Chapter 106: Decisive Action But the smile faded as his attention returned to the Soul Register, to the section he’d been avoiding looking at too closely: [DIVINE ESSENCE DETECTED] Classification: Rank II – Cosmic Enforcer Quantity: 0.27% Status: Integrating ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The Soul Register showed him the information clearly. The classification, the quantity, the status. And individually, he could understand what they all meant. But together... Finn could glean absolutely nothing. The ’rank’ part was fairly straightforward and its meaning was clear. But what was ’quantity?’ — or a better question would be, beyond the general meaning of quantity, what did it mean in relation to divine essence? How could he use it? What would happen when it finished integrating? Finn could grasp no meaning in regards to any of this. It was deeply unsettling. The Soul Register had never failed to provide intuitive understanding before. Every single entry, every classification, every warning — they all came with built-in comprehension. It was a natural way for the Ossuarist’s soul to directly communicate its status to the mind of the Ossuarist in an intuitively understandable way particular to them. But yet... this felt like a block. Like his soul register was being vague. Or maybe because divine essence is outside the normal scope of Ossuarist power, it just doesn’t know how to interpret it properly...? Finn wondered, staring at the 0.27% like it might suddenly reveal its secrets. But it was able to tell me the rank of the divine essence and relate it to the ranks of Gods that I didn’t even know about previously... Finn was stumped. He massaged his forehead as he dismissed the soul register, putting the complicated thoughts aside. But his unease remained. He’d stolen divine essence from a God, but he still had no idea how valuable that 0.27% was — whether it was a whole lot, or it was something negligible — and even if he knew, he didn’t know how to put it to use. Should I start a religion or something... Finn thought with mirth. Garuda had basically confirmed that there was something unique about his soul. The Errant... If a god knew that title, then that uniqueness had to be tied to the divine. "A heretic..." Finn whispered as he rose to his feet very slowly, testing his balance. The blood loss still made him lightheaded, but he could manage. He walked to the window and looked out at the dark forest below. The pantheons were searching for him now. Gods who made Transcendents look like insects. And according to Garuda, Finn would have to steal again — it was his nature as the Errant. Which meant this wouldn’t be his last encounter with the divine. And that led to another thought, one that connected directly to his current situation: Osmund’s warning that he wasn’t the only fragment bearer on this island. And that there were others who didn’t view the prophesied Pioneer in a good light... to the point where if Finn delayed learning how to use his fragment, when they eventually came, he might not escape with his life. Finn’s hands tightened on the windowsill. Before today he’d been cautious about Osmund’s offer. Wary of entering into a Soul Contract without fully understanding what he was agreeing to. He’d wanted time to observe, to understand the Anaelle, to figure out what Osmund’s true goals were. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞 But the situation had completely changed. He’d just confirmed something that would make him invaluable and incredibly dangerous to every Transcendent, every fragment bearer and every powerful entity in this world: He could steal divine essence. And not just that — he had already stolen divine essence. The one thing Transcendents had spent millenniums searching for. The power that had allowed Gods to slaughter them effortlessly. If word got out... if anyone learned what he could do, he’d immediately become the most hunted person alive. Finn needed to get stronger. Fast. More specifically, he needed to learn how to actively use his Error fragment and not just rely on passive intuition. The instinctive guidance that had saved him dozens of times was valuable, but it wasn’t enough. Not if he was going to face Gods and Transcendents. And there was only one person on this island who could teach him that: Osmund. Finn turned away from the window with his mind made up. He would accept Osmund’s offer and enter into the Soul Contract with him. But he would do it from a position of knowledge now, not desperation. Osmund wanted him to master his fragment so he could help free his people. Fine. Finn needed that training anyway if he was going to survive what was coming. