"I heard you finally mastered your Spiritual Vision. This is a very important step for every Necromancer…"
Immortal praised, looking at Zhang as he ran a hand over his stubble…
"Yes, master, it's still full of limitations, but I can already see partial shadows and almost a complete vision when they're 2-3 meters away from me…"
"Hmm… I think it's time to teach you something new, then… Do you remember when you first arrived in Stygai and I said I had erased all the souls that followed you?"
Hm? Yes, I remember… Thank you again for that, master…"
"Well, I didn't erase all of them… There was one soul that followed you that was quite special… So I placed some protective barriers over it, and hid it even from your current Spiritual Vision…"
Zhang made an anxious face, but soon thought of a few possibilities and decided to let Immortal clarify this…
"Why did you do that, master?"
"See, I'll show you…" With a wave of his hand, the concealment was removed, and Zhang saw a translucent soul floating next to him. But since his vision was still weak, all he saw was a figure, which, unlike the other souls he saw daily in the Graveyard of Souls, was a little, hm, brighter? And less hostile?
"Well, the first lesson for today is that there are powerful spells capable of concealing souls… So if you're dealing with a high-level Necromancer, always consider this, and don't rely too much on your new ability…"
"Yes, master! Thank you for the valuable lesson!"
"The second lesson is about this soul here, we call them Guardian Souls… Guardian Souls are something that many Necromancers desire, but almost no one can have… As you have noticed, the term guardian is used due to the protective nature that this soul has about the person it has become attached to…"
Leaving Zhang to digest the first part, Immortal continued:
"Of course, becoming attached to the living after death, for whatever reason, as a Necromancer, you must already know the final result of the soul, right?"
"A possession, a vengeful spirit, a poltergeist… The possibilities are endless… The cause of death, the person's personality, obsessions, and talents they had in life, and even the place where they died, all influence what the souls will become… But it is never something good…" Zhang replied, reciting an excerpt from a book he had read…
"Exactly, but there is an exception to this rule when two rare coincidences occur. The first is when someone has a talent for magic, more specifically, a talent for soul affinity. The second point is being a person with extremely high moral values, someone who has never committed any kind of sin…"
"You mean that this soul that is following me met both of these factors?"
"Yes, someone who had a soul affinity, never committed any kind of evil while alive, and whose final wish while dying was to protect you!"
Only then did Zhang realize who this soul could be, and his eyes filled with tears, while his hand tried to touch her "face", but to no avail…
"Mom…"
Soon, only Zhang's constant sobbing could be heard inside the room…
Immortal, who was still sitting in front of him, remained silent for almost 40 minutes. Giving his student all the time he needed to process his feelings regarding that person…
"Do you understand now why many want to have a soul like this, but almost no one can? This type of soul that has never meditated does not last for many years before finally weakening and disappearing… When you arrived in Stygai, her soul had already passed that limit, but it still strongly resisted leaving you…
Still sniffling a little, Zhang finally asked:
"What can I do for her?"
Immortal understood the difference in the sentence well, any insensitive Necromancer and a little less detached from life, would ask what he could do "with" it…
"Come with me, I will take you to a very special place, but to get there, you need to use Astral Projection."
The two entered meditation, and after assuming the form of souls, Immortal asked him to follow him and flew through a few floors, arriving at the top floor of the Necro Tower. There, an old mirror filled with magical formations and soul stones embedded in its frame shone with a strange light…
When Immortal passed through the mirror, he disappeared. Zhang became a little anxious, but soon followed him too. After entering the mirror, his vision blurred for a moment before finally seeing a place that resembled a dusty, old ghost town…
The strangest thing about this city was that all of its structures were transparent, including the people who walked or floated through it, but some objects seemed to be "physical"…
All of the buildings and people had a ghostly, spectral green color. This was the same for Zhang and his master. Their astral projections, which previously had their normal appearances and colors, now also had this strange hue.
Before entering the city, Zhang had already seen many of these souls announcing and shouting something… This sure looked like some kind of underground market…
Soon, a soul dressed as a butler approached Immortal and Zhang, who were still gaping at everything, and said:
"Welcome to the Bizarre Bazaar!"
****
Special thanks to the Patreons:
Sage's Supporter: Jan, Vinnie, frimorigo, Leery Falcon, Parsa, Scott Robertson, and Pato Senalima!
Magic Apprentice: Axel Bour, Gabriele Sulpizio, Takatchi, mandeep singh, Austin, Kobe Robertson, Paul Gaslac, Niteo akuma, and 704Corleon!
Senior Magic Apprentice: Cole Bromley and Avacus!