Chapter 94: A New Power

Brunhild held the Soul Crystal of Alistair carefully in her palm, feeling the intense and somewhat crazed power swirling inside it. Because he had been such a strong and large soul, it seemed she only required a single soul to create a Soul Crystal of this impressive size and quality.

However, almost instinctively, she learned she would need smaller souls to make bigger Soul Crystals in the future. Sometimes, if the souls were not that impressive, the process might create rather boring or generic Soul Crystals instead.

Yet seeing how desperate they currently were for any source of power, that did not seem like a bad idea either.

Nonetheless, this power to infuse the “Essence” of something into equipment had always existed when crafting with skills or magic. After all, she herself had crafted equipment like this before, and she had also seen how the essence of a monster could be infused into gear. Their cores could be used to further reinforce and enhance equipment too, creating magical gear that had long been a staple in the clan for survival.

However, it had never been done in such a complete way before. Those were just lingering essences at most, a bit of leftover spirit energy. The monster’s actual soul was long gone by the time the equipment was finished.

But this new method made it possible to even infuse equipment with entire souls and then make those same souls grow stronger over time. Practically speaking, she could now create evolving, living gear. The possibilities were truly endless this time.

Even more so because that was still only scratching the surface of what this ability could do.

“I can infuse this into my Soul too?” Brunhild asked, her voice filled with growing excitement as she examined the crystal more closely.

She realized she could use Soul Crystals and place them inside her own soul. Quite literally, she could turn these crystals into “equipment” for the soul itself.

Freyja had felt it as well. Brunhild’s [Evolution] Trait was continuously affecting her abilities and evolving them further with each discovery.

“Yes, it does seem to be that way!” Freyja said with clear enthusiasm. “However, a Soul needs to be appropriately strong enough to take on Soul Crystals. Also, if the Soul Crystal is done sloppily or has a powerful dark energy inside like Alistair’s, they might be dangerous to the Soul. After all, that is not just raw power. The Soul itself is affected! Someone that equips a... well, let’s say a Gray Wolf Soul Crystal might gain the wolf’s sharp perception abilities but also start acting a little like a dog...”

“Huh, that’s... yeah, maybe it should be done carefully,” Brunhild said with a thoughtful nod. “Anyway, I don’t want this one for myself. I’m turning him into a spear and giving him to someone... I guess... Wait, is nobody good with a lance in my family?”

“I’ve seen them training with most weapons. I think they can handle one,” Freyja replied calmly. “Plus, the Lance will have Alistair’s powers, so his technique can guide whoever wields it until they master it themselves, much like magic equipment that teaches you skills.”

“Right!” Brunhild nodded firmly. “...I also noticed something, like a small crystal symbol in the crystal’s information.”

“That’s the Level of the Soul Crystal,” Freyja explained. “From my calculations, it appears that Soul Crystals have a maximum Level of Five, meaning you will eventually see five of those ‘♢’ icons once the power of the Soul Crystal is fully mastered.”

“Each Level unlocks abilities?” Brunhild asked, her eyes lighting up with interest.

“Or strengthens existing ones,” Freyja nodded in confirmation.

“...That’s really literally Materia!” Brunhild said with open excitement, a bright smile spreading across her face.

“...I don’t really know what that is,” Freyja sighed softly. “But I am glad you’re happy, master.”

Brunhild looked at the Soul Crystal resting in her hand once more and nodded, truly feeling its solid weight and the dense power contained within. Then she glanced back at the furnace that had created it. And lastly, she looked at her own body, which was still only an avatar of her soul.

“Where are my Soul Crystal Slots?” she wondered aloud. “Is there any?”

“Yes,” Freyja answered, gently touching Brunhild’s chest and revealing two glowing slots. “Your soul is exceptional! Usually people have none. Very strong people might have one. You already have two right away!”

“Oooh, that’s cool!” Brunhild said, her excitement rising even higher. “So I can equip two of them, huh? This System was definitely NOT in Barbarian Conquest, haha.”

“It seems the System is rapidly evolving and changing based on your input,” Freyja explained. “Anyway, perhaps we should make some more Soul Crystals for everyone outside, master.”

“Yeah, let’s!” Brunhild agreed without hesitation.

She quickly called forth the strongest Souls she had gathered so far and threw them into the furnace one after another. First came the Soul of the Catfish boss from the first floor. Then the Soul of the Sorrow Winter King boss from the second floor. After that came the Soul of that really strong Snow Elf Hunter Dhampir. Finally, she added several more Souls from powerful Ice Golems and other Dhampir.

Ding!

[You have successfully refined and burned several Souls into Soul Crystals!]

[You have obtained the Following Soul Crystals]:

[Soul Crystal: Frozen Catfish Tyrant: ♢]

[Soul Crystal: Sorrowful Winter King: ♢]

[Soul Crystal: Frozen Golem Knight: ♢] x9

[Soul Crystal: Snow Elf Hunter Dhampir: ♢]

[Soul Crystal: Snow Elf Dhampir: ♢] x11

“Aside from Alistair, the Catfish, Winter King, and the Snow Elf Hunter seem like the strongest,” Brunhild said after carefully reviewing the results. “All of them should be imbued into new weapons for my family... Should I take two for my own soul?”

“Hmm, I say you should save that for later,” Freyja advised gently. “Think about it. If you regret it later then you will have to shatter the Soul Crystals, which would have been better used on equipment.”

“Right,” Brunhild nodded in agreement. “Okay, I’m done. Let’s return.”

Brunhild had nothing else to do here for the moment. She returned to her physical body and slowly opened her eyes. By her side, the Soul Crystals suddenly appeared one after another. It seemed they could be stored inside her Soul and retrieved at any time however she wanted.

“Alright... Mom! Big sis! Come here, I have something unique to show you!”

Her family quickly ran toward her, finding Brunhild holding several glowing crystal balls carefully in her hands.

“I’ve figured out a way to use my ability for now,” she said, beginning to explain everything she had discovered to them in detail.

Once she finished explaining how Soul Crystals worked, her family was clearly surprised by their potential.

“I see, this is intriguing...” her mother said thoughtfully. “So that power can refine a soul into a crystal?!”

“Yep,” Brunhild nodded. “I tried to evolve them, and it seems it worked too. They went from Level One to Level Two.”

Unlike other items, it seemed that using Evolution on them allowed them to raise One Level, but there was no other additional effect beyond that.

“Can’t we make strong weapons with them then?!” Sigrid asked eagerly.

“Yeah,” Brunhild nodded. “For that, big sis, I wanted to ask you if you could make a lance for Alistair’s soul crystal, the vampire I beat. He was the best at using them, so I think he’ll transfer well.”

“I-I see...” her sister nodded, already considering the idea. “Hmm, sure! To process metals we need a forge though.”

“I can build one,” Brunhild said confidently. “Wait... Hmm...”

She looked over at Sylvanus and suddenly had an idea.

“Sylvanus, do you think you can fuse with the facilities I build?”

“...?”

Sylvanus did not seem to understand the question, so Brunhild realized she would have to experiment and see if it was really possible.

And just as she was thinking this...

“We’re back!”

“Hey, what’s up?”

Her father and her brother had returned, bringing along a large amount of wood and stones that they and the pets were carrying together.

Brunhild received her father and her brother with open arms. “Dad, big bro, let’s build a few things right away. I want to experiment a little with Sylvanus.”

“Huh?”

What was she thinking of doing now?

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