"Karida!" Wilt shouted the name of the fallen and, turning into an almost indistinguishable shadow, rushed in pursuit.
Reyn, accelerating sharply, broke from the house's cover, and the "Eye of the Spiritual Demon" on the Tower of Mages came into view.
Wilt stopped just as abruptly at the wall.
He could undoubtedly have caught Reyn, but the slightest noise from the fight would inevitably attract the "Eye of the Spiritual Demon's" attention. As a follower of the evil god, Wilt dared not appear in this all-seeing guardian's view. If caught—it meant certain death.
Wilt crouched, checking Karida's condition, and confirmed she was dead. His gaze, full of feral hatred, followed Reyn's receding figure.
"You'll pay for this," he growled hoarsely after him.
Reyn ignored the threat and quickly left the scene, soon dissolving into the night darkness.
Even when Wilt struck him first, Reyn had sensed a shadow warrior lurking in the house corner, waiting for the right moment for a surprise attack. He hadn't seen the enemy hidden in the shadow veil but clearly heard the heartbeat. Pinpointing the ambush location this way, he deliberately pretended not to notice.
As expected, the shadow warrior couldn't hold back and attacked, falling straight into the trap.
Shadow Warriors were renowned for stealth mastery and high speed, but their physical strength was low. Moreover, this particular attacker's level was not high. Reyn, putting all his power into the deadly embrace, simply crushed her.
Her level was only first, and the absorbed soul gave him two charge notches.
Reyn quickly moved several hundred meters away, not ceasing to track Wilt with "Voice of All Things." Twice changing direction, he hid in an alley, ready to resume pursuit if needed.
Wilt didn't linger at the house. Picking up Karida's body, he strode away swiftly, choosing a completely different direction.
Reyn immediately followed, but soon found Wilt moving at incredible speed.
He pursued for less than a minute when Wilt vanished beyond the reach of his "Voice of All Things," and the trail broke.
"Too fast. Even carrying a body, he moves so I can't catch up," Reyn thought with annoyance.
Reyn felt a pang of annoyance. The Squall Wind Magic Swordsman was renowned for speed for good reason. He himself was only first level and not particularly agile—nothing to be done about it. All he could do was return to his apartment, pondering that in the future, if he got a suitable demonic soul, he must compensate for this speed deficiency.
On the way, he zigzagged several times, even crossed the river via a farther bridge, and only returned to the apartment at dawn.
Washing the blood drops from himself and the hammer, Reyn examined his wounds.
The second sword wound was shallow and fully healed.
The first was worse: bleeding had stopped, but a fearsome crimson mark remained on his chest, aching dully with every movement. Full healing would take at least several days.
Additionally, a faint imprint from Hogan's fist lingered on his ribs—nothing serious.
Reyn felt slight fatigue. Wound recovery required spiritual power expenditure, and the interface charge indicator now showed only twelve percent. And this after absorbing two superhumans' souls, adding five notches.
In one night, spiritual power had grown nearly half—this was the main achievement.
Reyn sat on the bed, confirmed he was fine, and began his first meditation.
World Tree Meditation, though sounding intricate, was actually quite simple: one had to continuously construct the World Tree in one's soul, promoting its growth.
The taller the Tree, the stronger the spiritual power.
A mage's spiritual power was akin to a warlock's mana: it could be used to cast spells, activate various alchemical items and runes.
And most importantly, spiritual power could be used to enhance one's own elements.
If these were physical elements, the spiritual power directed to enhance them merged with the body, becoming an integral part, and could no longer be used for spells.
If these were secret elements, i.e., spells, spiritual power could raise their level, from first to ninth circle. The invested power remained available for spellcasting and didn't affect the overall spiritual power reserve.
Elements of unusual abilities couldn't be enhanced with spiritual power; they could only improve with some probability during soul transformation.
Reyn was a battle mage, and he had to direct at least part of his spiritual power to strengthening his body, so his reserves of power for spells were less than those of mages from the other two schools.
In simpler terms, battle mages had less mana.
Therefore, every battle mage had to carefully choose how to distribute their spiritual power, finding a balance.
If combining them didn't work out, they should focus on one thing: either close combat or the art of spells.
Usually, battle mages, to reduce spiritual power consumption, didn't study too many spells.
There were even extreme battle mages who perfected only a few spells, investing all their remaining spiritual power into self-enhancement.
For example, according to rumors, the Holy Spiritual Mage, founder of the battle mage school, Master Oroin, mastered only three spells, and the most polished among them was the most ordinary one – "Light"!
All this information was contained in the Seeds of Soul Fusion and served as guidance for descendants on how to develop correctly without straying from the path.
Nothing more was said about Master Oroin.
Reyn couldn't imagine how the "Light" spell could be used in battle.
Of course, he wasn't planning to go to such extremes. His own soul transformation was perfect, and he had far more spiritual power than other mages, so it should suffice for many needs. However, right now he didn't know a single spell, so he could only temporarily direct all his spiritual power into enhancing "Strength" or "Iron Body".
