Chapter 921 - Issues at hand
While everything had looked quite simple from a spectator's view, nobody knew what had really happened.
Not only was Lars certain that Jennifer was still in front of him but that he would defeat her.
However, she was, in fact, behind him, though he had sensed her energy fluctuations that had made him make the wrong assumption.
Yet, feeling the cold touch of her sword-blade on his neck, it was crystal clear that he must have mistaken something.
'Did she trick me…how?!'
Lars was sure that Jennifer was still in front of him, which was what confused him the most.
But, the cold touch on his neck told him otherwise- that she had somehow tricked him and used the element of surprise to gain an upper hand.
With his gaze forcefully focused on the front, he could only see how the smoke and debris his attack had caused, dispersed.
Once the cloud of smoke had cleared he saw an unmoving Jennifer, fully clad in darkness and light…or so Lars thought.
Yet, upon taking a closer look, he realized that it was only the mantle of darkness and light that had remained, while the silver piercing eyes that had been revealed before had disappeared.
'She…tricked me with an illusion?...No that's not it…how was it possible for her darkness and light affinity to replicate her energy fluctuations so perfectly??'
Lars was obviously dumbfounded, but Jason couldn't help but feel the same.
After all, Jennifer had used a lesser version of the doppelganger ability Spyro had copied from the Primordial being that had mainly focused on its Spiral path.
As such, Jason quickly understood that Jennifer must have wanted to create a similar tactic to fool her opponents.
In fact, she was probably able to do much more, but in her fight against Lars, Jennifer comprehended that only making use of some small tricks was not enough.
This clearly showed her that her focus on the Spiral path and its uniqueness had been too shallow.
To be precise, she had mostly focused on the Maest path because it had involved her affinities, while the Pryr path was not exactly something one could be focusing on.
There were quite a few things one was able to do with primordial energy, but the versatility with which the Maest path could be used was simply greater as long as one owed one or multiple affinities.
Understanding her situation, Jennifer was clear of the fact that she had to become much stronger, and making the most of all three cultivation paths would allow her to achieve this.
Jason felt that Jennifer was doing exceptionally which caused him to smile once she returned to him.
"Good Job!" He thus remarked as the corner of his lips slightly lifted.
Receiving his subtle compliment, Jennifer smiled, even though she knew that her fight was nothing when compared to Jason.
However, little did he know that Jason was not comparing his combat prowess to hers, but that he was solely praising her because she had really lived up to his expectations.
Only two years had passed, and Jennifer had improved a lot.
As such, she did something extraordinary, whether it was in his view, or someone else's.
Unfortunately, Jennifer misunderstood the situation slightly, feeling that Jason simply said the words to motivate her.
Nonetheless, this misunderstanding caused her to be even more determined to become stronger as she wanted to stay by Jason's side, which meant that she had to improve even more.
It would take them a while to enter the Specta stage, let alone to advance within the Ascendion stage, but with the right mindset and means to advance, everything should work well for the two of them.
Thus, she made a resolve which caused her to nod her head seriously, causing both the Elder and Jason to exchange confused glances.
Understanding the mind of a woman was difficult.
As such, both shrugged their shoulders before they began to exchange information with each other.
However, it was not long after they started talking that the Elder was dragged to do other things that required his attention.
From the way Jason saw it, Elder Ben was busier than he had been two years ago, and the reason for this was quite simple.
More wandering souls had emerged in their surroundings, and it was not just the city of Liun where the incident with the Guard of the Soul Monarch had occurred two years ago.
Rather, Liun's situation had been the calmest and many settlements of Agran that were soul contracted to other races had been destroyed.
Yet, certain settlements had remained unscathed and escaped the attack which had confused quite a few people, including the majority of the Yinar race.
Nevertheless, there was nothing they could do about it, except send spies to figure out what was going on.
Everyone had had a bad feeling when the Guards of the Soul Monarch had appeared, but the Yinar race was the most uncomfortable with the situation.
After all, the Soul Monarch and his Guards were not only former members of their race, but the Ninad beast realm in which they were wreaking havoc was their most important asset!
In fact, some members of the Yinar race were of the belief that the Ninad beast realm was a must for their continued survival as a powerful race.
This, was not even wrong, but something most Yinar didn't want to acknowledge because it would reveal their biggest weakness.
When Jason found out the issue of the increasing number of wandering souls that were said to be a lot more aggressive than the normal kind, his ears perked up.
'There should be many missions about defeating wandering souls, right? I guess it's time for me to acquire Soa crystals then!!'
Ignoring the disadvantages the Yinar race was facing due to the increased number of wandering souls, Jason wanted to make use of the situation, and procure as many Soa crystals as he truly required.
And, if that could help the Yinar race indirectly, this was even better for his relationship with them.
This would only help him figure out more information about other possible ingredients for the True Soul awakening.
Getting to know what ingredients he required was even more difficult than truly procuring them, which was, by far, the biggest issue at hand!
Even telling himself that he had to keep his calm was not exactly helpful because he was just too eager to awaken his True Soul.
It required the resources for two completely different soul awakenings owing to his two bloodlines, and Jason figured that Jennifer was probably facing the same issues.
As such, they were not only required to amass a huge fortune to purchase the resources but also had to find out what kind of resources Jennifer required.
With that in mind, the first completed the missions they were capable of, which was why they entered the mission hall.
Knowing what Jason had roughly planned, Jennifer had always kept silent.
After all, she had nowhere to go and believed that her right place was next to Jason.
Yet, somehow, Jennifer was not sure what exactly he was planning for the future.
Did he have something important and specific in mind, or was he acting instinctively?
Sometimes, Jennifer felt that both could be the case and that he was tweaking his plans based on the situation in front of him.
But given the situation about the Soul Monarch and the possible dangers inside the Ninad beast realm, she had one particular question that was very important for her to know the answer to!
"By the way, what are we doing next once we procure the Soa crystals and possibly other items that we can only acquire in the Ninad beast realm?"