"The flicker of a shooting star signifies the fall of a mighty being…"
A sharp gleam flashed through Tifa's eyes. "Even though it's an omen of misfortune, I don't care about that. A chance this good won't come around often. Before long, this place will be swarming with adventurers — I have to get in there and grab some good stuff before that happens… Maybe this is how I, Tifa, set foot on the path of an adventurer and become a respected lord!"
In the eyes of a naive village boy, the adventurers who occasionally passed through wearing leather armor were mighty warriors, and the local baron was a great man.
"If there were a legendary item too…" Little stars were already sparkling in Tifa's eyes, and a line of drool was sliding from the corner of his mouth.
"That's exactly how all the bards tell it in their stories! When the hero was young, he stumbled upon some divine artifact, and from that moment on he walked the path of destiny — it's just too cool…"
Filled with the exalted dream of becoming a hero, Tifa steeled his courage and ventured into the dense forest.
At that very moment,
"Damn it! This kind of drain! And the suppression of all transcendent power!"
Leylin had already discovered that he couldn't move at all. What was worse, his remaining soul energy was being consumed at a terrifying rate under the crushing pressure of this world.
"No good! A Soul Seed left exposed like this is far too fragile — I have to find a host!"
His soul power draining away moment by moment, Leylin scanned every object within a ten-meter radius, considering and rejecting them one after another.
"No living creatures! Plants won't work — too fragile! Rock? That might do. If I really can't find anything else…"
In the end, the Soul Seed settled on an object that was at least passable.
It was a broken sword, its surface covered in rust. It had been buried here for God knew how many years, hidden beneath layers of decaying soil. The shockwave of Leylin's arrival had unearthed it.
"Soul Binding!"
A flicker of dark crimson light swept across the blade, and the Soul Seed that had been hovering moments before was gone.
Once inside the broken sword, Leylin felt with relief that the drain had slowed — though it was still horrifyingly fast.
At the same time, a wave of exhaustion kept pulsing outward from within his Soul Seed.
"Just that one soul transfer consumed more than half of my reserves. Even with the main body constantly feeding me support, I won't last more than a few days at this rate. I need to find a way to replenish myself — or at least gather data…"
With the immense barrier separating the
Once the main body cut off support, this Soul Seed would be destroyed automatically.
[Beep! Ambient data! Energy particle data collection in progress! Attempting to decode world rules! Recalibrating physical constants!]
The Chip, meanwhile, was ceaselessly scanning the surrounding environment, transmitting the most valuable firsthand data back through the link.
"Even the fundamental laws are different here — especially this world's hostility and suppression. Even if my main body came in person, it would be extremely difficult to cast any truly powerful spells. Every single spell template would have to be completely restructured!"
Leylin's expression turned grave. Then, the soul energy radiating outward from his sword detected the approach of another living being.
"Hmm?!"
Through his soul perception, the surrounding forest rustled, and a small boy with flame-red hair pushed his way out of the undergrowth.
The child wore clothes made of coarse linen, riddled with patches and tears. His family was clearly not well off.
And in those young eyes, Leylin saw both fear and anticipation.
"An intelligent inhabitant of this world? Just as
Beelzebub's stored memory files had given Leylin a baseline understanding of the World of Gods. He wasn't entirely ignorant of what he'd gotten himself into.
"Judging by his appearance, he's probably a child from one of the nearby villages. Perhaps… I can make use of him. After all, intelligence on the everyday life and social structures at the grassroots level of the World of Gods would be invaluable…"
With that thought, Leylin immediately decided to act.
"This should be where the meteorite fell… Heh heh…"
Night had already fallen. Cold, pale moonlight filtered down through the treetops, and a chilling wind swept through the black forest, dropping the temperature sharply. Tifa hugged his arms tighter against the cold.
The fear of the unknown, combined with the gloomy darkness of the forest at night, sent little tremors of dread through the boy's heart.
"Cuckoo! Cuckoo!"
Two bird calls rang out from the treetops above, and Tifa leaped like a rabbit that had been stepped on. "Who's there?! Who is it?!"
