There was no need for Jason to be in a hurry for anything at the moment and instead he wanted to build a steady foundation to open his path to the Magus rank or also called Lique state.
His finances were neither extremely good or bad and it was somewhat in-between.
However, thanks to his firm consolidation of the basics about the three basic lifestyle occupations, Jason could already be called a Rank-2 Blacksmith and Alchemist, while rune inscribing was the only occupation Jason lagged behind, even if he was close to reaching the Rank-2 standard.
As for his ability to purify ingredients for either of these occupations, they were superior thanks to his constant practice over the last three months.
Having reached Rank-2 in blacksmithing meant that he could forge basic grade-2 equipment, that was less difficult to produce than mana weapons which were one requirement to reach the 3rd Rank.
The same applied for potions, only that the difficulty to concoct the most difficult potions was almost on par with the forging process of mana weapons.
Thus, Jason was already extremely well versed for his young age of 14 years and slightly more than 6 months.
Over the last three months, many things changed but he just didn't have time to think carefully about them because he was adamant about becoming stronger, only to notice something major that might become an extremely big issue in the future.
While his soul energy increased to 13.500 units which was extremely satisfying to see, Jason couldn't be happy about it for the moment.
This was not because his soul energy was too high or low for him to bind a new soulbond but rather that he noticed a small issue with his body.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Right now, his mana core rank was barely at the 2nd Expert rank which was already extremely good for his age and nothing to complain about.
However, after adding his soulbonds shared strength which he received thanks to his soul world amplification of 33%, Jason's mana core size and physical strength reached the same as an average 2nd Master rank had.
Under normal circumstances, nobody would even dare to be dissatisfied about this but there were two issues colluding with each other in order to create one huge issue for Jason's future.
The first issue was that his mana core size was as large as an average 2nd Master's mana core which increased the required time for his mana core to be completely filled.
As such, it would take much longer to break into the 3rd Expert rank, as it would require as much mana as an average 2nd Master required to break into the 3rd Master rank.
With this in mind, Jason's initial plan to break into the Magus rank in the next nine months was for naught while it wouldn't be an issue to reach the combat prowess of a Magus rank thanks to his soul world's high amplifications.
Most of his peers would curse Jason because he complained about something everyone wanted to achieve.
Nevertheless, the second issue was similar to the first, only worse in Jason's opinion.
After his soulbonds' maturity process accelerated, he slowly noticed that something was going on with his body and that it was not definitely something bad!
His physical strength reached the 2nd Master rank, while his mana core was barely at the 2nd Expert rank which was a difference of a whole rank.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})In the beginning, it overjoyed Jason to see that he became so much stronger in such a short amount of time only to feel that his body began to ache more often without him doing anything that could cause such pain.
This pain spread throughout his whole body and didn't disappear easily and only refining his body slowly soothed the pain.
However, it didn't take long for this painful sensation to come back, even if it was easier to bear after the Netherworld's fort body refining technique.
When he told this issue to Shane and Dalia, they were astonished and worried but only until Dalia remembered a legend about certain youths with a five-star soul-awakening which allowed him to be called God's child.
The legend was not something well known among normal citizens and only a few big clans knew about it because it was more like a horror story than something heroic.
Remembering the story, Dalia found that it was suitable to Jason's situation, even if he had it much better than the youth in the legend.
Apparently, there was a youth with an extremely strong soul world core a long time ago which allowed him to form a soulbond contract with a Guardian-ranked beast cub right off the bat after his soul-awakening when he was barely 14 years old.
When his family heard this, they were overjoyed and immediately began to search for the strongest and most suitable beast in order to nurture the youth in the best possible way.
Until the youth formed his first soulbond contract, his mana core already reached the Expert rank thanks to his high mana aptitude and the time his family needed to find a good soulbond for him.
The whole family was ecstasy about their descendants' soul-awakening and impatiently pushed him in performing the soulbond contract on the day they brought back the most suitable guardian-rank beast cub.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})In the beginning, everything was perfect without any issues and the prodigious youth with his soulbond began to establish a proper soul connection.
However, with time passing, the guardian-ranked beast cub began to grow and the youth's constitution began to worsen.
Not only did the youth's mana core size and physical strength increase thanks to the beast cub's maturity process, but the family also accelerated its growing speed by feeding it with high-quality food.
One morning, only a few months after the youth formed his first soulbond contract, when the guardian rank beast cub reached almost maturity, the youth's family found his lifeless corpse inside the bed, where he laid with a pained expression, a burst open mana core and blood pouring out of his pores and orifices.
In the beginning, everyone thought that it was an assassination but after examining the youth's corpse, one found out that there was neither poison within him nor did anyone else touch him.
Rather than that, there were millions of tiny scars within his body, telling that something within the youth killed him over a long process.
When Dalia told this story, Shane also seemed to remember to have heard this story, and only Jason looked around in confusion before his eyes widened in shock when he began to compare the youth's situation to his own.
Both Shane and Dalia also understood what was going on as Shane averted his attention towards Jason only to say
"You better stop thinking about binding another soulbond for the time being!!"
Nodding his head subconsciously, Jason couldn't but summarize the main issue all three of them seemed to have understood.
"So to put it simple, if my soulbonds become much stronger than I am currently, I might as well die like this youth because of the high amplifications I receive from my soul world, which….my mana core or body cannot bear?!"
Pondering about the story and Jason's words the room turned completely silent and only Artemis and Scorpio who were next to him looked around, not understanding what exactly was going on.
They could understand the words thanks to the fortified soul conjunction with Jason which became thicker over the last three months, but comprehending what exactly everything meant was still not easy.
A rough, possible idea formed in Dalia's head as he uncertainly said
"Maybe the mana core and the physical strength one receives from the mana core advancement comparable to a bowl or maybe a vessel? You said that refining your physique helped you, right? Refining your body might as well help you refine the vessel and allow you to receive a higher amplification from your soulbonds?
As such, you might as well say that the vessel is frail and you enlarge and refine it by advancing your mana core rank and the corresponding physical strength.
If that's the case, refining your innate physical strength without your soulbonds' strength included might as well be considered a second strengthening process.
Now, you can fill the vessel that has been strengthened!
Your soulbonds' shared strength which you receive through your high soul world amplification is comparable to water or whatever liquid you want to fill inside the vessel.
More importantly, is however that the vessel is neither indestructible nor a limitless hole!
It has its boundaries which you have to strengthen..."
