68 Identity 5 - A Monster (1/2)
While Stigma was creating his personal servant, some turmoil had come before the market as night drew near.
Before anyone foresaw it the ground below them started to shake uncontrollably like a small volcano was causing the earthquake, drawing panic to the faint-hearted as they remind themselves of the surrounding cliffs crashing down on them. The ones who had stayed in the market for more than five days had noticed the earthquakes were not rattled yet the magnitude this time was alarming even for them.
On the other hand, the new residence have started to panic from the unfamiliar feeling of the earth being unstable. From each quarters, glassware and pottery of all kinds were starting to fall of the selves making servants and even the owners to panic from the sheer frequency of the quakes.
With the present danger, the guards didn't falter and used their horses to shout warning of the earthquake and prepare for any accident.
After a few minutes, the earth shaking event ceased and every resident had sigh a relief, but many havebegan their plans in leaving or wearing their clothing to complain to the Top. The Top had already investigated on the lands before and found that steam was escaping from the ground, summarizing that is was from accumulated rain water.
To lessen future dangers such as earthquakes, the guards were ordered to dig up holes in the far side of the market and into the forest to prevent any poisonous fumes from escaping to the market.
To avoid any danger on the first day the matter about the steam or sudden earthquakes were announced on the first day then posted by the plaza for everyone to know the moment they entered.
A total of over sixty seven holes were dug up to prevent any steam from escaping in the market, but with the rise of the earth quake, the Top may decide another twenty five holes or maybe fifty to be dug up tomorrow to prevent anymore mishap.
As the news of the market created panic, several figures with mask were started to appear from above the forest as they watch the scene with deadpan expressions, as if the earthquake was but a minor matter. Whatever their reason for these figure to appear, it was clear their focus was on the market below them.
”The plan is proceeding well, but with the rising alert of the market sacrifices have become, scarce....What shall we do?” A figure with a blue mask appeared and turned to the one one his left, the mask worn had the feature of a fox with yellow eyes.
”Shall we enter the market in secret and proceed in kidnapping small groups to make the sacrifices, it will take time thought...” The figure who spoke had the mask of a black rat, his voice sounded bored, as if the thought of working was but a hassle not a responsibility.
The echoes around the trees had voiced out their take as well, but when a hand raised, the surrounding had immediately silence as they waited for the response of their leader.
”....The plan will proceed without delay, if you find them bring them to me alive, if not then make sure to you silence them and bring them here but find out if there are any rare beast. Understood, remember, no news should be leaked out until then, now go!”
”Roger!”
As the figure gave his orders, about ten or so figure in black robes made way to the entrance like specters, because of the recent earthquake the guards by the entrance had dwindled to calm the masses so only a handful were left, leading the invaders to enter andavoid detection.
As the ten figures disappeared into the market, the moonlight had shined upon the leading figure wearing a mask painted with a red monkey with a wooden casket and disappeared within the forest.
***
Just as the incident continued to draw anxiety to the masses below, Stigma finally woke up from his Unique Cultivation. But his mood being tired or groggy lasted for only a moment as excitement was plastered on his face, because his plan in making his subordinate was proceeding without delay, and it wouldn't take long for him to gain loyal subordinates.
Stigma then noticed his surroundings turned dark, so he grabbed a lamp and made a small fire with a flint.
'I wonder if it was already midnight, sometimes when I really need a clock I can't get one, haa....'
Due to having his soul separated from his body, Stigma's sense of time had dulled so the concept of time does not follow him correctly, which may lead to his demise if not for Demon's aid.
Having a soul linger without a body was dangerous, especially when Stigma is able to completely separate his soul from his body. If not for his payment to the Demon to act as the anchor, Stigma would had most likely lost any contact to the physical world.
Based on how much Zen Stigma had accumulated, the total time he could had stayed is equivalent to one hour by using one hundred Zen. (10000 + 1700 = 117 hours) Therefore, Stigma could stay in the inner world for as long as one hundred and seventeen hours.
And Stigma had used seven hours in crafting a soul alone. The concept of hunger does not occur when his soul is separated nor exhaustion as his body may give him signs, but that was only present if his soul returns so he most likely feel the urge of hunger, dehydration or even pain like being hit by a rock.
