Eating Souls In Another World

Chapter 09

With newfound interest, Drake turned his gaze to the glowing orbs. He was hoping to get more info from the strange digital screens that kept popping up in front of him and thankfully he wasn't made to wait for long.

The screen that appeared while he stared at the red orb said it was a [Beast Soul (SS): Inferno Salamander Hatchling]. The next one followed him gazing at the black orb and just by reading the words Drake understood that it was different.

[Beast Soul (SSS): Night Wing Hatchling]

“Hey…” staring at the black-colored will-o'-wisp, Drake asked his red-haired companion. "If I understood this right, the Soul of an SS-tier infant beast is more valuable than that of the more powerful fully matured version, right?”

“Yes…” Rollo replied, turning to the soul box. 

“What if the Soul of the infant is an SSS tier?”

As he waited for the answer, Drake noticed that it was taking a bit too long. He was about to turn to check when a hand suddenly fell on his shoulder. Holding a hand to his mouth, the boy with red hair appeared to be suppressing his laughter.

“Good one, Drake! You almost got me!” Unable to keep it going, he burst into laughter. “The only SSS tier magical beasts that exist are elder dragons, and those are so powerful they could wipe out entire countries in a single night. Obtaining the Soul of one of those living calamities is practically impossible!”

“… right…”

Drake shrugged the boy's hand. He had heard all he needed to hear so before hesitation could get to him he reached for the black orb.

“Don’t tell me…”

Rollo's eyes widened as he seemed to form an idea of what was happening. Someone far more knowledgeable about the topic would never let go of the black orb if he were to know what it was. Because of that, Drake made the quick decision to swallow it before the red-haired boy could figure it out.

The size of the orb didn't prove to be a hindrance. The Soul was light, soft, and squishy. It bent when he tried to sink his teeth into it, making him feel as if he was biting a ball of air. Instead of doing so, he simply allowed it to slide into his mouth and throat, swallowing the whole thing without chewing.

An audible gulp came from his throat and he stood there waiting for something to happen. A few seconds passed and still nothing but then all strength abruptly disappeared from Drake's body and he fell to his knees.

Swaying slightly, he then fell to his side and gradually curled into a ball. An unbearable pain spread from his stomach to every ounce of his body as if he were being torn apart cell by cell. He grabbed his head in both hands and spread his mouth wide open, letting out an inaudible scream that reached out from the depths of his psyche.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

[SSS grade Beast Soul has been ingested.]

[

Identifying Beast Soul...

Specie: Night Wing.

Level: 01.

Attribute: Dragon. Darkness.

]

[Would you like to assimilate level 01 Night Wing Hatchling?]

[YES]

[Beginning Assimilation]

[…]

[ASSIMILATION COMPLETE]

Blue screens flashed in front of Drake one after the other barely giving him the time to read their contents. The pain seemed to grow in intensity only for it all to stop as if it was never there in the first place, then everything seemed to go black.

~[ ]~

Drake's eyes snapped open and he shot up from his spot on the floor. It took him a few seconds to realize he had passed out at some point, but it was only after he was the alter and the box on top of it that he remembered what happened.

Unsure how to react, Drake remained frozen in his place feeling the sweat on his back slowly cool down. A hand fell on his shoulder once more and shook him slightly.

“Hey! Drake! You okay?” 

Rollo's face was paler than before, the blood having drained from it. Drake stared at him for a couple of silent seconds then closed his eyes and sighed.

"How... how long was I out of it?"

"A few minutes, at the very least." The boy's eyes kept darting in the direction of the entrance. "What in the world happened to you!??"

Drake held his right hand to his head, the lingering headache annoying him quite a bit.

“You should've told me eating that thing could kill you."

The pain that assaulted him after swallowing the orb was unlike anything he had experienced before. It was only natural that he passed out right away.

The hell was I even thinking? He asked himself. Eating something ridiculous like that... 

"It doesn't really kill you, but..." The boy paused, as if unsure of what to say. “Well, it depends on the tier of the Soul. I’ve never seen anything like this before. What kind of beast did you pick?”

Glancing at him for a second, Drake turned away and said in a low voice.

“A Night Wing…”

“Hahaha, you’re so funny. But really, what was it?”

“…”

“… no way…” 

The boy's smile faded as he slowly realized it was the truth.

“An elder dragon… are you telling me you just ate the Soul of an elder dragon?”

“Well, it was a hatchling…”

Silence permeated through the cold storage room, returning it to the state it was in before the two entered. It was sometime before either of them moved or said anything.

