Interconnected: Spliced Souls

“Hmm? A treasury? Yes, I have found it.”  

“Care to take us to it? We found a key.”  

“Bwhaha! Little puny gates cannot withstand my strength! We do not need such a thing!” Feral flexed and wagged his tail when Dineria complimented him on his muscles. He nodded when I asked if there was a lot of stuff in there.   

“Okay, that’s one problem taken care of. But we gotta find the crew.”  

“Yes, we do. Ms. Momo, what should we do? It’s dangerous to split up, right?”  

Momo looked at Dineria, then back to me. “It is… But that might be the right play. We made a ton of noise in the fight. But I don’t hear any footsteps or water splashing. In the worst case, the merfolk are holding the surviving members hostage.”   

Dineria remained quiet.   

In the end, we decided to split up. I would go one way by myself because I had Albert. Momo and Srassa would team up, and Feral would go alone. The kobold was strong, and his scaly green skin was durable. He was more than enough for the merfolk.   

We needed a signal, though, in case we found the ship’s crew—or if there was an emergency. Momo dug through her bag and found a handful of flute grass. “Blow on this, and I’ll hear it. Grandpa modified these to only make a noise hearable to certain wildkin and elves. The one I’ll carry can be heard by humans and kobolds.”   

“Got it,” I said, storing mine in my ring. “Take care and be careful.”  

“Feral, is that okay?”  

“You have more experience than me, little singi, so I will listen.”  

“I’m not that much smaller than you! Okay, so if we haven’t found anything in an hour, let’s meet back here. If it's dangerous, then that hill outside.”  

Feral nodded.   

We then went our separate ways, with Dineria being torn on who to follow. She ultimately decided to remain in this central room. Her sharp ears would alert her if the flute grass was played.   

---

I went down one path and kept silent with [Sleuth]. The empty hallways were devoid of enemies, but Albert noted a few traps left behind. There were clams in the water, hidden by chipped pieces of coral that would snap shut when stepped on. I kept walking and absorbed them.   

It took ten minutes to find out what happened to the crew…  

It looked like this part of the reef worked as a torture room. A dozen merfolk silently jabbed tridents into their hostages’ mouths to separate the lower jaw. Another ten carved the prisoners’ trembling flesh and washed it in a salty mixture filled with blood, then they were skewered onto the nearby wall to dry.   

There was so much meat hanging… It was sickening…   

Right away, I jumped into action. I didn’t want a repeat of what happened with Saline. That elf had suffered longer than necessary because I was slow in acting.   

I drew my wand and shot four shadowy bolts, leaving holes in two heads. 

“Intruder?! Attack!!” gargled a merfolk.    

The voice was like using glass to scratch the hell out of a chalkboard.   

Four tridents were thrown my way, but Itarr absorbed them. Jumping back, I loudly played the flute grass, equipped my scythe, and readied for a brawl.   

Two merfolk mages launched swirling water bolts, but I ducked under them and sped forward with my scythe at the ready.   

A handful of monsters stayed back and continued to torture and harvest the crew’s meat. The rest formed a wall and held their tridents out.   

“Do not let the human pass!”  

“Chop her!”  

“Tasty, tasty meat! Do not let deliciousness go to waste!”  

“Breeding hips! Capture the breeding hips!”  

Their gross comments just pissed me off more. I charged straight through the shitty wall. Their sharp, pointy weapons?  

They merely vanished, and that surprise offered the chance to wound three of them. The collected blood was enough for Albert to materialize, and he joined the fight with two tridents. He was a whirlwind of death, delivering precise stabs and thrusts to heart, lung, and head alike. He kept the wall busy while I killed the ones carving the crew.   

Of the sixteen on the tables, just two were alive, and one of them missed half her jaw. The other was a woman stripped naked, a red hot knife resting deep in her chest. She screamed and squirmed, kicking at the merfolk who did it before I could smash its pathetic head against the wall.   

“Kill them all!”  

“Understood! [Skeletal Hold]! [Reanimate]!” Albert returned two souls to the merfolk and had them fight against their kind while restraining their legs. I turned around and unleashed my aggression on these deplorable enemies, carving them into tiny, bloodied chunks.   

I kept reassuring the woman help was on the way. Her screaming was non-stop. Every second it went on was another second she wouldn’t make it.   

“RRRAAAHHHHHH!!!” I cut another one down and ran to the screaming woman. The knife was in deep, surrounding flesh burnt black and raw. Itarr prepared a bandage made from my old, clean clothes. 