'So making a servant may have been a good move, Dusk is capable but what if an army came after ... I suppose I should call of my personal servants as Yokai then to avoid making mistakes...'
But he didn't care about his groggy feeling and immediately check his stats. For obvious reasons, he wanted to check of what the Demons said was true.
'Essence Reader'
[Name: Stigma Falsus
Age: 10
Rank: Unique (I)(Early stage)
0 / 10000
Strength: 150
Agility:170
Vitality: 250
Zen Reserves: 1700 / 1700
Skills: Essence Reader(V) 0%, Poltergeist (III) (1) 60%, Soul Eater (V) 0%,Taboo(III) 45%, Demon's Soul 5%
*
Current Souls Absorbed: Soul of Impurity (I), Wolf Soul (II), Snake Soul (I), Stag Soul (I), Bear Soul (I), Eagle Soul (I), Bull Soul (I), Boar Soul (I), Monkey Soul (I), Cheetah Soul (I), Rabbit Soul (I), Rat Soul (I), Goat Soul (I), Bat Soul (I)
*
Pure Energy: 220%
Grudge Energy: 104%
Wrath Energy: 120%
Fire Energy: 330%
Earth Energy: 105%
Water Energy: 320%
Wind Energy: 120%
Light Energy: 80%
Lightning Energy: 30%
Metal Energy: 10%
***
Stock Piled Souls:
Soul of Wrath:(Complete - 100%)
Snake Soul: 80%
*Familiars:*
1. Dusk (I)(1) (300 / 2500)
2. Brunhilda (I) (300 / 3000)
3. Kirin (I) (185 / 2000)
Transmutation in progress...
*
Scrolling through his stats he found what he wanted to check the transmutation...then a countdown appeared....
*Bing!*
[Soul Transmutation in progress:
Tsuchigumo: 1d:23:59:58]
....
”Like what the imp said, I can make each of them in less than a day, but if make them in bulks they had to be the total amount. *sigh* Can't help it, everything has to have a limit, but why the hell is everything have to use Zen energy anyway.”
Stigma's grumbling was due to him finding out that for him to speed up the process of the 'Soul Transmutation', he had to give up as much Zen energy by a hundred from his total amount. And yet just by making one was capable of draining him of eight thousand in on go just for payment, making him go through training for only a few hours.
”Well can't complain if it's my life....But the Imp said the reason for the large expenditure was due to it being powerful...How strong was that thing...?”
Accumulating the Zen energy alone takes time, now he had to decide whether to strengthen himself to train or make room for make his subordinates with his limited time.
Just by making one had took up most of his time, a whole seven hours is what took Stigma to create the exact image he wanted for his new servant 'Tsuchigumo' in his world. But his reason for choosing such a great Yokai as the base of his first servant was very simple.
In the future, once Stigma gains infamy in the underworld, Stigma's fame will eventually lead him into danger beyond his abilities and so a great deterrent is needed, from a strong shield and a headstrong vanguard to protect him and avoid larger groups aiming for him until then.
Another reason for making a powerful subordinate would be to satisfy Stigma's curiosity of how strong or useful the new soul would be. Based on the stored energy alone from the horn, it must have have been an apex predator of its territory, by the Demon's definition it was truly a 'treasure'.
Just by the Spider soul alone, any soul he tried to mix it with had completely been overwhelmed and looked more like an insect than an actual beast. By doing some repeated experimenting, Stigma came into a conclusion that the Ancient Predator Spider was the strongest within his material list.
So he only had one chance to make a powerful beast, such that he cannot hope to obtain another one, as it would be out of reach with his current cultivation level.
To begin his soul fusion he tried calling out the souls by pointing out it then went to their respective circles, in total he can fuse about ten souls at once. However, the greater the fusion the greater the reserves was needed as payment as equivalent exchange.
At most Stigma can do at least three soul merging, which was enough for know.
The first thing Stigma began with was pick out the materials souls, the Yokai he was making was based on the description of the actual ”Tsuchigumo” in some text on a website; having a body of a tiger, limbs of a spider and having a face of a man or a oni, but he tried doing a modified version to be more appealing to him.