*Somewhere in the woods*
'It seems that I have two more days before I arrive at Rien.' Lirien mused as she saw the way in front of her. The path that she had taken was mostly full of beasts however with her skill, she was able to dispose of them quickly.
'Despite having such a near invulnerable state, it is extremely taxing to maintain it. I have to have a constant supply of souls. Mindless beasts even though having souls, it does not compare to humans.'
She sighed as she delved into her meal. It was a Cromwood which had migrated here ever since Orsen's trip here.
Some of them had been butchered off by Aurorise to help future trade routes however they prove to be too troublesome to deal with.
"ROAR!!!!!"
She heard the sound of cawing Cromwoods not far from her. She had her instinctive hunter instincts thanks to her vampiric race thus she was able to have an edge over them.
"Sounds like a pack..." Her eyes squinted as she looked outside the cave that she was in. "It seems that there about ten of them and there is a fifth tier amongst them."
She mused as she further calculated the flock. With her tier five ranking, it would be troublesome to deal with a pack however with her edge of switching to a soul state, she could make attacks and not receive any damage.
However she couldn't at the moment as she could vaguely feel a faint tinge of pain gnawing in her mind.
"Not again..." She groaned as she clutched her head. 'It seems that travelling in my soul state has taken a huge toll. I'll have to maneuver the rest of the way in my regular state.'
Even though it would take her slightly longer, she would barely make the deadline regardless. She then heard strange roars rippling through the air.
"What is that?" She murmured as she carefully made her way towards the entrance of the cave. She looked far out into the wild and she could see the pack as they looked around.
They seemed in edge and in a matter of seconds, one of them was picked off as if it vanished into thin air. 'What?' She whispered as she paid greater detail to what was unfolding.
Within the rustling of the foliage, she couldn't sense what was wrong however with how the Cromwoods were acting, she could tell that something dangerous was lurking about.
To her surprise, the Cromwoods seemed to be fearful as they started to huddle up and retreat from where they were.
Cromwoods were extremely vicious and proactive creatures which hunt in groups. Depending on the prey, they may split up to seal off it's exits or take it down if their prey was larger in size.
Provided the difference between the tiers wasn't too huge, they didn't care who or what they hunter provided it bled, it died according to their instincts thus seeing them cower like this was a shock.
'Is there a tier six beast around? But I've surveyed the land and there isn't a major threat to me in miles!' Still looking at the park, a shocking revelation played out.
In quick movements, bizzare and otherworldly creatures came from the shadows. They were two which was a streak comparison to the ten as they came out of hiding.
'What are those creature? I can't sense any form of mana pattern eminating from them.' She murmured as she saw them. She was well versed with the creatures and beasts that ran amuck but she had never seen any of them.
In a few seconds, one of the two seemed to approach the tier five Cromwood which was fearful of the pair.
Before it could make any movements, whether be it a form of retaliation or escape, the pair of Felirs charged at the tier five.
Their mouths opened in an uncanny manner as their bony mouths seemed to expand without limit as they gobbled the tier five beast.
The Cromwood aware if the situation that it was in, casted it's Hail Mary as it spread out it's wings as it gave out a loud caw rippling through the air. The sound was ear piercing making Lirien close her ears with mana.
Regardless, the Felirs seemed unfazed as fresh crimson blood trickled out of the Cromwood.
It seemed that the attack despite being an audio based attack had damaged it's own vocals to the point of rupturing it's own phalanx.
The two Felirs dug in the meal as one of them but the head of the Cromwood clean off and shortly after, they seemed to sprout out tentacles out of their mouths and devour the Cromwood whole.
The other seemed unsatisfied as it's prey was taken by the former however it shifted it's attention towards the other Cromwoods.
Shrills could be heard as the latter Felir despite being alone had a near unrealistic movements as it killed the rest of the nine Cromwoods in a matter of seconds. Not to mention the rest of the Cromwoods seemed frozen in place.
Lirien was shocked as she saw this. 'If I were to face at least one of them, then I'd be dead. Luckily I have the soul state however that isn't an option I can choose for now.'
She mused as her eyes landed back to the former Felir. The Cromwood was swallowed whole before surprisingly spar out, as if the Felir wasn't delighted with what it had feasted upon however Lirien spotted something horrifying about the corpse.
Usually when the body of a sentient being was killed, she could see the soul dissipate with time however the corpse spat out lacked a soul.
'These creatures feast on souls as well?! Is this one of Ashley's beast or a demonic monster? But there isn't an unholy aura around it making the latter possibility less likely.'
She had seen enough before deciding to head back to her cave. Confronting such beasts wasn't ideal for her as she chose to withdraw for now.
