Chapter 123: Soul Space
Reaching the fourth trial ground, Ash found himself facing a maze that constantly shifted and rearranged itself, walls twisting like serpents, paths vanishing and reappearing in an endless loop of confusion.
But for him, the fourth trial—titled the [Trial of Memory]—was the easiest so far.
All he had to do was memorize the paths, and with his sharp memory, it was nothing more than child’s play. Every twist, turn was etched into his mind like ink on parchment.
Clearing the trial with ease, he was rewarded once again with a Prism Shard, a pair of Unnamed Pants, and a random Sword Art pouch.
Without wasting any time, he absorbed the Prism Shard, and immediately, a warm rush of power surged through his body as his overall stats rose from 193 to 197.
Then, he put on the new pants, which fit comfortably and matched his top garment, finally making his outfit look like a complete, proper set rather than a mix of random pieces thrown together.
As for the random Sword Art... once again, he received nothing.
It was starting to become a pattern.
He didn’t receive any new sword techniques, and he couldn’t help but think that his luck was cursed.
Still, he chose not to dwell on it.
After resting for a short while and regaining his stamina, Ash made his way to the fifth trial ground.
This one turned out to be even easier than the previous one. The objective here was to endure a powerful illusion that could shatter the minds of those unprepared.
But, the illusion had no effect on him at all.
The Rune of Knowledge blocked it all.
His mental state remained calm and clear, unshaken by the illusions’ attempts. He simply walked through them without even acknowledging their existence.
And soon enough—
[Congratulations, Challenger, for perfectly clearing the Fifth Trial.]
[For flawlessly passing the Trial of Illusions, your sole reward is: Liquified Soul Essence.]
The moment the voice echoed, the ground beneath him rumbled slightly. From its center, a small, glowing pond surfaced—its waters clear, radiant, and almost otherworldly in beauty.
"Soul Essence...?!" Ash’s voice trembled, not from fear.
But, from pure, unfiltered shock.
Because he knew exactly what Soul Essence was.
It wasn’t something common.
It was myth.
It was so rare that not even the original novel had mentioned it.
The only reason Ash even knew about it was because of the ancient books at the academy, where it was briefly described as a liquid of divine quality—something that might not even exist in the world.
He stared at the pool in front of him, his expression slowly shifting from disbelief to sheer joy.
His lips curled into a smile, and a spark of excitement ignited in his eyes.
"No way... this is actually Soul Essence," he said softly, more to himself than anyone else, but the tone in his voice was laced with awe and reverence.
This wasn’t just rare—it was precious beyond imagination.
Because according to what he knew, one could only ascend from Saint Rank to Demi-God Rank by undergoing a transformation of the soul.
To reach that level, a person needed to nourish and evolve their soul into something far beyond its natural state.
Into a Divine Soul.
And the Soul Essence... was one of the catalyst to make that happen.
In the Novel, Ray was about to think how to nourish his soul, before Ash stopped reading.
But for Ash, the Soul essence held a different kind of possibility.
Maybe... if I absorb it, I might finally understand how to feel my own soul...
He didn’t know if it was true, but something about it just... felt right.
Trusting that instinct, he slowly removed his clothes, stepped forward, and without hesitation, leapt into the Pond of Soul Essence.
The moment his body touched the liquid, it was as if the entire world stilled.
The liquified soul essence surged toward him with a gentle urgency, flooding into his body all at once.
It didn’t settle in his muscles or bones—it vanished into something deeper, something beyond the physical.
And in that exact moment, Ash felt as if his entire being had been set free, liberated from the countless weights it had been carrying for far too long.
He could feel all the tension in his body melting away.
The endless stream of depressing thoughts, the pain that had become a part of him, the heavy emotions born from torture, suffering, and especially the repeated experience of death—all of it seemed to vanish.
In their place, a refreshing feeling washed over him like a gentle tidal wave, cleansing him from the inside out.
His limbs relaxed. His mind loosened. For the first time in what felt like forever, Ash felt at peace.
Ash activated [Omni Thought], trying to remain fully aware and focused on the sensation.
The peaceful feeling was so strong, so warm, that for a moment he just wanted to let go and fall asleep right there in the pond. But the moment he activated his skill, that sleepy thought disappeared completely.
Now fully aware, he began to focus on this strange, soothing feeling.
He concentrated harder, trying to find the connection between himself and his soul.
It wasn’t easy.
In fact, it was incredibly difficult. But little by little, he started sensing a strange flow of energy, one that seemed to be gathering at his forehead.