“AAAGGGGGGAAA!!!!! ITTTT HHHUURRRRTTTTSSSSS!!!! AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!” The woman squirmed against her upper restraints, and the intensity doubled when I yanked the blade out. Immediately, I put pressure on the injury and fought off the encroaching merfolk with my scythe. Albert was insanely skilled, but it was still one against fifteen. With them attacking at the same time…  

The reanimated corpses had already died.   

Suddenly, six arrows lodged into six merfolk’s heads. Dineria rushed into the room with her bow drawn, then fired seven more. Albert ducked under a thrust and stabbed his tridents through the merfolk’s legs, and Dineria picked up a fallen weapon and jabbed it through their head. I saw Momo, Srassa, and Feral behind her.    

“Feral, throw me to Servy!” Momo jumped into Feral’s arms, and he tossed her with both hands, landing with a roll. She drew her blade and an incoming water ball, then replied with [Acid Arrow].  

“[Minor Heal]! [Minor Heal]! [Minor Heal]!” Momo’s hands glowed three times, and the light flowed into the woman’s torso.   

I turned my head and saw the last merfolk die after Srassa deflected a swipe with her shield. She roared and swung her sword down, cleaving off half of the monster’s head.   

Feral held two crushed corpses in his hands and threw them away.   

“Servy, how—” Srassa became aware of the dead crew and salted flesh hanging behind me. The mutilated corpses made her lose her breakfast. Momo tried and focused only on healing the sole survivor…  

Dineria dug into her bag, retrieved a red vial, and forced it down the woman’s mouth. “[Rejuvenating Slumber]!” A white haze appeared from our mentor’s hands. The woman closed her eyes, her ear-piercing screams cutting off instantly.   

Her breathing was under control, and when I moved my hands, the wound was scabbed over.   

“UUUURRRGGHHHH!” Srassa wretched once more and found it difficult to approach. Dineria looked at the dead, closed her eyes, and said a prayer. It…wasn’t in whatever language we spoke. It was probably in some Elvish tongue.   

Oh, fair Elrune, hear my plea, 

For those departed, let them be free. 

In the realms beyond, where spirits roam, 

Embrace their souls, guide them home. 

 

In battles fierce, their lives were lost, 

Their spirits shattered, at such a cost. 

Grant them solace, in your gentle light, 

Release their pain, embrace them in flight. 

 

For those I failed to shield from harm, 

Their names forever etched in my heart’s charm. 

Grant them peace, in eternal grace, 

As they find solace in your sacred embrace. 

 

Though shadows loom and darkness sears, 

May their spirits find solace, free of fears. 

Guide them to a realm of serene repose, 

Where love and light forever flows. 

 

Elrune, hear my solemn prayer, 

For those departed, in your care. 

Grant them rest, a tranquil reprieve, 

And in their memory, may I find belief. 

 

Through tears and sorrow, I shall strive, 

To honor them, keep their memories alive. 

In their name, I’ll fight for what is right, 

Guided by their spirits, shining so bright. 

 

Oh, fair Elrune, I humbly beseech, 

Grant these souls the peace they seek. 

For those I couldn’t save, I’ll forever weep, 

But their memory in my heart, I’ll eternally keep. 

---

I left Dineria to look after the injured woman while absorbing the corpses. Srassa continued to barf her stomach’s contents and cried. Feral closed his eyes, but I didn’t know what he was doing.   

The treasury was on the other side of the labyrinthine reefs, so I ran over there.   

Many things were on my mind during my jog. If we had arrived faster, those people would be alive. Their families and loved ones wouldn’t have to arrange a funeral…nor would they be without them. Children would have parents, and parents wouldn’t be stripped away from their children. And that was just one room. Before I left, Dineria said she didn’t think there would be more like this. If anything, these victims were food for the ones standing guard, and the others would’ve been escorted to the breeding grounds to act as the merfolk substance.   

Merfolk breathed in the water. They couldn’t— I could. I didn’t need oxygen or air to survive when I was immortal.    

But merfolk swam through water faster than leopards ran land.   

We’d have to know their exact locations, but honestly…  

Everyone forced to go with them had likely drowned. 

The door to the treasury had been smashed open—courtesy of Feral. The cargo consisted of spices, food, and clothing, so after stashing it, I met up with my friends in the room where we met Feral.   

The large kobold held the sleeping woman, draped with sheets Momo pulled from her bag. Srassa looked deathly ill and kept her gaze on the watery floor.   

“The cargo’s in my ring,” I said. “It’s safe to say we know what happened.”  

