Volume 15 Chapter 8, The Prototype of a Soul

Kousuke received a proper explanation from Asura before starting.

She told him that if it wasn’t done properly, it might not go well.

First, they had to mix each other’s “power” and make it reside within the core of the soul.

This would be the divine power that the soul possesses.

The divine power of the soul was essential to the individual who would be born because it was the foundation of the soul.

Asura simply said that once the soul was created, all that was left was to prepare the body in Earthgard, where the soul would reside.

Kousuke understood the process, but not half of the work involved.

However, Asura assured Kousuke that she would assist him and that there would be no problems.

After the briefing, they were ready to start.

Kousuke and Asura sat across the work desk from each other.

“Put your hands out on the desk.”

As Asura said, Kousuke put both his hands on the desk.

Asura took his hands and held them together so that their hands were underneath each other.

From Kousuke’s point of view, Asura’s left was on top of his right, and his left was on top of her right.

Spreading the connected hands slightly, formed a circle. After which, Asura mumbled a few words.

“…Summoning.”

With just that one word, Kousuke felt a strong power coming from Asura.

It wasn’t that strong, but the current Kousuke wouldn’t be able to exert that much power.

He later heard that Eris and the others couldn’t do it either.

In any case, after those words were spoken, there was a sphere-like object floating in the center of the circle made by their hands.

“…What is this?”

“Umm, it’s hard to explain. I guess it’s some sort of soul vessel.”

“You mean we can pour divine power inside this thing?”

“Yes, yes. I’ll provide the divine power, and Kousuke, circulate it.”

He did as Asura said and began to circulate the divine power in his body.

Then, Asura’s divine power was transmitted to him from both of her hands.

A sensation washed over him and Kousuke understood what he had to do.

He sent his own divine power towards her the same way.

At this time, Kousuke closed his eyes to concentrate on his work, so he couldn’t see, but Eris and Jal, who were standing beside him, watching, had surprised expressions on their faces.

In addition, Asura in front of him had a slight smile on her face, but Kousuke didn’t notice it until the end.

“…Like this, how’s that?”

“Yeah, good enough. I think it’s going to work out better than I thought.”

“That’s good to know.”

The flow of their divine power was slowly circulating around the circle, through their hands and arms.

Having somehow gotten the hang of it, Kousuke stopped closing his eyes.

When he opened his eyes, what had been just a transparent sphere shone in various colors.

Kousuke couldn’t help but look at it glow, dumbfounded.

Asura also squinted at it.

“This is great. I wonder what kind of soul will be born… Oh yes. Hold on to my hand until the light subsides.”

“Okay.”

Not letting go of her hand naturally meant that they would continue to circulate their divine power. Since neither felt much of a burden from it, both decided it wouldn’t be a problem.

Kousuke didn’t ask how long it would take, though.

If it was going to take a prolonged period of time, such that Kousuke couldn’t hold it anymore, he assumed that she would have said so in the beginning.

And since that was the case, there should not be any issue and their work would be completed.

The glow of the sphere subsided within a few minutes.

“…… That’s enough.”

Asura said, and Kousuke carefully stopped the circulation.

He was being extremely careful, even if it was only for a few seconds.

Since he was accepting, someone else’s divine power, he wanted to avoid any mistakes.

“…… Uh?”

Kousuke tilted his head at Asura, who did not let go of his hand. Even though he had stopped circulating their divine power.

Looking Kousuke, Asura smiled tantalizingly and said,

“Since this is a good time, why don’t we stay connected for a little longer?”

“Um…”

Asura’s smile deepened more and more at Kousuke’s confused expression.

“You don’t get to come here often, so why don’t we just do this a little longer?”

“Eh, no, well, it’s not like I’m complaining or anything.”

Kousuke wasn’t dissatisfied, rather, he was more than happy to continue. However, since it was his first time interacting with Asura in such a manner, he was a bit confused.

“Yeah. I’m glad. More importantly, it’s about time it stabilizes.”

The sphere that had received the divine power of the two of them floated fluffily in place, but as if to match Asura’s words, it stopped moving in midair.

“…This is it?”

“The prototype of a soul that resides in all life. Well, I’m projecting it now to make it easier to understand.”

This was not normally something that could be seen.

This time, Kousuke was tasked to modify it, so Asura made a clearer projection of the prototype so that it would be easier for him to understand.

“A prototype? It’s not the soul itself.”

“It is. The soul can only exist when it inhabits a body. If it’s just the soul itself, without a vessel, it’ll disappear instantly.”

” Oh, I see. Oh, I remember you saying something like that when I first came here.”

“Right. In your case, it’s fortunate that you weren’t a newborn soul, so you managed to exist until now.”

“Was it actually dangerous?”

“Yes… Quite a bit.”

Looking back on it now, it was a dangerous experience. However, at the time, he didn’t have any knowledge about it, so he thought that he was just lucky enough to be helped by a beautiful woman.

From what he could recall, at that time, he was thinking about many things and could hardly remember the feelings he had back then.

Though, the one thing he could recall vividly was the conversation they had.

“I see.”

Kousuke just said that one phrase, and did not thank her.

He didn’t thank her because he had already thanked her many times before. So much so that Asura had told him to stop.

As for Kousuke, no matter how many times he thanked her, it felt like it would not be enough. Thus, he could only obey her when she asked him to stop.

Kousuke doesn’t want to be pushy with his gratitude, either.

“…So? What are we going to do with the vessel?”

“I’ve had Eris and the others prepare it for you.”

“…Eris?”

Kousuke looked at Jal without thinking, and she returned with puffed out cheeks.

“What? Do you have a problem with me?”

“No, no, no. I don’t have any complaints.”

“Mmm… Well, okay. Besides, even if I’m not here, Spica can take over for me.”

Although she speaks casually, these women, led by Eris, are known as the Three Great Goddesses in Earthgard.

[I’m both excited and scared to see what the vessel created by these women will be like.]

“…It’s not like it’s going to surpass Kouhi or Mitsuki… Right?”

Eris and Jal turned away from Kousuke, who seemed to be asking for confirmation.

“…What? Don’t tell me?”

“No. Please don’t misunderstand. It’s true that we created the vessel, but we won’t know the actual strength of the entire being until the soul enters it.”

“…Is that the case?”

Asura meets Kousuke’s gaze and nods.

“Yes, that’s right. Of course, I can make some predictions, though. I don’t think it’ll be able to surpass Kouhi or Mitsuki at the moment.”

Kousuke was inwardly relieved by Asura’s answer.

He was not confident that he could successfully control the existence of an entity that could not be controlled by Kouhi and Mitsuki.

“Well, all that’s left is to put this prototype into a vessel. We’ll do that when Kousuke returns to the other side.”

“Okay.”

Kousuke had no objection to that, so he nodded his head.

“Alright! Let’s go to the party then. I’m sure everyone is waiting for us.”

Kousuke’s expression tightened slightly at Jal’s words.

“Well… About the meeting, that is… can I not go…”

“””Rejected.”””

Instantly denied by all three fronts, Kousuke realized that there was no way out.