“Ha---ah! I give up!" Turning to the box, Rollo stared at the remaining orbs. “Man, this sucks. I guess it’s my fault for being unable to recognize what they are. How did you do it anyway?”

“Well, I just knew…”

Drake almost told him about the blue screens but stopped in his tracks at the last moment. The truth was that he himself didn't know anything about them.

When his silence went on for a while, the boy made quite the mature choice and just dropped the topic instead of trying to pry the answer out of him. Sighing, he reached into the box and grabbed the blue orb.

“This is the one that belonged to the Snow Tiger, right?”  He asked.

“Yeah…”

Hearing Drake's reply, the boy stared at the blue orb then closed his eyes and gobbled it in one go. He fell to the floor the next second and started spasming, and after a few tense seconds, he passed out.

Drake couldn't help wondering if the boy had died. He went so far as to check his pulse just in case, and thankfully he seemed to have passed out and nothing more.

The redhead woke up a couple of minutes later and started ruffling his hair.

“Man… this really hurts…” 

Heaving a sigh of relief, Drake scratched the back of his head as he thought for a moment.

"We should get moving." He said. "We've lingered around for too long."

There was no telling how long it would be before the cultists noticed their disappearance. With that in mind, remaining in one place for too long was like asking to be found.

“Wait!" The boy grabbed his arm and whispered as loudly as he could. "What should we do about the last Soul?"

Drake raised an eyebrow then glanced at the remaining red orb.

"This thing is worth a fortune, right?"

"Yes..."

"Then we sell it and split the profit." Grabbing the orb, Drake stared at it for a moment then handed it to the boy. "You keep it for now."

They already stole what is supposed to be two insanely valuable Beast Souls so there was no point in leaving the last one behind.

Drake had no idea if the boy could be trusted with something so valuable. The two of them were strangers so it wouldn't be strange for him to run off with it, but that was no problem.

He didn't care much for the red orb, however, nor did he care for the wealth it could bring him. The only thing on his mind right now was getting out of this insane situation. Once they are safe, the next thing he would do is search for a way home.

"U-understood..."

With sweat beading his forehead, Rollo took the slightly warm orb. He then took out an old towel and wrapped the Beast Soul in it before stashing it in his bag. With that done, he strapped the sizable back to his shoulders and turned to look at his partner in crime.

His eyes fluttered to the side a couple of times before they snapped open, followed by his face losing its color once more.

“Hey…” Lifting a shaky finger, he pointed at something behind Drake. “What… what’s that?”

His abnormal reaction prompted Drake to heighten his guard and he carefully turned in the direction the boy pointed at.

The visibility in the storage room was limited to the areas lit by the few torches hanging on the walls. Seeing beyond them was no easy matter, but Drake didn't have to strain his eyes to find what caused the boy's reaction.

A tiny stream of dark red liquid was slowly seeping from behind the white altar. Even if they had yet to confirm it, the two were both convinced that they knew what they were looking at.

Drake's logical side told him to avoid checking the source, but his body was already moving by the time he realized that.

Behind the white altar-like white rock, two men in black attire lay on top of each other bathed in a pool of what I can only imagine is their own blood. 

“Huh…” 

A gasp snapped Drake out of his daze and he noticed that the boy beside him was peeking at the corpses as well. Not stopping him was a mistake, but it was already too late.

Drake's mind raced as it tried to comprehend what was happening. They were at a crime scene from the start, but never in their lives did they even consider the possibility of the crime being murder instead of theft.

A sudden thought spawned in the chaos rampaging through Drake's mind. When they entered the storage room he felt it was strange that no one was there to guard it. That feeling got stronger when Rollo explained what kind of treasure they just so happened to come across, and now he got his answer.

"Let's get out of here." Drake grabbed Rollo by the arm and dragged him away from the murder scene.

The cell he was thrown in and the ropes that tied his arms came to mind. Though he had no way to confirm it, Drake was convinced that whoever freed him was also responsible for the deaths of those cultists.

They were cleverly hidden behind that altar and there were no traces on the floor so he would have never noticed them if he didn’t stay in the storage for that long. 

He was already raring to leave that place and now he had all the more reason to do so.

“I FOUND THEM!!!"

Before they could reach the entrance, a man dressed from head to toe in black came tunning into the storage room. In his hands, he was holding a spear, and the instant he spotted them he did not hesitate to point it in their direction.

=====================

Author's note: 

This series is currently being edited so the following chapters might be of lower quality and have inconsistencies compared to the ones that came before.

You can read the newly edited chapters by subscribing to Nomanalive on P.A.T.R.E.O.N.