Spirit Soul

'Huh...so it's like that?!' Kyle almost exclaimed and barely held a hand in front of his mouth, to remain quiet.

His eyes roamed through the 17 beings in front of him.

Just a short glance was enough to let him understand that only one was different compared to the rest.

All the others were Mid Fortification stage Skeletons.

What Kyle saw, only a few meters away from him was the rotten corpse of a humanoid being, a Ghoul!

As such, Arashi's suggestion seemed to have brought forth an interesting change.

Tweaking the difficulty level of the forthcoming wave made it possible for different beasts to emerge out of the portal.

That was interesting, but at the same time a hassle he could have avoided.

Nonetheless, Kyle couldn't help but feel a little bit excited.

He hoped that the Ghoul would be a stronger opponent than any Skeleton he had faced until now!

However, he decided to defeat and kill the Skeletons first.

Only then would he tackle the Ghoul that was also at the Mid Fortification stage.

Otherwise, the Skeletons would keep getting in his way and distracting him.

Fighting a strong beast with obstructions all around him was a big no.

With that thought, he and Arashi instinctively manifesting several crescent wind blades before throwing them at Skeletons.

Owing to their higher cultivation base, Kyle and Arashi's wind blades severed through the Skeleton's reinforced bones as if a hot knife would cut through butter.

The Skeletons were no match to the two volleys of wind blades and fell apart into piles of bones easily.

They were severely crippled, or already dead.

Because of that, Kyle moved forward like always.

He enveloped himself with a strong wind current before exerting the Swift Steps movement technique.

Stomping on the ground with his feet, he accelerated at a rapid pace.

However, his Spirit Soul was a step ahead of him and had already rushed past him.

The little Spirit Fox was cultivating in all three paths at the same time, just like Kyle did, both using Soul force.

As such, Arashi's physique was even stronger than Kyle's owing to his slightly higher cultivation base.

He wanted to overtake Arashi in his cultivation base, but that was more difficult than expected.

Despite their fast cultivation speed, Kyle also knew that this would slow down soon.

He required more than three times the energy to simultaneously cultivate with Soul force.

The same applied for Arashi, but beasts were known for growing fast as long as they received the necessary nutrition.

And that was exactly what Kyle was eager to provide his Spirit Soul with every single day.

Kyle would readily feed him enough soul particles, and nurture the growth path to the maximum he could.

Because of that, he couldn't help but smile seeing how Arashi brushed past him eagerly.

The little fox's rapid speed allowed him to reach the Skeleton corpses in no time.

After that, Arashi devoured the souls of the deceased.

Then he charged at the remaining, severely crippled Skeletons and repeated the devouring process.

Meanwhile, the Ghoul had already started to move.

It appeared behind the little Horned Tempest fox, and raised its arm, ready to smash its rotten fist into Arashi.

However, before anything the fist could even reach Arashi, Kyle emerged next to the Ghoul.

Holding his weapon with a firm grip, he slashed out with the Tiola machete he had unsheathed only a moment earlier.

With little soul force, and physical strength, using the Tiola machete against Undead beings had been useless.

Fortunately, he was not the same as a month before.

Kyle had changed, and his strength and soul force had increased drastically!

As such, he lashed out with the Tiola machete that was filled with his soul force.

The attack that utilized both his soul force and improved physical strength helped him deliver a killer blow.

This enabled Kyle to cut through the air before he finally reached his target.

Just a moment later, the Ghoul's left arm fell to the ground with a thud and stayed there, unmoving.

Turning towards Kyle, the Ghoul roared out angrily displaying its decaying and yellow teeth.

The sight was hideous but he couldn't afford to be distracted.

The Ghoul used his right arm to attack, but it realized only a second later that the swift human had long since moved.

Despite being much stronger than the Skeletons, the Ghoul was but an ordinary undead, and at the Mid Fortification stage.

Because of that, the Ghoul was unable to cope with his pace.

Kyle's combined utilization of his physical capabilities, the Swift Steps movement technique that had attained the Great mastery, and the wind affinity made it an easy win for him.

Not even its reaction speed was fast enough and it only looked at Kyle who charged at him.

His lethal attack easily pierced through the dark green Undead core.

With that, the entire battle ended before it even began.

It hadn't been as exciting as hoped, but Kyle couldn't help but feel satisfied.

There was some change in the waves, and the difficulty increased, even if it was marginal.

As such, he could figure out whether the rewards he obtained improved with each subsequent wave or not.

To figure that out, Kyle turned towards the hourglass.

He kept eyeing it for a few seconds before he mumbled,

"8 hours? Alright!"

The resting period had increased, which was already good to know.

And when he looked at the wooden signs, Kyle could also tell that the rewards had increased too.

That was great, and it was exactly because of this, that Arashi stood once again in front of the [Difficulty] sign eagerly.

Like before, he wanted Kyle to make use of the sign again.

This caused Kyle to frown, but instead of complaining, he approached the sign and inserted his soul force into it.

In his opinion, the increase in rewards was an exceptional advantage if he were to find something he liked.

That had not happened so far as he was yet to come across something that attracted his interest.

But, the moment his eyes notice it, Kyle would pick it up without hesitation.

For the first wave, after he had changed the difficulty, this had not happened.

So, his excitement had evaporated into thin air.

What he felt that he was missing was more action and kills.

This, in turn, would only increase his reckless behavior.