“I never knew merfolk could be…be like this,” Momo whispered. She was strong—experienced, even, but… I doubt she had seen so many dead in one place.   

Poor Srassa… I really felt for her.   

But…yes, I was mad I couldn’t save them. But…considering what the [Forbidden Skill System] entailed, it wouldn’t be a stretch to eventually have the power to bring them back to life.   

The question was whether or not it was worth it—depending on what was required of me. But would resurrecting the fallen cause those mysterious figures that showed up in our soul world to appear?  

Another question was if the dead deserved to be brought back. These poor people had their lives cut short—that was true—but fate was like that.   

Reality sometimes took what was important from you.   

Reality sometimes killed all you held dear.   

Life wasn’t fair.   

It was brutal and a constant trek uphill. Sometimes, you got lucky and could coast through a few years. But there were always challenges awaiting you.   

It would be the same for me.   

But this was a grand topic. I didn’t know how to begin thinking about it, so I pushed it away while I listened to Dineria speak.   

“The mission’s complete. We didn’t find the ship, but it’s fair to say it’s been lost. Let’s return to the guild and give our report. Srassa, dear?”  

“Umm—” Srassa wiped her eyes. “I’ll be fine, Ms. Dineria. I’m sorry.”  

“Don’t apologize, dear. Not everyone handles it well. But if you’re going to live this life, you'll encounter this again. 

“I understand, but…does it get easier? Every time I close my eyes, I see it… I see that scene…with the flesh hanging on the wall.”  

“It did for me. But you must remember to love yourself. Don’t lose yourself in your mission like I did. Don’t look at monsters and wish they would be your next target because that’s the quickest way to see the world in a dull shade of black. It’s not you vs. them. To the merfolk, they were doing what they were meant to do. But that doesn’t mean we can excuse them.”  

“It’s difficult to understand.”  

“My grandmother once said we were born with the impossible task of understanding life. It’s impossible, yet we try all the same. It’s something you have your whole life ahead of you to interpret. But let us return to the guild. We still need to get a room for the night.” 

---

“That’s their fate? How awful…” The guild receptionist looked at the shivering woman wrapped in a cloth. Her eyes were dead to the world, and the color was drained from her cheeks.   

“I’m afraid so,” Momo replied, completing our request. A few minutes later, a healer from the local clinic arrived to take the woman into his care.   

After telling the receptionist we had recovered the cargo, she gave us a sheet of paper and asked us to visit the company that owned the boat. Before that, however, she paid our dupla and granted us our SP. Feral tucked his coins into the sash he wore across his chest and followed us to the shipping company.   

They were stationed near the harbor—in a warehouse that also functioned as a store. After speaking to a receptionist, we were granted a meeting with the president. She was a young woman-- perhaps around 15 or 16, with sharp eyes and a penchant for detail. Her twin tails seemed childish for a person of her status, but she was well-spoken and intelligent.   

She looked over the cargo and checked off what was missing. “I also have the dead in my ring,” I said. “Do you want the bodies? To bury?” 

The woman nodded and pointed to a nearby door. “If you don’t mind, you can lay them in there. I’ll have someone confirm their identities.”   

I did as she said and returned, and she gave us 200 dupla. “I expected to take a loss. Getting this much back from the wreck was a dream I never thought possible. I’ll visit the clinic later and talk to the survivor. You all have my deepest thanks.” The girl bowed her head slightly.   

“I wish we could’ve done more…”  

“You’ve done more than enough, Ms. Momo,” said the president. “Please don’t let it weigh on your hearts too much.”  

We soon left the warehouse and returned to the guild, where we said goodbye to our kobold companion. He said his mentors had told him he needed to be independent, so Feral said he was ordered to survive a month or two alone to learn how to be an adventurer.   

That didn’t sit right with Dineria. She scowled and said she had the right mind to give Fisher and Arnold a piece of her mind when she saw them.   

Feral said that surviving alone was nothing new and hoped to see us again before walking away.  

We left the guild after I changed my Skill Path to Warrior. I had something I wanted to try.   

I have enough SP for [War Cry]. Wonder if I can enchant that to a blood crystal and give it to Srassa…?  

As the sun painted the sky in hues of orange and purple, casting a warm glow upon the horizon, Waveret transformed into a place of tranquil beauty. The harbor lights shimmered like stars, their reflections dancing upon the gentle ripples of the sea.  

Only those who died wouldn’t see this breathtaking sight ever again.   

And that…was saddening to think about.