The boy's shrill voice pierced the night sky, startling a flock of black birds into flight.
Several wingbeats sounded, and dark shadows vanished into the air.
"Hah… hah…" Tifa felt his heartbeat pounding at its absolute limit — it might as well have been trying to leap out of his throat.
"Great Goddess of the Spring, please bless me! Let me complete this expedition and find the hidden treasures! Tifa swears he'll definitely make a donation to your church afterward…"
With his palms pressed together, Tifa offered up a prayer. The Goddess of the Spring was the main deity worshipped in his village. She was a relatively new god without particularly fearsome power, but precisely because of that, she was fairly generous toward her believers — making her the preferred patron of many poor farming communities.
After the prayer, though nothing had visibly changed, Tifa felt a sliver of additional courage.
His hands trembling slightly, he parted the underbrush and stepped forward with firm determination into the clearing beyond.
"Nothing… there's nothing here! Just a big, scorched pit!"
When he realized this, obvious disappointment flickered through Tifa's eyes. Unwilling to give up, he rummaged through the ground around the crater, muttering complaints under his breath. "How can there be nothing? Where's the legendary weapon? The magical items?
"Another fool blinded by greed," Leylin's Soul Seed observed the boy's antics and passed judgment with quiet contempt.
"But — he could still be useful!"
At that thought, a faint, hazy glow began to seep from the edge of the broken sword, very noticeable in the pitch-black night.
"Ugh… In the
Comparing the difference between the two worlds' rules — and the enormous cost of forcing even this much magic through the suppression — Leylin's spirits sank.
At this rate of consumption, even with the soul power he carried and the main body's continuous support, he wouldn't be able to deal any serious wound to the creature in front of him.
"With my current soul power reserves, I can't even cast the most basic Charm Intelligent Creature! But metallic objects still hold considerable value in this world, especially for a boy full of fantasies — the attraction of a broken sword should work quite well…"
Leylin had his own judgment on the matter.
Sure enough, the moment Tifa spotted the glow, his eyes lit up and he hurried over to the broken sword.
He struggled to clear away the remaining soil and chunks of rock, then ran his grimy fingers along the blade, fully revealing the broken weapon.
"That light just now… it seemed to come from this sword…" Tifa was quite certain of this, but as he looked at the rusted blade and the rotted hilt, he grew far less sure.
Still, even if this broken sword wasn't some magical artifact, its appeal to Tifa was undeniable.
After all, every boy harbored an innate love for weapons of violence, and for a dreamer like Tifa, the attraction was irresistible.
"Hmm! Old Gren the blacksmith might buy it — it's worth at least three copper coins! No — five copper coins!"
Tifa picked up the broken sword with great satisfaction. The heavy weight in his hand pleased him immensely.
The snapped-off blade made it significantly lighter, but it still threw off every practice swing he attempted.
"Hmm! I've decided — even if Uncle Gren offers five copper coins, I'm not selling this treasure!"
Tifa nodded firmly, tucked his prize away, and headed back toward the village while humming a cheerful tune.
Of course, as the price for his unauthorized expedition, he received a thorough scolding from his father — and a strict order never to approach the forest again.
By then, Tifa no longer cared about any of that. Though his backside still ached dully, the clever boy had already hidden his spoils of adventure safely in the woodpile before heading home. Otherwise, he knew perfectly well that the broken sword would be sold off by his father and turned into a few cups of cheap, watered-down rum that would vanish without a trace.
This was the key that would unlock his future career as an adventurer! How could he just let it be squandered? Not even his father could take it from him! The boy had made up his mind.
Clutching that resolve, the boy drifted contentedly into a dream filled with visions of becoming an adventurer and a hero. But the turbulent undercurrents of the real world never ceased, not for a single moment.
"By the mandate of the Great Oracle — purge the heretics here!"
Outside the village, without anyone noticing when it had happened, a company of knights had already surrounded the settlement.
The metal armor on their bodies bore the unmistakable symbol of a specific church, and the sight of it filled the villagers with dread.
This was the church of a god! The army of a god! The embodiment of divine will — not to be defied!!!