It was faint, but it was there.
The Soul Essence that had disappeared into his body had somehow gathered at that very point, and Ash focused on it with every bit of strength and attention he had left in him.
Glabella...
The thought echoed in his mind.
That spot, the area between his eyebrows, was where all the liquified Soul Essence was being drawn.
It didn’t flow aimlessly through his body—instead, the moment it entered, it felt as though it teleported straight to that one specific point, like it was being pulled there by something invisible.
Is this... is this the path that leads to my soul?
He wondered.
He had inspected that region of his mind before, countless times even, but until now, he had never sensed what he was feeling at this moment.
There had never been any doorway or path, but now, something had definitely changed.
He tried to dive deeper into his consciousness, to follow that faint but growing thread of connection that was now revealing itself.
However, just as he thought he was getting close, his progress was stopped.
A wall.
A strange wall had appeared inside his mind. It wasn’t made of anything real, but it felt solid, like it was stopping him from moving forward.
He pushed his willpower against it, slamming into it with all the force he could muster.
At first, the wall trembled, as if it might break. But then, it stabilized and became rigid once more.
His mental strength was already low. After so much pain, healing, and even dying, he was tired. That one hit drained him completely.
But where was he?
He was inside the Pond of Soul Essence.
And that changed everything.
The Soul Essence continued to be absorbed into him, and with each breath he took, it washed through his mind like a cleansing tide, clearing out the clouded fog of exhaustion and renewing him from within.
The longer he stayed immersed in it, the more he began to feel the deep and delicate relationship between the soul and the mind.
And slowly, his energy returned....it was constantly being replenished due to the liquefied essence.
Feeling that his mental energy was getting replenished, Ash began to strike the mental wall without hesitation.
He poured his will into every push, slamming against the wall, again and again, over and over.
He didn’t care how long it would take.
He had come too far to stop now.
Time passed unnoticed as he continued to attack the barrier.
Eventually, tiny cracks began to form—faint lines that danced across the surface of the wall like lightning frozen in glass.
And finally—
The wall shattered.
***
Ash thought as he looked around slowly, taking in the strange and quiet world surrounding him.
The sky above was pale blue, the same calm shade as his eyes with a few scattered clouds drifting here and there like lazy thoughts in a sleeping mind.
There was no sun to be seen, yet the entire space glowed with an unusual brightness, as if the light had no source but was simply part of the air itself.
Beneath him, there was no ground, no grass or dirt to stand on. There was only a vast surface of water, smooth and still like glass.
Oddly, the water didn’t show his reflection. It was like it saw through him, ignoring his presence entirely.
But when he took a step forward, the surface gently rippled beneath his feet, as though it could feel his touch and was quietly responding to it.
At the center of this endless ocean stood a large, solitary tree. It rose tall and proud, though it was completely black in color.
The bark looked ancient and slightly cracked, and the branches stretched out sharply, twisting upwards like they were trying to reach some distant place far beyond sight.
The tree had no leaves, no fruits, nothing that would make it look alive in a normal way.
Floating quietly around the tree were many small symbols, glowing with ever-changing shapes.
Each symbol was strange in shape and moved slowly through the air.
They weren’t just floating randomly; they moved in a perfect, silent rhythm. Some were white, others black, some golden or silver, and even a few shined with colors Ash couldn’t recognize.
Each symbol gave off a faint glow and an odd, otherworldly feeling—as if they weren’t from this reality at all.
They circled the tree like guardians, surrounding every branch and part of the trunk, wrapping the dark bark in a soft net of light and magic.
Even the roots of the tree stretched down into the ocean-like surface, but just like with him, there was no reflection of the tree in the water.
That alone was strange enough, but when Ash looked closer, he saw something even more shocking.
Inside the roots, as if trapped beneath the water, scenes began to appear.
At first, they were blurry, but as he moved closer he could clearly see every single one of them.
They were his memories.
He saw the pain he had buried. The regrets he had never spoken out loud.
The moments from his previous life that still haunted him. Scenes from this current life played out as well—the joy, the sorrow, the silence in between.
He saw the moment Nancy died, the moment that broke something inside him. He saw the first time he met Elysia, the confusion and warmth that moment carried.
Everything he had experienced, every emotion he had tried to forget, every truth he had hidden in the back of his mind—all of it was flowing through the roots like a silent river of memory.
It was like his whole being had been laid bare in front of him, and now he was just watching it quietly.
It’s my soul...
***