Father.
― If we can do something to improve her condition, our father will feel better.
― Her soul is weak.
― What is a ‘soul’?
Unfortunately, not a lot of time had passed since the spirits were born. Their growth might be faster than usual, but they still lack sufficient knowledge about certain things. Besides, the soul was a complex and difficult matter.
Rei and Sera, who had been listening quietly to other spirits, came forward.
― We can do some of her tasks while she’s still not able to do them.
― Let’s clean the dungeon.
― We have to manage the monsters…
― We also have to play with the Tree of Origin.
The work that the spirits could do was extremely limited. However, the almost 100,000 spirits thought that taking action was better than staying still. Hence, they started working.
***
I was usually spontaneous, but I always had a limit. I was able to do things in haste because I knew what I could do and only worked in that capacity.
However, I had not foreseen this kind of situation. It was like a natural disaster that I couldn’t do anything about it.
[The soul depletion is becoming severe: 8.2% -> 8.1%]
Would Lyhee eventually disappear when it reached 0%?
As Lyhee’s body was fading, the features of the dungeon were also slowing down. If Lyhee disappeared like this, my dungeon would sink, just like Fagan Grewoolly’s.
“Something related to the soul…”
I did my part in searching for a possible solution. I explored through the Point Store and the Achievement Store. I summoned several immaterial monsters, but they didn’t know anything. No item could restore the soul.
“Seriously… Is there no other way?”
I gritted my teeth. I had not felt this helpless in a long time. If I could save at least one, either Lyhee or the dungeon, I would. But I couldn’t find any means.
It was at this moment that I felt tormented.
[Some lost features of the dungeon have been restored.]
[The flow of mana is normalized.]
[The Fairy of Origin, Lyhee, has recovered by 0.1%.]
[8.1% -> 8.2%]
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