Kyle was aware of this, yet he felt the need to accept Arashi's suggestion yet again.

His gut feeling told him that it was correct to increase the difficulty.

'I didn't even have to use the deathly assault martial art technique yet…' He mused before turning back towards the Door of Fortification.

In the last few weeks, Kyle hadn't slept much.

All his focus had been on cultivating, comprehending the essence of the wind, and practicing the two martial art techniques he owned.

As such, there was not much time to sleep or think about food.

His rations had dwindled, and there were only scraps of food left from his earlier big supply of ration.

He had hoped that the change of difficulty would allow living beasts to emerge from the portals, but that did not happen.

Because of that, Kyle felt that his assumption about the castle's death aura was true.

There were probably only undead beasts inside the entire Inheritance site for him to fight.

This caused him to feel a little bit frustrated. But there was nothing for him to do except grumble.

And, instead of complaining, he just told himself that he would pick the food for his next reward.

Fortunately, he had seen quite a few kinds of food items displayed on the wooden signs.

Through this, Kyle wouldn't have to starve after his limited supply ran out.

It was an advantage even if the price for securing the food items was to use one reward for it.

It was not like he could do anything against this either way.

It only made sense for the castle to throw in some food items as rewards from time to time in the mix.

Otherwise, his death was imminent.

There was no certainty on when he would be able to leave once again.

Slumping down to the ground, Kyle rested against the wall right next to the Door of Fortification before he closed his eyes.

Several hours flew by as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

The moment he opened his eyes, Kyle knew that there was not much time left before the next wave would start.

By annexing the soul force Arashi had generated while he had been asleep, he was able to cultivate until the eight wave finally began.

A total of 16 Ghouls were summoned and they charged at the only two living beings.

But this time, both Kyle and Arashi attacked them, using their wind affinity without hesitation.

Bombarding the 16 beings at the Mid Fortification stage with wind blades yet again, the duo reduced their opponents to mere puppets.

Forced to succumb to their predetermined fate, they collapsed like a pack of cards, leaving behind nothing but rotten flesh, bones, and Undead cores.

Picking up the cores, Kyle moved the rotten flesh and bones, to make some space to fight.

The number of bones that littered on the floor alongwith the rotten remains was steadily increasing.

His stomach rumbled at the thought of food.

That made him quickly glance through all the dishes available on the wooden signs, before choosing what he wanted.

Only a moment later, a table filled with all kinds of dishes appeared.

This caused Kyle's eyes to shine vibrantly as he began to hungrily eat.

His hands and clothes were slick with sweat and a little blood but he couldn't care less about hygiene right now.

Savoring every bite, he didn't even notice how time passed.

For a while the only noise echoing through the surrounding was that of him chewing and biting into the food.

Just a small portion of the dishes filled his stomach quickly.

Thus he had more than enough to save them for the next few days.

The food would be enough to keep him from starving and continue fighting.

Until the ninth wave started, not much time was left which shocked Kyle after he took a glance at the hourglass.

Nonetheless, he didn't require anymore time because his entire body was overflowing with the energy his food provided him.

As such, Kyle was not even bothered by the fact that he had to face 32 Ghouls at the Mid Fortification stage this time.

As he was fully rested, and overflowing with energy, Kyle manifested more than a dozen crescent wind blades at once.

He then shot them straight at the Ghouls that had just emerged from the portal.

Before, he hadn't bothered about attacking his opponents while they were emerging from the portal.

However, that changed after he realized that it was the best way to defeat the Ghouls before they even realized what was going on.

It would save him time and help him progress further quickly.

It was only logical, but his morale had hindered him from acting on that thought.

Yet, if he were to be honest with himself, nobody cared about morale if it was a deciding factor over life and death.

Furthermore, the undead beings were already dead.

As such, Kyle felt that they must be glad to be defeated and released from their misery.

To the Undeads, devouring their soul was similar to jumping out of hell, only to enter the abyss that was filled with nothing but eternal darkness.

Nevertheless, he couldn't care less about the souls he had devoured.

After all, it was his path, and he couldn't change it anymore!

And, if he didn't kill them, they would definitely kill him.

It was already too late to be sorry about devouring the souls of others. And if Kyle were to be honest, he was not even sure what happened to the sentience of the souls.

Did they continue to live within the beings he nurtured or was it the soul's energy their particles?

Was the soul's essence released, or did he devour it too?

In the end, Kyle didn't know a concrete answer about that.

But what he knew was that souls would normally lose their memories the moment their vessel was destroyed.

As such, it shouldn't matter whether he devoured them if they were reborn again, or whatever else happened to them.

This was at least what Kyle told himself the moment he and Arashi had killed all the Ghouls.

Their corpses were stacked upon each other a few feet away from the portal.

Devouring their souls, Kyle supplied the Nurture ability with the majority of soul particles inside his body.

After that, he looked at the wooden signs as if nothing around him had happened.

'Now..what should I choose?' He mumbled, looking at all kinds of things.

**

Hours passed, and Kyle had already made his decision on what he should choose as his reward.

He didn't increase the difficulty this time. It seemed to be the best decision he could have taken. The tenth wave was much more difficult than he could have ever imagined.

Words of surprise escaped his lips as he swore again.

"Oh...god damn!!"

Kyle couldn't believe his eyes.

It was only at that moment when Kyle realized that the 10th wave was bound to become the biggest challenge he had faced until now!