To her shock, one of the Felirs seemed to gaze in her direction and she could feel it. It was cold and alien, it's pitch white eyes bearing deep into her consciousness.
'I can't move my body.' Horrified with the situation she was in, a cold sweat ran down her forehead.
*Whoosh*
As if in an instant, both Felirs closed the distance between themselves and the cave appearing right in front of Lirien's figure. She was scared of her current predicament before an idea rose to her mind.
Her body glowed brightly and it wasn't long before she hovered in the air.
'Damn it! I didn't want to use this!' She cursed as she adjusted to the differences of being a soul. Unlike her body, it was more fluid and responsive allowing her to phase through materials.
She had yet to experiment fully what she could bypass and what she couldn't but so far, nothing had stood in her way. A mind numbing pang of pain assaulted her as she subconsciously clutched her head.
She cleared her head as she attempted to make her escape however the Felirs each opened their mouths and numerous black tentacles stretched out and latched onto her soul.
'What?!!' Her mind was in a mess as she realized this. Her means of escape has been thwarted. 'To think that I'd die in the hands of such beasts.' She thought as the grip around her figure tightened.
The tentacles wrapped around her legs and arms making sure that she didn't escape however what happened next took her by surprise.
Instead of reeling her into their gaping jaws, they took a more humanoid shape which was mentally scarring. The Felirs transformed into shadows of two individuals with the tentacles retracting back.
"Lirien! I thought I'd seen you." A hazy and groggy voice rang through the air. Lirien looked at the two shadows before realizing who they were.
"Ashley!!! And Orsen!?" She was shocked to see the two. "Lirien, it seems that you have a somewhat rudimentary control over your soul like skills and for that, I have an antidote."
Ashley's voice became more clear as she spoke making it clear on who it was. "I know that you have your respective questions however that's not the time for that."
"For your antidote, I'll relinquish the control of these two beasts onto you along with two more others for what I need you to do. With four, I need you to finish Rien similar to Aurorise."
Lirien couldn't help but relinquish a desperated sigh. "I expect you to get it over with as you make your arrival." The two Felirs reverted back into the nightmarish monsters they once were.
Lirien had reverted back into her body as maintaining the soul state was taking a toll on her mind. "I have to finish off another kingdom?" Lirien couldn't help but realize as she looked at the two Felirs.
Her instincts were warning her, screaming at her to get far away from such creatures however unlike before, she could control them.
'This is going to take some time to adjust to. Not to mention it takes a toll on my mental state.' She sighed as her eyes landed on two other shadowy hazes that rapidly approached her.
It was two more Felirs making it four which stood guard, laying docile on the ground. One of the two that had arrived opened their mouth portraying their numerous tentacles however what drew her interest was a small glowing bead centered in its mouth.
She warily dug her own arm in before pulling out the bead. Her crescent rose tattoo seemed to glow earnestly and placing it in the same palm, the bead was instantly assimilated.
A refreshing calm sense of bliss washed over her body with her mind becoming more clear and calm.
'I can use these creatures to hunt for me souls however it isn't an easy task.' It was a better alternative instead of risking her own life and using these creatures.
'They seem to lack mana and have paralyzing skills making sure that their prey do not escape their grasp. One of them can easily take out a pack of tier four Cromwoods.'
As she recalled what had happened earlier, she was horrified with what such creatures could achieve. They could build the perfect army however currently, her hands were full.
'I have to take care of Rien first.' She mused as she got on the back of one of them.
"Argh!!" She exclaimed as she fell right through it. 'It feels like a shadow.' With a command, she ordered one of them to manifest their own body so that she could ride one of them.
And with that, she made her way through the forest however she had to make another stop as the sun was slowly starting to make it's descent.
She found a good tree to haul herself in amongst the deep cover of the forest. 'They are extremely fast. At this rate, I should arrive at Rien by the the day after tommorow.'
She mused gleefully as she made herself comfortable. She had ordered them to survey the land for any threats and it wasn't long before they returned back.
'It seems that they don't need to sleep.' Sh was glad as she was worried about her safety. She had given them orders to sleep however it seemed that they refused as they laid in a somewhat passive state.
Their eyes seemed to peer through the darkness as they constantly surveyed the world around them. Looking closer at them, she realized why.
'It seems that they don't have eyelids. Well at least I won't have to worry about my safety.' She sighed as she collapsed in her makeshift tree house way up. Two of them were up with her while the other two laid on the ground.
...
Lirien woke up peacefully the next day as she surveyed her surroundings. The two Felirs that she had stationed up with her lay still while the two that she had places on the ground were still there however something else was waiting for her.
"To think that I'd be this lucky." Looking at the bounty beneath her, she was glad as she looked at the mountain of carcasses of beasts that were waiting for her.