Part 3 : Ascension

After finishing cleaning Shiina's training room she turned back to look at Fenibax.

-"I suppose you don't know anything about the Shrine of Aura?"

-"Never heard of it, although i heard about a Shrine of Mind."

Shiina looked at him funny for a moment then kept on talking.

-"The Shrine of Aura is a sacred place where someone shatter his own soul to link it with an object or artifact of his choosing in the goal of finding a newfound power for the rest of his life."

-"What kind of power are we talking about here?" Asked Fenibax.

-"Impossible to know ahead of time, i only knew two people that did the ritual and the result was different for both of them."

Fenibax looked at her, confused.

-"You talked about a price to pay, can you give me some more information?"

-"Well when you do the ritual a part of your soul is sealed deep into the artifact if that artifact get damaged, or worse destroyed, you can directly feel it's effect on the other part of the soul. Meaning that if that artifact get completely destroyed, you die."

-"Well then Utsu better chose something good or his life could be in great danger, is he aware of that?"

-"Of course he is , his father linked his soul to his wedding ring and that ring got badly damaged by some Raëlian soldier in a battle."

-"But Utsu told me that his father is still alive and fight Raël in the great war as we speak."

-"He didn't die, but he lost a lot that day. His left eye and arm didn't respond anymore and a huge cut appeared across his chest. His left arm is always bandaged and he wears an eye-patch now."

Fenibax stay there a look of terror on his face.

-"Ototsu was always determined but nothing has never made him as mad as this day when some Raëlian scum damaged his wedding ring. He entered in a terrible fury killing every Raëlian soldier in sight.Nothing was able to stop his blood lust that day."

-"How many men was killed by his hand?"

-"Around fifty man, dark mages skilled with sword and spears."

-"Utsu will get this much power tonight ? Is that even a good idea?"

-"Of course he won't get as powerful in one night,the process is complicated but basically the more you wear the artifact containing your soul,the more power you can harvest from it."

-"I wasn't really understanding what he was going to do tonight, is he really ready to do this big of a sacrifice?"

-"It's his choice, he seems ready to abandon everything to accomplish his dream and i can understand that."

They got back to the inn to talk a little more and the day passed by quite rapidly without any problems.The night came, Utsu was getting ready to go and put everything he had prepared in his bag before heading for the town exit.The night was very dark and houses were barely visible , at this time of the night every torch was extinct, every one except the one Fenibax was holding in his hand, next to the town exit.

-"Hey." said Utsu ,stopping next to him.

-"Finally, i thought you changed your mind."

-"I'd rather die. Where's Shiina?"

-"She said she'll go first to clear the way."

-"Ok i suppose she can wait for us there, let's move we have about one hour to get there."

They started walking in direction of the Shrine of Aura, following the road that passed in the wood South of the town.

-"You seemed in a hurry, are you that urged to put your life in a danger doing that ritual."

-"To be frank i couldn't care less about putting my life in danger, everything that matters to me is becoming a hell of a lot stronger and go kick some Raëlian asses with my dad."

-"I know that, i just hope you're doing the right thing and not a huge error."

-"Listen, just...don't worry about me."

They arrived after 45 minutes of walking,although they lost some time to let Fenibax handle all the monsters and wild animals they found on the way.

-"After all go shatter your soul or something and next time give me a hand instead of being freaking dead weight." Said Fenibax, annoyed.

-"Hey that's not very nice but after that you'll be the one being dead weight." Said Utsu, smiling.

-"Yeah we'll see about that."Said Fenibax, crossing his arms.

They join Shiina who was waiting sat down on the steps of the Shrine, her sword on her lap.

-"What took you so long?"Asked Shiina.

-"Fen' was taking all his time to kill some petty monsters, that was really a pathetic sight to look at at anyway."

-"You could have helped me if you founded it so pathetic." Said Fenibax.

-"Keyword "Could", i just didn't want to". Utsu said while starting to climb the steps. "Let's not waste any more time."

Shiina got up and got up the steps next to him,Fenibax following a few steps behind.

-"What did you choose as a catalyst for your soul then? I hope you thought about it."

-"Of course i did, i'm not stupid that's all i did all day.Look at that."

Utsu opened his bag and got out a golden necklace with a skull pendant.

-"What is that?"Asked Shiina.

-"It's a necklace that was in my dad things,looks pretty cool ,huh?"

-"The fact that it looks cool isn't a determining factor Utsu, but nevertheless it should be fine."

They got to the top of the stairs and saw a stone table in the center of the ritual platform. Utsu jumped on it.

-Hum,Utsu i don't think you're supposed to do that , are you? Said Fenibax.

-"I don't fucking care, this is gonna be epic, i'm excited. Ok, so what was it again? Something like "I offer my heart and soul to this ritual , may they become this ritual entire property.Shatter my soul and fuse it with this offering that i bring for you. And, above all else, that my devotion for you resonate through this words forever and ever". Said Utsu, striking a dramatic pose."Or somethin' like that..."

Suddenly a enormous sound resonated through the forest and Utsu was thrown down on the table hitting it violently, his arms and legs stuck on it by an invisible force.

-"I...I changed my mind, get me out of here guys!!!" Yelled Utsu ,struggling to get out of the stone slab.

Shiina and Fenibax ran up close and tried to hold him but some kind of invisible dome was keeping them from touching him.

-"Guys it's starting to really hurt...Aaaaaaah". Screamed Utsu at the top of his lungs.

The pain was making itself felt at the location of his heart, from the corner of his eye Utsu saw the necklace starting to fly , floating above him, it was turning on itself slowly. Shiina and Fenibax was hitting the invisible dome as hard as they could but nothing had any effect.

-"This is useless, Shiina what do we do?!"

Utsu kept on screaming louder and louder.

-"I.....don't know. Said Shiina slowly, her hands shaking.It's not supposed to happen like that, it's totally different."

The whole Shrine was shaking. The necklace stopped turning and Fenibax and Shiina could see a dark energy coming out of Utsu's mouth and entering the necklace slowly.

-"This doesn't look good at all! Yelled Fenibax."

Suddenly Utsu's screams stopped he felled into a deep coma and the Shrine stopped shaking.