The "Strength" element had already been enhanced once, and further improvement was difficult, so he could only invest spiritual power into the "Iron Body" element.
Today's battle had allowed Reyn to fully realize the power of the super-unique element: his life had been saved precisely thanks to "Iron Body".
If he could enhance "Iron Body" once more, it would be equivalent to gaining another life!
In meditation, time flew by unnoticed.
When Reyn emerged from the meditative state, he found that noon was already approaching.
Spellcasters had to meditate every day, but too long a meditation could cause mental fatigue. Without using potions to relieve this fatigue, further meditation became pointless and brought no increase in spiritual power.
Reyn had lunch and headed to the "Basilisk" tavern.
Yesterday, he had arranged with Zoltan to borrow iron ingots from his yard for strength training. After training, he planned to ask Zoltan about crafting spiritual weapons, intending to create a suitable rifle for himself.
If he had had a rifle yesterday when Wilt was showing off on the balcony, one shot would have taken him down.
Immersed in training and research, the day flew by unnoticed.
Reyn never saw Roger and Delaersha. The couple hadn't left their room all day, as if glued to each other; food and drinks were brought to them by the inn servant. They had even stopped playing cards.
"They say excessive pleasures exhaust no less than hard labor. I wonder if Master Roger can withstand such a trial?" – a mischievous thought flashed through his mind.
"Though, a legendary superhuman is probably far more enduring than an ordinary man..."
Reyn chuckled inwardly. He didn't return to the apartment but stayed overnight in a room at the "Basilisk".
The next day at noon, after meditation, Reyn returned home, changed into formal attire, and headed to the "Violet House". The fair that Viola had mentioned was to take place in the evening, and they had agreed to meet half a day before it started.
When he arrived, the maid, upon seeing Reyn, didn't announce him but immediately led him upstairs.
As soon as he stepped out of the lift, Reyn heard the sounds of music coming from Viola's room. They were very quiet – evidently, the room had excellent soundproofing. Standing right at the door, an ordinary person probably wouldn't hear anything.
The maid was about to knock, but Reyn stopped her.
"Wait a moment. I'll enter when the music ends. You can go about your duties for now."
The maid glanced at Reyn. The mistress had specifically asked her to bring him upstairs immediately if he came, without announcing. This indicated that their relationship was at least friendly, if not closer.
So she calmly departed.
Reyn listened intently to the music. The instrument very much resembled a piano; here it was called a keyboard organ. Both in the way sound was produced and in timbre, it was virtually indistinguishable from a piano.
Viola's mastery was astonishing. A cheerful melody flowed from under her fingers smoothly and effortlessly, like a stream, sounding incredibly beautiful and filled with her emotions. Reyn, catching the mood of the music, realized that Viola was now, like this melody unknown to him, joyful, cheerful, and full of bright expectations.
Unnoticed, the melody came to an end.
Reyn sighed softly, gathering his thoughts, and knocked on the door.
"Come in," Viola's voice sounded.
Reyn pushed the door open and saw her sitting at the keyboard organ. A simple but elegant dress accentuated her beautiful figure. She seemed still immersed in the music. Golden hair cascaded like a waterfall, and a smile played on her exquisite face.
Seeing this scene, Reyn froze; his breath caught for a moment.
For an instant, he was at a loss, not knowing how to express his admiration.
"This music is as divine as its performer... or perhaps the other way around?" – flashed through his mind.
"Reyn, you've come," Viola stood up and approached him. Her lake-blue eyes fixed on Reyn, and seeing his stately figure and handsome face, approval flickered in them.
Reyn came to his senses after a couple of seconds and asked with a smile:
"I've been standing outside the door for a while, listened to your playing to the end, and only then entered. What melody was that?"
"It's 'Dance on the Lake,' I composed it myself," Viola replied, gracefully settling onto the sofa and pouring Reyn some tea. She explained: "I love music very much, especially the keyboard organ, and I seem to have some talent in this area. In my free time, I always play; it soothes the soul. Did you like it?"
"Very much!"
Reyn sat opposite her and clapped his hands several times in admiration.
"I didn't expect that you, Viola, also compose music. It's a pity that ordinary people don't have the chance to hear your playing; otherwise, you would have long been famous as a great musician."
Viola smiled.
"I don't aspire to be a great musician; it's just my hobby."
"Then I can only pity those who won't hear it," Reyn took the cup and sipped, feeling completely relaxed.
Viola nodded with a smile, but suddenly, as if remembering something, she hesitated a bit and still said:
"Though I don't like playing in public, I would like beautiful music to reach more people, for them to feel its charm, to know the beauty of life, to express their feelings, heal wounds, reduce strife, and bring more art into our world."
Reyn listened attentively, and it seemed a bit strange to him. Viola's words resembled a fervent sermon.