‘We will help you, but the return will not be instantaneous, and it will be filled with dangers.’
Neo nodded, having expected this answer.
Talking to Elementals and having them manifest their powers for his use cost him mental energy.
Movement between dimensions would cost even more—draining him to his limits.
Neo would have to take breaks on the way back to recover.
It would take time.
He might also encounter a powerful enemy while he was resting. Hence, it was dangerous.
“Thank you for explaining everything.”
‘It was nothing.’
The silver motes flickered one last time before disappearing.
Neo stood still, contemplating the words Space had left behind.
His eyes shifted to his surroundings.
Above, a sun—Sunshine—floated in the air, casting a bright radiance over the battlefield.
It was probably night, given how the original sun of Tartarus had disappeared, leaving only Sunshine behind.
A voice rang out, breaking the silence.
“I’ve been dying for seven hours!” Percival’s voice boomed, filled with frustration. “Seven hours! I’m dying! Dying! And dying!”
Percival grabbed handle of his massive warhammer.
His muscles tensed, veins bulging as his patience snapped.
“I’m done playing nice!”
With a roar, he surged forward at high speed.
Before Dorothy—the ostrich—even appeared, he swung his giant hammer toward the empty space on his left.
The force of the swing sent shockwaves rippling through the air, distorting the space around him.
He couldn’t sense the ostriches.
The reason he attacked was his battle instincts. It told him that was where Dorothy would appear.
His attack was perfect.
As a Seraph, he had lived multiple lives and stacked battle experience from countless battles.
It came as no surprise that he struck the exact spot where Dorothy was about to emerge.
But…
“Huh?”
The ostrich suddenly teleported.
No.
It didn’t teleport. The Space Elementals never moved. Percival was sure of it since he had been keeping an eye on the Space.
Yet, the ostrich moved from his left to right instantaneously.
“How? The Space Elementals did not show any sign—”
Before he could complete his words, Dorothy delivered a quick stab to his head.
Pain exploded in his skull, and his vision darkened.
He was dead.
A few seconds later, instead of resuming his mindless charge, Percival sat down at the starting point.
His expression said he was contemplating over something.
“Why did you stop?” Neo questioned.
“I need to change my approach. This isn’t helping.”
After the last skirmish, Percival had grown confident he could defeat Dorothy.
The ostriches were fast, but they were neither strong nor durable.
Earlier, he could have used his hammer to bash Dorothy’s face in.
But he didn’t.
‘There are two more ostriches. I’m sure they are faster than Dorothy. I would’ve been stopped even if I defeated Dorothy.’
Reading Percival’s thoughts cleared Neo’s doubts.
Having realized he could now defeat Dorothy—the bird that had been drinking his brain juice all day—Percival felt there was no need to continue his reckless assault.
He had his revenege.
Now, he needed a plan to actually progress.
‘I’m not peeking into his thoughts. I respect others’ privacy,’ Neo rationalized his actions shamelessly. ‘The only reason I read his mind now is because I need to understand why he’s acting like he isn’t Apollo.’
Although he didn’t find the reason behind Percival’s strange behaviour, there was annother thing didn’t make sense to Neo.
‘His growth is too fast.’
‘He was barely able to react to Dorothy’s speed. Now he can react to it easily.’
‘All this happened within a day.’
‘How is that possible?’
“Seems like you realized it,” Kane suddenly said. “His growth speed is fast, right?”
Neo turned to Kane with furrowed brows.
“What’s the reason behind it?” Percival asked, voicing the same doubt.
He had realized something was wrong.
The growth speed was unnatural.
“It’s because of your Soul.”
Kane continued.
“Soul is the source of evolution, and your body is a limiter, or a cage if you want to call it that.
“Staying in a soul state—a state without a body—allows you to grow faster.”
“….?”
Percival frowned.
“Then why doesn’t everyone train in a soul state?”
“Because it’s dangerous. The soul evolves quickly, true.
“But it is an uncontrolled evolution. Most of the time, you gain mutations that are both harmful and powerful.
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“The body is present to prevent that.
“It limits the evolution speed and makes sure the evolution isn’t uncontrolled. Instead, it ensures the evolution follows a proper direction,” Kane explained.
His words made a lot of sense to Neo.
Neo finally understood why the Underworld of Earth gave bodies to the souls of the dead.
‘It delays monsterization.’
‘Uncontrolled evolution means they will grow with haphazard mutations. That’s how souls become monsters.’
‘Having a body slows down the evolution, preventing people from becoming monsters.’
‘These haphazard mutations must be why monsters are stronger than Awakeners and demigods of the same rank.’
Neo smiled bitterly.
Most people, if not all, blamed Darkness for souls turning into monsters.
If he was to believe Kane’s words, Darkness did no such thing.
It was all the doing of uncontrolled evolution.
After Kane explained everything, Percival was staring at him with a stiff expression.
“So you are saying I’m growing faster because of uncontrolled evolution. But doesn’t that mean I’m more prone to monsterization at the same time?”
“You are,” Kane nodded. “This is a very dangerous training method. For you, and for us.
“If you become a monster, you will be an Immortal Monster—praise Tartarus—and taking those monsters down is hard. Very hard.
“That’s why I hope you don’t fall to monsterization.”
“…”
Percival no longer had the energy to get angry after the day’s events.
He just gave a deadpan stare, his warhammer resting beside him in the dirt.
“It’s not my fault. This is the only way you can be strong enough to join the Grand Expedition in only five days.
“And if you want to die less, just work together with Neo,” Kane said with a chuckle.
“I’ll think about it,” Percival said, his usual enthusiasm nowhere to be seen.