39. Special (II)

Zachary opened his mouth but then closed it. He frowned and tried to think but he only felt confused. Katherine’s offer was so far away from what he had expected that he had no idea how to respond. They were just having a casual chat while resting. How did it turn into an opportunity to sell his soul to a saint beast and join a beast cult?

“Why?” He eventually managed to squeeze out, his voice a higher pitch than normal.

Katherine hugged his arm, clinging to him tightly. If he wanted to shake her off and run away, she probably would not willingly let go.

“Why? Because you’re Yaoyao’s summoner. Because you are special.” She said firmly.

“I’m not special. How am I special?” He argued.

They had discussed this subject before but he still didn’t understand. In this vast world, he wasn’t particularly talented compared to his peers. Without Yaoyao, he would hardly be considered a strong summoner or one with a bright future.

“I think you know. You just don’t want to admit it to yourself.” She said.

To that statement, Zachary opened and closed his mouth a few times like a surprised fish.

There was indeed something about him. He had never considered it very deeply but it did exist. It was also hard to control and somewhat unreliable. That was why he never seriously considered it as his special talent as a summoner.

It was his abnormally strong soul sense.

Other summoners could use their soul sense to perceive the presence and movement of Eternum in their surroundings. They could use their soul sense to detect strong sources of Eternum, whether they were strong Ensouled nearby or naturally occurring deposits of concentrated Eternum.

Zachary was different. His soul sense gave him all the normal abilities but it also gave him something else, the ability to sense strong emotions from an Ensouled.

It had to be said that the ability to sense emotions from Ensouled was not something unique or groundbreaking. All summoners at the novice rank were able to do it with their summons. Through the soul bond, summons understood basic commands from the summoner and the summoner could feel the basic emotions of the summon in return.

However, for Zachary, he could do a little bit more. He could sense emotions from not just his summons but other Ensouled as well. Whether it was wild Ensouled or another person’s summons, if the emotion was strong enough and he was close enough, he could feel it in his soul.

This was what had saved him from the blue tiger sharks when he had jumped off the ship and from the forest elephant’s berserk attacks later on. This unique trait of his had helped him on other occasions in the past, the most notable one being how he tamed Yaoyao.

As an offspring of the ice saint, Yaoyao was naturally very proud and willful. It was in her bloodline. She would not easily submit to a human, especially a nine-year-old child. When Yaoyao was happy after a meal, he would approach her. When she was angry, he would keep his distance. When she was scared or moody, he would comfort her. When she was energetic, he would let her play in the yard. Using his sense of Yaoyao’s emotions, he gradually wormed his way into her heart. It took three months and a sizable portion of his parent’s savings to buy meat and fish. But he was finally able to earn Yaoyao’s trust and recognition.

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That was his most memorable usage of his special ability. There were few others that could compare. His soul sense didn’t suddenly turn into a powerhouse. He had to train his summons just like everyone else. He was constrained by his limited resources and unremarkable family background. Compared to true geniuses of the republic, he was far, far away.

Zachary sighed and stared at the blue sky above. Katherine was still clinging to him, resting her head against his shoulder. He didn’t know what to say to her. He didn’t want to join a cult but he also didn’t want her to get offended and leave him. He had few good choices which was the most frustrating thing.

“What are you worried about?” She asked eventually, perhaps finally running out of patience.

“I mean…” He said, “I can’t just agree to join a beast cult like this. What kind of stuff will I have to go through?”

“What do you mean?”

“What about rituals, do I have to offer my blood or maybe get piercings in weird places? And prayer, will I have to pray to the saint in weird positions multiple times a day? What about other restrictions? Are we not allowed to eat certain foods or wear a certain color?”

Katherine untangled herself from him and shot him a disapproving look, “Anything else?”

“Uh… that’s all I could think of at the moment,” Zachary admitted.

“Zach, don’t be obtuse. The Ice Saint Beast Cult has no need for crazy people. We are not the lunatics that the public portrays us as. We don’t have silly, pointless rules. We don’t have many rules at all. We swear fealty with our soul to the Ice Saint and in return, we are given unity, hope, and a purpose. I was a war orphan. I was going to die in the streets as a nobody. But I was given a new home, a chance. Other members are similar. We are all normal people who have found a greater calling. Now, I am offering the same to you.”

Her words were spoken in earnest. He fully believed it, that she meant everything from the bottom of her heart. And that was the biggest problem.

He frowned and said, “See, that is what I don’t understand. In school, we were taught that beast cult members are fanatical. They don’t see other people as people but as enemies. They are willing to die for their masters, willing to die for the sake of beasts. And now you speak of purpose and a greater calling. What is that? What is it that you believe in?”

Zachary hit the crux of the issue. Katherine didn’t answer for a long time. She studied him with her bright green eyes as if trying to unearth his hidden thoughts. He stared back at her stubbornly. He wasn’t about to be sweet-talked into offering his soul to a beast cult. Even if the sex was great, he wasn’t that dumb.

“Zach,” She said slowly, “This matter, the truth can only be revealed after you accept the Ice Saint’s mark. It is a matter of faith and outsiders are not allowed to question.”

He threw up his hands in frustration

“Wait, wait, wait,” She quickly added, “There is something… what does the term ‘eternal’ mean to you?”

“Eternal? Like the definition or what?”

“No, think back to your schooling and your memories, what does eternal mean to you?”

“I…”

Zachary wracked his brain. All of his years in primary school, all of his experiences as a summoner, training and battling with his summons, he put all of that together but he couldn’t think of anything significant.

Throughout the Old World, the term eternal was used with exclamations or curses. Nobody really understood the reason, only that it sounded good. Eternal was equivalent to this vast and mysterious world. When something went wrong, all people could do was to complain to world about their misfortune.

That was all there was to it, right? He had no idea.

Katherine gave him a mysterious smile and patted his arm, “You don’t have to give me a reply today or any time soon. I am bound by my oath to the Ice Saint so this is all I can tell you. If and when you discover the truth of the word eternal, you will understand what I believe in.”