Eren kept on listening to Alephee's words as he smoked. He chuckled when he felt Alehee's voice had become softer while explaining things to him. He knew the reason.
'Don't worry, Alephee. I'm not down or anything after learning that I'm not qualified enough to understand these things. It was just that I felt anticipatory tiredness after learning that I had to be in the B-Rank.
My advantages from my previous timelines almost stopped working in my favor after I entered D-Rank. I was at a solid stage in that rank, just a step away from entering C-Rank.
So the maximum I can push my luck of having an expedited ranking journey would be when I reach C-Rank. And even that is going to be a while.'
Eren said and sighed. He then lay on the green ground on his back and stretched his arms and legs before bridging his right hand closer to his mouth. He took a short drag out of his smoke and kept it inside his lungs.
The crescent moon in front of his vision got blurred a bit when he slowly released the smoke from his nostrils. The butcher suddenly felt refreshed. He started seeing this goal as something he should look forward to.
So he gathered his thoughts before commenting to Alephee in a calm voice.
'I have too many things to do here. I'll settle those first. Also, thanks for trying to cheer me up. Don't worry. Eren Idril is not someone that would break under pressure. At least not the one on this timeline. Hehe.
Maybe my way of looking at this thing is at fault here. I might benefit from not having any experience beyond the D-Rank. I would be able to start with a fresh perspective that way. So now, I'm looking forward to entering the Master rank and beyond.'
Eren felt like his past timeline's experiences had indeed helped him. But they were also turning into an old skin he eventually needed to shed. To completely come out of their shadow of influence and have a fresh outlook.
The butcher's headache vanished eventually as he continued smoking. He returned to normal soon after.
Eren remained to lie on the ground. He found comfort in being close to the elements. The moon right above his head and the sky itself serving as a roof over his head was a comfortable feeling for him.
Eren closed his eyes by instinct and let his mind wander off to wherever it wanted. He let go of all his worries and embraced the excitement he felt after understanding the scope of the growth he could achieve.
The excitement he would feel as he progressed in his ranking journey. The excitement he'd feel after learning about something that was considered taboo here. And the excitement of an adventure that he would be able to partake in when he leaves the continent of Anfang.
Suddenly, a similar sensation returned to him. His strong desire to overcome the limitations set on him intensified. It was as if the butcher's soul was trying to rebel against the restrictions placed on him.
Ohmmm.
White noise was heard within the butcher's mind as he felt helpless once more. The mind that was trying to learn and think about various things at once began to learn things around him.
Soul Sense Awakening.
At this point, the butcher fully awakened his soul sense. He felt like it worked much like the mana sense, only many times more detailed and intuitive.
It was as if Eren could interact with the world around him in a different way than before. He could feel the consciousness of the world that the mana carried and its flow. His soul sense also strengthened his mana sense– making it have a large field of view while enhancing the feedback it sent to him.
Butcher had awakened his soul sense as a result of the backlash from the world. He also felt that gaining the knowledge of a bigger picture that was out there had allowed him to feel exhilaration and intrigue. And that in turn had helped him awaken his soul sense.
Baran and others weren't aware that Eren's soul sense had been awakened. As his soul sense spread around when they were in proximity, they felt that an overwhelming, ambitious, and extremely dangerous entity was checking them out. They became aware of their surroundings as a result.
'This is great, Eren. You have completely awakened your soul sense. Hehe. I must say that your ambitions are growing faster than either of us thought they'd grow.'
Alephee said with a chuckle. Eren also flashed a cunning smile when he heard her. The signs of soul awakening have been appearing for a while now. They just needed a trigger. And it was finally provided to him at this point.
"My liege, are… are you alright? What… What was that?"
While grabbing his head, Baran stepped outside. The rest of the Orcs followed him. He asked in part confusion and part dread as he kept on looking around him.
Eren chuckled before answering.
"Hehe! Don't worry. It was me. And thanks for trying to answer all my questions even when it looked like you were working against your instincts. I'm not sure when or what. But I'll try to come up with an appropriate reward for this dedication of yours in the future."
Baran felt amazed by the butcher yet again when he heard the strange phenomenon was caused by him. He felt like he had taken the right decision by accepting Eren as his master. He just wished that he doesn't question anymore regarding this topic.
Eren looked at Baran and spoke up to relieve him of his troubles.
"Baran, I'll not ask you about the monster continent. The backlash was less because we were in the Badlands. But we shouldn't push our luck too far.
Whatever I gained from learning till her about how monsters originate from you is enough for me."
Only now did the butcher realize why Badlands was known for such erratic behavior from monsters. The historians' spells didn't work properly in Badlands because they carried traces of foreign mana.
This was also the reason why the establishments couldn't get rid of the monsters no matter how many cullings they initiated. The Badlands served as the summoning grounds for monsters from the monster continent.
