Omega produced a round crystal from his pocket then threw it in the air. He waved his hand and the forest lit up as though the sun shone before us. I saw the shape of a man floating where the crystal was. He was glowing. He was the source of the blinding light. The light ran in curved lines along the body, as though led by invisible tunnels. They traveled from one cl.u.s.ter of light to the other. 

"Raiya's soul should roughly look like this. The general shape is the same, save for a few details," Omega said. He had his hands behind his back and eyed the shape before us with great interest. "How many cores can you count?" 

He meant the light cl.u.s.ters. "Nine," I replied. My eye was glued to one of them. Light danced inside it in harmonious circles before it left for the next cl.u.s.ter. It was a fascinating sight to behold. 

Omega waved his hand and the image changed. It was another shape, but this one's light was faint. Even darkness returned to the clearing. "This is how yours looks," he said and pointed at the only light cl.u.s.ter available. "And this is your core." 

I snorted. "I'm just a firefly. Raiya is the sun." 

Omega roared in laughter. He waved his hand and another shape materialized. I closed my eye for a second until I adjusted to the light once more. This one had seven cl.u.s.ters. It was definitely bright, but not as Raiya's soul. 

"This is what a Fragment Bearer looks after completing their a.s.similation," Omega noted. He waved his hand and we were back to my soul. 

"Why do they have so many cores?" I asked. 

"Every mortal soul has nine cores. You just can't see them all at once," Omega replied. 

"What about your soul? Wait, do Celestials have souls?" I asked. 

Omega shot me a brief glance then sighed. "Why must you always jump to things beyond your comprehension?" 

I shrugged. "I can't help it." I answered with a nervous smile. 

"Let's focus on you now, and how you can stand toe to toe with someone like Samuel Avourel," Omega said. He summoned the crystal back to him and pocketed it. "Reinforcing the one core you have is hard enough already." 

I rubbed my head. This looked like a lot of work, especially that my core was very weak. "Are beasts like us? Do they have souls and cores as we do?" I asked.

"Some of them do, like the beasts here in Ulmir's Domain," Omega replied. He looked at the branches that danced with the clouds above us and sighed. "There are all manners of beasts out there; some of them are so powerful they could kill ancient G.o.ds. Come with me." 

We walked through the dark forest for hours. Omega would stop every now and then, inspect the place then move on. Sunlight barely reached us in the ground. Beasts kept growling in the distance. I heard loud footsteps approaching us on two occasions, but they quickly changed direction as soon as Omega stopped and looked in their direction. 

We finally stopped near a wide clearing. Green murky water flowed through a river in the middle. I saw another mushroom beast by the stream. Its stubby knees were bent, and its mushroom cap was completely submerged in water.

The mushroom got up and looked around. It was much larger than the one I had just fought. Thorns covered its fat legs and arms. A big scar ran through its torso. One of its shoulders had a hole I could fit in. 

"Even monsters evolve in the face of adversity. This one is evolving to become the mushroom king in Ulmir's domain. To achieve that, he'll need to challenge the current mushroom queen. Your task will be to hunt this one down," Omega whispered. He kept his fiery eyes fixated on the beast. 

"I couldn't even beat the previous one," I protested. 

"This monster has almost solidified its core. Open your third eye and inspect it," Omega urged. 

I did as I was told. I could see the beast's energy flowing through its conduits. I could also clearly see its core, a round cl.u.s.ter the size of an orange. "It's so bright," I said after I closed my third eye. My head started throbbing then. 

"You need to achieve the same level before challenging it. Because its core is almost solid, you can absorb it before it completely vanishes. Maybe I should take this one for myself..." I could see greed in Omega's fiery eyes. He shook his head. "My apologies, monster cores are a delicacy for us Celestials." 

"Even if I achieve what you've asked, I still won't be as strong as Sam," I pointed out. 

"There are five steps you must go through in order to reach the level of a Fragment Bearer." Omega stood then walked toward the clearing. The mushroom caught a glimpse of the Celestial and scurried away, deeper into the dark forest. 

"You are now a simple mortal. Solidify one core and you become what we call a Serf. At that stage, you'll be able to identify two more cores, which you should solidify as well. Each subsequent level will require you to fill two cores as well, until you reach nine and you're ready." Omega reached the river and sat on a boulder covered in purple moss. 

"How would I solidify something like energy?" I asked. 

"By defeating an Alfa and consuming it," Omega replied. He tapped on the boulder. "Sit, young pupil. It's time for a lecture." 

After I sat, Omega threw his crystal ball in the air. Texts began flas.h.i.+ng before my eyes. "Every mortal soul goes through five stages of evolution. The ultimate goal is ascension to G.o.dhood. For now, you are a mortal. In order to reach Sam's level, you have to go through three stages, Serf, Va.s.sal then Knight. Each stage requires you to solidify two cores." 

"That's a total of seven cores," I said. 

"By the time you have seven cores, you're ready to receive a Fragment from a Primordial," Omega replied. 

"What if you never receive one?" I asked. I had no hope of getting another Fragment. 

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Omega replied with a wave of his hand. 

I looked at the words displayed before me. "In order to become a Serf, which is the next stage in my evolution, I must hunt down that mushroom, is that right?" 

"You have to feed your core first. It needs to grow to the same level as the Alfa you saw before. Only then can you hope to defeat it," Omega replied. He summoned the crystal back to him. "You have a long road ahead of you, Myles Stalwart. I give you three months. I'll come back to check on you then. Defeat the Alfa. Ascend to Serf." 

Omega jumped down and walked toward the river. His hand extended to the s.p.a.ce above the stream and a ripple appeared. He looked back, gave me an encouraging nod then disappeared inside. 

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