Soul Clan (1)

"My parents had the character for 'soul' on their clothes too. So that means I'm a member of the Soul Clan as well," Fanxin said. "What exactly makes the Soul Clan special?"

He frowned and thought hard, but no matter how long he pondered, he couldn't figure out what was special about the Soul Clan, or why those masked men had hunted them down.

"Hehe, let me tell you!" Just as Fanxin was puzzling over it, a voice suddenly reached his ears.

Fanxin looked over and saw that it was Little Fox. Little Fox was in a very good mood now, with a delighted smile on his face, unlike before, when he was always shouting about killing someone.

"Hmm, you know about the Soul Clan, right?" Fanxin asked Little Fox curiously.

Little Fox nodded slightly, jumped onto Fanxin's shoulder, and said, "I don't know all that much, but I do know a few things about the Soul Clan."

"All right, then tell me. What exactly makes the Soul Clan special?" Fanxin nodded and asked.

"The most distinctive thing about the Soul Clan is naturally their souls. That's why they're called the Soul Clan. Their souls are exceptionally powerful, generally twice as powerful as those of ordinary people."

Little Fox continued, "As they grow older, their soul power grows stronger. And if they actively devour other people's souls, their soul power will rise rapidly, becoming incredibly powerful."

"The Soul Clan's physical techniques aren't strong. They mainly rely on soul attacks. If someone attacking you isn't careful, you could even catch him off guard with a soul attack and kill him. Even if you can't kill him, he won't be able to attack you for a short time. An injury to the soul is no small matter."

"Of course, that isn't absolute. If you target someone far stronger than you, he won't feel any discomfort from your soul attack. His soul will be powerful enough to completely ignore it."

"Besides having powerful souls, the Soul Clan has another trait: even if their bodies are destroyed, they remain alive. If you find a body that suits you, you can go on living like a human."

"Oh, so that's how it is! In other words, it's like having a second life, right?" Fanxin asked.

"More or less. But you'd better not use it that way, because there are serious aftereffects," Little Fox said.

"Oh, what kind of aftereffects?" Fanxin asked curiously.

"I'm not really sure, because I'm not a member of the Soul Clan. Your family should have left you something. Search your memories carefully; you should be able to find it," Little Fox said helplessly.

"Okay, thanks for explaining," Fanxin said with a nod.

"You're welcome. Oh, I came here this time to do you a favor, to repay a debt I owe you. Please don't refuse," Little Fox said.

"Oh, what kind of favor?" Fanxin asked curiously.

"You're not a true member of the Soul Clan yet. To become one, you have to activate your soul. Only then can you cultivate soul attacks," Little Fox said.

"Oh, how do I do that?" Fanxin grew even more curious. He still wasn't considered a member of the Soul Clan? That was ridiculous.

"Devour a soul. You have to devour someone else's soul to activate your own. You can't find a soul right now, so devour mine. Then you'll be able to become a true member of the Soul Clan," Little Fox said.

"Ah, no, I can't do that. Absolutely not." Fanxin immediately shook his head and refused.

He had gone to great lengths to rescue Little Fox from that giant dragon. He had never intended to kill Little Fox. If he devoured Little Fox, he shouldn't have rescued him in the first place.

"Hehe, devouring my soul won't kill me. I'm only giving you half of it. I've erased my consciousness from this half, so you can devour it without any trouble. The other half of my soul will still be there, so I won't die," Little Fox said with a smile. "I still have things left to do. I won't die so soon."

Hadn't he tried every possible way to escape just to keep himself alive? Now that he could live freely, he wasn't about to gamble with his life.

"So that's how it is. Then I'm relieved." Fanxin finally stopped worrying.

If he wanted to become a member of the Soul Clan, he had to devour someone else's soul. Since Little Fox wouldn't die from it, he naturally wouldn't stand on ceremony. At worst, he could help Little Fox out later.

"Mm, here, this is half of my soul. Take it! Devour it, and after you've devoured my soul, you'll be able to use my abilities. You'll have to figure those abilities out for yourself."

Little Fox nodded and held out his right forepaw. In it was a huge, hazy ball of light: half of Little Fox's soul. Since he had erased his consciousness, the soul didn't take his shape.

Fanxin took the ball of light and pressed it into his mindscape. A moment later, that portion of soul began spreading throughout it. After a long while, the center of his mindscape began to glow, and the light spread outward. As it shone, black things kept emerging from the surface of his mindscape, then crumbled into nothing and disappeared.

Those black lights were like rubbish, and that light was like a vacuum cleaner. A little while later, Fanxin's entire mindscape was glowing, and the light didn't go out. He didn't know why.

Although he didn't know the reason, Fanxin could sense that his soul had become very powerful. He could now leave his body behind and move about outside in his soul alone.

"Haha, I can finally control my soul!" Fanxin cried happily.

"Hehe, congratulations. All right, it's time for me to rest. I'll be falling into a deep sleep for a while, so I won't be able to explain how to use those abilities. You'll have to figure them out slowly yourself," Little Fox said with a smile.

"All right, no problem. Go ahead!" Fanxin nodded. He could also see that Little Fox looked very tired. It seemed losing half his soul had affected him greatly.

Little Fox nodded and, without hesitation, immediately returned to the mindscape.

Fanxin, meanwhile, tried out his new move: a soul attack.

But he discovered that although his soul could leave his body, it was very weak and couldn't use any abilities at all.