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement, really. And if Osmund thought he was getting a desperate, ignorant Ossuarist who would be grateful for any scraps of knowledge... well. He’d learn differently soon enough. Finn looked down at his hands and felt the faint warmth of divine essence settling somewhere deep inside his soul... Integrating. Becoming part of him in ways he didn’t yet understand. He let out a deep breath and turned to the bed, slumping down on it. He’d already decided what he was going to do. Now he needed to rest. Tomorrow he would begin in earnest. Within seconds, Finn passed out into a dreamless sleep. . . . It was well into the day by the time Finn eventually woke up. Thankfully, just like he had asked, Uxio didn’t bother him at all. The room was just as Finn had left it the previous night. With dried blood all over the floor, and the trail and mess he’d made when he slumped onto the bed too. Damn... I have to take care of this before someone— He didn’t even finish the thought when, out of nowhere, he heard a knock on the door. Shit! Finn had gotten so used to having his Ferropteryx enhanced senses on by default that now that it wasn’t, he was taken extremely off guard when his ears didn’t pick up the careful footsteps of the person before they reached the door. With a single thought, he quickly embodied the enhanced senses of the Ferropteryx again, focusing intently at the sounds coming from behind the door. As he strained his ears, he picked up the sounds of scruffs — heavy and familiar against the ground. But there was also one more. Uxio. And his daughter, maybe? Finn deduced as he scanned the room quickly just as another knock came, this time more incessant. It seemed his ’alone time’ was over. They had grown impatient of leaving Finn to his room unattended for more than a day. The knocks came again, and Finn finally responded, calling out that he was coming, as he quickly shuffled to clean as much as he could before eventually realizing it was futile. Uxio was standing outside, and had just raised his hand up to knock again, when Finn opened the door, nodding curtly at him before retreating back into the room. The huge man carefully pushed the door open wider, taking in the gory view of dried blood and the trail that led to the bed, along with the stained bedsheets. He then did a double take when he actually focused on Finn, seeing the apparent lack of his signature wings behind his back. A look of understanding slowly morphed on his face as he pieced together what might have happened. He stared at Finn who looked unfazed as he pulled off the bedcovers and sheets, dumping them in a pile on the ground as he took care of the mess he made. Vrylla came up from behind her father and sucked in a visible breath at the sight. The amount of blood Finn had lost the previous night was abnormal. By normal standards, he wasn’t even supposed to be walking properly. She glanced at the strange young man, with his black hair matted to his forehead, slick with sweat. He took off his custom-made shirt that was tailored to his Ferropteryx form and also dumped it in the pile. And it was only after he had done it that he glanced up again and saw Vrylla, remembering she was also here. "Ah..." Finn paused as he caught her staring at his chiseled abs. Their eyes met, and immediately, the tips of her pointed ears turned visibly red despite the short coat of white fur covering some parts of it. Thankfully, her father saved her by muttering a few words and walking to the pile of bloodied clothes, picking them up and handing them to her. She all but ran out of the room immediately, heading to wherever it was she was going to do the laundry. Finn chuckled at her rapidly retreating figure. But quickly that smile was wiped clean from his face when he saw the humourless dead-eyes stare Uxio looked at him with. He coughed lightly and quickly pretended like nothing happened. "Sorry for the mess." Uxio remained silent, staring at Finn with the same dead-eyes which’s meaning Finn could clearly understand. "I didn’t do it on purpose..." "Mmhmm." Uxio grunted, clearly unconvinced. But he didn’t push further. "I see your wings are gone," he said. "Yeah, they were a hassle," Finn replied briefly, rolling his shoulder that now had a free range of movement. "Don’t bother with the mess," Uxio gave the room a last glance before heading towards the door. "Someone will come attend to it." "More importantly, Sage Uxio wants to see you. He says you might have something to say to him?" Finn immediately frowned, but schooled his expression quickly because of Uxio in the room. How did he know I had something to tell him? . . . A/N: Many thanks to Daoistchii for the Magic Castle Super Gift! For this, I’ll be releasing more Chapters throughout this week!